My Personal Learning Summary
As I reflect on what I’ve learned throughout the course, there are so many things that pop into my mind. Some things I learned from ground zero, having no knowledge beforehand, and other things I took my knowledge and skill set to a new level be learning more about something I was already familiar with, or thought I was anyways.
Wikis for example, was one of those areas in which I had little (to no) knowledge. Ten years ago, the word itself was unheard of! My learning goal within my learning plan during this course was to become proficient with implementing and using a wiki, and that I feel I did. I would confidently say that I now am very skilled at opening a wiki and navigating and editing pages. I now see the advantages of a wiki and the ways in which an educator could utilize such a tool.
Diigo is another little tidbit that I will take away from this class. I had heard about this sort of book marking website, but this course was my first experience with one first hand. I love it! You can share, share, share! And borrow and steal! That’s what we teachers love to do, and what makes us better! Two brains (or several thousand!) are better than one after all!
I also learned how to use a wonderful website called slideshare. This website allows you to upload and share powerpoints and videos. Then, I learned how to embed the powerpoints from slideshare into my blog! Ha! Look at tech-savy me! With that said, I’m very proud of all that I’ve learned and picked up throughout this course. It was a long road, but now that I look back I see what a collection and wealth of knowledge it has added up to!
The final and most lasting learning impression that this class has left on me, may have forever changed my teaching philosophy. I was impacted with the power that digital web 2.0 technologies have on student excitement, attention span, achievement and overall learning. Somewhere during the course of this class I remember reading a quote that said something along these lines, “Are you doing what’s best for your students or what is most convenient for you?” Wow. Continuing with that theme, Dr. Thompson said, “If you’re completely comfortable with your teaching and what you’re doing, you must not be doing something right”. Whoa. This drives home for me the fact that you cannot consider your comfort zone, but you must consider what is best for the children. They are technology natives who have grown up in a world of MP3 players, digital cameras, video games, and the internet. If we’re going to catch their attention, these are our competitors. I have learned about, and intent to, incorporate digital technologies, and web 2.0 technologies to ensure optimum success for all my students!
It is Finished!
My final project is complete and can be viewed on my wiki at the following address:
http://creslibraryresources.wikispaces.com/
Evaluation Rubrics
I remember first hearing about rubrics about ten years ago. I’m not sure how, but I missed out on what a rubric was in college. I must have had experience with them, but never connected the name “rubric”. A rubric is basically a tool that can be used to evaluate performance tasks. In today’s 21st century classroom many student tasks are hands on and performance based, and require a rubric type instrument for evaluation. Our module 12 reading says that a performance based assessment requires that students, “apply their knowledge and skills from several areas to demonstrate mastery of the learning objective”. These tasks require such a higher level thinking process than wrote memorization! Gone are the days of using paper and pencil tests alone to evaluate our students!
As I was completing this rubric I drew upon several different resources to assist me. After reading the module, I browsed many websites given as general rubric resources, but especially found Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators helpful. This website seemed to have so much in one place! I liked that it had articles about rubrics, examples, and even rubric generators. I also found our class rubrics, which are used to evaluated our assignments, very helpful as examples.
The rubric I created to evaluate my students’ digital storytelling project can be viewed here: Digital Storytelling Rubric
Evaluating Educational Technology
I believe that we are all constantly evaluating technology, day by day and minute to minute, while we are using it. You are constantly summarizing the pros and cons of various software and technologies and deciding the reasons it works for you or doesn’t. As a teacher we have even more of a responsibility to evaluate technology while we, and especially our students, are using it. As educators we must be purposeful and intentional in this evaluation process. Shelly et al. says that evaluating educational technology “involves determining if the technology is appropriate and enhances the teaching and learning process” (p.392). To me that means, you can ask yourself these questions when evaluating technology; Does it make my teaching more effective? Easier? Does it help the students learn more? Learn better? Retain the information longer? Does the technology motivate students? Does it get them excited about learning? Does it address the state standards? If one or more of these questions can be answered with a yes then the technology may be appropriate. You as the teacher must make that overall judgement.
As a media specialist one of (if not the) largest technologies that I must evaluate and deem appropriate or not, is that of websites. There are millions of websites out there in cyberspace, but not all of them are appropriate for the students at my elementary school. I must preview and evaluate websites before allowing students to access them. When doing so a rubric is often helpful and should consider the following categories; authority (the reliability of the author), affiliation (organization or group to which the website is connected), purpose (reason the website was created), content (the information the website gives), audience (who is the website designed to be viewed by), currency (when was the page last updated), and design (the set up or look of the site) (Shelly et al. 2008, p.400-401).
Software must also be evaluated by those of us in the education field. It’s content (Does it teach what it’s supposed to? Does it teach the concepts well?), technical support options (What sort of support is offered from the company is problems arise or training is needed?), academic level (Is the material on a level that matches that of your students?), technical quality (Does the software look good and run well?) and ease of use (Is the product user-friendly?) should all be considered before purchasing software (Shelly et al. 2008, p.399).
