On Beyond Zebra! Transforming Learning Environments

Bebo and Diigo and Twitter, oh my! Sometimes at BLC08 I felt like I had walked out of reality and into a Dr. Seuss book. Here is an illustration I created using Wordle of what this strange new world looked liked:

This is, however, our student's new reality and thus ours. This new reality is a time of creating content, collaborating with others, and communicating globally.

So, how do we get started? As Ewan McIntosh said in his keynote, we need to understand participation culture, not the tools. He also spoke about the importance of working toward achieving shared awareness.

We should not be led by the tools, but by the issues we are trying address in our schools. What do we want our students to be able to do? How can these tools help us achieve our teaching goals and our student learning goals? The opportunities are as varied as the tools themselves.

Let's work together to rethink and reframe the conversation and in the process, transform our learning environments! And we will discover, as Dr. Seuss once exclaimed, "Oh the places you'll go!"

Initial Reflections from BLC08

Wow…my three days at the 2008 Building Learning Communities Conference certainly were thought provoking. My mind has been filled with exciting new teaching and learning opportunities and I am eager to explore some new tools with my teacher colleagues and students.

Trying to synthesize 11 sessions and 3 keynotes into a blog post is a daunting task. I do, however, want to capture some initial reflections.

Some words and phrases I heard a lot at BLC08: 21st-Century Learning, Web 2.0, communities, collaboration, partnerships, leadership, and vision. People spoke of the shifting role of the teachers and students and of the new literacies we must learn ourselves and teach our students. The importance of school culture and community engagement was discussed. And, as Pedro Noguera, Professor at the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University, stated in his powerful keynote lecture entitled "Changing the Culture of Schools: Creating Conditions that Promote Student Achievement," we must create a culture of high expectations in our schools.

I saw a number of videos illustrating the exciting opportunities and changes happening in education. One of my favorites was "Learning to Change/Changing to Learn" shown by Keith Kruger, CEO of the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) at his "Leadership & Vision That Enables Effective Use of Technology" session:



Simple visuals, yet strong message. Technology is not simply something we add to our current teaching practices, rather technology (as it continually morphs) and the synergy between technology and education means that we must change our fundamental beliefs and work.

That's it for now. Check back for future posting after I have more time to revisit some of the sessions virtually, reflect and rethink about the ideas presented, explore new tools, and share lessons learned.

Flipping Out Over Flip Video!

I hope everyone has been enjoying a glorious summer! I've been spending time with family and friends, catching up on my reading, puttering in my herb garden, and recharging my battery. The next three days I'll be at the Building Learning Communities 2008 conference, which is sure to stimulate and motivate me. Check back for more posts as I process all the sessions and keynotes.

Friends were visiting last week and they brought their new Flip Video camcorder. If you haven't seen it, check it out! It is compact and simple to use, stores files on internal memory, and uploads video to your computer via a built-in USB connector. The Flip Ultra has a record time of 60 minutes, 2 GB of on-board flash memory, comes in five fun colors, and is listed at just $150 (and I've seen it for less online!). The newest addition to the Flip Video product line, the Flip Mino, is the smallest yet – only 3.3 ounces!

For an amusing review of the Flip Ultra from David Pogue of The New York Times, read this article or watch this video:

A Flip Video would be a super easy way to capture video (interviews, projects, trips, etc.) and integrate them into the teaching and learning process. A Flip Video is definitely on my back-to-school wish list!

Photo Sharing Using Picasa

Taking digital photos is an easy yet powerful way to capture school experiences. Sharing the photos can help "strengthen and expand the home-school connection so that learning is supported and improved" (Lowell School Improvement Plan, Goal 4). But who hasn't taken a bunch of pictures of a lesson or event and then wondered about the best way to make them available to others?

There are now some great and free online tools for organizing, editing, and sharing photos and videos. I've explored Flickr and VUVOX, but I have settled on Picasa as my tool of choice. It's super easy to use and the resulting slideshows are handy. Below you'll see a slideshow of an exciting event that occurred at the Lowell School on May 6, 2008. The RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon visited the school and took staff members for rides. Susan Schultz, Lowell Inclusion Specialist and Photographer Extraordinaire, took the pictures in the slideshow.



For an example of how one of my colleagues is using Picasa to record and share his students' learning experiences, please check out Mr. Gould's class web site. While you're checking out Mr. Gould's web site, be sure to listen to his class's podcasts (a topic for a future post!).

Public Service Puppetry

My colleague, Lindsay Jacobson, Lowell Inclusion Specialist, has been collaborating with a student from a local college on a wonderful project. They have been working with a group of fifth grade students to create Public Service Announcements (PSAs) on topics such as peer pressure & bullying, street signs, street danger, and what to do in an emergency. The students researched PSAs, created and designed their own puppets and their personalities and voices, worked on scripts, and performed the PSAs. Their work was videotaped and is available for viewing on the Public Service Puppetry blog.

The goal of the project was to utilize puppetry and technology to teach the students about different ways they can be safe. Lindsay says that the students are now able to give examples of how to be safe and understand what steps they need to take if they are put in an unsafe situation. They are hoping to take their show on the road to some of the younger grades in our school to teach them how to be safe also. So, clearly the project goals were not only met, but exceeded!

Please check out the results of all their hard work and take part in their favorite video poll.

