Hanging out over the holiday

It seems strange not to be working on any assignments or dealing with any deadlines right now. Our next course, Musical Theory & Education Applications, looks cool. It will be a challenge, though. It looks like we will be making our own music compositions. Yikes! I always liked singing in the choir, and like music in general, but I have no where near the background for creating my own music.

I am borrowing a keyboard from a relative and hope to be able to record in Garage Band, but I still need a snowball mic if I am going to get better sound recordings. Right now I get a lot of echo on my voice when I do podcasts in Garage Band.

As for our last class, I learned some basic of working in Flash. I am glad I already had some experience working in Photo Shop and Adobe Illustrator. I drew most of my stuff by hand or in Illustrator and then imported it into Flash. I still need to fix a synchronization problem I had with my final Flash project. We are using CS5, which apparently has a lot of changes from the earlier versions.

If you would like to see my first efforts, the first (I included it in my last post) is a twiddle...meaning I was just trying out the animation on my own. The second is my opening page for lessons on Medieval times.  The third is my final project  but without the synch correction. I don't dare fix it until it has been graded, so I will correct the timing as soon as I can and re-post it. I also did not have time to animate the mouth on the agent. I want to learn how to do the small animations you can create and use as objects in the program. It was very tricky to try to keep track of everything and my first animation is very amateurish. On the other hand, I've never used Flash before, so they aren't bad first efforts.

Diedra's Wordle for Government Class

Keeping Up

Only a few short weeks until Christmas and I am working hard to complete Cycle 1 of my Action Research Project.  I will soon be posting to my ARP blog (there is a link at the top right of this page), and am learning to do Flash animation.

If you want to see my first Flash animation ever, follow this Link to Flash animation.
Obviously I now need to learn how to stop the animation :-) as this one keeps looping, and I need to learn how to slow the movement down. I decided to try a simple Pong type animation for my first go, just to get used to the controls in CS5 Flash.  My next animation will be an actual assignment for my Digital Media and Education Applications class.

Cool Christmas Flash Mob!

A new chapter begins

As we close things out on the first trimester, we are also starting month 6 in our FSO classes. This month we will be learning how to use Flash. I am both looking forward to that and a little initmidated by the prospect.
I will also begin Cycle 1 in my ARP. The Thanksgiving break will allow me to finish some of the media assets I need. I need more than were required for the ARP Showcase.

My Computer Related Technology students are finishing their cartoon mash-ups. I posted one for Crystal today. Several others are nearly done. We post them on a private Ning site so the students can see their work and that of others in a more personal setting. Most of them are also on YouTube, as I have to upload them to YouTube to get an embed code.

To look at work done by both my students and I on YouTube, Check out my channel, 1to1classroom.

About time to get blogging again...

As you can see by the dates, I've taken a little break from blogging. But now I'm back. Starting month 5 with the need to form a new team because I am in a section with none of my former team members caused me to do a bit of scurrying at the start. And, of course, there is the whole thing about getting the ADDIE proposal done. I can't believe how tired I have been! This is not soley due to the FSO work. My administrator has me teaching Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6-9. I didn't really have a choice, and would not have elected to teach at nights this year as I am making every effort to finish my masters with FSO.

New things - I started a blog to help lead my students through my ARP cycles. This is where I will put electronic surveys, videos, and other media I want to share with them. I didn't list the blog as a media asset, though, as it wasn't a category.

I am currently freezing in my classroom, so I will cut this short. The new heating/cooling units they installed last December are the worst thing I've ever encountered. Fifth hour mine really cuts in and blows very cold air on me the whole time. We wear coats a lot because we never know if we are going to have heat or not. Of course, saying this will raise the ire of some, but it's the truth!

I'll write more when my fingers have thawed.

W4 Reading

Mulllen, R. & Wedwick, L. (2008). Avoiding the digital abyss: Getting started in the classroom with YouTube, digital stories, and blogs. Clearing House, 82(2), 66-69. Retrieved from Educational Research Complete database.

FV Cyber Citizenship

Technology is with us, bringing with it both the good and the bad. I think we are living in a time like the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, where a lot of social changes are being brought on by new technology. Our new technology, however, has some special challenges. Some schools try to ban cell phones and certain web sites. It is understandable why they feel this way. I think, though, there has to be a better answer. My video expresses some of my thoughts about our responsibility as educators to help bring up this (and the next) generation to be good cyber citizens.

PE6_Googe SketchUp

Well, there is still a lot to do, but I did make some progress, and now my husband and son are hooked on Google SketchUp, too!

PE5 The SketchUp Odyssey Continues

 Well, I created some pretty interesting shapes, but I have very little control yet over how things turn out. I get unexpected results with the push-pull tool.  Here I made some cones. They look kind of cool.

