Project #14

Blog Post #8

This is How We Dream Part 1&2
"We can now communicate globally, instantly." This quote, at the beginning of Richard E. Miller's This is How we Dream pt. 1, really caught my attention. I don't think I ever realized that fact. When something is posted on the internet, not only can it be seen in our community, city, county, state, country, continent, hemisphere, but WORLD WIDE, instantly! Dr. Miller is right when he said that we are living at the moment of the greatest change in communication in human history. When he said this, I thought about the telegraph and telephone. While these two inventions were world changing, the impact of the World Wide Web on mankind has only begun to be realized. It wont be long and print will be totally obsolete. I don't mean that printed materials will be limited, I mean they will no longer exist. Everything will be published digitally and will be accessed by a few key strokes. This is a possibility with in my lifetime and it is exciting!

Carly Pugh's EDM310 Blog Post #12
Wow... Talk about going above and beyond! Carly really took this assignment seriously and put her heart into it. I think she is getting very close to Dr. Miller's ideas about writing with multimedia. This blog post is what it is all about. Spreading your ideas, sharing your thoughts with the whole world.
Carly's "Six Questions for Every Day" video made think about a video we watched in blog post #2 from Sir Ken Robinson about how schools kill creativity. I absolutely, whole heartily, believe this. Students today are not allowed to explore their creativity because of all the emphasis placed on state testing. The public schools are more interested in their funding than teaching their students. I realize that with out funding, there will be no education, but something has to be done. It may have to start with the teachers, but due to the fact that teachers make their living by doing what they are told to by the school district, that may be a tough proposition.

The Chipper Series and EDM310 for Dummies
These two videos by Jamie Lynn Miller are well designed and delivered. I would enjoy doing a video on the statistics of the technology used in the education system of Mississippi. I don't know if there would be very much content, but I guess that is half of the point.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn
Why am I not surprised that the education system ranked last in the Department of Commerce report of IT intensiveness? The only thing that surprised me was that the coal industry was ranked higher! I guess that has to do with funding more than anything else. Industries, like the coal mining industry, make a product and turn a monetary profit. They have the funds to make their businesses run more efficiently. The education system is funded by the national government and the $1,000,000,000 per day that was being spent in Afghanistan was way more important than the futures of the future tax payers, right? It sure does seem that way...
The "nearly now" time frame that the second orator, Greg Whitby, mentioned is fascinating. The social world is no longer dominated by telephone conversations or face to face time, which requires both parties to answer immediately. Now, each person involved in the conversation has time to perform the "Rs" as the man said. People are not pressured. They can reflect, retract, research, and repeat before answering. I agree with him that this "time" or "space" is an excellent place to learn.
The next to last orator, Ken Kay, really hit the nail on the head for me. He said, "...it is not memorizing the facts that they are going to need to know for the rest of their lives... ...it will be: Do you know how to find information, do you know how to validate it, do you know how to synthesize it, do you know how to leverage it, do you know how to communicate it, do you know how to collaborate with it, do you know how to problem solve with it. That is the new 21st century set of literacies." In my opinion, he is exactly correct.


Scavenger Hunt 2.0

#1 I think google+ is not only a social tool like twitter.com and facebook.com that teachers, students, and parents could use, I think it is a better platform with WAY more options and tools to make the environment easier to use and a much more effective sharing device.
The google docs tool is a web based word processing tool at it's base, but can be used for document storage and so much more.
The google+ hangout is a video chat tool that could be used for parent/teacher conferences or whatever is needed between the student or parent and teacher.
The fact that google+ allows the user to place their "followers" in circles and can choose which circle or circles can see certain posts is great! The teacher can communicate to just the students/parents or even certain students/parents.
With google+, the options are limitless.

#2 Prezi - For the general public, a Prezi account has two different pricing options. The "enjoy" option is $59 for a year subscription. The "pro" option is $159 annually. Both of the options are free to try for 30 days. The Prezi website also offers a discount for students and teachers. The discount is huge. For students and teachers the "enjoy" option is absolutely free and Prezi knocks off $100 for the pro version at $59 for a yearly account. With the "enjoy" version being free, Prezi really hits home with the student base. It is good to see web based tech tool companies making an effort to keep their programs affordable for teachers and students.

#5 blogpolls.com is a great, free, tool to create a poll anywhere at any time.

Project #12

My Personal Learning Network

My Symbaloo
I chose to use Symbaloo as the tool in which I will display my Personal Learning Network. A PLN is something that everyone has, but something few of us will have ever thought about. How do we learn out side of the classroom? Friends, family, television, and social media are all ways we can find answers. Using a tool like Symbaloo can really put your network into perspective. I see it as a bookmarking tool for knowledge. My Symbaloo webmix is not complete yet, and may never be "complete", but I am adding additional resources as I find them. We must never stop exploring the vastness of the internet.

Blog post #7

Networked Student

This video by Wendy Drexler really shows the importance of a PLN, or personal learning network, for today's students. The Internet is the most powerful resource we have. The amount of information and misinformation is enormous. A well developed PLN is the key to sorting through all of the information and ensuring the quality of information that you need. a PLN is not only important while a person is in the educational setting, but is something that will be used throughout their entire life. We never stop learning. We never stop asking questions.

