Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Apps in Education
Found this blog. It looks like a great resource to keep in our now organized bookmark lists. It lists Apps by subject area making it easier to find ones that are applicable to you! Mathsmagic sounds fun!
Everyone Gives
My current event for next week talks about the website Everyonegives.org. (see info on my current events page). My school is thinking about doing something like this for our Take Action Day coming up, and I thought I would try to use my own social networks to see how many people I can influence. I have posted it to my facebook, and twitter, and I hope to see some more donations soon.
If this idea speaks to you, feel free to check out my tree.
If this idea speaks to you, feel free to check out my tree.
Tablet Woes!
First of all, sadly, I am not implying by the title that I finally got an iPad. But the current (less than satisfactory) laptop tablet I have in my class has been annoying me for months! The screen has always been so sensitive that it thinks I am writing when my stylus was nowhere near the screen! The results were hard for students to read, and difficult for me to write - even semi-legibly!
It got to the point where I would rather write on the board than use technology! I finally started asking around, and tried updating the laptop's drivers, but that didn't work. Then I tried with the specific stylus program and searched around online for an update of that one. It took an hour or two of searching, and updating, and restarting (you know the drill) but the good (well great) news is that it is finally fixed! Now I can write notes on the tablet without my equals signs looking like z's! And my writing doesn't join up (unless I want it to that is).
I think my lesson here was that I shouldn't just settle for the way things are. If things are bothering me I should change them, or try to fix them! Enter Job Action :)
It got to the point where I would rather write on the board than use technology! I finally started asking around, and tried updating the laptop's drivers, but that didn't work. Then I tried with the specific stylus program and searched around online for an update of that one. It took an hour or two of searching, and updating, and restarting (you know the drill) but the good (well great) news is that it is finally fixed! Now I can write notes on the tablet without my equals signs looking like z's! And my writing doesn't join up (unless I want it to that is).
I think my lesson here was that I shouldn't just settle for the way things are. If things are bothering me I should change them, or try to fix them! Enter Job Action :)
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Back to Moodle
My goal was to have my marks on Moodle so that the kids could see them, but since I already use Integrade (which is super easy to email parents progress reports with) I didn't want to have to constantly change 2 grade books. I haven't decided if I should just put up total grades every once in a while, or just upload a PDF of student grades (by student #) every week or so. For the time being I think I will just put on PDF files so I won't have to change it all the time, and this way students will still be able to see what they are missing when they are not at school to ask me.
Monday, February 20, 2012
HootSuite
According to their website HootSuite is“the leading social media dashboard to manage and measure your social networks”. I took the quick tour to get a quick run down of what this tool actually does. I have heard good things about HootSuite. It was easy to create my account using my Google account, and easy to add twitter to the feeds. Eventually I might try to add Facebook too, see if it makes it easier to follow everything if it is all in one place.
I have added a few hash tags to follow and I really like the way I can see them all at the same time. I must admit paging side to side through the lists isn’t as fun on my laptop as it is on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod…. But perhaps someday soon I will share in the fun with other iPad users.
The hash tags I have added were suggested to me: school district, school, provincial education. I will try to find some more to follow over the next week or so.
I have added a few hash tags to follow and I really like the way I can see them all at the same time. I must admit paging side to side through the lists isn’t as fun on my laptop as it is on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod…. But perhaps someday soon I will share in the fun with other iPad users.
The hash tags I have added were suggested to me: school district, school, provincial education. I will try to find some more to follow over the next week or so.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
haleymath
Well I have done it: something I said I would never do. I have signed up for a Twitter account.
First of all Dislikes:
I do not like the way that when you set up an account it makes you follow people. I understand why they do that, so that you can understand how it works, and to get you started. But I did not like the way that you couldn’t continue with the application until you had picked 5 famous people to follow. It seemed useless. I ended up going in after and “un-following” them.
I also do not like the way that just anyone can follow you. A teacher at my school warned me that people will try to follow you mostly just to advertise something they are offering, no matter if you share that interest or not. So I have made my account a little more private and I have to accept all my followers. Perhaps this goes against the whole idea of what Twitter is: to share not only what you are doing, but also sharing links and ideas, to the world. But something about me just shies away from opening my profile completely to just everyone!
But despite the above I do like the way that you can change your tag at any time (if it is available). At the moment I have chosen haleymath (pretty self-explanatory I think….my name is Haley, and I teach – and love – Math). I have put on a picture of my Mii to make it slightly personal. I am not sure if I will change my tag at some point, to give myself more anonymity perhaps, but for the moment I am happy with it as it is. So I now have a Twitter account. Feel free to follow me……well if I allow you that is.
