Wesley Fryer shared his plea for digital leadership via Twitter this morning. He eloquently and fervently appeals for administration to enable the children in our classes to have access to quality digital experiences which will prepare them for their lives, I would say not just working lives, post school.
As an advocate for the web2.0 open source applications that are freely available but blocked so tightly in school I concur with his plea for improved access and equipment. To provide creative experiences that will put our students in touch with not only the technology but the student’s peers, globally. We need to also update the curriculum to include the understanding of ‘netiquette’ as social networking unfolds online - it is no longer enough to simply learn the art of face to face communication; virtual meetings and online dialogue demand different skills such as self control where the user does not have visual cues from a partner to identify mood changes. As Wesley points out there are often reports in the media of cyber bullying and inappropriate posts on YouTube of playground fights. This isn’t just in the US, it is occurring here in Australia too.
Referring to the Scholastic 2008 report, Wesley also made the point that reading books is not being replaced by technology. I have always argued that computers offer a different type of reading. Childhood is not lost because students are playing MMPORG games, it is simply changing, it is different to how we grew up. The fact that obesity is becoming a global issue highlights the need for education to be involved, as we demonstrate how to read, so we should be demonstrating good practice with technology.
The video lasts for 17 minutes and is well worth the time spent for inspiration. Thanks.
http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/07/06/a-message-for-my-school-board/
Tags: inspiration, admin, Fryer, future
Mrs B’s Little Bytes!
Professional reading, viewing and listening!!
Education Queensland 2008 School Year Calendar
http://education.qld.gov.au/public_media/calendar/calendar2008-web.pdf
Free printable resources for early years teachers (and middle school for reinforcement of basic skills)
http://www.sparklebox.co.uk
http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/cll/keywords/space.html (sight words)
Making Learning Fun – another free printable resource site
http://www.makinglearningfun.com/index.html
Need tips on how to do something? Go to About.com I’ve been going through tutorials on how to use Photoshop. Has expert advice on anything you can think of.
http://www.about.com/
Bit of time on your hands? Look into salary sacrifice, see if you can benefit in some way. (I have a novated lease on my car and a PDA.)
http://www.remserv.com.au/Education.cfm
A different tool to encourage students to get involved, by voting! They do it for Big Brother, now use it in the classroom! There are expensive clicker tools available for Smartboards (not ours), but this online application uses mobile phones, landline phones and the internet to lodge votes. Read the blurb, it is interesting.
http://www.votapedia.com/index.php?title=Main_Page
Feel like reading? This blog post by Dean Shareski provides links to a number of respected educators promoting the integration of technology into teaching and learning. It also links to a conference that was held this week in San Antonio, Texas - the NECC (National Education Computing Conference). This event is sponsored by ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education).
http://ideasandthoughts.org/2008/07/04/my-big-fat-necc-brain-dump/
Holiday Videos:-
An incredible air catch of a baseball by a ball-girl.
http://www.noob.us/entertainment/amazing-baseball-catch-by-ball-girl
Falou’s massive jump in State of Origin game this week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRtXkwHRQr4
Pivot Animation and Movie Maker are on the school computers and your laptops. Easy to use and create little stories (maybe not as violent as this one! LOL)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOShahqe_M8
Enjoy the holidays
P.S. Adding one more to look at 360 Desktops, lot of negative reviews because of ads and tech perspective but it is amazing what it can do!
I’ve just downloaded this one though, costs money but comes with recommendations and no ads.
& Education Queensland 2008 School Year Calendar http://education.qld.gov.au/public_media/calendar/calendar2008-web.pdf
Web2.0 is about communication and creativity. If you are at all interested in blogging take a look at this link for ideas, the author is suggesting one sentence entry each day to maintain an online journal (which is what a blog is).
http://michelemartin.typepad.com/thebambooprojectblog//2008/06/professional-de.html
Some professional reflection written by a teacher identifying the pros and cons of interactive whiteboard use in the classroom. (I find this type of writing interesting … ) http://www.thestaffroom.spacemonkey.net.au/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=22)
Kathy Schrock of Discovery Education’s ‘Guide for Educators‘ fame also keeps a blog, have a read of hers. All blogs are as unique as the individuals maintaining them. http://kathyschrock.net/blog/index.htm
Have a peek at the 180 blogs I have links to via my del.icio.us account for ideas. http://del.icio.us/Mrs_Banjer/blogs
Edna – Educational Network Australia (http://www.edna.edu.au/edna/go) provides an online space approved by the Department to develop a social network of educators. This is a list of all the resources you have at your disposal http://www.edna.edu.au/edna/go/resources/browse/browsemap (you may have to subscribe, it is free and simple to do.)
