Sunday, October 18, 2009
BP14_2009103_Web2.0Tools_MyComment
Sunday, October 18, 2009
BP11_2009103_Web 2.0 Wordle
Wordle (wordle.net) is a fun and unique Web 2.0 site that has recently become very popular in my school district. Wordle is different from most of the other Web 2.0 tools that we’ve been looking at over the past few months, as it isn’t really a network or a forum or a platform designed primarily for publishing content.
According to the homepage, “Wordle is a toy for generating ‘word clouds’ from text that you provide.” (Feinberg, 2009, para. 1). The concept is incredibly simple. Users type or copy text into a box on the site, and Wordle analyzes the text and creates a graphic word cloud from the text. Words that are used more frequently in the text appear larger in the word cloud. Once the word cloud is generated, the user can change different parameters of the appearance, including the color scheme, the font, the way the words are laid out on the page, and other settings based on the language of the source text.
There is a minor issue that affects printing in Mac OSX, which is easily remedied by installing a Java applet from the FAQ page of the Wordle site.
Wordle provides several interesting educational uses. It provides an interesting way to analyze text, especially the relative frequency of use of words in a given source text. An example on the Wordle site shows a comparative analysis of inaugural addresses by every president. My Studio Tech students are currently working on a project called the “Poetry Remix Project” in which they record themselves reciting a poem, then edit and remix the lyrics into a new poem. They’re using Wordle to provide inspiration for how to remix their poem lyrics, and they’re also using the word cloud images created from their poems as background images for their project page in their digital portfolios.
The Wordle image below was created from the poem “Charlie Parker played be bop” which I use as an example in my introduction of the poetry remix project.
References:
Feinberg, J. (2009). Wordle - beautiful word clouds. Retrieved October 18, 2009 from http://www.wordle.net/
Raschka, C. (1997). Charlie Parker played be bop. New York: Orchard Books.
Posted by Eric Anderson at 4:22 PM
1 comments:
Ali Baxendale said...
Eric,
This website could be very helpful in my classroom. We do different readings in Spanish. For Spanish 1 and 2 students, this can be very overwhelming. I can use Wordle as a prereading activity for them. they can look at the finished Wordle document before they read the text to see if there are any words they need to look up. This will also give them more confidence in the reading since the largest words will be the ones they already know. This is also a great activity to have the students do on their own after they read an article. Thanks for sharing!
October 18, 2009 6:39 PM
BP11_2009103_Web 2.0 Wordle
Wordle (wordle.net) is a fun and unique Web 2.0 site that has recently become very popular in my school district. Wordle is different from most of the other Web 2.0 tools that we’ve been looking at over the past few months, as it isn’t really a network or a forum or a platform designed primarily for publishing content.
According to the homepage, “Wordle is a toy for generating ‘word clouds’ from text that you provide.” (Feinberg, 2009, para. 1). The concept is incredibly simple. Users type or copy text into a box on the site, and Wordle analyzes the text and creates a graphic word cloud from the text. Words that are used more frequently in the text appear larger in the word cloud. Once the word cloud is generated, the user can change different parameters of the appearance, including the color scheme, the font, the way the words are laid out on the page, and other settings based on the language of the source text.
There is a minor issue that affects printing in Mac OSX, which is easily remedied by installing a Java applet from the FAQ page of the Wordle site.
Wordle provides several interesting educational uses. It provides an interesting way to analyze text, especially the relative frequency of use of words in a given source text. An example on the Wordle site shows a comparative analysis of inaugural addresses by every president. My Studio Tech students are currently working on a project called the “Poetry Remix Project” in which they record themselves reciting a poem, then edit and remix the lyrics into a new poem. They’re using Wordle to provide inspiration for how to remix their poem lyrics, and they’re also using the word cloud images created from their poems as background images for their project page in their digital portfolios.
The Wordle image below was created from the poem “Charlie Parker played be bop” which I use as an example in my introduction of the poetry remix project.
