Evaluating Web 2.0 Sites

What a challenge! To begin, our class put together a rubric that would be used to evaluate Web 2.0 tools/sites. We all looked at five sites and evaluated them based on that rubric. How to decide where to begin? Which sites to view? I fell back on the advice from three of my favorite Bloggers. I looked at sites they recommended that I was not familiar with. I also looked at the people they follow and what sites those experts had used. In addition, I took suggestions from my teacher and fellow classmates, and finally, joined the awesome Classroom 2.0.

Here are links to my top 3 Bloggers:

1) Vickie Davis http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/
Vickie has the most inspiring stories! Her views and recommendations are always top-notch, up to date and relevant. She is dynamic and encouraging. She can be counted on to find the best information available on the web.

2) Sue Waters http://theedublogger.com/
Sue is the BEST at showing all of us "digital immigrants" how to utilize technology in education. Her guest blogger Kathleen McGeady's information for students about Creative Commons and use of images is wonderful. Sue's tips on how to set up a classroom blog are posted as well as plain language about personal learning networks which helped me finally"get it".

3) Doug Johnson http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/
Doug is a writer whose motto is "Leaving readers confused at a higher level since 2005." His humor, insight into technology and education, and superior teaching abilities have been a real asset to me. His latest post gives numerous (uncomfortable) social networking scenarios for us to read and discuss with students.

*Honorable mention to David Andrade's blog http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/
This science teacher has links to numerous excellent sites, such as this interactive Periodic Table of the Elements.

So with their expertise (and the expertise of those they follow) I have chosen these five Web 2.0 sites to review. In order to limit the length of this blog entry, I'll just explain each part of the rubric for the first two sites then list the others.

Kerpoof
This site is intended for younger students to utilize in order to create pictures, movies, stories, etc. Teachers are able to set up classroom accounts so students can interact with others by sending messages, commenting and reviewing their art. Since this is a Disney-sponsored site, it is very safe and age appropriate. The parents submit their email and must approve the use by their child. The information given to parents is very thorough and explains how they fulfill all COPPA regulations. There were virtually no links to inappropriate content and posted comments and creations are clearly checked for safety. There is no cost to use this site. There is a membership for additional added benefits, but a teacher is able to set up a classroom account with no cost. There is no learning curve involved to utilize this site. It is clean, easy to understand, and free of advertisements. Students are encouraged to collaborate with others. The final product can be saved to the computer desktop, saved in the actual Kerpoof site, and is given a web link for further publishing options. Educational purposes abound! The student is able to use tools to create an original story, artwork, movie, etc. They are able to be creative and use teacher input to fulfill any given number of state standards. They have the ability to use higher-order thinking skills, although discussion with a teacher in order to gain the most benefit would be helpful. For example, they may review another student's artwork, but would gain more with a teacher guiding the criteria for review, or discussing in-depth what made it stand out. The name is somewhat easy to remember and the site is obviously educational, especially under the "arts" category. Students must sign up individually, but can be associated with a class or school account. Here is a link to my rubric assessment of Kerpoof! Final score was 26/28.

Glogster Edu- A wonderful resource for teachers and students! Creators make their own interactive posters. As a teacher, I have used it to make my own "learning tour" for students to learn about innovation. I added links to videos in Discovery Education, sticky notes of writing assignments, a website to visit, and more. My Glogster blog post (7/26/10) explains all the details. I could just as easily assign a student to make their own poster to show understanding of a concept. It is mostly age appropriate with some potential risks. The Edu site is considerably safer than the Glogster stand alone. Although the basic poster-making site is free, there are annoying advertisements to encourage the premium (pay) site. It is fairly easy to navigate, with just a bit of clutter. Both teachers and students could collaborate with others, and final products are given a web link for access. Creators get to decide how it is utilized. This site encourages use of higher-order thinking skills, especially when working with partners or in teams with a teacher-directed guide of expectations. Registration is required. Score: 24/28

More of the Wondeful Web 2.0:

