techLEARNING webinar for Teachers April 26, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Conference Sessions.add a comment
From the Cool Cat Teacher:
This webinar is Monday about Web 2.0 and I’m co-presenting. If you attend, you’ll receive a 3 month free trial subscription to Atomic Learning. Preregister here.
This will give you access to the series I did on Web 2.0 and how to set up an RSS reader, etc. Also, the new one I’ve done on Flattening your classroom will be available as well.
http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2008/04/sites-that-caught-my-eye-today-04262008.html
Online Record Keeping March 27, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Conference Sessions.add a comment
I’m teaching an online class that includes assignments for individual blogs as a reflective journal, comments on each other’s blogs, and shared bookmarks in del.icio.us. I have to say that RSS is certainly helpful, but with tracking a dozen or so different blogs, comments, and del.icio.us accounts, this is something of an accounting nightmare. Any suggestions on how to better bundle this all up into one place (currently using Safari for RSS feeds, and Protopage so others can also see everything) I’d appreciate suggestions and be happy to look into alternatives.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liboni/375555508/
Colorado Conversation: Roundtable With Barbara and Clarence February 23, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Conference Sessions, Edubloggers.add a comment
This conversation is run through http://www.mebeam.com/alpharoom.php?room=colearning
Barbara Barreda - K-8 principal from Los Angeles, CA.
Clarence Fisher - 7th and 8th grade teacher from Snowlake, Manitoba
B- our students have a limited view of the world. Working with C’s students has expanded their horizons.
C- B and I met over the Internet, through blogs, through Skype
C- we wanted ‘Thin Walls’ to go beyond an online project. A lot of it was experimental. We started off with VoiceThreads. We went from there to blogs. We did a novel study together. We’re learning to be facilitators, to get out of the way, to develop the tools as they are needed.
B- my students live below the porverty level, but in a private school, our parents make a lot of sacrifices. We work to get computers donated, we use open source solutions.
C- we’ve found that the open source and web based solutions lend themselves to collaboration better than the commercial tools.
C- we’ve worked on common rubrics, some common grading standards. It is difficult to assess (through existing standards) manners and collaboration. We’ve had to develop many of the tools ourselves.
B- some of our teachers have shifted to assessing skills.
B- we’re going to be working on that global understanding through the rest of the year.
Are you seeing a change in the writing skills of students who are collaborating online? C- they become writers of their own account. They learn the authentic voices of that are their own. They learn about voice and audience. We live in a world where experts are going away and everyone has an equal voice. B- we have a better idea of students’ thinking than we would in regular classroom interactions because we have the whole conversation. C- the ability to access and review the transcript provides a window we don’t have otherwise.
C- students are IM-ing each other, but we haven’t see much social networking. B- I have a MySpace account and haven’t seen much interaction on the part of the students.
B- we’re trying to show that these are learning spaces, not just games. C- active mornitoring on the part of the teacher helps students learn to be good digital citizens.
C- the Asus eeepc’s we got were flying off the shelves for sustained silent reading. To me reading is reading.
B- give them (teachers) permission to make mistakes and time to try new things. (I think this applies to students too!)
http://colearning.wikispaces.com/Thin+Walls
Colorado Conversation: Student Panel February 23, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Conference Sessions.add a comment
These are as close to direct quotes as I can type. My apologies if I’m paraphrasing or misquoting. These students are incredibly articulate and represent a reason for optimism for our future.
“It’s not about the technology, it’s about learning. Technology has allowed me to take charge of my learning.”
“It’s okay to fail.”
“We need to start earlier than high school.”
“Each individual education needs to be tailored to each student.”
“Laptops add so much energy to the (classroom) environment.”
“I’m a visual learner but I have terrible handwriting so I take notes on the laptop. It means less work outside of the classroom.”
“Look how many laptops there are out in the room.”
“This is preparing us for after college, for the professional world.”
“Technology can enhance your classroom, to make it more constructivist, to take it beyond the classroom.”
“It feels like it matters more when you put something online. It is more meaningful.”
“It is something that you can continue learning from even after the assignment.”
“The student can become the teacher.”
“The cell phone should be embraced in the classroom. We can text each other. We can be online. We can be live-blogging with our cell phones.”
“The cell phone is a good example of trying to add technology that isn’t necessary. When I’m in a class taking notes, I don’t need my cell phone.”
“We’re reading A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink, and we’re blogging with him.”
“Students need to find a passion and take leadership for their own learning.”
