07.13.08
Posted in K12 Learning 2.0 tagged Carl Owens, Google, highlights, iSummit, Julene Reed, Lucy Gray, Photo Booth, tools at 4:01 pm by sblovett
It’s always great to have completed a technology conference. I leave feeling satisfied and inspired. This year’s iSummit was no different. Of course it didn’t hurt that everyone who attended from my school walked away with a fantastic door prize (an iPod Touch, 2 Higher Ground laptop cases, and Laptop Lojack)! As I looked back through my notes and the projects I started in Nashville, I thought it might be nice to do a quick post about the top three things I learned and plan to use in my classroom as a result of iSummit:
One of the coolest tips that I took away from The Coalition of Lighthouse Schools iSummit this year came from Lucy Gray in a session about all the educational tools that Google offers teachers. Lucy’s class “Enhancing Your Digital Workflow” taught me all about Google Earth, Google Apps for Educators, Google Reads, and Google Sky (the latter two were new to me). In Google Docs and Spreadsheets, there is a function available that allows users to find the answers to questions such as “What is the population of Atlanta?” or “Where was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. born?” simply by entering an “entity” and an “attribute” into a cell in Google spreadsheets. Check it out! Here is a complete list of what Google offers.
Dr. Carl Owens from Tennessee Tech taught us all about “Cool Tools for Classroom Use. Along with various devices and assistive technologies that teachers can use in the classroom, he told us about “Cable in the Classroom,” a Web resource with educational online video, a list of classroom-friendly recordings, parent tips, podcasts, lesson plans, etc. You’ll be impressed by all the information under the Cable Resources for Learning link.
Julene Reed showed us how students can use Photo Booth to superimpose personalized backdrops behind photos and videos. By the way, did you know you can take video through Photo Booth?! In Julene’s session on iMovie ‘08, we were using Photo Booth version 2.0.2 to capture our video, and with it we could drag photos from iPhoto into Photo Booth and apply them as our video backdrops. Be sure you have advanced to the fourth page of the Photo Booth effects if you want to try it; once there, you will see empty cells into which you can drag your own photos. I think it’s awesome–so simple!
Thank you to all the Apple Distinguished Educators who gave of their time to teach us: Julene Reed, Lucy Gray, Ty Richardson, Cathleen Richardson, Joe Morris, Carl Owens, Larry Anderson, etc. We enjoyed every minute, and we’ll see you next year!
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07.07.08
Posted in K12 Learning 2.0 tagged generatorblog graffiti widgets at 3:37 pm by sblovett
In an effort to up the amount of “play” time I was getting online, I browsed through the generator blog. Wow! There are some really cool things posted there. I played specifically with the graffiti creator. I’m not sure how to work this into my classroom teaching yet, but I can predict that there will be an especially savvy fourth-grader in my class this fall who will love learning about and using fun widgets and generators for projects of their choice. If only I had more time to play!
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Posted in K12 Learning 2.0, Online Tools & Resources tagged delicious tagging at 7:40 am by sblovett
The best thing by far about del.icio.us is that it’s a time-saver. It’s like a Web-browsing, research tool where the work has already been done for you! For example, I created a subscription through delicious to all links tagged with the words “grammar,” “learning,” and “students.” Once I refreshed the page, I had a list of about 25 websites fitting those characteristics: websites that I can use for teaching grammar or sites my students can use for grammar practice. Features of this Web 2.0 tool remind me of Google Reader.
I like being able to add other delicious users to my account, and I can see how sharing accounts among grade levels, divisions, or schools could be very helpful. I’m thinking that as my team begins to revise and strengthen our social studies curriculum, we could use delicious to post and share links to websites that fit well with the content we’re teaching. If we are all searching and adding to delicious using the same tags, then we really are taking a ton of work off each others’ plates. Importing my Firefox bookmarks into delicious was quick and easy (I didn’t have many). Another thing I like about delicious is that I can embed a link to my account in facebook and on my blog. Convenient!
