Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech

Most of our conversations take place between fairly like minded educators who live and breathe web 2.0. Mentions of those who do not get it, are only done with 3rd party references. “So and so said”….”I heard a conversation in the staff room”…that sort of thing.

Wes Fryer did a workshop the other day on podcasting with a number of teachers new to the read/write web. He had them post some questions and comments on a blog he created for the session. I read quickly through some of the comments and they most definitely are representative of a great number of our teachers. I’m sure Wes responded to many of their concerns but I thought I’d also chime in with some responses. Here goes:

How does blogging relate to the skills students need to know for TAKS?

There hasn’t been much research on the topic but certainly blogging isn’t designed to specifically improve test scores. It’s designed to connect learners and provide an audience and purpose for writing and communicating ideas.

How easy is it to moderate profanity that continuously happens?

How easy is it to moderate profanity that continuously happens in the playground?

Is there documented evidence that “laptops in the hands of students” increase student achievement? Do TAKS scores increase wherever all students have laptops?

See previous response. But again, is there any evidence proving pencils will increase student achievement?

I really think the idea ($100 laptop) is innovative…and will give many students access to things they never would have without the technology. It is a way to make the world so much smaller! I do worry about moving too quickly into things and educators not being adequately prepared.

You should be but we have no choice. Waiting for educators to get comfortable is not something we can wait for.

This will allow kids without the resources of developed countries to be engaged in the learning with the electronic community.

And the kids of developed countries will still be waiting for their weekly period in the computer lab.

Initially, I would say that all my students need one of these, then I start to freak out and wonder how I can control what they are doing with this tool?

Ding, ding, ding….hold your calls, we have a winner! This is the critical barrier for our teachers. Control. I agree, we will freak out, it is going to be hard but again, we have little choice.

You’ll see some of my responses are a bit cheeky and I suppose a bit harsh so I apologize if some were offended but I certainly would have answered them in a much more diplomatic way as I’m sure Wes did but I did feel these are very indicative of our current teaching population. I always try and sort out which questions represent a lack of understanding and which are the ones resisting change. I have less patience with the latter.

I uploaded my Extreme Makeover Video to Revver to compare. I think the quality is better but you be the judge.

Here’s a condensed version of a presentation that I’ve done on using PowerPoint effectively. I recorded it using Camtasia studio. I’ve been exploring it lately both as a pure screencasting tool with only audio but here as a presentation tool with Picture in Picture. Not sure what is most effective but you can decide for yourself. So if you have a free 20 minutes….(again, reading this in your reader won’t likley display the video)

Note: I have a director’s account in youtube which allows me to upload videos longer than 10 minutes.

[tags]powerpoint,makeover,digitalstories,digitalstorytelling,camtasia,screencast,youtube[/tags]

If you’re not familiar with Corner Gas you’re missing something. It’s a great comedy that is filmed in Rouleau, SK, just half an hour from my house. (One of my headers features the set). They recently did an episode on blogs. The other neat thing is that CTV is now offering the episodes online. Watch it here. Corner Gas is also being distributed in the US. I know many CBS is offering shows online but as Canadians, we can’t access them. I’m hoping some of my US readers will let me know if they are able to view the episodes.

Pass along a review of the Blog Episode.

Update: As Michael points out in the comment below, it has to be a Canadian IP to view the videos.  So CBS isn’t the only one who believes in protectionism. Watch for it in the US soon on Chicago’s WGN.

[tags]cornergas, television,comedy,Canadians,Saskatchewan[/tags]

This is why a place like youtube is so great. Dozens of kids have posted their music videos to Weird Al Yankovic’s paroday of Green Day’s American Idiot. I don’t think there is an official video for the song but some of these are pretty good. Here’s my personal favourite but you can check out the others and make your own choice. By the way, I take this a pure flattery. (to view the video, you’ll need to visit the site if you reading this in your reader)
[gv data="EC3FYhupZGo][/gv]
What if you had your kids create a video? The cool thing here is you can see what others have done and constantly improve and change on what you see. Those who ignore social media sites as viable learning networks are relegated to the talent and ideas that exists inside the four walls of their classroom. Sorry, that’s not fair to kids.

[tags]youtube,video,canadian,digitalstorytelling[/tags]

Now that my US friends have Thanksgiving behind them, we can look forward to the Christmas season. I decided to get a head start with installing a new firefox theme called Tinseltown.

You can click on the image to see a larger image with more detail. I never install themes, but after a day with this one, I like it…. What’s that? You don’t use FireFox?

Get it now.

By the way, I’ve scrapped using Flock for now. I think Firefox 2.0 is bit more stable and as far as I could tell, the real benefits of Flock was the integration with Flickr and Blogging. I didn’t use them enough to appreciate them. The spell check feature in Firefox 2.0 is worth it.

[tags]firefox, flock, browser, christmas, themes[/tags]

Kathy Cassidy is on a whirlwind tour. It began with a trip to Saskatoon this fall as the winner of the provincial award for computers in education. Then she was off to Philadelphia as one of 5 teachers honored as a Microsoft Innovative Teacher Award. Next she’s off to Cambodia.

This is a short interview on her trip to Philadelphia. Unfortunately, there is little online information about this program and conference as it relates to Canadians, so thus, no show notes. Have a listen.

As well, her latest class project is an attempt to help her students understand what “1,000″ means. Please add your name to her wiki.

8MB

16:16

 

 Kathy goes to Philly: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (419)

Using Skype, I dropped a quick compliment tonight for Jeff Utecht on using his screencast for a workshop I did. What ensued was a lenghthy exchange of ideas and for me a personal tour of the city of Shanghai where Jeff resides. Using Google Earth, he and I shared a little bit about both of our worlds. Early into the tour, I happened upon one of the schools Jeff works at and then he kindly sent me a couple of .kml files to provide some context to his world. I knew nothing about Shanghai and still don’t know much but he was able to point out some key landmarks and provide a nice overview of his city. For about an hour, he willingly offered some insights into his life and city and answered all my questions.

This to me typifies why connections are so critical. Is this information available online? Mostly, but having a personal tour guide was much more relevant and engaging. The awareness I now have will no doubt lead me to more interest in his city. Was it the extreme distance between us that made it so engaging? Partly, but also Jeff and I share many of the same beliefs and ideas when it comes to education. We certainly connect on many levels. After reading his blog for over a year, conversation flowed easily. Jeff, what the heck are those blue rectangles north of your school on the coast?

Learning is certainly easier with a friend.

[tags]googleearth,china,connections[/tags]