Using Google Docs for Collaboration

Just checking to see if the Google Spreadsheet works as well as they say it
does.

Here is a gradebook that I published.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p-OidQJ4quiRXxl4IPY_WaQ

Check it out. See what you can change.

Z

Can you dance like this?

I know that this is supposed to be a reflective blog that considers the meaning of life and how we will educate students in the future, but I couldn't pass up this video.


I wish I could dance like this bird. (click on the photo)

Z

The Challenges of Web 2.0 in the Schools

The Web 2.0 movement is HUGE. It is bring interactive communication to the masses (including our students) in such a way that it has the potential to democratize information. Look at this - I am writing my opinion through a medium that may be read by dozens 8-) The best part is that some of these dozens of followers may even respond with ideas that will develop a conversation.

Social networking which is a large part of the Web 2.0 movement brings about a more immediate and innovative way for people to communicate. This is especially useful for friends but it alsohttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif expands your friendship circle by allowing you to meet and greet others online. This is an exciting opportunity but it also brings with it challenges that must be addressed by educators.

The free flow of information that is available online makes for a valuable tool in education. Imagine what can be accomplished educationally with almost unlimited access. Imagine too, what challenges accompany such a plethora of possibilities in communicating.

I have begun a wiki called Web 2.0 Challenges. This site is designed to provide a venue for posting resources that address how school officials and other educators can and should address the "baggage" that this new medium brings with it into the classroom. Please come and join the discussion through commenting on this blog as well as contributing to the wiki.

Z

Jena 6

I was reading the blog, Enter my world through my thoughts. Regine reviews the Jena 6 issue and does a great job in detailing the events that have occurred. If you are unfamiliar with the Jena 6 , I would suggest that you should go to her blog and read what she has to say.

This IS wrong! Those boys who hung the nooses DID commit a hate crime and should be punished with expulsion.

Thank you for sharing your ideas on this. It IS something that we need to deal with. 50 years ago, the first negro students entered Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. It took 3 attempts for 8 negro students to successfully enter the high school. This move took bravery on the part of the students (and their parents) as well as 1,000 Army Paratroopers that had been dispatched by President Eisenhower. I found an interesting reprinting of The Tiger (Central High School's newspaper) coverage of the Arkansas event in 1957.

Racial boundaries are difficult things to cross. I would hope to think that great strides have been made in the integration of Americans. There are significant difference in regards to race since 1957, but instances like the Jena 6 show that we have not progressed as far as I had hoped.

Everyone's a-Twitter about Twitter

Twitter? How do I get Tweets from my Twitter?
This is Web 2.0 confusing.

Twitter is a new Web 2.0 way to keep in touch with your friends' whereabouts. It is IM-ing on Steroids. The main purpose of Twitter is to MicroBlog with information about what you are doing at that time and where you are going. You are limited to 100 characters so you can't ramble too much.

I have a class of students who are all supposed to be signed up for Twitter and we are all supposed to be following each other. I have seen the links from about 3 of my students. I am being followed by 32 people so I think that most of them have linked to me but haven't been keeping me in touch with their happenings. =-)

All that it takes to get on the Twitter-wagon, is to go to the Twitter website and sign up. You just create a Twitter persona and then find people to follow.

The main problem with Twitter is that you have to go to the Twitter website to add or read Tweets, right? WRONG.

There are a number of programs that augment your twitter so you can send and receive from your desktop, Facebook, IM, or your phone.

Twitterrific - Desktop for the Mac. Go to http://www.iconfactory.com to download it. DON'T go to Twitterrific.com - it is a porn site.

Twitter-Roo - Desktop for the PC. Go to http://rareedge.com/twitteroo/

You can find a bunch of 3rd party programs that you can add to your computer at http://explore.twitter.com/ Check out the Popular Downloads.

