ISTE Article: Save the World with Web 2.0

I enjoy reading the ISTE articles because I gain a wealth of information from them.  I decided to read the article titled “Save the World with Web 2.0” in the November issue.  The article first explained that students can use the social web 2.0 tools to participate in our global society.  Experts then discussed the five problems facing global citizens today and asked teachers to help students with these problems.  According to the article and Neil Postman, global citizens need to improve on stewardship, spirituality, democracy, diversity, and language.  For each of these five categories a panel led by Walter Parker created six questions that global citizens should try to meet.  Two of the questions that stood out to me include:

1.  How should we balance the right to privacy with free and open access to information?

2.  How should we develop shared global values while respecting local values?

The article then went on to provide examples of how teachers can use web 2.0 tools to promote these categories and questions with their students.  Since I am a science teacher I enjoyed reading about how teachers can incorporate Earth stewardship with their students by having the students read and comment on blogs, such as, the “Green Thing,” “Groovy Green,” and “Daily Green.”

I thought this article presented a lot of great information, but I think the suggestions may be too high level for my 6^th graders.

Dan Meyer: Class Needs a Makeover (TED video)

I enjoyed watching this video as I am certified to teach math, but do not teach math in my current teaching position.  I agree with the speaker, Dan Meyer, that many math students struggle with math reasoning and being patient problem solvers.  Dan included 5 symptoms of students that tell teachers that they are teaching math reasoning wrong.  These symptoms include:

1.  lack of initiative
2.  lack of perseverance
3.  lack of retention
4.  aversion to word problems
5.  eagerness for formula

Dan went on to explain in his lecture that teachers need to take textbook questions and turn them into questions that promote math reasoning along with patient problem solving.  Dan also stated that we need to insist on better math curriculum for our students and include the following five suggestions into our teaching to help our students be better at math.  Dan's suggestions are:

1.  use multimedia
2.  encourage student intuition
3.  ask the shortest questions you can
4.  let students build the problems
5.  be less helpful

What a great informative video and captivating speaker!

I just made a new Voki. See it here:

Do Web 2.0 Right

I have been so fascinated by all of the Web 2.0 tools that I have learned about so far in our technology class and I wanted to read an article about how to better incorporate the tools into my classroom.  The article I read was about a study that was done to see what teachers have found to be effective when using web 2.0 tools, such as, blogs and wikis.  Most teachers have found that is best to use the 2.0 tools as a daily practice instead of using them for a specific project.  It is important to note that the tools were not used the same way that adults would use them in the “real world,” but instead were used for communicating and sharing ideas.  The article then went on to talk about individual and classroom blogs.  It discussed that having a blog that was private between the student and the teacher seemed to be best.  However, classroom blogs proved to be effective when used to explore prior knowledge and /or generate interest in a topic.  Lastly, the article explained how essential it is that students understand to display appropriate behaviors when typing on a blog or wiki.  It is the goal of the teacher to strategically set up strong in-class communities for students to share ideas and respond to others.

Thought this was a great article and I just wanted to share!J

Here is the link to the article in the “Learning and Leading: With Technology”:

http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/201102?pg=1&pm=2&fs=1#pg12

There's an App for This!

I have enjoyed getting to know the ISTE website and I chose to read an article about a teacher that was given the opportunity to use iPod touches with her students.  The teacher was able to have students access the internet, streamline videos, and download applications.  Also the teacher strived to use the iPod touches as assessment tools and classroom response devices.  This article went on to explain that the teacher utilized the Mobile Learning Assessment (MLA) to create her assessments and surveys of student learning.  Here is a link to the site: http://www.gwhizmobile.com/Desktop/MLA.php.

           

I thought this was a good article, but I am not sure that it apples to my teaching much because I do not have access to iPod touches.  I would like to use MLA to create pre-assessment and formative assessment questions, but I would use a digital response device instead of the iPod touch with my students.