In this video, the question, "Why does the networked student even need a teacher?", is posed. The same could be asked in a time with only text books... If a student could read everything on their own, why are teachers needed? Teachers provide the student with guidance. Effectively, teachers are educators. Educators teach the student how to learn and what to learn. Educators build foundations of education for the students to build upon. There is no way to teach anyone everything. The goal is to provide the necessary skills and information to facilitate a person's self education. Relate this to a golfer. The golf coach can teach the mechanics of the golf swing and the finer points of the game of golf, but the golfer has to swing the club, learn to hit the ball, and play the game on their own.

Welcome to My PLE!
In this video, a 7th grade student takes you on a tour of her Symbaloo Webmix that displays her personal learning network. I have started my own Symbaloo Webmix and love it! My Webmix is no where near as full as her's is, but I will be adding to it periodically. I think this tool is a great way to keep track of the resources you use to self educate.

C4T #2 Summary

What Ed Said
What Ed Said is a wonderful blog from Melburn, Australia. Ms. Edna Sackson is the author as well as the teaching and learning coordinator for the International Baccalaureate PYP school.

19 February 2012
I commented on Ms. Edna Sackson's blog "What Ed Said". I had to double take on the first sentence... I then realized that she taught at a school in Australia that goes year round. Their school year corresponds to the actual calender year. Better than ours? I thinks so, but that is a whole other discussion. Her post was about the number of different people one can find when participating in a group activity. If you have ever taken part in something along the same lines, you can relate.

27 February 2012
Ms. Sackson posted a blog about teaching media literacy. Ms. Sackson is part of a group of teachers and students that are exploring 21st century learning. This week, the students had to go to a number of media sites and comment on what they saw there. The team of teachers, named Year 5, met to discuss the comments and discover where the students interests lie. One comment, by a student named Mia, really caught their attention: Why was YouTube invented? The Year 5 group then posed questions to the students based on Mia's comment: What is the purpose of You Tube? How is it used? How has it evolved? What are the advantages and disadvantages? Why is it blocked in some places? This question was also posted on the What Ed Said blog for other people to join in the inquiry. Here is my comment:
In response to the YouTube question:
Obviously YouTube was created for a place to share media, but I think the historical aspect of YouTube is interesting. I know that the website is cluttered with ridiculousness, the video with the most views is a music video from Lady Gaga, and as Ms. Sackson stated above, there are plenty of obscenities, but if you think about it, how cool it will be to have our grandchildren not only be able to read about the events that shaped our lives, but be able to watch the events that shaped our lives. YouTube is a virtual historical library of film. I think that is neat!

Timetoast Timeline Project #9a

Al-Qaeda

Podcast Project

C4K Summary

12Feb2012
I commented on Kenneth's blog in Mr. Chamberlain's Noel Elementary class. The blog was somewhat sparse, but one post caught my attention.
"I walk in and I smell blood in the the cabin.I hear a howl in one of the rooms, suddenly I hear the click of the door locking behind me! In the dark room my blood is racing through my veins."
What a suspenseful piece! From an eighth grader! I think there may be some potential there...

12Feb2012
Special C4K
I commented on Lauren's class blog about her amazing video. I expressed how much I was impressed by the quality and how creative her video was.

19Feb2012
C4K #2
I commented on Samantha J's wonderful blog relating to the why and how of Zebra stripes. Samantha is a high school student, but contributes to her blog like a seasoned adult blogger. She is very interested in nature and desires to help keep the planet clean by educating the readers of her blog.

26Feb2012
I commented on Sam's Story. I presume Sam is a female student. She is in the 6th grade class taught by Mr. Avery in Plympton, Mass. She has only had her blog up for about 24 days, but she seems to be on the right track.
04Mar2012
I commented on Shakeem's blog. He is a student at Ferry Lane Primary School in Tottenham, London, England. There was only one blog post, but it was an excellent poem.

Blog post #6

Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture

Randy Pausch should be the measuring stick in everyone's life. Having been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer, he never stopped having fun. He had a desire to enable others to accomplish their dreams and worked very hard to succeed. On July 25, 2008, the world lost a great man.

Self reflection is one of the topics in Randy's lecture. Not necessarily personal self reflection, although very important, but teaching your students, or athletes, to be self reflective. Some on can tell you that you need to take a shower, but actually knowing how bad you smell is a much more powerful motivator. As teachers, we should never just tell a student what they have not done correctly, it is imperative that we show them the mistake as well as show them how to correct that mistake. For me, learning is knowing my errors and making sure I take the necessary steps to not make the same mistake twice.
Randy also says it is important to tell the truth and I couldn't agree with him more. Trust is earned, not given. Trust is a difficult thing to acquire, but one of the easiest things to lose. Honesty is the only way to gain someone's trust. As an educator, we have to gain the trust of our students or we will never be able to teach them anything. If your student cannot trust that what your are teaching them is legitimate, then you have failed.
Along with telling the truth, Randy says we must also be earnest in everything we do. To be earnest means to be sincere. As an educator, earnestly approaching education of your students is very important. I have seen plenty of people doing a job just to earn a pay check. While this attitude may not be a serious detriment in a large number of professions, if the attitude is presented in the world of education, it could have serious consequences on a students future. In most cases, teachers play a very important supporting role in the development of a child, second only to that of their parents. The responsibility is huge! A teacher who is not sincerely trying to facilitate the empowerment of their students through education is wasted space.
Focus on others, not yourself. Randy embodies this piece of advice about as well as anyone could hope to. As teachers, coaches, just educators in general, the focus should be on the students and no where else. Our purpose is not to be teacher of the year or coach of the century, it is to give our students the best possible tools to be successful in life.