SchoolTube
Ning
Wikispaces


In addition, here are some great Web 1.0 sites our families may enjoy:
Family Fun
This site is perfect for our homeschool students, grades K-8. There were craft projects, links to historical information, science activities, creative endeavors, learning games, recipes, etc. Since this is a Disney-sponsored site, it is very safe and age appropriate. There were virtually no links to inappropriate content and posted comments are clearly checked for safety. The site is free. There were quite a few ads, however, but they were clearly labeled and site navigation couldn't have been any easier or more intuitive. I loved how the projects allowed for feedback and showed a 1- 5 star rating based on prior feedback. Students could post images and comments about projects they had made as well. Although there really was not a lot of the higher-order thinking skills being utilized, a good parent-teacher would use this site as a springboard to do further investigating or analyzing. The name is easy to remember and no registration is required.

Online Math Learning

This awesome site has math tutorials for ALL grades and all math concepts. Our Kindergartners can learn about patterns, our 8th graders about algebra. This is a safe site and very easy to use. I clicked on Grade 4, topic "finding the median". I was given lots of helpful instruction. There was a written description of how to do it, a YouTube video of a teacher teaching the concept, some practice questions, and more. This same sort of scenario was presented in all grades and is an excellent resource for our parents and students.

*This is the site, however, that I felt I should contact the developers. I had an issue with the fact that once in a while the advertisements were not clearly labeled as such. A student could easily think it is a lesson and waste time looking at it. They had a "feedback" section that I used, but have not heard back from them yet.

Another great site was Noodle Tools.

This was a bit different than the other sites. It simply helps you choose the best search based on your information needs. This site has earned 7 awards, has no ads and is continuously updated (last time was 8/30/10). I am not convinced, however, that it is 100% safe for students as it basically lists links they follow on their own. I searched for "Reputable Health Information". They listed three different sites to view, all with a good description. I chose KidsHealth.org, which I had never seen, but now LOVE! This site has sections for parents, teens and kids. Just what our school needed to help with Jr. high health resources.

A third useful site I spent a lot of time with was Class Brain. Apparently, many schools (except ours..yet) use this site as a resource for state reports. Well..that is one small piece of this neat Web 2.0 powerhouse. There are actually 17 major areas, with topics listed by subject, grade, Biographies, State reports, games, teens, parents/teachers, etc. Our families would use this site quite a bit, although monitoring would need to be in place. If you want to do a state report on New York, there are 51 links to NY information! Of course, some of the links were no longer valid, but the idea of students finding their own information on the web is helpful.The advertisements were small, but I was annoyed at a pop-up each time I visited. I also had a bit of trouble trying to navigate. I could not see how to get out of the teen section back to the home page. Lost in teen section! Horror of horrors! Overall, a worthwhile site:

The final site I analyzed was Amphi.

This site's goal is to show parents and teachers all the wonderful reading sites available for students. It is basically just a page of links listed under topics such as "Comprehension and Fluency" or "Spelling and Grammar." There is a short description of each link's content. I was unable to figure out who the developer was in order to tell him/her that many links were no longer valid. However, there are some jewels in these lists. For example, StarFall is a site our school uses to help teach Kinder-1st graders how to read. There are letter/sound games, blending exercises and short stories to read (Karaoke style!). The link to Learning Planet paid off as well. However, Fluency through Fables took me to a site that seemed to just list numerous products for sale. As an educator, some time would need to be spent checking out all these sites. I'd rather just find out from EdTech leaders which sites they recommend. On this site, there was no interaction, no way of knowing which sites were more worthy or valid.

This was a very valuable assignment, and I have learned quite a bit. I personally thought MY rubric fitted my situation ( K-8 homeschool; primarily parents as teachers) better than the aggregate rubric until I realized that the sites I originally looked at were Web 1.0 sites, not Web 2.0 sites. As the instructor ever so patiently pointed out, Web 2.0 sites are for students to USE, interact with and create within. I was looking at sites that primarily give information without interaction. As a result, in the end, I came across a number of excellent Web 1.0 sites as well as super-cool web 2.0 sites. I look forward to utilizing the information to help my students become more effective learners.

