Web 2.0 The Machine is Us/ing Us and Assessment April 12, 2007
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in Assessment, Web2.0.1 comment so far
This has been out there for some time now, but if you haven’t seen it, you must see a video called: Web 2.0 The Machine is Us/ing Us. It was posted by Professor Mike Wesch.
From the video, Mike states that
Web 2.0 is linking people …
…People sharing, trading and collaborating…We’ll need to rethink a few things …
-
- copyright
- authorship
- identity
- ethics
- aesthetics
- rhetorics
- governance
- privacy
- commerce
- love
- family
- ourselves.
I believe he forgot one item that we as teachers will need to rethink - Assessment.
- Will Web 2.0 technology change the way we assess students?
- What are we looking for when a student posts an entry on a class blog? Is it there spwlling or grammar? Is it there style? Or are we assessing their synthesis of a concept that they have covered in class and the fact that they have written about it and covered it in a cognitive manner?
- How will we assess a student’s contribution made to a group project using a wiki? Is it that important to assess each student individually? What do teachers normally do when assessing group projects in the “traditional” way? Should it be any different?
- Are we going to assess a podcast any differently to a written essay? Are we listening for musical introductions, tones and inflections to keep the listener interested? Or should it just be the content?
These questions interest me as I ponder whether I’ll be assessing student work any differently to a “traditional” piece of work. Of course, dinosaur teachers will use all of these questions to argue why they shouldn’t use Web 2.0 technology in class. And sadly , some of them have not yet discovered the “joys” of PowerPoint as a teaching and learning tool.
“The Open Clasroom” Presentation November 29, 2006
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in AGQTP/AISV, Ed Blogger, Video Conference, Web2.0, Will Richardson, blogs, classroom.2 comments
Yesterday afternoon, we had our presentation on blogs and what they are. What a success!! Only 20 or so staff attended the session out of 150 teachers at our school (although only 35 were invited, so not a bad rate in my opinion). But the staff that attended included the Head of School (his introdcution and conclusion were fantastic and I’m not sucking up!!), Head of Campus, Head of Secondary, Director of Curriculum, Assistants to the Director of Curriculum, Head of IT Projects, as well as other interested staff. The staff were inspired by James, Jane and Jo (see previous posts for more details), who as educators and blog experts were all very different to each other, yet they showed that blogs were a teaching and learning tool and how they can be used inside and outside our classrooms - making them truly “open”.
James relaxed introduction surprised a few staff, but it suddenly turned serious when he started to talk about pedagogies and constructivism and how blogs can be used in classes as a teaching and learning tool (alongside other teaching and learning tools). Jane was quietly spoken, but delivered so eloquently and showed how her ESL classes have used blogs over time, even though she had some issues with her slideshow at times. Her academic background came through and showed the staff that blogs were not a “gimmick”. Jo spoke passionately about her Year 8 class and the way the students used the class blog. Students at a small school in Canada found her class blog and their is now correspondence between the two school groups. She showed how the students use of English improved as people outside the class discovered the blog and lastly, how she plans to use a form of blogging (podcasting) as a Year 12 revision tool. (I wish I thought of that 
). Lastly, James wrapped up and showed how easy it was to create an edublog site and made a BIG announcement - but I’ll leave that to him to announce it to everyone else.
At the end of the session, it was clear that these presenters had hit the mark as there was lots of serious discussion. Today at work, staff were talking about it and wanting to get their classes to start blogging. I heard that at a Teaching and Learning committee meeting this morning, they kept coming back to last night’s meeting and the potential of blogging and other new technologies.
Sometimes, you don’t lead by getting up there and doing a big song and dance about what you are passionate about, but rather by sitting back and organising some great sessions and allowing others to see what it is you want them to see. It may take months, but it is worth it. So thanks Will Richardson, who started the inspiration with a wonderful presentation a few months via SkypeVideo, thanks to Reef Ed and the National Space Centre for videoconferencing with us, thanks to James Farmer, Jane Westworth and Jo McLeay for giving a great presentation yesterday. Two more sessions are planned for early next year - one on podcasting led by David Kelly, a friend and great IT teacher, the other on how a Primary teacher, Tom Barrett uses ICT in his classroom. Looking forward to them!
Fantastic!!
The Open Classroom November 23, 2006
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in AGQTP/AISV, Ed Blogger, Web2.0, blogs, classroom, podcasts.add a comment
I’ve organized an afternoon “chat” called “The Open Classroom” for some of our staff next week as part of our AGQTP/AISV New Technologies program. I call it a “chat” as it isn’t PD, nor is it a lecture, nor a workshop. More of a “what is this blogging stuff and where can it take us?“. There will be no compulsion for staff to set up a blog afterwards, but I hope that some start to see the possibilities of creating Open Classrooms in the future. Our school has links with other schools around the world, in particular the Round Square organization, whereby, students participate in yearly conferences, International projects and exchange programs.