Fiona
Often, the “conversations” on a blog occur between a commenter and the blogger. That is, commenters will read and respond to a post, addressing their responses to the blogger. Conversations can become richer, though, if we also respond to other commenters. This means that we have to also start reading the previous comments on a post, something many commenters admit they don’t do.
For today’s task, courtesy of Bill Ferriter, you are going to engage another commenter in conversation. Find a post where other people have commented before you and then respond to something one of the commenters has said. The netiquette for doing this is to address your post “@blog commenter” (inserting the person’s name where I’ve referred to “blog commenter”) so the commenter knows you’re referring to him/her. If you’d like, respond to more than one commenter. Also consider this advice from Bill:
Begin by quoting some part of the comment that you are responding to help other listeners know what it is that has caught your attention. Then, explain your own thinking in a few short sentences. Elaboration is important when you’re trying to make a point. Finally, finish your comment with a question that other listeners can reply to.
Questions help to keep digital conversations going!
When responding to another reader, don’t be afraid to disagree with something that they have said. Challenging the thinking of another reader will help them to reconsider their own thinking—and will force you to explain yours! Just be sure to disagree agreeably—impolite people are rarely influential.
If your thinking gets challenged by another reader in a blog conversation, don’t be offended. Listen to your peers, consider their positions and decide whether or not you agree with them. You might discover that they’ve got good ideas you hadn’t thought about. Either way, be sure to respond—let your challengers know how their ideas have influenced you.
Be sure to track your comment so you can see whether or not the person responds to you. Observe what happens. How does the blogger respond? How does the commenter respond? If you blog about the experience, be sure to use the “comment08″ tag on your post.
I think I began to respond to this one in the previous post. I really must get on and do reports now it is 10 am. Back soon to edit this post
Tags: comment08
Most of us have a tendency to comment when we come across a blog post with which we agree. The blogger says something that makes us want to shout “Me too!” and we’re motivated to leave a comment. But what happens when we read a post with which we don’t agree? What do we do then?
For today’s challenge, you’re going to find a blog post where you don’t agree with the author and leave a comment. It might be that you just disagree with a segment of the post–that’s fine. The goal of your commenting today will be to bring up your point of disagreement in your comment.
For some people, the challenge will be finding posts with which they don’t agree. If this is the case, try using Technorati to find blogs on a political topic–these are usually great sources of potential conflict. You might also want to consider expanding your blog reading horizons because to learn, you need blogs in your reader that regularly challenge your thinking.
If you want to peruse some suggestions on how to disagree appropriately, check out the comments section (how appropriate!) for this post on 10 Rules for Blog Debates. Some great ideas for both commenters and bloggers, as well as a good example of how the commenting can become better and meatier than the original post.
As an add-on reflection activity, consider blogging on some of these questions. Don’t forget to tag your post with “comment08″.
- What happened as a result of you disagreeing with the blogger? How did they respond? How did you respond?
- What do you usually do if you find a post with which you disagree? Do you comment publicly? Email the blogger? Or do you just move on?
- If you comment, typically how do you engage the blogger? Do you ask questions to better understand his/her position? Do you make statements to explain your position? Do you track comments so that you can return to continue the conversation?
- If you’re a blogger, how do you feel if people post comments where they disagree with you? How do you handle these?
This one is harder and I’ll have to come back to it. I tend to avoid those posts that I don’t agree with, for no other reason than I am after entertainment, education or simply surfing around. This might go on to the back burner. If anyone disagreed with me, which has been done in posts for uni assignments, I took my time to get over being annoyed, then responded academically and justified my response. Probably the same process with blogs although I would have the option of deleting posts I was unhappy with.
Tags: coComment08
One of the most powerful conversation starters is to ask a question. While many of us ask questions in our own blog posts, we may not tend to ask questions when we comment on other blogs. Yet this can be one of the best ways to engage the blogger and other commenters in further discussion.
Your task for today (courtesy of Christy Tucker ) is ask an open-ended question in a comment. Suggests Christy, “Aim for something open-ended and thought-provoking. Think ‘How does using such-and-such tool help you engage in conversations online?’ rather than ‘What tool do you use to track comments?’” Then see what happens. Does the blogger respond? What about other commenters? If you’d like, blog about the experience, being sure to tag your post with the “comment08″ tag.
