Teresa Alesch – Multimedia – Final Blog “Learning and PLN”
We know that this is never going to end, so the question is… where do I begin?
FIRST: Virtual learning has to be one of the first pieces of my professional/personal-learning-network. I had heard of Atomic Learning, but I never grasped its potential. So many questions I had throughout the year last year (for example regarding the Ning and GoogleDocs which I used for my English 9 students) could have been answered through a two-five minute tutorial!?! Also, I felt useless as the teacher librarian last year (which I realize this job takes time to build resources), but this year, I have so much to offer teachers, such as “how to use Atomic Learning” and explaining to them that they really did put it there for good reason. I can actually navigate the AEA Online website with confidence now – before I hesitated looking at it myself let alone referring my colleagues to it.
SECOND: My peers, my instructors, my mentor, and my colleagues… This summer, I have been forced to really lean on those around me. Collaboration. What a nice feeling when you learn how to do it effectively. I remember smiling when a few successes were had in English 9 with GoogleDocs this past year, but NOW – to not only experience it first hand, but also to pass this sort of learning on to my colleagues as well as my students – I am in seventh heaven. And to continue learning from those around me is certainly a top priority.
THIRD: My blog. I haven’t quite had time to explore this application like I would like to. I plan to follow my classmate Beth as thus far, she has one of the best blogs I have seen! I not only looked at her Multimedia blog, but I pranced around to her other blogs within her identity. She has an eye for design and the content within is intriguing. I haven’t had a chance to thank her for inspiring me, but in due time, I will.
FOURTH: I have been following and will continue to follow Will Richardson and David Warlick as the authors of our two books this semester through GoogleReader. Rather than overwhelm myself, I would like to stay with what is slightly familiar. I currently subscribe to their feeds and I plan to stay on top of their new literature whether that means blog postings, articles, conference materials, or books. One other person/site I will follow is Kathy Kaldenburg (and her collaborative multimedia show case site). She provides a multitude of examples to get me brainstorming about the possibilities. I have already been following Doug Johnson and Joyce Valenza, so this will continue.
FIFTH: I am creating a wealth of resources through my Diigo. I am very thankful to have been introduced to this application. I have been wanting a SANE way to organize all of the sites I visit or want to recall. Now they are at my fingertips and categorized with TAGS!
SIXTH: I am a forever and ever learner. I see myself attending technology and literacy conferences/trainings until they put me in a nursing home. I am certain that I will never be comfortable with the here and now, because in virtual land – there is no such thing. Technology and literacy as defined in education is ever changing.
SO WHAT NEXT: With this collection of resources and tools, I plan to create a website, a networking site for my students, colleagues, administration, community, and for myself. It is here all of my scattered thoughts will come together. As I type this message, it still seems a little abstract. I am not sure yet if it will be in the form of a blog, wiki, or an actual website, but through it, I will share the wealth.
This is where I will follow news, links, resources, and other information posted by my favorite people/organizations.
Wikispaces - teresaalesch - My
This is another website that I will continue using. I have used it before, but through SLIS-Multimedia, I have gained a new appreciation for what it can do. I have a teacher who wants to start a wiki (my first project)
VoiceThread - Group conversations around images, documents, and videos
This site allows me to present just about anything. It is also a resource to view other people's presentations. I am looking forward to sharing this at the beginning of the year with students and teachers.
Wordle - Beautiful Word Clouds
This is something I haven't played with much, but the end product of a combination of words is very effective. I will start by introducing this to our social studies teacher.
I didn't realize Google had a site like this. This would have been so helpful when I was teaching my students to use GoogleDocs.. I plan to incorporate this with library students first thing.
What I found interesting about this article initially was that I thought the student's first response (example) was good! When I read the second response I was astounded at the growth in analysis. This should reveal how much I need to learn, and how much teaching I need to do to improve my own students' reasoning and responding. This is definitely a skill that we need to work on at Graettinger-Terril Schools. I am excited to look further into the REED-LO model. I actually questioned my own analysis/reflection skills and as I looked through the stages, I know that going through this process would deeply improve my own responses as well as my students'.
As for the application WAIT, I am very enthusiastic about this tool. One very nice feature is that it requires students to publish their interpretations before taking a look at the expert's essay. This is helpful to promote independent thinking. If we don't push students out of their comfort zone, they will maintain at a level with little growth, will not learn to think for themselves, and will not gain confidence in their abilities to recognize evidence and produce quality responses.