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07.05.08
Posted in Classroom Projects & Activities, K12 Learning 2.0, Online Tools & Resources tagged del.icio.us, elemenous, Lucy Gray, spelling, SpellingCity.com, vocabulary at 10:39 am by sblovett
I think I might be bending the rules a bit, but I actually came across this link while I was browsing through links posted on del.icio.us by someone I added to my network. Even though I didn’t find the link through my Google Reader account, it’s definitely blog-worthy:
SpellingCity.com. I discovered it through Lucy Gray’s (elemenous) links. I created an account and was approved through the website administrator, and then practiced entering different vocabulary and spelling words. The site then helped me with pronunciations and definitions–the “teach me” option–and spelling practice–the “test me” option. The site also has numerous saved lists such as this list created for the 4th of July:
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red |
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white |
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blue |
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stars |
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stripes |
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flag |
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fireworks |
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watermelon |
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lemonade |
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freedom |
I love the auditory aspect of this site, and I think it can be incorporated into all types of word study programs: weekly, monthly, personalized, etc. I’m thinking that my students can use it create their own lists from books they read independently or as part of a book club. Teachers can create and save lists for their students and parents can help their children study for spelling and vocabulary quizzes during the week.
Take a look!
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07.02.08
Posted in K12 Learning 2.0 tagged brainstorming, free, Gliffy, outlining, webbing at 8:57 am by sblovett
No, it’s not a type of peanut butter, but who needs the calories and fat in peanut butter anyway? Gliffy is a Web-based program for organizing ideas in a visual way, whether it be through flow charts, webbing, floor plans, seating arrangements, line drawings, etc. We’ve been talking about visual literacy, right? Here’s a great tool for achieving visual communication!
I chose to tinker with Gliffy Basic which allows me to create diagrams, upload up to 2MB of images, share with friends, publish and export my creations, and seek online help, all for free. With Gliffy Basic, I can create up to 5 public diagrams. For $15 every three months I can upgrade to a Gliffy Premium ad-free, logo-free account that would come with email support. With a Gliffy Premium account, I could create an unlimited number of public and private diagrams.
There are a number of “social” features to this program including the ability to make a diagram “public,” the ability to embed diagrams into wikis or blogs, the ability to collaborate on diagrams with other users, and the ability to export diagrams as .png, .jpeg, or .svd files. Just like wikis, previous versions of my diagram were saved so that I could view my revision history if necessary.
Some uses that I came up with are:
- Classroom seating charts
- Wedding (or other event) seating arrangements
- Organizing committees and subcommittees within schools or businesses
- Landscape design
- Teaching perimeter and/or area
- Grading System Outline (Listing subject areas and subject area assignments)
MY EXAMPLE (Grading System Outline to share with parents and students)
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06.30.08
Posted in K12 Learning 2.0 tagged Creative Commons, RockYou.com, slideshow at 8:29 am by sblovett
Here is an example of how I might turn some Creative Commons images into a slideshow to introduce the digital camera project I discussed in my
Thing 11 post to a group of students.
Slideshow Photo Credit
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06.29.08
Posted in K12 Learning 2.0 tagged Creative Commons, Flickr, public spelling errors at 3:54 pm by sblovett
What I Like About Flickr:
- Tagging; one photo can serve many purposes (i.e. winter, snow, cold, beautiful, outdoors, etc.).
- You can associate photos with locations on a map; this would be great for classroom geotours, fun spring break or summer vacation assignments, etc.
- You can set the photos you upload to a private or public setting.
- You can send photos directly to a blog or a del.icio.us page.
- There are millions of Creative Commons photos for classroom use.
- I didn’t run across one inappropriate photo in the two hours that I played on site.
- You can comment on and tag others’ photos.
- CDs and DVDs eventually corrupt; Flickr is a great way to store precious memories in a safe place.
- I can upload photos to my Flickr account from my cell phone and even through email.
What I’m Getting Used to
- Flickr doesn’t support posting directly to an Edublogs blog (at least when I tried to; can someone prove me wrong?)
- Tagging can be tough because it’s entirely subjective; what I tag as “trash” might be tagged as “paper” by someone else. This makes searching interesting.
- With a free account, I am only allowed 100MB of upload space per month; I can upgrade to a pro account for $25 for a year or $48 for 2 years. With all the free Web 2.0 tools out there, I am resistant to spend any money..
