Advancing Technology 2007

Ever Wonder What Happens . . .

2008-06-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

. . . to our Writing Prompt postings--besides languishing on GoogleDocs, that is? They're also available on this blog. To locate a specific person's response to a specific WP, just follow the appropriate link from the right-hand navigation bar. You can read everyone's response without wading through the GoogleDocs menu. Ah, the wonders of technology. TD

Prompt Prompt

2008-03-09T13:52:00.000-07:00

Follow this link to our latest--and final--two writing prompts: WR #12 and WR#13.

Please post your final responses by Sunday, May 11.

Harriet's WR#10

2008-03-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

Given the learning curve associated with all things technological and the time it takes to master and effectively employ new technologies in any aspect of our lives . . .

Where do we find the time to explore the bleeding edge, mining and mastering new technologies, and
How do we fit teaching these new, non-subject specific skills and their attendant issues (see prompt #8) into our already overburdened instructional time?
Finally, how do we avoid the time sinkhole computers can become?

(Contributed by Mauro Staiano)

Hmmm. I didn't get the notice that there was new stuff on docs, or a new prompt...Here I am though, better late than never (Trish told me).

Mauro's prompt--

1. What is "the bleeding edge"? I don't even know how to respond to that one. I went to another digital storytelling workshop just to do more in a group, and I feel more competent for sure. I have looked in attending a few more, but now I probably just need to do more in the classroom. I am still frustrated that digital access depends on: school resources (not equitable), family and community resources (not equitable), teacher training and interest (not equitable). I'm overlapping into #2 here, but given the limits, I am addicted to digital storytelling and I love it as personal narrative. I also love mining loc.gov (library of congress, which is now posting on flickr--very cool, they want to be available to more people--and making historical movies, or using it for science, or for responding to any other subject. I find time because it is important to me, and I see how it can be important to students and to others who care about education.

2. Screw the standards. I am trying to cover them by making my students think and produce (not very successfully). Digital stories can be shared, and having an audience for authentic work is important. Non-subject specific skills can be used across the curriculum--remember when those were important ideas? We want people who can think and communicate, so let's do stuff that leads to students being able to demonstrate what they know, in whatever media.

3. Sinkhole? I try to use tools for good, not evil. I try not to veg out with the computer and I pull the plug on my family sometimes. But I love email, researching, and am very proud of my kind of stagnant blog. We now have 2 laptops and one cool flat screen often at home, and one antique mac something or other that doesn't do much--we only actually own the last, and use the others for work. When the power threatens to go out, we hope the batteries are juiced. I have noticed that if I am just vegging my eyes hurt but if I am actually learning something while on the computer, I feel every energetic. My own barometer of time well spent.

Back to an earlier prompt about privacy--I finally sent my first digital story "Lucky" to Rachel (an important character. She's a lawyer and said, "Your social security # can be seen in your story!" so I have to fix that. In the meantime, if you have a copy from my blog, please don't send it to anyone.

I learn something new every day, usually the hard way...

--Harriet

I think you're very "cutting edge" and if there is any blood letting, it is because of the lack of resources you need to keep growing! You go girl! ~Vicki

Harriet,
I share your feelings about all the non-equitables. I don't think that we will ever have an equitable society until we change the way schools are funded. Unfortunately, so many people are OK with "good" and "bad" schools as long as their children attend a "good" school. Anyway, I won't get started on that because my purpose is to tell you that the determination and resolve you've shown to learn and use digital storytelling are truly admirable.
LL

Leslie's WR#10

2008-03-09T12:56:00.003-07:00

Mea Culpa. I'm offering no excuses for my late homework, which is unfortunate in a way because working with students for so much of my life, I have loads of them, some of which are creative enough to believe.

I'm not going to rant; I'm going to confess. If I think seriously about time and the way I spend the time alloted to me, I have to confess that I usually find time to do the things I really want to do. My next confession is that I'm concerned more about my interest in computer technology than having the time to learn it. However, there is one huge factor that affects my interest and that is the ability to use the technology. I'm talking about technology that may be used in the classroom for teaching and learning. I used to have ten weeks a year to use ct in the classroom; this year it will be a paltry eight weeks. Because I don't teach during the regular school year, I don't have access to even basic programs such as Blackboard. I think that problem also drives what may seem like an over practical nature, but if I'm going to learn and use ct in the class (for eight or ten weeks), I need to know or at least strongly hope that my students are going to learn from it.
I'm sure you don't want me to tell you how to avoid the time sinkhole that computers can become, which again is unfortunate seeing that I''m an expert at that, frequently not even turning my computer on when I'm home.

Finally, good people, to completely change the subject, I cannot wait until Feb. 25th to catch up. Anyone who reads this will know that I'm expecting my second granddaughter about the middle of April by the same local son Eric and daughter-in-law Vong who are the parents of my first granddaughter, Serena.

Congratulations on the coming baby! ~Vicki

I think anyone who uses Latin should automatically be forgiven anything. One day, I'd love to read The Best of Student Excuses. Hmmmm. Maybe on a blog. . . . Tracy

Tracy's WR#10

2008-03-09T12:56:00.002-07:00

Given the learning curve associated with all things technological and the time it takes to master and effectively employ new technologies in any aspect of our lives . . .

Where do we find the time to explore the bleeding edge, mining and mastering new technologies, and
How do we fit teaching these new, non-subject specific skills and their attendant issues (see prompt #8) into our already overburdened instructional time?
Finally, how do we avoid the time sinkhole computers can become?

Deadlines have served as my greatest tech-project motivation--and not necessarily in a good way. Oh, sure, I got motivated to learn Blogger--really learn Blogger--when the ATI2007 kick-off loomed, but you know what works even better? A stack of papers. Or an annual report. Any big task I really don't want to perform will send me scrambling online, compulsively checking email and combing listserv archives for something--anything--to do other than score essays or write reports. I also lurk on tech listservs and talk to techies. You folks inspire me, too, with what you do and links you share. Then I file interesting ideas: listserv discoveries in an email file, conversation gems in the PalmPilot, of course, and, when I remember, links/descriptions on our wiki and blog. And then I wait until I want to do something: find a way for TAs to communicate remotely, for instance, or spice up a presentation/workshop. That's when I hit the files and then work at whatever technology I've selected until I make it bow to my wishes. I'm stubborn. I figure I know what the thing should do, so I keep pounding and cajoling until I figure out how to make it perform. In other words, I dive headfirst into the sinkhole. I'm still working on how to feather in the non-subject-specific skills. Once I feel fairly proficient, I write up directions and hope the students with whom I work will understand and use them. I've also been known to teach--really teach--one student the skill and rely on him/her to set his/her colleagues on fire and support them. Mostly, though, I try to link the non-specific skill to something writing related. I start to talk about graphic design, especially the search for images, as prewriting, and I equate page-layout strategies to essay-organization strategies. It doesn't always work, and I'm a looong way from good at this, but I keep plugging away. I'm stubborn.

I don't know how to avoid the sinkhole, Mauro. I don't. I spend waaaaaay too much time on the computer. I turn it on the minute I unlock my office in the morning, and once I get home, I turn on that computer before I change out of my work clothes. I swear, if a burglar were to break into the house, I'd probably reach for the damned mouse! I am blessed with an exceptionally gracious partner who lets me work but who also takes me on tech-free vacations. I have a dear friend who walks me three times a week. Mine is not a lifestyle I advocate, but I know other tech-geek lifestyles exist. I know they do. I just don't know what they are or how to achieve them. The good news is that despite my unhealthy obsession, I really do love this stuff. I think I'm a better teacher for it, and I am grateful for the opportunity to keep learning.

Two things. One, when I remember (not often enough), I use the teach one kid to teach others things. It spreads like a virus and empowers the students to be teachers themselves. In fact, it's just good teaching. I don't do enough of that. I'll save the excuse for sometime over beers... Two, I too spend much of my time deep in the sinkhole. In fact, I just became the proud owner of a slightly used laptop, which means I can now take my own personal sinkhole with me wherever I go. In fact, I am sitting on the couch in my living room typing this. So good for my posture... ~Mauro

Karen McComas, one of the original NWP tech movers and shakers, once sang the praises of laptops in the living room. I was horrified. "But that's diluted time with family, never mind permission to spend even more time on the computer!" She just smiled and suggested that half time with family is better than no time. She's right, of course. A laptop has since been foisted upon me, and I've been known to lug it into the living room. It's especially helpful in conjunction with in-law dinners. Now when I need to check out of the conversation, I power up the computer. I know I'm a terrible person, but it's better than skipping the weekly dinner, and I never work while we eat, and it's not like I ever run out of things that need doing. How's that for crappy justification? Tracy

First, allow me to be extremely defensive and say that just because I don't use technology in the classroom doesn't mean I'm not a good teacher. Just kidding, really! I've learned enough classroom technology to get me by, and I don't feel particularly uncomfortable that I don't use more. I feel like your alter ego, Tracy. I can quickly come up with fifty different things to do that don't involve using a computer. Also family time with adults can be diluted. Two-year olds are an all or nothing-at-all proposition. And my granddaughter is more interesting to me than anything on any computer. That being said, she is a grandchild, so I don't spend the time with her that her parents do leaving me free to pursue the other forty-nine activities that come to my mind. However, I am resolved to learning more classroom technology this year if I'm not voted off the island for being a reluctant and slow learner. I may still be slow, but I've really been working on my reluctance, and part of it may have been the fear of falling into the sinkhole leaving all that I really love to do undone.

And now one last word about justification. Justification is another dimension. It's our reality. It's different from an excuse because when you justify your actions, you're not asking for forgiveness for them, just letting others know why you do what you do.

Frankly though, one of my favorite lines in a movie is when the father demands that Mary Poppins explain herself, she replies with her nose in the air, "I never explain anything." That's why the line is in a movie; we couldn't get away with that in real life, but justifications, by their very nature, can't be crappy.
LL

Jeff Goldblum (Goldbloom?) has a great line in The Big Chill: "Justification is more important than sex. Have you ever gone a day without a justification." Or something like that. Tracy

Catherine's WR#10

2008-03-09T12:56:00.001-07:00

Given the learning curve associated with all things technological and the time it takes to master and effectively employ new technologies in any aspect of our lives . . .

Where do we find the time to explore the bleeding edge, mining and mastering new technologies, and
How do we fit teaching these new, non-subject specific skills and their attendant issues (see prompt #8) into our already overburdened instructional time?
Finally, how do we avoid the time sinkhole computers can become?

(Contributed by Mauro Staiano)

These are good questions Mauro. I've been spending lots of time, thanks to Harriet, working with my students on digital story telling. I'm often asking myself, "What is the value of this endeavor?" and "What am I giving up, in terms of time, to make it happen?" I don't have good answers for those questions yet. My students are thinking about writing in a new way, doing lots of revision to get their stories the way they like them, and thinking about images and sound that help express their message. They are spending more time on the computer keyboarding and revising than they have in the past. They are practicing fluent reading for their narration and doing lots of sequencing as they blend images with text. And, they are critiquing one another's work in new ways. In these very beginning stages, families have appreciated seeing their children's work posted on the internet. All this sounds really good, but I'm still worried that I'm spending way too much time on it. I might feel better if they were doing documentaries, using research skills to explore a topic. Maybe that will happen in the future.

At this point, for me, it feels like a new hobby. I bought an external hard drive to store images, have justified spending money on a flash mic to record sound, and have a great camera to play with. I'm already thinking of a new computer for myself, and have signed up to take the Adobe CS 3 course through extended ed. to get a better handle on Photoshop, Illustrator, and In-design. Not only is time a sinkhole, this technology biz can be a sinkhole for money! Obviously, the more I incorporate technology in my own life, the more I learn, and the less time it takes. In spite of that, I've noticed I spend less time reading now than before...more time keeping in touch with friends through e-mail, and if I look on the bright side, I can say the benefits outweigh the deterrents. I can't imagine having a toddler around though. I'm at a place in my life where I can work for periods of time without being interrupted at home. I don't imagine you get many of those windows.

So...I'd say I'm far from the "bleeding edge," but am having fun learning something new. As long as it's fun, it's worth it for me personally. I'm still so new at incorporating technology in the classroom, I can't say I've developed any kind of criteria to evaluate it's effectiveness as a teaching tool. I guess I'm just riding the wave to see where it will take me at this point. I'll admit this to our small, intimate group, but certainly wouldn't say it out loud anywhere else. I'd like to explore your questions more in our next summer institute.

Catherine

http://buildingbridgestoahealthyworld.blogspot.com/

Congratulations, dear Catherine, on your digital stories! I've subscribed to Building Bridges, so I know when you've posted new stories (Harriet, I'm subscribed your your blog, too). I'm especially impressed with "Winter Season," an amazingly poetic rendition (even if he does rely on the heavy-handed it-was-all-a-dream conclusion). I'm sure you're proud of your students; I hope you are also proud of yourself.

This whole digital storytelling thing has gathered such momentous momentum! At first, I'll admit, I dismissed it as just another way to tell the winning-touchdown or dead-grandmother stories (sorry!), another way to force personal moments on others. I was wrong. In many ways, writing is writing; writerly decisions are writerly decisions. We can teach that regardless of the medium. But I'm also learning that digital stories are changing lives, changing the world. Reference NWP's Rural Voices movement. Look, too, at this recent post on the Tech Liaison network:

I was fortunate enough recently to be in contact with someone who lived the Kenya unrest firsthand. She (Ellen) and her twelve year old son were in Kenya volunteering at an orphanage when the presidential race unfolded and the violence began. She shared her story of escape in a blog post on Guy Kawasaki's blog. I contacted her, and we worked together via the Internet to create several versions of her story using various Web 2.0 tools. I used it this past week while training school staff on integrating more technology, and we are going to use it with our high school world history students where Ellen will video conference with them via Skype after they view her story and send her questions about the events. The feedback I received from the teachers showed just how powerful digital storytelling can be regardless of the subject being taught.

Maybe you will find it useful in the training that you do.

You can find it at http://scottsfloyd.edublogs.org

--
Scott S. Floyd, M. Ed.
White Oak ISD Technology Specialist

http://scottsfloyd.edublogs.org

I'm butchering someone when I fumble to paraphrase that what we learn with pleasure we never forget. Perhaps that's what technology allows us to do: learn with pleasure. Perhaps. Tracy

That, Tracy, is my short answer to my own question I suppose. Technology, at least for some of us, is fun! ~Mauro

Tracy, I'm glad you are over your another-dead-grandma phase.

Being conscious of what you want to say as a writer to a reader is important.

The writer of the Winter Storm is ten years old or so--give him a break! Point taken. My apologies to Master Winter Storm. TD

Catherine, doing documentaries is way easier, in my opinion. The writer still needs a desire to say something to a reader/audience. And there is still the issue of voice, and choice.