Furthermore, this model and application together force students to research the content within a piece of art, looking deeper into the history of the photo and events and people involved. When responding students are combining different literacies to produce their responses.
Today, I received a most heartwarming baby gift from a group of my cohort peers (the Bettendorf gang)... It's a little jumper that says, "I (heart) Metadata!" ...It's a funny thing really, because last fall we were eating, sleeping, and drinking metadata in Cliff's class, Organization of Information (or maybe that was the book), but here I am reading more from Warlick and he says,
"Today, as information flows through a growing number of new applications, it tends to carry with it information about itself, enabling information to organize itself dynamically, as a function of its being and its flow."THAT'S METADATA! You have to understand the humor here... it took me a LONG time to grasp the concept of metadata, and now I must get it.
This was a pretty interesting night... As I was reading Warlick's Redefining Literacy 2.0, I was stuck on a quote: "For the first time in history, we are preparing our students for a future we cannot clearly describe." I decided to post it to my Facebook page and minutes later I had responses from people pondering it. I'm guessing it still has room to take shape; the conversation is just getting started. I'm hoping some of my students will jump in and offer their insights.
I see that my response was cut off... so here is the final post shown in this image - which if you click on it, it will open up in another window (larger).
Teresa's response, "Hey everyone! Yea, it does make you think.. that's why I had to post it. David Warlick is the person behind that... and yes, it's something I'm reading. It involves technology, communication, and literacy. Some people are afraid of educating students with their modern tools... facebook, blogs, chatting, and other online tools - for fear of them not... Read More being able to socialize in person, not learning the "BOOK," and for fear of the technology itself, BUT - that's where our world is going. In the mid 1990s, people started chatting on yahoo - look at what we have now (look at what we are doing right here) - and yet, our classrooms are still quite traditional (the way we were taught)... The youth have changed, but the schools have not. ... And Darci - You are right on Johnson I've read a lot of his material and have seen some of his Webinars - I would love to hear him in person!"
A few important concepts stood out to me, but first of all the 5-year-old podcast was adorable. I have several teachers who would –WITHOUT A DOUBT– run with this project! ... I would LOVE to have a gift like this from my daughter.
1) Need to give students different tasks to get them to share different content through different mediums
--This reminds me of a quick project I threw together last fall that was unsuccessful. I gave students a topic and told them they could choose their mode of presentation. I purposely gave them the freedom to do what they wanted, but unfortunately, they didn't have a toolbox to work from. I need to add "tasks" to prepare them for this type of thinking, planning, and creating.
2) Privacy is a concern when publishing, but it isn't what we think it is. Fryer helped me to see this in a different way. Statistically speaking, predators don't see a student's picture online then kidnap him/her. Generally, predators know the victim... or have been corresponding (which is more of the area we need to watch out for). But this is an area that we need to think through a little more and understand a little better.
3) After watching a Voicethread, we heard from Sara. She said the toughest part about creating her Voicethread was not uploading the pictures but was the content (what am I going to say). This is important because this starts with writing... so even though this product reveals little writing, students will have written their script and rehearsed their script (and rewritten and edited)... and so on.
4) In this same Voicethread project, we see that another critical component is the response from peers. This means that students are preparing their product for a larger audience than just the teacher - requiring a different line of thinking. We can even invite parents to the link which takes on a whole new perspective.
Blogging is growing on me and I'm wishing it wasn't in chunks that I've been doing my homework. I think with a reduction in reading and combination of various projects... (between the two classes), I will be able to spend more time in reading and reflection not only to my classmates new posts on various topics but also on some of the professionals or experienced bloggers' postings (insights and teachings) as well.
I think the difficult thing has been the number of new things to learn - which have been great but overwhelming. However, the blogging is helping me because as I venture out to read my classmates' blogs, I'm gaining new insights not only about the media and theory we are studying but also about myself and my learning as well. I appreciate this opportunity because it really is the learning style of today's generation.
As of right now, I don't really like Flickr, but to be fair - I haven't really given it a chance either. I think the layout seems dull and this distracts me from all it really has to offer...
