Not a "Thing"... but something pretty cool.
In the spirit of learning about technology:
Hop on over to the K-12 Online Conference!
Today is Day One. Enjoy!
Thing 22: YouTube
By now, the world knows YouTube(started by a Saint Paul Central High School grad!) as the source of all things video on the Internet. And we do mean “all things.” The good, the bad, and the ugly are all there for all to see—one reason many districts block YouTube. Another reason is bandwidth. Like music, video is a bandwidth hog. We recommend you complete this exercise during light Internet usage times.
YouTube revolutionized the way video is shared on the Internet by making it easy to upload and share videos. Other video sites have popped up, including Google Video. YouTube is now owned by Google, so it will be interesting to see the how the evolution/merging of the two sites happens. Right now, a search of either one returns results from both sites.
There are dozens of other video sites, but among the Web 2.0 players in this area, YouTube is currently top dog serving up over 1 million video views a day. Do some searching around YouTube yourself and see what the site has to offer. You'll find everything from 1970s TV commercials or 60s music videos to library dominos and kids singing aboutbloopers here. Of course, like any free site you’ll also find a lot stuff not worth watching too. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t explore and see for yourself what the site has too offer. :) Discovery Exercise:
Other popular video hosting sites: Yahoo Videos
Google videos
Others - top video site list
NOTE: Videos, like music downloads, are bandwidth hogs. It is recommended that you complete this exercise during light internet usage times.
YouTube revolutionized the way video is shared on the Internet by making it easy to upload and share videos. Other video sites have popped up, including Google Video. YouTube is now owned by Google, so it will be interesting to see the how the evolution/merging of the two sites happens. Right now, a search of either one returns results from both sites.
There are dozens of other video sites, but among the Web 2.0 players in this area, YouTube is currently top dog serving up over 1 million video views a day. Do some searching around YouTube yourself and see what the site has to offer. You'll find everything from 1970s TV commercials or 60s music videos to library dominos and kids singing aboutbloopers here. Of course, like any free site you’ll also find a lot stuff not worth watching too. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t explore and see for yourself what the site has too offer. :) Discovery Exercise:
- Explore YouTube or Google Video find a video worth adding as an entry in your blog.
- Talk with your students. Ask them if they have videos online that they have created (probably for classes) and check them out! You might be surprised at their talent!
- Create a blog post about your experience. What did you like or dislike about the site?why did you choose the video that you did? Can you see any ways to use video on your web site or in your class?
Other popular video hosting sites: Yahoo VideosGoogle videos
Others - top video site list
NOTE: Videos, like music downloads, are bandwidth hogs. It is recommended that you complete this exercise during light internet usage times.
Challenge
1. Feeling brave? Make your own video and upload it to YouTube or Google Video. Promote a program or introduce your library to the community or something else. If you do, be sure to embed it in your blog. We all want to see it! 2. Jumpcut is a Yahoo! product that lets you upload video or photos, re-mix and edit them, and produce a video. It is all online, easy to use, and with many other features, including slide shows and clips to add to yours as you build your movie. And, like most Web 2.0 tools, it offers a community of like-minded participants who want to watch your videos and share theirs with you. So jump right in and make a video to share with us. Post it to your blog and let us know just how easy it is to be creative! Other Resources Do you need a way to SAVE those YouTube videos so that you can use them in class without having to worry about an internet connection? Try any of these sites:vconversionViral videos are what our students are watching. It's an easy way to relate.
Thing 21: Podcasting 101
What? You want to learn how to be a podcaster too? In this Thing we will be looking at the "how" of podcasting… trying to keep it as simple as this web 2.0 primer allows. There are myriad resources available for people "serious" about podcasting.
- Poducate me
- Yahoo: Publish a podcast
- Odeo’s Studio – online recording studio.
- Beginner's guide to Podcasts & Creating Podcasts
- How to podcast tutorial
- The Beginner's Guide to Podcast Creation (from iLounge)
If you want to go about it the "real" way, you'll need to equip yourself with some things. Mostly, you'll need a microphone and the freeware program Audacity (for sound recording). You will ultimately need those things, but peruse the aforementioned resources to learn more first.