 On the other hand, I have no idea how I made the cones. I was trying to make a component that was a rod and then try to duplicate it. Fail.

I accidentally turned a rod into a cone. Hmmm, how did I do that?  I tried with a second rod, and after a few tries I also turned that into a cone, but I couldn't do the same thing with the third rod.

 I practiced using subtraction. This produced some interesting results. I used the push-pull tool from one direction and was able to go all the way through. Apparently, though, I need to do each layer going the other way because I've created separate surfaces.

 Ah, the cones. How the heck did I do that?  I watched the tutorial about components, but I must be missing something.

 I tried using the push-pull tool to make holes in circles. Why does it sometimes work, and go all the way through, and other times extrude the shape out the other side?

My husband has a degree in CAD. I'm just going to make him sit down with me this weekend and see if he can tell me what I am missing. This is all very nice, but I want to be able to control what I am doing and do things on purpose!  Still, the experimenting has some value. When I finally understand what it is I am missing, I think I'll be able to do some cool things.

PE4 Google SkectchUp

PE_3 Google SketchUp Progress

Using simple rectangle tools, I created a simple house. I found that making a peaked roof was a little harder than I thought it would be. The Push/Pull tool was helpful, though, in getting some basic features on the building, like windows and doors.

 I wish I had more time for this third entry. What I did, though, was discover how to add textures and colors to my model.

Keeping track of things while using the free draw tool was a little trickier. As one who had not actually done anything with a 3-D application, I had the idea about what I was supposed to do, but lack experience in "seeing" where the planes are in the drawing.

 So, I have a rather odd roof on my first project. I was able to add blinds to the windows and a wooden texture to the doors, but I didn't have time to play with adding details, like door knobs and such.

It was cool, though, to find the metal textures, and those for asphalt and building coverings. There are also textures for vegetation, which I would like to try as I explore how the tools work.


I think that if a person such as myself with no drafting experience can, in a few hours, begin to create simple buildings, my students (especially the ones who like art) should be able to do even more. Many of them will be really excited about Google SketchUp and will put time in on their own to perfect their skills with this 3-D application.  I can see replicating an old western town, scenes from ancient Greece, historically significant locations and buildings (how about the Appomattox Court House?), and other sites. How about even creating a fantasy location? I wonder if these skills could help later in creating some sort of interactive game for use in one of my history classes?

I wish I had more time to explore Google SketchUp before sharing more about it. You can be sure I am going to figure out more about how to navigate this software, and brainstorm other ways I can use it in the classroom.

W3_Reading

 

 

PE_2 Google SketchUp Progress Report

We were asked to make three blog entries this week about the Web 2.0 tool we'd like to try to master. Obviously I won't be mastering Google SketchUp this week, but I did spend some time exploring the tools and figuring out a few things. In fact, if you look closely, you'll see me learning and figuring out things in the footage I made of my practice with Google SketchUp.

It is more fun to show you what I've learned so far than to just talk about it, so I made a video showing some of the tools and mentioning some of the cool things you can do with this program.  And for those of you who have decided to try SketchUp, happy sketching!



If my Viddler movie does not play, please come back later. I was surprised to find this empty! Maybe I'll stick with YouTube.

PE_1 Google SketchUp

   A tool I would like to know how to use better is Google SketchUp.  When I was looking at Google Lit Trips, I discovered links to people who have created replicas of famous places, like author's homes and places from famous novels.
  I was really impressed with this use for Google SketchUp, especially the part where the viewer can select 3-d and rotate the mode, or can click on a tab to see the location on a Google Earth map. Some even provide street shots of the buildings.

  I have some artistically inclined students who would really enjoy presenting some of their learning this way.

  This week I am going to try to learn more about how Google SketchUp works. My tech director is even getting licenses for our district!  I don't know how much I will be able to report over the next two blog entries about my progress with Google SketchUp, but I am certainly going to give it a try!

BP_12 Movie Maker

When I set out to make this week's one-minute-movie, I thought at first I would be highlighting the Ning site I created for last year's Digital Storytelling class. As I went through the site, looking at projects my students made last year, I realized it wasn't the Ning so much as the movie making that I wanted to highlight.
  In fact it was these efforts to bring digital storytelling into the classroom, and to learn it myself, that set me on a course that led me to FSO's EMDT program. I have been learning as I go, and I was seeking out others who could help me take the next step.
  I noticed there are others in this program who don't have Macs at school.  To them I'd like to say that this doesn't mean you can't still make some pretty cool digital stories. Moviemaker is not hard to use. My students also create soundtracks in Audacity, export them as MP3 files, then import them into Moviemaker. The results are not too bad for a bunch of people who are just getting started.

