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L Butler

Digitally Speaking / Voicethread - 0 views

digitallyspeaking.pbworks.com/Voicethread

web2.0 techtips

shared by L Butler on 14 Oct 09 - Cached
  • School is one of the few times when they can get together with their friends and they use every unscheduled moment to socialize - passing time, when the teacher's back is turned, lunch, bathroom breaks, etc. They are desperately craving an opportunity to connect with their friends; not surprisingly, their use of anything that enables socialization while at school is deeply desired.
  • informal social learning
  • This drive to connect provides a unique opportunity for school teachers:  Incredibly high levels of student motivation paired with a predefined fluency with electronic communication tools.
  • ...22 more annotations...
  • One tool that can help educators to do just that is Voicethread.
  • Known as a “group audio blog,” Voicethread allows users to record text and audio comments about uploaded images.
  • Voicethread is Asynchronous:
  • Voicethread is Engaging:
  • Begin by carefully selecting a topic that will promote conversation and debate between students—and that can be conveyed through images currently available to you.
  • don’t be afraid to disagree with something
  • Initial comments should be somewhere between 1 and 3 sentences long. 
    • L Butler
      L Butler on 14 Oct 09
       
      As a teacher, this will be a challenge. The brief intro is what makes the difference between presentation and social education dialogue.
  • The best Voicethreads are truly interactive—with users listening and responding to one another. 
  • They come to the conversation with an open mind, willing to reconsider their own positions—and willing to challenge the notions of others. 
  • To be an active Voicethreader, start by carefully working your way through a presentation.   While viewing pictures and listening to the comments that have been added by other users, you should:   Gather Facts:  Jot down things that are interesting and new to you  Make Connections:  Relate and compare things you are viewing and hearing to things that you already know.  Ask Questions:  What about the comments and presentation is confusing to you?  What don’t you understand?  How will you find the answer?  Remember that there will ALWAYS be questions in an active thinker’s mind!  Give Opinions:  Make judgments about what you are viewing and hearing.  Do you agree?  Do you disagree?  Like?  Dislike?  Do you support or oppose anything that you have heard or seen?  Why? Use the following sentence starters to shape your thoughts and comments while viewing or participating in Voicethread presentations.  Comments based on these kinds of statements make Voicethreads interactive and engaging.   This reminds me of… This is similar to… I wonder… I realized… I noticed… You can relate this to… I’d like to know… I’m surprised that… If I were ________, I would  ______________ If __________ then ___________ Although it seems… I’m not sure that…
    • L Butler
      L Butler on 14 Oct 09
       
      These student suggestions are the missing link I was looking for to successfully incorporate into my classroom.
  • help other listeners know what it is that has caught your attention.
  • finish your comment with a question that other listeners can reply to.  Questions help to keep digital conversations going!
  • carefully script out short opening comments for each image that include a question for viewers to consider. 
  • Just be sure to disagree agreeably
  • Assessing Voicethread Participation
  • Essentially mirroring the reflective aspects of Konrad Glogowski's system for pushing reflective blogging, I've decided to ask my students the following four questions while we're working with a new Voicethread:
  • To craft careful answers, they must truly consider the comments of others---an essential skill for promoting collaborative versus competitive dialogue---and compare those comments against their own beliefs and preconceived notions. 
    • L Butler
      L Butler on 14 Oct 09
       
      Competitive dialogue motivates the students, but collaborative dialogue is the life skill they need to learn.
  • Voicethread allows users to upload documents to their strands of conversation as well.  That means that users can create a "Works Cited" page in a word processing application and upload it at the end of their Voicethread presentations. 
    • L Butler
      L Butler on 14 Oct 09
       
      Very useful info - I have been individually citing each picture, and its unsightly.
  • Voicethread Do's and Don'ts
  • Citing Images
  • Voicethread Handouts  
  • This one-page handout is designed to introduce students to some general tips for participating in Voicethread conversations. 
  • L Butler on 14 Oct 09
     
    Detailed guide to creating/using/evaluating VoiceThread in the classroom. There are great examples and guides to download. The question prompts for students to consider when replying are simple, yet perfect.
anonymous

Learning and Laptops: Wikified Research Paper- Year 2 - 1 views

learningandlaptops.blogspot.com/...ied-research-paper-year-2.html

wikified

shared by anonymous on 04 Oct 09 - Cached
  • A WRP, or wikified research paper, is made on wikispaces.com and allows students to link to resources within their papers, along with embedding various images and videos within their papers
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 05 Oct 09
       