References:
Feinberg, J. (2009). Wordle - beautiful word clouds. Retrieved October 18, 2009 from http://www.wordle.net/
Raschka, C. (1997). Charlie Parker played be bop. New York: Orchard Books.
Posted by Eric Anderson at 4:22 PM
1 comments:
Ali Baxendale said...
Eric,
This website could be very helpful in my classroom. We do different readings in Spanish. For Spanish 1 and 2 students, this can be very overwhelming. I can use Wordle as a prereading activity for them. they can look at the finished Wordle document before they read the text to see if there are any words they need to look up. This will also give them more confidence in the reading since the largest words will be the ones they already know. This is also a great activity to have the students do on their own after they read an article. Thanks for sharing!
October 18, 2009 6:39 PM
BP13_2009103_Web2.0Tools_Quizlet
Quizlet can be found on www.quizlet.com. Quizlet is a website where people can use digital flashcards. On this site users can create their own flashcards. They can study these flashcards and share these flashcards with others as well. There are a variety of flashcards that are already on the website. Users can access and use many of these flashcards. To create a set of flashcards, a user simply has to type in the list of words and their meanings. Once the flashcards are created, it is very simple to practice with them. There are several ways to practice the words. There is an area to practice with the flashcard in the traditional fashion. There is an area where the words are learned. There is also an area where the words are tested. One of the most interesting sections of the website is the games section. There are two games that can be played with the words that created the flashcards. In one of these games the definition and the word must be matched in the quickest amount of time. In the other game, the definition scrolls across the screen. The user must type in the correct word before the word falls off of the screen. Users advance to other levels as the game continues.
I have used Quizlet with my students this year. They all really enjoyed the different areas of the website that they could use to study their vocabulary. For this first time that I used Quizlet, I created the flashcards for my students. In the future, I am hoping that my students will create their own flashcards so they can practice on their own.
BP12_2009103_Web2.0Tools_Pixorial
Pixorial is a Web 2.0 tool that can be found at http://www.pixorial.com/. Pixorial is a website where people can upload video and then edit that video. They can then share the video with others. When video is shared with someone via Pixorial, they can then go into Pixorial and edit the video that was shared with them. If a school play was taped and then uploaded by a parent, it could be shared with other parents. These other parents could log onto Pixorial, and edit the video they were sent. They could create a highlights reel of their own child in the play. This allows Pixorial to be a collaborative space also.
Pixorial has many applications for education. In my Spanish class, there are many times when I would like to have students create videos. Videos allow students to demonstrate their understanding and application of Spanish. While most of my students have access to a video camera, many do not have software to edit the video. Pixorial allows students to upload their raw video and then edit it into a finished video. Students can then send me their finished version of the video. I could also create a Facebook page for the class, and they could add their Pixorial videos to that page as well.
BP11_2009_103_Web2.0Tools_Writeboard
Writeboard is a new web 2.0 tool that I have just discovered. It allows users to set up web based text documents for free. These documents can be created by anyone, such as a teacher or students. After setting up a writeboard, users can then invite others to the board. After they have been invited, others can begin working on the writeboard making it a collaborative space. There are several features on this site that are extremely helpful. One of these features is that anyone who has access to the document can leave comments in a separate area. This allows the document to remain untouched when people only want to add comments. Another great feature of this site is that it saves all previous versions of the document. It is possible to go back and look at any of the previous versions. These versions can also be compared in one document, so that it is easy to see what has been taken out and what has been added. The feature that is the most exciting to me, is the RSS feed. Any user can subscribe to their writeboard’s RSS feed. This feature will alert any user that is subscribed to the feed every time that a change is made to the writeboard. All users are then able to monitor all changes that occur.