BP11_Comment to Kris Newton

Kris shared a Web 2.0 tool I haven't tried yet (and he shared it with a bit of humor). You can read my comment to Kris about Wiggio  at Comment

BP10_Comment to Kish

Kish had a nicely detailed description of Glogster that really motivated me to revisit the site. You can read my comment to Kish at  Comment

BP9_Google Earth: Lit. Trips

  Although Google Earth has been around for a while and it may seem passé, the people at Google Earth have continued to partner with teachers to find creative ways to use the application beyond the study of geography.
  Google Lit Trips is one example of this.  The object of the Lit Trips is to teach literature in unique ways. 
  Lit trips encourage teachers and students to take the major character and events in a novel and map out the travels of a protagonist as a way of reflecting in greater depth on the story. Each stop offers the opportunity to add articles and links that lead students to artifacts designed to deepen their understanding of the characters, setting, motivations, and history behind the story.
  I especially liked a recent video produced at Jonas Salk High-Tech Academy by San Juan Unified

  School District in Sacramento, California. The video  describes the process educators at this California school used, including lots of video of the kids working and talking about their Lit Trips. (It is the last video on the page). 

  Social studies teachers could use this equally well in following the story of an individual through the Civil War (or other wars, there are plenty to choose from). The possibilities are only limited by the imagination. A spin-off on Lit Trips could be autobiographies of family histories. You could also trace the story of cultural groups, political change during the 20th century, where our food comes from and how it gets from far away places to our community grocery stores, and countless other topics.

  Using Google Earth in this way takes a certain amount of practice. I worked on an autobiography of all the places I've lived until now, to refresh myself on the use of Google Earth. There is a learning curve, and teachers wishing to use Google Earth Lit Trips need to set aside ample time to be fluent with it before trying to guide their students through the process. 

  I'd also suggest looking at the wealth of teacher-made Lit Trips for ideas and inspiration. Google Earth provides tutorials, but there are a lot of unauthorized tutorials posted on YouTube that are also quite helpful. In fact, the Google Lit Trips video page includes a link to YouTube so that teachers can check out some of these tutorials.

  Check out Google Lit Trips   to see the wonderfully creative things teachers are doing with them. You must have Google Earth downloaded on your computer to see the Lit Trips. Google Earth Download

 

W2_Reading: Pedagogical Applications of Second Life

  Among the articles I've found that deal with using digital storytelling with teens, Second Life comes up every so often as one possible tool for working with this age group. Initially I steered away from the articles about Second Life (SL) because I felt the learning curve would be too great to use it with teens without giving up a lot of class time in the process. How could I justify using so much time in SL when there are so many things we are supposed to cover in the classroom?
  Reading the article by Joe Sanchez (2009) has made me rethink that point of view. Sanchez used SL to enable students to create experiences in a space instead of videos.  Key for me was the aspect of students sharing their stories with groups of people. SL provides a platform for role-playing and community engagement. Sanchez reported using Teen Second Life to help a group of fifty Austin, Texas high school girls examine gender equity in gaming.
  It was easy to recognize the stereotypes these students identified: the princess, the fantasy girl, and the overly muscular or powerful females of games like Mortal Kombat. They then held a fashion show using avatars to depict the stereotypes and then to demonstrate what they thought the women in these games should look like. Their "average girl" was much more realistic and quite a contrast to the fictional females usually found in games.
  It had not occurred to me that SL could be used to foster such deep reflective learning. I'm sure all of the young women who participated in the class came away with a much deeper experience than mere discussion could have provided.

Sanchez, J. (2009). Pedagogical Applications of Second Life. Library Technology Reports, 45(2), 21-28. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.

BP8_OMM

I chose to focus on using Blogger for my one-minute-message because ever since learning about it, I have been able to make really good use of it in my classroom. Of course I use it in my Computer Related Technology class, but I also use it to present content for some of my other classes. Currently my CRT students have created iGoogle accounts, created a blog, embedded a Wordle and some sort of video, and should have three entries. Next they will choose a classmate's blog and leave a comment on one of their entries. I used Google docs to create a form on my CRT class blog to collect the URLs for everyone's blog pages. I have gone in and left comments, and when the URL was not right, I have used gmail to let the students know. Last year was my first year for using Blogger. I think each time we work with it I am building more skill and depth to the things I can do with it and the things I can teach my students.

BP7

I found Rachel Ullinskey's description of Storify intriguing. Unlike other digital storytelling applications, this one allows you to take actual social media to create your story.  I really need to spend time exploring this site. I wondered whose media students would be using and whether there would be any problem with people taking other people's Facebook, YouTube, Tweets, and other social media artifacts and using them. I plan to check this site out more fully as soon as I can.

