Wrapping it up

Apart from simply learning how to implement technology in the classroom, this class has taught me how to implement technology period. Nearly every web application we discussed was new to me and I also discovered many that would have made my life much easier earlier in my time as a student. Now, not only can I incorporate technology in my future classroom, but I can incorporate it in my life in ways I never would have imagined possible. Taking advantage of the amazing tools given to us by web applications alone will truly help push the evolution of humanity to the next level. It is quickly becoming clear that the evolution of the internet and global communication knows no boundaries and will soon be a large part of everyone’s lives whether they embrace it or not.
I would have to say I wasn’t a fan of the twitter aspect, although I can see its obvious educational benefits. I just didn’t feel the need to post things I thought were interesting since we already had the delicious account to do basically the same thing. I do see the benefit in following other teachers who actively post educational material to their twitter, but it would be rare to find material that synced up with exactly what you were teaching, unless you followed hundreds of teachers which would be a little time consuming (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

Personal Strategy for Bridging the Digital Divide

For the same reasons that a classroom used to be incomplete without books, a classroom today is incomplete without technology. It is absolutely vital that students have digital access in the classroom because with the shear amount of subject area content, as well as the various other social purposes of the classroom education, digital access is an invaluable tool that goes to great lengths to provide modern students with a modern education to survive in the modern world. If a school does not provide the level of technology I would like in the classroom, but does provide some technology, I could work with what I had and try to make the best of it, hopefully only until the school revitalized its accommodations. I would consider at least one computer with an internet connection and an overhead to be my bare minimum of acceptable technology in the classroom. If the school could at least offer this, I could assign more of the technological learning to be done in a computer lab or as homework. If the school did not have a computer lab or most students did not have technology at home, then I could organize trips to the local library which is sure to have at least some level of technology. Of course, such trips would be arduous to plan and carry out several times over a school year, so the option is not ideal. Other strategies to secure technology at the school would be to petition the district or even above. Writing letters to congressmen, educational institutions, or charity organizations could all help provide the school with donated technology. Seeking out government aid programs could also help, if the school was in a low income neighborhood or had some other reason for qualification. Getting the parents involved could also be helpful. Parents could donate money themselves or raise money or awareness through campaigning around the community. The students could even help raise the money themselves through a variety of events such as selling tickets to a fair, talent show, or some other school event, as well as selling goods through a bake sale or garage sale.

Rosy Aguila realized the value of the internet in education in 1994 and has been working to link teachers and schools to each other since that time through Todos en la Red, a national network of schools, created by Aguila and several other teachers. She is also president of the nonprofit organization that runs the network. http://www.edutopia.org/rosy-aguila

Kim Cofino lays out several ways teachers can use limited technology in their classroom in the most efficient ways and with impressive results. She is an advocate of networking with classrooms all around the world to connect students and teachers to each other. http://mscofino.edublogs.org/

David Warlick explains how if the school could merely provide Wi-Fi access, parents would purchase personal devices for students to access the web such as iPod touches or net books. http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/

Wesely Fryer has an interesting blog discussing how libraries are going to take a more relaxed view toward internet censorship, which would allow students access to a wider range of features, such as twitter and facebook. http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2009/11/11/digital-citizenship-in-libraries-constructively-leveraging-the-power-of-the-social-web/

Tim Wilson blogs about a self-paced set of tutorials to help teachers get familiar with web 2.0 tools. Sometimes, getting other teachers or administrators on your side is the best way to improve the digital access at your school. http://technosavvy.org/2008/05/12/learning-on-a-stick-minnesota-style/

