Final Relfection

I began this course with somewhat of a closed mind. I enjoy technology, but don't have a positive opinion about social networks, and wasn't about to change my mind. After completing this course my opinion hasn't changed a great deal. There are some sites and valid reasons for using these social networks, but there are many instances where it seems like a lot of work for what its worth.

VoiceThread - I enjoyed the concept of VoiceThread in an online college course format. After multiple semesters in an online course its nice to hear a voice for a change. Reading reflection after reflection starts to become tedious. VoiceThread gives you the opportunity to speak your mind rather than write it. It puts emotion into your message.

Blogger - This site should be self-explanatory. Blogger allows you to create your own blog for free. Again, this is a great method for online courses, and your more traditional classroom methods. As a special education teacher in a middle school environment, I don't see a place for blogging in my classroom.

Delicious - If you remember from last week's post, I'm not a fan of delicious. The concept is great. You get to save any website you need on the internet. Its like having your favorite bookmarked webpages from your computer available anywhere you can get the internet. The reason I don't like it, and won't use it in the future is the user friendly factor. Right now, it seems like too much work for what I would get out of it.

Wiki - This is my favorite new tool that I had no idea existed even while I've been using Wikipedia. Wiki's give you the opportunity to allow multiple people to contribute to one site. I like the option of having an administrator (teacher) control the content to insure the safety of use. I look forward to implementing this tool in my classroom next year. Work can be done at school and at home.

Flickr - Flickr is a nice social network site to mainly share images to anyone you want to share with. Another great idea, but for my classroom and for my personal use, there isn't a need. If I want to share images with friends, then I'll just email them. It could be useful for maybe for a photography class.

Facebook - I have been a member of Facebook for many years now. It is the only social networking site that I update on a semi-regular basis. You can chat with friends, write posts, join groups, share photos, etc... I recommend this site for personal use, but don't recommend it for use with students.

Twitter - I remember at the beginning of this course I vowed not to join Twitter. I thought it was a pointless website that only encouraged people to become more anti-social and avoid personal contact. Since that time I have joined Twitter, against my will, and understand its addictiveness. I find it more exciting on a personal level, and it can have it's uses in an education setting to share small amounts of information a quick and easy format. I don't see Twitter helping me develop as a professional. I tried to follow different people through Twitter, but for the time being it isn't useful.

A personal learning network (PLN) is an effective way to continue your professional development throughout your career. I wish that I had a PLN while doing my first PDP plan. My PDP plan was and arduious process that left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I received very little support from my district, and when trying to get help, it cost me a good chunk of money. A PLN could have provided free support that would have helped me dearly.

At one time I thought I was pretty tech. savvy, but after taking this course I've realized how far off this assumption is. Learning these new tools to incorporate in my classroom has been, at times, frustrating, but enlightening. Students today seem to always have some type of technology in their hands. MP3 players look as if they come installed in children's ears at birth. Each tool I saw in this class is a way share and present information. As a teacher, how you present the information can mean the difference between a student learning the material or a student viewing it has useless. If the content can be presented in an organized and structured media, then that tool is valid. If the educator doesn't have the media mastered, then that media is yet another hurdle that needs to be cleared.

Considering my resistance to change and the positive opinion I have of wikis, I will further my exploration of wikis as a starting point for integrating technology in my classroom. I look forward to the end of the school year, but more so, look forward to the start of next year.

Del.icio.us and tagging

I have a feeling my experience with del.icio.us is going to be more different than everyone else. I don't like it. I like the premise, but find it very confusing and difficult to navigate. When searching for sites and trying to bookmark, I get very overwhelmed and turn to putting my hands up and surrendering. Maybe it's the stress of the end of the year combined with this master's course and coaching track.

The choosing of tags wasn't difficult, but it felt like I could put about 40 different tags for each site that I found. I basically would narrow it down to 4 or 5 tags for each site. I don't know how I would approach teaching tagging to students, especially my students who have a hard enough time performing simple tasks.

Bundling related tags can help organize your bookmarks when you've gather a large quantity of websites. Right now it doesn't seem to difficult to manage since I have so few sites, but when my list becomes rather large and contains a wide variety of topics, bundling will be helpful.