But in addition to this, I realized that even though I haven't come to like these programs yet (and mind you, I haven't given them much chance yet either - this is about to change), I don't have much of a choice. These are the programs that will be available to my teachers and students. Right now we are mostly PC and only the few art computers are equipped with the wonderful "Photoshop."
I browsed around the links provided and wasn't really sure what I was looking for. I didn't understand many of the photos posted or the background for the photos - I think that's what bores me... I'd like some explanation to draw me in.
My plan to open my mind to Flickr begins with this link: http://jakespeak.blogspot.com/2006/03/classroom-uses-of-flickr.html - Jakesonline wiki led me to his blogger page which is full of great ideas.
I also found this wiki - http://web20-instruction.wikispaces.com/Using+Flickr+for+Instruction
Using Flickr for Instruction - this too, seems like a great resource.
So far, I don't like any freeware photo editors... I don't like them at all. I think it is because I prefer more complex editing with more options.
I am coming from a slightly different background and went to school for graphic design. Therefore, simple to me in this arena is useless. I learned Adobe Photoshop and have always used that for any editing and imaging. I have to confess that I haven't been able to do much photo editing for some time because I've been so busy with work and school. I love to work with images but I often get lost in the process. For a while, I created jackets for funeral announcements. I would superimpose the a picture of the person (who was deceased) into an image that the family said "represented" him or her... So if that person loved golfing, I would take a picture of a golf course (or the course he/she frequented) and mask the person into the scene...
Doing this is something I truly enjoy but need the time to do it. I am now inspired all over again to get back into photo editing and to find ways to integrate it into my work as a librarian. Marketing is one avenue for this and teaching students is another. We have a "digital" art teacher, so I am excited to rekindle my knowledge and see what we can come up with together to take Photoshop to knew levels at our school.
This Webinar was full of great project ideas... I took notes from beginning to end (even though he has a nice handout waiting on his website) and plan to give it to teachers. My goal is to provide them with these ideas and then tell them, "...these are ways I can collaborate with you. If anything interests you, let's get together!"
One tip I will take away from Abrams is the concept of student licenses. I think this is a great idea... It will be fun! And, I can create my own training manual (DIGITAL of course!) and test for students to prove their competence. In order to check out the equipment, students will have to show their license (or sticker, or whatever it is that I come up with).
This first feeling I had from this article was motivation... the second feeling, anxiety for project management.
I think I need some time to continue exploring and cleaning up my skills with all of these new forms of media before inviting another teacher to ride the wave with me. Although, this fascinating project provides the map for traveling along the same route.
After reading about the award Sanders and Pavelski won, I was inspired however. This is one way a teacher librarian can keep their job interesting. I'm a competitor even though that wouldn't be the purpose, one out to win awards, but I think now knowing there are awards like that out there - I will have more intention behind my planning and collaboration with my colleagues.
I am still in awe at all of the ways they were able to make this project cross-curricular. I don't think most of us truly understand cross curricular work until being able to read about an extensive project of this nature.
One other area that I appreciated was the way students were evaluated... I think it was Abrams who talked in his Digital Photography Webinar about students learning more from the process than what the product was worth as well as doing more writing as a result of the process (rather than just writing traditionally); therefore, he was encouraging teachers to evaluate the value of their process rather than the shine of their product. I agree!
My first Podcasting experience was fun and it came somewhat naturally. I felt like it was something I have done before even though I have never messed with MP3's much nor have I recorded my voice (which my speaking voice I really do not like; however, I do appreciate one of my classmate's kudos on the speaking voice... maybe it's just my own personal interpretation of my voice - somewhat like when we look in the mirror and some days it's like we're standing in front of a circus mirror that alters your reflection drastically!) The creativity part is what I really enjoy - I'm artistic and musical and this takes away some of the thinking and planning that sometimes hold other up.
Furthermore, I was lucky in class as everything went smoothly from recording to uploading to working without a hitch whereas many of my classmates had to take an extra step or ran into other obstacles that required a learning curve. I thank my graphic design school for making me a Mac person... I have very few troubles with the Mac. It seemed that mostly PCs were having troubles.
Needless to say, I'm looking forward to future podcasts and I'm betting that somewhere along the line, I will have to take an alternate path to get around a technology obstacle because... that's just the way it is.
