Complete (and New Perspectives)

Kites from the Sigur Ros film "Heima"

     So its finished! Two years and my Masters Degree in Educational Technology is done. It feels odd remembering bits and pieces of courses at the beginning: figuring out where the North Bridge was in the map of the inside of a computer; designing a web-quest on the Transcontinental Railroad; creating and exploring new web 2.0 opportunities; and discovering new methods for reaching a variety of learners.
     I could go on and reflect on more than a hundred things I've learned in the past two years, but I don't think that would be entirely beneficial at the moment. What most impressed me; what I most think back on and appreciate above all else are the relationships and interactions with people from all over the US. Yes, they were short. Usually just 8 weeks. But its all about learning new perspectives: seeing things from another point of view; learning what frustrates others; learning what it takes to work together with people you've never met, let alone never seen before.
     21st century learners are going to experience working and collaborating with people of different race, ethnicity, religion, and geographic location if they aren't already doing so. Learning to collaborate - actually working together to achieve a purpose - is not simply about tolerance and respect, its about listening, learning, and opening one's self to the potential of a broader spectrum of understanding. Its admitting that your way may not be the best way, just a possible solution. Its about gaining the humility to accept your own ideas may be embraced, altered, denied, or tinkered with. 
     As an 21st century educator/learner its my responsibility to not simply understand this but to practice it as well. The last two years of online coursework, Skype sessions, discussion forums, and collaborative projects have provided some excellent practice and experiences. Thanks to each of my classmates for having shared. You offered new perspectives in so many different facets of education. You've given me a lot to think about and it will always be greatly appreciated!

  (image collected from http://earthlingsoft.net/ssp/blog/graphics/SigurRosKites.jpeg)
   

Kerpoof! (and outside-of-class communication)

 

  I found this website earlier on this year while browsing for some out-of-the-ordinary web 2.0 activities for my elementary (2nd-5th grade) classes. Its completely based on creativity and computer-art projects like movies, cards, drawings, etc... and has excellent potential for literacy exercise as well. The features are basically free, plus with a (verified) teacher account, classes can be set up and projects shared either with the entire site, or just with one's class/group. 

  After setting up the classes, getting my students logged on, the students began creating their own content, sometimes with specific projects directed by me, other times, their own ideas. Many did this at home as well at school since they either remembered or took their logins with them. This is where the "mail/class/group" features come in. While I the chat or post features can be turned on and off, I wish there was a moderation feature. The classes are certainly private - no one except group members can post to their particular group - but as the technology teacher with over one hundred accounts and over 20 classes, it gets cumbersome to browse through every string of posts.

  Is anyone out there using Kerpoof in a "more than one class" setting? I'm curious as to if you're using the "mail" or chat features with your classes and how you moderate them. The concept of Kerpoof is pretty amazing and my students all love it. Just curious as to if there's a good method of monitoring the posts.

 

A closer community with Facebook?

  I decided I should chronicle a bit of the process we've begun to increase community/school and school/district relationships. This fall we're launching community Facebook pages for our district's attendance areas. In South Carolina, school districts are county-wide. Horry (O-REE) County Schools has nine attendance areas that will each have a community Facebook page. We're in the toddler stages of the process so far as the pages have been created, myself and another in the district tech department are admins of each page, and we're developing a plan for 'dissemination of the information' so-to-speak.
  The way I see this working (and it will most likely change to be a bit easier than my stream-of-consiousness take on things) is that each school administrator in an attendance area needs to have two things set in place:
 1) They need to have a personal Facebook page.
 2) They need to have a Facebook Page set up for their own school.

   If I'm correct (and this post is rather preliminary) if the school admin selects to "View Facebook as Page" and selects their school page, they can not only post to their school page as the school (not as their personal user account), but also "Like" the community page.
   Here's where it begins to get a bit cumbersome. Because of the content settings we're putting in place on the Community Pages, folks who post or share content to those pages must be administrators of those community pages. (Users or "likers" can post comments, but cannot originate a post, share links, or videos, etc...).
   This brings me to the point of the Community Pages. Let's say there's an attendance area with one elementary, one middle, and one high school, each with individual school Facebook pages. A community page will allow those schools to share main events, school awards, or plans which may effect the community.
  Our hope is that the dynamic and social features of Facebook will allow the greater attendance communities as well as county to become more involved in the life of the school district.
  Again, we're only planning right now, so keep checking back.
PS - the Diigo links aren't live pages yet - they will be after August 4, 2011.
Here's another article on The Plan...

Sound off in the comments on what you think!

iPods, Collaboration, and a hint of Humility

For my inaugural post, I'm quite thrilled. Our learning specialist for ed. tech. just emailed, informing me that we've been offered a set of ipod touches for use 'til the end of the school year! My planning team (consisting of our GT teacher, Media Specialist, and myself) has been researching and dipping our feet into podcasting book reviews from 2nd - 5th graders. As the technology teacher, I've been working this year to engage the students in online activities and the utilization of applications which re-inforce the grade-level standards. For example, students will use Excel to create charts and graphs which they have developed in the classroom. They may not only explore subscription sites like BrainPop or BrainPop Jr. to increase in knowledge of a subject, but play games which adhere and support the standards.
So far, while this has succeeded in engaging the students, it has only mildly touched on areas of creation and collaboration. Strategy, problem-solving, creation, and collaboration are skills which are becoming more an more of a necessity for students, as the world grows smaller and smaller, technologically speaking.
Its easy to be a technological monolith: blogging silently; lurking on user groups and twitter; posting a comment or two on youtube. But to put yourself out there, ask for help, advice, or the opportunity to work with others on accomplishing a common goal requires something more. Its not only inhibition, but a bit of humility as well. What comes with collaboration is not only the assurance that we have something to add, but also that we have something to learn.
The video I've included shows a young boy trying to make a fire using a bowdrill set. Instead of working in isolation, he posted a video, showing what he knew, and asking for help. The video has (as of today) 7, 181 views and 35 comments.
I'm getting there with my own collaboration. I tend to work in isolation, and I like getting the answer on my own. Every time I look at the #edtech twitter feed however, I'm reminded of how much I don't know. I need collaboration. I need help. If I want my students to collaborate, I need to model that first.
How do you collaborate? How are you using technology in your classroom environment? As I get into creating and collaborating with my students I'll post more - especially what we're doing with the iPod touches. I can't wait to see what the kids will show me!