BP15_2009103_Reflective Media_Web2.0 Tool

Enjoy Xtranormal.com:

BP14_2009103_Response to Classmate Blog

Random Name/Word Picker is an interactive site that is used by the teacher entering the names of his or her students students. Upon pressing the fruit machine button (which works like a slot machine), it will randomly select a student's name to answer a question. This is a good tool to use to ensure that every student gets the opportunity to participate in class. As a teacher, this tool will also assist me in not overlooking any students because I was continually calling on the same students.

One way that Word Picker can be used is with vocabulary words. The teacher would input a list of words and the student's can take turns defining the words or correctly spelling the words.

BP13_2009103_Web2.0 Evaluation_Blogger.com

I had never investigated blogs before being required to start one in this program. I was well aware of their existence, but mostly associated the term with "gossip columns" or other unprofessional forms of communication. Only when I was required to start examining blogs did I realize how common their use had become in academic and professional communities. Now that I have been exposed to several uses and set up Google Reader to subscribe to blogs related to educational technology developments, I am quite interested in determining how blogs can help me and my students.

Blogger.com personal page

As an instructor seeking to improve methods and promote innovation in the classroom, blogs provide a platform to share thoughts and experiences in a nearly real-time method. In this case the blog can replace the reflective journal that allows one to evaluate an educational process and possibly publish findings after the fact. The blog, though somewhat less formal, allows others to follow your developments throughout the course of a project or assignment. Instant feedback and suggestions can be considered through comments posted by those keeping tabs.

Blog history on file in Blogger.com

Blogs can be utilized by students to keep an online journal of an ongoing project, allowing easy viewing for me, the instructor. In fact with RSS feeds, all students blogs could be funneled into one location for exceptional ease of reviewing. Likewise, I caould provide feedback/updates for an ongoing project to the students through a blog. The primary drawback here is, of course, access for all students. As commonplace as computers, cell phones, and internet use are among students these days, there are still some students that do not have an adequate level of access to make full use of online tools for classroom use on a routine basis.


image from http://www.blogger.com

BP12_2009103_Web2.0 Evaluation_SurveyMonkey.com

I have seen SurveyMonkey on several occasions, as my school system will frequently utilize it for staff development feedback, or other matters requiring feedback from a large number of personnel in the county. I have found my first use for it in the new computer programming club I am starting at school. As we do not have such courses in our school system, I am using the online survey to get personal info, and computer interest/exoperience information from the students who have expressed interest. Although I have a particular platform in mind for helping to teach computer programming, if I don't cater to the club members' interests there will be no club. A similar welcome survey could be used in my math class setting during the first week to gather info as well as introduce students to the form of the online survey.

Getting started on a free-service survey

A survey program could serve several purposes in a classroom setting. For my math classes, an assignment that includes the accumulation of data could take advantage of such a method of data collection. SurveyMonkey's customizable templates can be suited to nearly any form of data. Surveyors can collect numerical data, demographic data, user input data, and even have users give rated feedback. The online survey could be used to reach a larger audience with less work, producing more data for a better math lesson. For the purposes of the instructor, feedback from multiple courses could be easily compiled into a single survey during a given time window. The instructor merely has to make the survey available to those being surveyed.

Sample survey page: demographic information

images from http://www.monkeysurvey.com

BP11_2009103_Web2.0 Evaluation_Xtranormal.com

I had seen a few videos produced by this method, but had not hear a lot of discussion about it. Upon investigation, I found a simple interactive menu that can enable students to create a fun, yet enriching video in a relatively short time. One great thing about this sort of application - I found that as I learn how to use it, I can use my learning experience as the introduction for my students. This serves to emphasize the simplicity of its functionality.

Production screen in Xtranormal

The nature of templates available to a free account seems suitable for a wide range of age groups. Younger students could be introduced to animation or movie production through a very simple scene, with a script created before-hand. Imagine the delight of young students getting the chance to bring their story to life! They wouldn't even mind the robotic-like voices. This may be a small stumbling block for older students. Within an hour's time, even the youngest of students can select a scene and actors, type in their dialogue, and put their story in motion.