For some reason, grammatical and spelling errors seem to jump out at me as I float through my daily life. I find them in the books I read, hear them on the radio, see them on billboards, and find them in restaurant menus. These kinds of errors irritate me and I think people should be more careful about the text that they make public (I have my fingers crossed that I’ve done a good job editing previous posts!) So, in true editor form, I searched through the Creative Commons section of Flickr for photos documenting misspellings seen out and about in the world. It was amazing what showed up! There was even a group pool of photos labeled “Public Spelling Errors.” Can you see the error “set in stone” in the photo below?
I thought it might be fun to encourage a group of students to experiment with digital cameras in a similar way sometime next year. Some questions we might investigate could be: How many errors are we able to find in the world? Where do the most errors appear? What are the most common errors we find? What do these errors say about us? What are the implications of such errors? Why is careful editing so important? It would be interesting to post our findings on a class wiki and solicit responses from our parents, other teachers, or students in our school. I’m excited about the possibilities!
photo by sylvar
Flickr Photo Page
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Posted in K12 Learning 2.0 tagged Creative Commons, Library of Congress, OER at 12:35 pm by sblovett
I took a few minutes to browse through some of the offerings available at the OER Commons website, and this resource excited me as much as Discovery’s United Streaming site when I first discovered it. At OER, anyone can share coursework, learning modules, teaching resources, blogs and wikis, articles, and other kinds of documents with anyone who is interested: teachers, students, self-learners, etc. Topics range from global rainfall to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and tools are available from the primary through the post-secondary level.
I found an applicable resource offered through The Library of Congress that provided a significant amount of information about the Age of Exploration, Christopher Columbus, Native Americans, etc. In my grade level we use a social studies curriculum based around Joy Hakim’s A History of Us textbooks, and we are constantly looking for primary sources and differing viewpoints with which to supplement our social studies teaching. My favorite thing about this “exhibit,” as it was called, was that it included images from several Library of Congress divisions, including the Rare Book and Special Collections Division and the Geography and Map Division.
Through the OER website, you can review and comment others’ contributions, create your own portfolio of resources to share with the OER community, save items to use repeatedly, and subscribe to a specific topic or grade level’s contributions (for example, I could subscribe to the list of resources for the Primary grade level and receive each new contribution in my Google Reader account.)
Go play!
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Posted in K12 Learning 2.0 tagged acceptable use, copyright, Creative Commons, Google Image Search at 11:06 am by sblovett
Wow, I am really behind the eight ball! Did anyone else not realize that the moment you finish a painting, click the final “save” on a document, or send an iMovie to burn you have a copyrighted product? For as many documents as I’ve created over the last two years to support teaching and learning in my classroom, I feel like I should have come up with a creative logo to signal that the work was mine!
I understand and appreciate the concept of Creative Commons, and I feel like thanking each person who opens the use of their products and materials up to the general public through Creative Commons licensing. However, I feel like I still need some clarification. Most of the searching my students and I do for Web content revolves around finding images for projects that we do throughout the year. I understand that we can use Creative Commons to find works that can be used or remixed, but what is the deal when we do a simple Google Image Search instead of working through Creative Commons? For example, I used the search term “flower” through Google Image Search and the first hit was a photo of a beautiful orange flower posted through About.com. What do I assume about that photo since I couldn’t locate copyright information? Can my students use it in a Keynote presentation for science class? Can I use it for a vocabulary lesson in Smart Notebook?
In my classroom, we’re comfortable with tools like flickr, net Trekker, and Web Feet for image searching, but Google seems to be our gray area, and oftentimes it is our preferred search engine. I noticed that Creative Commons has a Google tab, so I’m thinking that it’s up to the individual user to locate the acceptable use policy for each image they come across through Google before they put it into a project. I think it would be a smart idea for individual schools–and maybe even departments–to review Creative Commons and acceptable use policies at the beginning of each school year. The amount of information about copyright out there is overwhelming, and I want to feel like I am following the rules.
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Posted in K12 Learning 2.0 tagged wiki, Wikispaces at 10:21 am by sblovett
As part of this K12 Learning 2.0 course, I created a wiki, something I’m pretty excited about because I can now see many uses for this type of tool in the classroom. Take a look!
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