The teacher leader

Being a teacher leader to me generally means being like a super-teacher. Teacher leaders are the teachers at a particular school that work actively with clubs, sports teams, PTA, and a number of other things. Teacher leaders devote large amounts of their personal time to the school and the profession in general. Teacher leaders attend conferences whenever possible and share that information with any teacher that can benefit from it. The two resources I found were Hal Portner’s article, Are you an Informal Teacher Leader (http://teachers.net/gazette/OCT08/portner/) and an interview with Dr. Betsy Rogers, 2003 Teacher of the Year (http://www.teacherscount.org/topic/topic-rogers.shtml). Portner’s article focuses on the concept of the informal teacher leader, which is essentially a teacher leader that is not an administrator. He emphasizes that teacher leaders are those who stay in the classroom and project their leadership role from there. Dr. Betsy Rogers explains her view of the teacher leader as a teacher who strives to make an impact, not only on his or her school, but on the community as well. These sources make it clear that a teacher leader is involved in after school activities and facilitates school improvement in any way possible. In my career as a teacher I do intend to attend conferences and continuing education programs, partially so I don’t lose the edge that coming from an accredited program has provided me with, and also because it is one of the best ways to make sure you are always providing students with the best possible education.
Do you think being a teacher leader is something we should strive to be in our first years as teachers or should we start out as teacher followers for the first few years?

The networked student

The human network is essentially a term that describes the social connections humans make with each other, using a variety of mediums. With the advent of more powerful technologies, the human network becomes more intricate and tightly woven, providing the opportunity for more connections with more people than ever before. The networked student is a student who is taking advantage of the human network, especially through technology, to improve the quality of his or her learning experience. The networked student has a variety of contacts, beyond the teacher, classmates, and textbooks. The networked student utilizes RSS feeds, synchronous communication, and practices sound information management practices. Digital literacy is vital to the networked student because digital technology is the medium through which he or she operates, necessitating a grasp on how to use the advanced tools provided by digital technology and also knowing how distinguish threats and poor information throughout the medium. The role of the teacher evolves in networked learning to a facilitator of the students needs, as opposed to a facilitator or raw information. The teacher helps the student build digital literacy by guiding them through poor information and giving them the tools to succeed in the digital realm. The model of instruction is basically a constructivist approach to teaching, which seems to be the newest school of thought in the education community. It truly seems like the best way for learning to take place, however I wish there were more actual studies to prove that the method is ideal. Provided I was working at a school where this method was viable (i.e. available technology and willing administration) I could absolutely see myself in the role, as it alleviates some of the burden of being a teacher, which is already one of the most stressful jobs to have.

The networked learning blog I found is written by a member of the Department of Information Studies in the UK and contains several posts related to her work with networked and inquiry based learning (http://cilass.group.shef.ac.uk/?cat=4). Several posts include comments about technologies in the classroom such as Second Life. This blog hasn’t been posted to recently but she does have a second blog that is linked to this one.

My question to anyone reading this is do you think this method is worth fighting for if you don’t initially have access to the technology at your school and the administration is unwilling to venture out into foreign territory?

class notes on service learning projects

Class Notes 10/22/09:

Service Learning Ideas

Voting rights: key people in women’s rights, supreme court decisions, and create a lesson to put on a website functioning as a virtual museum which will then be used to teach younger students about the subject

Oral History: Americans in nursing homes are interviewed and recorded to make a digital storytelling presentation to tell stories of daily life from 75 years ago and upload onto YouTube

Voter Registration: observe trends and asking opinions…create resources to motivate voters or inform voters of important issues…also you can preregister 16 yr olds so they can vote in the next election…try to secure television time to inform the community, also use community centers or other public places to motivate voters

Human Trafficking: discussion of amendments relating to slavery…bring the issue into modern times because this still happens…students get in groups and look at how our govt. deals with the issue and then compile the information and engage in a letter campaign to congress

Military letter writing: students create a wiki where they write blogs to members of the military and they will then write back…this is designed to make the soldiers feel in touch

Honoring veterans: pick a vet and do 30 min interview…before the interview they would do research on the war the vet was in…during the interview they would record 2 important minutes to post as a podcast and blog with each other about the different vets

War on Drugs: investigate all aspects of the drug war and create a wiki as well as writing a congressperson about a drug problem they wish

Support a Soldier: garner support from the community to support troops and maintain a website to collect donations, write to soldiers, and post videos to the troops