Follow this link to see my coment on Rachel's blog  Comment to Rachael Ullinskey

BP6

Deborah Sanders shared a Web 2.0 storytelling app that looked as though it would lend its self very well to collaboration among my students.  Storyjumper differs from Storybird in that you can use your own art. This would be great for students who love to draw and create. Imagine the encouragement a student of any age would get from seeing their artwork made part of a collaborative storybook. My students are older, of course, and many of these sites are geared more toward teachers and parents with elementary school age children. But put the tool in their hands, and I'll bet some of my high schoolers would really enjoy Storyjumper, too. I'm glad Deborah chose to share this Web 2.0 tool with us.

Follow this link to my comments on Deborah's blog: Deborah reviews Storyjumper .

BP5

You can check out Tizmos for yourself at Tizmos.  I can also see having my high school students search for sources linked to one of our U.S. or world history, and using them to create a resource for the whole class.  I need to explore this Web 2.0 tool more. As it is, I am putting a link in one of the link boxes on my iGoogle pages that will take me to my tizmos of all the blogs I am trying to follow for this class. There are quite a few, but then, I originally made this blog for a previous Web 2.0 class offered through my school district's tech department.  I have kept on blogging, even though I am sure most of what I have written was never read. When I started the EMDT masters program, I decided to journal my experience on this blog. I know what it is like to make something like this and have no one reading it, so I am going to try to check out all of the blog links on my Tismos at least once a week and leave as many comments as I can.

BP4

They say sometimes you have to kiss a lot of frogs. I felt that way when I was looking for a new, exciting, creative Web 2.0 site to share with you. I couldn't use anything I already use, and I have to confess I wasted a fair amount of time looking at things that didn't pan out before I found this really cool site! Storybird is a wonderful place where students can collaborate in writing stories. Teachers can create class groups and keep the children's work private to the group. Finished stories can be emailed to friends.  As an example, one of the many helpful tutorials on this site suggested a teacher choose one of the pieces of art Storybird offers and write a story based on the photo. Each piece of artwork is part of a group, so that other illustrations of a similar style are available to choose from.  The book was very easy to make, and the artwork made it lots of fun. I made a Screenflow video so that I could share my Storybird experience with you. The poem is original by me. The artwork and format are by Storybird,

W1 Reading

My AR project is centered around using digital storytelling in the classroom. I was interested in an article published in a 2009 edition of Distance Learning that focused on using Photo Story 3 to create digital stories.  I began using Photo Story 3 last year in an initial attempt to try out digital storytelling with my students, so I was interested in what the author, Duysevi Karan-Miyar, had to say.

The concept map to the left outlines the main ideas of her article. 

The author shared four steps for creating and integrating digital stories; however, the four steps are really more like twenty steps as each item as several steps of its own. I tried to trace back the article Karan-Miyar used as a source for the four steps and found myself at a familiar site: University of Houston: The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling . 

You can record narration directly into Photo Story 3, and recently they improved the application so you can also have background music with your narration. One plus is that the application allows students to create their own music, thus avoiding copyright concerns. There are also plenty of tutorials in place like YouTube if you need help figuring out the program.

Photo Story can be easily posted to sites like YouTube while other applications I have tried need to be converted because the files are not compatible. For example, students making Power Point presentations can't post them to YouTube, but those making similar presentations using Photo Story can.

Duysevi Karan-Miyar calls storytelling the original form of teaching and suggests that digital storytelling helps students make sense of their world.

You can download Photo Story 3 for free at Photo Story 3 download .

BP3_DiigoGroup

This is a screen shot of my Diigo group page. I have sent out invitations to most of my Action Research Critical Friends. In the long run I can see how this will be a valuable resource; however, at this point I am still very much a newbie!

BP2_iGoogleScreenShots

 These are screen shots of my tabs on my iGoogle site. The first screen shot is my home tab.

 This is my home tab on iGoogle.

 This is  my FSO tab.

 This is  my AR/CBL tab.

This is my ETC tab.








My tabs are a work in progress. As the Emergent Technologies in a Collaborative Culture (ETC) course progresses, I will be able to refine my understanding of how to effectively use some of the gadgets associated with each of these tabs.

BP1_Google Reader

  

Third time’s the charm! I have encountered RSS feeds in past tech classes in my district. The first time, I was really confused and didn’t get far. Part of the reason may have been overload, as we learned a lot of different Web 2.0 tools in a short time and I was probably pretty fried by the time we got to RSS.

  Later I tried it again in a different tech class and understood more, but found I didn’t have the time to keep up with it.  A lot of the skills I now have I gained by going back again, revisiting the class or topic, and trying again. There is so much to learn, it sometimes requires a little time to digest and revisit a skill before it is mastered.

