Kathryn+Mcllheran

Wikis in Plain English - Easy to understand when a group is working on a Wiki. I'm not so clear on the 'link' feature. That needs to be explained further. What is 21st Century Education? - Kids 8-18 spending 6 hours a day on media devices?!? I see pros and cons with the author's dream of what 21st century education should look like. I think that he places too much emphasis on technology. This is, in my opinion, WRONG. I do think that his ideas on the role of teachers in the classroom is spot on. We are all more invested in something that we are interested in. There are things that we all need to learn about, like multiplication. I'm on the fence with his vision.

Footprints in the Digital Age - The author's big fear of what people will find when googling his children is also one of my fears for my kids. That kids be taught early on how to use the internet appropriately. The trail that kids leave as they grow up in the digital age will be easy to find. The fact that others are writing about you will be found also by those that are looking for it can have consequences both good and bad, depending on who is reading and what they think that they are looking for. I agree with kids leaving a trail. I believe they think only a few of their closests friends are going to see their posts.

World Without Walls - Will Richardson says that teachers should, " think of ourselves as connectors first and content experts second". I think that we all can't know everything about the subject that we teach. When students go looking for information on a variety of media sources how to they know and how do we know that what is found is actually true, correct, whatever. I know that websites that end with .net or .org are more likely to be true, but there is an infinite about of material on just about every topic imaginable. The author does stress the use of safe tools like Classroom 2.0, but as he also admits that kids go looking on their own time in their own space. It seems kids today never look at a user manual. It is always hands on/trial and error. When I upgraded my phone before I finished reading the first page about the phone my youngest daughter already had many of the features already figured out.

My own thought... I find it hard to focus on reading items on the computer. It's sensory overload for me.

Moving Toward Web 2.0 - I appreciate the author explaining how Web 2.0 can be used. I had never heard of it until today. I'm really behind the times here, I guess. I'm not crystal clear on how one actually uses it. He did present the definite benefits of it. I'm not sure I see these benefits since I haven't actually used this. I'm struggling here on seeing how much time and effort should be used on technology in education. I do see the benefits of students producing something that has an aspect of the real world to it. Something that isn't just produced by the student because the teacher asked him/her to and then is really only seen by the teacher and then thrown away after the students gets a grade on it.

I guess one way to think about Web 2.0 tools is instead of taking info off of the web you are putting info on the web. Eight Ways to Use School Wikis - I wish I had read this first. I clearly see how these can be used in a school evironment. No more lost papers. No more not-enough-copies-for-everyone story. I can totally see how teachers can communicate and share ideas with each other. I can really see how the chain of e-mails can just be too much and just difficult to manage.

Writing in the 21st Century - I'm reading "Writing Between the Lines..." There's a chart about how parents and teenagers feel about how computers affect their writing. I'm quite surprised that the teens didn't have higher percentages on the negatives of using computers in writing. I think that many teens (and adults) have become lazy writers. There are tons of spelling errors and grammar nonos. I'll put myself in this category as well. I don't know where I would be without a spell checker. I also read "Writing in the 21st Century". I mostly skimmed the article, but found the history of writing, and the work it required, interesting. The problems with fountain pens and the smudging. I remember writing high school papers on the typewriter. My big Christmas present my senior year of high school was an electric typewriter that I could take to college with me. It was a lot of work to write. In Kindergarten, my daughter learned 'Kid Writing'. She learned how to write a paragraph with a topic sentence, 2-3 supporting ideas and a conclusion. Amazing!

Wikipedia: Ban it? or Boost it? - The author pointed out many positive attributes of Wikipedia and only a few negative ones. The negative ones weren't really all that negative if one know how to cross reference a little it. I do go to Wikipedia now and then. I have never been disappointed at what I found. Maybe just a bit overwhelmed at the amount of information. In this age of updates around the clock, Wikipedia keeps up. I would never dream of banning it. As long as students keep in mind that they need to check the reliability of the information, it's a fantastic resource.

Using Wikipedia in the Classroom: A Starting Point - I don't really have much to say about the article. It seems like common sense to me.

