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As talked about in many other blogs, this was the first time most of my classmates have participated in a video conference. While this was their first experience, I found myself reliving memories from my senior year of high school. Our school, although very un-technologically advanced, used the same type of video equipment for our long-distance learning class. Therefore, I have already seen the usefulness and purpose for this technology in an English classroom.
Our school offered college-level courses where you were able to start earning college credits while still in high school. During first period, one of the English teachers at our school volunteered to teach our ACM (Alleghany College of Maryland) English and public speaking courses. Half of the year was spent on the English portion (which ended up counting as my Eng 15 class), and the other half of the year was spent on the public speaking portion (which counted as my CAS 100 class).
Our class connected with a class from another local school in the area, Fannett Metal. Mrs. McDonald was the teacher for both ends, but she physically resided in our school. Through the cameras, the students at Fannett metal were able to see her teaching the lessons, and sometimes us (the students). When Mrs. McDonald used the overhead projector, it was a special projector that allowed whatever was being written, to appear directly on the video screen. For example, if the teacher turned on the projector and started writing sentences, the students on the other end, at Fannett Metal, would be seeing only the sentences on their TV screen, not the teacher or the students.
I think that this kind of technology is great. It allowed students from another school to earn college credits while still high school. Without this special technology, they would not have had this opportunity. One thing I’d like to point out, though, is that I was on the end with the physical teacher in the classroom. For the students at Fannett Metal, their experience could have been totally different. It might have been easier to zone out due to the lack of a physical presence. In any case, though, the video conference technology is a great asset to the English classroom, providing students with many opportunities they might not get otherwise.
Using my new best friend, The English Companion Ning, I was able to join a group called “Free Tools for English Teachers.” As the group’s mission statement says, “There are a multitude of free tools that are available for English Teachers. Some are online, others are downloadable. This group is a place for us to share these. I hope you’ll find some useful links and ideas for your pupils and classrooms.” Using my personal learning network of nings, blogs, and internet resources, I’d like to pass these very useful tools onto other English teachers. And don’t forget, they’re FREE!
Story/Idea Webs or Mind Mapping
Purpose: “MindMeister brings the concept of mind mapping to the web, using its facilities for real-time collaboration to allow truly global brainstorming sessions. Users can create, manage and share mind maps online and access them anytime, from anywhere. In brainstorming mode, fellow MindMeisters from around the world (or just in different rooms) can simultaneously work on the same mind map and see each other’s changes as they happen.”
How to use it in an English classroom: You can use mindmeister for many activities in an English classroom setting. You can have individual students create mind maps for stories that you are reading, or you can assign groups and have them collaboratively create a mind map. It’s a good way to brainstorm, boost your memory, archive your notes, and prepare your presentations. Plus, with the history setting, teachers can keep track of who edited what and when they edited it. You, along with the students, can also go through the history to view the various changes that occurred to get to the final product. For more information, view the tutorial video towards the bottom of the page.
Below is an example of a mind map from mindmeister.com
Story/Idea Webs or Mind Mapping
Purpose: “Bubbl.us is a simple and free web application that lets you brainstorm online.” It allows you to create colorful mind maps online, share and work with friends, embed your mind map in your blog or website, email and print your mind map, and save your mind map as an image.
How to use it in an English classroom: As stated above, bubbl serves the same purpose as mindmeister.
Below is an example of a mind map from bubbl.us
**Just as a sidenote, I found mindmeister to be better than bubbl. It was more user-friendly and had many perks that bubbl did not offer. There were many color and picture options, plus there is a history bar to keep track of who has edited your project. This is especially useful for disobedient students who want to delete other students’ work.
One Word
Purpose: “simple. you’ll see one word at the top of the following page. you have sixty seconds to write about it. as soon as you click ‘go’ the page will load with the cursor in place. don’t think. just write.”
How to use it in an English classroom: This website is a GREAT tool to use in an English classroom. It allows kids to work with impromptu writing. It allows them to be creative and think freely. They can choose whatever writing style they wish—words, sentences, bullets, etc. It also shows the importance of “economy of words.”
