second life in education

Second life is quickly becoming a valuable tool for those in the education field. http://www.campustechnology.com/Articles/2009/02/18/Real-Life-Teaching-in-a-Virtual-World.aspx?Page=2. 

This Blog talks about how universities use second life to set up replicas of their campus, imagine that visiting the campus from your couch! Teachers use it to teach in as well as a supplement to their class material says denise harrison.

Along with using Second Life in the classroom educators are using it as a place to meet and discuss current education trends. http://slbestpractices2007.wikispaces.com/ This blog tells of a meeting of 1300 educators from all over the world. imagine a global faculty meeting!

second life in education

The persistence of memory by Salvidor Dali. Before Second life we saw pictures of this painting. We talking about it, discussed it. How many of you actually ever walked into it? walked behind it under it? Imagine how this opens up all new areas for discussion? I found this painting at Salvador Dali- Persistence of Memory in SL

Second life in education

The Frank Lloyd Wright Museum of SL Dedicated to the works of the greatest American architect of all time, The Frank Lloyd Wright Museum of SL offers both a permanent collection of his works including homes, buildings, furniture, stained glass, drawings and photos as well as special events related to Wright and his work. This is a place In Second life that Is an amazing resource for the educator. We teach about famous artist and their work, we show pictures of their work but only the lucky few ever really get to see their work in 3-d. Imagine teaching a class talking about Frank Wrights work then sending the students here to explore his creations.

Second life in education

We are now wrapping up Month 4 and by now we are all familiar with Second Life. Second life is a virtual world that people all over the world can join and participate in. Second life has a vast number of areas that can be explored many of which are beneficial to educators. http://www.joystiq.com/2006/09/12/harvard-class-invades-second-life/  This short blog shows how Second Life is affecting major schools. Harvard University is a very prestigious school and they are using Second life as a forum for teaching a class.  

 I visited the da vinci Gardens where I was able to go under the ocean and see all kinds of aquatic creatures. One of the most amazing things about Second life is being able to explore areas that I could never even imagine exploring. In school we learn how fish swim in schools but imagine seeing them actually swim that way. Quite an amazing educational tool

Podcasting in Education

The first time I ever heard of podcasting was on the Preston and Steve show( a local radio show). I remember thinking wow that is pretty neat that if you missed the show you could listen to it later on down at your convenience. Education and podcasting are a great pairing.http://eric.ed.gov:80/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1e/1d/f3.pdf Flanagan presents a good paper outlining podcasts. Along with the information he gives on setting up podcasts Flanagan says podcasting presents a good alternative in class lecturing. In his paper a Duke student suggests that listening to the class lecture via podcast after the lecture contributed to his high score on the first exam.

http://lansinglearntech.pbworks.com/f/k-12+podcasting.pdf   Podcasting can also be used at the middle school level as well. Rhea R. Borja talks about how middle schoolers are podcasting to let other students know whats going on around the school. The students do interviews then edit them down then post them so that the rest of the school can get to know the different areas and students in the school.

Learning about podcasting and incorporating into the classroom are two different things. Often after learning about something we want to incorporate it into our classroom but are not quite sure how to do it.  Nathan Shelley has a good website http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~nshelley/index.html that shows how to start off with podcasting. The website benefits teacher and student with sections explaining the process each will have in incorporating podcasts into the class.

Podcasting is a fairly new tool for educators, so why should we use it? Wesley fryer give ten reasons for using podcast. http://www.wtvi.com/TEKS/05_06_articles/classroom-audio-podcasting.html .

You can never have enough  ideas for projects for your students. If you are going to incorporate podcasting into your class you will want to have plenty of ideas for how to incorporate them. http://fcit.usf.edu/podcasts/ this site gives you a bunch of different ideas for how to use podcasting in subjects.

 

RSS overview

After researching RSS feeds in the classroom I have noticed a couple things. A lot of people are all saying the same thing about Rss feeds. Check out, http://eduscapes.com/sessions/rss/ this is a classroom 2.o blog. Classroom 2.0 a ning site has alot of good discussion on RSS feeds. After you get thru all the sites showing you how to set up and use rss feeds you get to sites that actually use them. When creating a class blog or school blog it just makes sense to have that as a feature. The ease of communication for all parties involved (teacher, parent, administrators, students) is phenomenal. This site gives a good example of how schools are using educating parents and students on how to get started ,http://frisbie.rialtoschools.org/addRssFeed.aspx?type=C&id=f3777309-76df-4968-b51b-8eec60aef081&desc=

Schools using Rss feeds

http://eduscapes.com/sessions/rss/ If you go to this website then scroll down to activity three(highlighted in yellow) there are very cool examples of RSS feeds in motion. These schools and classrooms have incorporated blogs and RSS feeds into their students lives. Each one is just a little different, with each having its own unique agenda. 

