Journal 10 "From Toy to Tool"

"Audioblogging With Cell Phones" - Liz Kolb
In this recent article Kolb challenges the cell phone ban in schools and suggests that they may have a positive potential inside the classroom. It's well known that cell phones could be used by students to cheat on tests or text message during class but Kolb points out that they may be beneficial learning tools as well. She describes in this article a step-by-step process that students could follow to create an audioblog with their cell phones. She says they could be useful for collecting and storing data, developing multimedia projects and conducting interviews. Also, with the use of cameras and camcorders, the students could use their phones to create iMovies later. Some examples Kolb offers are interviews of local authors (English), veterans of war (Social Studies) or recording sounds of a trip to the zoo (Science). Also, the phones could be used to refer back to how a mathematical problem was solved in class. There are some concerns with this issue that Kolb addresses:
Privacy Issues - Blogger.com is not a protected site but Kolb suggests blogzy.com as an alternative.
Copyright Issues - Students need to be aware that they need permission to publish certain material like copyrighted music (cyberbee can be helpful here).
Cost Issues - Gabcast has no fees and could be used for up to 200 MB (@60 min.) of recording. Also, multiple channels could be set up for more time.
Control Issues - Boundaries of when cell phone use is permitted need to be set and perhaps social contracts also.
Kolb argues that if we explore the use of cell phones in the classroom teachers would be "able to connect with the technology that students are using daily in their social lives to be used as a meaningful learning tool".
1) Would I allow the use of cell phones in my classroom? I think that Kolb makes some good points and that they should be allowed in certain settings but we should also be aware that not all students own cell phones (I don't!).
2) How can teachers prevent cell phone misuse? If students want to cheat, they will even without their cell phones. As a teacher, I would hope to have a little more faith in my students.

Journal 9 "Adventures in Electronic Constructivism"

- Maureen Brown Yoder
This article encourages teachers to have their students take a more active role in learning. This includes creating motivating challenges and enhancing assignments to incorporate reflection and analysis, not just repetition of facts. Yoder gives several examples of how to accomplish this, having students create more original projects:
A Tale of Two Georges - This assignment requires collaboration with classmates. She also focuses on bringing assignments up to date by creating conversations through e-mails. Yoder says that by taking on the persona of an important figure, the students can relate and learn a lot more.
Around the World Years v. Hours - Here she suggests that the students create a script for podcast. I'm not sure what a podcast is, I'm assuming it's like a broadcast on the internet but I will find out in my question section.
Stories of Adventure and Discovery - The goal of this assignment is to ignite imagination and creativity in the students.
First Ladies and Other Inspiring Women - I thought this was the most interesting idea. Yoder suggests creating a student panel representing various women during different times in history and then having an online summit.
Striving for Change - This example deals with the issue of suffrage and she suggests that the students write a letter to a congress representative.
Yoder also points out the valuable use of digital video in class assignments (photos, quotes and clips) that would be a more creative way for students to demonstrate what they have learned.
1) What is a podcast? I went to podcast.com and from what I can gather it's like a user created internet broadcast. There are various topics to chose from in a list that you can click on to search that area.
2) What have I learned from this article? I've learned that it's important to get the students more involved by incorporating creativity in assignments. Not only will they learn more, they will have more fun too!

Journal 8 "Google Education Portal"

The google education portal defines teachers as breaking down the barriers between people and information. It says that the job of a teacher is to "expand the frontiers of student knowledge". The portal is basically a tool that allows google and teachers to work together in accomplishing this goal. It provides a teacher's guide to google products including basic information, examples and lesson plan ideas. The google education portal is considered "a platform of teaching resources". I did subscribe to the google teachers newsletter and since the most popular sites are Google Earth and Google SketchUp, I decided to explore those areas.
1. Google Earth - Wow! This program is cool. I like how it pans in and out to pinpoint your destination. I visited New York as well as Jackson Hole Wyoming where I took my winter vacation last year. I tried to copy and paste the images. I was able to save them to my desktop but I couldn't figure out how to paste the images in this blog. Maybe that's because I'm typing directly into the blogger text box instead of making a word document first?
2. Google SketchUp - This program is pretty cool too. I have to admit that my favorite option was the interior design section. I'm a sucker for all those interior design shows (like Trading Spaces) so I could see myself playing with this site in the future. Once again I had a problem copying and pasting my images in this blog.