After technology is evaluated and then purchased, we must continue to evaluate it’s effectiveness when integrated into our classrooms, lessons, and activities. We can evaluate technology through test scores, in class activities, projects, portfolios, checklists and rubrics, as well as teacher observation (Shelly et al. 2008, p.404-406).
Shelly, G. B.& Thomas, C. J. & Randolph, G. E. & Gunter, G. A. (2008). “Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom” Course Technology: Boston Massachusetts
Who Knew the Almanac Could Be So Fun?
I’ve begun the first draft example of my digital storybook project. I’d like to share the storyboards I’ve created during my planning process. This is kind of like an outline (in my mind) of what the final presentation will be like, but it will be in the form of a video. Take a look and let me know what you think!
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Wikis
Just call me the Wizard of Wikis! That’s right, I am officially now the author of my own curriculum resource page for my school library, in the form of a wiki! I hope that you might find it useful and I plan to add additional links and pages with time. Feel free to comment here if you have any likes or dislikes.
Welcome to the World of Wikis
If you’re a technology immigrant (like me) you may be unfamiliar with the possible uses of wiki, or for that matter what a wiki even is. Our textbook (Shelly, 82) defines a wiki as, “a collaborative web site that allows users to create, add to, modify, or delete the web site content via their web browser”. So basically, multiple users can access and change the website, unlike a blog, in which only one person is the author and editor.
In the realm of education, there are countless educational benefits to a wiki. Students can post their writing onto a wiki and have fellow classmates make comments, edits or corrections to help in the writing process. It’s the modern way to do peer editing! You could also use it as a space for each individual student to add their portion of a group project. This way all involved can view each others contributions and make comments. I think it would also be a great idea of the faculty at a given school or grade level. Teachers could share information, resources, and ideas with one another with nearly instant feedback. Two heads are better than one after all!
This week I logged on to www.wikispaces.com and began the process of creating my own wiki! I created an account and now have my own personal web address for my wiki. I found that this process was very user friendly. After creating the initial account a “Getting Started with Your Wiki” window popped up with directions and helpful hints on how to get started making your wiki, and how to get acquainted with the logistics of adding pages, content, and links. Whenever you want to change the text on a page you simply click the “edit” button and then type in a format similar to any word processor with a somewhat familiar editing tool bar across the top. I’m looking forward to diving in headfirst and beginning the creation of my own wiki!
Shelly, Cashman, Gunter, & Gunter. (2008). Integrating Technology and Digital Media
in the Classroom. United States: Course Technology.
The Power of Digital Storytelling
When I think how digital story telling might benefit my students, the possibilities are endless! I am a media specialist so much of my role is reading and storytelling to grade levels kindergarten through fifth grade. Our students in the 21st century are bombarded with technology moment by moment, from cell phones, TVs, cameras, and computers, to MP3 players and hand held video games. We as digital immigrants, must meet them where they are, as digital natives. In other words, we must use digital technology because it is engaging and relevant to the 21st century world our students live in. Digital story telling gets students’ attention, and helps them learn quicker, and retain more. When students themselves create digital stories, it can help with developing their writing skills, as well as their creativity. I’ve done research projects with students in the library where they make a final presentation and present what they learned in the form of a power point presentation, which is a form of digital story telling. I’ve even done digital story telling with students as young as kindergarten! It’s engaging and the students love it! Because they love it they really pay attention, get involved, interact, learn, and retain information. Here is a power point digital story I created for a “stranger danger” lesson I teach with kindergarteners.
My Personal Learning Plan
What is my personal learning goal during the remaining time in this course?
My learning goal throughout the remainder of this course is to improve my working knowledge of wikis, specifically how to create and manage a wiki. I’ve heard of wikis, and I even know what a wiki is, but I have little to no knowledge of how to make my own wiki.
How will I use this knowledge (of creating and maintaining a wiki) in my current position as a media specialist?
- I’ve often thought of a research resource page with categorized links for the students to utilize in the media center and at home. If I made this resource a wiki, other teachers or media specialists could add their valuable links to the site also.
- Another idea I had is in regards to a reading competition we have in Georgia called the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. To participate in this brain bowl style competition, students are encouraged to read novels from a suggested reading list and then write questions about the books to quiz other students. I thought that by using a wiki, all the students could post their questions, see other students’ questions, and also make comments about one another’s questions. In addition, they could make comments about the novels and share their thoughts about what they’re reading. A sort of interactive, online book-talk! All comments made by students would obviously be first submitted and approved by me (the moderator) before they would be posted to the wiki.
How will I achieve this goal?
To achieve this goal I plan on:
- Researching helpful tutorials on the internet. The internet really can answer so many of our questions and teach us how to use web 2.0 technologies. I know there are alot of videos on www.youtube.com that help with learning how to navigate web 2.0 technologies.
