Wiki-Interface Design

http://themediateacher.wetpaint.com

Pen Problems

I think I posted earlier that I attended a technology conference for educators in San Jose in the middle of October. In one of the workshops, I received a pen and mechanical pencil. I was immediately taken in by the pen...it was different, both in its size and design. I've never seen a pen like this before. It was black, it had ridges, it was short and fat. It appeared to be ergonomically designed so as not to cramp my fingers. Could this be the pen of the future? I was immediately intrigued by the pen's design and I wanted to use it to take notes on the presentation. Oh, and by the way, here it is:

According to Daniel A. Norman, "well-designed objects are easy to interpret and understand. They contain visible clues to their operation."(Norman, 1988)

Well, I initially tried to twist the pen to reveal the ballpoint, but was unsuccessful. I then tried to click the nobs at the top, assuming they were the "affordances" Norman referred to, or the visual clues used to operate the pen. Nothing clicked and nothing twisted. Even though, I had the mechanical pencil to use, I refused to even give it a second thought; I however became fixated on this pen. I was determined to use it. What Norman referred to as mapping, suggests that if you turn the pen, the ballpoint will appear and you are ready to write, right? Wrong. I ended up breaking the pen.

I sheepishly asked the presenter for another pen and explained that I could not figure how to use it and subsequently broke it. "No problem," she said and brought me another one, and in no less than one second, pulled it apart and presented me with a functional pen.
I felt a sense of relief once she solved that problem for me, but I was miffed as to why I was concerned about this silly pen which ceased to intrigue me at this point. I now found it ugly and when I finally tested it out, I didn't like it. Maybe, as Norman suggested, good design should connect thought with action and that an object's parts must be obvious and, "convey the right message." I don't know, maybe I missed something...

Google Sites Presentation

Google Sites

From: guest4ebca, 33 minutes ago

Google Sites

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Google Sites Presentation


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Web 2.0 Resources for Teachers

For all my fellow teachers, I attended the ILC 2008 Conference for educators, last week in San Jose. Basically, this was an Ed Tech conference for teachers that focused on K-12 technology integration, with an emphasis on Web 2.0 tools. One of the workshops I attended presented some great Web 2.0 tools and resources for teachers. I thought I would post them here, in case you want to take a look. Of particular interest is the online graphic organizer, image editor and presentation tool.

Enjoy..

Source: Carolyn Tuomy, ILC Conference, San Jose, October 15, 2008

1. Online Stopwatch http://www.online-stopwatch.com

2. Diigo http://www.diigo.com
Social Bookmarking

3. SlideRocket http://www.sliderocket.com
Online presentation software

4. Picnik www.picnik.com
Photo Editing tools

5. ReQall http://www.reqall.com
A voice transcription service

6. Dipity http://www.dipity.com
Online timelines

7. Dropio http://drop.io.com
Online file storage

8. Animoto http://animoto.com
Create music video with your images and photos

9. Jing http://www.jingproject.com
Screen capture to share images and screencasts from your computer
to anywhere

10. Mind42 http://www.mind42.com
Online collaborative mind mapping


11. 10. Mindomo http://www.mindomo.com
Online graphic organizer; embed videos; export outline version for students

Hmm...What Can I Get Into Next?

I had the chance to play around with Flickr and VoiceThread and preferred VoiceThread for this project. VoiceThread was easy to use and I enjoyed the perusing through their online gallery to see other projects. It was nice to see other projects, probably assigned by K-12 teachers, to get some ideas and inspiration. Enjoy my story!!!!

Locative Media and the End of Digital Storytelling?

I enjoyed Leslie Rule's presentation on locative media up until she mentioned that Digital Storytelling is "dead, morose and depressing". Digital Storytelling can in fact be uplifting, inspirational, robust and exciting, depending on the tone, the assignment and the storyteller. I would even make a case for Digital Storytelling, based on Daniel Pink's theory in that it forces the storyteller to use the right side of their brain; to listen to their creative side, to cultivate their imagination and develop a meaningful story. It's easy to go somewhere and talk about that location's significance...cool. However, a beautiful story is not easy to tell and the techniques of digital storytelling provide learners with the tools to craft a story that is personal and necessary to share with others. On a cultural level, digital storytelling preserves folklore, traditions, mores and oral history which are the ties that bind communities and families.