Writeboard has many educational uses. Groups of students can work together to collaborate on projects. The teacher can also be a member in order to see who is contributing to the group and to make sure that the content is accurate. Teachers can also use Writeboard for class discussions or class review. The teacher can monitor the discussion or review. Anytime students or teachers need to collaborate to create documents, Writeboard is a great way to accomplish this.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
BP10_2009_103_Flickr
I am new to Flickr, and I am very excited about the possibilities that it holds. I did a search for lesson plans that included Flickr and Spanish, however, I did not come up with anything worthwhile. I did think of a great project to use Flickr in my classroom. Many of my students travel during school breaks and the summer. I think it would be a wonderful project for students to post their pictures from places where they have traveled where Spanish is spoken. This compilation of pictures would create a very unique story of our travels. Students who have not had the opportunity to travel, would be able to see images from around the world. I can then use these images for a variety of activities in class, such as writing activities or speaking activities.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
BP8_2009102_Web 2.0 Tools- My Comment
Haiku is a program that enables you to create an interactive website that will allow the teacher to post audio, video, websites for their students. There is also a feature that allows students to upload assignments and the teacher can also grade that assignment to post for the student to see. Teachers can also create quizzes for students to take online.
This is a You Tube video created to explain all of Haiku's features.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuVxT54ndmU
Noteflight, a music notation website, works with Haiku to create a unique experience for the music teacher. Not only can the teacher access all the features already described, but they can also create quizzes and assignments for the music classroom.
The only drawback is that it costs money. There is a free option but it only has 25 MB of storage space.
References
Haiku learning systems. (2009) Haiku. Retrieved October 10, 2009 from http://www.haikulearning.com/
Posted by Kelly McKinley at 7:46 PM
1 comments:
Ali Baxendale said...
Kelly,
I think that this site looks great. It would be a great thing to implement into my classroom. It would allow me to put all of my notes and examples onto a website for my students to access. It would also create a new platform for distributing and receiving information from my students. Students could submit homework as soon as they finished, and I would be able to give them feedback quickly. It would also allow parents to understand what their child was learning. Many of my parents do not know Spanish, this would be a way for me to open up the learning to them as well. They would be able to understand what their child had to do in my class. I could even have a parents' corner where I explained what was being learned to the parents. They would then be able to converse with their students about what was going on in class. This would also be a great way to have some supplemental materials and discussions available to all of my students. Thank you for showing me this site!!
This is a You Tube video created to explain all of Haiku's features.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuVxT54ndmU
Noteflight, a music notation website, works with Haiku to create a unique experience for the music teacher. Not only can the teacher access all the features already described, but they can also create quizzes and assignments for the music classroom.
The only drawback is that it costs money. There is a free option but it only has 25 MB of storage space.
References
Haiku learning systems. (2009) Haiku. Retrieved October 10, 2009 from http://www.haikulearning.com/
Posted by Kelly McKinley at 7:46 PM
1 comments:
Ali Baxendale said...
Kelly,
I think that this site looks great. It would be a great thing to implement into my classroom. It would allow me to put all of my notes and examples onto a website for my students to access. It would also create a new platform for distributing and receiving information from my students. Students could submit homework as soon as they finished, and I would be able to give them feedback quickly. It would also allow parents to understand what their child was learning. Many of my parents do not know Spanish, this would be a way for me to open up the learning to them as well. They would be able to understand what their child had to do in my class. I could even have a parents' corner where I explained what was being learned to the parents. They would then be able to converse with their students about what was going on in class. This would also be a great way to have some supplemental materials and discussions available to all of my students. Thank you for showing me this site!!
BP7_2009102_Web 2.0 Tools- Voo2do
Whenever there is a lot to accomplish, it is easy to forget some component of a project or part of an assignment. To help combat that problem, students and teachers can use Voo2do. It can be found at http://voo2do.com/. This site allows the user to create a to do list for themselves. However, there a many more options than just typing in what needs to be done. These lists can be customized. Different items can be given different priorities and due dates. Tasks can be grouped into projects, and projects can be edited together. There is also a collaboration tab where tasks can be assigned and published. All people involved in the project will know what they are responsible for. There is also a history tab, which tells what has already been accomplished.