Creative Commons Resources

I found some excellent FREE resources on the web that have the Creative Commons license.

Check them out on my diigo-social networking "bookmarks" page:
http://www.diigo.com/user/sarasdobie

There are links to free movies and films, art and photos images, music, educational courses at MIT, lesson plans and teacher resources, and various media files. They are all easy to view, use and download. Most, based on type of Creative Commons license, even allow you to utilize them in your own unique creative projects. Amazing!

Creative Commons License

Sara's Blog by Sara Douglas is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

I chose the moderately restrictive Creative Commons License " Attribution-Non-Commercial Share-Alike" cc by-nc-sa. I would recommend the same license for students' use.

Here are the parts and why I chose them for my blog/ recommend for student-created work:

Attribution (others can copy if they give me credit) I want people to be able to freely use or change/build on the original work as long as credit is given. I believe that creative thoughts and actions should be shared, but the original creator should be noted. That is just giving credit where credit is due and something students should always be striving toward.

Non-commercial (they can't use my work for commercial purposes) Others should be able to do re-mixes, mash-ups, etc. but I believe that they should not be allowed to profit financially from work others have done. A student should protect an original creation and have the opportunity to keep the commercial rights to it. I based this on a part of the FAQ section of the Creative Commons website I had read:

"And most educators who put their their educational resources online do so with the idea that they will be widely shared. But if you depend on controlling the copyrights in your resources for your livelihood, you should think carefully before giving away commercial rights to your creative work. For example, many musicians have discovered that offering work for noncommercial use can be quite rewarding."

http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Before_Licensing

Share-Alike (they must share in the same way I have) This allows others the freedom to create their own original works using some of my ideas and keep it equally accessible (yet non-commercial) for future creators. It ensures that the content will be able to be tweaked and shared in the same way in the future, always giving credit to those who have created originally. This seems like the "Golden Rule" theory of keeping up the intent of the original creator with regards to his/her sharing philosophy. Students should share.

I love the idea of creative thought/media being made accessible to the world. The final sentence of this article below enthusiastically tells us where it can lead. However, there should be guidelines as far as usage of others' work. Creative Commons licenses are the perfect fit to balance the rights of users with creators. This blurb from Creative Commons site says it well:

The Inside Google Books post announcing the initiative talks a bit about what this all means:

We’ve marked books that rightsholders have made available under a CC license with a matching logo on the book’s left hand navigation bar. People can download these books in their entirety and pass them along: to friends, classmates, teachers, and so on. And if the rightsholder has chosen to allow people to modify their work, readers can even create a mashup–say, translating the book into Esperanto, donning a black beret, and performing the whole thing to music on YouTube.

http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Before_Licensing

EDIM 514 Introduction

Hello from the West Coast!

My name is Sara Douglas and I am currently in my third class at Wilkes. Personally, I love to travel, read, cook and play. I adore my family: 2 daughters in high school, a husband, a shelter dog and 2 horses. I live in Modesto (the central valley of California) among almond orchards, approx. 90 minutes East of San Francisco/South of Sacramento. My friends and I like to train for endurance events (cheap therapy) and have done some century bike rides, half-marathons and Olympic distance triathlons.

I have taught various grades over the last 22 years and specialize in English as a Second Language and Dyslexia testing and tutoring. I have just started my 10th year as an Advisory Teacher at a K-8th grade public charter school. Our charter is home-based meaning parents serve as primary teachers for the core subjects. I assess, recommend curriculum, tutor in math, reading and writing, help parents with planning and paperwork, and so much more. It is truly a dynamic, challenging and fun job.

This is my third class at Wilkes and I am enjoying the journey. This past summer I completed Digital Storytelling and Digital Media in the Classroom-two excellent courses that I have already been able to incorporate into my job. My hopes are to utilize technology/media to help students enthusiastically learn core academic content while they respectfully and ethically work with others-becoming global citizens. I believe the use of media and newer technologies help educators attend to the various learning styles and abilities, encourage creativity and develop in students a love for lifelong learning. I look forward to what the future holds!

