Notes from Millie D

incorporated subversion

Edublogs.org is a year old today.  The site has really taken off in the last six months.  I’m excited to see the future additions of flickr, YouTube, and widgits.

Happy Birthday

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EdTechPost: stu.dicio.us - what a student-developed, student-focused learning/study tool looks like

There is a service out there that mimics del.icio.us and other Web2.0 tools for the student.  it is called stu.dicio.us.  This service allows the user to input their schedule, create todo lists, and become an electronic notebook.  Students can collaborate by searching for notes from other students.  The article mentions filestorage and grade tracking in the future.  I found the service pretty simple to use.  For those people who were thinking about blogging this service may be another way to go.

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DOPA (Digital Online Predator Act) has quietly (mainstream-wise) passed through the House.  Based on the name it sounds like a good thing but educators need to dig below the surface.  A lot of Web 2.0 tools out there for educators will have to be blocked (sites like flickr, del.icio.us and services like most blogs and wikis not hosted on your own servers).  I urge educators to do their homework and if compelled contact their Senators.

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While I’ve been on vacation, my mind is still thinking about technology and work.  I’ve been reading the book, the Tipping Point.  I know not really vacation by the shore reading but I’ve been wanting to read this book for months and now I have the time.  Anyway, the book says there are three situations in which a situation tips to an epidemic (the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context) and I’ve been thinking about the role technology plays within education and where is the tipping point.  Actually I’ve been thinking quite a bit about it and now I need to blog about to help process my thinking even further.

For the kids technology and education the tipping point occured long ago with the advent of the Internet, that was actually pretty easy.  The harder one is what will be the tipping point for teachers and administrators.  I know that it hasn’t occured yet because technology funding is always questioned, teachers are not fully utilizing technology in the classroom.  I’ve thought about the law of the few and realize that technology and education has pushed further but it hasn’t gotten there yet.  However there are a lot of Mavens out there to help the cause.

I’m really stuck on the fact that teachers and administrators haven’t found the stickiness or used the power of context.  This is where I need help.  Any thoughts out there!  I will way in with my thoughts when they become tangible (to my fingers at least).

Now that a bulk of the work on my final project has been completed I’m starting to feel like I’m able to see the end.  My thoughts that I posted yesterday haven’t changed.  I was a little distraught watching Alice’s frustration trying to use bubbleshare (that was going to be one of my tools).  I willing to give it the good old college try tomorrow but if I’m not successful right away I not going to stress about it (yeah right).

I’ve learned a lot about digital storytelling and how easy it is to implement.  I’m thinking that I can easily integrate this from Kindergarten through Fifth Grade (the grades I’m working with).  Each grade level would have a little more than the previous class in order to keep it fresh. I’m sure this will be like most things with technology the students will grasp it early on and the whole unit shifts down.

I’m hoping that my work might inspire others to try using the technology to duplicate my goals within their classroom.  I’m thinking elementary teachers can grab the concept easily, foreign language teachers can latch on under that foreign tongue, and langauge arts teachers can incorporate literary elements very easily.  I’m more than willing to share some of the tricks I learned (both in a PC or Mac environment).

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Andy Carvin’s Waste of Bandwidth: Embracing Web 2.0 in an Education 1.0 Universe

Background:  Andy Carvin, based out of Boston, use to work for an organization called EDC which is big in using technology in schools.  Andy’s focus is closing the digital divide not on a national level but on an international level.  Now Andy is on his own consulting, he runs a sub-site within PBS.org called Learning.now.

Andy did a presentation today in Buffalo, NY with the given title in the link.  Looking over the powerpoint I swear he condensed our class into that powerpoint.  This would be a great resource to have on hand during the school year to refer back to when you might need a primer to get back into thinking that you leave with this week.

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NECC 06 Podcasts and Videos

Many of us were not able to make it to San Diego for the 4th of July to attend this year’s NECC conference.  Thanks to the hard work of attendees some sessions have been podcasted.  Listening to these podcasts give you the feel of actually being there.  Who knows 5 years from now we don’t even need to leave our home to attend through a 3D virtual world.  A lot of the topics in the podcasts have been brought up this week.

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Here is another Web 2.0 tool out there to make your head spin even more.  Netvibes is a customizable homepage.  Some of the neat features include:

• capture RSS feeds
• view your inbox to your email
• view your flickr photos
• view calendars
• create/manage to do lists
• create sticky notes
• Web search:  Google, Yahoo, Wikipedia, IceRocket
• Box.net web storage (1GB online storage) (no cost)
• Create tabs to spread out your content
• Weather forecasts
• del.icio.us bookmarks
• ebay
• AOL Music
• drag and drop boxes of content

The features are being updated constantly.  I hope you enjoy.

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Web 2.0 tools are impacting how I’m thinking about teaching everyday.  I think about my initial technology integration work and I would also wonder, “did it make an impact?”  With Web 2.x (I think we beyond the .0) I can/will know the impact through the read/write nature of the tools. Blog comments, wiki updates, views on the flickr account are all ways for me to measure that impact.  As the technology evolves teachers can make more and more social connections with their students, parents, and community and hopefully making it more meaningful.

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Here is some feedback I might provide on this course, EPA 508.  The intent is constructive not destructive!

Work worked

Great conversations and resources (both human and technical)

Time to explore, play, and think

What didn’t work

The only thing I think might have worked better was less “big” Web2.0 products.  I noticed a lot of people who were on info technology overload.  As far as the setup and the interactions go it was right on.

Suggestions for this course in the future

Either a two week course (6 cr) to give people enough time to digest the content, applications, and the how to or break the class into two parts intro to the digital classroom and then Web 2.x in the Classroom.

Having the articles/links on a CD to access might have been nice.

VoIP technology

This has been a great course.  Thank you for offering it!

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