Digital Stories

I think that using digital stories in the classroom would take a lot of time, and you would probably only do 1-2 per year. However, I think that watching each others own personal digital stories showed us what was of value to our classmates. No one would spend hours working on a project about a topic that wasn't important to them, when they were allowed to choose their own topic. In a K-12 setting, I think that the implications would be the same--students would gain significant insight about their classmates.

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Article Numero Dos

This article is, again, outdate in the realm of the technological world, but I think that the fact that it's outdated actually is useful here.

The study was done from 1990-1994 to see how technology influences education. From the conclusions of the study, technology had huge benefits:

• "Educational technology has demonstrated a significant positive effect on achievement. Positive effects have been found for all major subject areas, in preschool through higher education, and for both regular and special education students."
• "Educational technology has been found to have a positive effect on student attitudes toward learning and on student self-concept. Students felt more successful in school, were more motivated to learn, and had increased self-confidence and self-esteem when using computer-based instruction."
  
• "Introducing technology into the learning environment has been shown to make learning more student-centered, to encourage cooperative learning, and to stimulate increase teacher/student interaction."
• "Courses for which computer-based networks were used increased student-student and student-teacher interaction, increased student-teacher interaction with lower-performing students, and did not decrease the traditional forms of communication used."
• "Greater student cooperation and sharing and helping behaviors occurred when students used computer-based learning that had students compete against the computer rather than against each other."

I think that all of these points would only be further backed by research today. How can we not use technology, when all the research tells us good results!?

Sivin-Kachala, Jay; Bialo, Ellen R., 1994.

The name assigned to the document by the author. This field may also contain sub-titles, series names, and report numbers.

Report on the Effectiveness of Technology in Schools, 1990-1994. The names of authoring organizations, e.g., a research foundation, government agency, school district, or university responsible for the intellectual content of the document. Interactive Educational Systems Design, Inc., New York, NY. Accessed online: http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED371726&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED371726

Article #1, Literacy Types

I read an article by Ann Holum & Jan Gahala called "Critical Issue: Using Technology to Enhance Literacy Instruction. This article was published in 2001, so I would probably call it "out-of-date" because technologies change so often, that it is hard to keep up research on specific technologies. (This article also states that recent research is hard because technologies are constantly being updated, revised, and even become extinct in a matter of years.) Nevertheless, I think this article does a great job of describing literacy and how the definition of literacy has and is changing.

The article begins by giving a traditional definition of literacy: reading, writing, speaking & listening. It goes on to say that technology has contributed to an expanded version of literacy. The article gives several examples of new types of literacy and their definitions. These types are: digital literacy, information literacy, new literacy, computer literacy, computer-technology literacy, critical literacy and media literacy. Clearly, all of these go above and beyond our traditional view of literacy. And, in the 21st century, we have to push the limits. Education is always so slow to catch up with the "real world". We need to teach in ways that are relevant to students, by using tools that are relevant in everyday life.

This article also talks about the 3 essential questions that we have to ask ourselves when we decide to integrate technology into our classroom:
1. Research--does research back up what we're doing? Can we prove that the methods using technology are better strategies than a more traditional route?
2. Practice--which technologies are being used currently that are successful? Which show promise? Which do we think will emerge into the future, despite it's quickness to change.
3. Professional Development--What skills do teachers need in order to effectively integrate technology into the literacy program?

The article goes on to talk about many technologies that have been proven to be successful in literacy, but again, some of them are outdated. For instance, audiobooks were on the list, but it offered up the idea of using 4-tracks or cassette players for audiobooks. Amazing what 8 years can change!

Overall, I thought this article had awesome ideas and powerful statements about what technology can do in the literacy program, even if the tools they noted are a little out dated.

Holum, Ann & Gahala, Jan. (2001). Critical Issue: Using Technology To Enhance Literacy Instruction. Available: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/reading/li300.htm

Web 2.0

I was introduced to Web 2.0 a couple years ago in CI 302. We looked at several different Web 2.0 tools including Scratch, and many of the Google tools--Google Earch, Google Sketchup and blogger. While all of these tools were neat, it was a little bit hard to see how they'd be integrated and used in classrooms since the tools were fairly new. Now, however, it is clear to see that Web 2.0 is huge and going to get bigger in education.

Benefits of Web 2.0:
+ motivation--students enjoy interactive software, where they are the builder
+ interactive & user friendly-- Web 2.0 tools make the user in control of what's happening
+ ownership-- again, the user is in control of their own knowledge
+ options-- there are so many Web 2.0 tools available, that every learner and instructor is sure to find something that matches with their selected content goals
+ IT'S FREE!--most Web 2.0 tools are available at no cost. Some have basic programs that are free and then have a slight charge for more advanced tools or for other options, but basically--free! What teacher could pass up free tools?