I think there are a variety of ways that this tool can be used in the classroom. In my classroom, I would use this tool to help my students organize themselves when they are working on projects together. They would be able to create a list of tasks that had to be completed in order to successfully complete the project. Then they would assign who would be responsible for each task. They would be able to publish the task list with the person who was assigned each task. This way each group member would know what they were in charge of and I would know what each person was responsible for. When each task was completed the group would be able to mark it off. It would then move to the history tab. This would allow me to be able to see how each group was progressing and how each individual was progressing. If there were any problems with a group or an individual, I would be able to address it early and hopefully, fix the problem. The list of tasks would also keep each team from forgetting to do a major part of the assignment. Many of my students have incredibly busy schedules. This tool would also show them another way to keep their life organized.
BP6_2009102_Web 2.0 Tools- PB Works
Wikis are a great source of information in the world today. Wikis are being used in academic circles more each day. An easy wiki to use to create your own collaborative space is PB Works. It can be found at http://pbworks.com/. This site allows for people to come together to create a wiki. There are a variety of options regarding the services that one can use. There is a basic free account, which anyone can use. There are legal and project accounts as well. There is also an educational account available as well. With this educational account, for $799 schools can have their own account with 1000 users for the year. This would allow everyone in the school to utilize wikis and the new aspects of PB Works that are being released.
Wikis create a wonderful collaborative environment for teachers and students. With a wiki, teachers would be able to put the different ideas they have together to create amazing lesson plans and project ideas. Since most teachers have different planning periods from their colleagues, a wiki would allow them to collaborate whenever they had time throughout the day. For Spanish teachers, a wiki would allow a place for us to discuss different grammatical concepts. We would be able to thoroughly discuss the different grammar components that made up the concept. We could then decide where each component should be taught. Finally, we could develop different ways to teach each component and relate it back to the whole concept.
With my students I would use a different approach. I would use a wiki as a place to collaborate for different projects. One activity I would like to try is a collaborative writing assignment. My students would break up into teams, and create a story using a wiki. This would allow the team to work together to develop a story. All students could use their own Spanish skills, but the team would be there to help each other out. Using a wiki would allow students to work together even if their busy schedules did not allow them to meet together at the same time or place. They could all work when they had the time, but they would still be collaborating together. A variation of this activity would be to have each student start a story, and then a teammate would have to come in and add to the story. This way each student would be responsible for a certain part of the story.
BP5_2009102_Web 2.0 Tools- Class Blogmeister
Class Blogmeister is a tool that can be found at http://classblogmeister.com/index.php and is a great tool to classroom teachers. Class Blogmeister allows teachers to create their own blog and then create student blogs as well. The teacher creates the blog, and then students can comment on what is written. The teacher can also then set up student blogs, so that the students can share their own articles. The students are able to work on these blogs, save them, finish working on them, and then publish them. The teacher must approve all blog posts and comment posts before they are published. This approval process allows the teacher to monitor the information that is being presented in their blog "classroom" so that all students may learn without having to worry about what they will encounter.
Students and teachers are able to take their academic discussions out of the classroom and into the real world. All students are able to express their opinions about the topics being discussed in a safe environment without the normal time constraints of a traditional classroom. Many teachers could use this to expand their classroom and their students’ thinking. If students had to post their own blog and then comment on 3 other blogs throughout the week, the discussions would be much richer than if they were simply happening in a 45-minute class period.
In my classroom, Class Blogmeister could have a great impact. I could have one area where students could ask each other for help in Spanish. This would allow higher-level students to be able to help lower level students. It would also help solidify the knowledge of these upper level students because they would be teaching someone else. I would also set up another area where I would post current events that are taking place in Spanish speaking countries. Students would have to comment on these different events, thus broadening their view of the world. They would also be able to see what their classmates thought of these events. Overall, I think this site could have a great impact in my classroom.