I do the digital thing as much as I can because it keeps me going in new directions, and the students have a new audience.
--Harriet

Knowing very little about digital storytelling, I'm still willing to offer my perspective which is to agree with you Tracy when you observe that the students are making writerly decisions. The fact that students are willing to spend time writing and revising and choosing images and sound is a testament to their enjoyment of digital storytelling. And I think it is important that students learn to manipulate computer technology, although I'm not clear how much the students use technology other than word processing and how much the instructor uses the technology for them. One of the aspects of digital storytelling that I like best and think is an important part of wanting to write a story is the use of images. What child doesn't like pictures with stories? As an example I'll tell my own story. For one of my favorite writing assignments clear back in seventh grade, the teacher tore pictures out of various magazines and handed one to each student. We then got to spend the rest of the class time trading our pictures to get one we liked and writing a story about the image. And I actually remember the students reading their stories aloud in class. To my seventh grade mind, most of them were really interesting. No dead grandmother stories there. I think students making choices about their learning leads to real learning, and again, from my incomplete understanding, that seems to happen in digital story telling. Finally, as anxious as I may sound about using technology for teaching not just for the sake of using technology, I realize that trial and error are inherent in the process of learning what technology we can use for teaching. Catherine, your concern of not having developed any criteria is a sign of a real professional. Of course you want to develop criteria, but you have to have something to assess before you can assess it. So I'm going to lighten up on my parrot-like squawking of "Does using technology in the classroom help students learn?" because we're all professionals and we all want our students to learn. And we're always learning too. At this point we're the students in Vygotsky's zone of proximal development.

Yes, now I'm trying to score points by namedropping.
LL

Vygotsky earns you an automatic 200 points. Tracy

Vicki's WR #10

2008-03-09T12:56:00.000-07:00

Given the learning curve associated with all things technological and the time it takes to master and effectively employ new technologies in any aspect of our lives . . .

Where do we find the time to explore the bleeding edge, mining and mastering new technologies, and
How do we fit teaching these new, non-subject specific skills and their attendant issues (see prompt #8) into our already overburdened instructional time?
Finally, how do we avoid the time sinkhole computers can become?

Although I rarely get close to the "bleeding edge," my computer does become a time sinkhole for me. I love to read what other people are doing, but I don't always feel competent enough to do it. I will sit and while away hours reading blogs, articles, lesson plans, and other educational sites, instead of doing something I "should be doing." I explore lots of things, but do not always produce something for the good of my practice. I have big ideas, but do not always see them through to fruition.

I am lucky enough to teach high school students who can be somewhat self directed; for example, I teach a Composition class (two periods). They spend a lot of time on the computer composing or doing peer editing (so far still the old fashioned way with paper). I actually have a lot of free time during the class to mess about on the computer. (Sometimes I feel guilty.) I also run detention and Learning Center for a total of four hours a week and sometimes the students just need a quiet, warm place to be and don't require much from me. I often use that time to play with technology. But so far, some of it is still difficult to navigate and/or create.

My British Lit blog is fun for me, but I have not utilized it enough. I became a little frustrated because the students had some glitches and I kept having to fix things. I am not good about asking for help, so I just blundered my way about trying to do it myself. So I did fewer things than I had originally planned.

I know how lucky I am; I know my school is lucky to have all we have. I know about some of things that are out there in cyberspace, but still have not mastered them enough to do actually use them e.g., Moodle, Digital Story. I want to, but have not made the time to do practice them enough to be able to present them as a project for my students. (that's a lot of prepositions, sorry!)

Finally, #2 is one of my questions, too. Above all, I want technology to be in tandem with my curriculum. I can justify adding in blogging and digital storytelling and the like by keeping in mind that one of our goals is to graduate students who are ready for the next step--whatever that may be--and technology will be in their future no matter what.

Vicki, if I may be allowed to quote a very wise woman, "One shit at a time." A less profane wise woman chants, "Baby steps, baby steps." They both get to the same thing: if we try to do too much, we do nothing. Get good at one thing--and take as long as you need to get good--and then move on to the next. It'll all work out in the end. I promise.

Okay, this is from someone who spent an hour on www.jingproject.com learning how to create a how-to video. I had a blast! Dinner was late, and I ended up crossing only one thing off my to-do list for the entire day, and the screencast video thingie is pretty rudimentary, but I made one baby step, and I am inordinately proud. Tracy

I like the profane advice better. It somehow speaks to me more. ~Mauro

Vicki, I agree with Tracy about learning one thing well before moving on. The learning curve can be a nerve-wracking roller-coaster ride. Learning the Calibrated Peer Review program last summer was really difficult. It was quite a bit more complicated and took a lot more time for me to understand than I had imagined. Had I known that it would be so time-consuming and complicated, I might have said something profane and just given up. I love the idea of explaining something to one student and then letting other students learn from each other. Unfortunately, in my class last summer, when one student had a difficult time getting into the CPR program because she didn't follow directions, the rest of the class turned into Luddites, and I had to plead with them to keep trying. Pleading with my students was like having an out-of-body experience watching myself do something that I ordinarily never resort to. But it worked; we moved on; we got through it; and I'll never know how much the students got from the experience, if anything, but it didn't hurt them, didn't take up too much class time, and I learned a whole lot. Once you get the glitches out of your blog, you'll probably think of more things to do with it than you'll have time for.
LL

Mauro's WR#10

2008-03-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

I'd like to start by pointing how much we (or perhaps just me) are so much like our own students. When given the opportunity to simply blather about what is going on in our own lives, we tend to be punctual, but ask us to a bit of research and read, and we procrastinate like nobody's business. I have only now "found" the time to do this assignment because I am on vacation and am finding creative ways to avoid the gigantic stack of grading I have (darn you college folks and your logical semester breaks). Anyway, huge props to Harriet and Leslie. The rest of us slackers bow to your superior work ethic (or again, I do; it is possible, the others have solid reasons for not yet posting and do not feel the need to self-denigrate). Well, shall I get on with the business of the assignment before my two-year-old wakes from her nap and distracts me from my actual purpose here today? I suppose, since I read something genuinely interesting to me...

I started my search at Edutopia.org, the companion website to the magazine of the same name funded by the George Lucas Education Foundation. (Side note: Edutopia is free to educators and is worth every penny!) Perhaps not surprising considering the title and the source of its funding, Edutopia had much to offer tech-wise. In the end I narrowed my choices by going with my gut interest and my interest in brevity (the article's; clearly not my own), finally choosing, "Media Smarts: From Consumers to Critics and Creators" by Ken Ellis, which is a short article accompanied by an eight-minute film.

Ellis's piece is essentially a brief overview of the shift from the traditional "pencil-and-paper-bound" classroom, to a more modern classroom which integrates the technologies that our students are already plugged into and that will be the drivers of the future economy and workplace. Though it was written in 2005, the article still seemed relevant because, perhaps surprisingly, despite the numerous foundations pushing this agenda and the obvious relevance it has to the lives of our students in some very real ways, the larger educational machine has been monumentally slow to act.

Ellis makes two points that I find worth repeating here:

1) He notes that our students spend six hours and twenty-one minutes a day plugged into some type of media each day (eight and a half hours if we include multi-tasking), compared with less than 50 minutes a day on homework. Even if we throw in the six hours students are at school (How much of that time is real, interactive, non-media-based instruction though?), media is killing us in terms of hours, and this was in 2005!

2) While we teach students to read critically, we rarely teach them to digest other media critically. In fact, most of the media students encounter daily (TV, mp3s, YouTube, etc.) requires only passive observance.

With these two things in mind, Ellis advocates for teaching media literacy in a more real and comprehensive way. George Lucas, quoted in the article and film, even suggests (heresy of heresies) replacing "English" class with "Communication" class.

I'm not sure I agree with Lucas, but I do agree with Ellis. And his article provides many links to curriculum and like-minded educational foundations.

I apologize for the rambling, meta-cognitive nature of my post.

Work Cited

Ellis, Ken. "Media Smarts: From Consumers to Critics and Creators." Edutopia. 13 July 2005. The George Lucas Education Foundation. 5 December 2005. <http://www.edutopia.org/media-literacy-skills>.

(At least no one's stolen purple.)

I appreciate the nature of your post, Mauro.

I remember a colleague's long-ago frustrated criticism of another colleague's tech fervor (and I quote loosely): "S/He just finds all this stuff and flings it at us, insisting it's cool, without ever learning or analyzing it him/herself! S/He doesn't filter! According to him/her, EVERYthing's great!"

I admit that I can fall prey to this indiscriminate enthusiasm, too, and it most frequently tempts me when I'm gathering information. How much easier it is to link than to summarize and synthesize! I have to resist the urge to do more than create a chain of links. (Get it? Chain? Link? Okay, I'm sorry.) I know that many of the students with whom I work do it, and I don't really mind as long as doing so creates a cohesive, multi-dimensional whole. I do mind when doing so simply creates a net in which to gather and perpetuate bad information.

Hey! I was in a good mood until I read Mauro's and Leslie's posts! I might have to go watch YouTube. :( Tracy

Well, one good thing about students and technology is that they can produce it, which helps their critical thinking. Communication can't replace English, but we need to acknowledge that there are new ways to present and share information.

--Harriet

Hey! I thought I was purple! Just because I'm really, really late, I shouldn't lose my color. Just teasing Tracy. And thanks Mauro for doing all the self-denigrating--now I do not feel the need since you have given me such a good excuse of "solid reasons." HA! That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

One of my concerns that is more of a side note to the article is TIME. Is it fair to 14-17-year-olds that they go to school for seven hours and then go home to three to four hours of homework? I personally am tired when I get home and do want to work any more. I rarely do--unless I have papers to edit and return the next day, I generally wait until the weekend and then devote hours of grading time. I know that my stus who have AP Civics/Econ/US History spend hours reading and outlining and doing whatever it is she asks them to do. I know they are staying up until midnight or early hours in morning to do it. Maybe not every night, but most nights.

My problem is not with them being "plugged in" to pleasurable things, like music, YouTube, or whatever. Other than teachers, who takes hours of homework home with them? How is doing all that homework preparing them for the real world? Even in college one can spread out classes and homework so it's manageable.

Sorry, I know I went off the tech theme into a rant. I think our stus are actually good critical readers and consumers. They are submersed in technology all the time and I think that leads to evaluating and recognizing quality. Vicki

At the risk of sounding like the curmudgeon I'm becoming, I have to say that immersion in technology may lead to greater ease in using it, the way immersion in a foreign language leads to greater ease in using it, but for critical thinking to become a habit of mind, it needs to be carefully taught. I don't see such a huge difference in teaching students to use technology to present their ideas the same way we teach them to use writing: with audience and purpose in mind. I'm more concerned about instructors using technology and concluding, with no supporting evidence, that students learn more, better, faster. However, I'm not saying it can't be done. As Mauro pointed out, I would very much like to see evidence of technological instruction making great strides in not only students' learning, but also in students' motivation to learn because students are obviously motivated to use technology. I agree with Harriet that communication can't replace English, but I do think somehow the schools will have to find ways of and time for teaching students to use and understand different technologies.

OK, this is my response to Vicki's discussion of homework, so if you're not interested, stop now.
I couldn't agree more about homework being a time consumer. It became a bugaboo to me by the time my oldest son had reached 6th grade. He didn't even mind doing it that much, but there was always the issue of time. I was working, so trying to spend quality time or even any time with my sons in the evening when they had homework to do was frustrating. It also became a point of contention at times. "Boys, clear the table, please." "I can't (in unison); I have homework to do." Or it might go like this: "Do your homework." "We don't have any" (again in unison). I used to be amazed when they would risk telling me they didn't have homework because they almost always did have it. But they risked lying because sometimes, they really, really didn't want to do it. And a lot of their homework seemed like busy work, even to me. I've heard the arguments for homework: it gives students opportunities to practice what they've learned, etc. But my argument is the same as Vicki's (I think). Students have already had a long day. They need time to interact with their families. They need to do chores, learn manners (write a thank you note to Aunt Spoilem for the gift she sent), etc. If they're still required to do what they've spent the greater part of the day doing, when do they have time for other activities? And please spare me the answer that they have time for other activities on the weekends. I didn't raise a couple of droids who live for the weekends.

Tracy's WR#9

2008-03-09T12:54:00.002-07:00

ProBlogger Darren Rowse "asked 14 of [his] favorite bloggers what they’d do differently if they were starting their blog again today. Their responses were varied" and are available from his "1 Question Interview--Index Page".

Hugh McLeod says "[his] main regret is spending so much time cranking out 'generic' posts, when the energy would’ve been better spent just on 'unique' posts,'" which he defines as "[t]he kind of blog post that could only have been written by yourself. Your own, unique, twisted inner voice shining through."
Theron Parlin says she "would pick a blog and stick with it for the duration" rather than starting and stopping and starting "a bunch of them."
Seth Godin says that if he "had to pick something, it would be directing to a domain I own (sethgodin.com) instead of sethgodin.typepad.com."
Gina Trapani (of Scribbling.net and Lifehacker fame) provides quite a list, most of which are versions of think before you post: Trapani wishes she had " … thought more about what the consequences of my boss, Mom, other half, buddies, old girlfriends, long lost high school friends, co-workers and past teachers reading it would be." She lists a few others, too; my favorite is "…more actively developed my writing skills. (Writing well is writing well, blog or not.)" Amen, Gina.
Merlin Mann (of 43 Folders fame) says he regrets not having thought more about "how to make it easy for people to navigate around their interests, rather than having to undertake a backwards death march through [date-and-time-arrange posts]. It’s like having arranged your library of books by cover color." He further advises that "it really pays to watch stats and search traffic, listen to comments, and then try to evolve around the way fans _and_ strangers are trying to use your site."
Duncan Riley says he'd "use WordPress," "learn more about search engine optimization," "pay for a professional design," "provide [m]ore original content," and "have spent more time building [contact / reader] relationships into something more solid."
Guy Kawasaki says he'd "start[] to blog sooner."
Mark Frauenfelder, Robert Scoble, and John Battelle wouldn't, for the most part, change anything, citing blogging's malleability as an opportunity to change anything they don't like. Of these responses, Darren Rowse says "[g]ood bloggers have a knack at letting their blog take them where it will take them but also knowing when to kick the heels in and drive it forward under their own steam. . . ."
Kathy Sierra says she'd "[u]se her own domain name instead of a Typepad domain," she "would never--not for a moment--change/filter/censor what [she] write[s] simply to keep the harshest detractors at bay," and "[i]f [she] had to start over, [she] would not hesitate."
Andy Wibbels (of SixFigureBlogging and BlogWild fame) says he'd "have been keen on keywords from the get-go," be sure to initiate "an email newsletter," and have been less nuts about wanting to be the first to blog on a topic."
Mike Rundle (of BusinessLogs and 9Rules fame) shares his blogging history and then offers this piece of advice: "write great blog content, and then make sure to get on and stay on the radar of those that matter. Befriend those who are your idols, study what they’ve done in the past and learn from their mistakes, and then take all that knowledge with you as you make your path."
Wendy Boswell (of LifeHacker, SnarkyGossip, and StewiesPlayground fame) says she'd "lighten up."
Jerry Schoemaker (of ShoeMoney and Webmaster Radio fame) says he'd have "redone [his] url structure" to something shorter.
Hugh Hewitt says he "can’t really complain about anything"--although he does provide a revealing list of things he would have done earlier, like set his "[p]raise/critique ratio at 7:1."

Upon learning about his 1-Question Interview project, 83 of Rowse's readers offered their own advice (or links to others' advice)--all of which he's helpfully indexed at "Habits of High Effective Bloggers--Reader Submissions."