- Meeting with another media specialist in my county who uses a wiki to organize her Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl Club. I’d like to take a look at her wiki and ask her questions about how she utilizes it and what she likes and doesn’t like about it. She could give me some helpful hints and a lot of personal insight since she has used and experienced a wiki first hand.
How will I know I met my goal?
I will know that I’ve achieved my goal when I publish my Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl wiki! I will share the wiki with the students on the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl team. I think by integrating this technology the students will be very excited about participating in the bowl, and ultimately about reading. I also plan on sharing my wiki with other media specialists in the county. By seeing what I’ve done with my wiki, I might inspire them to learn more about wikis and make one of their own!
Online Identity, what’s this all about?
When I think about my online identity as a professional educator, I cannot really separate it from my personal online identity. In my opinion, the two are after all one; the professional Lisa and the personal Lisa. To me online identity means the image that is projected to the world (of you) on the world wide web. Thus said, you must be careful that every word that is written, and every image that is uploaded or posted, in regards to you, is of the utmost integrity. I personally, am very careful in all areas online regarding the sharing of personal information. I never reveal where I work or live, or say anything that I wouldn’t want my principal to read. I heard it said onetime, “never say anything in writing (that included emails, blogs, and websites) that you wouldn’t want published in the newspaper the next day”. That really puts everything into perspective!
Daniel J. Solove in The Future of Reputation said that your reputation is basically everything. Your reputation is intertwined with your very identity, or who you are. People don’t necessarily judge you based upon who your really are, but who you are perceived to be. He goes on to say that because of the internet, strangers know us not for, “our whole selves, but for various informational fragments”. One mis-step on the internet and information can travel worldwide with light speed. This sort of wildfire spreading of information can quickly be completely and totally out of your control. The sad part of it is, the information spreads so rapidly whether it’s true or not! On the upside, if false information is spread, then corrections can be made just as quickly. But if the information is true, Solove says it is virtually impossible to, “put the cat back in the bag” so to speak.
As I’m reading these examples of mistakes and situations that have gone horribly wrong regarding information spreading on the internet, I can’t help but thinking, “what were these people thinking?”. I tend to think they weren’t thinking. I could be totally off base here, but I feel that employers made the right decisions by not hiring, or by firing, these individuals. These emails and blogs in my opinion are simply a reflection of the persons’ true character. For example, the young intern in the law firm who inadvertently sent the inappropriate email to a list of other employees; Solove said that he “should have been more careful”. I believe the issue is not that he “should have been more careful”, but that he never, never, should have said those words in the first place! The second example which I feel the same about, is the one of Heather Armstrong who was fired because of her negative comments on her blog, regarding her job. Once again, she never, never, should have put these things in writing! The internet and everything on it is public information that her employers and fellow employees could (and did) read. Once again, this goes back to my rule of thumb, never type anything (in blog format or email) that you wouldn’t want published on the front page of the newspaper the next day! I won’t even address the obvious stupidity of those who post “half naked” pictures of themselves on the internet. Ask yourself, would you want your students, parents, and administrators to view these images? When you’re posting them on the world wide web that is entirely possible. I think someone who does this sort of thing shows a lack of integrity (not to mention maturity) and is most likely not the best candidate for the job in the first place. I chuckled at the harsh reality of Solove’s statement that “the information about a person on the internet can be a secret job killer”.
The final thing in The Future of Repuation that really struck me was Solove’s comments about young people simply not knowing the risks that the internet poses. This may be, and is most likely, entirely true. My first response to this statement is, then we must educate them! We teach our children about the dangers of touching a stove, and crossing the street, and in our global based “internet-society” we must also teach them the fundamental safeties of the internet. This is no longer an option; to not do so, would be a crime and just as dangerous as allowing your child to touch the stove or run across a busy street without looking for cars. We must teach them about their online identity and the importance of not sharing personal or inappropriate information, as well as the irrevocability of the consequences that result when one chooses to make these poor choices.
In conclusion, I’d like to share one of my personal experiences that reiterated to me the interconnectedness and world wide permeation of the internet, as well as the dangers. I have a family blog and occasionally I get random comments from complete strangers. I’ve often thought to myself, “who in the world is this person?” They’re reading about my personal life and my children! For all I know, they could very well be some criminal mind sitting in his jail cell reading my blog! I never approve these comments and I am always overly cautious about the information I disclose.
I’d also like to point out something else I found interesting. When I googled my name, I found over 10,000 results, but twenty out of the first twenty were not me at all. Does that mean I don’t have a very strong online identity? Good! I prefer to keep it that way!
The last thing I’d like to point out also comes with a question I’d like to pose. On p.38 Mr. Solove commented that facebook is a social networking site where “profiles are more restricted” and “access is limited to students”. This statement however, is completely untrue. Anyone can have a facebook account, student or not. Does anyone have any idea why he would have made this statement? If you can clarify that information for me I would appreciate it!
To everyone out there in cyberspace who is reading this post, I welcome your comments and opinions. I look forward to hearing from you!