This article was so exciting to me since I am the epitome of visual learners. I love exploring and responding to graphics... I often analyze deeper than necessary and have people around me saying, "I think you've done/said more than necessary..." or "I didn't see THAT?" ... as I continue to question the contents.
I appreciated the steps she provided... it's nice when authors include instructional methods with theory. I am starting to feel like I am creating a collection of resources to share with my colleagues when they ask me questions!
I am also realizing the lack of opportunities I give my own students to respond to visual images, which is strange considering this is the foundation for my learning style.
I had not thought of credibility in terms of photo literacy before now. This is very eye opening to me realizing how a photographer can be just as biased as a story teller, writer, news broadcaster, teacher, etc... anyone who is trying to CONVINCE or PERSUADE others of something whether the purpose is intentional or subliminal. In addition to this Abilock mentioned "A photographer is always tempted to arrange a scene for symbolic, aesthetic, or dramatic reasons." It just hit me again that we all do this whether we are trying to portray our family in the most positive light or just as writers or movie producers do to capture the audience's attention...
I think using visuals to start a lesson on ethics and credibility in the writing classroom would be motivating to students. They would essentially be getting two for one and I'm betting that the learning would be enhanced with greater success as compared to the traditional methods.
Excellence & Imagination: all the joy of junior high in one small package
I had no idea that a site that houses images could be used in such versatile ways both personally and educationally. I love the idea that I can create digital stories, presentations, discussion pieces, learning maps, etc. (so too can my students). And this is yet another tool that has that “interconnection” option with the ability to tag, organize, share, create albums, subscribe to feeds, and blog.
I plan to start using Flickr soon. I have artwork I created in the past and uploading it would be a good way to introduce myself to the application. I will return and update my post as I have more relevant learning to record.
In terms of my work as a teacher-librarian - I think an in-service for teachers would be my first priority. But first, I will need to do more research and gather a portfolio of examples to share with them. This will make my professional development blog so that I have a place to organize my findings and begin preparing the in-service.
This is perhaps where I've learned the most in the first few weeks of Multimedia.
We are currently working hard in my district to create a pathway of relevance for students in the work they are completing for us at school. When I think about the traditional classroom, it is not much different than what still remains in many of our schools. Even though I have been attempting to introduce students to the interconnectedness of the Internet, I have not come close. Why? One example, I created a Twitter account over a year ago… for what? I don’t know – seemed like the cool thing to do and didn’t log in again until I received some emails recently that a few of my friends and two strangers were following me!?!? Following me (?), I thought. Yikes! I recently revisited my Twitter account and started making meaning out of its purpose: https://twitter.com/teresaalesch. But have only posted one time. The same can be said for many of the other accounts I have created in the past year or two (I created a Delicious account but didn’t know how to use it so haven’t been back, and I’ve set up a few different Wikis but since they wouldn’t do what I told them to I broke off our love/hate relationships)… how can I help my students if I cannot help myself? Good question!
I could really identify “learning in isolation” as it relates to my usage of social web tools but even more so as it relates to our students. They write a paper or complete an assignment, turn it in, and get it back…over and over and over again (I am guilty of this more than I want to admit). Very rarely is there a connection to the whole class or a collaborative effort with peers. I do try to do this, but since I have been reading this book, it’s dawned on me that I’ve only scratched the surface. Last year, however, I created a Ning account for my English 9 class: http://knightenglish.ning.com/. I think it’s a great start, but wow, do I have a ways to go?
Before I can introduce these tools to my colleagues, I really need to understand them myself. This is definitely going to take some time, patience, and dedication on my part... dedication that extends beyond the assignments given in my Multimedia class.
RSS -is to- Real Simple Syndication ...AS...
KISS -is to- Keep It Simple Silly
…until now – I’ve been a little mystified by RSS feeds. I even have a few; I just didn’t quite “get it.”
In simple terms, I’ve learned that the content comes to me – I don’t have to go out and search for it or check on a regular basis to see if something I’m interested in has been updated.
Richardson mentions that he has created a “Personal Learning Curriculum” through his RSS set up. I love the sound of this. I am most definitely a student for life. I believe this is going to be the resourceful tool that Richardson promises. And what’s more is that learning to skim and scan through these feeds for relevant information is a skill, a skill that our students should begin learning right away.