Colorado Conversation: IT’s Elementary February 23, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Conference Sessions.add a comment
IT’s Elementary: Collaborative Classroom Practices from the Lenski Elementary Teachers (Linda Jones, Boni Hamilton, Trecie Warner, Marcia Parrish, Jen Leavitt, Dana Wilhelm).
Quick introductions around the room. Participants include computer coaches, building reasource teachers, classroom teachers, tech coordinators at both building and district level, librarians, school principals, district network director.
How is technology used to support writing at Lenski? Where have we been, where are we now, and where are we hoping to go? Wikispaces will allow for student accounts that do not require student email accounts.
Step-up-to-writing teaches organization well, but the work all sounds the same. One key is to adopt vocabulary school-wide so that each grade level builds on the previous.
Selecting text and converting to table allows a process to deconstruct their writing and facilitate peer editing. Setting a goal, like every writer needs to make at least three changes, allows all levels of writers to focus on improving. Sometimes numbers can be too literal. Color coding is a key to understanding the organization of the writing, for example, one color for first sentences, one for concluding sentences, another for supporting ideas etc. Directions and examples are on the Lenski writing wiki linked below. It may be helpful to tell students (once they have learned to put them in) to remove transition words like ‘first’,'in addition’, and the students begin to vary those transition words on their own.
Only the classroom teacher can truly integrate technology into the curriculum, because only the teacher know what happens before the lab, what will happen after the lab, and what individual students will need. Classroom teachers should view the lab as an opportunity to enlist the support of additional teachers for writing. - Paraphrased from Boni Hamilton.
The focus at Lenski has been to move up the chart on Bloom’s Taxonomy.
http://colearning.wikispaces.com/IT%27s+Elementary+Collaborative+Classroom+Practices
http://tied2lenski.wikispaces.com/
Colorado Conversation: Learning Is Change February 23, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Conference Sessions.1 comment so far
Ben Wilkoff, Cresthill Middle School (DCSD) - Starts with a discussion about learning. What is learning? Lots of different ideas, which reinforces my own working definition. Learning is an individual journey to know yourself, and your place in the world.
The presentation from Learning is Change does a nice job of asking the question: http://learningischange.com/
The next question to spur conversation is: How do you create context? Is connecting a way to create context? Is community? Is currency? Ben brought his students to the Students 2.o blog to provide a conversation. His students started from there and extended the conversation to their own world. One teacher in the room said that he has a ‘no tech’ zone in his classroom to limit the wired connections. It is quite true that technology doesn’t create quality learning or teaching. Someone else made the point that technology is just another tool. The demands of the content, and the standardized tests, sometimes limit the connections or context that can be created in the classroom.
Ben moved along to Google Docs and a conversation his class had around the book The Lord of the Flies. Guiding questions around utopia/distopia are placed in a Google Doc and the students work in small groups to respond. What is collaboration? For me, it is a setting that allows for the opportunity for participation and input from every member of the group.
Change directed classrooms: “All knowledge is constantly changing, and so are students’ understanding and demonstration of knowledge.”
Conversations are another component to developing context. Context is also a Continuous process that isn’t limited to a single classroom but relies on access.
Where do we go from here? How do we make our classrooms more authentic?
http://colearning.wikispaces.com/LearningIsChange
Learning 2.0 A Colorado Conversation February 23, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Conference Sessions.add a comment
I’m attending the Learning 2.0 A Colorado Conversation today, and will be posting periodically. It is good to see so many familiar faces, and also to see so many unfamiliar faces. I’m hopeful this will be a day that challenges me to gain a better understanding of how technology and learning fit together. The conference has a virtual component if you want to come along.
http://colearning.wikispaces.com/
RSS assignment February 19, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Conference Sessions.add a comment
I recently revamped much of the online class that I teach for Lesley University. The class is comprised of 6 two-week modules. Each module has two parts, usually one longer assignment, and the other a collection of shorter assignments. In reorganizing the assignments, I placed two previously separated assignments together. In one assignment, the class finds blogs to keep track of and review in an effort to better understand what blogs are and how they work. In the other assignment, the class sets up an RSS feed and adds a number of feeds. They report back on the experience, and which feeds they selected.
Okay, in hindsight, this may be obvious, but shouldn’t these be the same assignment? At one time it seemed to make sense to provide multiple activities, but now that the two assignments are together in one place, it sure feels like it might have been more successful if they were combined into just a single assignment.
With so much that could be included in the class, it is sometimes difficult to know what to keep. There are additional assignments for setting up a their own blogs, and visiting each others blogs to leave comments, but I’m interested to know how others ‘teach’ blogs and RSS. If you have any successful strategies, or definite pitfalls to avoid, please leave me a comment on them.
