March 31, Chapter 9

What do YOU think we should do with these technologies for the future of teaching and
Learning?
This is a very broad question. I definitely think we should not thwart the future and continue log jamming education. Former FCC Chairman William Kennard (2007) says, “The government accountability office found that 42% of households have either no computer or a computer with no internet connection (3503, Solomon & Schrum). I am appalled by this statistic because if this number is factual our students have no chance in the global marketplace. We should embrace these technologies and use them to drive education. We should continue to enforce net neutrality and let information flow without red tape. We should take these technological models and encourage responsiveness, convertible & conversable rewards, personal investment, identity building, and dependability. These learning models are what makes the learning experience of this generation compelling and instructionally potent (3461, Solomon & Schrum). We need to continue to investigate in those technologies that focus on mobility, downsizing, and digital natives. Our district needs to consider site licenses with mobile tablets and stop adopting textbooks that don't get updated till 7 year intervals. What if we stop buying textbooks and provide every teacher and learner withacces to the world with digital networked content (3422, Solomon & Schrum). The information age has an exponential historical curve and many predictions are made that suggests within the next year there will be more new information digitally available than all the previous years of humanity. With that being said how can justifiably adopt a history book every seven years?

March 23, Chapter 8

Systemic Issues

Accessibility is a part of the school that has a tendency to get overlooked because of the small minority population it represents. With that being said, I think that only takes place in cultural situations and not in the special education setting. The author suggests that blogging and especially podcasting may be one of the most effective ways to learn a foreign language, to learn English as a second language, or to learn other subjects that may be difficult to comprehend (3077, Solomon & Schrum). My school does not have a large ESL or ESOL population. However, we do have our share of special education students. Our special education students use computers and have access to technology in our Foreign Language, Read 180, and Gifted programs. Our students with special needs even have computers for “Assistive Technology Services” that have OCR scanning software to support electronic responses and provide highlighted text-to-speech reading, spell check and word processing with prediction. Current federal guidelines require that assistive technology must be considered for every student who has an individualized education program (IEP) (3100, Solomon & Schrum). These services are used to support difficulties in the areas of motor aspects of writing, composition of written material and other learning skills. We do our best to provide technology to all of our students but the ratio of technology devices and/or services are pale in comparison to other schools. The author says, “This must be viewed through the reality of unequal access to technology, specifically in schools with high minority populations, high proportions of families who have cultural or linguistic diversity, or in schools in rural areas (3136, Solomon & Schrum). I want to add to that with schools with high populations of any sub-group of students have a high percentage of unequal accesses.

Screencast Reflection

What we did…

We learned two new screen applications designed to record or capture and save what you do on your computer screen. Those two applications are jing and scree-o-matic. We also did various advanced search techniques with Google search. This allowed us to get a more detailed search of topics we are actually looking for. The last portion of class was generating code defined by us creating depositories of sites that we want a defined Google search to “sniff” from. Once we implemented those specific sites we were then able to create the code to be embedded into any html source code (specifically iGoogle).

The NETS Standard Met…
Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes.
Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS•S. Teachers:
Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
Evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning.

The way I can use this information…
I will use this information immediately with the project for my next assignment and by teaching new tools to students/teachers when I am not able to actually be there in person.

March 17, Chapter 7

This chapter goes through an assortment of information for expanding a knowledgebase and acquiring best practices for online safety and security. Topics of discussion include school legality, cyberbullying, oversight, CIPA, NCLB, COPPA, FERPA, Creative Commons, and AUPs. I believe we need more educators with vision to anticipate the issues and policies that are important to the safety and achievement of our students. When we discuss "keeping students and data safe and secure are important-ethically and legally", it is not just the school's job to do so. Our schools need legal direction from Board policies so the school's can determine how and where to begin. The author writes, “School districts have to do everything in their power to prevent problems before they start and cyberbullying may be the online equivalent of bad schoolyard behavior, but it is no less hurtful and dangerous” (2602, Solomon & Schrum). Politically this week, the White House has turned its attention to cyberbullying. I read one headline that said “New law may require Principals to monitor Facebook” (Fox News). I believe those that do not want “big government” so-say “intruding on local matters”, well then those local agencies and districts need to be proactive in doing the job before they are forced. Solomon and Schrum point out with good cause that “the tools used to enhance the classroom experience are not hosted by the school system, however, and there is no ability for administrators to exercise oversight effectively over teachers’ and students’ appropriate use of these tools. Some districts use E-Rate as the handcuffs that is preventing them from using these tools, hover, I have read the E-Rate documentation and it provides room for the school to implement the necessary tools. Security, awareness, online safety, ethical behavior and implementation of tools all require stakeholder collaboration of parental involvement. With respect to how problems are handled; in a study done by Douglas Levin, senior director of education policy for cable in the classroom, showed that 71% of parents believe that a major portion of the responsibility for ensuring children’s safety on the Internet falls to schools, 49% to government and law enforcement, and 94% had taken their own steps (2846, Solomon & Schrum). Does this mean our parents believe that they should have majority of the responsibility? Interpretation is a matter of who and how one looks at it.