Wordle (word clouds)
Purpose: “Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.”
How to use it in an English classroom: This tool can be very beneficial and fun activity for students. While reviewing a text or creating a text of their own, they can use this site to create a word cloud. Another way to use it could be to type a poem or short text. With Wordle, the more frequent a word appears in the text, the larger and more prominent it appears in the word cloud. This is handy for identifying important, reoccurring words.
As I said before, these are all free tools and resources that have been suggested to me through a discussion on the English Companion Ning. Now, I pass these tools onto you, fellow blog readers, continuing the never-ending flow of the personal learning network. One thing I would like to point out, though, is that all of these resources require computers. This could be a problem for schools with limited access to computers and the internet.
It wasn’t until today that I started using the English Companion Ning. I had setup all of my other networks for my PLN, but for some reason this network got lost amongst the shuffle. One word: AMAZING! Or should I say AWESOME? Ok, so many not just one word, perhaps, any positive adjective would work. I had no idea that this resource existed until this semester. And for that reason, I am shocked. I cannot believe that none of my other Education teachers or colleagues or mentors had suggested this to me.
Ok, so why do I think the English Companion Ning is so terrific? As soon as I posted a few different discussions, I was getting answers and posts IMMEDIATELY. Within three minutes, I honestly had at least five suggestions and/or comments. I was getting very thorough and in depth responses from other respectable professionals. I was able to hear numerous personal experiences. In a way, I am able to “learn by my mistakes” without actually making the mistakes myself. I am able to learn from others own, personal experiences. I am able to find out what works and what doesn’t.
I believe one of the best things about the English Companion Ning is the exposure you have to other teachers. Being an online website for everyone to use, you are exposed to teachers of different geographical locations (including urban, inner city, and rural school teachers), different races and ethnicities, and different ages and sex (young teachers, older teachers, males, females). The diversity and variation of teachers, allows us to look at things from all perspectives…not just of people who are the same age, are from the same place, and are teaching at the same school.
One of the English Companion Ning’s groups is “Free Tools for English Teachers.” I don’t know about you, but anytime I hear the word free, I start chasing it down! Come on, who doesn’t like free stuff? Better yet, it was crazy to see the extremely useful tools and resources listed in this discussion.
So in a nutshell, here are just a few reasons why the English Companion Ning is so wonderful:
- Fast responses from qualified professionals
- Respectable/credible answers
- Many different topics, issues, discussions, & groups to choose from
- Advice from fellow teachers
- Resources/Tools for the classroom
- Connecting to other people like you—being exposed to a variety of teachers with different thoughts, opinions, & strategies
RSS….mobile! Yes, that’s right. I now have Google Reader on my cell phone! As recommended by Aaron Tay (through comments in my ‘Netvibes vs Google Reader’ blog), I decided to try out different RSS reader applications for my smartphone (the Motorola Droid). I was able to find “NewsRob,” an application that automatically syncs my Google reader to my phone. It’s a very user-friendly app that is very quick to load. All of my feeds that I’ve categorized into folders appear just as I’ve organized them.
Playing the devil’s advocate and being biased towards Netvibes, I also decided to check out the Netvibes RSS reader app for my cell phone. Just like the Google Reader app, the Netvibes app also synced automatically with my account, organizing my feeds into the folders I’ve categorized them into. To my dismay, though, I found that it took the Netvibes app A LOT longer to load than the Google one. There were also a few other issues. My feeds were automatically loading in “widget view,” and I could not figure out how to change it back to “reader view.” I think this could contribute to the reason it took forever to load.
As I also mentioned through the comments in my other blog, I believe and hope that Netvibes will continue to edit and work on their mobile application. Of course, the Google powerhouse, having many advantages over a smaller organization (Netvibes), already has a well-developed app. In time, though, when Netvibes achieves a well-developed app, we will see how the two will compete.
Until then, as far as RSS Readers gone mobile go…well, you have it folks. The winner is Google reader!