We are just trying things out with these 23 things… getting that "taste" for the web 2.0 tools, so we'll keep it easy. (Although podcasting itself isn't difficult either.) So, here are some resources for recording sound online (or through your cell phone). Click through them to see which one calls out to you, and then prepare for some sound-magic!
Discovery Resources
Discovery Exercise
- Create an account (if needed) at the site that called your name.
- Add an audio post about your experience to your blog.
- You did it! You created a sound file that could be the beginning of a podcasting paradigm for you! What did you think? Was it easy? Was it hard? Could your students do it? For what purpose? Where do you want to go from here?
- Did you notice that you could have used your Jott account to create saved audio as well? I'm glad that you tried new things, though!
Challenge (optional)
- Check out the poducateme guide; reading specifically the second paragraph about the studies done at Duke University about the use of podcasts in classrooms.
- Keep up with your audio goodness. Make it a "real" podcast by continuing it on a regular basis. Maybe add it as a permanent guest on your blog!
Thing 20: Podcasting
Podcasts, Smodcasts! The word podcast is used to refer to a non-musical audio or video broadcast that is distributed over the Internet. What differentiates a podcast from regular streaming audio or video is that the delivery method for podcasts is often done automatically through RSS.
In 2005, "podcast" was named the "word of the year" by New Oxford American Dictionary and with the growth of podcasting over the last 24 months, it's easy to see why.
Podcasts take many forms, from short 1-10 minutes commentaries to much longer in person interviews or panel group discussions. There’s a podcast out there for just about every interest area and the best part about this technology is that you don’t have to have an iPod or a MP3 player to access them. Since podcasts use the MP3 file format, a popular compressed format for audio files, you really just need a PC (or portal device) with headphones or a speaker.
iTunes, the free downloadable application created by Apple is the directory finding service most associated with podcasts, but if you don’t have iTunes installed there are still plenty of options.
For this discovery exercise participants are asked to take a look at some popular podcast directory tools. Do some exploring on your own and locate a podcast that is of interest to you. Once found, you can easily pull the RSS feed into your Google Reader account as well, so that when new casts become available you’ll be automatically notified of their existence.
Discovery Resources:
In 2005, "podcast" was named the "word of the year" by New Oxford American Dictionary and with the growth of podcasting over the last 24 months, it's easy to see why.
Podcasts take many forms, from short 1-10 minutes commentaries to much longer in person interviews or panel group discussions. There’s a podcast out there for just about every interest area and the best part about this technology is that you don’t have to have an iPod or a MP3 player to access them. Since podcasts use the MP3 file format, a popular compressed format for audio files, you really just need a PC (or portal device) with headphones or a speaker.
iTunes, the free downloadable application created by Apple is the directory finding service most associated with podcasts, but if you don’t have iTunes installed there are still plenty of options.
For this discovery exercise participants are asked to take a look at some popular podcast directory tools. Do some exploring on your own and locate a podcast that is of interest to you. Once found, you can easily pull the RSS feed into your Google Reader account as well, so that when new casts become available you’ll be automatically notified of their existence.
Discovery Resources:
- To find out more about podcasts start with Yahoo: What is a podcast tutorial?
- There are many, many podcast directories and finding tools out there. Here are a few of the more popular ones that, unlike iTunes, don't require a software download:
- iTunes recently added iTunes U. College and university faculty post content they create for their classes. Students and others can download what they need, and go. Download iTunes (free) here for either Mac or Windows.
- Take a look at one or two of the podcast directories listed (or iTunes, if you have it) and see if you can find a podcast that interests you. See if you can find some interesting education related podcasts here.
- Add the RSS feed for a podcast to your Google Reader
- Create a blog post about your discovery process. Did you find anything useful?