I am looking forward to organizing some feeds I can share with my colleagues. Furthermore, I would like to clean up my mailbox by unsubscribing from the tons of professional and news related emails and picking up RSS feeds instead. How exciting!?!? So that's what that link is for in my mailbox settings!
Wikis. I've personally struggled with the concept of Wikis...not so much Wikipedia or its relatives, but with creating a Wiki myself. I've made it out to be a challenging and complex process. As a matter of fact, I really chuckled at the term, "Whackipedia" as I was feeling pretty whacked out trying to create a Wiki of my own. I think the number one reason is because I'm a design-oriented person and you don't have a great deal of layout freedom if you aren't versed in HTML coding/practices. BUT, after reading this chapter, I am sold regardless of my insecurities. I didn't realize the opportunities for students when involving them in this collaborative process.
In terms of Wikipedia, many teachers do stiffen at the thought of their students using it for research. I am excited to have gained some ammunition to the table and I think I could help my colleagues to respect what the Wikipedia really entails.
WIKIBOOKS!?!?!!?! Where have you been? I spend hours looking for online books that will supplement my English course work or that I can recommend to colleagues to support their curriculum. I spent just a few moments browsing this site - and I'm SOLD: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Basic_Writing/Invention. This is a basic English/Grammar book and has about anything a teacher would want to send students out for more information.
As with everything I'm picking up in my readings and throughout class, I need to organize my learning and set it up to be presented to my colleagues via in-service or even more informal ways that are less threatening. I've set up a professional development blog where I will add my in-service ideas/plans as I learn about the Web 2.0 tools myself. I am excited to be more of a resource to my peers in the years to come!
"The true potential of blogs in schools comes when students and teachers use them as publishing tools."
I am ready for a change. In this chapter, Richardson reminds the teacher that before we teach students blogs, we must blog. He goes on to discuss how reading and writing through the web changed the ways he reads and consumes information [in addition to how he writes]. My biggest challenge will be maintenance. Life can move quickly and it is one of those things - I've never been a journal person and blogging, to me, has similarities. I have a head start, however. Richardson makes reference to a quote from Barbara Ganley, one who implements weblogs in the classroom and she talks about having confidence in her tools and how this can infect even the most resistant students. I joined Facebook when my students started teasing me and calling me old. Even they said, “Mrs. Alesch it’s not only a great way to connect with us, but it is also a great way to stay in touch with your classmates.” And so, they were right. I joined Facebook as a teacher. I put my disclaimer out there that if students connected with me, they needed to be aware of my professional obligations if they should post inappropriate content that I might see. So far, it’s been a great experience and my students and I have used Facebook to enhance our communication. They really seemed to respect the fact that I was willing to open my page for them to see and take tine to visit their pages and comment on their activities and pictures.
Back to blogging. I am excited to try to incorporate blogging into our curriculum to improve critical thinking and analytical writing. These are 21st Century learning goals and a major part of the Iowa Core Curriculum.
Step 1 in becoming a blogger – study other bloggers and their means. Since I’ve had to do this in my coursework, I am already on my way. I’ve looked at some neat Weblogs and I’m already visualizing my own cup of tea. I can see how as Richardson said one’s reading and consuming of information can change. When you visit a Weblog, especially an Edublog, you are welcomed with endless links to resources. It’s like being a child in a candy shop! A couple I’ve already learned from are Will Richardson’s and David Warlick’s Edublogs: http://weblogg-ed.com/; http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/.
Blogging is mental work? Yes, according to Richardson, blogging involves reading, thinking, linking, annotating, etc. This is what makes it different from journaling. While you can grow from journaling, you take leaps and bounds from blogging – that is if you are within definition. I was glad to read that it’s okay to have a little fun too. I know that from a personal experience when I was stumbling back upon Richardson’s Weblogged, I came across a more personal post. He told his readers about an incident of a person with his same name who refers to himself as “Cuddle Bug” on Facebook. It was the first laugh of my day. Getting to know this humorous side encourages me to keep coming back for pleasure as well.
Weblogg-ed: learning with the read/write web
http://weblogg-ed.com/
Will Richardson's weblog is the "ideal" in terms of content and structure. He provides his background, resources upon resources, links to more resources, podcasts and videos, and much more. One of the best parts of his blog is his links to his wiki as well as another wiki that supports educational blogging. I am excited to refer to this source and to use it in my endeavors to implement blogging throughout not only my district's classrooms but also the teachers' desks.