March 10, Chapter 6

I enjoyed reading this chapter with respect to the questions provided for comment. The chapter describes district leaders and administrators, using web 2.0 to increase effective communication with the students, faculty, and community. Upon reading this chapter I am quite discouraged by the current discourse we currently operate under and the lack of willingness to alter our path. Schrum and Lynne outline conditions for leading in the 21st century. The chapter sites examples of web 2.0 tools that principals in other schools use to post information, announcements, class projects, photos, and calendars to communicate with the entire school community (Schrem & Lynne, Location 2320). They use blogs, wikis, all for frequent transparent communication. The challenges I see of implementing these technologies are small in number but large in stature. In Calcasieu Parish every tool has to come through the District infrastructure. We use Blackboard and if blackboard doesn’t support it or create it; it is Against Policy: File Section GAMIA is the Calcasieu Parish School Board Policy regarding electronic communication from faculty to students. Myself, I have learned from history to implement with caution “Civil Disobedience” to support new technologies in my own school. Policy states “All electronic communication, including electronic mail, by an employee at a school to a student enrolled at that school relative to the educational services provided to the student shall use a means provided by or otherwise made available by the school system for this purpose and the School Board shall prohibit the use of all such system means to electronically communicate with a student for a purpose not related to such educational services, except communication with an immediate family member if such communication is specifically authorized by the School Board.” Well, this means that Twitter is definitely out of the question! Of course there is more but I will stop here because my civil disobedience only goes so far. I do not agree with our position not to support the many tools out there that our students speak, and create with. Lastly, when leaders act contrary to conscience, we must act contrary to leaders. ~Veterans Fast for Life

March 3, Chapter 5

Professional Development is a loaded term in the realm of education. There are many books and articles out there that discuss the elements within the scope of pd and how those elements contribute to the success and failures of web 2.0 practices. This chapter starts with the increased pressures of federal, state, and local governments on education. With the increased mandates in technology the technology standards has arisen to support pre and post in-services (ISTE, 2000). With the added pressures on high stakes testing the U.S. Department of Education has increased the focus of technology standards throughout education (Amrein & Berliner, 2003). According to the U.S. Department of Education, even though massive amounts of money have been spent on professional development, many school institutions have not done an adequate job in teacher training. I agree with that to some degree, the author says, “Traditional staff development has tended to be based on one model: a one-day session, often four hours right after school when everyone is tired and focused on other issues.” I think we do a little bit better job in Calcasieu Parish. We send our teachers on many whole day in-services and those particular teachers come back to and train the others. Many of our educators are not trained sufficiently in web 2.0 to get good feedback in the advantages of those web 2.0 tools or like I mentioned earlier they are not adequately supported with follow-ups. The disadvantages are numerous and they start with limited reinforcement. That leads to not enough experts in the school not being able to train the rest of the staff and that leads to staff still being resistant. The author writes, “With all of the support and training seemingly provided, many teachers are still viewed as resistant to integrating technology on a more frequent basis. Now we are requesting that educators change their practice in ways to take advantage of the opportunities of web 2.0” (Location 2010). The problem with this is if I asked the teachers at my school “What is web 2.0?” the overwhelming majority would not know even if they are doing some of its components i.e. podcasting.
Communities of practice are personal learning networks in the virtual social world that contribute to the cultural context of learning. This applies to students as well as teachers. Dede (2003) says, Emerging devices, tools, media, and virtual environments offer opportunities for creating new types of learning communities for students and teachers. The author uses an encyclopedia about Harry Potter’s fictional world and Milwaukee educators sharing ideas about effective instruction. These communities encourage participation, create trust, eliminate confusion, create interactive dialogue, and make learning interactive. I belong to The Educator’s PLN, a personal learning network on everything technology and best practices (www.edupln.ning.com). I have used this network many times to promote pd in the web 2.0 tools and technology.