And, for more information about using PSAs in the classroom, check out Kathy Schrock's PSA web site.

FreeRice

Apologies for not posting for two weeks. I was on a self-imposed media blackout over April vacation. It was an extremely relaxing and rejuvenating week. Now, it's posting time!

The news this past week (okay, I wasn't on a complete media blackout!) reported on global rising food prices (CNN reports, Food price rise 'global crisis,' says U.N. chief – 4/25/08). Rice prices specifically are at an all-time high.

This seems like an appropriate time to introduce (or reintroduce) you to a web-based vocabulary game that is doing its part to help end hunger. FreeRice.com launched on October 7, 2007 with two goals: "(1) to provide English vocabulary to everyone for free; and (2) to help end work hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free." The site presents visitors with a word and four definition choices. For each correct answer, 20 grains of rice are donated for the hungry through the UN World Food Program. As of April 26, 2008, a total of 29,600,638,050 grains of rice have been donated.

CBS News did a follow up story on FreeRice.com on the evening news on Friday, April 25, 2008. This video illustrates how through FreeRice.com students in Bloomington, Indiana are building their vocabulary while helping to feed students in Uganda.



So, check out FreeRice.com and build a better vocabulary and a better world.

Blog Humor

"That’s cool!" It may be short and sweet, but most importantly the comment just left on my VoiceThread post is from my five-year-old niece, Camdyn. The next generation of bloggers has begun!

In honor of Camdyn's first blog comment, I am posting a little blog humor. Camdyn is a big fan of my two cats, Boadicea and Matilda =^..^= >^..^<

VoiceThread

We are having so much fun with VoiceThread! VoiceThread is an easy to use online media album. You can share your albums with others who can comment via voice, text, audio file, or video. Best news of all, educators can upgrade to VoiceThread Pro for FREE!

Here is a thread I've been working on with some of our first grade students:


For examples of how my Watertown colleagues are using VoiceThread with their students, please check out the fantastic Work with Wings blog.

Awareness Test

I've been working on a joke, it goes something like this: if a blog falls in the forest and no one comments on it, is it still a blog (as you can see, it still needs a little work). So, imagine my excited surprise to see comments on my two first posts! The exchange of ideas through writing, reading, and reflecting is at the heart of a blogs purpose. Thanks to the brave few who have offered comments. I hope others will join you. Your thoughts inspire me to keep learning and keep posting.

Today, however, we will pause for a commercial break…

http://www.dothetest.co.uk/

Homepage Startup

Three posts in three days. This will never happen again (my goal is a weekly post). Call it beginner's enthusiasm. I wanted to be sure to have some content up before I shared the exciting news about the birth of this blog!

This is supposed to be a blog about technology tools for educators, but I have yet to feature one. Today is the day. I was recently asked by a teacher how to access web sites on her classroom computer which she had bookmarked on her home computer. I explained social bookmarking sites (like del.icio.us), but after going to Lori Cooney's "Best Free Web Sites" session at the MassCUE Technology Leadership Symposium I think there may be a better choice for elementary school teachers. Lori showcased a site called Homepage Startup. This site provides you with fast access to your favorite web sites in a visual form. You can create multiple tabs to organize your sites and customize things like background color and number of columns and rows. Accounts are free and you can easily share your Startup page with others. I've been playing around with the site - here is a link to what I've created.

If you are interested in checking out more of the sites Lori showcased, visit her NetVibe's page (another cool tool), which has links to all the sites she showcased in her presentation.

What is Web 2.0, Anyway?

So, what's all this talk about Web 2.0? What does it mean, anyways?

This video, entitled "The Machine is Us/ing Us" by Professor Mike Wesch, offers a fascinating illustration of the World Wide Web's transition from a linear source of information to a dynamic, collaborative, creative community.



Blogging, social networking (sites like del.icio.us or Flickr), RSS, wikis (the most famous being Wikipedia) and more allow individuals to take charge of and customize how they receive, create, and deliver content, with the end goal being connecting, communicating, collaborating, and creating communities around the world. How will you use your voice in this new reality?

Taking the Plunge

Welcome to the first posting of my Technology Tools for Educators blog. I have been toying with the idea of a blog about technology tools for educators for quite some time. The migration from Web 1.0 (using the web as a source of information) to Web 2.0 (using the web to share, collaborate, and create our own information) has prompted me to ponder and struggle with concepts of voice and audience. In this new reality, I also have been grappling with the idea of putting my thoughts out there for the world to see. I have been rather stuck, informed and inspired by other people's work and yet rather anxious about taking the plunge myself.

Recently, I had an ah-a moment with a group of second graders who just started using FASTT Math. Some students were anxious about the program. It was the first time they had used a fluency-building program that customized work to their level. We talked about how new things can sometimes be a little scary. But, we spent more time discussing how the program was just a tool to help them get better at math facts. Who doesn’t want to get better at math?

So, why am I over thinking this? What’s to be anxious about? This blog is just a tool to introduce some new (and old favorite) technology tools and discuss how colleagues and myself are integrating these tools into the teaching and learning process. If second graders can get over their anxieties, so can I. Are you ready to take a plunge with me?

Sharpless, Seth. scuba.jpg. 12/12/1990. Pics4Learning. 1 Apr 2008