  I expect this time with be the occasion for mastering RSS. However, I didn’t want to just throw some feeds onto Google Reader as part of an assignment. I wanted my RSS feeds to be things I’d really use. These are the first five RSS feeds I decided to add in Google Reader.

New Media Consortium

  The first feed I added was to New Media Consortium (NMC). It looked really fantastic! The site really focuses on emerging technologies and education. Actually, it looked a little overwhelming, but there were online opportunities for seminars and it looked like a good way to be aware of what is happening on the cutting edge of emerging technologies.

FSO Digital Arts Community

  I was happy to find the FSO Digital Arts Community site has an RSS feed. There is some incredibly creative stuff going on there. Zoe invited me to join the other day and it led me to an animation, Azureus Rising – Proof of Concept, that was really amazing. What was more amazing was the interview with the award-winning short movie’s composer, which I shared with my son. He is studying to be a composer, and I thought the interview would encourage him. Aside from that, I have kids at school who would be good candidates for a career in animation, film making, and other kinds of digital arts. By being aware of what is going on in the digital arts, I can offer my students encouragement and point them in the right direction if they want to pursue schooling in these areas.

Discovery Learning

  Next I turned to Discovery Learning. Our school subscribes to this site, so, as a member, I was able to get a feed that will let me know when new media is added. They have so many resources, I would probably not know about new ones without this RSS feed. Unfortunately, others would need a subscription to see inside the Discovery Learning site; however, having this feed will be valuable to me as I use this resource in my classroom fairly often. The site even allows teachers to set up student accounts. These allow students to search the video, pictures, and articles to do research. It even allows students to take clips from various movies to make their own presentation about a topic.

Tech & Learning 

 Tech & Learning web site seemed to have a lot of content covering a wide variety of topics concerning using technology in the classroom. In addition to articles, blogs, webinars, and forums, the site has a magazine and a section discussing best practices for the classroom. I am looking forward to exploring this site in more detail

teach42.com blog by Steve Denbo    
 This blog is written by Steve Denbo, who is on the staff with Discovery Learning. He is deeply involved in teaching educators Web 2.0 skills and often presents at Discovery Learning workshops around the country. 

  Reading Steve’s blog is fun, as well as informative. He is on the cutting edge of issues involved in helping teachers to integrate Web 2.0 skills. He is usually pretty up-to-date about new things that educators can use, too.  Sometimes his blog will remind me of something I heard in a workshop, but forgot to try. At other times, Steve discusses the challenges teachers face or new Web 2.0 applications that are just coming into use.  He also discusses sites which were not thinking about teachers when they were created, but have become popular with educators, and why.

RSS feed icon courtesy of http://www.wikepediacommons.org 

Sweet Animation

I recently joined the FSO Digital Arts Community. I really admire the work that is shared there. I found this really sweet proof of concept animation, which is posted on You Tube by its creators. I went to their home web site and found an interview with the composer of the music for this video. This interested me because my younger son, Phillip, is currently majoring in music and wants to be a composer for video games and the like. I sent him the link because I thought he'd find the interview with this composer inspiring.

Hope you enjoy it! The animation is superb.

What's going on in Mrs. Ort's classroom?

As part of our Training and Motivational Development class, we were asked to make a video describing our use of technology in the classroom. I have to say, I would not know how to use most of the Web 2.0 tools I use if it were not for Janene Kosman, the director of our Tech department. She has held workshops every year, teaching Web 2.0 skills and helping teachers to use technology in the classroom.

I have to say, I rather like the MacBook Pro that came with my college masters program at Full Sail University. I have learned to use many of the "i"s(iPhoto, iMovie, iWeb), as well as a lot of other Mac software. Garage Band is pretty cool. I'm trying out different things. For this video I wanted a New Age kind of sound, but it isn't a choice in Garage Band. I messed about a bit with the program and got a blend of instruments I liked, then I played with the tempo. Close enough.

Now I need to turn my attention to our team's final project and my Action Research project. I also need to finish installing Comic Life on my computers at school so we can start using it Monday.

Technology in My Classroom

One of my assignments for my Full Sail University Online course in Training and Motivational Development calls for me to make a video about the technology I use in my classroom. I decided to include a Wordle to help make the visual point that actually, over the past four years, I have learned to use quite a few things.  I did not list things I learned about in workshops but have not incorporated yet. I should finish by video later today, at which time I plan to post it here, too.

My other task is to refine my topic for my Action Research Project. I've had a pretty good idea about what I want to do, but I have to think about how I will measure my results.  I also think I need to narrow my topic a bit. You can check out my AR web site using the link in the right hand side-bar on this blog page.

A hamster on a wheel

This shot of my Second Life avatar in a maze was intended for our group iWeb project from month 2 of our masters program, but it could not go on the blog page, so I thought I'd put it here.