Google Earth Reflection

Smailovic is my hero.

This Bosnian cellist, during the war in Sarajevo, witnessed a bomb that killed 22 people in his town. What could he do? He was just one man. The very next day he sat in front of the ruins, in concert attire, and played his cello. He played at 4:00 pm every day for 22 days straight to commemorate those who were murdered. He went on to other sites and played for other victims. His actions teach a lesson that I felt needed to be shared with the 8th grade students in our History Research Writing Class.

This is my Google Earth Virtual Field Trip Project:

http://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0BxyZV9uiWV0xOTUwZmJhMDgtYmEwMS00N2Q0LTlmN2ItZDMzNTgxNzE4MTA5&hl=en&authkey=CKXB5bwE

The goals of my project included-

1) Student knowledge of the war in Sarajevo, Bosnia (actions during 1992-1993 in particular)
-The reasons for the conflict, what occurred, and the consequences.
*Visit 3 to Sarajevo, Bosnia: Students watch a video and take a quiz. They compare the Google Earth landscape/environment now vs. 10 years ago.

2) The impact that one man (Bosnian Cellist Vedran Smailovic) had which gave hope to not just his country, but all around the world.

- The impact Smailovic had on world famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the composer David Wilde and what those two musicians created with Smailovic's song.
*Visit 5 to Paris, France: Students read about Yo-Yo Ma and read a quote from Wilde explaining how his life was touched.

-The impact he had on teacher and blogger Vicki Davis and the story she was able to share with thousands on her Blog.
*Visit 2 to Georgia, USA: Students read her blog entry with the story of Smailovic.

-The impact he had on author Elizabeth Wellburn resulting in the children's book she wrote to commemorate the event.
*Visit 6 to British Columbia, Canada: Students watch and listen as the story is read aloud to them (with pictures in a video with "The Cellist of Sarajevo" song playing in the background)

-The impact he had on the citizens of Sweden as a commercial was made using his image and storyline.
*Visit 4 to Stockholm, Sweden: Students watch the You Tube video of the commercial which shows Bosnian children and Smailovic playing his cello.

-The impact he has made on us. That one person (you) can make a difference. How to be respectful, act ethically, comfort and encourage others. To have hope.
*Visits 1 and 7 to Hart-Ransom Charter School in Modesto, CA: Students follow the directions and write an essay describing how these 6 people around the world are all connected and the lessons that can be learned.

I wanted the students to see a model of someone who has clearly developed his 5 minds: disciplined, synthesizing, creative, respectful and ethical. They will be taught why Smailovic's actions have helped themselves and others around the world to "do right". As Garner states "It is very important to have exposure..to individuals who themselves embody good work." (P. 148).
I agree.

Reference:
Gardner, Howard. (2008). Five Minds for the Future. Boston, MA; Harvard Business Press.

Unit 7- Developing the Five Minds

"Teaching students with new tools, enthusiasm, and a belief that teaching is a noble calling." -Vicki Davis' mission statement for her blog

My purpose for pursuing a graduate degree is simply to help students be more successful. I believe that the wise and purposeful use of media and technology hold the key to real change in the school system, a system that is increasingly failing our children. Technology is interesting, interactive, and speaks students' language. Teamed up with high expectations and learning objectives/goals, almost any subject's lesson can be enhanced with the addition of media.
To support me in the quest, I have found a *jewel* of a blog posted by Vickie Davis, a high school teacher and IT director from Georgia-

http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/

Her blog has been read by 23, 462 readers and has the following components:
Home-Her own thoughts on the latest technology and educator issues
Projects-Such as the Digiteen
Freebies- Listings of great free down-loadable resources for educators
Popular- Her most popular blogs from years past
Friends-Links to other excellent educator/tech blogs
Books-Some of her highly recommended books

I have developed my own mind tremendously these past few months. Although I believe the use of technology in the classroom can be beneficial, I was quite ill prepared to utilize it within the school setting. The projects I have completed in this EDIM 508 class along with tips from my classmates' blogs and discussions have helped me develop my disciplined mind. Vickie's blog is a shot in the arm that I continually check out. She has discussions, debates, quotes, musings, and links for further information in her blog. It is a phenomenal resource for the latest information, innovations and ideas.