I’ve taken some screen shots from my cell phone to show you the way the apps look. The first four are from NewsRob, the Google Reader app. The last two were from the Netvibes app.
As talked about in Caitlin and Jessie’s blogs, I, too, decided to “enter the conversation” and get some ideas from fellow classmates. After checking out the blogs of my peers, I found Diane’s latest blog on Writing Across the Curriculum very interesting. As mentioned, we discussed this controversial topic as a whole in our LLED 411 class. Like she said, one issue I’m worried about is crossing into someone else’s territory. I found Diane’s idea of how to make suggestions, using moodle and/or pickle, to fellow teachers very beneficial.
When responding to the idea of WAC, I took a different point of view than most of the other students in my class. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for WAC, but I think that if it isn’t done properly, it could have a negative effect. I feel that if students are forced to write research papers and essays in science or social studies classes, they could easily get burned out. By forcing them to write in a formal style about topics they may not be interested in, they could run away in the opposite direction. I would like to see WAC in place that encourages creative writing. For example, during class, Elizabeth talked about a friend of hers who had some kind of science class. The teacher incorporated writing through a Sci-Fi short story assignment, and in that assignment, the students were required to use certain vocabulary terms and definitions. That is why I’m dedicating this blog to giving suggestions on how to implement WAC properly.
So how am I “entering the conversation”? I’m going to answer the following questions using information I’ve found from online resources.
What exactly is Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC)?
Writing Across the Curriculum is the practice of writing across the academic board, or in other words, the incorporation of writing into subjects other than English.
What are the different kinds?
There are two types–Writing in the Disciplines and Writing to Learn
Definitions from one source:
“Writing in the Disciplines (WID): Writing in the disciplines is premised on the idea that students become better readers, thinkers, and learners in a discipline by working with the forms and conventions specific to it. A biology teacher might ask students to write lab reports, for example, while an art teacher might assign artists’ statements or gallery reviews. Journalistic articles, business plans, memos, and oral histories are additional examples of genres common to particular fields.”
“Writing to Learn (WTL): Rejecting the notion that writing serves primarily to translate what is known onto the page, advocates of writing to learn suggest teachers use writing to help students discover new knowledge—to sort through previous understandings, draw connections, and uncover new ideas as they write (NWP & Nagin, 2003). WTL activities may also be used to encourage reflection on learning strategies and improve students’ meta cognitive skills. Examples, … include journals, learning logs, and entrance/exit slips.”
Here are definitions from a different source:
“Writing in the Disciplines (WID) This approach recognizes that each discipline has its own unique language conventions, format, and structure. In other words, the style, organization, and format that is acceptable in one discipline may not be at all acceptable in another. WID believes that to participate successfully in the academic discourse of their community, students must be taught discipline-specific conventions and should practice using these conventions. Some common WID assignments are reports, literature reviews, project proposals, and lab reports. WID assignments can also be combined with WTL activities to help students think through key concepts, ideas, and language of in their disciplines.”
“Writing to Learn (WTL) This pedagogical approach values writing as a method of learning. When students write reactions to information received in class or in reading, they often comprehend and retain the information better. Writing can also help students work through confusing new ideas and apply what they learn to their own lives and interests. Also, because students write more frequently, they become more comfortable with writing and are able to maintain or even improve upon their writing skills. WTL assignments are typically short and informal and can be performed either in or out of class. Examples include writing and reading journals, summaries, response papers, learning logs, problem analyses, and more.”
What are the benefits of WAC?
- improved writing skills
- improved thinking skills
- having an understanding of content
- improved literacy
- impressive positive correlation between the frequency of informative writing assessments and academic achievement in every subject area
- deepened comprehension
- able to analyze and synthesize knowledge
- improved communication
What are some assignments or ideas on how to implement this technique in secondary schools?
Quick Writes
These are short pieces of writing designed to focus students’ thinking.
Teachers can use quick writes to:
- assess prior knowledge before instruction in order to set the stage for new information. Read these “Entrance Slips” anonymously before instruction to set the stage for new ideas. (create a list of keywords, a list of questions, 3 things I know/don’t know)
- give students time to write briefly on the day’s topic before contributing to class discussions.