Here's a video on Web 2.0


And here's a wordle of Wikipedia's Web 2.0 article:

Blogging Ideas

As I was walking to Lago from the Library last night, I was thinking about blogging. I'm not quite sure why, but an idea just popped into my head.

Use blogs for book reviews.

Students often read books because they are recommended by their friends. Now, traditional book talks or book reviews are great, but what about blogging book reviews?

I tend to think of things in +/- format, so as I was walking I thought of all the pros of blogging book reviews.

+ Students take ownership, because they know that their friends are going to read this
+ Writing practice--students have to WRITE instead of orally speak their book review, again, knowing that is going to published to the web, and read by their peers
+ Typing skills-- students are TYPING their ideas about books---AUTHENTIC typing!
+ Motivation--students will be motivated to read their book, understand it, and review it
+ Ease of Use--how much easier would it be for a teacher to read their blogs and respond in that way rather than responding to a written journal or using a checklist
+ User Interaction-- to me, this is the biggest one. Students can not only READ what other students have WRITTEN, but they can actually comment on it! And their comments can be seen by peers and the teacher. They can ask questions, comment on a book they've also read, discuss opinions, brainstorm solutions, etc.
+ Multimedia-- students could insert audio, video or pictures of/about their book. They could be as creative as they wanted, or simply type the review.

There are just so many options that I see with using blogs for book reviews, that I don't even want to list my negatives, but I'll be fair:

- Security--gotta make the blogs safe for students
- Time to teach--this is barely a negative, because taking time at the beginning of the process to model and teach how to do the blog will end up saving loads of time in the long run.

Good try negatives, but positives win. I am eager to try this someday!

Keyboarding

Obviously keyboarding is a necessary 21st century skill. Almost every job right now will use a computer in one way or another. Therefore, we must teach it to students so that they do it properly. What good is typing if you only do it one letter at a time?

So, my question is, how can we teach proper keyboarding mechanics in an authentic and meaningful way?

Most schools use some type of game or program to teach typing. My only experience is with Type to Learn, which I've seen used with 2nd-5th grade students. Type to Learn has students practice proper mechanics, starting with using the homerow. Then it branches out and goes up in levels. When you start a level you start by typing non-words and using the correct finger. Such as: jkjkjkjk, or ;l;l;l;l;l. So, here we've taught mechanics and proper fingers, but no one could try to argue this as meaningful. Eventually, you move up to the point where you are typing words and some sentences. Perhaps those are a little more meaningful, but if the sentence is about Jupiter and I don't even know what Jupiter is, what do I care?

I'm stumped as to how to teach mechanics and be meaningful. How can we let students loose to type with their own writings if they are going to 1-finger-peck at the keys to type the entire thing. Perhaps we keep teaching the mechanics with the unmeaningful programs, and then let students type their own work as they're learning mechanics.

Maybe in 100 years everyone will have personal keyboards that will read our fingerprints and be able to tell us when we are using the wrong keys while typing original works. If someone makes millions someday, remember, I had the idea first :)

A Digital Recipe

Here's another tasty example of a digital storytelling...

Previous Digital Storytelling

This storytelling is an example that I made in CI 302. We had to create an advertisement for an organization. This is my final project. I created the music in GarageBand--I really like the music!

My Tikatok Book

However, there is no option to print these book unless you pay for the company to create a real, hardcover book.

Digital Storytelling

Since I've completed a minor in Educational Computing, this will now be the 4th time I've done a digital storytelling assignment. Honestly, I'm kind of digital-storytelling-ed-out. BUT, today I saw the impact made when a student wrote something, and the motivation to read it and write again that followed.

In my tutoring session yesterday, I found that my student really enjoyed a Garfield comic book. In fact, it was the only thing she'd showed interest in so far. So I decided to see if we could find any Garfield books online. I did find some books, but I had to sign up for an account to access them. Instead, I found a comic creator at the official Garfield website. I created a nice, authentic-looking comic strip in about 15 minutes. I thought this would be a fun end-of-the-week activity for my tutee. Sure enough, she loved it. It was an authentic writing experience for her--even if it was only about 15 words total. She was so proud of that 3 frame comic strip and she read it to her dad as soon as we walked out of the library.

Not that this was necessarily digital storytelling, but it was a similar experience, and it helped me to see the motivational power behind the concept of using students' own writings to enhance their reading. I guess I'll give digital storytelling another chance.

Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling is a great project for young students. I love that it provides such ownership and motivation. I believe that students will truly be motivated to tell their own stories because they get to use their words and pictures. Plus, they get to use computers, which is also highly motivating for students.

