I once had an activity for the students in Language Arts where they made a scrapbook on a book and character they read. After seeing Scrapblog.com, I thought students could scrapblog their favorite book. They could do it using the perspective of the main character in the settings in the story or as themselves using their own imagination within the elements in the story. They could also show how the character changes as the story progresses.
Another idea is to use uploaded school pictures from Flickr to create these Scrapblogs for students and families to view and comment.
I have played with Scrapblog.com and have created just a sample to show my teachers using one of the template themes.
Media sharing is the interactive process of linking photos, video, or music to a website which promotes commentary between sender and receiver. (When I email pictures of my grandchildren to friends and relatives, I always receive an email back making positive comments about the photos. This is the “sharing.”)
When linking media, we should always be aware of the Copyright and Fair Use laws – Copyright is the exclusive property rights on original and tangible creative works with the right of control over copying. Fair Use allows copying selected parts of paragraphs, but not chapters, of copyright works for educational purposes, as long as it is spontaneous, temporary, and not part of an anthology, and will not reduce sales for the owner.
Teachers always teach plagiarisms, but they also need to model honesty.
Creative Commons, CC, a non-profit organization, who is increasing the scope of creative works for others to share by having licenses folks can use to restrict certain rights or restrict nothing on their work instead of the more restrictive copyright. This would be good for teachers who are willing to share their work with other educators.
My mentor and I made book review WIKIS last school year. They really never got off the ground. I went ahead and made an identical one for one of my new schools. I am looking forward to introducing this at the beginning of the school year. I think the students will enjoy adding their reviews to this new medium and learn about Web 2.0.
Please preview and let me know what you think. Join!
Posted in Blogging tagged Wikis at 10:06 am by B.Barnard
Wiki is Hawaiian for “quick.” Living three years as a child in Hawaii, we use to say, “Wiki Wiki” all the time. It was quite habit forming as an adult with children! Now, with a technology slant to the word, it is used as a “quick” way on the web where information can be started and edited by a collective group. Editing can be done by anyone who visits or can be limited to members. Reverting back, or un-editing to the previous version is just as “quick.” The Wiki starts as a webpage that by the click of the edit button it becomes a document that can be added to, edited, or changed. By the click of the save button it returns as a webpage. New pages can also be added by the click of the link button. It is that quick. Wiki, Wiki – try it out!
What qualities/features do you find common among the best podcasts?
The best qualities for audio podcasting center around the speaking voice. Is it comprehensible? Is it fluent? Does it sound like conversation or just being read? The second feature would be its interests for the listener.
Does my podcast share any of these features?
I hope so! I hate hearing myself speak, so that was hard to accept. I really tried to make it sound fluent without hearing myself breathe. I tried to find a topic technology-based that would be beneficial to others.
How might podcasts be useful in your classroom or your practice in education?
I want to learn how to do tutorials like others in the district have done. Those have been helpful for me, and something I can send to teachers when they are ready for the information or need a refresher. For students, this is a great way to work on fluency. Students can read easy books for younger students to listen to and follow along.
I like the first assignment this week: after viewing resources and supplemental materials, create a personal definition of podcasting. This will help me explain it to my teachers better in the fall. I may need to go back and do the same thing with lesson 1 (blogging) and lesson 2 (RSS).
Podcasting, one of the Web 2.0 tools, is a digital media file distributed over the internet that includes audio and possibly video too and includes an RSS feed that allows listeners or viewers to subscribe automatically to any updated information. Anyone can capture these with a podcaster, like ITunes.
In the old days, we would listen to or watch a broadcast on a radio or TV at a specific time. If you weren’t there, you missed it. Today, with podcasting, Personal and available On Demand, you are able to download the broadcast to your computer or even your phone or portable mp3 player to listen or view on your personal schedule.
Anyone can make a podcast, audio or video. They would be known as podcasters. All that is needed is a microphone, video camera, a computer, and a connection to the internet. The skies the limit as to the topics for podcasts. Demonstrations, lessons, discussions, interviews, sharing and practicing knowledge, publishing writings, virtual field trips are some of the ways podcasts can be used in education. Research data can be retrieved from podcasts and disseminated back into original podcasts. Podcasting digitally enhances communication and literacy skills and is created, shared, and heard or viewed.
