CEDO 535 Entry Two

The more that I learn about Web 2.0 tools and the more tools that I find, the more I am convinced that they need to be implemented in every child's education. Reading about Wikipedia has been most inspiring to me. For so long students and well, everyone has been limited to a select audience for viewing and feedback but Web 2.0 tools allow practically a universal audience. The whole idea of Wikipedia, basically a database for the collection of knowledge from the human race was truly ahead of its time. Although there are clearly some problems with it I believe educators should embrace this project of spreading knowledge.

It frustrates me in some ways that so many educators reject or have no knowledge of the Web 2.0 movement. I completely understand that I am a digital native and that some people do not have the interest, experience, or knowledge of technology tools that others do but at the same time it is important to develop professionally and be up-to-date on new methods and technology. I compare it to the equivalent of a doctor needing to be knowledgeable of new medical technology and diseases. It really is just an expectation of the job. I don't mean to rant or insult anyone but it is something that I feel strongly about and is part of the reason I chose this major.

Anyway, I am looking forward to finding some ways to implement wikis and am possibly thinking that having my class create a virtual textbook or study guide may be a good way to do so. I am also very excited to learn about RSS this week to hopefully help me be more updated and efficient.

CEDO 535 Entry One

Blogging is something that I have already and will continue to use in my professional and educational life. Obviously blogging is an important part of my Master's Program as it acts as an online journal for me as I progress throught the program. I have also used blogging professionally to communicate with students and to share ideas about technology usage with other members of the staff at my school.

I have experimented with blogging in my classes and absolutely love it. Students have taken ownership in their blogs and it has had great value as a learning and assessment tool. Some students struggled initially to understand what and how much to post but the more they did it, the better they were. Some students really shined when it came to providing feedback to other blogs. It is something I hope to use more as technology hopefully becomes more available and accessible in the school.

On personal note I do not tend to blog very often about personal matters. I value my privacy and try not to divulge too much personal information, thoughts, or feelings. I have many friends who choose to blog about personal matters and it may be something I consider when the day comes for me to have a family but for the time being I use it primarily as a professional tool.

I'm looking forward to this class as I hope to truly find ways to use Web 2.0 tools more effectively. After reading some of the articles I would like to find some more effective ways to implement blogging and would like to learn more about RSS as it seems like it could be a major time saver for me.

CEDO 530 Entry Five

Assessing multimedia projects can be challenging subject. In my content area of history most of my emphasis is measuring specific content-based objectives and I assess their achievement in regards to that. When having students create a multimedia project what also is included is the criteria for creating the project. How to weigh and measure the multimedia project does create a dilemma when creating a rubric. Typically what I have done in the past is weigh the multimedia content as a fairly small portion of the entire project and focus more on the content. When measuring subject specific content through a multimedia project it is careful to assess the actual project in terms of quality of technology usage but most focus should be on content specific criteria.

Creating the Pecha Kucha has been a very interesting experience. The concept truly fascinates me and I enjoyed story boarding the project. Deciding what slides to include and how to frame the story caused me to really critically think about my topic. I used the post-it note method to order my slides and found it very effective. While I am still in the process of creating the actual presentation I've did my best to include slides that would make the Zen proud. My final challenge will be narrowing my information and analysis to twenty seconds per slide as I could go on and on about my topic.

CEDO 530 Entry Four

So I am taking the plunge and having my students make digital stories. The next unit in my World Cultures class is Latin America and one of the lessons in the unit is the impact of the destruction of the Amazon Rainforest. It is a lesson that connects geography, economics, and culture in the region. After presenting a slideshow from slideshare on the Amazon Rainforest (that received honorable mention in the best slideshow contest 2008, and happens to be very zen) to go along with a handout, students will use Animoto to create digital stories with pictures, text, and music. This will be a great way for me to apply and test what I have learned in CEDO 530 and see how students respond. They seem to be itching to do something more on the creative side and this project would seem to fit that. To hopefully make the project more time efficient I plan on placing them into groups to complete it. It may even be fun to view them as a class and vote on "best picture" or something along those lines. If anyone has any thoughts I'd love to hear them...

As for the rest of the work this week I am looking forward to testing out Prezi. I've had several students make them for class projects but never have I actually made one. Students in my Government class are doing presentations and one group used Prezi, which I am excited to see. Most of the students I've had use Prezi really like it and make good presentations. I've truly enjoyed getting to implement the tools we have used in this program and my students seem to be more engaged when using them.

CEDO 530 Entry Three

The concept of Pecha Kucha truly fascinates me. I think a lot of people feel the need to include as much information as possible in their presentations and can lead to long and sometimes boring lectures. A Pecha Kucha is a great way to shorten and condense information and force you to stick to the core message. Each slide is important and only important details that support the core message can be included due to the time constraint. A great activity for my classes would be for students to have to create them. It would be a great way for students to do research and learn how to decipher important facts and information.

I have continued to evaluate and revise my presentations using the zen techniques. Yesterday I even had a great conversation with a colleague who wants to read the book. Although I would not consider myself even close to an expert, I feel much more comfortable with creating presentations and would be able to share a lot with others as I move to rid the world of bad power points.

Looking forward to creating some digital stories. Voicethread was a great tool that will be something I can easily integrate into my classes. I'm excited about finding some programs that would allow my students and myself to create some digital stories.

CEDO 530 Entry Two

As of right now I am thinking of two very practical purposes for digital stories: delivering content and assessing student learning.

There are times as a teacher that it can be tempting to feel a need for a sense of control by delivering much of the content personally. What I have been finding out is there are times in which there are other far more powerful ways to deliver a message or content and that I need to step aside and let it happen. Digital stories can be a very powerful way to deliver information. On the first day of my history class I showed this clip and was very happy with how engaged the students were as it explains the importance of history better than I could:

Although there is still a place for teachers in delivering and explaining content there is not doubt that digital stories are at time a very powerful tool.

I have and plan to use digital stories as a way to assess student learning. Creating a digital story is a great way for students to produce a meaningful and authentic product. It also allows them to exhibit some creativity by customizing their story. My one experience with digital stories created by students did not go perfectly but the creativity shown in many of the stories sold me on the whole idea. 

Continuing to find great resources for creating digital stories is my main goal for this course. 

CEDO 530 Entry One

Of all of the classes that I have taken in this cohort from what I can tell thus far this seems the most interesting. Being a history teacher much of what I am doing is telling a story from the past. Getting students interested in history can be a great challenge at times as many simply see it as "a bunch of boring old stuff". The best history teachers I had were able to engage students with their story telling. I am looking forward to learning how to improve my story telling, take it to the digital age, and hopefully become a more engaging teacher.
Improving my presentations is probably what interests me most. I remember a couple courses back taking a look at the "Death by Power Point" presentation and that encouraged me to reform my presentation practices and it appears that Presentation Zen teaches many of the same lessons. It has actually become painful to see bad  Power Points and hopefully I can help lead a presentation revolution to rid the world of bad power points.
From what I can tell I am very excited about CEDO 530 and think it will help both me, my students, and my school.