Getting More From Web2.0

As I am reading the book, Teaching For Understanding With Technology, I found this quote that distinguishes what technology does versus what it can do. Wiske and Franz state, "A further complication in defining educational goals is that pressure to implement new technologies may obscure the importance of using these tools to teach and learn important subject matter. Teachers may believe that simply engaging students with modern tools is worthwhile (to increase student motivation, develop students' technical expertise and twenty-first-century skills, or demonstrate up-to-date classroom practices), even if the technology is not helping students learn core curriculum topics. Teachers may incorporate technology into lessons in ways that provide some catchy entertainment with little or no contribution to learning." I know that I have fallen into this trap. I use technology because I like it or think it is exciting, but I don't really focus on big learning objectives and ensure that the use of technology leads to greater levels of learning.

The authors continue to explain what the goals of technology use should be. They state, "New technologies are most beneficial, however, when they support and deepen students' understanding of important educational subject matter. In order to apply technology this way, teachers often need to reflect on their goals and become more explicit about exactly what they hope students will learn. Educational objectives, whether they deal with academic or technology issues, may reflect a teacher's deeper purposes, core values, and ultimate hopes for the students." For the upcoming year, I will give greater planning time to understanding the learning goals for which I am aiming, and then choose technology that fulfills that role.

When trying new technologies, I think it is important to just get your hands dirty and learn the capabilities of what the tools can do. However, after that initial stage, the teacher must begin to target specific technologies to help students learn key concepts in a deeper and more meaningful way.

On my wiki, I am creating a list of technology tools with tutorials to help students create content. I am also developing rubrics for each tool so that I can give students quick feedback on their performance. The rubrics contain a component for demonstrating knowledge of the core subject matter being discussed in class. I am not sure if this is the complete solution, but it does help me to focus on the learning objectives and to tie the most appropriate web2.0 tool(s) to each learning objective.

Please comment if you can think of ways that I can improve the wiki or the focus of applying technology to content mastery.

Being More Analytical With Technology

In the past, I have utilized technology in the classroom simply because I love it and because the students are engaged while using it. I need to make more of an effort to be systematic in my thinking and really plan how to implement technology and what are my goals.

In the book, Teaching For Understanding Technology With Martha Stone Wiske offers a method that I am planning to adopt for integrating technology into my curriculum this year. She states:

Educators might being by asking, "What do our students always struggle with that is really essential for their success?" That my reveal some targets of difficulty that could be alleviated by incorporating new technologies into lessons. Another strategy is to ask, "What are students fascinated by that might suggest a way into some of the material they need to learn?" Teachers might also formulate generative topics by reflecting on their own interests and expertise, knowing that their capacity and motivation to design inventive lessons will be enhanced by their own passionate engagement. The teachers' own hobbies or areas of deep knowledge may indicate a generative approach to an important curriculum topic.

These are the three questions I will be asking before implementing technology this year:

1. What is the most important curriculum for each unit of study?
   
2. What do my students struggle to learn?
3. Which technology engages the students in the curriculum to the best extent?

These will be the questions that drive my integration of technology this year.

I want to complete a daily summary of the top three web links that I find on Twitter. Today's top 3:

1. Top 50 ipad apps - http://bit.ly/dsvIno - Gives some great ideas for apps to download. I need to conduct a PD on this for Cleveland, and I need to offer it as a session at the CLHS conference.
2. 10 Ways to declutter your digital life - http://bit.ly/9rsCq3 - Great ideas for making life easier and neater.
   

Blog Carnival

I am in the process of contributing to my first blog carnival as an activity in the #30 Goals challenge by Shelly Terrell. An article that I love is 7 Habits of Highly Effective Internet Using Educators at http://www.fi.edu/fellows/fellow6/may99/May%20Project/covey.html. It takes the concepts of Steven Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and applies it to the ed tech world. It is a short but powerful article.

