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INSYS 497 VoiceThread

This is my presentation for Assessment #4. Instead of commenting here on my blog, please comment directly to the VoiceThread. You will need to sign up for a free VoiceThread account.

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Tester - Social Networking

Tester - Social Networking: ""

Blog #3-Safe Practices with Web 2.0

Ever since starting my Web 2.0 journey, I just seem to get more and more excited after learning about each new tool. However, that excitement is soon tempered by the nagging question of how to keep my students safe. When I wanted to use VoiceThread in my classroom, I had to go to my district administrators and convince them that this site is safe and that I would help keep it that way. But how do I keep that promise? What happens if my students use these tools inappropriately? After much thought I came to the conclusion that this is not much different than most classroom management issues and the answer is to be proactive and educate my students on the correct ways to conduct themselves.

To teach these lessons, I went to the internet and tried to find some resources. I came across a wonderful wiki run by ISTE and dedicated to the implementation of the NET-S Standards. It had a great section on Digital Citizenship with resources that could be used in the classroom (along with great implementation strategies for all of the NET-S Standards!).

The first website I saw was iKeepSafeKids. This site had some nice resources and used a cute mascot call Faux Paw the Techno Cat. There were a couple of games, some printable coloring pages, and a nice animated video that I think my students would enjoy.
The second site shared was NetSmartz Kids. I have used this before in my classroom, and the kids LOVED it! One thing I really like about this site is the disclaimer that pops up right in the beginning that tells parents and educators that in order to keep the site safe for kids, at no point is there links to outside web pages. My student’s favorite parts were the raps about internet safety. After I played them, I could hear my students singing them all the time!

The last site was through PBS Kids and gave students the opportunity to get their Web License. I saw this as a nice culminating activity. There were questions about different parts of Digital Citizenship and Internet Safety that students could answer individually or whole group. The different sections could also be used as an overview using each section as a mini lesson. At the end students can print a “license” that acts almost like a contract because the students are asked to sign and could be posted near the computers as a reminder to students.

As a teacher, it is my responsibility to give my students the information they need to empower themselves to make good choices and act appropriately when using these wonderful Web 2.0 tools. I am hoping these great sites will help me do just that.

Blog #2-Research and the Reflective Practitioner

I have come pretty far in my journey through this world of Web 2.0 tools. I started as a novice grad student, who thought I was doing a great job of "integrating technology" by simply having my students surf the net and go to a website during reading group rotations. I still do these things on a daily basis. I love Spelling City, a great site where students can go to practice spelling words. I use this not only during the day, but also as a choice in their weekly spelling contract.

However, I have quickly learned that to truly use technology, I must expand my view of technology. Students are not using technology if they are simply sitting in front of a laptop or computer. They may be technically using it, but are they really using it effectively?

Now that I have been exposed to so many different tools, I am slowly trying to use these tools. One such tool is VoiceThread. I have taken small steps each year, reflectively thinking about ways I can use it more effectively. I am now eliciting the help of parents for my students to practice their fluency. This decision was made through much thinking about the lack of resources and time to fully use the website. I am excited to use this with my students on a regular basis, and really think it will have a great impact on their oral reading fluency.

Even though I am just starting this next step, I have already begun to look beyond and look for more ways to improve. I found this section of the VoiceThread 4 Education wiki, where teachers can post contact information so they can connect with different classrooms throughout the country. I think this would be a great start to safely open up my students VoiceThread projects to a larger audience.

I have continued to do more research, and found a great VoiceThread for Educators Ning, which I have joined. I have only started to explore the site, but I have already found some great discussions and posts.

Of all I have learned through my experiences with the Web 2.0 universe, my biggest lesson has to continually reflect upon my practice. Just as we have moved from a traditional paper and pencil classroom into the world of Web 2.0, this Web 2.0 world will continue to evolve. The only way I can keep up is to continue to educate myself, research these new tools, and figure out how to successfully use them in my own classroom.

Blog #1-Creating my own Social Network

Social networking has already become a part of my personal life in some respect. I went to school at the start of the Facebook phenomenon, and have to admit that I use it quite regularly to communicate with both friends and relatives. Since taking my last class, I have used my Google Reader to aggregate many of my personal sites-my guilty celebrity gossip sites, as well as the more reputable news sources.

For some reason, however, I have not made the complete leap to create a social network in my professional life. In previous courses I have aggregated wonderful bloggers and other sites that are quite applicable to my work. Despite the fact that I do not read them quite as often as I would like, I do find myself checking every so often to see what is new in the world of Web 2.0.

As you can probably see from the other posts on this blog, I have used this blog before for a course. I haven't just read other's social networks, but have made an attempt to participate in the conversation. As you can also probably tell, I didn't really use this blog outside of those courses. I do see and understand the wonderful reasons to blog in the classroom-both with students and as a tool for parent and community communication. I sat down and started thinking about why I haven't done more to extend my blog. After reading Vicki Davis's blog post on the 8 reasons why teachers don't blog, I saw a lot of myself.

I can see some of her 2nd reason, humility, in myself. I find myself asking "Who is actually going to read or care about my blog?"" Her third reason, paranoia, also hits home. If I were to use a blog, I would be very scared to post any honest opinions for fear of retribution. However, I think that the biggest reason that I don't blog is the same as #5-Feeling Overwhelmed. Just reading other blogs takes forever. How am I ever going keep up a blog? As I continue down the road of Web 2.0, I hope that I am able to overcome these misgivings and jump in!

INSYS 497 Blog Reflection #1

"In the future, how we educate our children may prove to be more important than how much we educate them" (Binder, cited in Friedman, 2005, p. 302).

I read this quote in the first chapter of our book, Web 2.0 New Tools, New Schools by Solomon and Schrum and it really hit a nerve, especially entering into this class. I feel that everyday in my classroom we have more and more subject matter that we are responsible for teaching. I feel as if the "how" has been put the side and replaced by the "how much". These new (or old depending how you look at it) Web 2.0 tools are the perfect way to bring the focus back to the "how". By communicating and collaborating with peers and others outside of the classroom, students can learn those important problem solving and higher order thinking skills. I am excited to continue my education in these Web 2.0 tools. Each time I take a class and and learn about new tools, they become more of a part of both my professional and personal life. Although I am not able to use many of these tools the their full extent in some aspects of my life, I am looking forward to continually using and integrating them into my daily routine.