The Networked Student

Over this term you will be completing a Personal Learning Network (PLN). Being a networked student is vital for success in the 21st century. Please view the following video and read the basics of our assignment below. What are you looking forward to and what may be difficult? What will be your first topic of research?

   

Creating a PLN (Networked Learning Project)
Objective: develop and use networked learning to create a personal learning environment/network for 21st century research and design.

Preparation

• Each learner selects his or her topic of study, (what you know, what you want to know), and establishes a research question.

• Acceptable/Responsible Fair Use policy is discussed.

The project is positioned within the following perspective.

What if your teachers disappeared and you had to learn on your own? Would you give up on learning? Where would you begin? Why would learning be important? You are an empowered learner. You have the power to learn anything. How much you learn is up to you. How you manage your learning is up to you. How you manage your time is up to you. A big part of your success will depend on how well you are organized.

Introduction of Tools

Web applications are introduced one at a time to give participants the chance to master the tool within the context of the study topic. Digital literacy is integrated into these lessons as needed. The essential questions of digital literacy are presented.

• Where can you go for good information?
• How do you know if you can trust what you find?
• How will you find subject matter experts you can trust to help you learn?
• Why is reflection important when you are learning something new?
• Why is it important to share what you’ve learned? How will you share?

Web Application (Components of the Networked Learning Environment for Research)

Social Bookmarking (RSS) "Delicious"and/or "Pinboard"

• http://delicious.com/

• http://https://pinboard.in/

• Explain Really Simple Syndication (RSS) and evaluation of Websites

• Set up the account

• Subscribe to each others accounts

• Bookmark, read and annotate at least 5 reliable websites per week that reflect the content of chosen topic

• Add, annotate and read at least 3 additional sites each week.

Note Taking (Information Management) "Evernote"

• http://www.evernote.com

• Create Evernote account

• Begin content collection

News and Blog Alert (RSS)"Google Alert"

• http://www.google.com/alerts"

• Create a Google Alert of keywords associated with selected topic

• Read news and blogs on that topic that are delivered via email daily

• Subscribe to appropriate blogs in reader

Personal Web Aggregator (RSS, Information Management) "Google Everything", "Symbaloo" and "Netvibes"

• http://www.google.com/intl/en/about/products/index.html

• http://www.symbaloo.com/

• http://http://www.netvibes.com/en

• Introduction to Google, Netvibes and Symbaloo for Learning

• Customize choice

• Start by creating a Homepage

• This will build as participants learn new tools

News and Blog Reader (RSS) Google Reader, Reeder RSS Feeds

• http://www.google.com/reader/, http://madeatgloria.com/brewery/silvio/reeder

• Search for blogs and newsfeeds devoted to chosen topic

• Subscribe to blogs and newsfeeds to keep track of updates.

• Set up gadgets in Symbaloo

Personal Blog(RSS)/Mobile Blog "Blogger"

• Create a personal blog

• Blogger

• Post a personal reflection each day of the content found and experiences related to the use of Networked Learning Research Environment pertaining to project topics

• Find bloggers with similar topics subscribe to blogs in reader

Internet Search (Information Management, Contacts, and Synchronous Communication)"Google Scholar"

• http://scholar.google.com/

• Conduct searches in Google Scholar and Fogler library databases for scholarly works.

• Bookmark appropriate sites

• Consider making contact with expert for video conference"

Video (Research, Fun) "Vimeo"

• http://www.vimeo.com/

• Create and Account.
• Create a Channel.

Photo Sharing "Flikr or Picassa"

• http://www.flickr.com/
• http://picasa.google.com/

• Create and Account.
• Upload Photos.
• Share Photos.

• Interest of Participants

Video Conferencing (Contacts and Synchronous Communication) "Skype"

• http://www.skype.com

• Identify at least one subject matter expert to invite to Skype with you, group, family, community for your project.

Daily research, reflection, sharing (Ongoing during project)

Once the personal learning environment is constructed, the learner will continue to conduct research and navigate new content on a daily basis. Activities will be divided between introducing a tip or offering a research theme for the day, actual time spent conducting research will vary.
Synthesis- (Suggested at 1 to 2 weeks) "Google Site or Blog Page"

• Craft a final synthesis of your work.

Other Networks

Covered with time remaining or interest.

Podcasts (RSS) "iTunesU" "Academic Earth"

• http://www.apple.com/education/itunes-u/ or http://academicearth.org/

• Search iTunesU or Academic Earth for podcasts related to topic

• Listen or view to at least 4-10 podcasts or lectures

Microblogging "Twitter"

• http://twitter.com/

• Create and Account

• Follow 10 Individuals or organizations you found during research.

