Final+Examination

=During this class, I examined a number of Web 2.0 resources through the Richardson book. Using my current situation, I will discuss each resource read about with the potential uses in my employment including the pros and cons of its uses. =



Final Examination


 *  In this complicated world of education, teachers must stay abreast of all the latest trends in curriculum, state and national standards required by law, and the complicated family and societal issues that all students face on a daily basis. How does an educator stay on top of all this and still remain relative to the students and compliant to the government? Enter the world of technology. **
 *  However, the use of technology, or more specifically Web 2.0 tools in the classroom can be a daunting challenge. In his book, “Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts” (2010), Will Richardson has provided readers with an organized and thoughtful overview of the most popular and appropriate Web tools to support teachers. Through its discussion of weblogs, wikis, photo sharing (Flickr), RSS feeds and aggregates, social bookmarking, podcasts, and the use of the social web, Richardson helps readers evaluate each tool and decide if it would be appropriate for one’s classroom curriculum. He also starts the challenging dialogue on how technology is (and should be) changing the way one teaches in the 21st century classroom. **
 *  My job assignment for the last 8 years has been as the gym, music and technology teacher for grades kindergarten through fifth grade. My interest in technology is so great that I have incorporated it within the other disciplines. Many of these tools are valuable assets to my lessons as well as to my students. Each has its merits and drawbacks, but each is worthy of discussion. **
 *  WEBLOGS (Blogs) **
 *  In my current job assignment, weblogs have become an extremely vital part of my curriculum and professional development. It provides students and myself an opportunity to exchange ideas, opinions, and information in a setting not determined by the hours in the school day. Without knowing it, I followed many of Richardson’s suggestions: Start by reading others blogs, post on a classroom blog, and maintain Internet safety and responsibility at all times. (Richardson, p.44-45) **
 *  Although I did not seek out blogs nor choose to start one on my own, I have come to enjoy writing and responding on the thoughts and ideas set forth by my professional colleagues. Some have been thought provoking and stimulating and have genuinely sparked discussion of educational topics that teachers have a unique perspective. **
 * I have successfully incorporated blogs into my fifth grade course work. I have created a secure blog for them on Blogmeister ([|www.blogmeister.com] ) Much like hand written journals, students are given a topic to reflect upon and then post a comment to our classroom blog. Students have previously created “avatars” so no real names are shared. I have also set it up so comments go through my email for approval and then I post them. These precautions have eliminated many of the safety issues that can be a drawback with most online tools. I also require students to have parental approval (in addition to the district requirement) to use any of the Web 2.0 tools. **
 *  Blogs have engaged my students to express themselves and share ideas and concerns in ways I never thought possible. Classroom blogs can turn into complaint sessions or short comments but, as long as the topic is established and remains focused, weblogs are valuable tools to establish connections beyond the classroom walls and hours. Students and teachers alike can “teach and learn from others through reflection and response.” (Richardson, p. 50) **
 *  WIKIS **
 *  Ask any of my students what a wiki is, you will probably get a big smile and be told it is the best place: A treasure box of surprises. At the elementary level I have used my wiki page ([|www.computerclick.wikispaces.com]) as the communication and curriculum hub of my classroom. Each grade is given its own page where they can find monthly assignments, class projects, and appropriate sites for those who finish work early. It has grown over the years to include additional school activities, health initiatives, technology toolbox, and parent/school connections. I have found it to be beneficial as a classroom management tool. The ease at which I can edit links and information is so valuable. **
 *  However it is quite evident that I have not used this wikipage as the collaborative tool that Richardson speaks of in his book. I have chosen not to incorporate student collaboration due to class management issues and “editorial control” (p. 61). I have 16 classes to see each week. Needless to say, having all access to editing control on a wiki is asking for trouble. Time management and the possibility of deleting others work certainly pose real challenges when dealing with young students. I have chosen to use the wiki as a showcase of student work and a model of appropriate use on the Internet. Students know that they can only go to the sites approved on my wiki. If someone brings in a new site I can check it out and add the link. **