First post of 2010

I am writing this post as a part of the 30 goals challenge that I saw on Twitter.

Because I saw it on Twitter, I was encouraged to find a iPhone app for blogger and post from my phone. This will make posting easier And more convenient.

I am working on the curriculum for my Digital Imaging (my attempt to show students web2.0 tools). The students and I had fun using and learning the tools in the Fall semester, but I want the class to have greater focus and utility for the Spring.

In order to increase it's relevance and utility, I returned to my notes when I conceived the class. I wanted the students to learn to use tools and help teachers build more interesting and hands-on curriculum for our students. I want to return to this mission for the Spring semester.

This goal is reachable because I have exceptional students, who are primary members of our school's humanities magnet program. I will have the students in the Digital Imaging class googlize and web2.0 the curriculum for their magnet classes. They will utilize google and web2.0 tools to show the teachers what is possible with web2.0, build tutorials for them to expand their curriculum and build sample projects for the teachers to evaluate and critic.

This provides focus and real world application for the digital imaging students. I am hoping they can start a movement to challenge and improve the wY we teach. Regardless of the outcome, it should be a fun and illuminating adventure.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Finding My Way In The Web2.0 Universe

This year has been successful and inspiring. It was my dream last year to teach a class about web2.0 tools. I wanted to show off the abilities of the web and get students involved with tools that could help them with their classes. I was fairly successful with this endeavor. The students have created wikis in which they have embedded projects from 10 different web2.0 tools that we have sampled throughout this semester. We hit a few bumps in the road, but for the most part, the students and I learned a great deal and have enjoyed the process.

For 2010, I want to be more focused in my teaching approach. I want the students to utilize tools to help their teachers get more involved with web2.0 tools. The students and I are going to "googlize" and "web2.0" the curriculum of several teachers in our magnet program at Cleveland HS. My goal is to have the students create projects from the materials they have already covered during previous years as students in our magnet. I think the possibilities are literally endless, so staying focused and keeping the students and myself accountable to deadlines and teacher needs will be a must. To do this, I am developing a few ideas.

First, finding great ideas for using web2.0 tools is essential. However, I tend to get overwhelmed with all of the options available. This year, I tried to follow blogs, podcasts, and Twitter feeds about web2.0 tools. Needless to say, it was way too much. I became overwhelmed and I think my teaching and student experiences were less than optimal because I could not choose what tools to use and how to use them. My first step in focusing my curriculum and my own exploration of web2.0 is to look at fewer items. I have cut my blog feeds down to 3. I have cut my podcasts down to 1. I have utilized Twitter over holiday break and have found over 200 tweets that will keep me more than busy next semester. I will continue to look into other forums from time to time, but I am forcing myself to stay focused on these items for now.

Second, I found a great blog post at "Life Feast" - http://lifefeast.blogspot.com/2009/12/what-comes-first-methodology-or.html. This post blew me away with its simplicity and directness. It lists seven simple questions we should ask ourselves whenever we decide to use web2.0 in the classroom. By using these questions, we can keep the focus on educating the students and realizing the benefits of the new technology.

Third, Tami Brass offered some great ideas in this blog post (http://tech4teaching.org/wpblog/?p=721) about how web2.0 is typically used in the classroom. I am planning to uses these ideas as a springboard for getting other teachers excited about web2.0 projects for their classrooms. Here list offers six great ideas for utilizing Google Documents and wikis in the classroom. Google docs is such a great place to start because many teachers already have Google accounts, the tools are free, there are tons of great tutorials for them, and the Google engineers made them very intuitive.

With these ideas in mind, I am so excited about the Spring semester. My students and I will create fantastic lesson ideas for our teachers and build tutorials for them to study over summer break and be prepared to come to school implementing them in the Fall. I know these projects will inspire more teachers to get involved with web2.0 tools!!

Weird Al Yankovic - White & Nerdy

Weird Al Yankovic - White & Nerdy