• Advanced use as interested

References|Attribution

• Steele-Maley, T (2010). Networked Project Design
• Drexler, W. (2008). YouTube - Networked Student. YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Retrieved February 24, 2011, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwM4ieFOotA

• Portions of this Project Design have been adapted from the work of Dr. Wendy Drexler with permission. 

Web 2.0 Foundations: A Course in Participatory Technology

"So the coin of the realm is not memorizing the facts and figures their going to need for the rest of their lives; the coin of the realm will be, do you know how to find, validate and leverage information; do you know how to analyze and synthesize that information; and can you problem solve, collaborate and communicate with it...." - Ken Kay [1]

Hello all,

Web 2.0 Foundations: A Course in Participatory Technology

An Opening Vignette:

Technology is a word we often confuse with computers, programs, and myriad gadgets only.  If you dig deeper I think you would agree that humans have utilized technology in very innovative ways since the Middle Paleolithic (or for those numbers folks out there c. 200,000 years ago+-).  Be it friction fire, basketmaking, agriculture, irrigation, warfare, in-door plumbing, radio's or iPads there has always been a human driving the social use of these tools.  Elders, leaders, wise people....yes teachers have always enabled and proliferated technology at the core of cultures.  We need to never loose site that the young people before us are entering a radically different world than the one we came from.  Though pockets of traditional life ways exist (and may proliferate in terms of localization of food and economies), the connections young people have to the world and what the world needs are fundamentally shifting the narrative of their futures. We need a learning design that helps young people prepare for a world without borders.   So how are we responding? In 2008, Pearson put together this short video to make a few suggestions:



"We have to develop a narrative that sustains 21st century learning."

The 21st century imperatives for learning deal with information.  Do we enable our students to find, validate, leverage, analyze, synthesize , problem solve and collaborate with information on a regular basis?  What does this look like? 

Web 2.0 Foundations is designed to be a participatory venture between our school, teachers, learners and the community that moves students into spaces of dynamic individualized learning with new technologies while also helping the whole faculty move toward creating spaces (mental, physical and online) that enable these 21st century learners.

Over the semester I will post my designs for Web 2.0 Foundations: setting up an Learning Management System and expectations for networked learning, designs for extensive networked research, mLearning (Mobile Learning), project based learning, 360 degree assessment and more.  You will also see and be asked to view and give feedback on  student research and online creation.  In the end, via a capstone project I will ask students to take an assignment (two....) from a teachers class and transform it using Web 2.0 Foundations.  This experience is meant to make learning at WHS ubiquitous for the participants of the course and our school community. I look forward to working with you all and look forward to your comments and support!  Before the course "officially" starts here are a few important organizational tips for following this process.

We will tag everything we create with the following:

web2.0found (Social Bookmarking, this blog (Called Labels), student blogs (Called Lables))
#web2.0found (Twitter Hashtag)
web2.0foundtools (for specific tech tools used in the experience)
web2.0foundreading (for specific readings and research findings we like)

More on how to follow this tag stream soon!

I look forward to participating with you all in network!

Coming soon:

Step one: can our students find a syllabus, schedule, updates, discussions and expectations in asynchronous spaces online?.....

Google In Education: A New and Open World for Learning

Please  view and download this document.  It is worth your time.

Apple iBooks Author and Textbooks

Transition Education: 

See More here: 

 
http://www.apple.com/ibooks-author/

Technology Integration Matrix

The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) illustrates how teachers can use technology to enhance learning for K-12 students. The TIM incorporates five interdependent characteristics of meaningful learning environments: active, constructive, goal directed (i.e., reflective), authentic, and collaborative (Jonassen, Howland, Moore, & Marra, 2003). The TIM associates five levels of technology integration (i.e., entry, adoption, adaptation, infusion, and transformation) with each of the five characteristics of meaningful learning environments. Together, the five levels of technology integration and the five characteristics of meaningful learning environments create a matrix of 25 cells as illustrated below. - Florida Center for Instructional Technology. (2009). The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM). Retrieved from http://fcit.usf.edu/matrix/matrix.php

I encourage you all to peruse the TIM site and start a comment discussion. Where are we on this continuum? What is interesting? What seems impossible? What seems vital to address?

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to an amazing Administration, Faculty and Staff.  I appreciate my welcome to WHS and look forward to an amazing new year with you all!

My gift to you is an eBook curated by Seth Godin called What Matters.  First released two years ago, this work deserves our attention.  The central focus is on big thoughts and small actions to transform ourselves and the world.

Directions: Click on the Image and the eBook will appear in Google Docs format. You will have the option to download when open.

Warm wishes,

Thomas

Google Zeitgeist 2011

Mobile Learning, Study Skills and Questions

An app for using smartphones....to study.

• Would your students use this app? 

