Online Solution for Microsoft Office

ThinkFree has a word processor component called Write, a spreadsheet component called Calc and presentation software component called Show.  They are all compatible with the Microsoft Office programs.  This free online software is a great substitute for students who may not have one or all of the Microsoft programs at home to use for school work.  As a teacher, you can feel comfortable assigning a research paper, PowerPoint project or even a Science lab write-up using a spreadsheet by allowing students to start their projects in school on our computers that have the Microsoft Office suite.  Students will be able to complete these types of projects (and more) at home with online solutions such as ThinkFree.  And remember, it is 100% compatible with Microsoft Office.

A Paperless Class

Are paperless classes a reality?  I think they can be.  There are many colleges and universities moving towards paperless classes and for more than just the reason of saving money on books and other printed materials.  Just because the class is paperless doesn’t mean everything is online.  The class can still meet and face-to-face teaching and learning can still occur.  This method of organizing a class can allow the students’ work to be more interactive and include links to websites, graphics, and sound clips.  Teachers can correct or make comments to their written work using the Comment feature in Microsoft Word or other online editing features.  I think the teacher can still teach and would have to plan ahead and have all of the materials organized in a readable format for the students to be able to access at any time.  The online communication piece may be a learning experience for a teacher.  If they are using a site like Blackboard or Moodle, etc. the teacher would have to learn how to use these technologies comfortably before the class begins.  Students would have access to the material all of the time which would be very beneficial to them to have that flexibility.  I feel that the students would have more involvement in the course if they were able to access and publish work online during a class.  I don’t think having a paperless class diminishes the learning environment.  I think it promotes it and involves the students more.  This type of classroom can blend both online learning and the traditional classroom setting environment and can be successful in doing so.  As students are involved in this type of classroom, they not only improve their comfort level, but they expand their collaborations with others and build their own learning networks.  It provides them with a unique learning opportunity which I believe is going to become even more common in the next few years.

Here is a link to Melanie Wiscount's website - I saw a presentation by her at the 2012 PETE&C Conference in Hershey, PA.  She runs a paperless class: 

http://www.melaniewiscount.com/

Big Shifts

One of the “big shifts” written by Will Richardson is “Many, Many teachers and 24/7 Learning.”  This is defined as a major change in education due in large part to the internet and the Web 2.0 technologies that exist today.  Teachers today have far more access to other teachers and content area experts from around the world because of technology.  A teacher can be more collaborative with these people and bring them into their classrooms for students to gain knowledge from.  Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis, video conferences, Skype all contribute to a teacher’s ability to communicate with experts and colleagues from around the world.  This collaboration cannot only benefit the students, but the teacher can interact with other teaching professionals to share and learn from.  Teachers also have access to many sources because of the Web.  There is endless amount of information available on the Web and today’s web tools allow for a collaborative learning environment.

A teacher has to be affected by these changes in the Web.  They are not doing their students justice if they just stick with the textbook and fail to bring in outside resources.  The Web will only continue to grow and be more massive with the amount of resources and information available that educators can use to complement their curriculums.  Teachers can start small and begin to bring these Web resources and technologies into their classrooms and watch how they develop into collaborative teaching and learning environments.  They must realize that this information in always available (24/7) and is being accessed by millions each day.

A Challenge to Connectivism

Here is an entry from a wiki (http://spring12-bce-02.wikispaces.com/Group+B+6-A-1):

Are there parts of the theory which you find confusing?
Kerr (2006) says that "networks are important but haven't changed learning so much that we need to throw away all of the established learning theories and replace them with a brand new one" (A challenge to connectivism). Kerr lists three criteria for a good learning theory, including the requirement that it should result in learning reform. Connectivism does not lead to learning reform, however, because its language is too generalized. In addition, Kerr finds the connectivism theory lacks credibility, as a result of misrepresentations of existing theories, such as constructivism, behaviorism and cognitivism (A challenge to connectivism).

I agree with this notion that challenges Connectivism.  I am not 100% sure that Siemen is actually providing a learning theory.  It is more of his personal view of learning in today’s society.  His view tends to represent how students develop their learning skills.  I also agree that this theory is too generalized and lacks credibility.  His theory is suggesting that students learn in different ways and that teachers should teach differently to adapt to today’s learner.  I do agree that if how students learn is changing, our role as educators needs to change so the learner benefits.

Skype in the Classroom

Recently I had the opportunity to Skype with an educator from the Owen J. Roberts School District.  I thought it was beneficial to share our ideas on using Skype and to collaborate on a project that we are working on.  I have used Skype previously to communicate with others on professional education topics.  I have also used Skype to make international calls from Scotland to the US over the summer.  We used it to communicate with classrooms in another country and we also used it to communicate with one of our teachers who was out on leave.  I believe that the students greatly benefited from these experiences.  The students would never be able to connect and experience this type of collaboration without the use of Skype (or a similar tool).  Using this type of technological tool in the classroom can be very valuable.  I would like to set-up more collaborative “meetings” with other schools so both of our groups of students can experience this technology and learn from each other about specific topics of study.

Features of Skype – http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/features/

Skype in the Classroom - http://education.skype.com/

50 Ways to Use Skype in the Classroom - http://www.teachingdegree.org/2009/06/30/50-awesome-ways-to-use-skype-in-the-classroom/

Photography Podcasts

I just came across this Photography Podcast.  Just one of the useful podcasts from iTunes that we can use in our classrooms.

Jeff Curto’s Camera Position #94 – How to do vs. What to do Podcast – iTunes

This podcast, along with all of the other ones created by Jeff Curto, can be used in a High School Photography course.  The Photography and/or Art teacher could use the podcast to support information presented by the teacher.  It expresses how to do certain tasks and what and when to do it when taking pictures.  Mr. Curto talked about shutter speed, camera techniques, using Photoshop and tips to look for when viewing current photographs from master photographers.  He stressed to the listener to try and learn from what and how they took pictures.  Mr. Curto does have an entire series of podcasts focusing on how to do certain creative techniques of photography.  I did not have a particular subject area to look for when searching for a podcast, but I came across this series in iTunes and thought that it would be useful to our Photography teacher at school.  All of Mr. Curto’s podcasts are available through iTunes and also his website.  Here is the link to the Camera Postion 94 podcast:  http://www.cameraposition.com/archives/736.

Using Flickr in The Classroom

The most obvious application of Flickr photography is to use it in the design of lessons that promote and build visual literacy skills in students.  Some ideas of how to use Flicker in the classroom are:  creative writing assignments with individual pictures or storytelling with multiple pictures; teaching students about creative common licensing; having the students create digital portfolios; and allowing your student to collect photos from Flickr to create presentations and to also analyze the pictures.  Students can even create slide shows, magazine covers, and posters within Flickr.  Flickr is not only a great place to find pictures; the site invites student collaboration and participation.  Students can embed comments on the image itself.  A Geography class could use Flickr with Google Earth to teach Geography.  There are so many uses for Flickr that hopefully teachers will start to take advantage of the site.  Here is a picture that I pulled from Flickr.  Think how you could use it in your class! 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/57052320@N05/5264635031/

Image Citation:
Jodriscoll61.  (2010, December 15). American Revolution Politican Cartoons 7.  Jodriscoll61’s Photostream.  Received April 5, 2012, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/57052320@N05/5264635031/.