Constructivism: Exactly what we want our students to be.

Cooperative learning, Inquiry, Project based, these are all terms that have come up in my career as an Education student. Little did I know that they are key ways to use a constructivists approach to teaching. In order to explore constructivism we individually and cooperatively took part in two web quests. One focused on the different facets of constructivist learning and the other looked at the 5 E's of Inquiry. The main idea behind taking part in the Web Quests was that we want our students to look into the topics we are studying with curiosity and drive. We want them to foster discussion amongst our selves. Even though direct instruction is needed, it is always a great feeling when our students can discuss with each other and come up with meaningful questions for us teachers. The web quest is a good tool to use because its technology based and the teacher can pose the questions and its up to the students to use their critical thinking skills to make it through the  quest and arrive at an answer. In order to show what we learned this past week, our group made an animated video about constructivism connectivism, which is what we read about in our weekly reading. We used the site xtranormal to make the video. There were plenty of different scenarios and characters to use within the free trial that I signed up for. This was my week to run the meeting. I had a few technological mishaps at first but my group was really able to help me. We really are getting better and better at using the tech equipment. Using this video program was interesting, I have always wanted to use a video creation program but didn't even really know where to start. The tutorial was easy to follow and made it easier to input the dialogue. Our video with some really intelligent bears is here!

We looked into connectivism for our readings this week. They focused in on if and when does social media have a place in the classroom. For me, even after doing the readings and seeing the possible outcomes from using social media in my lessons I am still wary. My attention went directly to the the article entitled "Social Media tools can boost productivity."  The article presents information about how a Doctor is using a Facebook like site to help his small business. He said the connected-ness of the site makes it easy to communicate. As much as I think maybe a social media tool might help us as college students I do not think I would be comfortable using it with my own students. The chance of distraction or using the site for other reasons is too great. I was happy to see that Dropbox was on the list for the Web 2.0 tools. I only recently started using it to communicate with my employer in Austria to send documents but it is very user friendly and its easier to use then a zip drive!

My first how- to -video!

So last week while we were on Spring Break I had the opportunity to create not only my first real video, but also create my first Wiki. I used the screen recording device Screencast o matic. I was a bit worried about this project at first. Not only have I only recently been introduced to Wiki's but I have never made a video where I am not looking into the camera and speaking. First I conducted some research about Wiki's for English as a Second Language. I had to keep in mind that the students I will be teaching English to, will only just be beginning their English language careers. So I decided that any Wiki I will make will need to remain simple and have valuable resources. I looked at teachers who were American and were or are currently working with students in another country. I found one particular Wiki from A man named Michael Griffin who works with Korean students. His wiki includes many many resources for his students to use along with a list of commonly made mistakes. I knew I wanted my Wiki to contain resources that were specifically geared towards middle school age, German speaking students. I made a very simple Wiki for this video project. The creation of the Wiki could not have been easier and the navigation panels on the side of the Wiki are really easy to use. Iw as able to add several pages to the Wiki such ass Assignments, Writing etc. See my Wiki here.  I think that using this Wiki will be a great way to reinforce what I do during the day with my students. If I keep the language simple on the Wiki and have a tutorial on how to use it, much like the video I created, then I think it could be successful. My video can be seen on Screencast o matic's site. It was easy to sign up for this recording site and the directions for how to set your volume, arrange the screen and navigation my presentation were very easy to follow.

Learning how to use this screen recording device was an excellent experience for me. It will be interesting to see how I can use it in my future classroom in Austria. It would be a really great thing if I was able to put these videos on the Wiki and give my students even more reinforcement!

The Ups and Downs of Internet Availability

I think that we have all found ourselves at one point or another looking at a computer screen in our respective school, frustrated and angry that we cannot access helpful supplements for our lessons because the Internet is so heavily censored. It happened to me one day in a class where I wanted to show a clip from the film 1776, which is a relatively light hearted but still good depiction of the American Revolution. The clip I wanted to show was a conversation between the Ben Franklin character and the John Adams character, there was nothing inappropriate about it but I could not show it. I went to the IT department and requested access to the site. I was told that if I was given access then the kids would want it and then they would have  "major problem." Ms. Bennett makes a good point that our students have access to the Internet at home and can access what we want them to see there but once they enter school, they cannot. I would love for all my students to be able to watch what I want them to watch but there is also the ever looming possibility that there will always be those students who will ruin it. Unless the students were being monitored in what they were searching for I think unblocking Internet access would be a difficult thing to do. Having full access to the Internet in school can be pretty great for a teacher. If I could use resources like the BBC network or the Smithsonian site, I believe that it would only enhance my lessons. Youtube can be a gift and a curse. The English Companion Website is a great resource. I love the idea that there are specific websites for each subject that teachers can join. After getting approval from the administrator the user has full permission to explore and take part in discussions and even be a part of book clubs! Which for a teacher who loves to use literature in my lessons, I think this is a wonderful idea. There are both online events as well as other conferences that are advertised on the website. There are several different sections on the site for reading, writing and even using Wiki's with your students.

Video is the new... everything.

