Education as a Conversation

Article today in the Chicago Tribune – All up in MySpace

The ariticle states:

“High schools, colleges and businesses have begun to use social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook and Xanga to keep tabs on students and employees.”

Although these are social networking sites, people need to realize that they are publishing content for all to see.  They are also recorded history which can haunt them later.

“Job recruiters say students’ lack of discretion online will catch up to them in their professional lives. A 2005 study by executive job-search agency ExecuNet found that 75 percent of recruiters use Web searching as part of the applicant screening process, according to a Columbia News Service report. More than a quarter of these same recruiters say they have eliminated candidates based on information they found online.”

1.  Blog Reflection Rubric (Rubric for Assessing Reflective Writing)

Lots of great resources here – Bud the Teacher’s Wiki

Safety is always a concern for educators when using the Internet with students.  Keeping parents informed is an important step to include in the process.  In his book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, Will Richardson lists 4 key areas which should be included in a parent permission letter:

1.  Description of technology

2.  How it will be used

3.  What security measures have been put in place

4.  Teacher’s expectations of students

See Susan Sedro’s Example – Blogging Letter to Parents

I have discovered some wonderful free Web-Based Word Processors which support Collaborative Writing.  The three I have loooked at so far are: Writeboard, Jotspot Live, and Writely (which Google just purchased). 

They have the following features in common:

1.  free service

2.  Available from any Internet connected computer – no software needed

3.  Collaborate with others – enter their email address and an invitation with a link to view and edit is sent

Some optional features include:

1.  Stored versions of various writers (Writeboard, , Writely)

2.  Compare different versions of a document (Writeboard, Writely)

3.  Format text (Writeboard – using simple codes, Writeboard – like Word with toolbar)

4. Add Comments (Writeboard)

5.  Subscribe to documents via RSS and be notified of changes (Writeboard, Writely)

6.  Writers can edit at same time (Jotspot Live, Writely – problem showing who was editing when I tried it)

7.  Multiple pages (Jotspot Live free version – limited to 5 pages per month, Writeboard – create multiple writeboards)

8.  Import and export documents (Writely- both to Word, Writeboard – export as text file only)

9.  Publish the document on the web or post to your blog (Writely)

10.  Organize documents (Writely – using tags, not folders)

11.  Save as zip file (Writely)

Setup information – Name, password, email 

1.  Writeboard – use a password that you do not mind sharing with others if you plan on using it to collaborate with others.

2.  Jotspot Live – each person has own password and ability to set up own 5 pages in addition to sharing.

3.  Writely – Initial person sets up a password.  Random password sent to those invited to collaborate.

Example Screenshots

Writeboard 

Writely

Reflections

While each is relatively easy to use, they have distinct educational applications.  Jotspot Live would be great for group notetaking.  Writeboard is more user-friendly than Writely and therefore may be more appropriate for younger students when collaborating.  Writely, integrates well with Microsoft Word and has a built in file system (using tags).  You can also organize files in Writeboard but separate writeboards need to be setup.  The accompanying “Backpack” service can be used to organize the files.  Comparing versions is easier in Writboard than Writely.  Each has much promise for educational use for Collaborative Writing.

The book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms which I ordered has finally arrived!  I look forward to reading and blogging about it.

I started a wiki to take notes on the book.  See the Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts Book Notes link on the left.  Email me for the password if you would like to contribute.

There was an article in the Chicago Tribune yesterday titled Blogs taking a seat in, out of classrooms (free registration required to view article).  They used some of Will Richardson’s favorite words – connecting, communicating, and community.  They also gave a list of educators/bloggers which Will recommends:

http://tim.lauer.name/

http://mt.middlebury.edu/middblogs/ganley/bgblogging

www.downes.ca/news/OLDaily.htm

http://www.speedofcreativity.org/

I read with interest the views of the technology coordinator from District 211 as my sons go there.  I would love to see the educators in this excellent district take advantage of this tool. 

Two interesting applications were given from other school districts:

First Grade – “There is a scientist and environmental children’s author living on an island near Washington State named Ron Hirschi who sent us a piece of sea creature in a box with clues to help my 1st graders identify what it was,” Newton said. “We blog back and forth with him, and my kids sent him things with clues to see if he could identify them.”

High School – At the high school level, Frances Harris, a librarian at the University Laboratory High School in Urbana, says the blog site at her school allows students to comment and interact with the student newspaper.

I will add these to my educational example page.

On March 1st, I had the pleasure of spending the day with Susim Munshi and Susan Switzer at their Read, Write, and Blog workshop. They have a wonderful support website using 21publish.com at http://learn2blog.21publish.com/ Excellent blog examples are included under the Blog List drop down menu – see “Learning from Reading Blogs” and “Learning from Participation in Blogs“. Also under the Blog List, are some Case Studies. These are scenerios which will be very familiar to teachers. Questions are listed below each to guide the teacher in utilizing blogs with a more constructivist approach to teaching and learning. We then got the opportunity to explore a free blogging publishing community called 21publish. Individual student blogs can be set up under a main umbrella blog like the North River School Blogs or topics for students to comment on like the Learn2Blog site.

Thanks for a wonderful day Susim and Susan.

On January 16th, I ordered the book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms from Amazon. I have been anxiously waiting its arrival as I am very interested in these topics. Imagine my suprise when the author, Will Richardson, was scheduled to present at IL-TCE. I had never heard him speak before so I decided to go to his first presentation “The New Read/Write Web: Transforming the Classroom“. I loved it so much I decided to stay for his second presentation “What’s up with Wikis?” For both of these presentations, he has a website with support material at http://webloggedlinks.pbwiki.com/. As an educator who practices what he preaches, this is created using a wiki, of course. (pbwiki)

There was so much great information that I have decided to just list comments which he made which resonated with me:

1.  Education is a conversation not a monolog. (I think this is my newest favorite quote, hence the name of this blog.)

2.  Teachers will say “publish it” not “hand it in”.

3.  Just because we don’t get MySpace, it will not stop students from using it. (as a mother of 2 teenagers, this hit home)

4.  Wikipedia is a passonate community contributing to a resource.

Thanks, Will, for an enlightening day. Still waiting for my book… Guess I should of ordered it directly from you instead of Amazon!