Ipad2

There's one thing I love about Steve Jobs: he knows corporations follow in his footsteps, so when someone's shadow appears in front of him from a setting sun, he sprints all the way across the world just so the sun ascends in front of him....casting a shadow back on all those rival corporations.....His Ingenuity Really Is Phenomenal! It's a shame how many people fail to recognize the power of his imagination that is ever-changing the computing world for the better, and not for the worse.

posted by ~Original quote by IBod

Poll Everywhere...

Create your own sms poll at Poll Everywhere

Twitter Reflection

What we did…

I have been tweeting personally for about 3 years now.  I love the concept and the shared knowledge that comes with it. I would say that I do it haphazardly.  I tend to be more of a listener to other tweets than an individual who puts information out.  I have grown professionally from it.  I follow various technology groups and other individuals that provide up to date information on things that interest me.  I allow push notifications to my iPad with twitter and other 2.0 tools.

The NETS Standard Met…

Facilitate and Inspire Student learning and Creativity: model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.

The way I can use this information…

To collaborate with others in a professional way.  Many educators use twitter as a source of finding information.  Twitter is also used to communicate in an informal way that doesn’t involve everyone in everyone else’s business. It is a top down communicative hierarchy.  In my school setting I can send information without a follower of mine having access to another follower of mine through direct access of my account.  So, in other words there is no reply to a “wall post” like in facebook so communication is kept relatively “in house”.

February 24, Chapter 4

My classroom is a bit different because it encompasses the entire school. In the previous chapter I mentioned some of the tools that we are using at S.J. Welsh. I took a good look at www.gaggle.net to find a safe and secure way for my teachers to use blogs with their students. This is a difficult tool to incorporate considering the district will not allow communication without it being through their infrastructure. One of my ELA teachers posed a concern to me. She wants to incorporate blogging into her classroom and that is what prompted the gaggle discussion from me to her.  I have also spoken to my principal about doing a weekly podcast for the school/community.  At this point we are in the discussion phase with that as well.  In this chapter the author says that some schools are publishing their newspapers online.  We also do that at S.J. I post our newsletter on our school website and spotlight the “highlights” on the S.J. App. I am using other tools like Skype, Google docs, twitter and other forms to collaborate with the community. We started using twitter last year and it has been a slow but effective tool to use. It especially comes in handy when we have important information that we need to get out quickly. 

February 17, Chapter 3

This chapter was filled with web 2.0 tools that can be used by anyone not just an educator.  I almost had information overload of all the content that was presented.  Some of the tools I am familiar with. I use YouTube, Tagging, delicious, Picasa, Flickr, RSS, blogs, wikis, podcasts, and Google Applications.  Google Chrome is my choice of web browser, and as an example provided…S.J. Google Documents.  In the link provided is a form I made for Classroom Observations at my school. It is based on the District Observation Rubric that all schools in Calcasieu Parish use.  I also implemented skype (Solomon, 2006) into the communication processes that we use at our school to decrease classroom interruptions for the sake of instruction. Our teachers leave the program running on their computers and if the office needs to get a “non-pressing” message to that teacher the admins/secretaries instant message those particular teacher/teachers. Non-pressing: (mom brought lunch to front office; Johnnie is a bus rider today; Suzie’s cheerleader money is in the office for pick-up….). We are currently working on ways to use the video feature for collaboration.  In my opinion I am fairly literate with technology and the terms associated with it, however there were many terms that I had a better understanding with the book.  I learned the Ajax programming language being a web development technique used for creating interactive Web applications (Solomon, 2006).  The language utilizes the technology asynchronously (no server).  I mentioned earlier that my school uses skype but I did not correlate the term VoIP term with it (Solomon, 2006).  I love the open source generation we are immersed in. GIMP is useful for photo retouching, image composition, and image authoring (Solomon, 2006).  I have worked with GIMP in the past and it has many features that are useful at the proper educational level. I use widgetbox (www.widgetbox.com, 2011) to create the S.J. Welsh Web Application and on the app I have Google calendar, maps, and Picasa synchronized to it.  I am currently at the application stage with Google regarding their Chrome OS and the chrome notebook (Cr-48) associated with it. We are trying to become a pilot program for its integration into education (http://www.google.com/chromeos/pilot-program.html).