To answer the remaining questions about del.icio.us, I will have to respond with, "I don't know." I don't how you would use the Network feature. I don't know how I would use this with my students. If I found the site confusing, then how would 7th grade students with learning disabilities be able to use it? I'm sure the site can be useful and benefit me eventually, but right now it's just annoying. I even get annoyed typing the name... del.icio.us.

The wiki, as far as other Web 2.0 tools that I feel could be used particularly in my school/classroom, is a great tool that I can begin to effectively use in the classroom next year. Currently our staff uses wiki to post assignments for parents to view. I don't think I would need to ask them. Last year our special education department bought and put 10 computers in my room for the middle school special education students to use for testing and any other computer needs.

It wouldn't take much to convince my administrator and tech advisor to allow the use of the wiki in my classroom. They are very supportive when it comes to incorporating technology in the classroom. The wiki is one option that really excites me. Sorry to del.icio.us and those who love her. She's not my type.... too high maintenance.

Twitter and new tools for schools

How do you see Twitter benefitting you and/or your students?

As an avid Packer fan, I know that certain players tend to say the dumbest things on Twitter, which get them in trouble. One fine example of this is, Nick Barnett. His most recent blunder is a comment made about a former Packer, let's call him, Brent. The comment was in reference to "Brent's" possible surgery on his ankle and Nick's desire to have Brent come back for redemption.

Having Twitter will benefit my unhealthy obsession with the Green Bay Packers become an addiction as I now am a follower of Nick Barnett, Aaron Rodgers, and the newest addition Brian Bugala.

On another personal note, my family has, on numerous occasions, mentioned to me that I tend not to communicate a frequent basis with them. Maybe Twitter can help.

As far as school is concerned, I know Twitter could help with communication between staff and the community as far as event schedules, conferences, weather delay info, etc... Students could benefit from reading the thoughts of their teachers during the year, and maybe develop a closer relationship (school appropriate of course).

How might Twitter be used in education?

In the Twenty-Nine Interesting Ways to Use Twitter in Education, I found the polling site, http://twtpoll.com/ to be the most helpful. Since I teach a self-contained math class, the number of students are not large enough to create a personal survey. With a Twitter poll, my students can create their own survey/poll and the whole school can take the survey. The benefits could go further than just the math skills they would develop by having to graph the results and analyze them. Thinking of good polling questions, and seeing the affect they can have on their school is not a daily occurrence in special education.

New Tools and Use in our School...

I looked at social networking (www.dailymile.com), GoogleEarth, and the use of surveys.

Social Networking (dailymile.com)

I liked this site the moment Sarah E. started to describe it. Students and coaches can track what their athletes are doing during the weeks of summer and can track their progress during the season. They have the ability to motivate, challenge, set goals, and suggest training tips or workouts.

As a distance track coach it would be great for me personally and as a coach. This site can help me monitor their efforts and mine. Sometimes I tend to tell my athletes to do as I say and not as I do. Now with this site, they can keep me honest to my goals.

GoogleEarth

I love geography, and enjoy GoogleEarth. Before viewing the wiki on this site, I knew GoogleEarth was a neat site, but I didn't know all of the features it can do. I can create my own virtual tour of different nations, continents, regions, cities... In fact GoogleEarth will become part of my unit project.

Surveys/Polls

I had mentioned earlier that Twitter can allow my students to create surveys for the whole school to take. Surveys can also benefit me as a special education teacher. I have around 20 students on my caseload, and they have a wide variety of teachers that I cannot stay in contact with. A beginning and end of the year survey can help me to understand what I need to change in order to be an effective case-manager. Doing these surveys online can keep the comments anonymous and quicker to complete rather than the paper and pen version.

Tech. Transformed Learning Environments

One use of technology that works well in my special education math classes for 6th and 7th grade is a learning program called Odyssey. Here students are given the core subjects and they are personalized to their ability level based on standardized testing completed in the beginning of the year.

After working on a skill with these students in class, they can continue to develop and work on them through Odyssey. This technology best fits with David Warlick's 5th idea of a personalized learning environment. Students are allowed to safely make mistakes. They can continue to make mistakes and can be given numerous chances to solve the problem correctly.

4 things we don't teach, but should

In the article written by Alan November, there are references to four main skills students need to learn about technology and the internet. I agree with the need for kids to know the dangers and how to avoid or stop cyber bullying. I think a large part of that lesson for students can be applied to real-life bullying as-well. Bullying could be reduced if student's internet activities were monitored by responsible parents too.