Rss feeds in education

http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-and-education.htm

Here is a great blog site with an entry posted by Tammy Andrews. I chose this blog because of the paragraph dedicated to administrations, teachers and RSS feeds. Getting information to parents and teachers is something education has been trying to continually make faster. Setting up a network that can get that info to the parents instantly is the solution.

Rss feeds in education

http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-and-education.htm

this website is a great place to start this series of blogs on RSS feeds. Sharon Housley list fifteen different ways to use RSS feeds in education. She feels that RSS feeds are "very well suited for education." The major downfall of this site is that no real detail is given on exactly how to use the feeds for the intended purpose. For the new user that presents a problem although the ideas she suggests are very useful.

http://weblogg-ed.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/RSSFAQ4.pdf  

After looking at 15 ways to use RSS feeds in education check this site out for detailed instructions for using Rss feeds as an educator. Although a bit lengthy to hand out at your next faculty meeting perhaps if condensed could make a great introduction to rss feeds for your staff. Everything you need to know to get started is right there. The article also has some neat links to rss feeds like tech bargains.

social bookmarking in education

Social bookmarking has extreme benefits especially at the secondary level. I believe all the posts I made referenced using social bookmarking at the secondary level. Using these tools at the middle school level is a must. Creating methods of using these technologies, pushing past administrative blockades and remaining current are necessary features of teachers today.

social bookmarking in education

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3749905

This article is about bringing technology into the classroom.The article addresses several technologies, social bookmarking is just one of them. The author suggests using bookmarking to share information with parents. Creating a bookmarking site for your homeroom is a good way to have students check out your favorite sites.

social bookmarking in education

http://brainify.blogspot.com/2008/07/brainify-what-is-that.html technology is changing all the time and this is a great example of that. A social bookmarking tool  redesigned with academia in mind. This blog explains how this tool works and how it differs from the normal social bookmarking sites.

social bookmarking in education

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7001.pdf. This short report by the Learning Initiative covers 7 things you should know about sociak bookmarking. The areas include:  Why it is significant? Where it is going? What are the downsides?  What are the implications for learning? Who is doing it? What is it? How does it work? These questions are a great area to start when examining social bookmarking in education. 

http://www.free-press-release.com/blog/133/8-things-you-should-know-about-social-bookmarking/ 

Here is another great blog that sums up social bookmarking. This site gives fourteen different ways that social bookmarking can be used in educationPublish Post

social bookmarking in education

http://wiki.classroom20.com/Social+Bookmarking 

This is a really great Wiki site. It overviews what social bookmarking is and how students can use it. This wiki has a lesson plan on incorporating social bookmarking into the classroom. This wiki does a great job of cautioning the teacher on proper web etiquette.

Twitter in education

Twitter is still outside the box as far as education is concerned. That box is starting to come apart. The references from my twitter research as well as my colleagues research all preach the same thing, Twitter is relevant to Education. Twitter has many uses that education can benefit from, research, mapping, updating etc. Twitter is a technology that needs pioneers to bring it into the limelight of education.

Twitter in education

http://chronicle.com/media/video/v54/i25/twitter/ 

David Parry gives a video blog on using twitter. He uses twitter in his classes and sees the benefit of using twitter as a means of instant contact. David Parry's ending to his video blog is the best part. He states how schools will try to keep education inside their "walls" but these walls do not exist for the students. Teachers need to use the tools students are using to show students that education does matter.