- pause in the middle of instruction to check for understanding, or to make connections and predictions. (paraphrase, ask a question)
- summarize main points, form opinions, or reflect on what was learned after instruction. (“Exit Slip” 3-Things I Learned, 2- Things I Wonder About, 1- Thing I Could Teach Someone Else)
Evaluation tips:
- First, model “incomplete”, “adequate”, and “excellent” responses (check minus, check, check plus). Look for content, quantity, appropriateness, elaboration, etc.
- Assess as complete/incomplete, correct/incorrect, or trade for peer review.
- Evaluate content only, never for grammar.
Journals or Learning Logs
Journals and logs give students an informal place to explore and interact with class content.
Students can:
- summarize newly acquired knowledge.
- write vocabulary terms in your own words.
- define what was most interesting or confusing.
- create a list of questions or possible topics for future research.
- explain math or science problems or terms in writing.
- make connections (between new information and prior knowledge, experiences, or opinions).
- write your own study or test questions (trade for peer response).
Evaluation tips:
- Define grading requirements. Well-kept journals could be a boost to the final grade or could be given a test grade status.
- Choose only one part to grade at a time.
- Use notebooks or loose leaf binders to hold work.
- Respond to entries; highlight insights; comment in margins.
- Write to content-focused prompts for homework.
- Take notes during lectures.
Double-Entry Explorations
These are more involved journal entries, in which the paper is divided into two columns.
On opposing sides of the column students can:
- list math problems, theories, science experiments, vocabulary words, student or teacher generated questions, drawings, copied or summarized passages from text, etc.
- explain importance, draw connections, make applications to real life, solve problems, create a running list of questions, re-write in their own words, etc.
Journal Evaluation Tips:
- Define grading requirements. Well-kept journals could be a boost to final grade or could be a given test grade status.
- Evaluate content only, never for grammar.
- Collect a different half or third of your students’ journals at a time.
- Consider using a loose-leaf binder to more easily collect writing.
- Ask students to highlight favorite entries before turning in journals.
- Occasionally respond with your own writing or comments. Use different color highlights for most thoughtful entries, ideas for possible exploration, or needs more attention.
**information found at
http://www.thewritingsite.org/resources/curriculum/ideas612.asp
List of websites used during my research:
http://www.thewritingsite.org/resources/curriculum/default.asp
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/671/1/
http://courses.durhamtech.edu/tlc/www/html/Resources/writing_across_curriculum/writingcurriculuma.htm
I was recently responding to a thread on PICCLE, and while I was trying to come up with some ideas on collaborative learning, I came across the concept of cooperative learning. I remember taking my first ed pysch class and learning about this type of group work. I was surprised to find that I didn’t remember that much about it though, having been two years since I’ve taken that class. I furthered my curiosity by researching the topic. I was able to find numerous websites explaining what it is and how to implement it in the classroom. The only disappointment I had was that all of the websites listed about the same nine or ten strategies. Being the tech savvy student I’ve learned to be from my LLED classes, I then checked youtube for some informational videos. The following information is what I was able to find while using my personal learning network and internet resources.
The Goals and Purpose of Cooperative Learning:
• To promote positive relationships and mutual respect among teammates
• To foster accountability (both individual and group)
• To provide a venue for problem solving as a team
Benefits of cooperative learning:
• Promotes student learning and academic achievement
• Increases student retention
• Enhances student satisfaction with their learning experience
• Helps students develop skills in oral communication
• Develops students’ social skills
• Promotes self-esteem
• Helps to promote positive race relations
• Acknowledgment of individual differences (When questions are raised, different students will have a variety of responses. Each of these can help the group create a product that reflects a wide range of perspectives and is thus more complete and comprehensive.)
• More opportunities for personal feedback. (Because there are more exchanges among students in small groups, your students receive more personal feedback about their ideas and responses. This feedback is often not possible in large-group instruction, in which one or two students exchange ideas and the rest of the class listens.)