His is an amazing website offering an amazing variety of very helpful stuff, like 10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog and 31 Days to Building a Better Blog - Central Page and How to Choose a Blog Platform. Much of his stuff is aimed at professional bloggers, but it's helpful information for educators, too.

Rowse, Darren. "1 Question Interview--Index Page." ProBlogger. 16 July 2006. 27 Dec. 2007 <http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/16/1-question-interview-index-page/>.

Vicki's WR #9

2008-03-09T12:54:00.001-07:00

Happy New Year my friends! I am soo, soo late, I know, but here I am. My excuse is silly--there was a book put out by NCTE about media rich classrooms and I thought I would buy it and read it and it would be my posting. HA. It is now in the trash. I'll look for it at CATE and see if it is worthwhile and let you all know in late March. So I was left without something to read. However, I received the following on the CATE listserve:

"I thought CATE Net readers might be interested in a list of what I think are the best fourteen Web 2.0 applications for Education for this year. In order to make the list, they had to be accessible to a Beginning English Language Learner and/or a teacher who did not know anything about computers except how to send an email and how to copy and paste a web address. And all relate to English:"

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2007/12/21/the-best-web-20-applications-for-education-2007/

I went to his website and blog. He and his school do some cool things--like a "home computer family literacy project" where parents and students learn English through laptops at home. It sounds like they provide WiFi and the laptops. Their district used $80,000 to do this project. I was blown away.

I went to his article, "Does Using Technology Add Value to the Classroom?" Unfortunately, he does not answer the question. Instead, he has a project for next year where he is going to teach two classes of the same content and one of them will be his usual rich teaching and the other will include technology. One thing he does say that I agree with: it's all about the teacher. I think it is how we present material and what we can get students to do (with or without technology) that makes the difference.

On the above link, he has his favorite 14 links for education. I did not go to them all. This may be another one of those things Tracy talked about in Mauro's post--my reaction of "WOW, look at all these cool links!" and indiscriminately sending them to all of you. But I was impressed and wanted to share this guy's work with all of you. Maybe there will be a link that works for each of you. Vicki

Sandi's WR #8

2008-03-09T12:54:00.000-07:00

Cyber safety is a hot topic for sure. I am excited to be living in an era of such rapid technological advancement. It amazes me to consider how far we have come. However, it scares me when I read the paper or listen to the news in reagards to the problems that come along with our success.

In my earlier post, which is lost in cyber space, I listed several excellent sites as well as a book for young readers (Katie.com). I am reluctant to write too much until I am sure I can post it. It appears my retention is lacking. Sandi

Leslie's WR#9

2008-03-09T12:53:00.001-07:00

Imagine my excitement when I came across the title “Infusing Multimodal Tools and Digital Literacies into an English Education Program” by Aaron Doering, Richard Beach, and David O’Brien dated October 2007. The journal, English Education, has hot off the press information about the very topic I’m interested in, or so I thought. I feel as though I’m writing a review for a publication called Wet Blankets because I would like to review something helpful to all of us, but the article was rather long, time to write the review is rather short, so I’m going to briefly tell you why I was so disappointed with it. But first, I’ll provide a bit of context. The article is about using Web 2.0 tools in courses for preservice teachers who then use the Web 2.0 tools with middle school students.

Mainly, the article with the promising title fails to deliver adequate support for its claims. But it also makes statements that don’t follow one another logically:

For example, while traditional print-based reading instruction focused on inferring the ‘main point’ or idea—based on linear processing of information, in reading and producing digital texts, adolescents need to know how to select certain links on a page that will provide them with needed relevant information (Kress, 2003).

This statement seems to confuse reading for comprehension with conducting research. And the authors don’t say that students need to learn to select links in addition to traditional reading. Instead they say, “The shift to active use of multimodel, interative Web 2.0 tools suggests the need to redefine notions of reading, composing, and performing processes to infuse digital literacies that students use daily into English language arts curriculum.” Isn’t that a bit like saying the shift to students’ frequent consumption of carbonated, caffeinated soft drinks suggests the need to redefine notions of nutrition and to place vending machines in the high schools? Not one sound pedagogical reason is offered to use Web 2.0 tools, which is a shame because that’s particularly what I was hoping to read about.

Another statement proposes that “as critical readers in these virtual spaces, [students] then assess how visual design functions rhetorically through developing ‘visual arguments’ that are evaluated in terms of their impact, coherence, visual salience, and organization (Selfe, 2005; Wysocki, 2004).” Unfortunately the authors don’t address how students will learn to be critical readers in virtual spaces. They just are.

In order not to bludgeon you with quotations, I’ll just give a final example of the authors assumptions regarding using technology in the classroom:

For example, [students] may critique an ad with the image of an SUV in a rugged, backwoods setting and transport that same SUV to sitting stuck in traffic in a smog-filled city. Recontextualizing the original positive meaning of the image to a negative one serves to interrogate the consumer ideology of the SUV as a necessary vehicle for life in the backwoods, an ideology that masks issues of gas consumption and pollution (Beach & O’Brien, 2005; Beach & Thein, 2006).

In the margin by this comment, I wrote this question: Do students actively critique, or do they simply enjoy having the ability to change images? My question is answered a few pages later. An anonymous preservice teacher notes, “I had no idea how fast somebody would finish something and a lot of [students] just cut and pasted—that’s how they do things now off the Internet like ‘Okay, here is my report!’”

Numerous other examples are presented in the article, but none of them explain how Web 2.0 tools are used either to teach or to learn but simply to do. I understand that a lot of learning takes place by doing; however, I don’t think that interrogating consumer ideology takes place by cutting and pasting, or even by using more sophisticated technological methods of manipulating images. Critical thinking and inquiry as habits of mind need to be taught and learned first.

In conclusion, I’m truly sorry I’m not able to add anything helpful to our inquiry, but I continue to keep an open mind, and I look forward to reading a review of a text that demonstrates sound pedagogical reasons for “infusing” technology into the classroom.

Leslie, your review was helpful. It seems like new things (especially in education?) often generate a lot of uncritical use or promotion. I'll subscribe to Wet Blankets!

--Harriet

Interesting and it actually connects with the article I read which, despite being written in 2005, advocates (and even demonstrates) the teaching of the skills Leslie desperately desires from this article. Sadly, as this article and my own experience demonstrate, teachers themselves don't know how to evaluate, use, and TEACH these new skills. I guess that's why we ATI! ~Mauro

Harriet's WR#9

2008-03-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

I'm late but here goes: (Ah, but Harriet, you are earlier than us all! ~ Mauro)

I've been cruising around blogs and digital storytelling sites, and searching for articles to read. I passed on some great sounding books, due to time. A site I really found intriguing was linked to the NWP tech stories site, Using Technology to Tell Stories, which Tracy added to the digital storytelling wiki. The site is:

http://www.jasonohler.com

Jason Ohler teaches at U of Alaska, and has a digital storytelling site for classroom teachers, with low budget/high impact ideas. They are not the classic Center for Digital Storytelling version of digital stories, but help show how students can respond to the curriculum through the use of technology. One example is third and fourth grade students presenting their own folk tales based on local story-telling in their community (Alaskan native peoples). The kids write their story, illustrate and perform it on video with their illustrations as backdrops. I think kids learn a lot through producing these projects. They apply what they've learned in social studies, and they have to communicate orally, in writing, and through art. Because they make a video, it is more obvious to the kids that the audience is important. They critique all of their choices--words, structure, images, timing, music, pacing. It's not difficult to see how to use multimedia presentations in different content areas (although time and access are still issues for me).

Dr. Ohler has written a book on digital storytelling, but each chapter comes from his online blog, which is still available to read and download. He is not a big proponent of technology for its own sake, but for what can be done with it. He has lots of ideas (not all ready to use, more food-for-thought) about assessing student work, and lots of tips for hardware and software and other how-to tips. He sees media literacy as having some differences from other literacies, and he sees art as really important in learning, communicating, and in students' future success.

He has said he's not sure what we'll do with technology in the future, but he's sure we'll find a way to tell stories with it!

--Harriet

Harriet,
Thanks for your positive response to Wet Blankets. I really enjoyed reading your review because I can agree that learning takes place with digital storytelling. I'm convinced that humans are hard-wired for storytelling, and that it's been one of the most important learning tools for eons. I'm curious to know, but too lazy to find out, whether the fourth graders compose on computers or write their stories by hand so the teacher can upload them. I just have very little idea what goes on in the elementary grades these days. Finally, I want to let you know that even though I haven't responded to the blogs and emails this fall, I have been following your work, Harriet; it's amazing and you're wonderful.
Leslie

Leslie, you are a stealer of other people's colors! I suppose I will use pink; it looks nice juxtaposed with your green!

Harriet, this sounds interesting and reasonable. I too feel like we need to keep the emphasis on curriculum and how we can use technology to support what we are teaching. I wonder though, will the experience using digital media in only this supplemental way prepare students to critically engage their media-saturated world, or do we need to do more to explicitly teach these media literacy skills even in the primary grades? And where will we find the time? ~Mauro

Writing Prompt #11

2008-03-09T12:39:00.000-07:00

Toward a Definition of 21st-Century Literacies

Adopted by the NCTE Executive Committee February 15, 2008

Literacy has always been a collection of cultural and communicative practices shared among members of particular groups. As society and technology change, so does literacy. Because technology has increased the intensity and complexity of literate environments, the twenty-first century demands that a literate person possess a wide range of abilities and competencies, many literacies. These literacies--from reading online newspapers to participating in virtual classrooms--are multiple, dynamic, and malleable. As in the past, they are inextricably linked with particular histories, life possibilities and social trajectories of individuals and groups. Twenty-first century readers and writers need to:

Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally
Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes
Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information
Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts
Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments

English departments have long been held accountable for students’ literacy by academics in other fields. Should computer literacy also be the English Department’s responsibility?

(Contributed by Leslie Leach)

Please post your response to Google Docs by Sunday, March 23. Once you've shared your response, please reply to someone else's by Sunday, March 30. Thank you.

To refresh your memory about how to post to Google Docs (opening and naming a new file, sharing with the rest of the ATI2007 gang), follow this link.

Current California Educator

2007-10-15T20:53:00.000-07:00

Harriet mentioned wanting to read the whole article our prompt came from and I found it online, so here's the link to the entire current issue of California Educator. (Tracy, feel free to move this somewhere else, but at least I actually intended to post this time...)

2007-10-01T16:18:00.000-07:00

If you're casting about for a tech text suitable to Catherine's writing prompt, please check out the recommendations provided in the October 22 issue of _The Wall Street Journal_.

Here's the link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119247579234659595.html?mod=dist_smar...

Here's the list (copied verbatim from the article):
Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson
A public school teacher looks at how to take these Web 2.0 tools and begin to use them in the classroom. The book is more practitioner- focused but gives a nice overview of what Web 2.0 and social collaboration models are, how they facilitate types of interactions and how to use them in school.

Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative by Ken Robinson
Robinson identifies and explains what he feels is the creation of an unnatural separation between arts and sciences, and creativity and intelligence. He believes this separation is enforced in formal education. He addresses how we need to re-engage with kids in different ways to encourage them to tap into their creativity. Robinson spends a lot of time talking about finding your medium, and we are seeing that digital tools are the medium of choice for a lot of
students.

Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family/School Partnerships by Anne T. Henderson, Vivian Johnson, Karen L. Mapp and Don Davies
It can be difficult to create a strong relationship between parents and the school. The authors talk about engaging with your school from a parent perspective. Part of the thesis is using technology as a platform to transform how we deliver instructions and communication. We must have a mechanism that enables parents to stay involved, and technology provides a tremendous medium to communicate.

Don't Bother Me Mom--I'm Learning! by Marc Prensky
Prensky has coined the terms digital natives and digital immigrants. Technology comes naturally to children since they grow up with it, whereas adults speak technology with an accent. This book looks at what kids can learn from video and electronic games and tries to overcome the natural predisposition against games that parents and educators have. It demonstrates how children use games and provides examples of how teachers can incorporate games in school to take technology to the next level.

What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy by James Paul Gee
Gee's point is to look at games not as a distraction, but consider what you learn from them like complex reasoning skills. He looks at games as a learning paradigm and considers the implications of that kind of a model for education at large. The book considers how to use these particular tools and models as a pedagogue as opposed to an entertainment platform.

The Flickering Mind, Saving Education from the False Promise of Technology by Todd Oppenheimer
This book presents the other end of the spectrum. Oppenheimer's critique sometimes opposes my way of thinking but is an important counterpoint to some of the overblown hype expounded by tech buffs. This book shows some of the traps you can encounter if technology is implemented poorly or there isn't a clear educational vision for what you are trying to accomplish. There could be a disconnect between technology and the curriculum or the teacher's ability to use the software. There's a difference in using technology for research and to connect rather than using it as a glorified typewriter.

Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation by Don Tapscott
Kids are interfacing with technology in different ways and as educators we need to understand where they're coming from to fully connect with students. Sometimes we need to retool what we do to connect. This book documents the trend in new media and how young people are interacting with that media. The old ways of standing in front of students and lecturing don't work. Educators need to appreciate that the expectations they had as students are different
from the new generation.

Redefining Literacy for the 21st Century by David Franklin Warlick
Literacy isn't just about reading and writing anymore, it's about analysis and research. This book look at higher level skills and how technology creates an opportunity to access those levels. It takes the idea that the technology changes the way we interact with one another and manage information and says that schools have to deal with this. If technology provides more complex experiences, we have to make sure students can navigate them and be able to take advantage of the types of opportunities technology provides for different levels of engagement.

Partnership for 21st Century Skills, www.21stcenturyskills.org8
The partnership has about 25 or 30 companies and other nonprofit organizations that are developing a framework for defining a set of skills they think are important for students to possess to be successful in the 21st century. The site has case studies and examples. A large part of the focus is dedicated to information, media and technology skills.

Mattioli, Dana. "Recommended Reading: Using Technology in the Classroom." The Wall Street Journal 22 Oct. 2007 [New York]. 3 Nov. 2007 <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119247579234659595.html?mod=dist_smartbrief>.

Harriet's Latest dStory

2007-09-25T15:15:00.000-07:00

Follow this link to the Loleta School site.
Follow this link to download the file without visiting the Loleta School site.

This We Vow

2007-08-15T14:33:00.001-07:00

We will ask each other for help.
We will keep in regular contact.
GoogleGroups will be our vehicle.
We will save time each month for tech project work and for writing about that work. Tracy will send out a call for writing-prompt-writer volunteers at the beginning of each month. A different volunteer will craft and announce that month's prompt by the 15th of that month.
We will post our first follow-through writing prompt in October.

2007-08-15T14:33:00.000-07:00

Harriet's WR #7
Progress? Accomplishments? Starts? Gaps? Filling gaps?

I am proud of the digital storytelling wiki. Tracy formatted it and added some great links, but I think I am getting the hang of adding links now, and there are some fab resources there. In the process, also with a nudge (or shove) from Tracy, I have found some go-to folks online. Not sure how responsive some will be, but they are there and I know where to find them. There is even a great digital story explaining wikis!

I've seen quite a variety of digital story projects. I will start out with a whole class story about our individual hopes and wishes for the year. Since I'm structuring it, there will be less for the students to do, but we can get it done for back to school night (I think I can, I think I can...), thus wowing the kids and their families. It will make their own stories easier, because they will have participated already and know what to expect. It might garner me some family help with future projects.