Twitter in education

http://mrslwalker.com/index.php/2009/03/29/nine-great-reasons-why-teachers-should-use-twitter/  This article gives nine great reasons why teachers should use twitter. This article reflects on why teachers should use twitter. The blogging thus far has been how to use twitter in the classroom. Twitter is a tool that the teacher can benefit from as a working professional. Developing yourself as a teacher, in turn develops your students.

twitter in education an experiment

http://www.informationasmaterial.com/wordpress/2009/02/educational-tool-twitter/ Educational Tool Twitter Christine Morris outlines in writing as well as a video blog how she used twitter in the classroom. She sets up her experience from beginning to end. Christine also gives ideas for how to improve her experience with twitter.

twitter in education

http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dhn2vcv5_118cfb8msf8 25 Interesting ways to use twitter in the classroom. This presentation gives two features that twitter offers Twitterfall and Twittermap these are two great resources that can be utilized to speed up research. Twittermaps also allows for you to see where certain topics are being discussed. These tools would be super beneficial at the secondary level. Another great idea is that it allows parents to follow you so that parents can know what it going on in the classroom at any given time.

http://academhack.outsidethetext.com/home/2008/twitter-for-academia/ Twitter for academia  Twitter can be used for instant feedback. Using twitter to get students feelings prior to a class is a suggestion that is given. Also twitter can be used to follow conferences or make contacts with people that will be at a similar place in the future the example given was an educational conference.

Blogging in Education

Researching blogging has opened up a world of possibilities.  Thru researching different educational uses of blogging I have begun to realize the potential for my classroom. I had always thought of blogging as a personal journal of sorts. The research I have done has opened up the potential applications. The creative arts have suffered from a reduction in teaching time due to standardized testing. Applications such as this allow for the expansion of teaching time. Blogging also allows for delivery of extra material that students can access at anytime. 

http://www.marcusodonnell.com/files/APMEODonnell.pdf

Blogging as Pedagogic Practice: Artefact and Ecology, is a paper written by Marcus O'donnell. This paper offers teachers a new way of thinking regarding blogs. O'donnell suggest that there are more questions to be asked of blogging than just, How can blogging allow us to do what we do now more efficiently? How can we reach more people? How can we encourage more discussion? O'donnell says that blogging should be considered a part of a broad palette of cybercultural practices.

http://www3.moe.edu.sg/edumall/rd/litreview/weblogs_in_education.pdf

Weblogs in Education a paper by Tan Yuh Huann, Ow Eu Gene John, and Jeanne Marie Ho Pau Yuen. This paper has an excellent chart that lays out the benefits of blogging in education. 

They also talk about the down side of blogging: plagerism, legal liabilities,copyright,defamation,racism. All of these need to be addresses by the teacher before allows blogging into the classroom.

http://www.formatex.org/micte2006/pdf/255-259.pdf

A Survey of Webblogs in Education by S Lujan-Mora. This paper offers two beneficial elements when discussing web blogs. The author offers several possibilities for web blogging in education, among them are: teachers using blogs to post advise and hints to assignment. Students can log their learning. blogs can also be used for reflection and debate. Mora also gives information on three case studies of classrooms that used blogging as a method of learning. Each case study uses blogging a little different. teachers post assignments, students retrieve assignments or get further instruction.

http://eprints.qut.edu.au/5398/1/5398.pdf

The use of blogs,wikis and RSS in education: a conversation of possibilities. This article is authored by Peter Duffy and Dr. Axel Bruns. The conversation covers the benefits that blogs have regarding education. The article quotes the following:

• Can promote critical and analytical thinking. 

• Can promote creative, intuitive and associational thinking (creative and associational thinking in relation to blogs being used as brainstorming tool and also as a resource for interlinking, commenting on interlinked ideas). 

• Can promote analogical thinking. 

• Potential for increased access and exposure to quality information. 

• Combination of solitary and social interaction. 

The conversation also covers the educational uses of blogs. The following are categories in which blogs are of use.

1. In personal academic perspective

2. With in an organizational perspective

3. With in a pedagogical perspective

In each of these categories there are multiple ways the blogging can be an effective tool in education. 

http://www.masscue.org/publications/archive/educational_blogging.pdf

Educational Blogging, by Stephen Downes, is a short paper describing blogging in modern education. Downes gives two scenerios in which blogging expands education. The elementary students in Quebec City uses blogging to view announcemnets about the class. The students also blog about assignmnets as well as personal issues. Blogging has opened the students eyes to a whole new way of learning.

“I think it’s the most beautiful tool of the world and it allows us the most magic thing . . . .”

—Florence Dassylva-Simard, fifth-grade student

Downes also discusses Five ways teachers can use blogs in education

1. Use blogs to replace standard webpages
2. Instructors begin to link information relevant to their course on the blog.
3. Blogs are used to organize in class discussion.
4. Instructors use blogs to organize class seminars and provide summaries of readiings.
5. Students can write personal blogs as part of the course.