TED 8850: Report 2Megan Peetz

What I Have Studied…Books and Articles

1. Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms (2nd

Edition)Provides information about blogs, wikis,

podcasts, social bookmarking sites, podcasts and RSS feeds.

Not only does this book describe these collaborative web tools, it provides examples and screenshots of each.

It also clarified some misconceptions that I had, especially about blogs and wikis.

My Wikipedia HesitanciesI have always been extremely hesitant about Wikipedia’s

accuracy due to some false information posted about our school.

This changed with this quote from the book: “…there are vastly more editors that want to make it right than those who want to make it wrong. So when mistakes occur or vandals strike, the collaborative efforts of the group set it straight, usually very quickly (p. 56).”

Another example that made me believe more in Wikipedia is that a University of Buffalo professor intentionally made 13 mistakes on a post, all of which were corrected within hours.

This section made me rethink my ideas on whether or not my students should be able to use this as a resource and what topics it may be appropriate for.

My Favorite ResourceAs previously mentioned, Richardson provides a

number of specific examples for each resource.After reading the chapter on blogs, I tried out the

“Good Educator Weblogs” listed, and found this great resource: http://heyjude.wordpress.com/ by Judy O’Connell.

My favorite page on this site is called “Student Tools-Let Them Fly” which provides a number of student friendly sites for collaboration.

This is a webpage I already have saved on my favorites to use in the future.

Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms (2nd ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

2. Gaga for Google in the Twenty-First Century Advanced Placement Classroom

This article gave a summary of different Google tools that can be used in classrooms.

Although good descriptions of the tools were given, there were no examples or specific ideas on how to use these tools for collaboration.

On the next slide you will find the four tools that I feel are the most useful for collaboration.

Tools Described That I Find the Most Useful for Collaboration from This

ArticleTool Collaboration Uses

Google Groups

Google Docs

Gtalk

Google Sites

Discussion amongst students and their peers by posting thought/information on a site

A site where students could work collaboratively on a document or PowerPoint

A chat system built into gmail for students to discuss topics

A website where members can post and share information with others.

Adams, D.C. (2008). Gaga for Google in the Twenty-First Century Advanced Placement Language Classroom. The Clearing House, 82, 96-100.

3. Key Emerging Technologies for Elementary and Secondary Education

“It [technology] gives students a public voice and a means to reach beyond the classroom for interaction and collaboration.” (Johnson, Levine, Smith & Keene, 2010)

Technology to watch for within the next year: Cloud Computing and Collaborative Environments

Technology to watch in a few years: Game-Based Learning and Mobiles

Technology to watch in the future: Augmented Reality and Flexible Displays

Descriptions of These TechnologiesThe focus for all of these is: COLLABORATIONCloud Computing: communication and data storage software for

collaborative work.Collaborative Environments: in the classroom and out to provide

students the opportunity to interact with others.Game-Based Learning: educational games for students to play

individually or in groups.Mobiles: using technologies to bridge the gap between what

students learn in school and what they can learn out of school.Augmented Reality (AR): combining the use of GPS and videos to

provide “a portable tool for discovery-based learning” (Johnson, Levine, Smith & Haywood, 2010)

Flexible Displays: using more physically interactive technologies such as touch screens.

Johnson, L.F., Levine, A., Smith, R.S., & Haywood, K. (2010). Key Emerging Technologies for Elementary and Secondary Education. Education Digest: 2010 Horizon Report: K-12 Edition (36-40).

4. ‘Seeing’ the learning community: An exploration of the development of a resource for

monitoring online student networkingThis study focused on how social networking

affects learning performance on high and low performing students.

It also looked at how social networks can be used in educational settings.

Findings“All of the above [information/results] implies that

academic teachers should be seeking to ensure that their students’ network density is maximized. In a learning context, all students can benefit from access to multiple advising networks, through active engagement in a collaborative social learning environment.” (Dawson, 2010)

The study also found that high performing students mainly socialized with other high performing students and low performing students socialized with other low performing students.

Both high and low performing students continued to perform the same.

My ImplicationsPairing up high and low performing students, or

creating groups where they interact could improve the performance of both groups of students.

High performing students could help low performing students achieve a higher success rate by tutoring and working with them.

Teaching often helps people learn more so by assisting in teaching the materials, high performing students can better understand and comprehend the material.

Encouraging these students and providing opportunities for them to work together will be beneficial for them both.

Dawson, S. ‘Seeing’ the Learning Community: An Exploration of the Development of a Resource for Mentoring Online Student Networking: British Journal of Educational Technology Vol. 41 no. 5 (736-752).

Tools I Have Tried/Used

EdmodoUsed in my Spanish III class for student collaborationStudents were posed with a discussion topic every week to

respond to and also had to respond to others responses. Students came up with topics they wanted to talk about on this

siteStudents are enjoying the interaction with each other and being

able to use their language to discuss what they want to talk about, rather than centered around the book’s set vocabulary.

Students came to class weekly wanting to discuss more in depth about their peers’ responses and often commented on more responses than required.

I shared this with my administration and they asked me to present to the staff what I was doing with this for a positive way for students to build relationships!

Google SitesI created a site for my classes

http://sites.google.com/site/mspeetzspanishStudents and parents have commented on how

easy it is to use and the increase in the time they’ve spent studying due to the links to the book

This site is MUCH more user friendly than my previous site both for myself and my students.

Google DocsUsed with my co-workers to create common

assessments and rubrics for each level of Spanish.By inviting all members of the Spanish department

to join all levels (1-3), teachers were able to see what was being done in levels they do not currently teach yet still be able to provide input.

We have been able to work collaboratively to create documents and make necessary changes. As a department, we have decided to continue using this tool in the future because of how easy it is for us to work together without having to all be there at the same time.

GlogsterI taught my department two weeks ago in our

TLT time (our 40 minute Wednesday meetings).

They enjoyed the possibilities it created and one teacher used it with her class for a project – the students enjoyed it as well.

DiigoI set up bookmarks and will continue to use

this in the future to keep track of sites that I find useful.

I like this site much better than Delicious because of the way it is set up – it is very easy to follow!

I use a lot of different websites with my students and this will provide a place for me to share useful websites with them and keep them organized as well.

What Now?

To do…Find a webinar that fits into my schedule

about collaborative technology.Look at podcasts (I started to watch 2 but

neither of them were what I had hoped they would be).

Continue to work on embedding.