      Note that she has them use a wiki. I'm not insisting on that because some districts still block wikis. Plus, it's then a matter of deciding on Public vs Private. If you choose Word then the links are there but it's just to be turned in - if that's your preference.
  • This knowledge of worldwide access to their papers has seemingly inspired students to give extra time and care to their papers, because they understand how many people could be reading them in the future. -Hannah L
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 05 Oct 09
       
      Did you also notice that this post was written by a student? But, I like what this paragraph says about motivation, don't you?
  • Lisa Keeley on 04 Oct 09
     
    wikified research papers
  • anonymous on 05 Oct 09
     
    "A WRP, or wikified research paper, is made on wikispaces.com and allows students to link to resources within their papers, along with embedding various images and videos within their papers."
anonymous

Study Finds That Online Education Beats the Classroom - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com - 0 views

bits.blogs.nytimes.com/...-education-beats-the-classroom

shared by anonymous on 19 Aug 09 - Cached
  • Some of it was in K-12 settings, but most of the comparative studies were done in colleges and adult continuing-education programs of various kinds, from medical training to the military.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 19 Aug 09
       
      I think that this fact is VERY important if one is going to draw a conclusion for K12, dont you?
  • “The study’s major significance lies in demonstrating that online learning today is not just better than nothing — it actually tends to be better than conventional instruction,”
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 19 Aug 09
       
      I would agree, as long as we're talking about colleges and adult learners, but I don't think we can naturally draw the same conclusion for k12 where the learners are less intrinsically motivated.
  • But the report does suggest that online education could be set to expand sharply over the next few years, as evidence mounts of its value.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 19 Aug 09
       
      Is your district ready for this?
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • The real promise of online education, experts say, is providing learning experiences that are more tailored to individual students than is possible in classrooms. That enables more “learning by doing,” which many students find more engaging and useful.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 19 Aug 09
       
      Yes, if there's enough time to 'cover' all the material that you must, in order to be ready for the PSSA tests.
  • “People are correct when they say online education will take things out the classroom. But they are wrong, I think, when they assume it will make learning an independent, personal activity. Learning has to occur in a community.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 19 Aug 09
       
      Really? Well, if that's true, THEN can we get the social learning tools like Diigo, unblocked in school? Or, must schools ignore the evidence and continue plodding along in isolation?
  • anonymous on 19 Aug 09
     
    I would agree that for colleges and adult learners it might be, but I'm not convinced that the same holds true for K12.
  • ...1 more comment...
  • anonymous on 19 Aug 09
     
    How is YOUR district prepared to handle this?
  • anonymous on 19 Aug 09
     
    Learning has to occur in a community, eh? If that's true, THEN can we get twitter, skype, Flickr, youtube, Diigo, etc unblocked so we can take advantage of that community?
  • anonymous on 19 Aug 09
     
    VERY significant, don't you think?
anonymous

Education Week: Filtering Fixes - 0 views

www.edweek.org/...02filter_ep.h29.html

shared by anonymous on 15 Sep 09 - Cached
  • Instead of blocking the many exit ramps and side routes on the information superhighway, they have decided that educating students and teachers on how to navigate the Internet’s vast resources responsibly, safely, and productively—and setting clear rules and expectations for doing so—is the best way to head off online collisions.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 15 Sep 09
       
      This is nothing new, but it seems this is one of the VERY few districts that puts its filter where its mouth is.
  • “We are known in our district for technology, so I don’t see how you can teach kids 21st-century values if you’re not teaching them digital citizenship and appropriate ways of sharing and using everything that’s available on the Web,” said Shawn Nutting, the technology director for the Trussville district. “How can you, in 2009, not use the Internet for everything? It blows me away that all these schools block things out” that are valuable.
  • While schools are required by federal and state laws to block pornography and other content that poses a danger to minors, Internet-filtering software often prevents students from accessing information on legitimate topics that tend to get caught in the censoring process: think breast cancer, sexuality, or even innocuous keywords that sound like blocked terms. One teacher who commented on one of Mr. Fryer’s blog posts, for example, complained that a search for biographical information on a person named Thacker was caught by his school’s Internet filter because the prohibited term “hacker” is included within the spelling of the word.
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • The K-2 school provides e-mail addresses to each of its 880 students and maintains accounts on the Facebook and Twitter networking sites. Children can also interact with peers in other schools and across the country through protected wiki spaces and blogs the school has set up.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 15 Sep 09
       