BP4_2009102_Social Bookmarking
Social bookmarking is a relatively new way to share information that is growing in popularity every day. Social bookmarking allows people to bookmark websites on a website. They can access these bookmarks from any other computer. They can also share these bookmarks with others in order to share the websites they have found. The implications of social bookmarking in society are amazing, however, I am more focused on the implications in education.
Finding valid and reliable sources for education can be challenging. This is especially true when the topics being researched are new and most available information can only be found on the Internet. Social bookmarking can create a more effective way to search for content. "Rather than ranking the position of a page within a search engine list by the number of external websites that link to it, or some other highly complex algorithmic basis, applying a simple metric such as 'perceived utility' is far and away more accurate" (Winder, 2007). This organization will allow people to find what they need in a much shorter time. Allowing them to spend their time and energy dealing with content instead of on irrelavent research. This will also help educators find the exact content they are looking for without having to search through many unhelpful sites. It will also help educators with sites that are extremely short lived (Riddell, 2006).
One of the most exciting things I found in my research of social bookmarking is the site www.brainify.com. This site is dedicated to the convergence on higher education students and faculty to create an immense social bookmarking site. All members are asked to contribute to the site by adding high quality web addresses. The member then categorizes their new site by academic subject. Then when a person needs information on a specific topic or area of study, they simply go to that category or subcategory where they will find all of the web addresses that other students and faculty found helpful.
This is just one of the many ways that social bookmarking can increase learning in an educational setting. Teachers can also create a social bookmarking page for their classes. This allows students to add websites for other students to use in the future. This would also allow the teacher access to the quality of research that the students are finding on a topic, thus allowing the teacher to monitor quality levels before a final project is turned in. I am very excited to see how the world of social bookmarking will impact the world of education.
Brainify (n.d.) What's brainify? Retrieved October 11, 2009 from http://www.brainify.com/About/
Rindell, R. (2006) Social bookmarking makes its mark in education. Retrieved October 11, 2009 from http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=42069&CFID=13150662&CFTOKEN=40950658
Winder, D. (2007) Back to basics: social bookmarking. Information World Review, (240), 29-32. http://search.ebscohost.com
Finding valid and reliable sources for education can be challenging. This is especially true when the topics being researched are new and most available information can only be found on the Internet. Social bookmarking can create a more effective way to search for content. "Rather than ranking the position of a page within a search engine list by the number of external websites that link to it, or some other highly complex algorithmic basis, applying a simple metric such as 'perceived utility' is far and away more accurate" (Winder, 2007). This organization will allow people to find what they need in a much shorter time. Allowing them to spend their time and energy dealing with content instead of on irrelavent research. This will also help educators find the exact content they are looking for without having to search through many unhelpful sites. It will also help educators with sites that are extremely short lived (Riddell, 2006).
One of the most exciting things I found in my research of social bookmarking is the site www.brainify.com. This site is dedicated to the convergence on higher education students and faculty to create an immense social bookmarking site. All members are asked to contribute to the site by adding high quality web addresses. The member then categorizes their new site by academic subject. Then when a person needs information on a specific topic or area of study, they simply go to that category or subcategory where they will find all of the web addresses that other students and faculty found helpful.
This is just one of the many ways that social bookmarking can increase learning in an educational setting. Teachers can also create a social bookmarking page for their classes. This allows students to add websites for other students to use in the future. This would also allow the teacher access to the quality of research that the students are finding on a topic, thus allowing the teacher to monitor quality levels before a final project is turned in. I am very excited to see how the world of social bookmarking will impact the world of education.
