My Thoughts have moved… January 20, 2012
Posted by sjknight in : Uncategorized , add a comment
You can now find me @ http://plan3tt3ch.com/
Podcasting assignment from ED554 June 25, 2011
Posted by sjknight in : ED554 , add a comment[cross-posting from ED554Reston Blog]
I was extremely impressed with the podcasts that were shared for my ED554 Computers & Technology in the classroom course with Marymount University. Jim (my ED554 Reston co-teacher) convinced me to allow for choice when it came to the subject matter for this assignment (in the past I assigned chapters from a course text). Although I was a bit worried in the beginning (I feared that groups would not form naturally and consensus on the group’s subject matter would take to long), I was presently surprised how it turned out. I believe the following factors attributed to the success of this assignment;
- ED554 Reston is the last class of a graduate cohort of pre-service teachers that have taken classes together for 2 years.
- All had basic technical competencies (no one had to call home to retrieve a password to access their e-mail).
- Seemed to appreciated the class time for planning and creation.
- The subject matter was based on personal interests.
- Used technology tools that they were already familiar with (Powerpoint, iMovie/Movie Maker).
I believe that creating a Podcast is a relevant assignment for this course. Relevant when the goal is helping teachers see the need to create learning experiences that interest and motivate their digital learners in the classrooms while also creating reusable, mobile, digital learning objects to enhance learning. The assignment also requires teachers to use several different tools;
- Powerpoint/Pages – for visuals/text
- Audacity, Aviary’s Myna and/or iPadio – for audio
- MovieMaker or iMovie – for producing video
Check out the first group podcasts shared…
Blaise Pascal by Erick, Holly and Kathy
Gardening in Northern Virginia by Cindy, Karen & Shabrayle
Deer Population Control by Molly, Leslie, Lindsey and Catherine
Visions of Students Today June 20, 2011
Posted by sjknight in : 21st Century , add a comment[cross-posting from ED554Reston Blog]
Dr. Michael Wesch, an Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology and Digital Ethnography @ Kansas State University, put together an interactive video collage highlighting hundreds of video entries of digital learners. You can read his latest blog entry to learn more about the project and check out the project @ http://visionsofstudents.org/ .
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrXpitAlva0]
This site was built with HTML5 which allows one (with the latest versions of Firefox, Safari and Chrome) to interact with the collage by selecting any of the images to view more video. Once you watch the 5:00+ minute video, you can click the “Show All” tab in the upper left corner to select an image.
This is a great example of the digital learners that will enter our class. Understanding how they see the world and use technology might help us better engage their learning and help them disconnect to focus without the digital world…model a balanced life.
Below is the non-interactive video.
Personal Learning Network with Twitter April 11, 2011
Posted by sjknight in : 21st Century, Professional Development , add a comment
What is a Personal Learning Network (PLN)? It can be defined many different ways, but all definitions have the same elements in common… digital, interconnectedness and personalized (learning styles, interest-based and self-controlled). Below are resources shared from my PLN to help further define a Personal Learning Network.
Blogger Karl Fisch, posted about the interconnectedness of PLNs.
“A PLN isn’t a particularly new idea; learning networks have existed for a long time. What’s new is the reach and extent that’s now possible for a PLN, with technology and global interconnectedness providing the opportunity for a much wider, richer and more diverse PLN than ever before. This is a complex topic that can’t be fully addressed in a short article, but let me provide an example of my own learning that resulted from my PLN.”
and
Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson, shares his views of Educational Revolution during his latest TED talk: In this poignant, funny follow-up to his fabled 2006 talk, Sir Ken Robinson makes the case for a radical shift from standardized schools to personalized learning — creating conditions where kids’ natural talents can flourish.
The Internet is the lynchpin of the Personal Learning Network. We no longer need to solely rely on what our school provides for professional development/learning. We can now seek out PD opportunities on what we determine is our need. The PD resources we find can be tailored to our learning styles. These resources can be accessed anywhere and anytime. I can choice to be an active learner by contributing to the network or passive and simply learn from others. I control what, where and when I learn.
There are several digital tools (Twitter, Google Reader, Diigo, etc.) that I use to build and maintain my PLN. Twitter is how my PLN started and it remains the most useful. “Tiny Bursts of Learning” is how one of my favorite blogger Chris Betcher describes Twitter. In this blog post he goes on to describe “How I use my Twitter PLN to learn”.
My best advice for starting with Twitter, is to start slow.
1.) Follow only a few people at first to get used to the way information is shared.
You will soon notice which person shares information (quotes, links, etc.) that is most helpful. Once these people are determined,
2.) check out who they follow and pick a few of them to follow.
I generally pick new people to follow based on their blog and frequency of their tweets.
3.) contribute to the network by Retweeting(resending) shared resources.
Check out these sites for more Twitter resources;