Here's the plan:
1. We'll talk, draw and write our hopes and wishes for the year. (We do this anyway.)
2. I'll photograph or scan them.
3. I'll photograph each student.
4. I'll record each student reading their piece.
5. We'll put it all together, and add music (possibly kid created).
6. We'll add whatever else the kids come up with.
7. Once I get over the newness of burning to iDVD (there's help available, I know, I just have to do it), it's time to pass the popcorn.

My hope is that each student produce a personal digital story, because the personal part is my passion. It is going to take a while to get our class "cooperated" so that I can work one-on-one with students, and I probably will be working solo. My other concern is equipment--for most of last year I did not have a functioning computer. I am hoping that the superintendent will be jazzed enough to find some money for this project. I just need a newer Mac, hopefully laptop, with some memory space. Easy. I think we need a projector also--they are getting pretty cheap yet there are still few available on loan.

I have an assignment from the Teaching American History (TAH) Class--to post digitally info about our Underground Railroad Trip (funded by TAH, and to do a presentation. This will be a snap with my new wiki skills! (I know where to find you, Tracy, and I'm not afraid to use you!) I was planning to make some digital stories about my trip, and I also found many student-generated stories, and a great site with links from the Smithsonian and Library of Congress, linked with a program to produce stories. Very cool.

I still need to practice uploading images and video, and burning dvds. It'll happen.

I really needed something to be passionate about this school year. I've found it, and so much more from working with you all.

2007-08-15T14:32:00.001-07:00

Vicki's WR #7
Please reflect on your progress to date. What have you accomplished so far? How much of a start do you have on your project? What gaps do you see now? What do we need to fill in those gaps?

My progress has been slow and frustrating. However, I have made huge steps forward. I was able to go to google pages (thanks Mauro) and create links to my blog. I found fun kennings/riddles for my students to play with as they start on the blog. The gaps for me are simply knowledge and time; the largest gap is probably time, since I need to decrease the knowledge gap through playing with everything and learning by doing. Other than that, I feel pretty good.

I continue to be amazed by how much time I can spend "fiddling" on the computer. I think the time we spend "playing" builds our knowledge in unexpected and nonlinear ways. I think you're a bit too modest in your self-evaluation VK! carnold

Have you not done tormenting me with your accursed time? ~Pozzo

I too always get sucked in, but it's fun in its way... ~Mauro

I realize the longer I sit at the computer, the less I understand. Isn't this an exciting time to be a teacher? Sandi

2007-08-15T14:32:00.000-07:00

Catherine's WR #7
Please reflect on your progress to date. What have you accomplished so far? How much of a start do you have on your project? What gaps do you see now? What do we need to fill in those gaps?

I am now comfortable with what was unfamiliar language in June. Words like RSS, social bookmarking, blogs, wikis are all part of my working vocabulary. I have an understanding of how to use blogs and wikis and can negotiate my way through the menus on Blogger and WikiSeed to create a space for myself to record my thoughts and images. I'm working to learn how to record sound digitially and to expand my understanding of podcasting. I'm eager to learn from Harriet and Trish about Digital Storytelling. I'm confident I can produce and display content on the web and have contacted a parent to come to my class in the fall and work as a technology volunteer in my classroom. I've explored elements of design and spent time thinking about the aesthetics of developing web-based content. Finally, I've applied my learning to my own interests and have spent time building both a wiki and a blog.

Now, I need to think more about classroom applications for this new knowledge. I have not, like Mauro or Sandi, created a space for students to work. I don't have a special project planned, like Trish or Harriet. I haven't applied a planning model, like Vicki, to create a unit, nor have I "completed" a not-so-modest project like Leslie. I continue to aspire to be as elegant as Tracy in my use of technology, and have a collection of colleagues who will support me and help me answer my questions. I am motivated, yet fearful of confronting the "blank page."

You are so eloquent. You already took the plunge last year with your students! Some of us are still attempting to connect our students into our projects. I feel like you--I too have a better understanding of the internet vocabulary and feel much more confident traversing its many avenues. Obviously I still have much to learn and experience, but this institute has been very enlightening for me. Vicki

You flatter us all but neglect yourself! We may all be at different places on this journey, but we didn't all start at the same time or have access to the same performance enhancing drugs. Consider this week steroids. With your new vocabulary and skills, you'll be lapping the rest of us in no time! ~Mauro

2007-08-15T14:31:00.000-07:00

Sandi's WR #7

I am very happy with the science blog that will be used in my new teaching assignment. I am in great hopes the "Question of the Week" will promote critical thinking, collaboration and fun. My main frustration is that I can not figure out how to insert a picture with the writing prompts. Fixing this problem will be my focus this morning. I feel semi confident that I can pull this off. After a few weeks, I plan to invite the schoolboard members and the superintendent to be viewers. Of course, I will take the opportunity to sing praises of the Redwood Writing Project and the Tech Divas.

Yeah, bring the board in and then ask them for funding! ~Mauro

Great plan! I don't remember the school board much, and I should. Once the students are active with the science blog, you should get press coverage too. Really. The kids benefit and we know public schools need all the good PR we can get. What's the blog title? --Harriet

2007-08-15T14:30:00.000-07:00

Mauro's WR #7
Please reflect on your progress to date. What have you accomplished so far? How much of a start do you have on your project? What gaps do you see now? What do we need to fill in those gaps?

Oddly enough, I had planned on spending these few days on CPR, and did a little bit, but, as it so often does, the world got in the way. Basically, for reasons outside my control, I didn't have access to the materials I needed to set up my CPR assignment, so, while I am ready to set it up and not at all stressed about that prospect, I have not progressed very far on that aspect of my project.

However, to fill time, I started to tinker with my Moodle account with the ultimate goal of streamlining my web presence at least from the perspective of my students (weirdly, this means I have more accounts in more places, but you all know how that goes). So yesterday, I managed to move a wiki from my Moodle site to PBwiki (password=Eureka) where I have a bit more flexibility, post two assignment blogs, and I learned how to use Google Pages and posted two handout web pages that link directly to the HW blogs.

My gaps are all associated with time and access to files at EHS (which is under construction at the moment). I'm sure the gaps will be filled in time. Now I just need to get my students as excited about this stuff as I am...

Cool stuff, Mauro. I bet your students think you are pretty cool and appreciate the cutting edge technology experience. (: Thanks for all your help thus far. Vicki

Wow! I'm impressed! carnold

Thanks Mauro, I have loved working with you this summer, you make me laugh. Sandi Moon

2007-08-15T14:29:00.000-07:00

Leslie's WR #7

After using Calibrated Peer Rreview (CPR) in my summer class with some degree of success, but not as much as I would have liked (details at 10:00), I finally have had the time, thanks to the ATI, to sit in front of a computer and thoroughly explore the CPR program. It may seem strange that I hadn't done that a lot earlier, but I had found out as much as I could until I got "student results." Once the students finished their assignments, more of the program is available to see. Unfortunately, as the students finished their assignments, I was teaching, trying to sell my house, and just living in general, not even gardening much. Happily, the next time I teach, I think I will be able to use CPR to much better effect.

You do not give yourself enough credit. Your project was terrific and you navigated it with finesse. I am definitely interested in CPR, but am not ready to take it on. I think it is a project that would benefit me and my Comp kids, but I am not able to give it the time I need to in order to be successful. But I will! Thank you for finding it and going out on that limb for us so we can learn from you and your experience. Vicki

I suspect, Leslie, that you found what you needed when you needed it. Would you have been "ready" for the stuff you found this week if you had found it three months ago? I think you did a spectacular job, and now you have groupies! Tracy

2007-08-15T14:28:00.000-07:00

Tracy's WR#7
Please reflect on your progress to date. What have you accomplished so far? How much of a start do you have on your project? What gaps do you see now? What do we need to fill in those gaps?

I don't have much product to show yet (except for a wiki title--thanks, Mauro!), but I think I've made some good strides in my thinking. Mostly I've been thinking about how to break down the task into logical, do-able parts; how to make those parts meaningful on at least two levels; and how to gather resources. I know I want my students to look at a bunch of wikis, to review them critically: to see what they offer and how folks set them up and how (and if) others contribute. Then I want them to gather data on the term they chose to define. Yesterday, I made some decisions about those resources and started gathering them, but I'll need to do my own definition--go on my own journey--before I can complete this section. I want them to make conscious decisions about their wiki layout and I want that consciousness to transfer to the resultant definition essays. I think I need to think more about outcomes and how I will measure those outcomes. I need to do Vicki's backwards planning thing (thanks, Vicki!).

I've also learned a lot about how humans learn to do things with computers from you all. We are all smart and capable and motivated, and I've learned from watching your discoveries, frustrations, triumphs, work-arounds, and reactions to my "directions." Thanks to you all!

What do I need to fill in the gaps? Well, there's the usual: time. Of course. Mostly I need to DO what I know I need to do. I would also like help gathering resources, and that's where the wiki Geek Goodies page comes in. I would love you all to post resources you find that could help me there. I would also like to be able to share drafts of my handouts / online directions and get your feedback. May I impose, when the time comes?

During the course of the tech project, I would like to share progress (here's what's happening, here's a problem, here's an unexpected good thing), I would like to show you what my students are doing and benefit from your insights.

Once my students and I are up and running, I too will send out invitations so you can see how it is working. I plan to have my students check out some of your students' wikis (like semicolon). I appreciate all the time we are allowed to flounder and find out it isn't that hard after all. I promise to make time to go to Geek Goodies and Goodle Docs and keep in touch with my progress. Vicki

Of course I'll share, assuming I remember amid the hustle and bustle. Thank you for giving us this place to share and bounce ideas, not to mention these six days of fun with computers (sometimes frustrating fun, but never-the-less, fun). You are definitely the tech goddess of our little group of divas... ~Mauro

I love the buddy system! And am looking forward to sharing/getting help/ and hopefully even helping! --Harriet

Your quest is far beyond me. I need you to know how much I have appreciated your help and support. Your presence gives me confidence. Sandi Moon

Welcome Back, Techies

2007-08-14T09:39:00.000-07:00

2007-08-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

ATI2007: Work Session Pronouncements

Catherine . . .
. . . could use help/company with practicing the protocol, elements of design, digital storytelling
. . . can help with seedwiki toolbar

Harriet . . .
. . . could use help/company with posting stories to blog
. . . can help with digital video recording

Leslie . . .
. . . could use help/company with more CPR stuff
. . . can help with social bookmarking

Mauro . . .
. . . could use help/company with social bookmarking
. . . can help with posting to blog (video, handouts)

Sandi . . .
. . . could use help/company with getting Google Docs posted to blog, access the protocol
. . . can help with blogging

Tracy . . .
. . . could use help/company with getting Google Docs posted to blog, finding out about Google web space
. . . can help with getting Google Docs posted to blog

Trish . . . can't join us today
. . . would like help/company with
. . . can help with

Vicki . . .
. . . could use help/company with getting Google Docs posted to blog, finding out about Google web space
. . . can help with making riddles to post to blog

Preparing for August's Part Deux

2007-08-13T13:15:00.001-07:00

Please complete Writing Prompt #5 by Tuesday, August 7th.
Please complete Writing Prompt #6 by Sunday, August 12th.

To share or chronicle research, please post to the appropriate page on Geek Goodies.
To start a discussion, post to Google Groups or open and invite us to a new Google Doc.

Planning Our Tech Projects

2007-08-13T13:13:00.000-07:00

Resources from Vicki

Backwards Design 101 (Amherst Regional Public Schools)
NCRTEC Lesson Planner (North Coast Regional Technology in Education Consortium)
The Lesson Planner (UCI Credential Programs)

Tech Grant Opportunities

2007-08-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants

Our Blogs

2007-06-23T12:33:00.002-07:00

Catherine's Blog: Sightings: Steller's Jays
Harriet's Blog: Digital Storytelling
Mauro's Blog: Hyper English Geek: Random Musings of a High School English Teacher (not yet public)
Sandi's Blog: (not yet public)
Trish's Blog: Digital Storytelling with Elementary School Students (not yet public)
Vicki's Blog: (not yet public)

Online Images Resources

2007-06-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

Google Images: http://images.google.com/
Free Stock Photography: http://www.images.com/
Microsoft Office Online: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default.aspx
FreeGraphics: http://www.freegraphics.org/
Free Graphics for Your Webpage: http://mem.tcon.net/dorothy/

About Google Docs

2007-06-21T16:04:00.001-07:00

How to Access and Use Google Docs

Follow this link for a printer-friendly version of this document.

Go to Google, and click on the “Sign in” link in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
If you do not yet have a Google account, please take this opportunity to create one now by clicking on the “Create an account now” link in the middle of the right-hand side of the screen.
If you do have a Google account, please sign in now.
Once you’re back at the familiar Google search screen, select “Documents” from the “more” drop-down menu.
To post your response to a writing prompt, please create a new document by clicking on the “New Document” link in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.
Please save your new document immediately by clicking on the “Untitled” button in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. Please include in your title the following information: ATI2007, your name, and the number of the writing prompt to which you are responding. Thank you.
Type your response to the writing prompt.
When you are ready to publish your response—to make it visible to our group only—please save your document and then click on the “Docs Home” link in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Once there, click on the small, blue “Share Now” link under the “Owners / Collaborators / Viewers” column to the right of your document name. Copy and paste the email list from the “ATI2007: Email Address for Google Docs Invitations” document, and click the “Skip sending invitation” button.
To edit any entry—yours or one to which another has invited you, any that shows up on your “Active Docs & Spreadsheets” page, simply click on the title and edit.

Tricks, Shortcuts, and Insider Cool

2007-06-20T16:29:00.000-07:00

To Move between Tabs on the Mac: [Apple] [tab]
To clip and save text (at least on a Mac), highlight the text you want and then drag it to the desktop (or your thumb drive).

About Blogger

2007-06-19T17:17:00.001-07:00

To Link to Different Pages in Your Blog

Follow this link for a printer-friendly version.

As you've no doubt noticed by now, every time you create a post, it shows up in the center of your blog space. That might be okay with you, especially if you've set your blog to accept a large number of posts, but if you want to simplify your layout--and the navigation--consider setting your blog to accept only one post (go to "Customize," then "Settings," then "Formatting"--then set the "Show" number to one post), and then create and link to separate pages in your blog (as I've done with our "Agenda" and "Writing Prompt" and "Links" lists in this blog).

Click on the "New Post" option located in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
Title your post. Put something--anything--in the post body.
Once you have completed your post, click on the orange "PUBLISH POST" button at the bottom left of the screen. (You can always go back to revise your post--even after you publish it.)
Select "View Blog," and click on the title of your post that should appear front and center on your blog's homepage (okay, topish left).
Once you arrive at the page you just posted, right click once in the browser's address line, and from the resultant pop-up menu, select "Copy."
To place the link, go to "Customize," and edit one of the links page elements you have already created, or create a new links section by clicking on the "Adding a Page Element" links and adding "Links List." Title your Links List (Assignments, Essays, Problem Sets--whatever you need), paste the URL you copied in step five, and title the "New Site Name" (Assignment #425, Persuasive Essay, Calculating Sine Problem Set, etc.). Click on the orange "Save Changes" button, and then view your blog to see what you've created. Note: you can also link to another website (blog, image, video feed, etc.) by starting again at step six and pasting that link into the URL space.
Don't forget to create a new post to displace the post you created in order to make your new page.