Podcast Summit Live! February 19, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Conference Sessions, Tools.2 comments
But the Teacher is making great use of CoveritLive to provide a live feed from a podcasting summit. I’m happy to see this both because it shows a good use of the tool, and also because I wasn’t able to attend the summit. Thanks Bud!
http://budtheteacher.typepad.com/bud_the_teacher/2008/02/live-blogging-c.html
Web 2.0 as an ILT Workshop 2-12-08 February 12, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Conference Sessions.7 comments
I just wanted to thank the group of excellent teachers that attended a brief presentation on Web 2.0 in the Classroom. I hope that they will find their own communities to support the transition to new tools. The wiki for this session is:
Jakesonline December 13, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Conference Sessions, Link Collections.add a comment
I was listening to a Bit by Bit podcast by Bob Sprankle (episode 58) and wanted to share a collection of tools mentioned by Hall Davidson. In the podcast, Hall Davidson runs through a number of terrific digital storytelling tips, including a reference to Jakesonline, from David Jakes, where you can find video screencasts to use Photo Story 3. This site also includes tons of other resources, articles, presentations, and tutorials for the 21st Century Classroom.
Learning 2.0 A Colorado Conversation - More Details December 11, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Conference Sessions.2 comments
Bud the teacher has posted more details about the upcoming Learning 2.0, A Colorado Conversation conference. I hope to attend and see you there!
Invite Others
We strongly encourage you to invite other folks from your school, district, neighborhood, or learning network to attend as well. It would be great if everyone could bring at least one person with them that is perhaps new to this conversation.
http://budtheteacher.typepad.com/bud_the_teacher/2007/12/learning-20-a-c.html
DPS ILT Session 11-15-07 November 15, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Conference Sessions.15 comments
This has been an interesting session discussing many of the implications of ILT work in DPS and how it relates to achievement.
What is one thing you heard from the morning session that you will take back to your school?
http://iltworkshop.pbwiki.com/
Online Gaming - Boundaries of Play October 26, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Conference Sessions.add a comment
I went to an interesting presentation today on Internet safety and online gaming. It was sponsored by Qwest Communications. My notes are below, followed by a short reflection.
The Qwest Incredible Internet
A Colorado Online Safety Coalition Executive Forum
Nick Yee Ph.D. - Business Week, CNN International, WSJ, and the New York Times
Boundaries of Play - Uses, Risks, & Benefits of Online Games
http://www.nickyee.com
The presentation started with a video introduction to World of Warcraft (WOW.)
Screen shot of Tune Town - Disney - safe words - furniture used by kids to circumvent the language restrictions.
Examples of online behavior:
- 4 hour wait in WOW standing in line, no one cut in the line
- wedding plans in WOW
- funeral arrangements in WOW
- Paying people to level up their characters
Online gaming tends to be broken into categories for younger and older audiences, and between social environments and games.
Younger Audiences -
Game Worlds
Club Penguin - minigames, safe chat
Social Worlds
Habbo Hotel - mostly a chat space where kids customize their avatars and rooms - micro transactions for premium features
Older Audiences -
Game Worlds
World of Warcraft - purchased software and monthly subscription - demo followed - kill creatures to get loot to buy upgrades to kill bigger creatures
Social Worlds
Second Life - social world targeted at adults - everything is created by the members of the virtual community - avatar customization is extensive - currency is based on Linden dollars
There are differences between an online gaming experience and that of a social experience:
- Game Worlds - higher costs, game-based interaction - age and gender are hidden, so predation is lower than in places like MySpace where age and gender are part of the experience
- Social Worlds - lower or no cost, no predefined goals
Some games are not safe for younger audiences - SL (Second Life) for example, limits users to audiences above 18, although there is little to no way to check - SL does have a teen specific area.
Audition - online dancing ‘game’ from Asia - uses micro-transactions to upgrade your avatar.
Asian market is not as focused on moderated chat.
Who plays these games?
- Average Age = 26
- Median Age = 25
- Range = 11-69
- 25% are teenagers
- 8-16% female users depending on the game
- 50% work full time
- 36% are married
- 22% have children
- Some online spaces are unique where student, children, adults, retirees, professionals, etc work cooperatively
Benefits of online gaming:
- Diverse social backgrounds
- collaboration with adults
- leadership opportunities
- endless ad-hoc groups in safer spaces
Risks for online gaming:
- Kids being treated as adults
Usage patterns:
- average number of hours per week = 20 hours per week
- compares with TV hours - average TV viewing in US is a little over 20 hours a week - as gaming increases, TV viewing decreases
- 8% of users spend 40 hours or more per week
- 70% of users have spent 10 hours or more continuously in the game
- Age is not correlated with usage
Is online gaming anti-social?