Journal 7 "WebQuest in Wonderland"

"The Eighth Grade Comes to the Edge" - Paul Aldridge
Aldridge is a technology professor at Pine Crest Middle School in Florida. He has initiated a WebQuest program there for the students to use as a supportive learning tool. At the school they have also developed an on campus intranet called Pantherlink. All of the students are required to carry laptops and there is a united front to ban "technophobia". WebQuests allow the students to work at their own pace but they are encouraged to complete the creation of one WebQuest during a nine week period and then evaluate three other WebQuests after that. The WebQuests also incorporate student portfolios and and evolving rubric. The rubric ranges from weak to awesome and is categorized by information, organization, activity of user, appearance, links and graphics. The school has even created a "WebQuest Hall of Fame" to display examples of superior work. The staff is open to negotiate portions of difficult WebQuests and students have the opportunity to recreate their original products. Eventually, the program aims to create skits, musicals and even television productions to allow the community to become interested and involved in their work. Aldridge says that the overall goal of the WebQuests program is to "provide a complete technology program for the students".
1. What is a WebQuest? Okay, I have to admit that when I began to read this article I didn't even know what a WebQuest was so I did some research. The goal of a WebQuest is to challenge students to explore the Web for information and research links. It involves an introduction, process, task, list of resources, conclusion and evaluation.
2. Is this type of technology program realistic for other schools? Pine Crest School is private and I don't really think that this type of program is a viable option in the public school system. Each student carries their own laptop in a middle school? While the program is great and perhaps ideal, I just don't think that the funding is available in "normal" school settings.

Journal 6 "Wikepedia: Ban It or Boost It?"

"Wikepedia: Ban It or Boost It?" - Doug Johnson
I gather from this article that Wikepedia is a dynamic user-created online encyclopedia. It began in 2001 and has more than a million visits per day. The site is controversial because there is really no editorial process involved, although it is amazingly accurate compared to other encyclopedia sources. There are also questions arising as to the validity of Wikepedia as an acceptable source for students to use during their research. Johnson argues that Wikepedia is valuable in that it has a wider scope and presents up-to-date information. He also claims that it may state values closer to the reader, stating what "real people" have to say. Johnson further points out that controversial and undocumented information is "flagged" in Wikepedia and suggests that the site be used for the general overview of a topic rather than the sole source of information.
1. Should Wikepedia be used as an acceptable source in the classroom? I agree with Johnson in that it should be used by students initially to get a general overview of their topic if it helps them understand concepts easier. However, additional sources should be required to support the facts in Wikepedia. We shouldn't deny students of additional online tools to help them do research as long as they have the basic supplementary sources required also.
2. What do I think about the Wikepedia site (I've never been there so I'll try it out now and see what it's like)? I went to Wikepedia and searched for a couple biology topics that I am familiar with. After figuring out how to navigate the site, I found it useful but definitely not enough for paper references alone.

Journal 5 "How Do We Know It's Working?"

"Deisgning an Authentic Assessment Plan" - Jeff Sun
The goal of this article is to show the need to develop authentic and meaningful assessments for instructional technology. This utilizes the same logic as developing a rubric for assessing student projects but instead the focus is on how technology is affecting student achievement. Sun suggests a six step process: 1) create an evaluation committee 2) develop evaluation priorities 3) create performance indicators 4) organize indicators into assessment rubrics 5) collect data and score using rubrics 6) create an evaluation report. Sun conducted a study following these steps in the Fayette County Public School District of Kentucky and his focus was on three questions: 1) Has technology had a positive impact on student achievement? 2) Are the teachers involved competent and fluent? 3) Has the district allocated sufficient technology resources? An evaluation committtee was formed which included teachers, parents, administrators, technology staff and school committee members. They used rubrics to define success for each question based on four levels, level one being least successful and level four being most successful. The data was collected via surveys, focus groups, reviews of works and public meetings. The results of the study showed that this district scored slightly below midrange using the rubric in all three areas. Sun concluded that this was a useful assessment to define where the district is as compared to where it wants to be where technology is concerned.
1) What is the point of "wasting" money and time on such a study? The point is not only to evaluate a district's technological progress but also to provide the public with more concrete evidence (using rubrics) of where it stands. Increasing a school district's focus on technology is going to cost money and that money will come from the public. This makes them more aware of the costs and benefits of investing in technology.
2) Where would our local school districts score on a similar rubric? I would think that our schools would score higher but the only way to know for sure would be to conduct a similar study. Sun's use of a rubric in the study gave a more quantitative (scores) rather than qualitative (opinions) view of technology assessment. Some people might value such a method more and be more inclined to make advances toward a more successful technology program.