Final+Examination

IIIIIIII The Internet has come a long way in the few short years of its existence. New tools are popping up all over the place at an amazing rate, and I believe we have only scratched the surface of its potential. This expansive growth of technology has changed a lot about our daily lives. We now have a plethora of new ways to do business, interact in our personal relationships, develop and share our ideas, and educate our youth. IIIIIIII Unfortunately, in teaching, much of this new technology has remained untapped. Between budget restraints, and the lack of proper training, implementing much of the Read/Write Web is a challenge, but a challenge worth pursuing. The fact that students will be working in a world dominated by web tools, multimedia, and online collaboration creates a need for these same experiences to be an integral part of their education. IIIIIIII Throughout my experience with, and research of the various Web 2.0 tools available to teacher, I have compiled a lot of good information that will help me implement these in my own classroom. There are always pros and cons to every technology, and best practices at implementing them. Following are some of my thoughts regarding a whole host of tools, including: Blogs, wikis, RSS, social bookmarking, pod/vodcasting, and screencasting. IIIIIIII I have found through my recent experience as a blog writer, and reader, that blogs can be a wealth of information. They provide a venue where absolutely anyone can speak their mind and share their ideas. It gives teachers an opportunity to continue the classroom conversation, and the group collaboration, without the brick and mortar confines. Blogging is not without its dangers or faults, however. The fact that anyone can share their ideas, it sometimes becomes difficult to decipher fact from fiction or researched information from emotional babble. The Slideshare presentation below gives an exceptionally well-balanced view of the advantages and disadvantages of using blogs as an educational tool. IIIIIIII In my current situation, teaching middle school math, I can see blogs being used on a limited basis. One area I think a blog would be beneficial, is allowing the students to investigate, write about, and share ideas about where the current math we are using could be used in real-world situations. My students could look online, ask parents, interview employers, etc., and report to the class via a blog, what they have found. I think could be powerful, as students realize just how many people use the math we learn on a daily basis. My hope is that as students read a respond to their classmates’ blogs, they build relationships, practice their writing in an authentic situation, and motivate their learning of the math content. iiiiii media type="custom" key="20517210"  IIIIIIII Wikis offer a similar benefit to a variety of goals and occupations. Wikis, as I have found from my experiences provide an amazing platform for collaboration. Given the world we will be sending our students into, “real collaboration is something that every student needs to learn” (Richardson, 2010, pg. 57). Wikis, including the famed Wikipedia, are spaces where ideas and information can be edited by anyone, bringing an astronomical amount of expertise to the table. IIIIIIII This free reign may worry some, and I admit that I am a bit leery myself, wondering if we can count on the information. If anyone with a keyboard can make changes, how can Wikipedia, and other wikis be reliable? Former classroom teacher, and technology advocate Will Richardson helps to alleviate some of this angst by pointing out that, “there are vastly more editors who want to make it right than those who want to make it wrong” (Richardson, 2010, pg. 56). This being true, the content on a wiki is under the scrutiny of many, as there are an equal number of picky editors as there are writers. If anything inaccurate is posted, it won’t last long. IIIIIIII In my mathematics classroom, I see wikis being a useful place for collaboration. Math has a lot of vocabulary that is vital to student success. I picture students working together to create a wiki page for each unit, containing the vocabulary necessary for that unit. When study time comes, they have a great place to go for all of the relevant words that may come up. If a student raises their hand and asks about a certain word, it goes on the wiki. It is an amazing tool to develop a strong word-sense, and again, gives another opportunity for students to write to a real audience. Even though it is a math class, the importance of authentic writing skills can’t be overstated. The following video shows a real classroom example and the impact it has had on the students.  media type="youtube" key="1pR5yogCmkA" height="315" width="420"  IIIIIIII RSS and social bookmarking are both tools available to keep your sources of information close and usable. RSS is useful for anyone who is interested in keeping abreast with the goings-on in a certain area. It can also give any professional a constant feed of information and updates that are relevant to their career. Instead of going out of your way to seek these individual sources, they are all shipped right to you on a daily basis, making your informational goals more obtainable. As Richardson puts it, “Finding time to click through to those sites and keep abreast of any new information on a regular basis would be nearly impossible” (Richardson, 2010, pg. 71). IIIIIIII Social bookmarking works similarly in the sense that it helps to keep your favorite websites and resources on the web very close and accessible. It is an upgrade from standard bookmarking for a couple of reasons. For one, it goes with you wherever there is an Internet connection. You don’t have to count on the locally save favorites or bookmarks on your home browser. Your bookmarks now go wherever you do. The second upgrade is hinted at by the first word in that phrase, “social.” Now, you have the ability to share your favorites with friends and colleagues. Social bookmarking sites also give us the ability to group our resources by