I have been able to synthesize the concerte information I have learned with actual classroom practice. Making a Blog, Glog, PowerPoint and Google Earth project have all been real life experiences I can replicate in each unique classroom. Vickie's blog has a tab listing projects she is involved in-excellent student projects such as Flat Classroom Project, Erasismproject, and Digiteen to name just a few. All serve as a way to help students become more respectful and understanding of others by working together technologically with students from around the world. They are phenomenal, and I look forward to pursuing the Digiteen project as it is available for our Jr. High students.

I have always been a firm believer in the arts and creativity (for all!) and am so glad to have learned that it will be valued more and more in our future. Students are already creating and sharing, and we as educators can help make school more successful by allowing more free thought and creative expression. I have stretched my mind in this class and have had a lot of fun in particular making my Glog. Vickie's blog encourages others to think outside the box and has a tab listing popular blog posts from the past. In it are some excellent ways that others have followed their creative ideas and succeeded.

What I enjoy most about Vickie's blog is that she models respect and ethical behavior. She is humorous, honest, and sincere. She goes out of her way to track down examples that would help both educators and students understand others around the world. She has a link to "Cellist of the Schoolyard" which tells the story of a cellist that played..well..it is just something that you have to see on your own. It was the most uplifting story I have heard all year. Vickie, on her tab of favorite books tells the reader that she does benefit financially from the sale of the books on that page. Wow! She didn't have to tell us, but she did.

I am proud to say that by pursuing this graduate degree with the hope of changing education and helping students, I am taking a big step toward developing my own five minds. I am much more well-equipped to lead students in the development of the "minds" they will need in the years ahead. Gardner does a fantastic job of summing up the future: "Those who succeed in cultivating the pentad of minds are most likely to thrive." "...the survival and thriving of our species will depend on our nurturing of potentials that are distinctly human." (Gardner, p. 163, 167)

References:

Gardner, Howard. (2008). Five Minds for the Future. Boston, MA; Harvard Business Press.

Unit 6-Respect and Ethics

"Knowledge of cultures around the world leads students to understanding and compassion" -Julene Reed

After reading Reed's article, I realized that students will never respect others if they don't know anything about them or why their perspective may be different than their own. Reading information about another country does not necessarily help with understanding and building bridges. As a result, I thought a wonderful first step would be to require the students to do a multimedia project that would personally introduce them to someone born in another country. The three part assignment for our 6-8th graders in the Digital Storytelling Class would be:

1) Produce a 1-3 minute video. The student must videotape someone in Modesto who was born in another country.
*There are many immigrants in Modesto, but most arrive from Mexico, Central America and Iraq. These groups in particular face discrimination and are largely misunderstood.
-Write questions to ask during the interview, such as "Why did you choose Modesto?"
"What is good about being here?" " What is challenging?"
-Edit and share the video with the class.

2) Build a glog which gives information about that person and his or her homeland. Must include links for further study, 2 photographs, and at least one thing that will surprise your classmates.
-Share the glogs with the class and the parents.

3) Complete a community service project (min. 2 hrs) which will directly benefit this person. Share what was done with the class and what effect it had.

I firmly believe that students are very comfortable in their own homes or with their own peer group and are reluctant to venture out and help others unless encouraged by the adults in their life. Of course, there are some students doing community service, but a focused approach on an engaging project will unify the experience. As the other students share, they will gain additional insights about differing countries that will only aid in helping them work in the future global marketplace.

As Reed notes, once students can begin to understand others, then they will begin to care. They will want to be more active in helping solve problems. Our students need to be aware of the challenges facing others, and a personal connection to just one person can make a world of difference. Our future awaits!

Resource:

Julene Reed - "Global Collaboration and Learning" on EDTECH: Focus on K-12 website

http://www.edtechmag.com/k12/events/updates/global-collaboration-and-learning-2.html