First of all Dislikes:
I do not like the way that when you set up an account it makes you follow people. I understand why they do that, so that you can understand how it works, and to get you started. But I did not like the way that you couldn’t continue with the application until you had picked 5 famous people to follow. It seemed useless. I ended up going in after and “un-following” them.
I also do not like the way that just anyone can follow you. A teacher at my school warned me that people will try to follow you mostly just to advertise something they are offering, no matter if you share that interest or not. So I have made my account a little more private and I have to accept all my followers. Perhaps this goes against the whole idea of what Twitter is: to share not only what you are doing, but also sharing links and ideas, to the world. But something about me just shies away from opening my profile completely to just everyone!
But despite the above I do like the way that you can change your tag at any time (if it is available). At the moment I have chosen haleymath (pretty self-explanatory I think….my name is Haley, and I teach – and love – Math). I have put on a picture of my Mii to make it slightly personal. I am not sure if I will change my tag at some point, to give myself more anonymity perhaps, but for the moment I am happy with it as it is. So I now have a Twitter account. Feel free to follow me……well if I allow you that is.
Twitter - Why?
In a world where now everything is described as something-2.0 it is important to understand what that implies, and the impact on everyday life. According to Wikipedia the now-widely-used term Web 2.0 used to describe applications, and programs online that encourage sharing and collaboration. “A Web 2.0 site allows users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to websites where users are limited to the passive viewing of content that was created for them.”
This trend is here to stay, not matter how tech savy you are. And it isn’t just in the education system. Most businesses, charities, towns, and almost anything else you can think of has a website, facebook page or twitter feed. Berger and Trexler state that most students use the internet, and up to 77 percent have their own networking site (Pg. 161). Teachers come from generations where we remember what it was like before the internet (and I am only 30!), but we still need to realize that there are benefits of using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom, and not just to teach students how to be safe online. "When asked what they learn from using social networking sites, the students listed technology skills as the top lesson, followed by creativity, open to new or diverse ways, and communication skills" (Berger & Trexler, pg. 162, 2010). By definition Web 2.0 tools are interactive and invite collaboration and "Social Networking supports all phases of inquiry as learners interact and collaborate" (Berger & Trexler, pg. 163, 2010).
It has some promising uses in the classroom, but the real reason I am getting into social media at this time is to collaborate with other teachers. The NSBA (National School Board Association)”recommends that schools consider using social networking for staff communications and professional development". Using Twitter I hope to be able to find easily new trends in education, locally, and globally.
Berger, P. and Trexler, S. (2010). Choosing Web 2.0 tools for learning and teaching in a digital world. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
Creating & Connecting: Research and Guidelines on Online Social – and Educational – Networking. 2007. National School Board Assoc., in association with Grunwald Associates LLC. http://www.nsba.org/site/docs/41400/41340.pdf
Web 2.0. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved February 16, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0
This trend is here to stay, not matter how tech savy you are. And it isn’t just in the education system. Most businesses, charities, towns, and almost anything else you can think of has a website, facebook page or twitter feed. Berger and Trexler state that most students use the internet, and up to 77 percent have their own networking site (Pg. 161). Teachers come from generations where we remember what it was like before the internet (and I am only 30!), but we still need to realize that there are benefits of using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom, and not just to teach students how to be safe online. "When asked what they learn from using social networking sites, the students listed technology skills as the top lesson, followed by creativity, open to new or diverse ways, and communication skills" (Berger & Trexler, pg. 162, 2010). By definition Web 2.0 tools are interactive and invite collaboration and "Social Networking supports all phases of inquiry as learners interact and collaborate" (Berger & Trexler, pg. 163, 2010).
It has some promising uses in the classroom, but the real reason I am getting into social media at this time is to collaborate with other teachers. The NSBA (National School Board Association)”recommends that schools consider using social networking for staff communications and professional development". Using Twitter I hope to be able to find easily new trends in education, locally, and globally.
Berger, P. and Trexler, S. (2010). Choosing Web 2.0 tools for learning and teaching in a digital world. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
Creating & Connecting: Research and Guidelines on Online Social – and Educational – Networking. 2007. National School Board Assoc., in association with Grunwald Associates LLC. http://www.nsba.org/site/docs/41400/41340.pdf
Web 2.0. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved February 16, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0
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