Group items tagged

Twitter is one of the fastest growing Web 2.0 services out there at the moment. At first glance, it might seem like an enormous distraction and waste of time. In this class, we're going to take a second glance at it and focus on ways in which Twitter can help you to tune in to the larger flow of ideas about teaching with technology that you might otherwise not hear abou

For a new generation of well-wired activists in the Washington region, it's not enough to speak at Parent-Teacher Association or late-night school board meetings. They are going head-to-head with superintendents through e-mail blitzes, social networking Web sites, online petitions, partnerships with business and student groups, and research that mines a mountain of electronic data on school performance.

The Washington Post recently published a really interesting article on the ability of well-connected parents to influence the decisions of their local school districts (hat tip to The Science Goddess). The term ‘well-connected’ refers to parents’ abilities to use online tools to communicate and mobilize (rather than to their connections to people with power).

Below are a few examples of parents pushing back on their local school systems. Parent tools include blogs, online petitions, and even administration countdown timers! I’ve linked to individual posts but you can click on the headers to see the blogs in their entirety. Has MCPS dropped American History from its curriculum? Change mayoral control? Beware the mushroom cloud! Media pig Wanted: a full-day kindergarten slot - do you feel lucky?

Online communication technologies have greatly amplified the abilities of parents to voice their opinions and mobilize for desired change. Activist parents now have a bevy of new tools and strategies to help facilitate their agendas and they are not afraid to use them. School organizations are going to have to get used to this new state of affairs in which parent activism and criticism are more public, permanent, and far-reaching. I’m pretty sure that most school leaders haven’t really thought about this…

Online classes may be a relatively young instructional practice for K-12 schools, but experts already generally agree on one point: Research shows that virtual schooling can be as good as, or better than, classes taught in person in brick-and-mortar schools.

Studies of state-run virtual schools show, for instance, that the courses tend to draw students at the extremes of the academic spectrum—advanced, highly motivated students looking for academic acceleration, and students who are struggling in regular classrooms

Not surprisingly, the students with the best academic records in online classes tend to be in that high-ability group, according to experts in the field. But some new research also finds that online courses are beginning to score more successes with the lowest achievers­—possibly because many are high school students who see the online courses as a last chance to earn enough credits to graduate.

Applying the conceptsHow can you visualize your presentation like a comic? No, not literally perhaps — but something like the sequential flow of a comic or rough sketches in storyboard form. You can do this on a whiteboard, but one of the best analog ways is with sticky notes (Post its) on a wall on in a notebook (a technique Bert Decker, Nancy Duarte, and others have talked about before as well).

Here is a good short video reviewing the art of the storyboard as it's used in story development and production in the motion picture industry.

Storyboards are an effective, inexpensive way to develop the story. You can "board it up" on the wall and see if it works. Because ideas can be changed easily and quickly, storyboarding works. The key is to put down in your storyboards the minimum amount of information that gives a dynamic and quick read of the content (and the emotions) of the sequence.

The weaknesses of using a tool like Gabcast are few.  First, the recording quality that you'll get from a cell phone or a landline doesn't match the recording quality that you'll get from a microphone and a program like Audacity.  What's more, while it is possible to edit a Gabcast recording----by downloading the file, working with it on your computer, and then uploading it back to Gabcast----it's not easy!  That means your recordings will lack the "bells and whistles" that more polished podcast programs have

The solution:  Begin your podcasting efforts using a free podcasting service like Gabcast.  What makes services like Gabcast so valuable is that student recording is done over the phone----whether that be a cellphone, landline or computer-based connection.  Users dial a 1-800 number, enter a specific code that identifies their podcast program and then begin recording.  It's as simple as that!   What's even better is that your recordings are automatically posted on a Gabcast webpage, where listeners can access new content and comment on the recordings that you've added.  Teachers who start with Gabcasting essentially get an all-in-one home for their podcasting efforts---no special tools or skills required (other than a telephone----and if you don't have one of those, ask your students.  I guarantee you that there's a cell phone or two in a locker on your hallway right now!)

But for me, the weaknesses are nothing when compared to the benefits of Gabcast.  With little trouble, my students can record on any topic from anywhere.  If we're on a field trip and they want to record their reflections, it's no sweat.  All they have to do is dial a 1-800 number from their cellphones.  If we're in the classroom and I want small groups of children to comment on a topic that we're studying in class, it's done.  "Kids, go get your cell phones and working with a partner...."    (Needless to say, that's one of their favorite parts of our day.)   What Gabcast offers is immediacy.  Students and teachers using Gabcast to record can begin podcasting today without having to take any continuing education classes or begging for resources to buy new digital tools.  That kind of flexibility is what literally defines the work of the 21st Century----and it is the kind of work that teachers should be emphasizing in their classrooms.    (If Gabcast is blocked by your school district's firewall, consider checking out Gcast or Podomatic.  Both are similar services that may be of value to you in your efforts to get plugged in.)

the two learning systems and cultures, that of school and of the Web, are fundamentally different; one has a basis in control and structure, and the other is seemingly unstructured and chaotic. Educators, particularly those of the young, would ignore such observations at their peril. As Lee states, “most teachers, parents, education bureaucrats and politicians will not sit easily with an education they don’t control – and in many senses do not understand”