After browsing through this weeks reading resources I began to think about how much online video I actually watch. From the video resources we have for our class, to German language tutorials I watch to better my language skills, to music videos and funny clips I am on the Internet a lot. A whole lot. As an educator I now use the Internet as a vast resource to find material including video clips that I can share with my students. The first article that intrigued me was the Educause article. We all want to make presentations for our students that keep their attention and will be memorable for them. This article uses the TED conference videos to show why these productions are so successful and interesting. The speakers are concise and too the point with what they want to convey to the audience. They use technology and screen sharing to show the audience what they are all about. I enjoy watching TED for these specific reasons. I am beginning to understand that if TED talks can use technology in this way, why cant my students?
Pew Internet reports that 71% of adults will use a video sharing site. And 92% of the people poled within the 18- 29 age bracket use these sites. It was almost startling to think how many people actually use these sites for entertainment, learning and communication. Of course we all know how great open learning can be especially the Open Course Ware system from MIT. Obviously the way our students acquire information is changing, I myself own a tablet and now read almost exclusively from it. The idea that learning with be only online was something I began to think about after reading Marc Parry's article about Alexandra Juhasz's book that is only available online and her technology only class. She had her students make videos instead of writing papers and had them watch online seminars and videos.   I have never really seen a class like this before. I believe the core idea behind all of these articles this week is that the video sharing world is an opportunity for our students to collaborate on a level that they never have before. The video projects that they can create can be shown all over the world and can start some pretty significant discussions. 

Blogs, Cyber Worlds, and Other Ways to Connect

An interesting this happened this week. As I was reading through the article "How People are Using Twitter during Conferences," (http://lamp.tu-graz.ac.at/%7Ei203/ebner/publication/09_edumedia.pdf) I realized that the article was based our of the University of Graz where I will be living next year. I had actually heard about Twitter use during school days from my boyfriend who attends this University presently. It was hard for me to take this seriously because I often get annoyed that people are on their phones or on the computer when an important discussion is taking place. However, as I was reading about the study I learned more about Twitter. Since I do not have one and have never been really interested in the social media site, I realized its possible use during a conference. People can have separate conversations about the topic at hand and can answer questions that may be posed. Even though most of the people during the study used Twitter for making their online presence or conversing with others, I can see the options Twitter can provide.

Since I had my eyes opened to Twitter I decided that I would delve into the article "Living in Cyworld" by  Jaz Hee-jeong Choi. It seems that while I have been only been getting used to all the changes on my Facebook, there is a whole other world in South Korea where each citizen has their own private web space, that can be a large or small as they want and have this vast expansive world online. The idea behind the "hompy" or homepage is that each person should be culturally aware of their fellow man and through this online community South Koreans can do that. When I was reading about Cyworld, I was truly amazing at how complicated and complex the network it. There is no anonymous blogging in Cyworld, people must provide their real names and even their citizen numbers! Groups you belong to or your chon to other people can help you stay connected with family, friends and even coworkers. People will use avatars and other online icons to decorate their pages. It seems to me that Cyworld is Facebooks, older, more intelligent and organized brother. As much as I was fascinated by the article, it seems a bit too intense for this slow moving tech gal!

After last weeks conference about Open Course Ware, I was ready to dive right into the article "College 2.0: More professors Could Share Lectures Online. But, Should They?"by Jeffery R. Young. this article was about everything that I had in my head during the MIT Open Course Ware conference. Many teachers are afraid to record their lectures because of numerous reasons like the material being stolen or even the teacher being made fun of. These are fears that I have myself and it was nice to hear that even veteran teachers feel as well. Technology is quickly consuming the "traditional" classroom. We use Web 2.0 tools and have our students exclusively work on the computer to create projects and assignments but what about what the teacher has to show? If a teacher decides to show their lectures online, should they keep it a closed private session, or should they join the Open Course Ware revolution? These are things that I have been thinking about myself. When the time comes for me to put myself and my craft online, will I be comfortable with it? I think over time and with more experience will help my make a decision about this.

When I saw "oral histories" on this weeks forums I have to be honest, I really didn't have an idea what that meant. But after going on the Storycorps website I was both intrigued and excited about the prospect of using this tool. the basis of the site is that people can record their life stories for the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress for free and receive a CD of their story. It is a part of a massive online human project that helps to spread people's stories and cultures. What is really great about Storycorps is that teachers can use the stories within the project as lesson supplements. There is even a section on "College Readiness" which would have been great to have when I was a freshman! 

Web 2.0: Making our Lives a Little Easier

After exploring the Web 2.0 tools extensively over the past week I was finally able to choose a tool that I felt would be most beneficial for students that I will and have worked with. I chose to use Glogster Edu as my medium with creating a poster/newsletter about a a writing tool that I have never seen before, but have become very excited about. I did a poster about using bookr . Bookr happens to be an extremely user friendly site about creating online books with pictures from the internet. The student types in the kind of pictures they want in their story and they can then add it to the text they have typed in at the bottom of the page. This site is also very amusing in the fact that the student can use their mouse to turn the page at the end just like a real book. I could see this program being used by grade 5 all the way up to 12. The student can then email their story to the teacher for easy grading or feedback. Truly a great tool for any teacher.

Open Course Ware: Free Classes that you never knew about!

The second meeting I attended on Monday was a really interesting and eye opening conference about the Open Course Ware movement at MIT. We were lucky enough to have Steve Carson from MIT speak to us about the creation and implementation about the system as well as its growth and effect on the world of online learning. Before attending the conference on an Adobe conference site ( very user friendly and super clear video), we read two articles about the system and have to formulate two questions. My main question through the realign and the conference was, day by day I am learning about the power and effectiveness of online learning but, what happens when the day comes and the whole college is experience is eliminated because you no longer need to go to school at all? This bothered me while reading about the program, and then I read an article about how Yale, one of our most prestigious universities will not use open course ware because they feel like their students will not truly be a part of the Yale experience if they are obtaining their degrees from the other side of the world. What happens when we lose all human to human contact in the classroom, even a College one? Curtis, the other speaker present at the conference explained that their are many cases where student cannot attended class regularly due to outside circumstances. Would I deny learning to my students because they couldn't get to school? The answer would be a resounding no, but that being said, watching a class on the computer screen will never be the same for me.

Open Course Ware is a free, user friendly service that is available at numerous universities and countries around the world. The only downside from using this system is that it is non credited.