Thing 19: Jott
When you feel you just haven't gotten enough nagging (and perhaps need more), you can nag yourself with electronics. Okay, so maybe that casts a bad light on this Thing… so let's try again. Here's a story (the names have been changed to protect the innocent) to illustrate the reason for this Thing: Jane is a teacher. Every night she stays up working on school work: planning, correcting, reflecting. Every morning she is up early so she can get to school with time to breathe. On this very ordinary Tuesday morning, Jane gets up, showers, puts on her clothes (ugh, forgot to iron again), eats breakfast (remembering that they are almost out of milk and eggs) , brushes her teeth (oops, she needs to schedule that dentist appointment), puts on her makeup (almost out of mascara), picks up her school bag and is ready to walk out the door for her glorious day of work when Steve, her husband, trods slowly out of the bedroom, rubbing his eyes. "Hey, remember that we have that thing tonight… oh, and the baby needs diapers at home and more wipes at daycare." It's a good thing that they've been married long enough that Jane knows exactly what "thing" Steve is talking about. She smiles, gives him a kiss and leaves for the day. In the car on the way to work, Jane goes over her mental list. "Grocery store: milk, eggs, mascara?. Once I get to work: call dentist. Target: diapers and wipes… wait, can I get that at the grocery store? Hmmm… there was one more thing… what was that?" As she simmers about what that last thing is, she pulls into school and walks up to her room. She has two students waiting (they actually came to school early!) for help with class. She starts to pull out worksheets and think about what steps she should take for each student for maximal understanding. And what has happened to that mental list? By the time 3:00 hits, she's at 50% (at best)… and that's with the understanding that nothing else has been added to that list during her day (which is improbable). The problem for Jane (and many of us) is that she is pretty sure she will remember… and that she doesn't have access to anything to write on when she gets (or thinks about) the information. Jott, and programs like it, close this information gap. With Jott, you call in (on your cell/home/school phone) and leave a message (like "Remember the Milk!"). Jott then transcribes the information and sends you a text reminder for the time you set up.
Discovery Exercise
- Go to Jott and create an account.
- Call and send yourself a message/reminder.
- Blog about your experience and the possible applications in education or for yourself.
Discovery Resources
Challenge
- Use Jott to post to your blog. (Now only possible by subscribing to the Jott service. It might be worth it!)
- Sign up for Remember the Milk and Jott or e-mail to your Remember the Milk account. It separates your task by due dates and will e-mail you reminders. You can also sync this with your iGoogle page (which you automatically have b/c you have a Google ID). See Vicki Davis's Post on Rocking your Remember the Milk.
- Use one or more of the discovery resources listed above and sync them with Google Calendar. Blog about your experience. (this one could be a Thing on its own…)
Thing 18: Survey Goodness
If you chose the cell phone adventure last week, you might have found that even cell phones can be used for surveys… but in this Thing we will be discovering some of the "survey services" (that's fun to say) that are available for free online.
Polls and Surveys can be used for polling 100 people (like on "Family Feud"), making money (Surveysavvy), giving some statistics to things like elections (Gallup polls), and educational feedback (end-of-class surveys, to name one). What do all of these have in common? They are set up because they want feedback. What they do with that feedback (or how they interpret the feedback) changes as often as the wind (Are we, or are we not, in a recession?)… but the first step is always to get the feedback. So this is our Thing for today. You get to discover the inner-workings of the various survey sites and really get a taste and feel for how they work. The fantastic part is that these sites (for the most part) do most of the data collecting and crunching for you. So you set up your survey and get immediate results… fully tailored with statistical analysis. Here are the sites we'll be working with:
Polls and Surveys can be used for polling 100 people (like on "Family Feud"), making money (Surveysavvy), giving some statistics to things like elections (Gallup polls), and educational feedback (end-of-class surveys, to name one). What do all of these have in common? They are set up because they want feedback. What they do with that feedback (or how they interpret the feedback) changes as often as the wind (Are we, or are we not, in a recession?)… but the first step is always to get the feedback. So this is our Thing for today. You get to discover the inner-workings of the various survey sites and really get a taste and feel for how they work. The fantastic part is that these sites (for the most part) do most of the data collecting and crunching for you. So you set up your survey and get immediate results… fully tailored with statistical analysis. Here are the sites we'll be working with:
Discovery Exercise
- Check out (trial run or tour) at least two of the survey sites. See what they have to offer.
- Choose a site and create an account and
- Create (and use) a survey! Create the survey, have people take it, and take a look at the sleek results you get.
