Ipsa Scientia Potestas Est

Podcasting

noreply@blogger.com (Leyna Faye) — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 22:04:00 +0000

As an iPod user, I am more than familiar with podcasts. I have subscriptions to podcasts from every corner of the web—from Stanford to Comedy Central. However, despite my own love affair with having radio shows immediately sent to my computer, I was really unsure as to how it could be used in education. Sure, it adds a technological dimension to any given lesson, but does it really enhance learning or is it merely education keeping up with the latest buzzword?

I have to say that I am beginning to revamp my views on this. I do think that podcasts can be a valuable part of a classroom experience, as long as the teacher implements them in a way that is meaningful. As far as classroom management is concerned, podcasts can be a great way to recap the week. Parents who may not have the time to sit down and read a newsletter or check a blog can easily press play and listen to the audio while cooking dinner.

They can also be useful for some ELL or LD students as a means of differentiation. Studies have shown that second-language learners can reach verbal proficiency in as little as two years. However, this can be deceiving for teachers who think that their language skills are on track. While verbal proficiency comes quickly, it usually takes about 5-7 years for ELL students to reach written proficiency. Podcasts can be a means of alternate instruction for these children. If your goal as a teacher is to ascertain a student’s knowledge of science, giving the student an audio file of someone reading the text may be more beneficial than forcing them to struggle through a long script. LD students can also benefit; for example, it may be imperative to use podcasts for any dyslexic students in your class.

Finally, podcasts can be a way in which students can share their learning. This is the area that I am a bit leery about, because I worry that teachers may use this as a form of assessment at times when it really doesn’t add anything to the lesson. For example, having children work in groups to produce a historical radio show discussing “current events” of the day could be a really authentic and meaningful way to interact with history. However, having students verbally answer a question about history in a 3-minute long podcast is hardly effective. A podcast is really a social activity; people become involved in your thoughts and your life. They subscribe to your show. I doubt that many people would subscribe to 25 different podcasts on the same topic any more than they would ask to have a collection of the classes’ essays sent to them via email. In other words, podcasting merely for the sake of podcasting will have little meaning for students, and teachers must be careful when integrating this technology into their classrooms. Many lessons can be integrated with podcasting, but I feel that often, there are other approaches and technologies that could be more effective.

Interested in hearing a “podcast”? Click here.

Steal This Blog Post!

noreply@blogger.com (Leyna Faye) — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 03:31:00 +0000

Google Images has done for photos what Napster did for music back in the early 90's. If it's this easy to get, it really can't be stealing right? Last week in class we discussed copyright law along with the new Creative Commons License. I have decided to share my blog under this new license, meaning that you all are free to share, remix, and reuse at your discretion, provided that you follow the neat little rules I've laid out for you: you have to give me credit; you can't make money off of it; and if you use anything, you've got to share it the same way that I do. Fair? Yes. I just wish more people knew about it! In my opinion, Creative Commons brings the internet back to its initial purpose: the free exchange of knowledge and ideas. I feel like an entire critical pedagogy lesson plan could be developed around this very idea. What does it mean to "own" something? What does a person gain by excluding others? What could happen if you open this product to the people? From photography to co-ops to language codes, this could be a means of accessing some powerful ideas about social justice.

Back to the topic at had, however. Photography. It packs a punch that is unrivaled, with its ability to quickly and effectively evoke a strong reaction in its audience. For example, the following photo:

My boyfriend, who has never been to Pittsburgh, saw this photo and immediately felt an emptiness that he couldn't explain. I will always consider Pittsburgh my home and remember driving down this very street every morning. I took one look and felt homesick. The photo, despite our differing prior knowledge, elicited a fairly similar response in both of us. Photography is rad. The trick to using it in lesson plans and projects is to make sure that you're not unwittingly stealing anyone else's work. This is where Creative Commons comes in. There is a website where you can safely search for images that have been shared under this Creative Commons License. Happy searching!

Another option is to upload your own photos to a photo management site (which, since they're yours, can obviously be shared). I have tried Flickr, Picasa, Ophoto, Webshots, and Shutterfly, among others, and I have to say that Picasa is my favorite. If you already have a google account, there is nothing else needed to sign up for. Your friends don't need to register in order to view your pictures, and it is integrated with many of google's other services. For example, since Blogger is a part of google, any picture that I add to my blog automatically gets added to my blog album in picasa.

Another cool feature is the integration with google maps. Check this out to see what I mean. The photos are integrated into a map depicting where they were taken. I'd really like to do this with the photos I took on my trip to Europe. This could be a valuable tool to take children on "field trips" without leaving the classroom.