Dialogue creation and editing

I had to think a while before coming to accept this as a web2.0 tool, and it may not be, in fact, in the truest sense. After the video is created is when the sharing begins. Much like a flickr or YouTube site, videos can be tagged and cataloged, allowing cross referencing and sharing with other like-minded individuals. This makes it every bit a web2.0 tool as it creates groups by "linking" people through common themes.

Scenes and actors can be b/w or color

For my own personal math class, associating this particular site with a specific assignment is a little more tricky. The most basic application would be to have students create a scene that would explore/explain a mathematical concept that we had covered. Additionally, any project could be introduced or explained using this video site as an option. It would alleviate some of the stage-fright issues if students had animation to speak on their behalf.


images from http://www.xtranormal.com

BP10_2009103: Flickr Lesson

Including "math" in my search for a flickr assignment quickly directed me toward a blog page I had come across in our reading of web2.0 tools - Darren Kuropatwa's "A Difference." Darren is a math teacher in Manitoba, Canada, who is rather widely known for his incorporation of web tools in the math classroom.

The lesson I discovered was related to creating mind maps using flickr. Students were introduced to the assignment in 2 stages, the first being quite simple in order to familiarize them with flickr along with tagging and other features (students were asked to take a picture of their favorite number in some creative context). This is the example Darren provided to his students:

His picture depicts the number 49, using a russian method of multiplying on your fingers. To see how, visit his blog:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hyperbob/3535261/

In the second step of the assignment, students were to capture a picture that would incorporate aspects of a given topic from a selected unit of study. Several requirements were made clear regarding the photos (first being that the students had to take a genuine photo), then "hot spots" were identified in the photos,relating aspects of the photos to the math unit/topic.

Ultimately, Darren worked with his students to develop the rubric that the photos would be judged by, giving the students a hand in practically all phases of the exercise.

BP8_2009102: Week 2 response to classmate

One of the reasons I began taking classes at Full Sail University (FSO) was to learn how to make my Computer Basics class an online class. One of the areas I was ‘wrestling with’ was the ‘typing’ section of my class. It is a vital part of the students learning and understanding to pass the class. Well, this week I was required to explore Web 2.0 applications to use in my classroom. The one that I found that excites me the most is Typing Web ( http://www.typingweb.com/ ). It will allow for the typing component to be a part of the online Computer Basics class!

Currently, typing comprises 25% of a student’s grade. I feel it is necessary for the student to meet the states minimum standard of 45 average words per minute (AWPM) to pass the class. Typing at 45 AWPM provides student the ability to pass a typing test for an entry-level job within the state. I have also found that the typing is critical for the students to be successful at our school. We are a college prep high school and our teachers have the students writing a lot, so for them to be able to get this done quickly and efficiently they need to learn to type. It is the one thing that they ‘hate’ to learn, but the upper classmen come back and ‘thank’ me for teaching them to type.

My class is currently a one-semester class and is required by the state as a part of the core 40, but, at our school, it is ‘viewed’ as inconvenient to ‘lose’ a whole semester when they could be work on another ‘core’ class. Essentially time is money to many parents. This is how the discussion of my class being made in to an online class began. Students could take my class online during the summer before they start school for a fee. This would allow it to be replaced during the school year with another ‘core’ class.

Typing Web, a screen shot pictured above, will allow the typing section to be an important part of that class still. It will allow the students to have an official certificate to show when applying for jobs and it allows for a certificate in 10 also. However, it has left me with a few questions: How will I know that the students are typing for themselves and not having someone else do it for them? Should we make Typing Web a part of ‘our’ network or leave it as an online module? Do we have the students come to the school to complete the online class, so that their typing can be monitored? These are all logistical questions, yet this application has answered the biggest original question: How are we going to teaching students typing through an online class?

Reference:
FTW Innovations. (2009, October 11). Typing Web: Free online typing tutor. Retrieved from http://www.typingweb.com/

1 comments:

Boz said...

Although this isn't a necessary part of my math curriculum, I think it deserves recognition as a useful tool for anyone (like me) who never actually learned to type. I've toyed around with different software a number of times, but never followed through to actually achieve a decent level of proficiency. A web-based platform would give students the ability to hone skills away from school, assuming they use a standard program while in class. This would be available whether they are actually enrolled in a typing course or not. As you eluded to, there is also the possiblity of an "independent study" approach that will not consume classroom time.