Previous by Date | Next by Date | Date Index
Previous by Thread | Next by Thread
| Thread Index
| LM_NET
Archive
| |
Hello LM_NET colleagues, Only three responses on the list to this TARGET. One was actually by phone, so that one is recorded in "note" form! ORIGINAL QUESTION: I am interested in hearing the various ways that you either use technology to collaborate or integrate new technologies into your collaborative projects K-12. Please don't worry about conforming specifically to the questions I ask below. Let me know about anything you think of when I ask about how you're using technology in collaboration! RESPONSES: I'm working with a 5th grade teacher on a wiki project. We're going to do the project in two steps. The first step is to read a picture book (being decided this week) and introduce wikis to the students. On the wiki they will respond to discussion questions, create a dictionary for new words. On the next wiki, they will read a chapter book (Mr, Poppers Penguins?). Then they will write chapter summaries, a dictionary, possibly a timeline, possibly a geography/mapping connection, possibly a science connection with mini-study of penguins, including oral reports. All work will be posted on the wiki by the students and evaluated by a rubric. We're still in the collaborative planning stages, but the picture book part will start this month. I am being guided by Will Richardson's book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. *** I would love to be using wikis and blogs for a number of things and have been pushing, but there is some resistance here. We have a policy that all websites must be hosted locally. And they don't support PHP or MySQL, which would allow me to run my own blogs and wikis (when they relax the policy, I'll be ready). No Wordpress, no Drupal, no Blogger, no Wikimedia, not even pbwiki. One of the things I've been told is, "Oh, Blackboard has something like a blog." Right, so our kids are flocking to share their thoughts on the school Blackboard site's discussion board? Not really. As a result of this, I'm limited. I have had a great deal of success using newer but hardly cutting-edge technology. One way we've sort of gotten around the district mindset is a project I do with the Multimedia Productions class (sort of like drama class on methamphetamines). The kids work in teams to identify some technology-related support issue, something they have to learn how to do. Then they write it up as a "tech tip" and we work together to post it on the Web. It allows us to have them working with iPods, cell phones, IM, games, etc., all of which are generally prohibited during the school day. And their work is live on the Web, which allows us to bring in issues like copyright and intellectual property in an immediate way because the "educational purpose" loophole closes up. It's promoted through a partnership with the district's Media Training Services department and actually gets used. It's a nice project. Another example is digital video editing. Obviously video production is as old a classroom tool as the VCR. But they always have assumed a certain technical learning curve. I've found that digital editing programs like Final Cut -- and even simpler programs like iMovie -- are so intuitive that any child who has ever spent any time with a game interface can figure it out in less than half an hour. You just sit them down and tell them "this button does this, that button does another thing, why don't you play with it for a little while" and when you come back they're showing you features you didn't know it had. And it becomes a powerful tool for teaching about narrative. The kids have to ask themselves, "What am I trying to convey in this scene? How should I do it? What images should I use? Do I need music? Titles?" They're learning about electronic media, but they're also learning nuts and bolts of basic communication and storytelling. I did a project a couple times with a mass-communications teacher at the high school level where the kids made their own commercials and edited them. It was hilarious and fun and they learned a ton in the process. They found out (and we found out) that they understand much more about bias and manipulation than they get credit for. That's an example where I pushed the editing component on the teacher and she ended up loving it. I'm pushing podcasting right now and I think it's going to happen, but possibly not until the fall. We have a hugely diverse student population, 69 different countries represented. The majority are Central and South American, but we have 15 kids from Pakistan, 2 from Mongolia, 1 from Mauritius, etc. I'd like to see them interview each other about their home cultures and podcast it. Maybe we could even get some grown-ups interviewed as well. It's going to be great. We just put up a bulletin board showing all the countries, the flags, and the number of students from each one. It's been incredible. Every kid through the door stops and looks, conversations start up -- as well as arguments about whether that's "my country's real flag," etc. *** I have done a couple of collaborative projects using wikis and will be presenting some workshops on this topic in the near future. I have also worked recently on a multi-media project that used Audacity, Moviemaker, copyright-free images and music, research, and poetry to create a unique project. I use Wikis to create "dynamic" pathfinders that can be changed and updated quickly. Two projects I've done are: Spanish Research Project with Spanish Language Teacher Focus: Culture and Geography Recorded info on FORMS Then created a wiki: yacht racing, dance, fashion, and literature were some of the topics Search for royalty-free images on the web Used online databases Required MLA citation using NoodleBib Poetry Project with 8th Grade English Teacher Uploaded a song to Audacity. Looked for a poem with the same theme as the song. Searched for royalty free images to accompany Next phase of the project: Search for royalty free music Write their own poems and pair with music and royalty free images Toni Buzzeo, MA, MLIS <mailto:tonibuzzeo@tonibuzzeo.com> Maine Library Media Specialist of the Year Emerita Maine Association of School Libraries Board Member Buxton, ME 04093 http://www.tonibuzzeo.com Collaborating to Meet Literacy Standards: Teacher/Librarian Partnerships for K-2 (Linworth 2006) BRAND NEW! Our Librarian Won't Tell Us ANYTHING! A Mrs. Skorupski Story, illustrated by Sachiko Yoshikawa (Upstart 2006) BRAND NEW!! -------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. * LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/sub/ * LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html --------------------------------------------------------------------