 *  Wikis evolve, as mine has, as one gains experience and confidence. This year I hope to create a page for each class and link it to my wiki. Then gradually, provide guided instruction to grades 3-5 on posting work and collaborating with classmates which is where the true power of the wiki lies. **
 *  FLICKR **
 *  Digital photography is one of the first tools I use with my students. At the youngest age, I put a digital camera in their hand and ask them to look through it. I give the basic instructions to operating the camera but that is all I need to do; children love to take pictures. As students move through the grades, the camera is now used to explain events, share treasured memories, and explore new ideas and worlds far away. Flickr provides a useful platform to develop the art of storytelling and collaborative knowledge Richardson speaks of in his book. **
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> Flickr has many facets. It is a resource, it provides a library of photographs with Creative Commons license that students can use in projects. It also provides a valuable stage for instructing students on the proper way to use and cite digital images. **
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> Flickr can also be an important collaborative tool in the classroom. Students can choose photos from the Flickr library or upload personal collections and annotate images or start a discussion through which others can contribute. (Richardson, p. 105) **
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> This powerful aspect also holds a word of caution to teachers. One must always remember to establish the parameters by which images are searched. Any personal images uploaded must have parental consent. Although this step is sometimes time-consuming, it is important to be safe legally and ethically. **
 * <span style="color: red; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> RSS FEEDS **
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> This “killer app for educators” (Richardson, p. 71) as Richardson describes it, truly opened a new world for me. Although I had heard of RSS feeds and aggregates at conferences, I did not fully understand its power. **
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> These news feeds are everywhere, but I started by looking for topics I find interesting, like technology. A floodgate of weblogs and magazines pop up in the search, almost too many to handle. But by selecting several to follow, I began to see the power of the RSS feed. I felt in touch with current issues in technology and curriculum in ways I had not before. At my school, I am considered the “go to” person for technology, but I know I don’t know everything. These RSS feeds ( for example: http://askatechteacher.wordpress.com/) help strengthen my knowledge base and ability to problem solve issues I am having. They also have allowed me the privilege to enter a community of learners: teachers who share knowledge and seek to learn from others. **
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> Since many RSS feeds are blogs one must be an active reader, conscious that information on the web is not edited for accuracy. As Richardson remarks, “readers must learn to be critical consumers of the information they consider.” (Richardson, p.152). This drawback does not weaken its power. Older students must be given experience in the classroom to seek information and learn to evaluate its validity. RSS feeds are a great resource and tool. **
 * <span style="color: red; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> PODCATING, VIDEO AND SCREENCASTING, AND LIVE STREAMING **
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> Each one of these multimedia tools provides educators opportunities to inspire, instruct, and take students beyond the classroom walls. I have used podcasting to allow students a chance to express their feelings as they said good-bye to their school that was forced to close, and the fears and concerns each had as they transferred over to a new building. It was raw, honest and cathartic as students just sat around and shared thoughts and memories. After I posted the podcast they could listen and process the dialogue. The equipment was relatively inexpensive, the editing time was minimal and the result was extremely beneficial. I will do it again, but I will need to remember to keep the topic focused and editing tight. I agree that it is somewhat challenging to gauge audience interest or as was discussed in the Educase article, “include audience participation.” ([] ) But the potential for student engagement and self-discovery is only limited by experience and organizational skills. **
