The Future Begins Now

Over the course of these 23 things I feel more engaged in the opportunities provided by web 2.0, but also more exposed to new lingo and new content.   Many of the tools we used I might have never found on my own.  Some of them are good, some might be useful someday, and some just felt like a waste of time (though none of it really was).  It’s the same for students, when they say “when am I ever going to use this,” I answer that they may not use that particular skill but it is a skill that will help build another, and that is the approach I took with the less interesting tools.

I am very glad I took this course if for no other reason than it opened up my eyes to the possibilities the future holds and the opportunities we have in education to capitalize on the students interest in technology.  Some of my favorite tools were voicethread and learning about wiki pages.  Voicethread is great because the students already love listening to themselves talk, but now we will challenge them to think about it in depth before recording (think before you speak!).  I also loved the wiki page because of the opportunity to let each student create their own page and then make one large page for a project.  Also the ability to recover old pages.

Shelley, thanks for putting together this course and giving all of us a chance to learn and grow through this class.  I have benefited greatly from the new information and knowledge and look forward to the next step.

Speaking of the next step, I am beginning to explore ways to incorporate my two favorite tools into my lesson plans for next year, taking the first step towards educating my students in the amazing world of web 2.0!

Classroom 2.0 and Ning seem like a way to make educational networking in the school building much safer and more efficient.  I use facebook mostly to connect with old friends and see what people are up to and I assume I could use Classroom 2.0 to do the same but educationally.  Unlike facebook though, with classroom 2.0 I would be connected to people that do the same things I do so the content would be more valuable.

On Ning, I found a few sites that were on facebook that I looked at.   I am not so sure how comfortable I am yet with these sites to sign up because I don’t want to overload myself with resources I won’t use.  But one thing I read that interested me was not to worry about all the content because the best stuff keeps coming back up!

When I began using my Google reader I was mostly checking websites that were more educational based sites, and that began to bore me after a while considering most of it wasn’t pertinent to me.  So lately I’ve added a few sports websites to the mix to peak my interest from time to time.  Many of the articles I get I may see elsewhere, some I don’t.  Of course if you add sports websites to your reader, you will seem some familiar names.  One story that caught my eye today was seeing Tiger in the news again.  He pulled out of this weekends golf tournament and of course made excuses for why he’s been so bad lately.

I’m not sure if I completely agree with the timing considering he waited until he was really struggling to reveal this injury, however, this is the same guy that won the US Open on one leg (torn ACL).

Pageflakes is an interesting way of consolidating all your information on one page.  At first I thought it was too busy and unappealing but as I explored more pages I got more comfortable.  I believe the same issue would exist for students when they first see a page like this with so much information.

For my class I would use Pageflakes for Jewish holidays, linking in videos, games, and other learning materials I could use in class to teach the traditions and laws of the holidays.  One huge advantage doing that would be less down time when I have to find a new website or pull up a different slide.  Everything would be on the page for me and ready to go when I click it.  Another advantage would be to have the RSS feed with some of the Jewish Websites I visit that have good resources and games to learn about the holidays.

I don’t feel comfortable enough yet to make a page for school now but is something I could see myself exploring more during the summer.

Google Docs are a great tool to use as an alternative to Microsoft Word.  You have most of the same capabilities with Google Docs with the added ability to access it anywhere or collaborate without the chance of losing it.  Since we began using internet frequently a decade ago, we got used to emailing documents, links, and other materials we would need elsewhere to ourselves.  Now with Google Docs and other sites like delicious we are using the internet to store our information so that we can access it anywhere.

If my students  use Google Docs during class I can track their progress.  Another benefit of Google Docs in the classroom would be for group projects assigned as homework.  The students can work on the same documents from home as well as have several people on the same document at the same time.  I have a few projects next year where the students will have to do several assignments as part of one big project.  With Google Docs they can create them, save them, and organize them when finished, as well as collaborate on one of them with a friend where both can turn it in at the end via email. 

For myself, I work from home on my lesson plans and should start doing them in Google Docs so that I can easily access from home and school without going through my email.  Afterall, with more and more technology available, we must find shortcuts and eliminate wasted time so that we utilize our time to the best of our abilities.

I previously wrote this but it was erased when my computer decided it didn’t like it (internet down, next page blank, this page lost–lesson learned).

Creating videos can be a wonderful part of education because of the challenging task of being as close to perfect as possible.  Before becoming a teacher I was in broadcasting and when something is going to be on the radio, it must be perfect.  Editting must be very precise and everything must be prepared in order to do the best job possible.  My students can learn this lesson through producing their own videos. 

With an eye towards production–as opposed to consumption–my students can feel empowered and excited about the opportunity to reach out and teach someone else.  I love it when students are inspired by the project they are working on because they are excited about the outlet in which they are producing the content for, as opposed to dreading the project because they “don’t like writing papers” or “are tired of doing research.”  Through the creation of videos, my students can learn even when they don’t know they are learning! 