- Blog about the experience: what you liked and didn't like. What you hoped for and how you can use this personally/professionally.
*Hint: Surveys are also named "Choice" in Moodle if you're using it!
Thing 17: Googledocs
Many people use email and attached documents to share various versions of a project. This may work, but there are several obstacles to smooth exchange and editing. Attachments may not open or you or your collaborators may not have the same software program or the right version to open and edit a document. It is easy to lose track of which is the current version with all the changes.
Web 2.0 tools make collaborating on creating a document or other publication easier. Documents are online and available from any computer with Internet access. Edits are easy to make and save. The program saves a document’s history with all changes made and indicates who made the changes. A full set of word processing tools makes formatting simple. Click the toolbar buttons to bold, underline, indent, change font or number format, change cell background color and so on.
Get the idea from Googledocs in Plain English (our favorite videos for learning!).
In this Thing, edit a famous document using these two collaboration tools. Both are free. You don’t need an account to edit these public documents. To create and share documents, you must sign up for an account.
Use Google Docs to create basic word processing documents, presentations, or spreadsheets from scratch or you can upload your existing files. Google Docs accepts most popular file formats, including DOC, XLS, ODT, ODS, RTF, CSV, PPT, etc. You can share documents with a select group or make the document public.
Discovery Exercise
- Watch Googledocs in Plain English (our favorite videos for learning!).
- Look at this public document in Google Docs.
- Send an email to SWC023@gmail.com and we will invite you as a collaborator.Make as many edits and changes to the documents as you wish, using the various editing tools available.
- Read some Collaborative Learning classroom applications from techlearning.
Blog Prompts
- Which of these tools is easier for you to use?
- How do the features of each compare? Does one have features that would make you choose it over the other?
- How can I use this for/with our students?
- What would the Founding Fathers think?
Challenge (optional)
1. Sign in to your Google Account.
2. Create and share another type of document using other Google tools—Sheet (spreadsheet), Show (presentation tool), Notebook, or Wiki.
3. Publish the document (Public) and post the link on your blog for others to view and/or edit.
4. Blog about the tools' ease of use, potential in the school, and other thoughts.
Other Resources
Slideshare is self-proclaimed as " the best way to share your presentations with the world. Let your ideas reach a broad audience. Share publicly or privately. Add audio to create a webinar."
Thing 16: Project Calculator
The University of Minnesota Assignment Calculator is a tool from the University Libraries for undergraduate students. Students put in dates for the beginning and end dates of an assignment and its subject area and this Web 2.0 tool generates a 12-step research guide and timeline for the project and recommends resources and strategies. The Assignment Calculator is widely used and adapted by academic libraries across the country. It is a great interactive resource for students in any class.
The Research Project Calculator (RPC) is based on the Assignment Calculator and was created to help secondary students plan for and navigate the research process in an ethical manner, using reliable resources. This five step process includes deadlines and (optional) email reminders. The tool also offers hints, worksheets, and guides for various types of projects. The RPC and Assignment Calculator are aimed at schools and universities. Link it on a teen or student page, use the bookmarks to inform students and parents about their existence, and encourage students to use it as part of their research planning.The Teacher Guide to the Research Project Calculator (RPC) assists teachers in planning, managing, and teaching the often daunting research process by providing them with resources and step-by-step instructions, based on the five-step process outlined in the RPC. The site begins with an "About the RPC" section that provides an overview of the calculator, describes the role of the teacher in detail, and explains the resources included in the tool. There is even a streamlined version called "No Time?" for busy teachers. (Is there any other kind?) Also check out the Resources for Teachers.
Discovery Exercise:
1. Look at the RPC and the Assignment Calculator. Don’t try to cover every aspect of the tools, but rather browse the steps and consider how you could encourage students to use this product.
2. Look at the supporting materials in the Teacher Guide and Resources for Teachers. Are any appropriate for class or can you find other resources to supplement what you do for students?
3. Blog about your experience.
Blog Prompt Ideas
How might the RPC and the Teacher Guide help you help students plan and manage research projects?
Which resources did you find to be especially helpful?