What's the title got to do with this blog?  Well, it is the first Monday of a new class. The cycle repeats. Our group members each read the assignments for the class and begin the race to finish everything, learn the new software, strictly follow the instructions, and make the mad dash to complete our team project.  like a hamster on a wheel...round...and round...and round. We finished last month's course work on Saturday (really Friday, but we all had to approve of it before it could be counted as done).  Saturday we were taking the 2 1/2 hour drive to take the younger of my two sons to college for his freshman year.  We were so exhausted that we opted to stay in a motel and drive back Sunday. Today (Monday) was the big all-staff meeting for my school district and the afternoon was filled with working on our school improvement plan.  So, tonight I made a calendar of the assignments we need to do for this month's class, and we are off and running again. Like a...well, you get the idea.
I am really looking forward to this month's class.  It is all about presentations and how to make them look really smooth and how to make them dynamic. Sweet.  I'll try to post some of my work here when it is done, but you can also check out my links to my portfolio and AR research web sites to see some of my work.
Good news. By Friday my modem speed should be at 25 megs. Little problem - when I upgraded the speed months ago, no one said anything about needing a new modem.  I believe the term is "being clobbered," and that is what happened to our current modem. The 25 megs was over powering it and I had a devil of a time uploading things, especially big files like video.  After Friday, that should change. Wow. After barely squeaking out 2 megs, I can only imagine what actually having 25 megs will be like.  I'll let you know :-)

Comic Life - A great classroom tool!

Comic Life is software that lets you import your own pictures to create an endless variety of comic book style projects.  It is easy to use and fun.  It is also very colorful.  I think this would really appeal to kids.  And it is not expensive.  Check out Comic Life to find out more. Look for the Educator section.

Gotta Keep Reading - Ocowee Middle School

This should lift your spirits. We got to listen to the principal of Ocowee Middle School tell her own story about how this video came to be made. She overcame a lot of obstacles and really fired her students up to read! Notice, Full Sail University helped out, too. Holly Ludgate, who is credited at the end of the film, is overseeing our Masters in Media and Digital Technology degree.

Soon-to-be-Unveiled Group Web Site Explores Multiple Intelligences

One thing Full Sail University's online masters degree program emphasizes is teamwork.  This month our team collaborated on a web site exploring Multiple Intelligences as described by Howard Gardner.

We chose to represent ourselves as a team of investigators being sent out into the field to study MI.
I love the layout and the way each member of the group contributed to the site.  I am happy to say the final version is done!  You can visit the site at: Team Digital Horizon Web Project

I got to use Comic Life for my page.  It is a very easy to use program that I think kids could really get into.  I will be using it my class this fall.  It is colorful and fun and if I have kids' first story be about themselves, I think it will really engage them.

Keynote Analogy about the Brain

Finally!  I posted this project the other day, but somehow it arrived without sound.  I went back several times and finally got it to load on YouTube, although it seems to still hesitate in a couple of places. That may be temporary.

The purpose of the assignment (for our Mulitple Learning Theories class) was to make an analogy about the brain.  As a Speech/Theater major (at least the first time around) the analogy that occured to me was that of a stage production.  I remember sitting in the lighting booth, talking via headsets to the stage manager about technical details of the performance.  Of course, that was (*cough*chough*) years ago, but it was the first thing I thought of.  I hope you enjoy the video.  I made the song for it in Garage Band.

Great Sources to Read About MI Success

As part of a project for my Multiple Learning Theory's course through Full Sail University, I was looking for positive and negative articles about people's experience with using Multiple Intelligence Theory in schools.  One site had a whole series of articles by teachers and administrators who were using MI and could attest to positive results.  They were also able to be candid about some of the barriers to using MI in the classroom.  This was such a great resource, I wanted to put it here so that others could check it out.

New Horizons for Learning web site

Right now I'm finishing my project, which I will also post here when I'm done.

Sorry for the lapse!

It came to my attention today that I have not written on my blog in a little while. Sorry! My bad. I didn't realize anyone was reading it. I do like to share what I am learning, and right now I am learning a lot, but I wasn't aware the blog had any visitors. I will try to do better in the future.

 Recently we were asked to make a concept map (web) of the ways we use Multiple Intelligence Theory in our classrooms. This is my map.  The dark purple represent things I would like to do but have not done yet.  We are currently doing an individual project about MI and a group project that we are furiously working to sort out.  Full Sail University's Masters program has a big focus on collaboration and team work.  I am glad, as the people I'm networking with now will also be an encouragement to be during this coming school year.

