Padlet and Get Video

The more I explored Padlet, the more I fell in love with the tool. I love the open ended design/layout and my ability to take pictures, search pictures, comment, etc. I added a Jing capture of my first Padlet...filled with immediate thoughts and ideas. You can check it out HERE or just look below:

 I've also included my Padlet brainstorm post regarding the following scenario:

You have to do a presentation at a school where you will not have credentials to access the Internet. (This really happens)  Your presentation will include a video from YouTube, so embedding the video is not an option. What would you do? How would you do it?

By the way, in order to copy and paste the above scenario from our shared Google site assignment, I was required to install a Google Drive to my Chrome...yet another add-on that will help me connect, create, and collaborate.

In order to use this tool, I had to click on the link provided by Dr. Pierce in our assignment. The first link led me to the class Padlet board. In order to create my own post, I simply had to double click in an open space and begin typing my response. I did discover that you don't have to find an empty spot on your board, the posts can layer themselves. Although, I'm sure the more you post, the more disorganized it may seem. I completed the same actions to create my own board.

This activity and tool allowed me to share ideas with peers by reading and responding to their corks. I was also able to inspire my own board (another completely limitless option) and modeled how to use the technology. For these reasons, Standards 1a, 1b, 2a, and 3c.

Mali Unit Wordle Creation

Here is the Wordle word cloud I created for my students. We are currently studying ancient Mali in West Africa. I wanted to see which words were most prominent in the VDOE provided SOLs for this topic. Below, you'll see that key vocabulary is very important. Also, the main verb you see is "describing". We require our students to do SO much more than just describe.

Tomorrow, I'm planning on sharing this word cloud with students. I'd like to see their interpretation of this creation before I explain it's purpose. We are also finishing up our midyear "self-reflection" project-a time for students to reflect on where they've come from, how they are doing, and where they'd like to be in the future. This would be a GREAT tool to help students design a word cloud based on their projects. Also, what a neat idea it would be to use these during an adjective unit to describe students.

This tool and activity allowed me to embrace my creativity(completely limitless possibilities with Wordle!) and create a visual aide that I can share with anyone. For these reasons, NETS T standard 1 and 3 were addressed.

Wordle Comparing NETS T Standards

Wordle is an easy to use tool used to create word association visual aide.  I did have to update my Java on Chrome tool before I was able to use Word Cloud. The create screen features a word box that you can copy/paste/create an text you'd like. From what I can tell, the more times a certain word appears in the text, the bigger the word appears in your word cloud. For example, when I created my NETS-T 2008 standards Wordle, I typed the word "global" 6 times, which created the word bigger. You can also customize your wordle by color/word choice, vertical/horizontal orientation, creative fonts...you can even eliminate words from certain languages(like Croatian?). Check out my 2008 Wordle below, which I edited with Jing.

I chose to make the word "global" the biggest in my 2008 word cloud because it was a major difference I saw between the two sets of standards. I think our increased global awareness is a huge factor into many aspects of education. We are constantly seeking out, comparing against, and competing against global products, programs, etc. I also felt the newer standards were more geared towards student engaged learning environments. By providing students with authentic learning opportunities(not talking like the teacher from Charlie Brown), we require the students to think on a higher cognitive level, go deeper into the skill set, and take responsibility for their learning. These authentic learning opportunities allow students to imagine, create, and cooperate with peers, other teachers, and even other professionals to embrace and apply their skills. These students are more equipped with problem solving skills for the 21st century.

The NETS T 2000 standards seemed to be based of the classroom scaffolding know as "I-do, We-Do, You-Do", even more heavily focused on teachers explaining, facilitating, and assessing students. The 2000 standards have some great words such as: strategies, varieties, experiences...but what sets the 2008 standards apart is the high amount of verbs used. While these 2000 standards were an excellent point to begin building our technology education programs, they seem dated (and it's ONLY 13 years ago).

sunshine: portrait of 26 by rose

Picassohead is a creative tool that allows students to create visual media that displays their self-image...or projected self-image.  In order to have this site work properly, I had to download an Adobe Flash Player on my Google Chrome. This allowed certain visual functions to work better on my browser. Once I had downloaded the flash player, the link provided by Dr. Pierce redirected me to the Create Your Own Picassohead. From there I was able to systematically create my self portrait seen below. I used the scale up/down button, rotate, color change, and the delete button while creating my portrait. This site is very user-friendly. I can definitely see my students using this tool to create images of themselves, or their interpretations of famous Americans, or even people they look up to (I'm thinking of combining this with a writing activity as I type...hooray for planning!)

I used my newly downloaded Jing tool to place both images into this post. Ahhhh...it's all coming together. I seriously panicked thinking about how to embed an image into my blog, which makes me think I am more capable with technology than I realize...if only I can remember all the different things I know.