Google Maps

noreply@blogger.com (Leyna Faye) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 21:27:00 +0000

Related technologies:
-map quest
-google moon
-google mars

Possible uses:
-community resources for parents
-extra credit opportunities for students
-show students street-level locations for remote locations

Cons:
-most images are at least a year old (some go back to 2001!)
-some areas blurred due to government security reasons
-not all areas can be used at a street view

Sites to check out:
-http://www.googlelittrips.com

Digital Storytelling

noreply@blogger.com (Leyna Faye) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 21:11:00 +0000

Pros:
-creative option
-fun and exciting (alternative learning options)
-outside of the classroom as well as in
-tangible project that is easily kept
-deep understanding of class material
Cons:
-must be able to dedicate a lot of time to one project
-can only be used if internet is available to students
-if importing your own photos, students must have access to a digital camera

Tips:
-Content
-Clarity and Pacing of Voice
-Meaningful Soundtrack
-Quality of Images

Erickson

noreply@blogger.com (Leyna Faye) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:34:00 +0000

Organizing the Internet

noreply@blogger.com (Leyna Faye) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 04:34:00 +0000

Last week in class, we talked about ways to organize the Internet--namely, using Google Calendars and Del.icio.us. Initial impressions? Google Calendars is absolutely mad sweet. I have become completely obsessed and am in the process of converting friends, family members, and coworkers to this amazing (FREE) service. Google Calendars allows you to create numerous "Calendars," which are really like the genres of your life. For example, I have different calendars for school, work, life, field placement, and cool things to check out. These calendars can be viewed either separately, in combinations, or all together. It is easily accessible anywhere there is an internet connection, and for those who need paper copies, can be quickly printed out for those times when only paper will do.

Even cooler, by clicking here, you can see that I have published my calendar online. This allows me to give people a web address that they can see my calendar. The feature that I like most is the ability to set either specific events or entire calendars as Private. When viewed on my web page, the general public sees "busy" rather than the details of the event. This can help to keep personal business separate from the professional. I can see this being an amazing tool for classroom management. Instead of sending out newsletters and paper calendars that get ripped apart in the bottom of school lunch bags, an online calendar keeps everyone on the same page and makes it easy to quickly modify and/or adapt information.

The second web 2.0 tool that I was introduced to is Del.icio.us, a social bookmarking site that allows users to manage internet bookmarks online. There are numerous benefits to such a system. Bookmarks can be accessed on any computer in any location. When working in large computing labs, it is useless to bookmark interesting pages, because there is no guarantee you'll score the same computer on future visits. Social bookmarking solves this problem. If the bookmarks are online, only a web address is needed to access important information. Social bookmarking sites also allow you to "tag" and "bundle" your items, providing a efficient means of information retrieval. This obviously is worth checking out. Unfortunately, at this time, I don't think I'm ready to endorse it. While Delicious is a fantastic means of organizing information for both yourself and your students, an atrocious interface prevents me from really getting into it. Simply put: it is ugly. There is no welcoming "homepage." The links do not organize as you bundle and tag them, they stay in order until a filtering tag is selected. I am looking for other sites currently and have found some promising options. I will keep you posted....

Personalizing the Internet

noreply@blogger.com (Leyna Faye) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 21:17:00 +0000

I have tried out some new Web 2.0 tools since my last post and have mixed feelings about them at this point. As I become more familiar with them, my opinions may change. But for now:

Google Alerts:

This tool allows you to enter a search term that you wish to monitor. You select the type of information you want to receive (news, blogs, web, video, etc.), how often you would like to receive it, and finally enter an email address. Google then scans the internet and sends links (and short summaries) of relevant information to directly to your inbox on a regular basis. It is incredibly simple, easy and quick.

Is it cool? Absolutely. Is it useful? Perhaps, depending on your needs. Personally, I have so much junk in my email folder that this subscription service is more of an annoyance than a help. Also, if you have Shared Items on Google Reader (see below), you have to go to the website, add the site to your aggregator, and then share a post. It would be way more efficient if there were a "share" button directly in the Alert email that would link "Google Alerts" with "Google Reader."

However, lets say that I was doing a unit on current events (specifically in the middle east). I could have Alerts mailed directly to my inbox every day or once-a-week that would easily allow me to find relevant material to discuss with my students. Essentially, if you need continuous up-to-date information over an extended period of time, this is an awesome tool. Otherwise, it may be more of a hassle than a help.

Google Reader:

Google Reader is an Aggregator. Essentially, it is an online subscription service. When you find websites with regularly updated content, they often publish an RSS Feed. Aggregators are online tools that allow you to subscribe to these feeds. These feeds can be sent from blogs, news sources, and online magazines.