Here goes … Done. Joyce (catspyjamas) who I know through my online studies with USQ offered some useful mind mapping tools that offered just what I need for my final assignment. Said my piece then asked her for an RSS link.
Tags: comment08
Leaving a single comment on a blog and then moving on isn’t necessarily the best way to engage in a conversation or use blog commenting for learning. It’s more of a one-way, once-and-done approach that doesn’t take full advantage of what commenting can do for you. To really engage in conversations through blog commenting, you need to develop some effective strategies for managing the comments you make on other blogs. A comment tracking service is a great solution.
While there are several you can choose from, one of the best tools to use is coComment. Sue Waters has written an excellent post with instructions and pictures on how to sign up and manage your comments using coComment. Once your account has been set up, you will then be able to follow your commenting activities through your RSS feed, making it much simpler for you to keep track of all your comments.
Your task for the day is to sign up for coComment or another comment tracking service. Be sure to add your comment feeds to your reader. And if you blog about your experience, add the “comment08″ tag to your post.
Well, that hit the nail on the head! The comment I made for the Day 2 entry was a one off, perhaps that is why Merrolee didn’t publish it, she might want to engage in lengthy communications rather than simple greeting style comments. Hmmm. Lesson taken on board.
I have signed up to Cocomment. I have the widget in the bottom right corner of my screen but have no real idea how to use the features. Off to do a short research exercise. I really must get on to report cards so I can focus on my final assessment item for FET8610 - Major web site. Interesting how I have lost a bit of interest in this subject, another student was quite scathing with my focus on Web2.0 tools and it made me sit back and wonder if I was doing the right course if other educators were questioning my proclamations about the value of Web2.0. Up until that point I had also been receiving HDs for assignments, GPA 7. To receive a credit for my paper was a blow as well. Maybe I am on my own with this.
Anyway, I’ll reflect on that later. Back to cocomment. Forgot password! Oh boy. coComment is very slow loading, does anyone else have this issue?
I’ve joined the Comment Challenge group. Now I have to work out how to use an RSS feeder. I use Flock and somehow managed to include Sue Waters comments and my own blog onto that. I shall now apply myself to working that function. This is an excellent diversion tool to keep me from reports. Thanks.
Done. Not so hard to work out. I feel so focussed … on the wrong thing!
Tags: comment08
Many of us can get into the habit of commenting at the same blogs. But part of extending the conversation is bringing new people into it. Today’s task is simple. Leave a comment on a blog where you’ve never commented before. If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, do this at a few blogs. You may want to blog about the experience on your own blog. If you do, be sure to tag it with “comment08″
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Occupational Therapy – Educational Issues – Merrolee
http://oteducation.wordpress.com/
I’ve left a comment but perhaps Merrolee is as busy as I am and hasn’t got around to checking entries. Maybe she just didn’t want to publish what I said, although it was pretty bland, can’t see why. I’ll try another, more vocal blogger next time.
OMG the computer crashed this morning. Feel my pain and anguish when “Mrs B’s Bytes Goes Voddy…” Click widget on left hand side at the bottom!
Mrs B’s Little Bytes! Term 2 Week 8
Professional reading, viewing and listening!!
& Education Queensland 2008 School Year Calendar
http://education.qld.gov.au/public_media/calendar/calendar2008-web.pdf
Copacabana Public School – can this be a real name?
Excellent collection of links for using on the iwb.
http://www.copacabana-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/Get_Smart.htm
Also, our school site.
http://parklakess.eq.edu.au/wcmss/newsletters/newsletters/sample_newsletter.html
Click on “Read more” next to the school logo and you find a count down to the Beijing Olympics.
http://parklakess.eq.edu.au/wcmss/
Click on “Links” then “Early Years” to access many more. If you have any middle school links you would like included, email them to me.
http://www.electrocity.co.nz/
A great online (and can be downloaded to use elsewhere) flash site on balancing building a city with a sustainable environment - http://www.electrocity.co.nz/
won a 2008 Australian Interactive Media Industry award. May be of use for the recycling unit next term. (Thanks to Jonathan Nalder for putting me on to this one.)
I’m trying not to overload you so I’ll stop now. Hope something here was of use to you :o)
Fiona