• Celebration of diversity. (Students learn to work with all types of people. During small-group interactions, they find many opportunities to reflect upon and reply to the diverse responses fellow learners bring to the questions raised. Small groups also allow students to add their perspectives to an issue based on their cultural differences. This exchange inevitably helps students to better understand other cultures and points of view.)
• Interpersonal development. (Students learn to relate to their peers and other learners as they work together in group enterprises. This can be especially helpful for students who have difficulty with social skills. They can benefit from structured interactions with others.)
• Actively involving students in learning. (Each member has opportunities to contribute in small groups. Students are apt to take more ownership of their material and to think critically about related issues when they work as a team.)
How to Implement Cooperative Learning in Five Steps:
1.) Assign Groups
2.) Provide Guidelines
3.) Assign Task with Parameters
4.) Assessment
5.) Share Results
The teacher’s role throughout this process is to provide assistance as needed.
Tips on Implementing Cooperative Learning:
• Choose a cooperative learning strategy that the team will use to complete the task.
• Assign a task to be completed defining the parameters and clearly identifying the goals.
• Provide assistance when needed.
• Provide an evaluation checklist with points to determine progress in achieving team goals.
• Provide an opportunity for the team to share results of teamwork.
How to assign groups:
• Pupils are assigned to small groups or teams (ideally no more than 4 members in a group)
• Teams are comprised of pupils of different ability levels.
• The immediate intention is that each member of the “team” accepts the responsibility to achieve the goal(s) of instruction while helping any teammates who need assistance. Tasks or activities that are assigned can vary in nature depending on the grade level.
• Assign groups according to different backgrounds, keeping each team as diverse as possible.
FAQ’s I had before and during my researching:
How many students should be in a group?
Ideally, no more than 4 students in a group
How do I create groups?
Try to create groups that are diverse in skill/ability level, as well as racially and socioeconomically
How can I incorporate it into an English classroom?
The following website gives an example of how to incorporate cooperative learning into an English class, through a poetry lesson.
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/LanguageArtsPoetryCoOp.htm
For the 10 Cooperative Learning Activities and Strategies, check out the following websites:
http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/intech/cooperativelearning.htm#elements
http://www.worksheetlibrary.com/teachingtips/cooperativelearningtips.html
Other sites used in my research:
http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/intech/cooperativelearning.htm#elements
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/mi/index_sub6.html
It’s the final countdown…Netvibes vs Google Reader.
When I originally signed up for an RSS reader, I signed up for Netvibes simply because it was the first RSS reader listed in Kate Klingensmith’s chart. Then, I realized that Jason and the others in class are using Google Reader. Realizing this, I signed up for Google Reader this morning. Since then, I’ve been glued to my computer (thanks to being snowed in) and have been playing around with both. With Netvibes, you can choose the look of your page–you can view it in “widget” style or “reader” style. I’ve posted below the two different views. Clearly, the reader view is more like Google Reader.
After playing around with both RSS readers, I stuck by my opinion that Netvibes is better. Aesthetically, Netvibes wins, allowing users to change the colors and themes of their page, unlike Google. In addition to that, users can also decide if they want to view their page “widget style” or “reader style.” As far as adding widgets and feeds, I also feel that Netvibes is more user-friendly. You can preview your feed before adding it. Organization: it’s a tie. Both Google Reader and Netvibes allow you to organize your feeds into folders (I grouped everyone’s blog pages into the folder “LLED 420”). One thing I did really like about Google Reader is that you can click on the title of the blog post and it will open a new window with the actual blog site. Other than that, I found Netvibes to be superior. Just something to think about as far as choices go!
As I was talking about in my previous post, an even bigger technology that is going to assist education is the iPad, and other versions of it (For an introduction to what the iPad is, click the link and watch the video). The iPad technologies should be coming out around March or April of this year. There has already been a lot of talk about how these new devices can play a role in the education system.