About Wikis

2007-06-19T17:06:00.000-07:00

How to Access and Use Geek Goodies: RWP's TechWiki

Follow this link for a printer-friendly version of this document.

We will be using Geek Goodies for several reasons:

As a Repository for our Research
We’ll use our individual Geek Goodies pages like a filing cabinet: a virtual place to collect and organize our tech project data. For instance (and as you can see), I’ve already started the “Wikis” page. I have a long way to go, but the wiki allows me the flexibility to collect and (re)organize as frequently as I need to.
As a Repository for Others’ Contributions to Our Research
Because anyone on the Web can access and add to our pages, our Geek Goodies pages allow others to add links to and offer comments about our research. Don’t fear: because seedwiki archives its pages, so in the case of vandalism, you can always recapture an earlier version.
As a Resource for Others Interested in Our Tech Project Data
When we are ready, I will notify the National Writing Project’s technology network. TCs and Writing Project groupies will admire our digital library.
As a Platform for Practicing Wikis
How better to learn and to gauge the efficacy of wikis than to use one?

And now for the “how.”

One-Time-Only Tasks

Register with seedwiki.
Go to www.seedwiki.com, and click on the “start a free account” button on the right side of the screen. Once you’ve created your account—once you’ve been prompted to enter your information—you will be prompted to create a new wiki. Don’t do it! Resist! Instead, type "Geek Goodies" into the search box, and follow the “Geek Goodies” link that will appear about half way down the page.
Subscribe to Geek Goodies.
Please subscribe to our wiki. This way, you will be notified by email every four hours IF someone has made a change/addition to the wiki. To subscribe this first time, click on the name button on the left side of the screen and then select “subscribe to wiki” option.

AFTER these one-time steps, you can always go right to our page by typing in our address: www.seedwiki.com/wiki/geek_goodies. If you misplace our URL, simply go to seedwiki.com and search on “Geek Goodies.”

Please log in to seedwiki every time you visit by clicking on the “log in” button on the left side of the screen. Thank you.

The seedwiki site offers a good deal of help concerning how to make and mess with wiki pages, so I’ll not duplicate that information in this email—except to mention two things.

Finding Help
Both the “directory” and “changes” buttons on the left side of the screen lead to a screen with a tabbed menu. The “control panel & how to” tab leads to a pretty helpful menu, and I’ve found all kinds of neat things there. I’ve also linked to the set-up directions from our homepage.

Making a New Page
From http://www.seedwiki.com/wiki/geek_goodies, click on the “edit page” button on the left side of the screen. You will soon find yourself on a wordprocessory-looking page. Find the end of our current pages links (under out title), hit the spacebar once, type in a vertical line (|), hit the spacebar again, and then type your new page’s name (podcasting, digital storytelling, CPR, etc). Place [square brackets] around the name you type. Now click on the “Save Your Changes” button. Doing so will get you back to our homepage where you will see the name you typed followed by a little, underlined (hyperlinked) question mark. Clicking on the question mark will direct you to your new page patiently awaiting your links, text, images, whatever.

"Beyond Wikipedia: Using Wikis to Connect Students and Teachers to the Research Process and to One Another" by Doug Achterman

2007-06-19T17:03:00.000-07:00

It is hard to work in a school library without believing in the power of constructivist learning. Every day teacher-librarians facilitate the process of articulating research questions, locating resources, organizing information from a variety of sources, and synthesizing that information to create new understandings. Some of the most exciting research happens when students collaborate to pool their research and analyze their data, forming a kind of understanding that would be difficult for an individual student to achieve.

The Read/Write Web, also called Web 2.0, offers powerful tools to aid in this kind of collaborative process. Applications such as blogs and wikis allow users to add content to a web page on the fly, generally with little or no knowledge of HTML coding required. And although blogs have gained some popularity and use in schools, the potential for wikis as an educational tool remains largely untapped. While the reasons for this are open to question, it is clear that it is not because students are uncomfortable with these new technologies. In fact, about half of all teens in the United States create some kind of content for the Internet. These activities include creating web pages, blogs, and wikis, as well as remixing content found online into something new (Lenhart & Madden, 2005).

In the Image of Wikipedia

Many of the suggestions for using wikis are imitations of the general concept of Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, an organic, loosely structured process to produce encyclopedia-type content. NeighborhoodWiki, for example, features elementary students' encyclopedia entries on hundreds of topics, ranging from alligators to zxcvbnm,./ (the bottom row of the keyboard). Will Richardson (2006) suggested that teachers and students collaborate to create wiki textbooks for individual courses and that each year new classes might add to or edit content. Westwood Schools, in Camilla, GA, maintains a wiki that includes collections of student work, class blogs, student-created study guides, and spaces for students to post pages of interest to other students (Jakes, 2006).

In addition to allowing users to add and edit content, wikis also allow users to weigh in with commentary. Many wiki applications feature a back page, usually labeled Discussion, which can be used for reflection and feedback. On Wikipedia, users often use this space to post explanations of edits they have made, to evaluate content, or to disagree with other contributors. This feature is being put to good use by teachers who create wikis for their writing courses. Borja (2006) cited Paul Allison's High School Online Collaborative Writing Wiki as an example, on which students used the "Discussion" page to create modern versions of scenes from Macbeth, including 20 versions of the opening witch scene.

Many supporters of wikis in education suggest that there is an inherent underlying philosophy that accompanies use of the tool. Richardson (2006) claimed that "early implementations of wikis in educational settings have shown that the more autonomy teachers give to students in terms of negotiating the scope and quality of the content they are creating, the better" (p. 65). Heather James (2004) described her "brilliant wiki failure," in part, the result of assuming too much control. "To really use a wiki," James said, "the participants need to be in control of the content--you have to give it over fully." And Brian Lamb (2004) asserted that wikis are most effective when "students can assert meaningful autonomy over the process. It is not that authority cannot be imposed on a wiki, but doing so undermines the effectiveness of the tool" (p. 45).

Wikis and Information Literacy

Although it is hard to argue with the goal of independent, self-directed learning, this is often more an ideal to strive toward than it is a reality. In fact, there is evidence that careful structuring and scaffolding of concepts and skills have led to some successful wiki collaborations. Moreover, many of the considerations in effectively setting up a learning wiki are related to the information literacy skills that fall within the teacher-librarian's expertise. For example, in a study of undergraduate engineering students' use of a wiki for a design project, Nicol, Littlejohn, and Grierson (2005) noted that the organization and structure of information and resources affected team sharing and the learning of design principals. In one of two case studies that this team completed, the authors concluded that requiring teams to make their knowledge structures transparent helped teams solidify their ideas about how their ideas were inter-related. The authors also suggested that requiring students to create concept maps of how their resources related to their central design concepts would have deepened students' application of those resources. In debriefing their project, one student stated that it would have been beneficial if they had been required to use the wiki to rank the value of each source that they uploaded to the shared space. Nicol and colleagues (2005) last suggested that some information literacy skills do not come naturally to students and that building in mechanisms to the wiki to assist students through their problem solving is an important role for the instructor.

Phillipson and Hamilton (2004) reflected on a similar issue in relation to their Romantic Audience Project, a class wiki at Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME, exploring the Romantic poets. In this open-ended project, students analyzed and responded to poetry through annotating the original poems. Words and phrases were linked to pages of explication and reaction; images related to poems were uploaded; poems on similar themes were interlinked; and biographical information was created about influential authors. In spite of students' enthusiasm, there were difficulties. "Wikis lead to dispersion," the authors stated. "It is easy to click around and wander off into paths that feel tangential or idiosyncratic. To a point, such an environment can feel liberating.… But disorientation is quickly frustrating, especially in a pedagogical setting."

Phillipson and Hamilton chose a wiki software with navigation features that they thought would help their students. They took an active role in deciding which pages to highlight on the navigation bar, and they barred students from deleting each other's posts. Once again, these instructors intervened in the operation of the wiki in response to their students' information literacy skill levels.

Engstrom and Jewett's middle school wiki project (2005), in which students investigated the long-term consequences of six Missouri River dams, yielded similar conclusions in terms of the need to build in information literacy skills. Teachers realized on reflection that they needed to model and facilitate the exchange of ideas and that students needed some explicit instruction in the inquiry process to help them provide meaningful interactions with each other and the data they were uncovering.

As a matter of pedagogy, Richardson (2006), James (2004), and Lamb (2004) are correct to push for using wikis in the least restrictive environment, giving over control of content and process to students. But providing students with support, structure, and instruction when they lack the skills to assume complete control in no way undermines the effectiveness of the wiki as a tool. Richardson wrote that, in fact, the use of the wiki is as much about collaborative skills as it is about the production of content:

The collaborative environment that wikis facilitate can teach students much about how to work with others, how to create community, and how to operate in a world where the creation of knowledge and information is increasingly becoming a group effort. (p. 74)

Let us take a closer look at five features of wikis that can make them an effective tool in facilitating such collaborative efforts, including examples from my partnerships with classroom teachers.

Feature 1: Ease of use. Contributors simply go to a wiki site and add a new entry or edit an existing one following simple directions. Many wiki sites provide a "what you see is what you get" (WNYSIWYG) editing interface with options similar to those seen in a basic word-processing application, such as Microsoft Word. Users click on "Edit," and add or change content, then click on "Save This Page." That is all there is to it. Instant publishing.

Example. At the beginning of the school year, sophomore world studies students come to the library for a minilesson on determining the authority of a web site. Through discussion facilitated by the teacher-librarian and classroom teacher, students generate a set of criteria that they will use to evaluate authority. Working in groups of three, students explore a single site and use the criteria to decide if the site is authoritative. Students record their answers on a wiki page that includes a link to the site. Because students have no difficulty learning to use the wiki after a 1-minute demonstration, they are able to record their answers and share with the whole group right away (Figure 1).

Feature 2: Spaces for students to create products individually, in small groups, and as a whale group. Any wiki can be designed to contain separate work spaces for individual, small group, and large group products. The digital environment creates an easy means for students to move from one space to the next, taking notes, analyzing, and synthesizing information along the way.

Example. Students in a remedial science class are exploring the similarities and differences between human beings and other primates. Each student locates information on a single species using links off his or her own page provided by the teacher-librarian (Figure 2). The student records answers on that page. Then, a group leader copies all group members' work into a matrix. Together, the group members answer the question, "Based on the data here, what does it mean to be human?" (Figure 3).

Each group shares its data and answers with the class, comparing and refining answers. In a short period, students are able to collect, organize, and analyze a large amount of data to produce original conclusions and create authentic understanding.

Feature 3: Ability to create a nonlinear document structure through hyperlinks. Hyperlinking allows for the creation of assignments whose steps need not be followed in a single order, offering flexibility and choice to students while maintaining clear paths to follow. Again, neither students nor instructors need to know any HTML coding to do this.

Example. Students move easily through all the information and work spaces of the primates wiki mentioned in Feature 2.

Feature 4: A built-in mechanism for reflection and metacognition. As mentioned earlier, many wikis offer an option called "Discussion"--some wiki sites call it "Comments"--on which students can engage in conversation about the entry, explaining why they made changes, agreeing or disagreeing with what has been posted, and sharing personal feelings about a topic.

Example. Students work in pairs to explore both sides of a controversial issue before deciding which side to support. On Day 1, one student researches the "pro" arguments while the other researches "con" arguments. The next day, students switch, completing the Day 2 chart by adding concrete details in support of the original arguments or by finding different arguments and support. Students then use the "Discussion" page to communicate with each other (and to the teacher) about which arguments and details are best and why. The teacher may participate in these discussions, too (Figure 4).

Feature 5: A means of tracking individual, small group, and whole group progress through an assignment. Wikis have a "History" option that allows users to view each change that has been made to an entry since its creation. This makes it possible for the teacher-librarian and classroom teacher to chart progress and identify places in the learning process that require more or less intervention--a useful feedback tool in instructional design.

Example. In the "Writing a Persuasive Essay" assignment, each change to a page automatically creates a link on the "Versions" page--sometimes called the "History" page (Figure 5). Some wiki software even allows you to compare new and old versions of a page side by side. This allows both student and teacher to chart progress through an assignment, and it provides opportunities for the teacher to intervene when necessary to keep collaboration on track. It also discourages vandalism because pages can easily be restored to an earlier version.

Each of the examples provides structure and support to meet students' information literacy needs while honing collaboration skills. The collaborative context frequently provides an added dimension to student learning--through multiple perspectives, increased data points, and the heightened demands of clear communication among group members, among other factors. Wikis can help teachers and students negotiate that added dimension.

Privacy and Security

Many educators have concerns about privacy and security in relation to wikis and other Web 2.0 applications. A single response to both is to install wiki software on a school's server and run it inside the firewall. This way, unwanted intruders can neither view nor tamper with students' work. This requires some technical expertise and, perhaps, a relationship with a school district's network administrators--something that is all too rare. There are free wiki sites, however, that can be set up with a password so that only invited guests may visit the site and participate in it. Other sites allow user groups in which only designated registered users gain access to the site.

Deleting Online Predators Act

Perhaps a greater obstacle is some districts' refusal to allow any social software applications into its schools. In fact, the Deleting Online Predators Act, passed by the House of Representatives (H.R. 5319, 2006) and currently before the U.S. Senate, would deny federal aid to any school library that did not block commercial social networking sites. Although the greatest fears center on MySpace and similar sites, the language of the Deleting Online Predators Act prohibits access to any commercial site that "enables communication among users," a sledgehammer solution that actually denies students and educators some of the best new learning tools available. It is important that we as information specialists educate our school communities about the far-reaching ramifications of this proposed law.

Getting Started

If you are able to use wikis in your school setting, one final consideration is to choose the best wiki application for your needs. All of the following wiki sites offer free accounts with registration. Each also offers subscription accounts with more powerful options for the account holder.

Seedwiki and Wikispaces offer free wikis with WYSIWYG editors that make them the easiest to use. Seedwiki has a slightly more powerful editing toolbar. Neither site allows a user to password wikis in their free packages, so make certain that students do not include their full names or any personal information on the site.

PeanutButterWiki and Schtuff are a bit more complicated to use, because they require some simple formatting. PeanutButterWiki allows for passwording of sites, affording teachers and class members some privacy when needed. For this reason, PeanutButterWiki is popular with school staff who are planning and drafting School business. Schtuff incorporates blogs into their spaces and allows changes in permission rights so that different users have different abilities to access or change documents.

References

Borja, R. R. (2006). Educators experiment with student-written wikis. Education Week, 25(30), 10.

Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006, H.R. 5319, 109th Cong. (2006).

Engstrom, M. E., & Jewett, D. (2005). Collaborative learning the wiki way. TechTrends, 49(6), 12-15, 68.

Jakes, D. (2006). Wild about wikis: Tools for taking student and teacher collaboration to the next level. Technology and Learning, 27(1), 6.

James, H. (2004). My brilliant failure: Wikis in classrooms. Retrieved September 5, 2006, from http://kairosnews.org/node/view/3794

Lamb, B. (2004). Wide open spaces: Wikis ready or not. Educause Review, 39(5), 37-48.