So enter three very qualified speakers or presenters from Melbourne - Jane Westworth, Jo McLeay, James Farmer. All are educational bloggers and have been doing so for quite some time. I have deliberately asked these three people because their backgrounds are so different to my own. At times, I feel as though I don’t get across to some of our administrators as they may see me as some type of techno-wizard (hopefully not a geek). As many of our administrators are of a Humanities background and I have a Mathematical / Science / IT background, we sometimes see things differently.
Jane is an English /ESL / Drama teacher - Lecturer / Researcher and a member of the Advocacy group at VATE. Jane is currently teaching at RMIT and working on a PhD at Monash. She is proud of the fact that she is not IT savvy. Yet, Jane has been using blogs since 2002 when they were first established. She has used them for her research and taught using various types of blogs for 4 years (a long time in blogging circles). She has achieved great success with ESL learners and students returning to study and her work has interesting parallels with our ELICOS center, English, Primary, LOTE classes and our Round Square community and Open Classrooms.
Jo is also an English teacher, member of VATE and she is completing a Masters of Education. She uses blogs in her classrooms and uses them for assessment purposes, an area that seems to get neglected as I read through other teachers blg entries (or perhaps I’m not looking hard enough yet). I enjoy reading her blog as she has used technology in ways that some of our staff may consider “gimmicky“, but in my opinion, she is using the technology to enrich student learning. Isn’t that our job? Jo’s blog is called “The Open Classroom” and I have borrowed this name for the presentation.
James has his own section in my last post.
How to Become a Millionaire!! OR Teaching students how to podcast November 14, 2006
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in Web2.0, podcasts.add a comment
If I were to teach students how to podcast, I would give them meaningful assignments and get them to create from the start. As an IT teacher, it is my job to teach the students about the technology at their fingertips and then it is up to both them and their teachers to use the technology. And I think after many years, I have come to a realisation that at times, I too have made mistakes in my own classes, focussing too much on the technology instead of making it relevant and meaningful. So how can I do it and get the students to learn about technology at the same time? I would be interested in hearing back from others about their experiences or this proposed unit outline.
Unit Title: How to become a Millionaire!!
Activities
NB. No times given - I like to let it flow and see how the class reacts. I also like to set new challenges to individual students as they accomplish one thing and before I know it, they have taught each other. The students sometimes think it is completely unplanned.
- Create a wiki for students to add notes, comments, tips, tricks, etc. Must contribute at least x number of articles (depending on the number of students). USe throughout the unit, especially when there is equipment malfunction.
- Produce a list of capabilities and limitations (introduction to VCE Year 12 work) for each software/technology.
- Students produce and save a few .wav files using sound recorder on the PC. I would not do any teaching, but rather ask them to talk about their facourite sport, TV show, food, game, etc and keep it for later use
- A limitation is that they canonly record for 1 minute using this software - ideal for the first acitivity.
- Discuss web safety. There should be a discussion on how how anything that they create (video, website, e-mail, SMS, podcast) can be retrieved and used many years later. Refer to the recent controversial DVD produced by students in Werribee, Victoria and how that digital evidence is now being used against them. Discuss how employers now do a Google search to discover whatever they can about that employee. Discuss how personal information should never be put online, even if the other person appears to be nice.
- Show students podOmatic.com. Discuss how the site works. I would not engage in any discussion about Odeo as it has easliy accessible pornographic content. Gcast is another podcast site, and it has links to Odeo, so I would not discuss it either.
- Allow students a few minutes to explore the podOmatic site.
- Invite students to create their own site on podOmatic.
- First podcast - Upload the files they created in Step 2.
- As it uploads, podomatic will ask the students if they want to send a link to others. Encourage them to send a link to 3 people sitting at their table
- Listen to theirs - listen to others. Have fun.
- Upload more .wav files.
- Download other people’s files and/or add comments.
- Someone will start creating a podcast from within the site. Encourage them to write text to go with the podcast and that it is going out to a potential worldwide audience. Take care with what they say and write.
- If possible, customise podOmatic.
- Discuss uploading music files and legalities of doing so in Australia.
- Use mobile phones (where possible) to create a sound recording and upload it to the site.
- Challenge activity: Can they download a file to their phone (free ringtones)
- Introduce students to audacity and work in that environment for a few lessons with activites -editing soundtracks, creating new files using loops, etc. More on this another time.
- Post new files to podOmatic.
- Assignment: Ring Tones - a Multi Billion$ industry.
- Find articles about the Ringtone industry and how they are raking in the money (why aren’t I doing it this?). Prepare an assignment (doesn’t have to be written!)
- Encourage students to create a ringtone for their own use.
- Upload them and allow others to download if they wish
- Discuss RSS if it is new to them.
- Discuss podcatchers and how they can be used.
