Twitter and Web 2.0 Tools!

I believe that by using Twitter within the classroom it could be both a benefit to me and to my students.  It could personally benefit me in the way that I could type in key words related to a class project or activity.  I could find someone on Twitter that specializes in that particular area that I am looking to incorporate into my lessons.  This person could have ideas out there that they have posted comments on or ideas related to a certain event.  For example, I love history (especially American history)!  I could find a historian that tweets and find out some wonderful information that I could incorporate into my social studies lessons.  My students could use Twitter to help them find information on a certain topic, along with keeping in touch with classmates about homework assignments or questions.  It could also be used as an after school communication tool between parents and teachers.  If parents had homework questions after school they could tweet the teacher for a quick and easy response.  E-mail works the same way, but to me a tweet seems to be a quicker response (especially if it is connected to a cell phone that sends an automatic response).

Twitter and other microblogging tools could be used in many areas of education within the classroom.  While viewing the slide presentation “31 Interesting Ways to use Twitter in the Classroom” many ideas came to me on how I could personally incorporate Twitter into my lessons.  One way students could use Twitter within the classroom would be to research various areas of their curriculum.  I thought it would be interesting to follow an author or a historian.  These were ideas suggested within the presentation.  Students could also bookmark links to share with other classmates on what they have found while researching.  I thought it would be neat for students to follow another student their age in another country.  This could be used as a pen pal.  They could be learning at the same time about their pen pal’s home town and country.  I also found it very interesting that there were games that were mentioned on the presentation about Twitter.  There seems to be endless ways that students can use Twitter with education tied into it.  I always thought Twitter was just another instant messaging tool, but I have learned that there is much more to it than I originally thought!

I looked at the web 2.0 tool pages that were created by my classmates.  The following three areas were tools that I believe I could use within my own classroom lessons.

1)      Concept Mapping - I believe that students could use concept mapping in many subject areas.  It is an outline format that can be used to organize a set of notes, reading, or research materials.  I have heard of Inspiration in the past, but have actually never used it myself.  I am excited to use this area of tools within a research project with my students.  They could use the concept mapping as an outline to neatly organize their notes, along with creatively thinking how to organize these notes.

2)      Quizzes and Polling - I have used quizzes and polling such as Survey Monkey in the past to take quick surveys online.  I did not think of using it within my own classroom, but after reading about the uses of the tool I believe I could incorporate it into a classroom lesson.  I could use it in a couple of different ways through assessments and surveys.  I could quiz my students on a lesson through basic questions, along with surveying my students on how they believe a certain lesson or activity went in class.  I had not thought of using this before, but now I am thinking of incorporating this into my unit plan as an assessment strategy.

3)      Google Sites & Weebly - I could see myself using Google Sites& Weebly within my classroom.  In the near future I would like to set up a classroom website.  I could list class assignments on this site, daily notes, and resources the students could use for extra help.  I am not sure I would use it with individual students, but a class website would be a nice tool to have within the classroom.

Source Cited            Creative Commons.  (n.d.).  31 Interesting Ways to use Twitter in the Classroom.  Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dhn2vcv5_118cfb8msf8.

Unit 5-Technology in the Classroom

Technology is very important in the classroom today.  I can remember working on the old Apple computers back in middle school.  Technology has come so very far within the last ten to fifteen years.  It is amazing the areas of technology that students know today.  As teachers we need to work with our students in the area of technology, because I am sure our students will work with some sort of technology in their future careers.  We need to prepare them for the future!  The articles on technology brought up some very interesting points…

I believe that Alan November brings up some very well written points within the article, Four things ever student should learn…but not every school is teaching.  The first point which is brought up is empathy.  This is when people need to see the points of view of different people.  I believe this is very important in the world today, because we are all not going to think the same way at the same time.  By looking at other points of view we may see ideas that we did not even think of in the first place.  The next three points are good ideas to let students know about the internet.  It is internet safety that will hopefully keep them safe in the long run. The article states a couple of points that many adults today probably do not even know.  Many people may think that once something is deleted it is gone, but it can always be pulled back up.  Just like e-mails can always resurface.  Speaking of web searches there was a discussion on this topic recently, and I realized that the top links are sponsored links.  I always figured these were the best links to search, but now I know to carefully look through my choices.  I usually end up using a link that is further down the page now that I know this useful information. 

I believe that this is information is very important and should be taught to students when they first begin learning about the internet.  In guidance at the beginning of the school year our guidance counselor spoke with the kids about cell phones and the internet.  She reminded them to not post anything they would not mind their parents or others reading.  I think this point hit home to many of the kids.  For next year it would be an idea to not just use this as a one day lesson, but to expand on this area and teach a unit on internet safety.  There is so much out there and one day just not seem like much time!  Our kids need to be reminded that something as fun as the internet can also be very dangerous.  They need to know what is appropriate on the computer/internet and what they should stay away from while searching the web.