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the Learning Revolution! Video on TED 2/2010

As part of our Full Sail Multiple Learning Theory Applications course we were directed to watch the video above. I really liked it and I think other educators would like it, too. I could really relate to what the speaker said about life not being linear and about doing the thing you love. His comments about college being the goal of our educational practice made me think of the changes in Michigan which try to put every one on a college track and, I think, short change students who want to take another path. It also, I believe, puts tremendous pressure on kids to be something they're not and I expect it is the reason a lot of kids drop out of high school. I enjoyed his comments about conformity, too. My question is, how do you customize education for the students when the Federal and State Departments of Education do so much to mandate what is done and what proof of learning is acceptable to them? And if your school doesn't make AYP, they'll replace you all. (I'm not sure where all the super-teachers and administrators would be coming from). Customizing education for the students is a local level sort of thing. It requires that teachers in classrooms have the freedom to be creative and try new things (of course based on pedagogically sound data).

How does one bring this about, this freedom for teachers to customize children's education, when the Powers That Be don't appear to trust teachers to make those sorts of decisions?

The ever expanding horizons of virtual reality

Our group project is coming together. During my exploration of Second Life, I wandered into WIRED Island. The collaborative effort of three Ohio universities, this area was rich in examples of using virtual reality in a wide range of applications. The YouTube video above is featured on the site.
If you like it, I'd invite you to visit WIRED Island in second life. It is one of the better areas I have visited.

NOTE: This video does not have sound. I don't know why, but it is silent.

Doing the Tourist Thing in Second Life

We've been exploring the many uses of Second Life. I took a few screen shots while exploring today and uploaded them to my Flickr account. If you'd like to see them, go to my Flickr pages at:  Pat's Flickr pics and see what you think.  SL is especially being used by universities and departments of education across the land.  I found one place for assistive technology use in school that even had a brief orientation explaining the requirement of school administrators to have tech staff involved in providing differentiated learning experiences to students. Wow.

I also saw some examples of colleges teaming up with high schools to offer experience building things and competing in technology projects. The results were then displayed in SL.

This sort of thing takes a lot of collaboration and TIME.  It is still more for post-secondary learners. Use of this in high schools is still an evolving thing. You'd really have to team up with someone already in the virtual setting. I don't think most small town schools could afford to dedicate staff to actually building and maintaining SL sites or experiences. They'd have to use what is already there.

The Adventure Continues

Hi, again, from Second Life. This place is a bit glitchy but it does have lots of possibilities. Today I've been fussing over getting my APA based assignment done correctly. Our team is working on a contract. I am hoping we can agree on it and turn it in ASAP. I am also looking for an e-mail that should tell us more about our team experience in Second Life for Thursday.

In doing reading for our APA assignment I came across two articles I especially liked. I will post links to them here. The first is by Australian James C. Taylor at the University of Southern Queensland. He suggests that practice is leading theory when it comes to using technology in the classroom. The second article is a research paper that challenges the idea that today's teens are smarter than previous generations and use technology intuitively because they've grown up surrounded by it. I am interested in these papers because I hear statements about kids being digital natives and some how smarter or superior to the rest of us and I question that. I'm not saying we don't need to teach differently, but some of the assumptions people have been making provoke me to see more proof that it is so.

Check these articles out and see what you think.
http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:-LvS_coPsbMJ:www.usq.edu.au/users/taylorj/publications_presentations/2

http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet24/kennedy.html

Converter for Flip camera files to use in iMovie

When the camcorder that is part of my education package didn't arrive in time for our first assignment using iMovie, I was forced to fall back on using my Flip camera. Unfortunately, when I tried to import my .avi files into iMovie, it didn't work. Enter FSO support. Those guys are really great. I was led to a download for streamclip, which easily allowed me to convert my .avi files to MP4.  Once I converted one .avi file, the other files I hadn't been able to access could also be imported.  I thought I'd put this in my blog 1) so that if I need it later I can refer back to this video to remember how it works, and 2) in case anyone else has a similar or wants to try the converter for other reasons.

Second Life

Hello from Second Life! Zoe and I spent some time today acclimating ourselves to the site. I actually got my account 2 years ago after attending one of many tech workshops, but after initially spending hours exploring the site and figuring a few things out, I lost interest.  I couldn't get the videos to play on some of the sites set up by various colleges and it was not much fun visiting medieval villages and gardens and such without a friend along to talk to. 

Zoe and I finally ended up at EdTech Island. This place is great, partly because it isn't crowded with new people. I can talk to Zoe there without strangers walking up and trying to start conversations. I am interested to see Dr. Wyly's house next week.

Earlier I had some ideas for using Second Life in my classroom, but one of the hindrances is the amount of time it takes to create things and the learning curve for figuring out how to create an environment. I wanted to make a place my history students could visit, but I can see it will take countless hours to learn how to create such a place.

