Blog #8: Blogging

Blogging, what can I say? I think that blogging is a wonderful tool to get out a message to the masses. The possibilities of being able to make money off a blog is even more interesting, however it really is not for me. Blogging is great for those who enjoy writing and publishing their work for others to read. I do not enjoy writing and to me keeping up with 2 blogs on a weekly basis has been a little torturous.

These blogs have become even more frustrating in that the instructor who assigned these blogs was removed from the class and to what extent her criteria was to be met was not known. This is due to the fact that feedback did not come on any of the blog assignments until two days after the class ended. If I would have known that the three hundred word limit was going to be adhered to I would have forced myself to have more to blog about on each subject. I do not like to blog because I don't enjoy writing for the sake of writing, especially about things that are not inspiring to me. I know I am capable of writing three hundred words or more. Hopefully in the future I will not have to wait for feedback on assignments until after the class has ended.

Alright, I must keep blogging because there are not enough words.

I like the fact that I am able to keep track of every one's blogs in the class because now I can go back and read what their thoughts were regarding blogging. I have a feeling that many of my fellow classmates did not enjoy blogging either.

Would I enjoy blogging on a subject that I enjoy? Yes, of course I would, however the topic of blogging and blogging just to blog is not what motivates me to write, especially when grading and feedback was pretty much non-existent until two days after the class ended. (While the class was still in session only 4 assignments were graded out of 14 and none of the graded assignments were blogs.) Thus giving the impression that it really didn't matter.

Blog #7: Second Life

I am not a big fan of Second Life for educational purposes because it is not appropriate for elementary school due to the fact that anyone can fly or walk right up to you to chat. The time it takes to move up the learning curve in Second Life is something that educators just do not have in the elementary school setting. Before I use a virtual world such as Second Life with my students many changes would need to be made. For instance, there should be separate areas for elementary aged students that require a password to get into. In order to get a password, the applicant would have to provide information and proof of age as well as purpose for using Second Life.

Even though I do not see a use for Second Life in the elementary school setting, that does not mean that it is not being used by elementary schools. I would love to see an example of how it is being used in 4th grade classrooms. In order to change my mind on the subject I would have to see it in action and know what procedures and paperwork had to be taken care of before the students could use the Second Life software while being under the care of the school system and the responsibility of the teacher.

A fellow student in my Master's program talked about using Second Life to teach soccer, and yes I can see how it would work. I also understand that it would be of value to College students, adults training for a specific skill or task, and perhaps some high school classes. But with elementary school, the area in which I will be focusing my studies on, I do not see where it would fit in where I could feel safe that there would be no complaints and that predators could not reach my students.

If anyone has found a Second Life world that is used for elementary school students, specifically 3rd - 5th grade, I would appreciate it if you would send it my way. With many school districts, this type of social networking would be frowned upon or banned. I cannot lend my support to the fight for being able to use Second Life in the elementary classroom without seeing how it works in action. If I believe in something I am more than motivated to fight for it and will do so without anyone asking for me to. I would fight to use Second Life with my students because I found value in what it had to offer. I just haven't seen that value as of yet. Again, if you know of any Second Life worlds for 3rd to 5th grade students please send them my way.

Supporting Links for Blog#8

Supporting Links for Blog#7

Blog #6: Communities of Practice

Social Media and the notion of Communities of Practice has now become a reality. People not only use Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter for mindless activities. These applications are being used in business, education, as well as information gathering and sharing of that information to the masses. People connect with their friends in social networks, but nowadays, people are also searching out those with similar interests, whether that be gaming, education, politics, and so on. I believe that we now have Global Communities of Practice, in that through the Internet, Web2.0 tools, and Social Media applications we can meet individuals from all over the world, form relationships, and realize that we are more alike than different. Even though we come from different environments and backgrounds, together we can logically come up with solutions and share that information easily through the use of social media applications. With proper rules of behavior and etiquette online, and given the understanding that users are to follow these rules as they would follow the rules in the "Real World," friendships, partnerships, and new communities of practice can evolve that include members from all over the globe. What a great way for people to brainstorm together and create a better world through communication and understanding. If we all communicate and brainstorm issues of today together, what wonderful solutions to todays problems we could come up with given all of the thought that is put into solving those problems, just think what a better world it will be in the future.