A big issue I have with TeacherTube is the minimal availabily of Judaic studies content.  I guess I better get started creating my own.  Or just look at YouTube, which seems to have ANYTHING and EVERYTHING.  One video I liked on TeacherTube is about the use of the smartboard.  Here is a music teacher using the SmartBoard to teach her lesson on music.  Even though I don’t teach music, this is inspiring to see another teacher using the same technology, and gives me ideas for my lessons.

I enjoyed the opportunity to make the podcast, however I have not enjoyed the process of posting it.  I have had trouble converting it into an MP3 and so I have now recorded the same thing on my work and home computer, and still have not been successful in posting it. 

I could see myself using podcasts that I record for the students to listen to and creating an assigment they have to do after listening.  This would be a great opportunity for independent stations.  Having the students make their own podcasts would be very time consuming but a great lesson for them.  Because I teach pre-K through 5th grade, my students aren’t at a point where they can put together a good script and create a podcast, so the work load on me might be more than if I created a more effective project.

Podcasting seems to be catching on everywhere.  Between news, sports, and talk shows, everyone is putting their content into a podcast that consumers can take and listen on the go.

I subscribed to several podcasts.  For learning purposes I subscribed to three Jewish themed podcasts, Limmud, NFTY, and Public Lectures.  For pleasure I subscribed to Bill Simmon’s BS Report.   My first observation is that most podcasts are too long.  Many of the ones I previewed were over an hour, some approaching an hour.  As I listened I felt like I got bored with many of the selections I previewed (which might be partially my fault–but I chose the ones that looked the most interesting and wasn’t successful).

I did my best to find a podcast that could be viewed in my class but couldn’t.  When I looked under the Jewish themed podcasts, they were all lectures or topics only adults would be interested in.  When I searched Education, they weren’t relevant to my course topics.  Finally, when I searched kids and family, it was again off topic.

I could see myself using this in the classroom to record but not to view until better podcasts come out.

LibraryThing is part brilliant, part useless.  I like to approach new concepts with the thought, “Do I need this?”  The truth is some new technologies wouldn’t make it through that filter but it’s always a start.  An example I can share is about my parents who refused to get DVR.  They kept making excuses that they had a VCR and could record anything they wanted, why should they spend the $12 a month.  Of course in hindsight they couldn’t see themselves without DVR thus my “Do I need this” philosophy has holes. 

However, at first glance I don’t understand the importance of LibraryThing.  On the surface it seems like a website that I can post which books I have, have read, or want to read, for a fee!  Reading is great and sometimes we are unsure which book we want to read next, but we shouldn’t have to pay for that information.  In an age where we bargain hunt in our sleep, we need a place to collaborate our information for free.  The price isn’t high, but to me it’s the principle that I am simply sharing which books I’ve read and reading other peoples lists, and I have to pay. 

The upside of LibraryThing is how you can find people with similar interests and follow their lead.  When someone that has read many of the same books as you finds a new good title, they will naturally share it, and you will trust it’s worth your time.  It’s the way we’ve approached it all along, a friend you share similar interests with reads a book then passes it on to you.  Except here we don’t have the same luxury of borrowing the book for free.  We see they read a book, then have to go out and purchase it (or check it out from the library.) 

With IPad’s and other technologies available to read books, it would make a great deal of sense to give the option to purchase the book and download it to your computer, or electronic book reading device.

In the classroom this would be a great tool for sharing books we’ve read outside of the classroom, but I see two major downsides.  The first is social.  We want our students to interact with each other and learn how to do it in a healthy way.  Web 2.0 leads us to an online world where our students can’t aquire those skills and we need to limit the amount of time they spend behind a screen.  The second problem is one I discussed before, the cost.  It is hard to ask our parents to shell out the money for this program without really evident reasons to ask for them to pay.  Parents will be skeptical (much like me) and it might be more trouble than it’s worth.

I know I was harsh in this post but part of it might be that I don’t yet see good reasoning to LibraryThing being essential in education.  Someone want to post otherwise??

After exploring Delicious, it seems like a great concept and something that should catch on quickly.  But thinking about it more, as much as it can help us, change is tough so it might take time for all of us to come around. 

I do understand that it has been around for a little while but considering I’m only hearing about it through this class (and a brief technology meeting at our school a few months ago), I’m not sure that everyone else knows about it or is willing to transfer their bookmarks over.  Doing this can be tedious and people need to be convinced that this will completely benefit them before they set aside time to do this. 

Personally, I see myself transfering my bookmarks eventually, but even though I cannot share my home and work bookmarks currently, I don’t see such a dire need to do it now.  I do like the idea of seeing other peoples bookmarks and tags because it is like a google search with less junk, considering these sites were ‘screened’ before being posted. 

You can visit my bookmarks at http://delicious.com/ilanweismark.