Operation Christmas Child: learn about a variety of cultures and gain a personal understanding of helping less fortunates…they will volunteer at local shelters and put together Christmas packages…they will blog about what they learn and teach each other…then create a podcast, etc, about what they gained and how it could be different

Using internet for elderly: psychology based unit…students will go to elderly homes and interview them, then they will train them how to use email and other internet forms of communication…then they will reassess the elderly at the end, then they will write a paper explaining how elderly can benefit form tech and use inquiry map

Increasing cultural awareness: learn about immigration, poll the school to find out about different heritages, then research the countries most represented by the school, then create a wiki representing each nation and then display the info at a fair

Habitat for humanity: students pair up with Habitat to determine costs involved in building and financing houses and then research cost effective ways to maintain the operation…they place the reports on wikis and make biographies about families who’ve received homes and post them to blogs or wikis…then they learn why homelessness occurs

Oral history connecting past to present: students will write about things that are important to their lives, then go interview elderly about things they thought were important to their lives when they were young…then they make videos about their lives and host a party for elderly to view the videos

Helping the community: students must go out into the community and find a need to help them with…then they will go to politicians to get info as to what they are doing to solve the problem, then they will post what politicians say on a wiki, in an attempt to keep them honest

Visiting nursing homes: students will write about their lives and visit nursing homes to interview elderly about their lives and compare the experiences

Students and the environment: students will visit local parks to discover how the environment is being polluted…students will clean up the parks and learn about the environment and how to impact it…then they will write about their experiences to try and get others involved

Election research: students will research various aspects of elections, such as stats and the role of govt. in peoples lives…visit retirement home and ask about how they voted in past elections…record the interviews and create oral history project and write thank you letters to elderly

Increase voter turnout: learn about absence of youth vote, generate survey to investigate youth vote, create posters or other forms of media to take action to inspire young people to vote

Voting and Campaigning: create a campaign to raise awareness of the need for youths to vote and create google motion chart to diagram stats and blog to raise awareness

Individual student rights: students learn about civic rights and teach others about them…students select a topic pertaining to individual rights, research it, and put it in a class wiki…then they organize a fair for students and community members to explain their topic

Land of Rising Sun: at-risk students find pen pals in Japan to help them expand their cultural views…they can compare the information they are being taught (ie WWII)…use a website to communicate through or wiki to expose biases in their education

Muslim-American Awareness: Research news articles on how Muslims were presented in the American media…read “Ask me no Questions” trade book…students would create questionnaire and interview people on what the Patriot Act contains and impacts and what their opinions are towards Muslims…also spread awareness on immigration…students create wikis about the act and what people think vs. what it actually is

Your community through the ages: students pick a person or landmark that represents the Cold War and do research on that time period to learn specifics about the era. Students will interview people who lived during the event and bring the information together on a class wiki…students can write articles to be published by the newspaper to get the community involved in history

Haitian history and geography: network with a school in Haiti to blog and discuss issues relating to how they pay for and get to school…public class website compiling what students learned about the differences between the two schools…the information will then be presented to the school and community to get others involved

Service Learning Project

Service Learning Project
“Making an Impact on your Population”
Area of service: Civic Responsibility
Grades 6-8
Subject Area: Civics/Government
SS.7.C.2.3: Experience the responsibilities of citizens at the local, state, or federal levels.
SS.7.C.2.13: Examine multiple perspectives on public and current issues.
SS.7.C.2.14: Conduct a service project to further the public good.
NETS addressed:
1.
Creativity and Innovation
2.
Communication and Collaboration
3.
Research and Information Fluency
4.
Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
5.
Digital Citizenship
6.
Technology Operations and Concepts