      We find it hard to even imagine this, don't we?
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 15 Sep 09
       
      the entire approach to filtering is based on this sentence, isn't it?
  • “Rather than saying this is a scary tool and something bad could happen, instead we believe it’s an incredible tool that connects you with the entire world out there. ... [L]et’s show you the best way to use it.”
  • As Trussville students move through the grades and encounter more-complex educational content and expectations, their Internet access is incrementally expanded.
  • In 2001, the Children’s Internet Protection Act instituted new requirements for schools to establish policies and safeguards for Internet use as a condition of receiving federal E-rate funding. Many districts have responded by restricting any potentially troublesome sites. But many educators and media specialists complain that the filters are set too broadly and cannot discriminate between good and bad content. Drawing the line between what material is acceptable and what’s not is a local decision that has to take into account each district’s comfort level with using Internet content
  • The American Civil Liberties Union sued Tennesee’s Knox County and Nashville school districts on behalf of several students and a school librarian for blocking Internet sites related to gay and lesbian issues. While the districts’ filtering software prohibited students from accessing sites that provided information and resources on the subject, it did not block sites run by organizations that promoted the controversial view that homosexuals can be “rehabilitated” and become heterosexuals. Last month, a federal court dismissed the lawsuit after school officials agreed to unblock the sites.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 15 Sep 09
       
      Hmmm - a lawsuit? And the Assistant Sec of Education didn't understand what I meant when I suggested that lawsuits control decisions and guide curriculum.
  • Students are using personal technology tools more readily to study subject matter, collaborate with classmates, and complete assignments than they were several years ago, but they are generally asked to “power down” at school and abandon the electronic resources they rely on for learning outside of class, the survey found. Administrators generally cite safety issues and concerns that students will misuse such tools to dawdle, cheat, or view inappropriate content in school as reasons for not offering more open online access to students. ("Students See Schools Inhibiting Their Use of New Technologies,", April 1, 2009.)
  • A report commissioned by the NSBA found that social networking can be beneficial to students, and urged school board members to “find ways to harness the educational value” of so-called Web 2.0 tools, such as setting up chat rooms or online journals that allow students to collaborate on their classwork. The 2007 report also told school boards to re-evaluate policies that ban or tightly restrict the use of the Internet or social-networking sites.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 15 Sep 09
       
      YES!! What do you think?
  • Federal Requirements for Schools on Internet Safety The Children’s Internet Protection Act, or CIPA, is a federal law intended to block access to offensive Web content on school and library computers. Under CIPA, schools and libraries that receive funding through the federal E-rate program for Internet access must: • Have an Internet-safety policy and technology-protection measures in place. The policy must include measures to block or filter Internet access to obscene photos, child pornography, and other images that can be harmful to minors; • Educate minors about appropriate and inappropriate online behavior, including activities like cyberbullying and social networking; • Adopt and enforce a policy to monitor online activities of minors; and • Adopt and implement policies related to Internet use by minors that address access to inappropriate online materials, student safety and privacy issues, and the hacking of unauthorized sites. Source: Federal Communications Commission
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 15 Sep 09
       
      This is the Act that schools cite when giving reasons for blocking what they do. Can you justify it from this? Granted, it's not the coplete law, but they sure do use this to justify everything.
  • “We believe that you can’t have goals about kids’ collaborating globally and then block their ability to do that,” said Becky Fisher, the Virginia district’s technology coordinator.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 15 Sep 09
       
      Hear! Hear!
anonymous

Educational Leadership:Teaching for the 21st Century:What Would Socrates Say? - 0 views

www.ascd.org/..._Would_Socrates_Say%C2%A2.aspx

shared by anonymous on 07 Sep 09 - Cached
  • The noted philosopher once said, "I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance." My fear is that instead of knowing nothing except the fact of our own ignorance, we will know everything except the fact of our own ignorance. Google has given us the world at our fingertips, but speed and ubiquity are not the same as actually knowing something.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 07 Sep 09
       
      What an interesting difference this turn of phrase creates, isn't it?
  • Socrates believed that we learn best by asking essential questions and testing tentative answers against reason and fact in a continual and virtuous circle of honest debate. We need to approach the contemporary knowledge explosion and the technologies propelling this new enlightenment in just that manner. Otherwise, the great knowledge and communication tsunami of the 21st century may drown us in a sea of trivia instead of lifting us up on a rising tide of possibility and promise.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 07 Sep 09
       
      I'd love to hear your thoughts on this paragraph
  • A child born today could live into the 22nd century. It's difficult to imagine all that could transpire between now and then. One thing does seem apparent: Technical fixes to our outdated educational system are likely to be inadequate. We need to adapt to a rapidly changing world.
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • Every day we are exposed to huge amounts of information, disinformation, and just plain nonsense. The ability to distinguish fact from factoid, reality from fiction, and truth from lies is not a "nice to have" but a "must have" in a world flooded with so much propaganda and spin.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 07 Sep 09
       