Anyway, here is a picture of my Avatar in Second Life!  Maybe some of the others will know stuff and will be able to help me master some of the intricacies of this site.

Discovering new sources

The research I am doing for my Masters program at Full Sail is turning up some pretty good sites. I've used digital storytelling in my classes, so I chose to explore the digital storytelling resources for our current assignment. There were a lot of good links, but I especially liked http://electronicportfolios.org/digistory/index.html

This site has tons of examples of digital storytelling, including a lot created in an educational setting. I think it is well worth visiting.

Getting to know my Full Sail classmates

We've now had our third Wimba session and have been forming groups for our first class. The people in our class seem to be really nice. It's a diverse group, too. I am finding others with similar points-of-view and several with some really excellent experience that goes way beyond anything I've been able to do yet. I wish I could visit some of their schools and observe! I could just take a year off and immerse myself in all of this...but that wouldn't really be practical. Besides, I will want to apply some of the things I've been learning in my classroom this year and see how they work.

I'm really grateful there are such neat people in the class who are so friendly and willing to share their experience and knowledge. I am really isolated in my own school setting. Having this chance to network with my Full Sail classmates is really going to help me this year. I must confess, I've been getting a little burned out after 10 years in our Community Ed program.  I taught the Middle School Expulsion program for 3 semesters and have been doing Even Start/Alternative High School for 8 years. We are in a separate building and don't get a chance to collaborate with teachers at the high school. We hardly get a chance to talk among ourselves as staff. There is no common planning time, so we're lucky to have more than a few words together during any given day. Really, we have each been on our own. I think we could be really dynamic and effective if the program were structured to allow us to collaborate. As it is, we are each just doing the best that we can, isolated in our own classrooms, with a minimum of interaction.

I'm thinking the project I'm going to do for my masters might give me a chance to interact more with other teaching staff, including those at the high school.  We'll see! I certainly hope so. If not, I am encouraged by the friendliness of the people in my on-line class. I have really been needing a chance to network with others, especially those with an interest in integrating technology into the classroom.
 I'm looking forward to getting to know them better during the next year.

Online Learning...Ready, Set, Go!

Last night was our first webinar for the Masters in Educational Media and Technology program. Today I sent a few e-mails to fellow classmates. They are a fairly diverse group - not all educators. I am still waiting for some of the items (like a video camera) to arrive that were part of our tech package. I can't get my iChat to work. I may have to break down and call support tomorrow, but I was trying to solve the problem myself.

The masters program looks well-planned and very in-depth. I am wondering what I will be able to do with it when I'm done. This year I plan to try out things in my classroom. I think I will especially focus on returning to Moodle and using that as a tool. Our biggest problem with Moodle was getting everyone enrolled. No matter how much effort we put into it, we always have some students whose attempts to set up an account fail. They do things correctly, but the process breaks down. We've had some students create extra e-mail accounts to try to get their Moodle account set up, but even that doesn't always work. I think I will have to contact the ISD and prepare for possible problems ahead of time.

Also, this year we will be teaching classes as 6-week sections. I like that for several reasons, but it will require a complete restructuring of my classes, rethinking how to use projects and research with direct teach opportunities. And I have a few as-yet-to-be-named classes. I have no idea what they will be or what access I will have to computers for them. I probably won't find out until August, right before we go back to school.

Still, if I incorporate the things I learn through Full Sail University's program in even half of my classes, it will be a good thing.  It will be a great chance to try some things out and see what works best.

Social Media in the Classroom

I watched this really interesting video recently as part of a webinar I attended. I'd like to share it with you.



If you go to  http://socialnomics.net/2010/05/05/social-media-revolution-2-refresh/ you can watch the video and read a script, which I found useful since it contains all of the statistical information mentioned in the video.

Let me know what you think.

Michigan Adult Ed & Training Conference

Kalamazoo - I learned several good things today. The "Reading, Writing, Spelling and Math Solutions: Virtual Literacy for Adult Ed and Literacy Programs" part 2 left me with scads of computer-based resouces that could be useful, especially with next year's ABE students.
These sites looked intriguing: e-text reader at e-text reader, free text reader at free text reader, EZC Reader: Reading Strips at EZC Reader reading strips, Inspiration (which we should have at school already) Inspiration for a free tour or Inspiration home page, dictation software Dragon Naturally Speaking, TextHelp! at text Help, WordSmith - Literacy products at the same site as TextHelp!, and digital audio products at Digital Audio Products. I also found a possible site for grant funding to help our at-risk and economically disadvantaged students at the National Christina Foundation at National Cristina foundation.

I can see how some of these products could help our daytime students, the ABE students and our adult ESL students. I will have to investigate them more when I get back home. There is also a site listing audio recordings of books, including textbooks at audio books.