Unit Description:
This service unit is designed to show students how they can impact their government and society in ways other than electing officials. The unit will begin with a short lesson on how individuals in our government can spark legislation by writing to congressmen, creating a petition, or rallying others to your cause by instigating awareness. Students will then individually brainstorm for ideas on what issues they would like to resolve or contribute to in society. These will be student generated topics, but students can use news feeds, such as Google News to find out more about issues of national concern. Possible topics include Abortion, Gay Marriage, Marijuana Laws, Euthanasia, or the war in Iraq. Once students pick a topic, they may decide to work in groups with students who pick similar topics. Students will then engage in research to learn more about their chosen topic in order to strengthen their arguments and make sure they thoroughly understand the issue. Then students will create a podcast, or video presentation that presents the issue as a public service announcement, meant to inform and persuade the general public that their chosen issue is the most important and that their stance on the issue is the correct one. Students will also be asked to create wiki’s for each individual topic, which will serve as a platform to engage other citizens who wish to contribute to their cause. As part of the wiki, students will start a petition to be signed by anyone who is interested in joining their cause. As a final part of the project, each individual student will be asked to draft a letter to any congressperson or political figure they wish, advocating for their stance on their particular issue. The wiki page, PSA, and letter must contain evidence that explains the particular issue and why the student has chosen to take a particular stance. This project will raise awareness of current controversial issues, as well as the ways in which students can impact how those issues are played out in our society.
Technologies:
· Students will use news feeds such as Google News to help pick a topic and understand the controversy surrounding it.
· Students will use search engines such as Google, Ask.com, or Bing to search for evidence and current debate surrounding their chose issue. Cites such as Wikipedia, blogs, and special interest groups websites will also be beneficial to contributing to student background knowledge, however students must exercise caution and be wary of bias.
· Wiki creation cites such as Wikispaces will be used to create and host the class wikis.
· Programs such as GarageBand and a microphone can be used to create podcasts, which can be uploaded on the wiki relating to the subject.
· A video camera and any number of media editing programs, such as MovieMaker can be used to create the video PSA, which will then be posted to the appropriate wiki.
· Students can also use social networking tools, such as facebook, myspace, or twitter to alert people about their petition and ask them to join their cause.
Assessment:
Students will be assessed based on the level of understanding of their particular issue and their presentation of their stance on the issue. Students must demonstrate a thorough understanding of all sides of their issue through their wiki, PSA, and letter. Students will also be evaluated on how well they present their argument and how well they encourage outside involvement. Students will also be asked to write a one-paragraph response to the following questions: Have you corrected any previous misconceptions about your topic that you previously held? How do you think your involvement in these issues has impacted society and do you think you have made a difference? What is something you could do to take this project one step further? These questions will serve to evaluate not only the students, but also the project, in order to make revisions for future classes.

Retro-active twitter technology...

So I was trying to think of a historical event where the social networking technology, like twitter, would really change the course of history. Obviously, there’s about a million different events that would have played out differently if instant communication by average citizens was possible such as the Japanese internment during WWII, the Vietnam War, or even the Battle of Gettysburg. One event that I thought would have been particularly different was the fabled midnight ride of Paul Revere. While most historians maintain this probably didn’t happen, it still would have been dramatically different if all the colonists, not to mention Revere himself, had twitter or face book accounts which they were constantly updating. Think of the implications! First of all, every American would have known the British were coming, probably before the British even knew they were coming themselves. Not only would Revere not have to make such an epic journey, more people would have been ready to repel the invasion, and they would have been better organized and might have turned the tide of the war from the very beginning. Also, Americans could send propaganda around to the different colonies to gain support and expose British loyalists. But, what if the British also check their twitter feed! Then they would have known all the colonists knew of their impending invasion and they might have delayed or gotten reinforcements. They would have detailed records of colonial hotspots and they would know key colonists by name and location. Of course, all this could be avoided however if the colonists just made their accounts private...
So, can you think of anything else that might have happened differently if the colonists had been properly utilizing their social networks? Also, do you think events in the past are better left alone to play out as they already have, or are we missing out by not developing time-travel to make our past (as a species, not a nation), as perfect as possible. For example, should we stop genocide?

