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.