Lenhart, A., & Madden, M. (2005). Teen content creators and consumers. Washington, DC: Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Nicol, D., Littlejohn, A., & Grierson, H. (2005). The importance of structuring information and resources within shared workspaces during collaborative design learning. Open Learning, 20(1), 31-49.

Phillipson, M., & Hamilton, D. (2004). The romantic audience project: A wiki experiment. Retrieved September 8, 2006, from www.rc.umd.edu/pedagogies/commons/ innovations/rap/toc.htm

Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Feature articles in TL are blind refereed by members of the advisory board. This article was submitted July 2006 and accepted August 2006.

~~~~~~~~

By Doug Achterman

Doug Achterman is the teacher-librarian at San Benito High School, Hollister, CA, and is currently a doctoral student in the interdisciplinary studies library and information science program at the University of North Texas. Doug's e-mail address is dachterman@sbhsd.k12.ca.us.

"The Educator's Guide to the Read/Write Web" by Will Richardson

2007-06-19T16:35:00.001-07:00

Did you post to your blog today?" "Have you tried using a wiki for that?" "Furl anything this week?"

No, these aren't survey questions from the Tech Geek Dating Service. They're questions centered around the new content creation and publication tools available for the Internet — tools that many teachers and students are using to enhance learning.

The Internet is no longer simply a place where digital learners consume information. It is now also a forum through which users can publish and broadcast their own writing. Weblogs, wikis, podcasts, and similar tools introduced over the last few years have ushered in the "Read/Write Web," a phenomenon that is changing the face of journalism, politics, business, and other areas of society Classrooms are beginning to feel these effects as well, as thousands of teachers and students use the Web to publish their work, collaborate on projects, and engage in online conversations.

Cool Tools of the Read/Write Web

Let's look at the new technologies that support the Read/Write Web.

As Easy as Posting on a Blog

One key tool is Weblogs, or blogs, which enable anyone to create a personal or group Web site without needing to learn hypertext markup language. All it takes to share content with a worldwide audience is to log in, enter text into a box on the screen, and click on publish. Like traditional Web sites, blogs can incorporate graphics and multimedia. But unlike traditional sites, blogs allow online conversations among users; most blogs allow any visitor to post public comments about the site's contents.

Tens of millions of bloggers around the world, many of them high school students, regularly add their ideas and perspectives to the massive body of information that is the Web. Although many youth treat blogs as simple online diaries, some students and teachers use them as vehicles to draw out critical thinking, reading, and writing skills. Teachers are using blogs to build classroom resource portals and to foster online learning communities. Students create online, reflective, interactive portfolios of their work to share with worldwide audiences.

For example, at Hunterdon High School in Flemington, New Jersey, where I teach, students have used blogs to collaborate with authors of the books they are reading in literature classes; to contact professional mentors in journalism classes; and to communicate with high schoolers from Krakow, Poland, as part of a unit on the Holocaust.

Wikis: The Beauty of Collaboration

Wikis are an even more open and collaborative content creation tool. Wiki is the Hawaiian word for quick. A wiki is a Web site that anyone can edit at any time. The most visible example of the potential of wikis is Wikipedia.org, the online encyclopedia with more than 500,000 entries. Each entry is continually shaped by anonymous contributors who log on to the encyclopedia and add new or clarifying information as the need arises.

Wikipedia is not only an amazing information source but also an example of the power of the Read/Write Web. Every day, thousands of people with no physical connection to one another engage in the purposeful work of negotiating and creating this accurate online resource by editing, deleting, or restoring its content. They do this with no expectation that their contributions will be acknowledged or compensated, understanding that the writing they contribute can be freely edited, modified, or copied by anyone else. There are no technological safeguards against a user putting bogus information into the site or vandalizing an entry; the community of people using the wiki keeps the information accurate by policing itself. If anyone enters erroneous information or vandalizes the site, another user usually repairs the damage. Hard as it is to believe, in the majority of cases the community maintains a high degree of accuracy and appropriateness. The extent and quality of contributions to Wikipedia are truly inspiring. Students and teachers in classes ranging from media studies to physics are collaboratively building their own wikis that feature lists of annotated resources and links relevant to the course curriculum that can be shared with future classes.

Feeds, Social Bookmarking, and Podcasting

Another new digital tool is Really Simple Syndication (RSS). Really Simple Syndication enables people to subscribe to various feeds of information-data that are continually streamed and collected into a file with the help of a tool called an aggregator. RSS aggregators check this information stream as regularly as every hour to see if there is anything new for RSS subscribers to read when they are ready; if there is, the aggregator copies and stores it. Just about all Weblog software automatically generates an RSS feed. When various feeds are collected by an aggregator, keeping up with 50 or even 100 different blogs becomes relatively easy. Any new content that appears on any of the targeted blogs is automatically collected and stored.

Hundreds of traditional media outlets like The New York Times, Newsweek, and The Wall Street Journal now offer RSS feeds for their content. Users can create feeds connected to specific search terms at sites like Yahoo! News, so that any new information about a topic is automatically collected in the aggregator. Teachers and students can use this new way of collecting information to broaden the scope of their reading and research. A student doing a project on global warming, for example, can create RSS feeds that will bring him or her the latest research on the topic almost as soon as it is published.

But collecting information is only half of the process. Certain new tools also enable users to archive and share relevant information. With social book-marking sites like Furl.net and del.icio.us, users can not only save a site address, as traditional bookmarking does, but also save a copy of the Web site itself in a searchable folder. What makes this tool social is the ability to subscribe, without special permission, to RSS feeds of what another user is saving. Social bookmarking enables teachers to leverage the collaborative efforts of like-minded professionals to mine information on the Internet.

Another way to share information on the Web is podcasting, which can best be described as creating amateur home radio programs and widely distributing them on the Web. Thousands of podcasters are creating and broadcasting content that people can listen to whenever their schedule allows, not just at the hour it is broadcast. Students across the United States are podcasting audio tours of local museums and points of interest, weekly news programs about their classrooms, oral histories and interviews, and more. New and easier ways to publish multimedia screen captures and digital video on the Web create even more opportunities for sending multimedia creations to a potentially large audience. Although a student's audience may be limited to teachers and peers at the outset, that audience can quickly grow as the student shares links and ideas with other bloggers and podcasters. The awareness of even a small audience can significantly change the way a student approaches writing and other school assignments. It's the difference between handing a piece in to a teacher and publishing it.

What the New Tools Demand of Us

These new digital tools enable everyday Internet users to digitally disseminate their ideas and experiences, a reality that has implications for leaching. Teachers must consider whether our curriculums should change now that students have the ability to reach audiences far beyond our classroom walls and to acquire their own primary sources. How should we rethink the concept of literacy now that students can instantly become not only readers and writers, but also editors and collaborators? How do we best put to use the reams of writing that this new writable Web provides?

Educators around the world are attempting to answer these tough questions. Adjusting to the Read/Write Web is not as simple as moving students from writing essays on paper to writing essays on a blog. Teachers and students must learn to navigate the complexities that accompany a publishing environment that is more transparent, interactive, and collaborative than ever before.

This explosion of online content demands a more complex definition of what it means to be literate. For more than 100 years, we have defined literacy as being able to read and write. Although those core abilities are still central to learning, however, they are no longer enough to ensure understanding and meaningful participation in the exchange of ideas online. Now that anyone with an Internet connection can publish and disseminate content with no editorial review process, consumers of Web content need to be editors as well as readers. They need to know how to identify the source of a piece of information, gauge that sources reputation, compare the information with what's already known, and make a judgment about its authenticity and relevance. We must teach students how to actively question and evaluate published information instead of passively accepting it as legitimate.

In addition, to take part in this rich digital conversation, teachers and students must become competent in Web publishing. It's no longer enough to simply consume information; we must engage with that information and share what we have learned in appropriate ways. Every person with Internet access now has a multimedia printing press at his or her disposal, an outlet with potential to do as much harm as good. Students need to understand the many ways in which they can appropriately share ideas and creations online. Teachers can facilitate this understanding by taking part in online collaborations, editing Wikipedia, and setting up blogs about their teaching practice.

To be literate in the age of the Read/Write Web means to skillfully manage the flood of information now available. Google regularly scans in information from more than 50 million books from the worlds biggest research libraries, and a new blog is created every two seconds. Literate Internet users need strategies for sorting out, storing, and using relevant information from this outpouring.

Challenging Traditional Pedagogy

The Read/Write Web poses additional challenges to our thinking and methodology as educators. As more content becomes available online, it becomes less appropriate to rely on traditional curriculum delivery methods like textbooks and handouts. More current -and in many cases, more relevant -information is as close as a Google search. Many teachers and students have already begun writing their own textbooks online, cobbling together links and annotated reading lists that future classes can build on. Much like the open source software movement, this "open content" model begs for a more collaborative assembly of course materials.

The Read/Write Web should prompt teachers to rethink their roles. With millions of knowledgeable people posting blogs, for example, students may find scientists, writers, or researchers willing to guide their study of a topic who have more content-area expertise than a classroom teacher. In such situations, the teachers role shifts from a content expert to a guide who shows students how to find and evaluate online resources, communicate with experts whom they encounter online, and publish their own creations that result from such encounters. Classroom teachers should become content creators in their own right so that they can model appropriate use of these tools.

The tools of the Read/Write Web facilitate students collaborative construction of meaningful knowledge. Schools have traditionally demanded that students work independently and produce content mainly for their teacher. Digital tools allow students to easily work together outside school — for example, collaborating on projects through instant messaging or text messaging on phones — and to share the results of that work with a broader audience. We should encourage such collaboration and outreach. Instead of just collecting student work to be graded and discarded at the end of the year, teachers could urge students to publish their work online so that others can learn from that work and interact with students about the ideas it contains.

The Web can also act as a student notebook or portfolio, a searchable repository capturing evidence of what a student has learned throughout his or her education. This gives students opportunities for important metacognitive reflection on their own learning.

Risks and Benefits

Obviously, the transparency created by the Read/Write Web creates risks as well as opportunities. Schools need to think through the potential privacy and safety implications that go along with widespread publishing of student-created content. How widely students should post their work online and whether they should connect their names with it depend on a range of factors — including the comfort level of adults involved, the capabilities of the software being used, and differing state and national laws.

Because much of the educational value of tools that enable students to publish their work online stems from students' potential to reach a broad audience, such decisions are crucial. Teachers employing these tools must monitor student use and teach students how to use the tools safely to enhance learning. We must also show students how to deal with inappropriate content that they may come across during their Web travels. Some schools attempt to block inappropriate Web sites from students, whereas other schools teach students how to make intelligent decisions about content that they encounter and how to react wisely if they stumble across something unsuitable.

I believe that the potential enhancements to student learning that the new Read/Write Web entails outweigh these manageable risks. The Web has become a vehicle through which students and teachers can share what they have learned in meaningful, purposeful ways. It is a place where students of disparate backgrounds can build connections and learn collaboratively with mentors and experts. And it's a place where every person with Internet access can join an ongoing global conversation.

The old read-only Web was itself a transformative technology that changed the way our students work, learn, and communicate. The new Read/Write Web will change their lives even more.

Tools like blogs, wikis, and podcasts help students find authentic audiences for their work.

~~~~~~~~

By Will Richardson

Will Richardson is Supervisor of Instructional Technology at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Flemington, New Jersey; 908-310-6546; weblogged@gmail.com. He is author of the upcoming book The Educator's Guide to Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Dynamic Internet Tools That Are Transforming Classrooms (Corwin Press, March 2006).

Richardson, Will. "The Educator's Guide to the Read/Write Web." Educational Leadership 63.4 (2006): 24-28. Academic Search Elite. EBSCOhost. Humboldt State University. 24 July 2007 . http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.humboldt.edu/ehost/detail?vid=13&hid=13&sid=f14769a8-073c-459b-861f-61e4f0e3c482%40sessionmgr7.

ATI Links

2007-06-19T11:54:00.000-07:00

Writing Prompt #1

2007-06-19T11:49:00.001-07:00

What technology do you currently use?
What (kind of) technology do you need in your life? in your classroom?
What (kind of) technology do you want in your life? in your classroom?

Please post your response to Google Docs. Follow this link for directions.

Follow this link to our before-and-after KnowledgeSurvey.

Writing Prompt #19

2007-06-18T19:12:00.001-07:00

Writing Prompt #19 goes here.

Writing Prompt #18

2007-06-18T19:11:00.006-07:00

Writing Prompt #18 goes here.

Writing Prompt #17

2007-06-18T19:11:00.005-07:00

Writing Prompt #17 goes here.

Writing Prompt #16

2007-06-18T19:11:00.003-07:00

Writing Prompt #16 goes here.

Writing Prompt #15

2007-06-18T19:11:00.001-07:00

Writing Prompt #15 goes here.

Writing Prompt #14

2007-06-18T19:10:00.006-07:00

Writing Prompt #14 goes here.

Writing Prompt #13

2007-06-18T19:10:00.005-07:00

Please ruminate on your ATI2007 experience, and in doing so, please help your Tech Team to craft the agenda for ATI2008.

What did you like most about ATI2007? What did you like the least? What should we keep? What should we add? What should we adjust?

I should tell you that we have changed the ATI configuration a bit: this year, we are offering three two-day sessions rather than two three-day sessions.

If your memory is like mine--a rusty sieve--you'll benefit from reviewing our agendas, resources, directions, and WR prompts. I hope you will do so as you consider your responses to the above questions.

Please post your response to Google Docs by Sunday, May 11. While you are welcome to respond to others' responses, you are not required to do so.

To refresh your memory about how to post to Google Docs (opening and naming a new file, sharing with the rest of the ATI2007 gang), follow this link.

Writing Prompt #12

2007-06-18T19:10:00.003-07:00

What are you doing in your classroom with technology that you can teach other teachers? (Contributed by Harriet Watson.)

Please post your response to Google Docs by Sunday, May 11. Instead of responding to someone else's response (although you are more than welcome to do this, too), please also post a response to WR #13, also due Sunday, May 11. Thank you.

To refresh your memory about how to post to Google Docs (opening and naming a new file, sharing with the rest of the ATI2007 gang), follow this link.

Writing Prompt #10

2007-06-18T19:09:00.005-07:00

Given the learning curve associated with all things technological and the time it takes to master and effectively employ new technologies in any aspect of our lives . . .

Where do we find the time to explore the bleeding edge, mining and mastering new technologies, and
How do we fit teaching these new, non-subject specific skills and their attendant issues (see prompt #8) into our already overburdened instructional time?
Finally, how do we avoid the time sinkhole computers can become?

(Contributed by Mauro Staiano)

Please post your response to Google Docs by Wednesday, January 30. Once you've shared your response, please reply to someone else's by Sunday, February 3. Thank you.

To refresh your memory about how to post to Google Docs (opening and naming a new file, sharing with the rest of the ATI2007 gang), follow this link.

Writing Prompt #9

2007-06-18T19:09:00.003-07:00

Read a book, article, website, blog, videocast, or podcast related to the teaching of writing/technology and write a brief review. Maybe we can collect these writings into an annotated bibliography that will be useful for our presenting. (Contributed by Catherine Arnold.)