Thing 15: Choose Your Own Adventure (Part 3)
Choose Your Own Adventure: Part Three: Online telephone and/or Cell Phone Serendipity
We are breaths away from MEA week here in Minnesota, so this week is packed FULL of things that are just a lot of fun... but, fear not brave warriors, there is (almost) always a possible link to education and your classroom!
Online Telephony
Cell Phone Serendipity
Enjoy!!
We are breaths away from MEA week here in Minnesota, so this week is packed FULL of things that are just a lot of fun... but, fear not brave warriors, there is (almost) always a possible link to education and your classroom!
Online Telephony
Cell Phone Serendipity
Enjoy!!
Thing 14: Choose Your Own Adventure (Part 2)
Choose Your Own Adventure: Part Two: Digitial Storytelling and/or Musical Fun
It's almost MEA week in this great state of Minnesota, so this week is packed FULL of things that are just a lot of fun… but, fear not brave warriors, there is (almost) always a possible link to education and your classroom!
So, for Part Two, here's your menu:
Thing 13: Choose Your Own Adventure! (Part 1)
Choose Your Own Adventure: Part One: Funnies, Pictures and/or Mindmaps
It's almost MEA week in this great state of Minnesota, so in order to combat the "too-many-5-day-weeks-burnout", this week is packed FULL of things that are just a lot of fun… but, fear not brave warriors, there is (almost) always a possible link to education and your classroom!
So make your choice, but choose well!
(Just kidding. If you don't like your choice, switcheroo!)
Funnies (Comics/Cartoons)
Pictures/Images
Mindmaps
It's almost MEA week in this great state of Minnesota, so in order to combat the "too-many-5-day-weeks-burnout", this week is packed FULL of things that are just a lot of fun… but, fear not brave warriors, there is (almost) always a possible link to education and your classroom!
So make your choice, but choose well!
(Just kidding. If you don't like your choice, switcheroo!)
Funnies (Comics/Cartoons)
Pictures/Images
Mindmaps
Thing 12: Try out Moodle
As we learned in the last "Thing", Moodle is an exciting educational technology that easily lends itself to creating "hybrid" classes (online and in-classroom). We saw and thought about possible applications from a very broad perspective. In this "Thing", we get to dig a little deeper and take a look at some of the specific things that Moodle has to offer.
*A quick note: One of the Challenge items from our last discovery was to get your own Moodle shell set up. If you're interested in Moodle, It might be worth your time to do that now so that, when you learn about the specifics, you can apply them right away and get playing!
On this discovery journey, you are going to get to log into a Moodle demo course and check out some of the things Moodle has to offer and dream about possibilities for you and your students.
Discovery Exercise
- Go to the Moodle Demo Course (top one) and create an account.
- Once your account is created, go back to the Moodle Demo Course and enroll in the course (on the left hand side).
- Check out 3-5 things in the demo course. They walk you through a pretty easy demonstration of each of the things you could use within Moodle. (If you're at a loss, check out Assignments, Quizzes, Choices, Forums, Wikis and Workshops.)
- Blog about your experience with Moodle! (If you're at a loss, check out the prompt ideas below.)
Discovery Resources
- Getting Started for Teachers
- Moodle Demo Course
- Teaching Do's
- Teaching Don'ts
- Teaching Good Practices (k-12)
- "2 Minute Moodle " videos (tutorials)
Blog Prompts
- What specific things are especially interesting to you in Moodle?
- What applications that we have already learned about do you see in Moodle?
- What ideas do you have for the use of specific Moodle applications in your area?
- If you were to start with just one thing in Moodle, what would you be sure to do?
- What solutions are there for students who do not have internet access at home? (How do we, as educators, bridge that inequality and still utilize Moodle to its potential?)
Challenge (optional)
- E-mail Gary Blok (if you're a member of district 833) and ask him to set you up with a class in Moodle for one of your classes. And then read this: Getting Started for Teachers
- If you already have a Moodle class, try one new thing that you learned about in the Moodle Demo Course.
- Check out the "Teaching Do's" (like "encourage students to learn together") and "Teaching Don'ts" (like "Don't get overwhelmed by Moodle") .
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