2¢ Worth: teaching and learning in the new information landscape...
http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/
Because David Warlick is another author we are reading for class, I decided to take a look at his blog also.
I especially appreciate the layout of his blog. On the right hand bar/frame, I can really get to know Mr. Warlick by viewing the books he’s written, pictures he’s taken, videos he’s uploaded, other blogs he’s written, and of course I can also look into his archives there. There are subscription options, a couple of neat widgets, and an award for being the winner of “Edublog 2008 – Lifetime Achievement” – pretty neat. The top bar offers several tabs to explore further Warlick’s content. A feature I will definitely come back to is a Wiki designed for educators, media specialists and administrators and involves acceptable use policies. It seems in the past ten minutes I’ve been navigating through it that information is endless.
A Sales Pitch on Based on Strength
We know that students (children through teens) can be impulsive by nature, and this fact can lead to misconceptions about Web tools in school. Students themselves may have false impressions of how sites such as Blogs should be used and therefore, mistakenly use them as journals or other social avenues that could even draw negative attention or perhaps predators of different sorts.
TEACHABLE MOMENT, educators!
We teach our children to tie their shoes. We teach them to look both ways before crossing the street. We teach them not to trust strangers. We teach them manners. We teach children daily rules in life to prepare and protect them. And so should education be in Web 2.0, specifically “blogging.”
Even as a supporter and promoter of various Web 2.0 applications, I had no idea of all that blogging has to offer. The learning possibilities are infinite and more importantly profound in value. As Richardson states, “Students are learning to read more critically, think about that reading more analytically, and write more clearly...[while] building relationships with peers, teachers, mentors, and professionals within the weblog environment.”
The learning possibilities extend beyond our students. Germane to my situation, I want to first get my colleagues on board. How can I do this? I’ve already started. 1) I need to become more familiar with blogging, especially to the point where I feel comfortable and able to share my own learning curve; 2) this may include opening my own blog that will by then have developed into a resourceful and inviting weblog where curiosity is sparked from just browsing; 3) I need to enlist a small group of colleagues who will run with this and together, we will start sharing ideas (perhaps in the form of a best practice sharing) and I will enlist another small group of a different nature (a few of my education association members who will collaborate and share to brainstorm ideas for increasing membership); 4) I need to design a simple, nonthreatening in-service that will inspire my colleagues to “join the fun” (not your typical “Oh great, what now!?!” in-service); 5) I need to create a small assignment for my colleagues to practice (similar to what we are doing in class but applicable to an initiative the principal is working toward to help administration).
This post is before reading this book for more ideas and direction (before finishing the Chapter 2 itself... I may need to adapt my ideas as I learn).
It seems like just yesterday I was playing the "Oregon Trail" on the early Apple with the black screen and green text/graphics using a floppy disk!! The birth of the Web was 1989 and here we are in 2009 with what seems like unlimited possibilities: limitless: colors, graphics, fonts, videos, games, publishing, networking, organizing, etc...
Richardson made an important point, "...this new Read/Write Web promises to transform much of how we teach and learn as well." There isn't even a slot for the FLOPPY disk! Yikes! I embrace this change, but I worry about my colleagues who have been ingrained in the traditional methods of teaching and fear changing to a more student-centered and technological classroom.
The following excerpt is SO important for those "AFRAID" of Web 2.0 and what it has to offer and truly highlights the change that has and is taking place.
..."But, as is often the case, education has been slow to adapt to these new tools and potentials. In other areas of our lives, however, we can see some of these transformations happening right now, right in front of our eyes... At this writing, we're in the midst of the "YouTube Campaign," as some have called it. Every major candidate for president has made extensive use of blogs and video and podcasts throughout the campaign. Each has a MySpace page, attempting to take advantage of the power of social networking, and the voting public has had more ways of engaging in the conversation around issues than ever before. Each is using the web to connect to their very passionate supporters, allowing them to invest their own time and creativity and, in many cases, money in the cause. The very model of how we run campaigns and "do" politics is changing right in front of us, driven by these technologies that allow us to connect and collaborate more easily than before."