Please post your response to Google Docs by Saturday, November 17. Once you've shared your response, please reply to someone else's by Saturday, November 24. Thank you.

To refresh your memory about how to post to Google Docs (opening and naming a new file, sharing with the rest of the ATI2007 gang), follow this link.

Catherine's Response
Harriet's Response
Leslie's Response
Mauro's Response
Sandi's Response
Tracy's Response
Trish's Response
Vicki's Response

Writing Prompt #8

2007-06-18T19:09:00.001-07:00

In September’s California Educator there is a section that focuses on “The Information Age: Teaching and Learning on the Cutting Edge.” On pages 18-21 it outlines potential problems for teachers such as being videoed by students who put it out of context on YouTube and bogus MySpace accounts created for teachers by students. As we become more and more involved in creating blogs and wikis, we need to make sure not only our students are safe, but that we are, too.

Please post your response to Google Docs by Wednesday, October 17. Once you've shared your response, please reply to someone else's by Monday, October 22. Thank you.

To refresh your memory about how to post to Google Docs (opening and naming a new file, sharing with the rest of the ATI2007 gang), follow this link.

Writing Prompt #7

2007-06-18T19:08:00.006-07:00

Please reflect on your progress to date. What have you accomplished so far? How much of a start do you have on your project? What gaps do you see now? What do we need to fill in those gaps?

Writing Prompt #6

2007-06-18T19:08:00.005-07:00

The sanest parts of us know that not only can we not do it all--do everything we already do as good teachers and add a whole bunch new technology--but also that we should not. Please heed that small, sane voice and answer the following questions:

What one tech thing (Moodle, wikis, digital storytelling, etc.) do you want to incorporate this semester?
Why do you want to incorporate that one tech thing?
What do you need (software, hardware, handouts, books, attitude, etc.) for / to accomplish that one tech thing?

Please post your response to Google Docs before Sunday, August 12. Follow this link for directions. Once you've posted your response, please read and respond to someone else's. Thank you.

Writing Prompt #5

2007-06-18T19:08:00.003-07:00

Please reflect on the tech project you will launch this fall with/for/at your students. In doing so, please specifically answer this question:

How am I going to do all I do and do this tech project (podcasting, blogging, CPR, etc.), too?

Please post your response to Google Docs before Tuesday, August 7. Follow this link for directions. Once you've posted your response, please read and respond to someone else's. Thank you.

Writing Prompt #4

2007-06-18T19:08:00.001-07:00

Please reflect on the technology you encountered this weekend. How might you use / adapt that technology in your teaching? What questions do you have today that you didn't have last Friday? What answers do you have? What do you hope to do between now and our August session?

Please post your response to Google Docs. Once you've shared your response, please reply to someone else's.

Writing Prompt #3

2007-06-18T19:07:00.004-07:00

(Okay, so this is really WP #2, but who's counting?)

After reading Will Richardson's "The Educator's Guide to the Read/Write Web," please think--and write--about some element of your pedagogy that could benefit from a technology infusion. If you’ve already selected a tech project (digital storytelling, for example), please feel free to focus on how you want to infuse that thing into your curriculum, what you want it to support.

Please post your repsonse to Google Docs. Follow this link for directions.

Please also read one other person's WP#3 and add a response to that document.

Writing Prompt #2

2007-06-18T19:07:00.003-07:00

(Okay, so this is really WP#3, but who's counting?)

In thinking about yesterday's sessions. . . .

Describe a successful encounter with technology; this encounter can be personal or professional, related to you as student or as teacher or as regular citizen. Talk about what made the encounter successful. What elements coalesced to make the experience a good one?

If you don’t have a success to share, examine an unsuccessful encounter, and talk about what made the encounter negative. What missing elements could have made the encounter successful?

Please post your response to Google Docs. Follow this link for directions. Once you've posted your response, please read and respond to someone else's. Thank you.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

2007-06-18T19:06:00.002-07:00

Preparing to Share Our Progress: Writing Prompt #7
Sharing Our Progress: Show and Tell in the Multi-Purpose Room
Planning Follow-through Sessions

How often do we meet?
Where do we meet?
Why do we meet?
What do we bring when we meet?

Lunch
Time to Work and Play

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

2007-06-18T19:06:00.001-07:00

Work / Play Time Preparation

I would like help with / company as I. . . .
I can offer help with / company during. . . .

Time to Work and Play
Lunch
Pair Review

Monday, August 13, 2007

2007-06-18T19:05:00.002-07:00

Please bring all of your tech project resources today. Those resources might include books, links to online resources, examples, handout drafts, etc. Please also bring your mug and your lunch (we're far from food sources); we will provide coffee and light morning snacks.

Growing Our Geek Goodies Pages (Don't fret: this session comes complete with a hands-on tutorial.)

Wiki Hunt: WikiWeb and PB Wiki and seedwiki and BlogsandWikis

Seedwiki Help: blog and print

Lunch
Planning Our Tech Projects

Backwards Design 101 (Amherst Regional Public Schools)
NCRTEC Lesson Planner (North Coast Regional Technology in Education Consortium)
The Lesson Planner (UCI Credential Programs)

Sunday, June 24, 2007

2007-06-18T19:05:00.001-07:00

Video Streaming
Calibrated Peer Review
GoogleGroups: Staying in Touch, Staying on Track, Staying Alive
Play Time
During this session, please update your "Before" and "After" columns in our Knowledge Survey. Please do this one at a time!
Lunch
Writing Prompt #4
Closing Business

Show Me the Money! Level-of-Effort Forms and Proof of Purchase
Sharing with the NWP Network
Show-and-Tell Debriefing
Establishing the Support System: Visiting, Meetings, Skyping?

Saturday, June 23, 2007

2007-06-18T19:04:00.000-07:00

Vicki's Cornucopia

PowerPoint Presentations (Fountainhead Architecture, Romeo and Juliet Prologue, Poetry Quotations): "sponge activities"
SAT Question of the Day (a free service of the College Board for math and English)
Microsoft Word Functions: comment, track changes, electronic chalkboard, MLA formatting

Writing Prompt #2 (Okay, it's really #3, but who's counting?)
Making Blogs with Blogger
Lunch
A Luxurious Afternoon of Self-Directed, Self-Selected Tech Work. Our Selections?

Catherine: Blogging, Shutterfly
Harriet: Digital Storytelling
Leslie: del.icio.us, CPR
Mauro: Blogging
Sandi: Blogging
Trish: Digital Storytelling
Vicki: Blogging

Friday, June 22, 2007

2007-06-18T18:58:00.000-07:00

(Re)introductions, Goodies, Preview, and Contract

Stoplight Vocabulary

Round One: Paper Chase
Round Two: the ATI Blog, Google Docs, and Multi-Tab Browsing
Please use Firefox.
Round Three: Writing Prompt #1: The Knowledge Inventory

Writing Prompt #2: Encounters with Technology--Revision on the Fly: SKIP WP#2
Writing Prompt #3: Responding to Richardson
Achterman and the Wonderful World of Wikis
Writing Prompt #4: Writing out of the Day

After Hours Posting: Harriet and Mauro

Mauro's WR#8

2001-01-01T16:07:00.000-08:00

What have you done to protect your students? What have you done to protect yourself? When was the last time you googled yourself? Do you know what to do if you become a “cyber victim”? What do you know about your rights?

First off, though I'm not sure it's the kind of thing one should mention in public, I just Googled myself and found nothing surprising. Whew!

More seriously, this is a conversation I have with my students often. As we bolt headlong into this web 2.0 stuff, we must talk about where we're going and the trouble we could get ourselves into. The truth is that what we are doing right now by participating in ATI is probably the best thing we can do. Whether our less-aware colleagues know it or not, these new technologies are here and they are not going away. Burying our heads in the sand not only keeps us from helping our students, but puts us at risk as well. My Space is an excellent example. I do not have a My Space, but I am aware enough to know that students often make them--for positive and negative reasons--for their teachers. Teachers need to know that My Space has a system in place to have those pages pulled, and students need to know that publishing such pages is against the law and they can be prosecuted if a teacher should choose to press charges (usually students are stunned and frighted by this fact, as they should be).

There is also the reality of teacher rating sites and other unregulated opinion-based media like blogs, etc. Dwelling on these things does us no good (I can see no reason to subject myself to the random opinions given by students in cyber-anonymity), but we should at least know they are out there.

Finally, the ubiquity of cell phone cameras and other digital recording devices means that we, teachers and students, must live as if we are always on camera, at least in public, and we must carefully consider our words before we push send, post, etc. Not good news perhaps, but the truth none-the-less.

Good points, Mauro. We'll just use technology for good, not evil--while acknowledging that others may not do the same. Sounds reasonable to me, and all we can hope for anyway. Students (and grads) of my school post many details on their My Space pages--who is drinking where and when--not stuff you want pedofiles, parents, or employers to read. They need some tips.

On a related note, HCOE has blocked all blogs, so I couldn't access any RWP stuff until each one was unblocked per request from me to my admin to them. I think they are clear now, but usually do this stuff from home anyway.

--Harriet

Our blogs were blocked as well, but the ECS tech folks have graciously unblocked them. They are somewhat hamstrung by laws that are political in nature and were written for the internet of many years ago. Law and the schools' efforts to protect our children via filtering will always be behind where the technology, and our students, are. That, and the things you mention above, are one reason why, at least in the context of high school, I feel like filters are utter foolishness. We need to be aware of where are students are surfing (because they can avoid the filter at will anyway) and we need to teach them HOW to use the internet safely and for good. As you point out, they don't often understand how public it is and how permanent. ~Mauro

Two things come to mind for me, Mauro and Harriet. The first is the old adage: "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't." How can we combat that which we ignore? How can we deal with hate speech and sexism and whateverism if we don't know what the racists/sexists/whateverists are saying? We can't. And this is the most compelling argument against censorship I can conjure.

The second thing that comes to mind is this: while I do not often agree with the perceptions the students with whom I get to work voice, I absolutely need to know those perceptions. At the very least, their "reviews," as uncritical and unsupported as they appear, teach me how to scaffold and deliver new content--once I get past my knee-jerk kids-these-days response. Suddenly I am channeling my grandfather. And I don't like it. Tracy

Don't get me wrong, I want to know what my students think, but I prefer meaningful evaluations given to all students, not the online rantings of the students who choose to go online and vent (a very small and biased group), thus I choose not to read or give any validity to the rating sites. ~Mauro

Woah! Guess who was up on her high horse! Sorry, Mauro. I guess I've just been grappling with this disconnect I've been feeling especially strongly this semester--this feeling that I and the students with whom I work are speaking a different language. I feel both frustrated and embarrassed about that disconnect, and I'm afraid my turmoil devolved into something that sounds like a lecture. My apologies. Tracy

No need to apologize. I see exactly where you are coming from. You should spend more time at the high school. You'd know their language then, but you'd have to fight to maintain the integrity of your own "adult" voice. ;-) ~Mauro

For all my worrying about being misrepresented on YouTube or MySpace, I hate censorship. I have an immature view of life anyway--I still want everything to be fair. Subsequently I am also a big fan of retribution and vindication. I know, scary, huh? Anyway, being attacked by someone makes me want to fight back--so I hate it when I am powerless and my enemy is faceless. I guess that's my concern. As far as the blocks put on our school computers--I think we need to allow students to make decisions and we need to help them make the right ones. We are fighting hate speech, sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. everyday. It is our job to enlighten and treat bigotry at its root--ignorance. Vicki

This is my last intrusion. I promise.

Have you all seen Professors Strike Back? Here's the link: http://www.mtvu.com/professors_strike_back/. Tracy

It'd be funnier if the REALLY went after them. Darn professors are too mature for cyberbashing!

Catherine's WR#8

2001-01-01T16:06:00.000-08:00

Please post your response to Google Docs by Wednesday, October 17. Once you've shared your response, please reply to someone else's by Monday, October 22. Thank you.

To refresh your memory about how to post to Google Docs (opening and naming a new file, sharing with the rest of the ATI2007 gang), follow this link.

I must say, I've been an ostrich with her head in the sand when it comes to internet safety. Our school demands an "Internet Use" agreement which students grades 4-8 and parents must sign before students are given access to the internet at school. This form is kept on file in the office. Frankly, I've never paid much attention to it. I have three computers in my room, all in plain sight. With only eleven students, it is not difficult for me to monitor their use. So far, my experience is limited; I have yet to post videos of myself or my students online; I'm protecting my students simply by monitoring their internet use at school. I'm protecting myself by virtue of my limited contributions to the net. I usually refer to myself as "carnold" rather than "catherine," but recently have become more confident because I want real response to my posted work from real people, and to do that, I must reveal my own identity.

I can't say I know what it means to become a "cyber victim," though it must resemble identity theft. I can't imagine how I'd know if a crime had been committed against me. I have no idea what my rights are and I'm thinking Vicki is going to teach me something new very soon. I have recently googled myself, though not in search of a "cyber crime."

In the last two months, three very dear friends, representing three separate remote pasts of my life have "found" me via e-mail. One of those three googled me, learned about my interests, and found my address. That prompted me to do my own search. I found my bird blog, as well as my Blogspot list, and my RWP association. I was surprised because when I began my blog, I tried to find it by googling and couldn't. I imagine I've gained credibility each time Tracy has linked me. No association with Peninsula School was revealed in the top three "next" scrolls--not likely Peninsula School has frequent visits with few job openings and less than 35 families represented in its enrollment roster. So...my RWP professional internet play has resulted in at least one personal reunion, which was a pleasant surprise--not an unpleasant one.

Finally, to veer from our topic, I must admit that my technology play has increased my electronic-consumer-yearnings. I was finding it difficult to convert cassette tape to digital recordings and just happened to find a microphone with its own flash drive that records and saves mp3 files directly onto the computer via usb port. I made an impulse order that will arrive at the beginning of next week. I confess without my Tech. Institute earnings I would find it hard to justify this purchase, but now can say I'm investing in the good of the cause! Look forward to meeting with Harriet because maybe I'll have some material to work with soon. Other than that, my technology pursuits are barely off the ground in the classroom--taking some pictures, trying to type some stories and barely finding time to do my "to-do" list. Hope things settle down in the coming month and hope you're all doing well--look forward to hearing from you!
Catherine

Brian and I have found long lost friends and relatives too--very cool. I guess when our bank accounts are drained or we're arrested, we might suspect we've been cyber-victimized.

I'm using an iTalk on my iPod to record--a good $50 investment, but the sound could be improved with an external mic. The writing is what we have to get to, before I can say we can make a digital story this year. Our movie did not have that personal quality that makes digital storytelling so compelling. I'm hopeful though, that after some group story making, we can get there.