I must admit that I haven't figured out how to integrate Twitter into an educational setting, but it is kind of fun to see the microblogging going on. I have linked to David Warlick who is a Web 2.0 guru that I love to read. He has been Tweeting a couple times a day so I am getting to know him. I have also linked to Obama and Edwards who are the only two candidates who are twittering. Haven't seen anything from them, but hope that it happens soon.

What have you found out about Twitter? R U using any interesting 3rd party software? Sounds like fun.

Lois Lindell wrote about the proliferation of Twitter/Microblogging utilities. She even found a wiki that is created by Twitter fans (Twitter Fan Wiki.) The best is the way that some Maryland researchers investigated why people use Twitter, Why We Twitter: Understanding Microblogging Usage and Communities. It's an interesting read. We have an unquenchable need to share information and chat.

Who would'a guessed? Guess that's why we have blogs. 8-0

Technology Integration: What is it?

Technology integration has so many different levels of success. It is tiring to hearing of educators who think that they are "effectively integrating technology" into their classroom because they are using PowerPoint to accompany their lectures.

Technology integration is not about using technology. Technology integration is about providing the materials and opportunities through technology that are necessary for student-based learning. The trick for making this a reality is to provide a common vocabulary to identify the levels of integration and application.

I was just reviewing Random EIT Thoughts from Lois. Lois Lindell uses this forum to share the gems of EIT (Emerging Instructional Technologies) that she finds on the web. The one that caught my eye was here discovery of how the Florida Center for Instructional Technology used an integration matrix to show various levels of using 1:1 computing in the classroom. The greatest part about this matrix is that they are using videos to compare using 1:1 computing with the shared access that most schools use in their computer labs.

The Difference between Blogs and Discussions

Well, I just finished reading all the blogs of all of my students in Emerging Instructional Technologies. It took a few of hours because I hadn't sat down to read them before and we had been writing them for 2 weeks. I had some catching up to do. From this point on, it shouldn't be too bad because I will be able to keep up with you by just reviewing them every couple of days. I will just go to my Google Reader and then look at the one's that sow as new.

I enjoyed reading what all of you said about your lives and what you have found/realized/discovered in this class. Some of you seem to really enjoy the opportunity to share and reflect while others seem to still be in the mode of "completing your duty."

I am new at blogging so I have come to some realizations. These are just preliminary so I know that you will see others appear on this blog as time progresses:

1) Blogs are different than the typical "Discussion Assignment" that you students have done in the past. Typically, in our classes, we have required students to respond to a topic and then write a reply to "at least two other students." These replies have needed to be more than just simple affirmation "I agree with you, Moe."

Blogs need to be more than that. WebCT discussions are usually limited to the members of the class and they rarely introduce links to the rest of the world. What is said there is of great importance, but can be limited. Blogs, on the other hand, are typically open to the world. This means that others can read them and we can link to the rest of the world to enrich and support our thoughts. This is what we call the Blogosphere.

2) Blogs are more interesting if they are "responding to" or "including" information elsewhere in the blogosphere (especially your classmate blogs) and web. Having an active link (remember that you need to use the Link button to make it active) allows the reader to review the material in question and then learn what you have to say about it. It also encourages me, the reader, to be able to have ideas (because I can get to the original material) and respond. This is good because it builds the conversation.

3) You MUST read blogs to know how to write blogs. I have been learning about this as I have been reading more blogs and modeling my blogging around what other, more successful bloggers, have done.

Here is a list of blogs that you should ALL have in your Google Reader:

• Dr. Z Reflects (this blog)
• Every student's blog in our class (listed in the right column in this blog)
• 2 Cents Worth - David Warlick who is continually reflecting upon Web 2.0 tools in the classroom
  
• Stager-to-Go - Provides a questioning look at Web 2.o tools in the classroom
• At least two blogs on your selected theme for the semester. These will help you become better informed of the latest developments as well as allow you a venue for contributing to the discussion.

Well, these are a few of my ideas on blogs vs discussion groups. Please remember that this is not the end of the discourse.

USE THE COMMENTS section to add your opinions about this topic.