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> Video publishing was another Web 2.0 tools explored in the Richardson book. (p. 121) Students in my classes, as young as second grade have taken a video camera and filmed various activities around our school. These second graders created a virtual tour of their school; third graders interview classmates and make readers’ theatres. By fourth grade, students produce a monthly video news magazine about school activities as well as health tips and study guides. Students write, narrate and film stories, but I do all the editing for the final project. I just have too many classes and not enough instruction time to teach editing at these elementary grades. These projects are not for the faint of heart, but even the time investment is not even an issue when I see the rich connections students have developed, as they become active participants in the learning process. **
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> Screencasting is a new tool in my classroom. By using free online software or relatively inexpensive upgrades I have recorded general instructions and computer directions for students. Working with elementary students poses interesting challenges as I try to build a foundation of skills in students. But the reality is often many weeks of repetition. By making these screencasts, students can go back to the directions, review the instructions and continue independently. This self-directed knowledge is exactly what Richardson discusses in his final chapter. In his “Big Shift 5: Know “Where” Learning” (p. 151) He feels that it is no longer essential to know all the facts, but where to find the answers. Screencasting provides students with the means to find the answers and develop the skills needed to be successful. **
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> Live streaming is a new tool in classrooms. Teachers are just beginning to explore the capabilities of providing Web classrooms to many places. I would love the opportunity to explore the potential of this form of multimedia. I would think live morning announcements streamed on the web to other classes in the district as well as parents would build school pride and community awareness. However, it is unlikely that my complicated job description and responsibilities would allow the time needed to implement this project. I am also unsure of the cost necessary for any equipment. I would have to look for grant opportunities for funding. **
 * <span style="color: red; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> SOCIAL WEB **
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> One thing that becomes very evident as one explores Web 2.0 tools is the collaborative potential each possesses. Social bookmarking and Twitter are two of the best examples. **
 * <span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> I have used social bookmarking for almost two years. Mainly a professional organizational tool, my Delicious account ([] ) has helped create a valuable resource for the numerous websites I come across on a weekly basis. Instead of just saving the site and adding it to my “bookmark bar” (which has more than 200 links) I can tag and label each site to give me more information when I go back looking for it. I also think the network feature is extremely useful. I can use the bookmarks my colleagues have created. This is really useful in our hectic days. We are sharing ideas and learning from each other. **
 * <span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> I must agree with Richardson in his description of the Delicious as a “Google-esque” minimalist set up. (p. 98) It is very easy to use and navigate. It would lend itself useful for older students, but I feel my young students would not utilize the potential of social bookmarking. Also if one does not take the time to tag and label sites with categories, the bookmarks merely are a list, like Bookmark bars. **
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> Twitter is another means to explore the Social Web. Participants can seek out others with similar interests and share ideas and create short dialogues. In the Educase article on Twitter, the writers note that Twitter can be a viable platform for metacognition, forcing users to be brief and to the point—an important skill in thinking clearly and communicating effectively. ( [] ) **
 * <span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> Although it really has the potential for collaboration and finding interesting topics to explore professional, I do not have the time to invest in this tool. For me, it is just one more thing to manage in an already busy day. In addition, I also would not use this with my lower elementary students. At this level teachers are trying to help students add details and more information to one’s writing. It would be more appropriate in the upper grade levels. However, I would strongly encourage teachers to talk to administrators to discuss the educational premise for Twitter and any privacy issues that must be addressed. **