- I guess that by this stage, there would be no need to teach students how to download files to their iPods or other mp3 players.
These are just my thoughts on a possible unit to do in the classroom. Maybe I’ll do it one day, or someone may borrow it and adapt it.
NB. I thought of this idea and made some recordings on my mobile phone today while sitting at traffic lights. Sadly, my wife took the wrong phone and I’ll have to upload it later.
podOmatic = podmail September 27, 2006
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in General, Paul Harrington, Screencast, Web2.0, blogs, mathematics, podcasts.comments closed
With thanks to Paul Harrington and Judy O’Connell, I have just stumbled on podOmatic. This site is similar to Odeo (but in my opinion, it is “safer” - read the end comment) and allows users to create podcasts and store them on their server for access by anyone else. But, the most exciting thing for me is it is now possible to have a podmail account.
What is podMail?
podMail is just like regular email, only different. With podMail, you now have the power to create your own audio or upload existing audio from your computer and podMail it right into your friend’s iPod!What kinds of messages can I receive at my podomatic.com e-mail address?
Although you can send anything to anyone using podMail, we restrict what kinds of messages get to you from the e-mail world. This is to prevent spam from going into your account. So if you’re using podMail, send whatever you want! If you’re using an e-mail client, or you are asking your friends to send you e-mail @podomatic.com, remember that e-mail from the outside world must include an mp3 attachment to be delivered to you @podomatic.com.Where does podMail go?
podMail goes from podOmatic into your iPod. We transfer it from our servers through podAmigo into your daycast, where you can hear it at your leisure.Who can hear my podMail?
Only you. It has the same privacy characteristics as email.
k - 12 Online Conference “Unleasing the Potential” September 25, 2006
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in Screencast, Skype, Video Conference, Web2.0, blogs, podcasts.comments closed
Announcing the first annual “K12 Online 2006″ convention for teachers, administrators and educators around the world interested in the use of Web 2.0 tools in classrooms and professional practice. This year’s conference is scheduled to be held over two weeks, Oct. 23-27 and Oct. 30- Nov. 3 with the theme “Unleashing the Potential.” The K12 Online 2006 blog has just gone live.
On the conference blog you will also find the web form we will be using for the submission of proposals. Everyone is encouraged to submit a proposal. More details are on the conference blog: www.k12onlineconference.org. The blog will be updated regularly with everything you need to know about the conference.
This is such an exciting concept. Having people from around the world share ideas and resources. Many of these people are experts in the use of Web 2.0 technology in education, so why wouldn’t you participate in such a great idea?
And if you are in Australia like me, there is no reason to miss out as presentations will be made available for download.
Well done to the organisers.
ScreenCasts September 14, 2006
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in Ewan McIntosh, Screencast, Web2.0, blogs, podcasts.comments closed
I just listened to and watched Ewan McIntosh’s screencast on Web 2.0 technology. His ideas are great and it is something I’ll have to re-watch. His discussion on blogs and podcasts is quite stimulating.
So how will screencasts help us teachers? I recently had a student who was going to miss a term of school to go on a family holiday back to his parent’s homeland. Most of his holiday was going to be spent in and around the family home, so he wasn’t travelling around much. We were about to start Algebra in our Maths class and he didn’t want to fall behind. He had access to the internet and e-mail, so we discussed the possibility of me sending him the class notes that I was using my Tablet PC and Projector or Interactive WhiteBoard (IWB) to generate. I also wanted to send him a podcast to go with the notes, but he said that he wouldn’t require them as he would get help from his older cousins and relatives if he got stuck. I missed out on this educational journey, but perhaps it would have been so much easier to create a Screencast.
I’ll be producing a ScreenCast in the near future (after I’ve played with some software). In the meantime, if you are interested in looking into it further yourself, take a look at the Mathcast site. A great introduction to Screencasting and Mathematics.
Thanks to Will Richardson September 14, 2006
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in Personal, Skype, Web2.0, Will Richardson, blogs, podcasts.comments closed
Before getting into this blog proper, I must say thanks to Will Richardson. I stumbled upon his blog some time in 2005 and started to follow it religiously. At that stage, I didn’t know how to use RSS, so I set up my Mozilla browser to access his page every time I accessed the Internet. His blog entries have helped me get a better understanding of how I can use this technology in my classes and at work.
I’ve been working on a project to introduce interested staff at my school to Web 2.0 technology. Part of my project was to show how Video Conferencing could be used for PD or in class. What better way to do it than to ask Will to speak at our seminar, speaking from his home in the States to our school in Melbourne, Australia. Time zones were sorted out and technical issues resolved. Unfortunalty, there were a few technical issues on the day, but we managed to have a Skype Video call (we could see Will, he couldn’t see us!) and we were also able to see his presentation on our projector as he controlled it (thanks must go to Chris Ross and Winston Mattson).
So Will, thanks heaps. Now all I need to do is get you here one day.