Here is just one article: Measuring the iPad’s Potential for Education
Author Bridget McCrea says,
“Textbooks, for example, may look and feel very different in a just a few years, thanks in part to the introduction of the iPad. “We’ll no longer be thinking in terms of static publications and will instead be using dynamic content with animation, movies, video, and other multimedia built into it,” Purdy predicted. “We’ll go from trying to feed PDF textbooks into portable devices to building interactive, dynamic applications that students can carry around with them.”
Comparing today’s introduction of the iPad to the 2007 debut of the iPhone, which at the time was not associated with a burgeoning app store, Purdy said educators should view the new device as more than just a new piece of hardware. “This is really just the beginning,” he said. “Just watch what creative developers are going to do with this platform. It should be pretty exciting.””
Another article, Apple iPad and Education: Teacher’s Aid or Student Learning Tool?
“Of all the wiz-bang features presented by Jobs, the iPad’s e-book capabilities most captured my attention. With a starting price tag of $499 (not including the 3G network costs) the iPad begins to look like a bargain when you compare it with the price of keeping a student in textbooks from k-12. Plus, the potential for enhancing texts with images, audio clips, and videos may pay off immeasurably in terms of keeping students engaged.”
Yet, another article with video: Five Ways the iPad and Education Could Go Together
1. Electronic Textbooks
2. New mobile computing labs
3. Virtual field trip guides
4. Mobile data collection
5. New ways to create content
It’s crazy to think, but the new iPad and other tablets could be a revolution in technology as well as education. As stated in these articles, this new technology could intertwine text with movies, with animation and charts, and so much more. Instead of having a traditional text, we could be teaching from an interactive stance. The traditional textbook could turn into an electronic melting pot full of resources and information.
Instead of reading a book and looking at a picture or two, students could use their new, electronic book to read the text, then to see examples or for further understanding, they could click to play a video demonstrating whatever they’re learning. They could electronically highlight important topics and quotes. They could even possibly create the textbook material in a “dual column response” format, allowing students to write thoughts or questions as they go along. The possibilities that lay before us are endless.
After learning more about the iPad and how it may be the tool we need to revolutionize traditional textbooks, it occurred to me that this is exactly what we are trying to do with our personal learning networks! By creating and using a PLN, we are trying to use a multitude of resources to learn more, better, faster, etc. With the new technologies coming out, if they are able to revolutionize the traditional text book by interweaving text, media (such as videos, animated graphs and charts, pictures, etc.), forums/threads/blogs, and so on, we would be striving for the same goal.
After sitting in class today, through our discussions, I started considering how technology can truly be used in the classroom. I took into account the many questions we are trying to answer on Wikispaces. Nevertheless, combining our reading questions with the topics discussed today in class, the question that keeps bouncing back and forth in my mind is how do you get students to actually read the book?
I recently bought the Motorola Droid through Verizon. In case you are unfamiliar with this phone, it’s essentially like the iPhone. It is centered around widgets and applications. On the phone there is an application called Aldiko Book Reader. Basically it’s a huge e-library. You can read and download thousands of books right onto your cell phone.
Also, I know that they also recently came out with a piece of technology strictly for reading books electronically. They’re called Digital Books or eBook Readers. I’ve seen them for sale at stores like Best Buy, as well as online.
How can these technologies assist in education or the classroom? Outside of school, students have their cell phones on them at every moment–even in school, they are attached to their phones. This could make reading an easier task. For students who have smart phones like the Droid or iPhone, if they download a book reading application (like Aldiko), this essentially means that they have their book (whatever book you, as a teacher, assign) with them wherever they go. I feel that this would help with the ongoing problem of “How do I get students to actually read the book?”
Everywhere you look, younger people are constantly on their cell phones. If you’re waiting in a doctor’s office or dentist’s office, most of the younger people around you are playing with their phones. What about before a class starts or after a class ends? Out of the pocket comes the cell phone.
Now, with the increase in technology, when students are bored, waiting in a doctor’s office, they could pull out their cell phone and read. The nuisance of carrying a physical book with them is no longer an issue. With their smart phone, it’s as if they have their book everywhere they go.
Implementing Technology in the Classroom 