January 27, 2011

20 Things I learned About the Web

1.       The internet and its beginnings to what it is today. Interesting that how the protocol works to send chunks of information and then puts it all back together again. The traffic that flows depends on the amount of bandwidth provided.

2.       Cloud Computing is becoming more useful today. Being able to save and even store print services in the clouds increase the capability for mobility.  This minimizes the physical media one would need to store information.

3.       Web Apps allow us to use products that were once used with a cd for installation purposes, i.e.. Microsoft Office.  Its cool that server side can update the app and then the client always has the newer version and all you need is a web browser to access it.

4.       HTML, Java Script…the building blocks or code that drives the www. All you need is a web browser to compile the information desired.

5.       HTML 5 is the advancement and improving on previous versions of html tagging to do more things without add-ons.

6.       3D in The Browser is relatively new but as bandwidth increases this will become more common for information requiring depth and textures.

7.       New Browsers like the latest version of Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Opera, or Google Chrome — is important for security, fast-paced changing of the internet, and, compelling innovation.

8.       Plug-Ins are still used today and they operate independently from the web browser so security could be an issue.  I use Flash from Adobe a lot under this category.  I like that Google Chrome had Adobe built in to process updates, security fixes, and patches.

9.       Browser Extensions add to your browsers overall experiences, many of them are written in the same language that the web is written in making it easier and less secure.

10.   Synchronizing the Browser. Sync works by being able to apply your digital world back together in case doomsday comes and destroys it.  Apple uses sync for transferring its media and dropbox syncs content to every device that it is stored on.  Google Chrome saves everything the way you have it anywhere by logging into any device with your Google account.

11.   Browser Cookies are bits of information that remembers what you did before to speed up your user experience.  They can remember passwords, login names, shopping cart data…

12.   Browsers and Privacy. Browser security helps protect you from malware, phishing, and other online attacks, while privacy features help keep your browsing private on your computer.  History of the web sites and cookies stored can be deleted by the Browser’s options.

13.   Security Risks. Phishing takes place when someone masquerades as someone else, often with a fake website, to trick you into sharing personal information. Malware, on the other hand, is malicious software installed on your machine, usually without your knowledge.

14.   Limiting the Risks; Modern Browsers pre-check frequents sites. Allow your browser to update all of its features to prevent attacks. A browser sandbox builds a contained environment to keep malware and other security threats from infecting your computer. If you open a malicious web page, the browser’s sandbox prevents that malicious code from leaving the browser and installing itself to your hard drive.

15.   The URL is comprised of the scheme, hostname and the path. The path is sometimes displayed before the hostname. Https:// means the address has a secure connection.

16.   Ip address is the number that every url has assigned to it.  The Domain Name System is the phonebook of the web.

17.   Validating Identities: Some sites have an extended validation certificate. This is used as added security to trust that you are going to the address that you actually want to go. It is wise to check a site’s certificate before sending sensitive information.

18.   Evolution.  As time goes on information will increase in size and scope, so some think that the user experience will “slow down” because of all the traffic. Google has made WebP that cuts down the average image file size by 39%.  Google Chrome uses pre-resolution to pre-load links while the DNS is coding the desired site.

19.   Open Source is the code made available to all.  Mozilla Firefox is an open source browser. Apache is an open source server powered by the Linux open source operating system.