social networking as a social reality

I thought the most interesting part of this video was the concept that one of the students pointed out by putting a mirror in front of her webcam to illustrate that while people are talking to other people, they are mediated by technology and thus, the conversation is dramatically different than a person addressing thousands of people from a stage say, at an event of some kind. The examples used in Wesch’s talk matter because of the sheer number of people which they influence or impact. This could range from people discounting them because they see the practice as un-intellectual, ignoring it as a legitimate platform from which to encourage civil participation. This could also include those people who are unable to take what they see on YouTube with a grain of salt and are too heavily influenced by the opinions expressed there. The role of “self” in social networking, specifically networking involving technology, is a unique and individual version of yourself which could only be activated through the medium of technology. In other words, it’s a version of your personality that you tap into when you address a mass of people, but never face to face. Based on this answer, my view of social networking has not changed much, and I still believe it can be used in the classroom. Social networking opens students up to avenues of their psyche that they may have never known existed. In fact I think it’s safe to say that sooner or later, a new technology, or something beyond the realm of what we consider to be technology will emerge that will also uncover a new vestige of the human psychological disposition. The bottom line is that social networking is a real part of our current world, and as educators it is our responsibility to prepare our students for anything they may encounter in the world. So, my question to you is, do you think as teachers we have the right to choose what aspects of the world we want to include in our lessons, or do you believe that if it exists in society, we must address it?

DeSoto exploration unit

The collection I added to itunesU is called “DeSoto in America”. The resources that support my unit are primary source accounts from DeSoto’s contemporaries (http://www.nps.gov/archive/deso/chronicles/), maps from the era in which DeSoto lived (http://www.floridahistory.com/inset13.html), and a google earth representation of DeSoto’s trails (http://www.desototrails.com/). For a unit on DeSoto, I would use the itunesU clips to introduce the students to the explorer and get them motivated to learn more about what he did and why he did it. The clips are very entertaining and provide a general overview of DeSoto’s path, interactions with natives, and relationship with his men. As part of this unit, I would incorporate the primary sources of accounts of some of the men traveling with DeSoto to compare to the video. With this, students will be able to see how the podcast portrays some things differently than the primary source, and they will also have a real life connection with DeSoto and his men. With the primary sources, students can participate in a document analysis to reveal what life on DeSoto’s exploration was like. Using contemporary maps, students can see why DeSoto’s path was so convoluted and they can appreciate why he made the decisions he did. They can also see why he believed the land he was exploring was just a small island, giving them historical perspective and letting them evaluate the primary sources, and the video, in a new light. Finally, using google earth technology, students can follow DeSoto’s path down to the most intricate detail. Document analysis is one of the most important tools for the historian and having the students expose the differences between the primary source and the secondary source can help build their critical thinking skills and more actively involve them in learning.

Social Responsibilty and the Global Garment Industry

The service learning project I chose is entitled, “Social Responsibility and the Global Garment Industry” (http://www.servicelearning.org/slice/index.php?ep_action=view&ep_id=308). Its stated project description is as follows: Students will learn about industrialization today, globalization, free trade zones, the fashion industry, sweatshops and child labor issues. After viewing a video documentary about a maquila in Central America, students will confront these issues in a classroom simulation: a U.S. clothing corporation must decide how profits and its own human rights policy will guide overseas operations. Students from seven different interest groups make recommendations to the corporation’s vice president in an advisory board meeting about a subcontractor’s use of child labor. Following the simulation, students will consider their own roles as teen consumers and/or workers and determine the issues they will produce action on. Some possible options include: identifying where consumers can buy socially responsible clothing, creating a corporate responsibility letter-writing campaign, launching a consumer awareness petition project, educating teen workers about their rights, surveying teen workers to assess. I thought this lesson was really unique in that it teaches students about their own rights in an interesting way that directly affects their lives. It also strengthens the connection between students’ in school and out of school lives. Also, having students learn about other children their own age, could provide extra motivation and a deeper connection to the issue. This sort of project would most definitely use collaboration with outside groups, such as Sweatshop Watch and the National Labor Committee, and allow to students to create their own ideas and learn through hands-on activities. To mitigate some of the challenges posed by inquiry learning, students would be assigned specific roles in the project, to provide structure and make sure each student is fully participating. Also, students would be responsible for picking their own project ideas, but they would be picked from a predetermined set of possible projects, so as to compensate for the project having too much dependence on the students.