David Warlick describes the five areas of a personalized learning environment in the article Technology Transformed Learning Environments.  These five areas consists of learning that is fueled by questions, includes conversation, is responsive to the learner’s actions, shows a learner’s personal identity, and allows the learner to safely make mistakes.  One area of technology that we use at my elementary school is the Odyssey program.  The students are given activities and assignments based on curriculum and grade levels.  I have used the program as a whole group instruction.  These activities have been great in classroom discussions, which fuel the questions and hold a great classroom conversation.  The students are all able to participate within their own way and add answers and opinions into the discussion.  If mistakes are made within the lesson I let the students know that is okay, because we all learn from our mistakes!  When students work individually on the program Odyssey it will also support the five areas of a personalized learning environment.

Delicious and Diigo

I guess what I am the most excited about at this point is being able to save a bookmark in one place and being able to assess it anywhere!  I am always saving at school and at home regarding websites for school and for these courses.  I then always e-mail the link to myself so I will have it one place or the other.  I no longer I have to do this, it is wonderful!

I looked at both Delicious and at Diigo.  I believe both programs would be great to use in schools.  I think it would be a great tool for students to use when searching sites for a school project.  If they are researching at home or at school they can just save their sites as bookmarks and continue at the next place!  I have not worked with both in any great depth at this point, but after watching introduction videos they both have great tools.  They both are able to tag the information to make it easier to find at a later date, along with storing and sharing bookmarks with others.  I am able to find other people who have the same interests in sites as me.  I am able to see what other sites people may have shared that are of an interest to me!  I enjoyed finding out that Diigo is compatible with other programs without even having to open these up.  Bookmarks can be marked as private if you do not want others looking at certain sites.  I think my favorite part was being able to highlight areas and make comments as if I were taking notes on what I was reading.  It saves these notes without having to quicky write these notes on a piece of paper.

I am so excited to add more bookmarks to my Delicious site.  I only have a few in there, but I am sure it will not take long to add too many more!

I also took a look at BuddyMarks, which reminds me of a younger version of Delicious and Diigo.  I signed up for the program, but once I was in I did not seem to find the site as user friendly as the two we have previously used.  BuddyMarks could be used as a social bookmarking site for the younger grade levels in schools.  It seems as if the site has less components to it than Delicious and Diigo, but this may seem easier than a site with many components for younger children.

Wikis and GoogleDocs

Within my professional development I can use wikis through discussions with other educators on topics in the area of differentiated instruction in the classroom and various math activities being used in classrooms.  I am currently researching differentiated instruction.  I would like to hear how other teachers are using differentiation within their own classrooms and how well their students have reacted to the concept.  I would also like to hear of math activities that are being used in classrooms, which may also be used towards student differentiation.

While searching wikis through Google I began by looking for wikis related to education.  I came across a website titled Wikis in Education at http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/.  This website has wikis that have been set up by other educators stating how teachers can begin to use wikis within their classrooms based on grade levels and various subject related topics.  I found this site interesting since we have been discussing how we individually can incorporate wikis into our own classrooms.  There were many wikis already created, but one could also create their own based on their own grade level and subject area.  I could use these wikis to search for topics in the areas of math activities and even classroom differentiation.  I specifically looked at wikis in the classrooms, which is located at http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/page/Wikis+in+the+Classroom.

Wikis are different from following blogs, because you are able to see everyone’s posts/ideas at one time.  When using blogs you have to look at each individual post one at a time, but when using wikis it is all presented at one time.  When adding a blog to my RSS feed I can still only look at one idea in depth at a time.   Wikis give me the chance to compile all ideas at once and respond in one response to all if necessary.  When using a wiki it is a collaboration of every one's ideas that are expanded off of one another.  My blog is my individual ideas in which someone can comment on something that I posted, but a wiki is every one's ideas being grouped together into one post and being commented on at once.  Both areas are great communication techniques, but I feel more comfortable using my blog.  When blogging the information I know my individual comments are safe and cannot accidentally be deleted.

When it comes to reading and commenting on the blogs of others I feel like I am clicking in to read the blogs of many of my classmates, but I do not seem to be commenting on any but one or two.  If there was one class blog then all ideas could be read at once, and all comments could be made when thinking about what was just read.  But then again this makes me think of the wiki, but at least comments could not be accidentally changed or deleted. 

My first impressions of GoogleDocs was that it was a very easy program to navigate within the various areas of the program.  I like how the information can be shared and edited by all involved.  I would have loved to have this program years ago in middle school and high school when working on group projects.  There were times when it was hard to get everyone together to work on the project.  By using GoogleDocs everyone could work on the same project on their own time.  I like how one survey can be completed and sent to a whole class at once.  I remember completing surveys and having to ask each person one by one.  The results can easily be compiled and put into a nice presentation that reminds me of PowerPoint including graphs.  It seems very easy to work with and navigate through the program.  I have never used GoogleDocs before, but it is a web took that I will continue to use in the future!