20.   It is just the beginning…Use it and improve it!

February 10, Chapter 2

Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants
I would dare to go even further with both of the two mentioned groups are still being controlled somewhat by those in Education with Digital Stagnation. Please excuse my words but the “powers that be” stop true digitalization on its binary track. The author cites from Adapted from Project Tomorrow, 2006,p.7 that the majority of technology use in school is done by the desktop computer; 82% from 6-12 and 93% by teachers. Those figures reflect my school's use of technology as the desktop computer leading the way.  We are still using power points and have integrated promethean software into the classroom.  I wish I could say we have a lot more technology than the traditional computer but it's not the case. This was true 20 years ago so I think something is wrong here. In my opinion students have the opportunity and access to learn more with technology out of school than they do at school. The students of today are mobile and socially interactive. If my students had a choice they would definitely use their mobile devices (ipods, cell phones, ipads) to communicate with each other. We need to use that to education’s benefit. At the exponential pace that technology grows, our schools will become more outdated than ever if we keep the same old philosophy. The author says, "students know that they are tech-savvy and report that their school are not." I would hope that students would like their school to be a learning environment where their education and acquisition of knowledge takes place at a higher rate than at home.  I think this philosophy is the same as previous generations but in some instances I do think that balance has shifted.  Those classrooms of yesterday were centered around the school and the teacher.  The students were spectators to learning and the after-hours connections to learning were more character based.  Hard work and life lessons were connected through the family in a non digital way.  Today, school should be a node of the student’s network of learning. I do believe students are multi-modal and they learn in very different ways. The teacher becoming a facilitator is becoming the need, not an option, therefore that facilitator must have necessary skills to change and “give up the power”. We must support our teachers with professional development strategies the same way we want to support our students. Then we can target our students with how they learn to maximize their learning experience. Constructivism is rooted in how my students learn.  The author suggests that using web tools helps the process of students learning based on their previous knowledge.  I would agree with that statement. Many of our students use email, tweet, use social sites as well as "comment" and "collaborate" with friends on the web.  Building upon that knowledge that the students already possess is essential to learning.  Using constructivism, project based learning strategies infused with web 2.0 tools is an excellent approach to education. Learning takes place formally and informally with knowledge management as an important aspect to its success. In this 21st century the audience will be the measurement of assessment and the production value of the process will be the steps to success. The curriculum should be designed with the student or teacher in the center; depends on who is being "taught". At my school we use skype, twitter, blackboard, and email to communicate.  The desired tool is used according to who is the learner and what is to be communicated. With skype for example, the administration has modeled the use of it and we issued a small assignment to our teachers using it. Now it is an important video conferencing and instant messaging tool used to communicate with teachers for those times when we don't want to interrupt instruction yet still send an important message. Web-based tools add the ability to communicate and collaborate with the world outside the classroom and at no cost beyond the technology (WEB 2.0, 856). In this curriculum we modeled and implemented a project based assignment using a web 2.0 tool for communication. Now the task is to continue this approach with other curriculums throughout the school.
~Citations WEB 2.0:New Tools, New Schools

February 3, Chapter 1

Chapter 1 focuses on the philosophy and ideals that are emerging in this new age of information. The race to world interconnectivity has changed the way we teach and learn as a society. We are no longer a society that relies on manufacturing, industrials, and the learning techniques that produce those job opportunities. We are now a nation that is competing with other nations for the global economy and our young people need the necessary skills to develop bloom's taxonomy higher order skill set to compete globally. We have transformed from web 1.0 to 2.0 incorporating sharing, collaborating, project-based assessments,with social expressions as the leading elements of open source web applications. Our students need to be prepared for this highly competitive market so we must have educators that are professionally developed in transferring that knowledge by using the technologies themselves. Our educational system is built on an outdated system that requires real change and brave intellectuals to lead it. Then and only then we can start to compete. I think our school is being lead by our district as a whole and we are lagging behind in preparing our students for the next generation of competitive jobs. The national infrastructure ranks 20th in the world when it comes to broadband infrastructure and some studies gave data showing achievement that has a resulting impact on broadband connectivity. Lastly, we must provide and support the teachers so they will have the expertise in using the tools that identify learning styles and then use that data to tailor assessments to meet the individual needs of the multimodal learner.

January 27, Class Activities

What We Did

The NETS Standard Met

The Way I Can Use This Information

SJ Welsh Web APP

Check out the new SJ Welsh App on your Android or Iphone device by following this link on your mobile http://wbxapp.com/sj-welsh

McNeese

In class learning new stuff. It's always good to learn new stuff. I can take these new ideas back to my school and share with my colleagues