References
Brainify (n.d.) What's brainify? Retrieved October 11, 2009 from http://www.brainify.com/About/
Rindell, R. (2006) Social bookmarking makes its mark in education. Retrieved October 11, 2009 from http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=42069&CFID=13150662&CFTOKEN=40950658
Winder, D. (2007) Back to basics: social bookmarking. Information World Review, (240), 29-32. http://search.ebscohost.com
Sunday, October 4, 2009
BP3_2009101_Anti-Teaching
In creating an educational system that would work better for the majority of students, there are many things to consider. First, the students must be motivated to learn and this learning must be accessible to them. In order to help students be motivated to learn, I would look into PLE's where students could investigate their own learning. Students would be able to access information in the ways that are best for them. Students who are more visual would be able to find videos to help with their learning. Students who are more audio would be able to find podcasts to help with their learning. Because I feel that it is important for students to be well rounded, I would make sure that while they started their learning journey on subjects and topics they were interested in, students would transition into subjects and topics that would not be their first choice. At this phase of the learning process, students would be excited about the connections they are able to make even in subject areas that they are not as enthusiastic about. Students would utilize a variety of web 2.0 tools that would make the learning process easier. The use of these tools would allow the information to come to the students and save the students time. Just using technology is not enough. The use of technology must be meaningful and enhance the learning experience. Teachers must also act as guides through this learning process. If students were just let loose with this process, the results would be scattered and the students would not learn as much. With teacher guidance, this individualized process can be extremely rewarding for students. They are able to learn information and learn how to learn information.
BP2_2009101_Google Reader
All five of the RSS feeds that I chose to add to my Google Reader will help in my growth as a teacher. Each one keeps me up to date about the information in the world of education.
Educational Technology
This feed is about the different technologies that are used and implemented in education. This feed will allow me to stay current with how to use technology in my classroom. This feed also will show me how others have implemented these technologies into their classrooms.
NPR Topics: Education
This feed will keep me current on what is going on in the education world. This feed pulls from all over the United States. I will be able to know what is going on in education from around the country.
Education with Technology
This is another feed that deals with technology in education. This feed will also keep me up to date with new technology and how it is implemented into classrooms.
TeacherTube.com
This feed updates me on the website www.teachertube.com. This website is a great resource for all teachers. On this site, teachers post videos that are related to education. The videos could be teaching aides or student examples.
Coffee Break Spanish
This feed links me to basic Spanish podcasts. Since I teach Spanish 1 and 2, these beginning Spanish podcasts will be wonderful for me to incorporate into my classroom.
Educational Technology
This feed is about the different technologies that are used and implemented in education. This feed will allow me to stay current with how to use technology in my classroom. This feed also will show me how others have implemented these technologies into their classrooms.
NPR Topics: Education
This feed will keep me current on what is going on in the education world. This feed pulls from all over the United States. I will be able to know what is going on in education from around the country.
Education with Technology
This is another feed that deals with technology in education. This feed will also keep me up to date with new technology and how it is implemented into classrooms.
TeacherTube.com
This feed updates me on the website www.teachertube.com. This website is a great resource for all teachers. On this site, teachers post videos that are related to education. The videos could be teaching aides or student examples.
Coffee Break Spanish
This feed links me to basic Spanish podcasts. Since I teach Spanish 1 and 2, these beginning Spanish podcasts will be wonderful for me to incorporate into my classroom.
BP1_2009101_Blogs in Education
While blogs are not a new technology, many people do not understand how to use blogs in education. There are many different ways that blogs can be used effectively in education. One way that teachers can use blogs in their classroom is as an information source for their students. They can post in class and homework assignments. They can also post the information that was covered in class that day for students who were absent.
Teachers can also have students use blogs in the classroom. Students can use blogs to have in depth online discussions. The teacher or a student can post the beginning of the discussion, and then other students and the teacher can make comments on the original post. Students can also post their own projects and information on their blogs. They will then receive feedback from a variety of people across the world. Teachers and students can work together to use blogs as great learning tools. Blogs can also keep parents informed of their student's learning. This connection allows parents to support their children in their learning.
Teachers can also have students use blogs in the classroom. Students can use blogs to have in depth online discussions. The teacher or a student can post the beginning of the discussion, and then other students and the teacher can make comments on the original post. Students can also post their own projects and information on their blogs. They will then receive feedback from a variety of people across the world. Teachers and students can work together to use blogs as great learning tools. Blogs can also keep parents informed of their student's learning. This connection allows parents to support their children in their learning.
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