--Harriet

There are any number of ways to be victimized online (though not nearly as many as offline), but most can be avoided with common sense and by paying attention (there are many easy to digest and follow lists of tips for safe surfing out there). Interestingly, though I can understand why people are uncomfortable paying bills online, etc., the vast majority of identity theft happens OFFLINE (you know, when the waiter takes away your credit card to run it in the other room...). Plus, all those companies you do old fashioned paper business with store your information on their networks anyway, so if their security fails, your out of luck either way. Check your credit reports regularly regardless of how you shop. ;-)

On a lighter note, I too have had several folks find me online in the past few years. Very cool if somewhat odd. ~Mauro

Amen, Mauro! The Paranoia Award goes to my mother, however. She won't give her correct address or phone number online--ever. If we're smart about the entities to whom we share personal information and we scour our statements, we should be safe. Or so I chose to believe. That and so many financial institutions offer fraud protection: let 'em know you've been 'jacked, and they'll refund your stash. They'd rather cover your loss than lose folks nervous about flashing their cards. Ain't capitalism grand? Tracy

I shred everything, so I guess I am paranoid too. However, I do my banking online, pay bills online, shop online, play on ebay. I love the convenience. What did we do without the internet? My phone does not take pictures or have internet. It simply calls or texts and if I get too fancy, I have to ask my students to help me. Sad, I know. I don't know how to use a palm pilot or the new iPhone. I just learned how to use iTunes last year and downloaded singles to use in conjunction with lessons. I was proud. I had an old boyfriend find me online, and although it shook me at first, I thought it was kind of neat. Vicki

Tracy's WR#8

2001-01-01T16:04:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while, but, inspired by Vicki's prompt, I Googled myself. I encountered 773 hits. Granted, most are from my own postings--the Cache, the RWP webpage, etc.--but some are links from a wide gamut of sites, from the .edus to personal blogs. I'm not sure whether to be flattered or embarrassed.

I will also admit to checking RateMyProfessor.com. I do care more about how well I do the job than what students think--but, apparently, I also care a lot about what students think. In fact, I've just registered for College.com. No one has rated me there yet, but I now have an RSS feed for both my name and for anyone associated with the HSU English Department. I know--I am absolutely sure--I should be embarrassed now. (Update: I've just learned that my rating has been "rejected" because I "rate myself too highly." Wow.)

I YouTubed myself. I am, thankfully, video free. I also asked a student with a MySpace account to search on my name. I came up clean, but this accommodating young man warned me, with a knowing smile, that a bogus Tracy Duckart MySpace page could be tucked, invisible, in someone's friends-only corral. I think I understand what that means. Again, if someone went to the trouble of creating such a bogus page, though, I'm not sure I should be flattered or embarrassed--or outraged.

Wow. I am seriously paranoid. I should be, though, apparently.

Today in class, one young man took a faux nap on his neighbor's "soft, fuzzy" inside-out sweatshirt; someone else snapped a picture on her cell phone. Granted, it was a darling picture--Carson slumbering smilingly on Adrian's beefy, b-ball-playing bicep--but I was also alarmed at the speed and permanence with which this private-to-the-class moment was captured. If Amanda chose to post the picture to her MySpace or FaceBook page or some other public forum, the image would be cached forever. I've heard stories of services that cache pages like these for Corporate America so that future employers can access the youthful postings of potential employees.

The students with whom I work have been working on their wiki pages--pages they KNOW are available online to anyone who looks--but mostly, they were shocked when I reminded them that writing teachers across the continent can easily gain access to their work (prompted by the NYC NWP Annual Meeting presentation and who knows what else). They got nervous. What do they think happens when they post to the 'Net? Talk about audience awareness.

I guess that at this point in my late-night musings, I wonder what "cyber victim" really means. I get identify theft. I get unwitting subject of ePostings. (Heck, it makes me crazy that anyone with a digital camera or cell phone can post a picture without my express permission. That's why I am so respectful with my own digital photos.) I get the care with which I should always craft (and archive) electronic communication. I guess that if I'm always proud of what I post, I should be okay, right? Right?

For this semester's wiki project, I've toyed with the idea of purchasing a seedwiki account (instead of taking advantage of their free account) so that I can password-protect student wiki pages, but that seems to undermine one of the benefits of a wiki: audience input. And I really want to avoid the writing-for-the-teacher/class mentality. I mean, who knows? One day some future first-year-comp student could cite this semester's first-year-comp student's wiki page. Once one posts to the the WWW, one becomes--to too many browsers--an expert. The author had better get her facts straight, right? Right?

Anyway, that's what I'm thinking now. Who knows what the clear light of day will produce. Tracy

It's good to be aware of the public and permanent nature of postings (I think that's what Mauro said) but doesn't Corporate America have better things to do than search job applicants? If you may want to run for public office, you may want to be extra cautious. On the other hand, a lot is forgiven. Things are printed in newspapers without permission all the time.

Posting carefully is important. I think if you stand behind what you post and are willing to own it, it's ok. If you want to be anonymous, or are posting in the heat of the moment, watch out.

I think it is interesting to see what kind of record you are leaving.
--Harriet

Good grief! I think I'll goggle you now--I may find out some things about you I never knew! Catherine

I like your wiki assignment. I like your broadened audience and accountability. The author has to have his or her facts straight. That's authentic writing. As for your all "googleness" you ARE the high priestess of GLOT. (: Vicki

Vicki's WR#8

2001-01-01T16:01:00.000-08:00

Okay--I started this whole thing and now I'm late responding. Sorry! Anyway, I read the article and then the following day on Good Morning America they had a piece on it, too. They showed a teacher lecturing (out of context) on YouTube. A student had recorded it on their cell phone and then posted it on a YouTube site. The teacher was on administrative leave. Another one showed a teacher doing a cheer (?!) again it was out of context, but she too was on administrative leave. Yet another was a teacher recorded and then published without knowledge, but it was to make fun of him. He wasn't on leave.

The MySpace profile was somewhat funny when my colleague that I don't like was "victimized." I didn't think it was real serious--it seemed innocent. Then I read the article and asked around in the teacher's lounge about MySpace and was told that there were inappropriate things on that teacher's faux account and that he had tried to have it removed, but it kept coming back. The article said MySpace honored the first amendment and no one could be prosecuted for creating the file; and although they could put something on the name of a teacher, it would still be unable to keep the profile off all the time.

Then I came to school. We had a karaoke contest and as we were all laughing and enjoying one of the performers, I looked around and saw every other kid with a cell out videoing the performance. It was a reality check. I too get up and do stupid things at rallies. I don't really want it on YouTube or their cell phones or anywhere! Then I looked around my room; although they are supposed to have their phones off and away--they are never very far away from their fingertips. They check the time; put homework assignments in their calendars; covertly text their friends in another class to get them into trouble.

My blog for my seniors is safe. It's controlled by me and no one can get in unless invited. We haven't started our wiki, yet. We live in a place that would be a little difficult for pervs to find and not be noticed by the populace who essentially know everyone. By the same token, most of our kids don't get permission to drive to meet some internet perv in the nearest anonymous town.

So. Yep it freaked me out and I knew I needed a prompt, so I dumped it all on you guys. (: I also googled myself. Although a lot of other Vicki Kurtzs came up, I didn't come up until the second page! However, then I rocked! (: My Young Native Writer's Essay Contest involvement, an old volleyball article from my coaching days, my public school persona and address, and my district page. On page three was my RWP profile. And that's about it. Of course, YouTube is blocked at school and I have no idea about MySpace.

There's my ramble. I try to be safe and I talk to my students about audience and the fact that others have been punished because of their lack of discretion. But I am worried about being taped. I teach a lot of controversial issues. I teach history in conjunction with literature and I stir up my students and challenge them to look at every angle I can. Anything can be taken out of context to sound inflammatory. The only way I can think of to be safe is to be as observant as I can and not allow the students to have the phones out.

Trish's WR#8

2001-01-01T16:00:00.000-08:00

Dear All,
My students parents have provided the school with signed permission slips re. using their pictures and/or stories . There are additional Spec. Ed. safeguards that I am required to follow. I am not overly worried about inappropriate access or use of the inter net for my students as the majority of them do not have computers. I aways supervise the use of the computer in my classroom . With regard to keeping myself safe well, that is a good question. I have experienced a lot of difficulty with the computer that my school has provided for my use. Sometimes I can not delete material. Web sites that I have not accessed have appeared in the morning on my desktop. I am about to go and google myself that will be a first and I have no idea what I will find, I will let you know if there is anything exciting .
Trish

Leslie's WR#8

2001-01-01T15:59:00.000-08:00

I haven't used anything public with my students yet, so the problems mentioned in the prompt have not come up for me. And at the risk of a lot of eye rolling and deep sighing among you, dear readers, I have to say that not having to worry about such problems is one more thing that I like about Calibrated Peer Review.

I just took a few minutes to Google myself, and after looking through the first thirty entries without any mention of me, I decided that anybody who wanted to look at more entries to find anything about me is welcome. However, I did do a People Search, and I didn't even put in the city of Eureka, just the state of California, and my name and both of my sons' names appeared immediately. It was something of a shock, but it's also inaccurate. My oldest son has been living in Miami for five years now. One more example of the Internet having good and bogus information.

If I ever do begin using more public spaces for my classes, I would be quite concerned about privacy issues because I'm a private person. I draw my shades at dusk, have given my personal email address to fewer than a dozen people, and tend to think that my business isn't anyone else's. I'll have to lighten up a bit I suppose, but I think it's going to be a challenge for me.
LL

It's a delicate balance for me, LL, this public vs. private thing. I, too, consider myself a private person, but I'll also (blushingly) admit to a little thrill when someone writes for permission to reference my website. Perhaps my ego is stronger (or weaker) than my hermitude.

I don't get FaceBook and MySpace and personal blogs, though. I really don't. That level of personal publicity is like opening my door to the world and inviting it in to poke around the master bedroom closet. That's creepy.

Email makes me nervous, too. On more than one occasion, someone has (thoughtlessly or intentionally) shared a private email with others. Heck, I've even forwarded an email before I remembered the need to erase a portion of that missive. (Fortunately, it was a very long email, with a lot of intervening boring stuff, and the more private stuff was tucked at the bottom--but still. That was bad.)

Perhaps you're better off in your electronic cloister. . . . Tracy

I believe I may (intentionally or otherwise) be one of the select sub-dozen. How privileged I feel! ;-)

I must agree with Tracy on the whole MySpace/Facebook thing. Unless you are selling something or are an artist promoting yourself, it seems unnecessary added stress in addition to being a wee bit creepy. Reminds me of a story... Last year I had a student in my class who, in his online profile for the Moodle course my seniors enroll in, simply said something to the effect of, "If you are reading this, you probably spend way too much time on MySpace. If you want to know something about me, come ask. I don't bite." How's that for a bit of high school wisdom.
~Mauro

Harriet's WR#8

2001-01-01T15:57:00.000-08:00

Oh, I wish I had the article to read. Is it available online? Yes, here. ~Mauro

Somehow my students don't turn in their emergency forms, but everyone has photo, video and internet permissions, so at least I have that. The sound quality is so bad on my movie, that it is hard to ID the kids by name (some protection).

I don't show up on google any more, although my Redwood Writing Project writings used to show up. I have been in several news articles and those don't show up. (I didn't scroll through all the pages, but it looks unlikely). I post on a bulletinboard, and feel pretty safe doing so--none of that has ever shown up, and wouldn't be a problem even if it did. I know a teacher who posted inappropriately via email, and the transcripts are legally available online.

I did not get permission to use the music in the first grade movie, and even forgot to give it a credit. That puts me in a bad position. I wasn't even thinking when I posted it. I will write for permission and see what happens. I'm not posting my "Lucky" digital story without permission from Pink Martini, whose song I used. I have a contact for them, so hopefully I'll get a response. I need to learn to make my own music. I will have students do their own. It is easiest to have them do their own photos and art as well--saves on the plagarism and copyright issues.

I hate doing banking online, but I do it anyway. I guess I have a lot of trust these days, and hopefully it is well-founded.

--Harriet
Hi Harriet, it's Catherine. Funny how some forms are high priority and others aren't isn't it? Your Lucky digital story is so good it is worth getting the proper permissions and posting it. How do you learn to make your own music? By playing around with Garage Band? I so want a "session" with you to learn how to begin doing digital story telling. I have a parent volunteer who is interested in helping me, so the first time you do a presentation, I want to be there--sooner if possible! I just bought a microphone that has a digital flash drive built in and I'm hoping that will make digital recording a snap for me. It will come next week. I guess if our conversation is about safety, these digital stories need not be circulated on the web, but could circulate in a school community via discs. As for banking on line, I'm still not brave enough--I'm not sure if it is a safety issue, or just not wanting to take the time to set up one more thing. I'll bet it saves time in the long run though.

On a personal note, I'm so sorry to hear about your mom's illness--please let me know if Megan or I can help with anything. We are thinking of you, your sisters, and your girls.
C-

Thanks, Catherine. I am just trying to make life as good as possible, for as long as possible, one step at a time.

I am on page 2 and 10 of google as a teacher, and on page 17 as signer of "Stop the Governator" (oh oh-- but I have no regrets).

I'm happy to teach you how to imovie. Our next first grade project will be about scary things--it will be more story and less reciting, I think. I think I am going to be part of a project on love and forgiveness with KEET (and digital stories)--I'll let you know about that.

I am proud of my "Lucky" story and won't post it without permissions. Will try for them soon (on my list, haven't done it yet).

I need a mic for my iPod or just to connect to the computer--haven't gotten one yet and haven't checked to see what was recommended by the Center for Digital Storytelling. I just use what is easy, and what I have right now (quality be damned--although I'd like to improve it, I'm not too flush right now).

Garageband is how I plan to have the kids make their own music, or they could sing or hum if they want. I am going for total creative control--no searching for photos or art--make your own. I think it is the right thing to do. It's first grade though, so for now I'm still doing group projects where I do the production, but when I get more skills, I hope to have them do individual stories with me producing, and then move into helping them do the production. (Who am I kidding? I am one adult with 12 uncivilized children --quite different than 12 civilized children.)

Hope your year is going well. I had to ask for the RWP blogs, including yours, to be unblocked. I don't want to show the kids, but professionally, I want access.

--Harriet

Harriet, I would like to announce the Tracy Duckart Microphone Grant--and the winner of this year's grant: YOU! Please tell me what you want, and I'll find a way to get it. You are so innovative and generous, and I'd like to help, so please help me to learn how. Thank you. Plus, Catherine will burst unless you show her what she wants to know. Plus you and Trish will be the most popular ATI2007 presenters: teachers WANT/NEED to learn digital storytelling.

About your RWP writings: once upon a time, the National Writing Project used to sponsor x number of blogs on Manila. We were granted two--one of which served as the RWP eAnthology. Now, however, that funding or access or hosting or whatever has expired, so I'm shifting our eAnthology submissions to Blogger. Until I get it convenient and pretty, I'm keeping the blog private, but as soon as it's ready, I'll announce the unveiling, and you'll garner a bunch more Google hits than you do now. Really. I promise. Tracy

Wow! Did I just win a prize? Cool. Thanks.

I don't really need more google hits. Really.
If you google "Harriet's Story Blog", you can get to my blog.

Grace and Nora are mastering garage band, photoshop, and photo booth--then they'll teach me. They have a podcast called "The Edna and Margo Show" which is pretty funny (it's only available at home so far). It's especially funny if you are between 9 and 12. Reminds me of the taped radio shows I did at that age (and the plays before we had a tape recorder).

I am working a digital story about my underground rr trip this summer. And I am really looking forward to presenting. That will be a challenge, because you can't produce stories in a single workshop.

Thanks Mauro and Catherine for linking the article. I didn't even think to look for it.
--Harriet