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;">media type="custom" key="10181713" align="center" <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;">  **<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;">[] Great lesson for students who feel it is necessary to discuss anything on Facebook. ** <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;">** In the new world created by technology, and more directly, Web 2.0 tools, teachers cannot just be connecting and contributing to blogs. They need to be true collaborators. (Richardson, p. 154) They need to relinquish the spot at the front of the classroom and engage students in their own discovery. This idea of the teacher as a facilitator is supported by Josh Verges, writing for the Argus Leader ([|www.Argusleader.com] ) In his article, “Four Rural S.D. Schools Let Students Run the Show” (7/24/11) Verdes encourages teachers to act as “facilitators”, asking students to take an active role in their own education, seeking out information instead of following a teacher's instructions. (p. 3) By using Web 2.0 tools, teachers can help students find the information and evaluate the material. They can then reach out any where in the world to work with others to design, develop and learn from each other. This model of education leads students toward richer, deeper knowledge. **
 * <span style="color: red; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> SOCIAL NETWORKS **
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> The main reason I have not used Twitter is because I have developed a community of colleagues on Facebook that provides a venue for support and collaboration within my professional community. We share ideas, events, and similar interests. The message board and chat capabilities allow for private communications between members. Most posts are not long, much like Twitter, but give the option for longer notifications if necessary. **
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;">Facebook however is, for me, a strictly after hours, tool. Our school blocks it from students and staff on the server so I must use it in the evening. This doesn’t bother me; my day is too busy to be checking in on Facebook. In addition, any notifications directed specifically to me are sent to my email. So if it is important, I get it. **
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> Privacy issues are an ongoing issue when using Facebook. Professionally, I NEVER “friend” any student until they have graduated from high school. Since I deal with elementary school age students, they should not be on Facebook anyways. Also, one must remain very diligent to keep up to date on all the privacy settings on one’s account. I rarely post photographs of personal events mainly because of these privacy and professional issues. Just this week on Headline News, money analyst, Clark Howard, discussed the ability of employers to go to Facebook and do “Facebook Checks” similar to background checks. **
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> Just because I have concerns about privacy issues and professional conduct I do agree that, like Richardson, “whether we like it or not, if we’re working with students… we have a responsibility to understand what Facebook is all about.” (p.133) I think one should not avoid talking about Facebook, instead “modeling appropriate ways to use it and behavior”. (Richardson, p.134) This is also a very important lesson for students to learn. **
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> As I completed the required readings in the Richardson book I was hoping he would bring it all together for me. And he did. In his final chapter, he provided readers with a thoughtful assessment of how he sees technology transforming education. If I had to pick one word that brings it altogether for me is “collaboration”. **
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> For Richardson, students will no longer be sitting blankly at the teacher taking in words and information and then spitting it out after a designated time on a formatted test sheet. Richardson sees the role of the teacher and the structure of teaching changing and Web 2.0 tools are helping lead the way. **
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> Students have long protested that school was boring and that they are not learning anything that they can use in the “real world”. But now, I think it is becoming evident that their brains are being hard-wired differently through their early and daily connections to digital information. This idea of the digital native, as put forth by Marc Prensky, demonstrates that, “ //Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach//.” ([]) **
 * <span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;">In addtion, he notes that “students fundamentally think and process information differently.” After reading these article it made me look at my teaching style and consider the possibility that my classroom environment and my basic structure had to be modified. Enter Web 2.0 tools. **
 * <span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> However, the ability to successfully incorporate these tools and collaborative teaching I have to do a delicate dance. I believe I must reinvent what my classroom looks like, but I work with young children. It is imperative that I help them learn social skills and the ability to act appropriately. But I don’t think these goals are mutually exclusive. **
 * <span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;"> Web 2.0 tools provide the foundation for many of the fundamental shifts in education that Richardson discusses. (p. 147) Many of his “Big Shifts” are teacher-based: teachers no longer will be (or are) the only source of information. Yes there have always been books, but not as current and constantly changing as is possible today. Students need to seek information, yet teachers need to help them develop skills to be able to evaluate the material. Teachers need to be real collaborators. As Richardson remarks, teachers need to model proper online behavior and engage students in valuable experiences. (p. 155) Teachers must, in my opinion, really use these tools to understand why students are drawn to them and how one can incorporate (or not) each into the educational arena. This does not mean that every tool explored in this course is appropriate for every age group. Fundamental computer skills as well as intensive safety and privacy training must be part of technology literacy. **

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;">**BIBLIOGRAPHY**

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;">**“7 Things You Should Know About Podcasting” [] Retrieved on 8/9/11**

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;">**7 Things You Should Know About Twitter” [] Retrieved on 8/9/11**

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;">**Howard, Clark, [] Retrieved from the Internet 8/10/11**

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;">**Prensky, Marc, “Digital Natives, Part 1. October, 2001**
 * [|http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf] Retrieved from the Internet 8/9/11.**

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;">**Richardson, Will.** “Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts”. Corwin Publishing, 2010. California.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;">**Verges,Josh,“Four Rural S.D. schools Let Students Run the Show”, 7/24/11 [] Retrieved from Internet, 8/9/11.**

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: justify;">**Web Resources:** **[]**
 * []**
 * [|www.blogmeister.com]**
 * [|www.computerclick.wikispaces.com]**