The ABCs of Web Site Evaluation - The name Kathy Schrock rings a bell with me. I read through read web page lesson plan and guide. I believe that I used her guide in technology course in 2006. It really seems to point our the preparation a teacher should do when directing students in their online research.

Wikipedia and the Classroom - The author mentioned what the others on this topic have said. The information found on the shelves of the library are outdated. Wikipedia and other internet sites are where anyone can find update information. Just keep in mind that cross referencing and finding multiple sources is essential. I cannot not remember the last time my kids opened a book or went to the library to find information. It is always the web first. They just need to check their sources.

Creating a new Culture of Teaching and Learning - This article hit home with me. My mother-in-law has been teaching me to crochet. I practice it for awhile when I'm with her. If I don't go home and keep at it, I forget what she had taught me. I was telling my frustration with a much younger sister in law. She told me that if she forgets what our mother in law said, she just goes on YouTube. There are, apparently, tons of clip of people doing the same stitch over and over. Who would of thought? Well, I didn't, but my 25-year-old sister in law did. Not only YouTube but also check out Teachertube.

1. 3 insights/things I learned today about Web 2 tools in teaching/learning To start off, I have never heard of Web 2.0 tools before. I have been to Wikipedia before today, but I creating a Classroom Wiki was just a vague idea for me until now. I'm starting to understand what a classroom Wiki can offer - a place for students to all interact and share with each other. Having been out of the classroom setting for 5 years, I feel like I'm way behind the times. Students today, for the most part, can navigate many different kinds of media. Whether I agree with it or not, kids today are spending mass amounts of time interacting with a variety of media.
 * Reponse to questions on the board **

2. Questions/concerns I have about using Web 2.0 in the classroom Are we going to talk about creating our own Wiki rubrics? Are we assuming that students all have a very similar technology background? In the past I've assumed that students all know how to create a PowerPoint, but then get caught up in explaining how to do something in a PowerPoint.

//** Greetings from the World **// - I checked out this Wiki and was quite confused at first. 520 students from around the world have created 'posters' or Glogs about themselves and where they live. The main purpose of the wiki is to learn about other people and other cultures. Because I can't read Spanish, I stuck with the English speaking ones. I had never seen a Glog before. They looked pretty cool. I can see students learning Spanish get a lot out of the wiki. They can choose a country and see what kids their ages are like. It makes the world seem a bit smaller and bit familiar.
 * Wikis that I've looked at **


 * //[]-//** I tried to search for wikis that German teachers have created and didn't seem to have much luck. This wiki was a bit different than what I thought it would be. I thought that the main point was to show the many aspects of the education system in Germany, which is somewhat different than ours. What seems to be about is a new movement for parents and educators that are frustrated at the system in place in the U.K.. The wiki is a bit dry and dull. This is a wiki that seems to be more like a webpage than a place to go for collaboration and the sharing of ideas and opinions.

__**Potential of Wikis in the Scheme of Sir Ken Robinson's Idea of Education Today**__ Sir Ken Robinson's idea that schools are de-teaching divergent thought and creativity is certainly debatable. His paper clip example was certainly thought provoking. I think that his idea is a bit too broad. When I hear the word collaboration, the first thing I think of is group work. Group work has been a word that has brought a bit of controversy in my classes. //How are we being graded on this? Will everyone receive the same grade? What if John Smith won't help? What if Mary Jones takes over like she always does? and on and on and on...// The potential of the wiki is that students are communicating with the teacher and with themselves, they are working together. The difference is that they all have their own voice. The students get out of it, what they put into it. The students can agree or disagree, as long as they have an idea or opinion. Sir Ken Robinson talked about the large amount of students that are being treated medically for ADD. His idea was that kids today are in bombarded by various kinds of media. When these kids get to school, they are bored. Wikis would appeal to technologically savvy kids because the teacher can use real world media to bring home the ideas brought up in class. I don't entirely agree that we should use more media with students that are already bombarded with it outside of school. That topic is for another day, but used as a tool some of the time, wikis would be a great tool for collaboration.