Inquiry learning and technology with the Civil War

For this particular assignment, I read the article "Where Do You Want To Go Today? Inquiry-Based Learning and Technology Integration." The article described two programs that were designed to help struggling students improve their reading and comprehension skills through the use of inquiry learning and technology. The students merely had to be interested in any topic, which they chose with teacher guidance, and then research and present their findings on that particular topic. This kind of program could be incredibly useful in the social studies classroom, even for kids who are reading and comprehending just fine. The great thing about this project is that it can be beneficial to struggling readers, as well as those reading at or above grade level, because it focuses on skills that aid in comprehension, as well as investigative skills that are neccessary for success in the social studies classroom. Since my practicum placement is 8th grade U.S. History, I could use this inquiry based research project to introduce students to primary source documents and their use in the History field. For example, students could chose their own topic, under the theme of maybe the Civil War and present a war-era letter, speech, or diary entry. Students could discuss issues like slavery, the cause and effect of the division of the Union, the effect of the war on the country and its population, or even the effect of the increasing immigration that occured during that period. Students would chose a topic, find a primary source relating to it using the internet, and then present to the class what that source tells us about that time period and their topic. With this approach, students are free to examine a range of issues, which in turn exposes the class to more than just civil war battles and helps students become familiar with how to use primary sources to learn about the past. Based on this summary of my proposed project, do you think it will be outside the academic range of 8th graders? In what other ways could this project fall apart? Could students find it too vague or difficult?

Owens, R.F., Hester , J.L., & Teale, W.H. (2002). Where do you want to go today? inquiry-based learning and technology integration. Reading Teacher, 55(7)

Social Studies technology in practice

So the fruits of some intensive internet searching are as follows: Social Studies Wiki = http://blog.woodward.edu/widener/?page_id=76, Podcast = http://www.podnova.com/channel/233670/, and Blog = http://ljhs.wordpress.com/. All three of these sources are used in schools and the wiki and podcast were created by students. These really are some inspiring finds though because they are the practical outcomes of all this emphasis on increasing technology in the classroom. I chose these three because they really gave me a good idea of the techniques you can employ to put technology in the classroom. Having the students discuss their notes within a podcast so that other students can have a review whenever they need it seems like an amazing tool that couldn't exist without technology in the classroom. The blog I chose contains tons of pictures of a variety of subjects and makes it easy to see how a blogging tool can really add an interesting dinamic to your classroom, and beyond. The wiki page is definitly my favorite because I don't think you can ever overestimate the benefit a tool like this could be to students. Having them construct a page that contains everything they learn in class not only helps them to remembe it all, but it gives them a chance to connect all the interesting things they've covered and adds a new dimension to the subject matter that could never have previously existed. The wiki page is full of really interesting class project ideas that connect learning and technology in interactive and fun ways (the movie trailer project looks like something I might end up trying in my classroom). All in all I think these are great resources for students to have and they leave me wondering how different my middle an high school experience could have been if I had had access to the same oppurtunities students have now.

Why should technology be integrated into social studies classrooms? How has the learning from our first session influenced your answer? Please support

Technology provides efficient ways to bridge gaps in education. Social Studies education in particular can benefit from technology because technology can put students in touch with learning environments that have never before been possible. As Alan November points out in Web Literacy for Educators, "The audience moves from teacher and class to the world." Technology can provide students with the most social experiences they could ever had, with the most diverse group of people possible. Using a blog on the internet is like saying what's on your mind in a room with every person on the planet (at least every person connected to the internet and viewing the blog). Students can also test and evaluate what they learn in the classroom by discussing it in their blog or reading experts' blogs on similar subjects. With technology, students can be motivated to take their learning outside the classroom and explore any topic they wish. If teachers can provide the framework for how to use and evalute internet sources, then no subject is off-limits to students and as a result, students can enjoy a much more diverse and rich learning experience.