tagging them, making it easier than ever to find what you are looking for, even when you are browsing someone else’s bookmarks. IIIIIIII As a teacher, I see these two tools being used for my planning and my professional development on top of being used by my students. I can connect with some RSS feeds that keep me up to date on current research in teaching. This will help ensure that I am using best practices in the classroom. I have a feeling that my students will more likely use RSS to make sure they know who got dumped in Hollywood, or what their favorite band is up to than they will for math, but it has potential for classroom use as well. It would work really well to spark discussion or journaling by giving students a feed of ideas to pull from. IIIIIIII The social bookmarking will help both my students and I compile resources to ensure our success. The students can share websites full of information regarding the current standards and content. We could even start tagging pages with specific standard numbers. For example, if a student found a page that helps them divide fractions, they could tag it with “6.NS.1” which is the Common Core Standard for dividing fractions. This way, students can help other students find good resources. Again, collaboration is one of the strengthened ideals here. The presentation below explains RSS and social bookmarking, and gives a few ideas of how it can be utilized in teaching. media type="custom" key="20522752"  IIIIIIII Until making my own mathematics podcast, I really had no experience with them. Through the process of creating my own, I began to see some of the appeal it could have in the classroom. I was able to make a role-play for my students, complete with a variety of sound effects and music. I used Apple’s GarageBand to create mine, but programs like Audacity, Itunes, and seemingly endless list of online hosts can help you get your voice out there as well. IIIIIIII Podcasts can benefit the classroom in many ways, but also have their limitations. Students can listen to a math lesson at their convenience, or record and share their knowledge on the subject matter. Students love to have their voice heard, and podcasting is appealing because, as Richardson points out, “the barrier to entry is pretty low” (Richardson, 2010, pg. 113). That’s right, anyone with a microphone and Internet access can put his or her recordings out to the masses. IIIIIIII Podcasts do, however, appeal much more to auditory learners, and leave those that need visual information out in the cold. That is where the Vodcast may be an attractive otopin. Adding video to your podcast will help the visual learners, and allow teachers to present information with pictures, maps, and other multimedia clips. The only downside to this, is that now, we have taken it from something that can simply come through headphones on an iPod, to something that requires video display as well. As more and more students have cheap access to portable video devices, this con will become less and less significant. The link below connects to ten of the best podcast venues for teachers. Some of them are for professional development, and others, for use with the students.  Ten Best Podcasts for Teachers  IIIIIIII Screencasting is a media that combines the visual and the audio. “Simply put, screencasting involves capturing what you or your students do on the computer with an audio narration to go with it” (Richardson, 2010, pg. 123). I have created a couple of screencasts, and I can see their value, especially in trying to “flip” the classroom. This new idea of flipping the classroom has the students receiving much of their instruction at home, and doing their “homework” at school. The logic behind this idea is that it makes the most sense for students to be practicing and developing their skills while the teacher is present. It ideally will help lower the frustration level of parents and siblings who become the surrogate teacher at home. IIIIIIII The danger of using screencasting is that when a student is viewing a screen rather than a teacher, it is much more difficult to gauge their level of attention. Standing in front of a class full of students, I can usually tell when their minds are engaged, and when they are zoning out on me. If some students are struggling after watching the screencast, it may be difficult o decide if the screencast was ineffective, or if the student simply wasn’t giving it their full attention. I see me using this mostly as a supplementary teaching tool. It could be very helpful at providing additional examples of math problems that are available to students from home. The science teacher in the video below shows how screencasting has helped him to change his classroom into a “flipped” classroom.  media type="youtube" key="2H4RkudFzlc" height="315" width="560"  IIIIIIII Web 2.0 resources have only just begun to make their mark on education. I, however, agree with Will Richardson when he says, “No question, the Read/Write Web holds transformational changes in store for teachers and students of all stripes” (Richardson, 2010, pg. 3) Web 2.0 is only in its infancy, but I anticipate, and look forward to the amazing opportunities these technologies will present in the world of education.  __ Bibliography __  Calberg, F. (2008, May 15). //11 advantages of using a blog for teaching//. Retrieved from [] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> CorwinPress. (2009). //Using wikis in the classroom// [Web]. Retrieved from [] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Dunn, J. (2010, July 5). //Ten best podcasts for teachers//. Retrieved from [] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Learning4Mastery. (2010). //The flipped classroom// [Web]. Retrieved from [] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Richardson, W. (2010). //Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms//. (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Corwin. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Rudibrarian. (2008, April 19). //Social bookmarking and rss for research and teaching//. Retrieved from []