Notes from Millie D

Tomorrow I’m expecting a whole computer lab full of new computers ready for me to put software onto.  Here is where I would love to have some help, what software should I put on these XP computers?

This is what I’m thinking about putting on them…

• Office
• Kidspiration
• The House Series (Bailey, Trudy, Millie, etc)

• Firefox
• TuxPaint
• Scratch
• Jing
• Audacity
• Bruce’s Unusual Typing Wizard (Open to suggestions but there is no money to buy a program)
• PhotoStory 3
• Dinosaur World
• Google SketchUp
• Google Earth
• Adobe Acrobat Reader
• Real and Quicktime

Each workstation will have a live Tux CD and Edubuntu Live CD because I want to ease these guys into a hybrid world.
As you can tell I’m working within a Kindergarten through 5th Grade Environment.  Any suggestions are welcome!

Personal Learning Networks have really evolved as a professional development tool over the last few years. Before we were limited to face to face type interactions, reading web pages, or participating in listservs. Each of these served a purpose but now we have so many more tools at our disposal. To make my point a little easier on the eye I created a graphic for your viewing pleasure.

Anything in yellow represents recent (within the last 5 years) methods for teachers to expand their network for professional development. Think about how this might grow in the next few years.Students are already utilizing these tools teachers should be as well.

I like blogging because it gives me a voice on the Internet that has worldwide appeal.  No, I’m not egotistical but one of the great things about blogging is that anyone around the world can read your thoughts and opinions and share theirs on the topics, giving the blog worldwide appeal.  On this particular blog I’ve had people from all different parts of the world leave a comment giving me a chance to connect with people I never would have the chance to meet face-to-face.  For that I say thank you.

Blogging also provides a two way conversation with your audience.  I’ve read some great posts that have made a profound impact on me or made me think about things that I might have taken for granted.  My way of thanking them is to leave a comment.  It is such an easy thing to do but it continues the conversation.  Even if I disagree I have the chance to express it.  The only way I could do that in a Web 1.0 world would be to create a static page which most likely wouldn’t be read or start a flaming war.

In the classroom blogging can be a very powerful tool to engage students in a meaningful way.  Students have a chance to have an authentic audience.  They can engage in powerful conversations which is living proof of their learning.

If you have any other items to share please leave a comment.

This weekend I’ve been painting my daughters’ room which hasn’t been a whole lot of fun but that is another story for another time at a different blog.  Anyway…if you were looking for a way to explain the difference between a Web 1.0 site and a 2.0 site then here you go.

A Web 1.0 site is like a room that has already been painted.  If you don’t like it you have to wait for a new color to be put on the walls (a new/revised site).

A Web 2.0 site documents the stages of painting the room.  Users can see the prep work, the primer coat(s), the trim work, the first coat, the second coat, and any touch up.  Along the way you wife, your daughters, or whomever can leave comments (criticism) with the idea to producing the best product as possible.

Either way my daughters have a Fairytale Pink bedroom.

What is it about Web 2.0 that I like?  That is an interesting question that I tried to answer today when mowing my lawn today (I don’t know why).  I thought about the interactivity of the tools but I’m not thrilled about handheld devices that are interactive.  I thought about the laziness time-saving ability of RSS but I have that with digest versions of listservs that I belong to (yes, they still serve a function).  After some time I think I came up with my answer:  structure.  Every Web 2.0 tool has a structure that it works within but it is still customizable for the user (mashups)

If you think about the different tools you understand where I’m going.  Del.icio.us allows me to store my bookmarks in a web based manner but I can the structure allows me to look up my bookmarks as well as other based on tags.  This way I don’t have to remember what exactly the site was about but use the keyword tags.  Flickr works the same way.  Wikis allow me to work collaboratively on a web based project but the end user is not stuck with seeing the final product.  The user can use the structure of wikis to look at previous versions and make comparisons between versions. Blogs allow people to carry on a conversation or evolution of a concept through the comments.  The user is not limited to a static page which presents I version of the conversation.

Are Web 2.0 tools perfect?  No, but these tools are starting to change the culture of conversation which is a good thing.

Last summer I read Malcolm Gladwell’s book “The Tipping Point“.  I would consider this book a must read, on the same level as “The World Is Flat”.  The basic premise of the book is that there is some point or influence that takes a movement or trend and turns it into a phenomenon.  Since reading the book I’ve wondered when will Web 2.0 reach the tipping point in education.  There are so many people who speak about the wonderful things that Web 2.0 tools have done for the classrooms but the concept is still very foreign to the mainstream education.  The mainstream still seems to lump Web 2.0 and MySpace together as being one in the same which is very far from the truth.

I recently read Jeff Utecht’s post at the Thinking Stick.  He talked about the fact we may be measuring the wrong generation when it comes to Web 2.0 tools.  His assertion is that we need to make sure as many children know how to use this type of technology  so they can function in a flat world.  I hadn’t thought about it in that way but it makes sense.  The tipping point is going to come from the next generation not from mine or the ones before me.

Does this mean we forget about my generation or the ones before me?  Absolutely not, we need to spend the time but we don’t need to focus the time solely here.  By changing the perspective of the problem a solution seems to be in sight.  Now it is up to us to do the best we can in becoming the mavens to make the largest impact we can on influencing the tipping point of Web 2.0 tools in education.

Let the collaboration start!  David, Matt, and I have started our collaborative wiki assignment for a class I’m taking.  Getting the initial idea going and framework was no problem.  Murphy’s Law kicked in when I was trying to invite people to collaborate.  It took over 24 hours and actually it took a forward of CC invite before it worked.  I hope anyone else who is using Wetpaint hasn’t run into that problem! :( 

The theme of the project is “A Web 2.0 Primer for Newbies“.  Our hope is to have this wiki serve as a reference that could be shared with teachers new to Web 2.0 and want to learn more so they can integrate it into their classroom.  I invite everyone to check it out and contribute their own thoughts and ideas.

Extremely Happy Feet: Disney Acquires Club Penguin For Up To $700 million

2 years ago we had Rupert Murdoch’s company bought MySpace for $700+ million, now we have Disney purchasing Club Penguin.  This may not sound that earth shattering but this could be a big deal in social networking.  Children seem to go through a sequence (Webkinz -> Club Penguin -> MySpace or Facebook) in the social networking world.

This is a logical purchase for Disney as they have resurrected their notoriety from kiddie cartoon channel to pre-teen/teen market with shows like Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Hannah Montana, and Cory in the House and movies like High School Musical and Cheetah Girls.  Can you tell I have a child in that target market?  Now Disney can merge that reputation in an existing social networking giant, Club Penguin, and produce a virtual DisneyWorld for the little penguins. 

For those of you who are not familiar with Club Penguin.  Club Penguin allows their users to create a profile and avatar.  Their penguin goes around playing games and interacting with other penguins, under supervision to promote safety.  Users create buddy lists and arrange gatherings trying to collect coins (not exactly a message we want to get across to children in my humble opinion).  There are sites out there telling users how to hack the system to get more coins (Do you see potential danger there?).

I wonder if this virtual world will turn as commerical as other places like MySpace and Second Life.  With cross promotion my world is going flooded with Club Penguin references.  Oh joy!