      Would we not ALL agre on this? What argument can you think of that might contradict this? If this is true, then what should change?
  • For example, for many years, the dominant U.S. culture described the settling of the American West as a natural extension of manifest destiny, in which people of European descent were "destined" to occupy the lands of the indigenous people. This idea was, and for some still is, one of our most enduring and dangerous collective fabrications because it glosses over human rights and skirts the issue of responsibility. Without critical reflection, we will continually fall victim to such notions.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 07 Sep 09
       
      I think schools talk about the Manifest destiny idea early on. It's too bad that it's not revisited when kids are older and can reflect on that idea more.
  • A second element of the 21st century mind that we must cultivate is the willingness to abandon supernatural explanations for naturally occurring events.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 07 Sep 09
       
      What do you think?
  • The third element of the 21st century mind must be the recognition and acceptance of our shared evolutionary collective intelligence.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 07 Sep 09
       
      The mere fact that you're reading this supports the idea of colective intelligence, doesn't it?
  • To solve the 21st century's challenges, we will need an education system that doesn't focus on memorization, but rather on promoting those metacognitive skills that enable us to monitor our own learning and make changes in our approach if we perceive that our learning is not going well.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 07 Sep 09
       
      TONS of people say this. Yet, the state and federal governments continue to push standardized tests. The world needs problem solvers but our educational system produces kids who are either good at memorizing or who aren't good at memorizing. Agree? Disagree?
  • Metacognition is a fancy word for a higher-order learning process that most of us use every day to solve thousands of problems and challenges.
  • We are at the threshold of a worldwide revolution in learning. Just as the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the wall of conventional schooling is collapsing before our eyes. A new electronic learning environment is replacing the linear, text-bound culture of conventional schools. This will be the proving ground of the 21st century mind.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 07 Sep 09
       
      "Mr Tech Director, tear down that (filter) wall."
  • We will cease to think of technology as something that has its own identity, but rather as an extension of our minds, in much the same way that books extend our minds without a lot of fanfare. According to Huff and Saxberg, immersive technologies—such as multitouch displays; telepresence (an immersive meeting experience that offers high video and audio clarity); 3-D environments; collaborative filtering (which can produce recommendations by comparing the similarity between your preferences and those of other people); natural language processing; intelligent software; and simulations—will transform teaching and learning by 2025.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 07 Sep 09
       
      We're SAYING that now, but kids and teachers still lack the skills to make it a reality. Until kids have a friendly way of organizing and accessing the resoures they find (Diigo?) they cannnot be at this point. Agree? Disagree?
  • So imagine that a group of teachers and middle school students decides to tackle the question, What is justice? Young adolescents' discovery of injustice in the world is a crucial moment in their development. If adults offer only self-serving answers to this question, students can become cynical or despairing. But if adults treat the problem of injustice truthfully and openly, hope can emerge and grow strong over time. As part of their discussion, let's say that the teachers and students have cocreated a middle school earth science curriculum titled Water for the World. This curriculum would be a blend of classroom, community, and online activities. Several nongovernmental organizations—such as Waterkeeper, the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and Water for People—might support the curriculum, which would meet national and state standards and include lessons, activities, games, quizzes, student-created portfolios, and learning benchmarks.
  • The goal of the curriculum would be to enable students from around the world to work together to address the water crisis in a concrete way. Students might help bore a freshwater well, propose a low-cost way of preventing groundwater pollution, or develop a local water treatment technique. Students and teachers would collaborate by talking with one another through Skype and posting research findings using collaborative filtering. Students would create simulations and games and use multitouch displays to demonstrate step-by-step how their projects would proceed. A student-created Web site would include a blog; a virtual reference room; a teachers' corner; a virtual living room where learners communicate with one another in all languages through natural language processing; and 3-D images of wells being bored in Africa, Mexico, and Texas. In a classroom like this, something educationally revolutionary would happen: Students and adults would connect in a global, purposeful conversation that would make the world a better place. We would pry the Socratic dialogue from the hands of the past and lift it into the future to serve the hopes and dreams of all students everywhere.
  • There has never been a time in human history when the opportunity to create universally accessible knowledge has been more of a reality. And there has never been a time when education has meant more in terms of human survival and happiness.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 07 Sep 09
       