Another point November made was the permanency of anything posted on the web. It is forever, and students need to understand that what they post or do on the internet can be tracked and archived. Students who only think about 5 minutes into the future have a hard time grasping the potential consequences of their actions as teenagers and how it can affect their life as adults.

The final point I agree with November on is the desperate need to show how to find relevant websites off a Google or Bing. The first site must be the most reliable right? It can save them time, and prevent headaches for teachers and teacher's aides.

Whether we are empathetic to the global needs is one issue, but the importance of teaching students the wide variety of cultures and values they hold onto is important. Students need to know about the world which rotates around the sun, not around them.

How should we do this in schools (All levels)?

At Beloit Turner Middle School we have an 8th grade class called Transitions. It teaches students to respect diversity, discover who they are, and begins to prepare them for high school. An option to include in that course would be a technology unit in which these things are discussed and practiced.

I think the four points November makes is something that should be included in all curriculums at all levels as a part of the classroom philosophy or mission statement. They don't need to focus on the technology part, but more on the moral, ethical, and character building skills. Yes, researching valid websites doesn't really relate to being moral or ethical, but that could be done as a separate activity.

One thing I could work on in these points for next year

Finding relevant information for students with learning disabilities is a painful activity for everyone involved. Aides and teachers just want to click on the site for them, and the students would rather be looking at pictures. Teaching them how to read a brief description and understand what it is they are looking for is very hard.

What I will need to start doing is getting the students to stop waiting for the aide or teacher to tell them they are right or to step in and do it for them. Enabling these students is the worst thing for them. It's hard to stop, because watching them fail makes you feel like a failure. Students with LD need to realize they have a brain and they can make wise decisions. It just might take a long, long, long time before its mastered.

del.icio.us what?

I have got to be honest. I have no clue how to use del.icio.us. I understand the concept, but am so frustrated with the website that it has turned me off to the idea of ever using it in my classroom. As it is, I have no time, and trying to understand and get acquainted with this site is not worth it.

After working a little more with del.icio.us, I have begun to get the hang of it. I still don't know how to created the icon that will allow me to bookmark it to del.icio.us without having to open a new page, sign in, search, and then add it to the bookmarks.

Although I didn't do too much exploring with Diigo, I notice differences between the two. With Diigo, you are given many more options and control over what you can do with your bookmarks. You can highlight, attach messages, and even save expired website pages forever. Unfortunately I am not anywhere near comfortable enough to attempt using it. Del.icio.us is enough for me.

With that said, either site can be used both for students and faculty. The best idea I can think of is collaboration between special education teachers. Special ed. teachers can share sites that give good ideas for constructing IEPs or provide effective strategies to motivate students.

Wikis (Week 3)

How might you use wikis for your own professional development?

Wikis are good options if you want to get other's opinions and include your own opinion. I just got the connection that Wikipedia is exactly what this is. I think it is great to find resources or ideas to try in your classroom or coaching. I question the reliability, but in your professional life, there aren't many instances when providing a work cited is required. At times when you do need to cite your sources to administration or others, wikis again can provide you with links to published, peer reviewed, and reliable sources.

The following sites are great for me and for my students to use for their basic math skills. There is vocabulary and step by step instruction on how to solve simple math problems. This can give me an opportunity to instill personal responsibility and self advocacy for my students. It can put the ownership of their education on their shoulders and not on their learning disabilities.

Another great option for wikis is to keep your classroom on the same page and use it as a community page within your classroom. It is very similar to a blog posting, but allows for editing and submitting of new text within the post itself.

What wiki(s) have you found that relate to your area of professional interest?

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Applied_Math_Basics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_mathematical_symbols

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_disability#Treatment_and_intervention

This wiki can give me, parents, or the students the ability to understand what a learning disability is, and how to deal with it.

http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Good-Runner

I'm not just a special education teacher. As a track coach this wiki is just one example that coaches can use to coach and inform their athletes.

How does this differ from following blogs or RSS feed?

Following a wiki gives you the option of editing or adding information to the site itself. It gives you the ability to contribute to the discussion. In an ever changing field of education and/or technology, this contribution can help both you and the corresponding community. Wikis can give you some control.