Meanwhile.......

I thought about locative media and how it could be useful to me. I have never really been sold on Google Earth, but I had a chance to attend a workshop presented by Jerome Burg, the creator of a website, Google Lit Trips (http://www.googlelittrips.com/), and his examples of curriculum integration of Google Earth were invaluable. He created Google Lit Trips using Google Earth, where a student could experience great works of literature and nonfiction, such as The Grapes of Wrath or Night, by tracing the routes the various characters took throughout their journey. On a Google Lit Trip, students can experience the topography of the area, view maps and images and pause to reflect on questions that are posed along the route. As I watched the presentation, I thought this could be a meaningful learning experience for students.

Infoclouds and Mobile learning

One of the most important elements of Web 2.0 tools is the ability to create media outside of the mainstream. As I read the article, "Mobile, wireless, connected Information clouds and learning," I immediately thought about "live" blogging where people blog at an event, about an event, as it is happening in real time. This is great, given the fact that a quiet revolution is happening in journalism, in particular, where people can access blogs for alternative perspectives to mainstream media. I thought about how my students could attend an event, blog in real time and immediately upload to the web, given whatever mobile device is in their possession. This creates potential for rich learning experiences for teachers and students as they can expand their curriculum to include mobile devices in lesson planning and project based learning. Say for example, I wanted to create a virtual walking tour of San Francisco murals. Students can be sent to the Mission district, take pictures of murals, tag the image based on location and upload their pictures to a blog, Voice Thread, Flickr or any other online Web 2.0 site. Students could immediately view the tour, comment and discuss the murals and their meanings. This creates an engaging experience since the learning, image capture and comments occur on site and at that moment.

However, mobile learning should be one of many tools educators use to engage their students and design curriculum. I like the idea of user control and contextual / situational learning and the ability to share this experience with others. In my opinion, this can be an authentic learning experience, however, there needs to be some structure or guidelines in place so that the information is rich, meaningful and relevant. As an educator, I want students to post work that has educational value and follows copyright and fair use guidelines.

Learning for the 21st Century

I preferred this article much more to the previous article from last week's reading assignment. I felt that this article was much more balanced in that it presented a picture of today's learner and provided insight on how schools can appeal to these learners while emphasizing 21st century skills that are necessary for today's job market. Most importantly, the article stressed the importance of learning core subjects and expanding students content knowledge so that they are better prepared as critical thinkers and individuals who understand how they learn and how to apply this knowledge to new situations or problems. Of course, technology was a key component of the 21st Century classroom and teachers must integrate technology and information literacy with traditional standards-based curriculum. If teachers fail to do so, they will not prepare students and could ultimately fail to engage students in the learning process.

I found this article to be particularly relevant to my teaching, students and curriculum. It reinforced the notion that the digital divide must be addressed as well as proficiency in core subject knowledge so that students are prepared for today's job market, higher education and civic engagement. This article also provided examples of school districts who adopted technology integration within their existing pedagogies and actually provided examples of how this can be implemented in other classrooms.

Below is my interpretation of the article, using the "Freemind" mapping software.

21st Century Skills vs. 20th Century Schools

In a nutshell, this article painted a picture of today's "Net Generation", students who grew up in the digital age, are comfortable with technology and enjoy instant access to information. This poses an interesting question to traditional education, because curriculum and pedagogy reflect the learning styles of previous generations who are accustomed to direct instruction, learning content from text and library research. However, students on the Net Generation are visual learners who respond to images and video and need to be visually stimulated to process information. I was particularly intrigued by this passage in the article stating that,today's students brings a consumer orientation to education, which is viewed as a commodity to be consumed, acquired and accumulated." (Taylor,2006) Does this mean that students learn only what is pleasing to them or that is easy to access? Should teachers teach lessons in short sound bites with visual images constantly on display. Excuse me for being cynical, but as I read further, I thought to myself, should teachers even teach students how to read, given the fact that students respond to visual imagery better?