      Woud you agree?
  • To start, we must overhaul and redesign the current school system. We face this great transition with both hands tied behind our collective backs if we continue to pour money, time, and effort into an outdated system of education. Mass education belongs in the era of massive armies, massive industrial complexes, and massive attempts at social control. We have lost much talent since the 19th century by enforcing stifling education routines in the name of efficiency. Current high school dropout rates clearly indicate that our standardized testing regime and outdated curriculums are wasting the potential of our youth.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 07 Sep 09
       
      I like this. What do YOU think?
  • If we stop thinking of schools as buildings and start thinking of learning as occurring in many different places, we will free ourselves from the conventional education model that still dominates our thinking.
L Butler

Four Pillars of Technology Integration | nashworld - 0 views

nashworld.edublogs.org/...lars-of-technology-integration

web2.0 blog education

shared by L Butler on 10 Aug 09 - Cached
  • Think transformation of the way teaching and learning is done in your district, as opposed to integration into it as it exists.
    • L Butler
      L Butler on 10 Aug 09
       
      The success comes when new lessons are created creatively utilizing the technology. It feels awkward when technology is just tacked on to an old lesson - just so there is technology.
  • Learn what they learn.
    • L Butler
      L Butler on 10 Aug 09
       
      Unless people learn / play with the technology, they can not possibly understand the potential power in the classroom.
  • The fourth pillar of “instructional model” is more than a quick soundbyte allows.  I see three levels of this notion with increasing value as follows:  1) You have thought about and encouraged good instructional practices in your building/district.  2) You have a well-articulated plan for effective instructional practice that is building or districtwide.  3)  You have a true learner-centered instructional model in place in grades K-12 that credits the constructivist nature of human learning.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • don’t filter the very usefulness out of the web
    • L Butler
      L Butler on 10 Aug 09
       
      Love the wording of this ... sadly it is so true
  • At this point, the vast majority of school systems are behind the curve in this area.  Being this far behind might just have one distinct advantage.  If there is no way to see any of the individual trees in a forest, you are likely going to be forced to start your mission with a whole-forest view to begin with. 
  • You don’t need a flashlight.  It’s not that dark in there anymore.  Trust that there are others who have proceeded down this path before you, and they have learned many important lessons.  Collaborate.  Learn from their successes and failures.  Do not go it alone. 
  • Ask yourself: what can we do with these new tools available today that we couldn’t do before?  If we could remake our curriculum any way we wanted, how would we do it? 
  • All systems need what I will call an “innovation engine.”  Whatever the system, whatever the setup, schools and school systems need pockets of sponsored innovation.
  • Soon after access is all around you, it doesn’t even feel like “technology,” it just feels like the way things are done.  This is a good thing, for when technology becomes invisible, we can finally focus on the value added from new uses of these tools. 
  • So where does all of this leave you?  How many of these pillars have been already constructed around you?  What have you done to help in that construction? 
  • L Butler on 10 Aug 09
     
    Interesting blog which addresses technology integration from the perspectives of all the parties involved - admins, technology coaches, teachers, students, etc. Worth the reading.
L Butler

LGDTXTR.COM - 0 views

lgdtxtr.com

translation texting

shared by L Butler on 14 Jul 09 - Cached
  • L Butler on 14 Jul 09
     
    Interesting glossary/translator of teen texting phrases.
  • Heather Marsh on 14 Jul 09
     
    I was actually discussing this topic with the Chair of the Business Division at HACC. This abbreviated language that has developed out of texting and instant messaging reminded her of how Court Reporters use similar abbreviations for words and phrases. They're thinking of referencing the similarities to encourage high school graduates to consider court reporting for a career and a major at HACC.
L Butler

Northumberland NGfL Modern Language Resources - 0 views

ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/...default.htm

story languages

shared by L Butler on 24 Jun 09 - Cached
  • Click here to access the interactive story in French, German, Spanish and Italian.
    • L Butler
      L Butler on 24 Jun 09
       
      The story has text and audio, so the students can read along as they hear the words. The traditional stories have different endings to choose from. Even though they are basic stories, the tenses are more complex than an early language learner would know.
  • L Butler on 24 Jun 09
     
    Interactive stories in multiple languages.
anonymous

Big Huge Thesaurus: Synonyms, antonyms, and rhymes (oh my!) - 1 views

words.bighugelabs.com/plot.php

writing

shared by anonymous on 25 Nov 09 - Cached
  • anonymous on 25 Nov 09
     
    Looking for plot lines for students to use to write a short story? This one has a bunch of them. You can also get ideas for blog posts. And, go all the way back to the beginning of this site to find lots of synonyms, antonyms and rhymes. English teachers - bookmark this one
  • anonymous on 25 Nov 09
     
    Fun plost ideas for students who are writing short story ideas or descriptive paragraphs.
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