• Why? 

• What makes learning important/relevant enough for all students to dedicate significant time? 

"They can't afford smart phones"....Well if we gave a group of students smartphones with the stipulation that they needed to use them half of the time for study, what do you think the outcomes might be?

Dancing Robots, Do it Yourself Devices and Community Storytelling

Shalimar asked what I thought was new in tech and the arts.  I pointed her first to what I think is the most cutting edge work out there for High School aged students- Design and Innovation wrapped around interdisciplinary studies.....NuVu Studio. 

A Day in NuVu from NuVu Studio on Vimeo.

NuVu Studio’s pedagogy is informed by the architectural design studio where a coach guides students in hands-on problem-solving to solve complex, comprehensive problems. The studio uses exercises to build skills and integrates students’ knowledge in a final project. A studio coach mentors students to develop their project through an iterative process over the course of the studio. Students confront the small and large contexts within problems as they are exposed to complex, ‘messy’ situations.
This multidisciplinary studio environment allows students to explore problems rigorously by focusing on one project for 2-weeks. The NuVu team continuously evaluates students through deskcrits and final reviews.
Our goal is for students to explore and learn mindfully in hopes of fostering a more creative generation, better prepared to solve today’s complex problems.

I see so many ways we could integrate the arts, literacy and the everyday things we take for granted in Maine to help students create DIY Devices, move through our neighborhoods and rural roads gathering "Community Storytelling" episodes, and "Narrative Photography".  When we think of Tech Integration what do we mean?  What captures your fascination about learning, technology and innovation. What are the barriers to realizing it if you aren't already?

What will the workers we teach and learn with need?

Take....One Cameras are in!

The WHS allotment of Cameras for Take One are now in and I will need to look them over and do a demo or two Monday before releasing them to you.  Please email me if you are in immediate need of a Camera for that "learning Experience of all Learning Experiences" you have planned for Tuesday morning....so I can plan accordingly. If you know the date you need to reserve your camera already please do by reserving a spot via the following form:

Take One camera reservation and assistance request form

ALSO: Please join me Tuesday morning and/or over lunch for Camera Training!

Times (Tuesday 6 December 2011)

From 7:00am in the Library
Lunch in the Mac Lab
Your Prep by appointment

Email with any concerns or questions!

Welcome WHS 2011-2012

Hello all,

I continue to be inspired by WHS.  We are doing amazing work here and I look forward to whats ahead.   This blog uses Blogger which is available to everyone at WHS through our Google Apps account.  I will be giving tech updates here from this point forward so please do subscribe to the blog (via email see right hand column over the videos) to receive updates and announcements from the world of integration at WHS.  You can also add this blog to your Google Readers via RSS.  My goal is to post here about school wide technology and innovation topics (like ePortfolio's!), troubleshooting topics that stem from your questions and our work together, student project work, the Web 2.0 course and so much more. I hope this makes communication easier for everyone.

Updates and general housekeeping to date:


General (Label: general)

All systems are up and running as of Wednesday 5 October 2010.  Powerschool speeds and First Class additions are being addressed.

Website (Label: website)

Our website will be getting some major help soon! Prior to anything epic (and epic is needed:)), I will continue to find and change links to make things easier in the near term.  If you have a need for our current website feel free to email me.

I have also revamped some important sites that link from our homepage. The Parent laptop site (Now Parent and Student), along with the WHS Tech Resources websites have been updated, added to and changed to a more current and salient state for our activities and action this year. The pages within this Blog now contain this information on ePortfolios, PowerSchool, Google Apps, a Resource Library of software and online tools along with some video detailing media literacy and 21st century skills.  Please do visit each of these pages as they contain many new additions and I would like to hear your feedback on the media and resources now there.  Feel free to leave a comment or email!

Google Apps (Label: googleapps)

As I have mentioned I am an unabashed Google Apps adherent and will be encouraging you all to take greater advantage of this amazing resource we have. Please do take a look at the new tutorials I have embedded on the Tech Resources website and contact to me with Google questions of any kind.  As admin for our Google Apps instance I also encourage you to let me know if you need anything regarding your account.  I will give periodic Google Tools in Education tips and tricks, stay posted and please use Google Apps often.  The more you use them the easier they become.


ePortfolios (Label: eportfolio)

I am currently working on ePortfolio frameworks and look forward to your feedback soon.

My Schedule (Label: tcsmschedule)

I will be at WHS in the Tech Integrator capacity weekly this year.   I am working out both help desk request protocols (scheduling to see me for the routine and integration).  I am also excited about the possibility of working with the students in advisories on topics of integration, saftey and innovation.   More on this soon.


Morning seminars and "un-seminars" (Label: techseminars)

Next week: See the Integration Information Page