Ok, ok, all cynicism aside. The part of the article I found most useful described how teachers can augment their lessons to integrate technology and address the learning styles of this generation. The description of the WWII lesson where geotracking was used to click on different areas and bring up a visual with related information, was innovative and interesting. Definitely this method of instruction would truly engage students and give them the opportunity to truly connect with a historical event. I also liked the portion of the article where they make the argument for project based learning and delayed gratification. Students need to understand that learning is a process, and that it exists in stages, where skills are learned and applied to complex problems.

On a personal note, we need to find a balance, students and teachers in integrating traditional instruction and learning with the 21st century skills required today.

Education for a Digital World

Ok, I loved this reading. Why? Because it provides a concise summary of various Web 2.0 tools, what they do and why they are useful. As I read some of the summaries, I tried to think of ways I could implement these tools into my existing curriculum. For example, I used blogs last year so my students could write about a recycling project we introduced last year. The blog was a nice opportunity for students to learn how to blog and to chronicle their "recycling and composting journey". When I look back on the experience, I regret not making the project more interactive, where students were encouraged to comment on each other's blogs or continue their blogs after the assignment was finished. This is what the article referred to as "social computing".

Here is a link to one of my student's blog: http://carloscmma.blogspot.com/

After reading this article, I thought some more about how I could alter the assignment for next semester, for example, requiring students to answer an essential or inquiry-based question on recycling or reduction, conduct research and record their findings on the blog.

Class Discussion, Week 3

It was great to read the comments on my blog as well as read other's blogs about the course and their experience with "connectivism" and Web 2.0. It is refreshing to virtually and physically collaborate with others on similar topics and interests. I also felt that the presentations were excellent and better than information I would receive on the web about the particular tools. Now I feel motivated to use these tools rather than "get around" to using them.

I am looking forward to using Web Paint and to compare it with Google Sites, formerly known as Google pages. I like Google sites for its simplicity and ease of use. From what I've seen so far, Wet Paint is similar, and should be fun to use.

To all the educators in the class, thanks for the comments and expertise.

Siemens, Week Three

"We are preparing learners for an era that no longer exists, with a skill set that does not enable effective navigation of today's complex, adaptive world."

This quote, at the beginning of this week's reading made me pause for a moment and reflect on my own teaching practices. As I stated in my previous post, my job requires that I teach students various multimedia software and Web 2.0 tools. Often, my colleagues and I engage students in project based learning, where they investigate a problem, research and write about their findings, then assemble information in a multimedia project such as a website or video public service announcement. It's very exciting to teach students how to post their own blog or create a video, or design a website. The real challenge, as an instructor, is not in teaching the software, but in choosing the best tools to create the product and developing an efficient workflow for students to move their project from the research phase to production. Often my students, and I to a certain extent, can get mired in the production process and lose sight of the content. However, I must pause and remember that content is the most important element to most media projects and I must constantly remind students of this.

George Siemens and Connectivism Theory

It's really interesting to think about what learning means today in the digital age, particularly in my role as learner and instructor. As a Multimedia and Computer instructor, I constantly have to stay ahead of the curve and remain current in the emerging technologies, including operating software, software updates, new Web 2.0 tools and the web. Therefore it is essential for me to not only access information, but to stay connected with others in my field and discover ways to filter information to find what I need, when I need it. Siemens article validates my experience in staying current with new technology and activating my new skill sets to retrieve information.

Another point raised in Siemen's article that interests me is the need for organizational management of information. As an instructor, my role is to impart knowledge and teach students the skill sets to retrieve and categorize information so they can access it later. This is a difficult task as an instructor, because the skill sets and filters required to retrieve information are constantly changing. So, in order for me to be an effective instructor, I have to be an effective learner and continuously update my skill sets and filters.

ITEC 830, Day One

It was really interesting to read everyone's interpretation of Web 2.0. I thought about the comment relating to how users are now contributors, rather than consumers, relishing the idea that everyone can have a voice on the web. As a high school teacher, I have introduced blogs, podcasts and Google Docs to my students, with the objective of teaching them to use these tools as the vehicle to transmit their ideas to a very large audience. I like to think that Web 2.0 can empower individuals to communicate a message, find their voice and display their talents. It will be very exciting to learn more about these tools so that I can share them with my students and colleagues.