After investigating RSS readers, I started with NetVibes and actually registered on my laptop. That was the one that was introduced to me during the past year. Then I went to my desktop to enter PageFlakes just to see how great it would be for me, the visual learner. To be honest, when I saw a UT template, I knew that would be the one for my husband’s personal page, so I thought I would keep to one and restarted in PageFlakes. Not the reason why you were expecting I am sure!
I went ahead and subscribed to the kinder and 5th grade blog sites that were examples in Week 1, It wasn’t because I was too lazy to search but because when I did some searches the ones I found hadn’t been written on since December 2007. I also wanted examples of actual teachers to show my teachers in the fall. There may not be too many postings in the summer, but I will be ready in the fall to see what these teachers do to start a year off.
In Week #1, I have been introduced to examples of blogs and how they can be introduced in the classroom as a communication tool or a way to get students writing.Then I experienced making my first blog using the basic tools.
How will you use what you have learned?
At this point I am either thinking to replace my TeacherWeb with my blog or link my blog to technology under resources.I will also become support for teachers already having blogs and those just beginning.Hopefully, we can all be supportive of each other.
How did you feel about this tool?
The idea of blogging is a great tool.Anytime you communicate with others, it is a positive thing.Is it better than a phone call, a conference, possibly not, but for a way to relay information, reflect, or answer a question for parents to see, it will provide a new avenue.Edublog tutorials gave me adequate basics to create my blog, but I feel a sit down visit with someone with more experience may give me better confidence.I did have trouble adding my image.It uploaded fine but to post it, it went to a blank screen and only worked once, but when I tried to change the size, I never could get it to post.I ended up inserting an image and resizing it.Any help here would help.
What do you not want to forget about this tool?
I don’t want to forget the steps along the way to create the blog.Of course, I am one of those folks that still like a hard copy of the directions to refer back to rather than video tutorials.
How can this be used in the classroom or in your educational role?
Blogs would be a great way for students to reflect.In math, they could restate the steps and peers could help each other understand those steps.They could journal on a blog rather than a spiral.In science and social studies, students could reflect or even debate an issue with one another.In language arts, reflecting on a book or sharing good books with one another is a given.I think there needs to be some stated expectations and possibly a rubric for the students to follow.
Should you use this in the classroom or your educational role?
A blog of tech tips and tutorials would help teachers answer their questions immediately when I am off campus.It would reduce the emails I send out.They could quickly comment on the tips and tutorials so I could make them even clearer.Teachers will need to be introduced to it and reminded to get them in the habit in using it.
First, to start, I loved the simplicity of Blogs in Plain English by “leelefever” on TeacherTube. That is my type of teaching – basics, simplistic, non-threatening baby steps! I had a teacher this year tell me if I had been around when she first was learning the computer with my patience and making her feel there were no dumb questions, then she thought she may have gotten comfortable with “the machine.” I want to gain my teachers’ confidence and help them gain in their own confidence.
http://jhh.blogs.com/webwriters – 5th grade web writers: Purpose – to get the students writing and commenting and experiencing Web 2.0
As I read the students’ blogs, I realize they actually have a blogging class. That is an interesting thought. Thinking like a teacher, how do they fit that into their finite schedule? It must be part of language arts or any subject. These students expressed their love of blogging in 5th but knew it would be the last since they will be moving to middle school. It is a shame that they get this experience and then it ends. Let’s hope that they will take the initiative to continue it on their own and teachers will provide the opportunity for their students. Teachers need to realize they can learn from their students too. My last comment about the web writers is will text messaging shortcuts be a thing of the future or will proper sentence structure still be required? Is the purpose to just get the students writing and final editing is not required? Is there a rubric with each posting?
http://woodlandrm3.blogspot.com Purpose – Communication with students’ families, showing pictures, class activities, and homework. It is like TeacherWeb, just a different format. More communication between parents and teacher may be the result.
You have heard of “fuzzy math”, well I am expecting this course to clear up my “fuzziness” on Web 2.0. My first year as an ITS has really stretched my brain. It has been scary but exciting, and I truly have enjoyed it. By taking Intro to Web 2.0’s maiden voyage, I felt I could jump in with both feet now and be ready for my energetic teachers who want to take the challenge. I want to feel comfortable in creating blogs and wikis and understand how RSS works and all the other experiences we will have. I hope I am not a thorn for the instructors, but right now I feel I may need hands-on tutoring!
