Elluminte Evaluation

I enjoyed visiting with Patti and my classmates online using the syncronous tool Elluminate. Elluminate is easy to use. The navigation bar is user friendly and the environment is clean and not cluttered with buttons and lists. To realize the full benefit of Elluminate one needs a high speed connection, preferrably a LAN or cable modem.

I can see how this tool could be a valuable resource for the classroom. Conducting a webmeeting with an expert would work well. The Alaska Sealife Center in Seward has marine biology experts and an outreach program. This may be a way for the Center to connect with classrooms around the world as well as next door.

Professionally, Elluminate would be a good way to get a quick tutorial on how to use educational software. Teachers are inundated with new software each year. It can be overwhelming learn how to effectively use new software in time to successfully apply it in the classroom. Local or national trainers can use this presentation tool to demonstate applications of new software for teachers.

A disadvantage to this software is the very thing that makes this software powerful, it's syncronous nature. Viewers must be at the right place at the right time or they miss the immediate feedback from questions posed during the presentation. On the flipside, the advantage of Elluminate is that viewers get realtime help and answers to questions about the presentation topic.

Journal Entry

Ok, so far I've joined and have customized a page for each of the following sites:

Classroom 2.0 I created a page, added a song, created a profile, added friends, and explored the site a little. This site will be cool for networking with other teachers with similiar interests.

del.icio.us I create a page added 10-15 links, linked this page to my blog page, and explored the site a little. This site will allow me to locate, organize, and navigate my internet links with ease from any computer. I love the tags feature to give searchability to my links and other links which are connected to my tags on the internet.

Blogger I created a blog page, added a widget to Wired Magazine Online, added weather in Kenai, posted many times, added links to friends' blogs, added resources with RSS feeds, added a pictures, created a profile, added a link back to my Classroom 2.0 page, added my Google Reader (syndication aggregator), added a video bar, added an EdTech News sidebar, added a survey, added a blog archive, made a comment to a post, and just done some general housecleaning of the page.

wetpaint.com I have joined this wiki database add added a wiki called 21st century learning to my wiki profile. I will continue to search for more wikis as time goes on. I have created a class wiki. I have some ideas of how to use this wiki...perhaps as a way to show off research papers, get feedback on stories, or just for kids to share ideas and get ideas for projects in class. This could also be a penpal 2.0 tool as well. I'm not sure of the legal remifications however. Children under 13 fall under the COPPA act. Read here to find out more about privacy issues with younger internet users http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/page/Wetpaint+%26+Students+Under+13

It took quite sometime to get it all up and running. It took even more time to wrap my mind around all of it and its relevance to my teaching.

Things to consider when using Web 2.0 utilities:

1. *you need to update regularly
2. *you need to read a lot of material online
3. *you need to be able to filter what you read quickly to save time
4. *have a specific need in mind when online to save time. If you have something specific you are looking for, you won't be going in circles by getting distracted at all of the links and tags you come across.
5. *Set up some RSS feeds so the information you what comes to YOU instead of trying search for IT.

I see benefits of using Web 2.0 utilities in connecting with other teachers and cutting down of search times. The key here is YOU HAVE TO USE IT REGULARLY.

connecting sites together

I am trying to connect my delicious account with my blogger.com account. What is the best way to do this? I have found a way to connect my subscription aggregator to my blog. You'll notice it on the right side nav bar.

EdTech Resources

I have recently signed up for a delicious account. Then I immediately set about the task of filling my account with relevant bookmarks to sites relating to EdTech...sites that I would like to return to later. Some of the sites that caught my attention are

Wired Education
Steve Hargadon
About EdTechtalk EdTechTalk
Home - 21st Century Learning
Course: ED 693 - Emerging Technologies
» Us.ef.ul (beelerspace)
PattiWiki : ED 693 S 2008 browse
PBS Teachers — Resources For The Classroom
Ed Tech Review
Skype official website – free download and free calls and internet calls

New SpringWidget

Get this widget!

Journal Entry

today I signed up for a delicious account. Now I can do some social bookmarking and keep them organized. I also signed up for Classroom 2.0 This is a syndicate aggregator. I have already noticed some of the other classmates from ED693 have joined this site. It seems pretty user friendly. It isn't clouded with extra "junk" that makes it hard to see new updates. So far I feel like I have a handle on things. The lines between social bookmarking, blogs, and aggregators are a little blurry still, however.

Wiki Review

I reviewed a unique and informative Wiki today.

I looked at a wiki called 21st Century Learning (http://21stcenturylearning.wetpaint.com/). This site is a community of educators embarking on a collaborative journey into the future of education, educational technologies and new curriculums in order to prepare our students to function in a competitive and rapidly changing global world. It’s also based on the newly phrased “21st Century Skills”. These skils are:

Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes
Communication & Collaboration
Creativity & Innovation ICT Literacy

This video is on their homepage. It attempts to describe the urgency of teaching in a new world and a new age. It adds interesting facts to shock the viewer.
http://www.youtube.com/v/vC928e629iM&hl=en

There is also an interesting article about digital native and immigrants:
Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants
By Marc Prensky From On the Horizon (NCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001) © 2001 Marc Prensky http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

I edited the pedagogy page. I added a review of an article about embedding instead of intergrating technology into education. If you look under top contributors, I am the one in the yellow kayak. I like this wiki and I will continue to check back as our class rolls along.

You can find my post here, http://21stcenturylearning.wetpaint.com/page/Pedagogy
I have also copied it here:

From "The Thinking Stick"
I don’t want to integrate it, I want to embed it!
September 24th, 2007 by Jeff Utecht As I quickly scan my blog alerts - this recent addition jumps into the discussion of pedagogy...I just read the article and Jeff has a good point about state of school districts still stuck in the "integration of technology" mode, as opposed to beginning to think about "embedding" the technology within the curriculum itself. I recommmend not only reading Jeff's thoughts, but the insightful comments that follow.

Blog Review

In my ongoing review of blog sites for quality educational technology news and ideas, I have found 4 that are worth sharing. EdTechReview.net, EdTechTalk.com, Learningonlineinfo.org, and Stevehargadon.com

Why did you choose these blog sites? I chose these blog site for their relevant content, their easy navigation, and the amount of updates they contained. Many of the blogs I previewed had not been updated in a year or more. Imagine what has happened in technology even in the last year!
􀂙 What did they offer you for your profession development? EdTechReview.net shared an article about Adobe Photoshop. Apparently Adobe is giving photoshop to teachers and students for free! https://www.photoshop.com/express/landing.html

EdTechTalk.com shared a year in review - Teachers Teaching Teachers #107 - What have we learned this year with VoiceThread? 06.04.08
This is an interesting podcast of the new video/audio blogging tool can be used in the classroom.

Learningonlineinfo.org shared a new project to keep kids motivated and attentive. This article is found at How to Keep Students Motivated and Attentive.

Stevehargadon.com shares quite an incredible article in TechLearning blog about what Web 2.0 is doing for schools and for the world at large in his article here.


Or your personal interests? I am personally interested in this topic and I will continue to seek out new and innovative uses of technology for the classroom. I believe technology is the media by which the next generation of students will learn and teachers will teach.
􀂙 Do you plan to continue visiting these blogs? Why or why not?
ese blogs? Why or why not?

Tech Tips for the Classroom

If you have any Do's and Don'ts for the classroom, especially the Elementary Classroom, please enlighten us with your wisdom. Many hands make light work, right?