Supporting Links for Blog#6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p6pTtEXwaM




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT8wdu_l4KE&feature=related

Blog #5: Social Media

Blog #5: Social Media

With the addition of Web 2.0 tools and social media applications, the Internet has evolved into a collaborative culture. With Web2.0 social media tools, not only a chosen few experts in the field can create, edit, and publish information that goes out to the public at large. With the use of open source documents and other social media Web2.0 tools, anyone is able to collaborate on projects together. Brainstorming ideas together online, interactively, means that users can create, edit, and revise a document online, at the same time, seeing each others input, while at the same time have the ability to video chat. The ability to talk to each other through video chat or text while working together on a project online adds to the creative process and the continual evolution of that project. What comes out of these brainstorming sessions is a better product. Remember that saying “Two heads are better that one?” Web 2.0 and social media, help bring that saying to life in my opinion.

Supporting Links for Blog#5

Blog #4

Blog #4: 21st Century Skills and Lifelong Learning

The skills required of students today for jobs in the future are that they are literate in all of the various types of media available for communication and collaboration. Students will need to be self-directed learners who use their higher order thinking skills to analyze, solve problems, communicate, collaborate, create, and evaluate. These students are digital learners and have grown up playing video games, typing on computers, playing computer games, talking on cellphones, texting, instant messaging, and social networking through sites such as Facebook and MySpace. The students are ready to use Web2.0 tools to learn, now it's time for teachers, school administrations, school districts, and school board members to realize the need to get up to speed with the new technologies and use those technologies to enhance learning.

Supporting Links for Blog#4

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php?Itemid=120&id=254&option=com_content&task=view

eSchool News
http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/measuring-21st-century-skills/

Blog #3

Blog #3: Media Literacy

Media Literacy today is about collaboration and communication. With all of the new Web 2.0 tools available that our students already use to communicate, these resources can be channeled into the classroom through forward thinking individuals, school administrations, and school districts.

Media is about the various means of communication available and literacy is the ability to understand and then communicate that understanding.

With social media and Web2.0 tools, the opportunity to play and learn at the same time is now more abundant and available to the masses. When I say that these technologies are available to the masses, I understand that not all of the people in those "masses" have Internet connections, computers, or even electricity to run these technologies that make social networking and social media sites work. Without a computer and the Internet one cannot reach the many social media and networking sites available on the Internet. That is a problem that needs to be solved, however not in this discussion.

Social Media and networking sites can be addicting as evidenced by the popularity of sites such as Facebook and MySpace. People of all ages are becoming addicted to social networking and playing the games on those sites. What I would enjoy doing is learning how to create a game on my own social networking site, however the game I would create would be educational and geared to meeting the California State Standards for a given grade level. I enjoy teaching Social Studies, specifically about the California Gold Rush and would love to create a game on that topic. For my media project I will be creating a social network on Ning.com about the California Gold Rush for 4th grade students in California.

Now, you are probably asking why she is writing about social media and networking sites when the topic is Media Literacy. Well, for one thing I am interested in those topics, and I believe that through engaging students with the use of social media and networking their literacy skills will increase as well as their media skills. As long as the site has higher order thinking opportunities and is based on a topic for which they are responsible for learning I believe students will want to learn. Students will want to read the instructions, they will read each others posts and e-mails, and through this process they will be increasing their skills without knowing they are doing so. It is so much easier to learn something while you are having fun.

Supporting Links for Blog#3

Blog #2

Blog #2: Learning 2.0

Students of today are Digital Learners and their instructional needs are not being addressed in the school system. Students learn from the various Web 2.0 tools when they are away from school however when they go to the place where they are supposed to be learning, their delivery method of information is banned. Rather than banning Internet sites and Web 2.0 tools why not filter them and then let the students and teachers use them in the classroom. In banning students from their technology devices and forcing them to “power down” when they arrive at school, schools are killing the creativity that is innate in all of us but they are also leaving students and the student’s futures behind. Students of today need to be ready to be employed in the jobs of tomorrow, and the educational system as it stands is not doing the job anymore. It is time that access to free Internet / Wi-Fi Internet and computers be provided to students who do not have one and their family can’t afford to purchase one. There is a Digital Divide however with the suggestions I previously stated we can close that gap, and the learning gap closure will be sure to follow.

Blog #1

Blog #1: Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is about changes in the way we communicate information. With Web 2.0 we can collaborate on a class project or business proposal online, with everyone having the ability to edit and create simultaneously. This is not just collaboration, but creative collaboration in that everyone has a voice and can create and edit information that is available to the masses. These documents then continually evolve into the finished product, with everyone having a chance to participate in the creation of it. We are now in the beginning of a Social Revolution where we all have a voice in how information and history evolves.

I have listed my supporting links below in the form of Ted.com videos. Enjoy watching them.

Debbie

Supporting Links for Blog#1 and Blog #2

The following videos relate to what I've been learning about this week and the possibilities that are out there. Enjoy watching them and feel free add your thoughts on them.

Debbie