This tool has definitely addressed standard 1 by allowing students to embrace and explore their creativity. I also learned by exploring the tool on my own, sharing my ideas and work with my colleagues, and applying my new knowledge. This experience fulfills standard 5.

Jing Image

Jing is a user-friendly tool meant to share images, tutorials, and videos online (anything visual)! It's a creative way to alter images, screenshots, etc. to what you need in your classroom or business. Jing is easy to download and is free. You will see a small sun appear on your desktop once the program has installed(it is PC and Mac friendly). This sun will act as your Jing home tool that will allow you to capture your images, videos, etc, edit them, view your saved images, and learn more about other tools and features with Jing.

There it is! My first Jing image. I wanted to combine my interest in teaching, action sports, and new-found appreciation and interest for technology. I want to find a way for my students to utilize user-friendly cameras to document their environment and build a project. While funding for the cameras is lacking, I figured I'd start here and show them an image of a SoMe form they've probably already seen-Instagram. 

I watched a few tutorials provided by Jing, which were extremely basic and made me anxious to get started. This could definitely be one of my major problems with technology...I don't like waiting. I also can't stay focused long enough to listen to the whole video, which often leaves me blindsided. Needless to say, in order to create this screencast, I had to watch the video more than once. In order to link your Jing capture to your screencast site, you have to first create the image and save it to your computer. This part-easy. Then, go into your history on Jing(the automatically saved images) and you have to look for the button that looks like this.

Once you find that, the link will take you to your screencast site, which you will already have because you signed up for Jing. Convenient. Take a look at:

My Screencast Site

It is the same image, but there is more to learn on how to utilize screencast with Jing. You can allow viewers to comment on your image-which is a great option if you want to have coworkers add suggestions/collaborate to your project. I think Jing is a great tool for the classroom. I have also heard of webquests being a new opportunity to incorporate technology into independent leanring, but can they be combined? I think I'm going to do a little research and experimenting to find out.

I think Jing/Screencast provide tools for students to address their creativity while incorporating technology (ISTE 2a). This activity also allowed the user to explore the tools in a safe environment and provided us with a learner-centered activity (ISTE 4b).

Zoom (ing)

Downloading Zoom was a quick way to open so many opportunities to collaborate with peers, parents, friends...anyone! I think this technology will be a great addition to any classroom. My current idea is to have the students Zoom with other classrooms during literature circles. I love dressing up in costumes for class too-Zoom will be great to dress up like a book character, famous American, etc and Zoom chat in character.

Dr. Pierce just mentioned Zoom(ing) with other students across the world. How fascinating.

A Diigo Breakthrough

After some serious frustration with Internet Explorer(don't laugh, I know this is completely outdated, but its a comfort thing), I was able to install my Diigolet on my toolbar using Google Chrome and have been organizing my articles on my Diigo site...the link to which you will find under my "Favorite Links" to your right. I feel like I have conquered quite a feat. If I get frustrated online, I usually have no problem walking away. Thank you to EDU 585 for making determination to figure it out a small requirement :)

I have always used Internet Explorer as my browser, but since FCPS has recently switched to using Google sites/network to link all employees...I'm embracing a little change. A browser add-on is something usually written by a third party intended extend or enhance your browser. Silverlight, Adobe Flash, Java Scripts-all are also examples of add-ons meant to enrich your browser's visual capabilities.

And now, Diigo! What a cool site. I really wish I would have found this research tool while completing my home-school connection research project last semester! From what I understand in the video, there are 3 simple steps to social bookmarking.
Step 1) You must seek out interesting articles/highlight important parts of said article
Step 2) Add a comment about what you are thinking about highlighted piece/article
Step 3) Bookmark the article to your diigo library using the toolbar installed. 
...within step 3 you can also tag your bookmark and organize it within a list on your Diigo library(this is great for research projects or even professional development requirements!!)

I began seeking out articles on assessment in the classroom. Formative, summative, formal, informal, data, data, data...it's all we hear. My next step in organizing my Diigo library is finding articles that are talking about what to DO with all this data. I feel like I spend so much time collecting data, I rarely get to utilize this important information.

After reading the Educational Leadership article, thinking about how we are using Diigo in EDU 585, and also finding ways I can incorporate this tool into my own classroom, I think it addresses the ISTE NETS T standards 1c, 5c, and 2a. We are creating a digital and global community by collaborating with our peers and students within the Diigo module. I think we are also using current research on digital technology by exploring our peers' sites and learning new information from ideas, articles, and other things they have collected on their library. My creativity is being fostered by allowing me to choose which articles I collect and comment on my Diigo site.

I am really interested in using this as a classroom tool for my students to explore and begin understanding/practice how to compile research and formulate their own opinion.