Google Reader (like most aggregators) allows you to create folders to organize different types of feeds. For example, on my aggregator account, I have a folder called "Technology in Education" where I have subscribed to my class blog along with all of the blogs of my classmates. I have another folder called "Critical Pedagogy." Here I have subscribed to promising blogs that were sent to my email inbox as a result of the Google Alert that I created using the keyword "Critical Pedagogy." I have a third folder labeled "Travel" that subscribes to a friend's blog, which documents her year-long travel around the world. The biggest complaint I have currently is that when subscribing to a feed, you have to subscribe, then edit the feed and add it to a folder. Google needs to implement a folder option directly in the subscription window. Bloglines, another aggregation service, is much more streamlined, and allows you to immediately organize new subscriptions. However, I like the fact that Google Reader is easily integrated with other Google features. I expect that continued improvements will correct this soon.

The coolest feature of Google Reader (in my opinion) is a function that allows you to quickly and easily add your shared posts to a sidebar widget on your (Blogger) blog. As you add new posts to your Shared folder, this widget on your blog immediately updates. This tells your readers what information YOU are reading, which (considering that they read your blog) will most likely be of interest to them as well.

iGoogle:

iGoogle is not too much different from other online homepages. Its biggest draw, in my opinion, is that again, it quickly and easily integrates with other Google services. Thus, you can have your Gmail, Google Reader, Google Calendar, news stories, etc. all on one easily accessible page.

Another plus is the amazing ease with which you can add widgets and new tabs. Clicking "Add Stuff" takes you to an organized page of widgets that can accomplish nearly any function imaginable. Plus, new widgets are constantly being created by users, meaning that even if something you need doesn't exist yet, it will most likely be created in the near future.

Namaste

noreply@blogger.com (Leyna Faye) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:09:00 +0000

Gandhi drafting a document at Birla House, Mumbai, August 1942. The photographer is unknown and the photo is more than 60 years old. According to the Bern Convention, this photo is in the public domain.

"If we are to attain real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a war against war, we will have to begin with the children." --Gandhi

Giving children a voice

noreply@blogger.com (Leyna Faye) — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 02:34:00 +0000

Blogging is perhaps the easiest way to begin integrating technology into your daily routine. Essentially a web-based journaling system, blogging provides a communication forum that can be used as both a chronicle of classroom events and as a discussion forum for various concerns. For example, your class has recently received the results from a standardized test. You are so proud of their achievements in math, but concerned about reading comprehension. A blog presents a place where you can congratulate their hard work, but perhaps provide suggestions for additional activities to be done at home. Parents can quickly and easily comment on your suggestions, even inputting their own ideas. Your blog can also chronicle the daily events of your classroom, keeping parents easily involved.

Another great idea is to set up a blog for every student in your class. Rather than a spiral-bound journal that is quickly destroyed and often forgotten, a blog gives every student a voice. They can comment on others posts, giving valuable peer-feedback and helping to improve their own writing skills. Gloria J. Ladson-Billings, in an article entitled "I ain't writin' nuttin': Permissions to Fail and Demands to Succeed in Urban Classrooms," discusses what she calls "permission to fail." She describes a scene in which a young girl refuses to write in her journal. The teacher's response to this is, "That's okay. Maybe you'll feel like writing tomorrow." With no incentive or impetus, this student is likely to go through life without ever exercising her rhetorical abilities. Ladson-Billings calls for a "culturally-relevant pedagogy," and insists that reading and writing must be done for real purposes. Such teaching, she claims, "...is designed to help students move past a blaming the victim mentality and search for the structural and symbolic foundations of inequity and injustice." What better way to empower and validate students than through a published journal that friends and family can easily access?

Finally, student blogging gives every child the ability to see what kind of work their peers are creating. What works? Whose journal was the most moving this week? Giving kids assignments in which they evaluate others blogs and the strengths and weaknesses therein improves everyone's abilities.

Salvete!

noreply@blogger.com (Leyna Faye) — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 21:57:00 +0000

This is my attempt to document--and hopefully demonstrate--the ease with which a blog (and technology in general) can be integrated into a classroom. I believe that language is the greatest tool in the human arsenal, and the ability to wield this tool is the only way that change can truly occur. I believe that technology, particularly the internet, can be the great equalizer in today's economically-polarized society. For the first time in history, any human with a computer and an internet connection (both free in any public library) has a voice. I will share what I learn along the way, and look forward to your opinions and criticisms.

As for me, I am a huge fan of the work of Paulo Freire, George Orwell, and Rage Against the Machine. I tend to gravitate towards dystopian fiction, and find graphic novels to be the new frontier of powerful literature.