- 20% play with a family member
- 25% play with romantic partner
- 70% play with a friend
- 80% of players play with someone they know
- Online gamers play online to keep in touch with their friends
- Online gamers see online play as a way to maintain relationships as a shared experience
Parents see shared gaming as an opportunity or window to view and participate in their children’s world - gives them an opportunity to see how their kids interact with others, provides many learning opportunities to discuss social interactions/skills
Online gaming provides:
- unique social spaces
- working with others has potential benefits
- parents can play with children productively
Example guidelines:
- only play with supervision
- only group with parents or fiends
- only group with others when a parent or teacher is able to supervise
- free to group with others but tell parents hot it went
Why do People Play?
- Achievement - Advancement, Competition, Mechanics
- Social - Socializing, Relationships, Teamwork
- Immersion - Discovery (my favorite), Role-Playing, Customization, Escapism
Not all players are playing for the same reason
Gaming motivations:
- Online gaming may be fulfilling psychological needs that some people aren’t getting in the physical world
- Behavioral Conditioning (BF Skinner)
- Gaining prestige and status
- Sense of constant progress
Other examples:
- EVE Online - corporations as organization structure
- WOW - a guide is much like running a small business
- Peace Maker - explores both sides of the Israeli - Palestinian conflict
- Ohio State - replicated campus for recruiting (Second Life?)
Typed Chat and Anonymity:
- less inhibition when people type their information
- Idealization - we tend to see only what people want to present, and so we often see people in an idealized way
- About 50% of online users have shared a secret with an online friend that they’ve never shared elsewhere - females at a higher rate than males
- Seeing people behave in an online game shows some of their character - provides a stressful environment to expose character
- 80% of online gamers have made really good friends with someone they met online first - not as much of a gender difference for this question
Why do some relationships only happen if they start online?
- Shyness on the part of either partner
- Inside-out - superficial qualities (appearance, social circles, age) would have prevented individuals from striking up a relationship
Online relationships are not better or worse, they are just different - while it is easier to idealize someone, we also have opportunities to see character traits not easily seen
Online relationships start with virtual contact that takes time to progress (variety of tools, IM, email, video chat) to an ‘analog’ or physical contact.
Problematic Usage:
Amount of time is problematic. 60% have played for 10 hours or more at a time. 40% lose sleep to play. 17% have had relationships, finances, or jobs suffer due to playing habits.
Predisposition factors: Depression, loneliness, social anxiety. There is mixed evidence as to whether Internet use helps or hurts in the long term.
Just removing access may not address underlying issues. Because people play for different motivations, one treatment may not help all cases.
Be proactive:
- Set clear limits and expectations
- Encourage balanced interests
- Be involved
Summary:
- Many kinds of virtual worlds
- Unique social spaces
- Play can get very complex
- Both easier and harder to know someone
- be proactive in preventing problematic usage
- Start with sound pedagogy - just because it is virtual doesn’t make it better
My thoughts:
It was terrific to share a discussion with other people who have a stake in keeping kids safe online, especially because the discussion focused on the positive aspects of online gaming instead of just decrying all of the potential problems. It was interesting to see that at least one person in the room responded to the presentation by saying she didn’t understand how people could spend this much time on gaming. Someone else pointed out that she was thinking with her ‘adult-parent’ perspective instead of seeing it from the perspective of our students. This really is an issue of perspective. All of the pluses amount to very little if you don’t value the gaming experience.
ISS - Some Final Thoughts September 21, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Conference Sessions, Opinion.2 comments
This has been a very interesting day of thought-provoking discussions. People are genuinely concerned with keeping kids safe. I’ve heard more comments about providing tools and fewer about limiting or restricting access. It is refreshing that the general tone of the summit is one of helping our kids, not one of punishing them.
I would also like to thank Bud the Teacher for providing us with a great model of living a transparent life, something to which Will Richardson is currently calling people.
Here is Bud’s post:
http://budtheteacher.typepad.com/bud_the_teacher/2007/09/internet-safety.html. He also twittered the event.
Looking back it was remarkable how few laptops were present at the summit. With over 100 attendees, I saw fewer than half a dozen people actually using a laptop other than the presenters. Internet safety is an important issue, but I’m just not sure how prepared we are when we aren’t practitioners ourselves. I don’t think we ‘get it’ yet.