I think that I would start introducing digital story telling as early as 1st grade, allowing students to take photos and record their own words with their pictures. At this level, though, the teacher would be the one to put it all together. Starting in 3rd or 4th grade, I would begin teaching the students how to put everything together using the computer softwares.

I believe that when students write stories for a purpose, i.e. transforming them into digital stories, they will produce higher quality of work, due to the intrinsic motivational factor.

Social Networking +/-

I have so many thoughts about Social Networking and their use in education. My feelings about their use and their ability to be successful in education are varied. I am going to use this blog entry to highlight what I find to be the pros and the cons of social networking in regards to their educational value. I'll start with positives.

PROS:
1. community--Social networking sites are SOCIAL! They encourage users to interact with each other and share ideas.
2. the use of text-- Social networking sites have a lot of text. The basis of them is that students send messages back and forth by way of typing them out. This requires students to use words (writing) and to read words that other users send to them (reading).
3. usability/21st century-- Students use these programs in their everyday lives. They are familiar with using computers and are knowledgeable and willing to find out how they work.
4. motivation-- Students will be motivated to use something like this in the classroom, because they are already using similar systems at home. Also, they can interact with each other, rather than only with the teacher. Who wants to answer questions posed by the teacher all the time? Here, students challenge each other, and challenges from peers are very motivating to people of all ages!

CONS:
1. community--Sometimes online communities have "intruders", much like we have in our real-world communities. However, teachers have far more control over their classrooms than they have in many social network sites. Liability is the biggest con to social networking.
2. the use of text-- While students are using text, they are often using text in non-standard ways, using net-lingo (http://www.netlingo.com/). Net-lingo, while still text, is basically unacceptable in the real world. We need to be clear on the differences here, and make sure students use real language--or at least understand the difference and appropriate times to use each.
3. usability/21st century-- Teachers don't always know what they're doing, especially when it comes to technology an social networks. As teachers, we need to be knowledgeable about the tools available to us.
4. motivation-- Social networking is SOCIAL. There is a distinction between using the sites to be social, or using them to be educational. That is a fine line to walk as an educator, and in this day and age where we have to prove that what we're doing is the most effective way to teach, we need to make sure that using a network is productive and is achieving a content goal. Students need to understand the purpose for using the social network.

Public Television Resources

Today we got to see the depth of resources that are available through IPTV. The amount of resources there is unbelievable, and even more unbelievable than that is the fact that I've never seen a teacher use any of them, after having 2 student teaching placements and 3 practicum experiences. These resources are all FREE and easy to use. Each element is based off of a PBS children's show and is therefore appealing to students.

I especially liked the reader's island, where an adult could create user ID's for students and monitor students progress through reading games. These games were set up to scaffold the content for the student so that they didn't start with reading comprehension (the hardest). Their only option is to start with rhyming sounds (the easiest). The adult user can monitor the students progress through each skill level. This would be an awesome site to allow students to use during free time, and then have something to show the parents and PTC. Also, the teacher could monitor this, and see if students are stuck on something and then be able to provide a mini-lesson based on that skill. I will definitely use the island in my future classroom, and plan to try to use it with my tutee this summer.

There are also many videos available here to supplement curriculum. What an awesome resource! I also really like Dan Wardell's blog.

Using TPACK Effectively

Today during class we were challenged to find ways to use the TPACK framework effectively. First, we did an activity which chose a random content area, pedagogy strategy and a technology. Somehow, we had to use each of them to create what would be an effective lesson. Now, this isn't really how you would go about designing a lesson, because when integrating technology you should always choose it carefully, rather than randomly, but the exercise did allow us to come up with creative ways to mesh the three together.

We also did some story adaptation activities. We used the book "It Looked Like Spilt Milk" and made our own adaptations using KidPix. Here is my example:

Book adaptations are a wonderful way to get students hooked into reading/writing. It is very motivating for students to see thier own writing/pictures printed out and used as a book. In my 3rd grade room we made a classroom book that integrated our math into our visualization unit. Students created their page of the book at a weekly literacy center. They had to research an insect of their choice from one of the books I selected, and then they were to compare its size to an everyday object. We did this after reading a book called "The Big Bug Book" which had pictures of large insects and compared them to everyday objects. The students loved doing this activity because they got to be creative.

Today we also did an adaptation of the book "Rosie's Walk". We titled ours "The Student's Walk" and it followed the same concept, using prepositions, as the original title. We worked in groups to make our own book about our walk. Here is ours:





Again, book adaptations are a simple and easy ways to engage students in reading and writing. ABC books are a great resource to do this with, especially because ABC books are written about everything from animals to superheroes. There is something for every student!


Here is a link to my online technology portfolio from another class that highlights some of my technology projects.

Background/Interest in Tech & Literacy

This Spring I graduated from ISU with a B.S. in Elementary Education as well as a minor in Educational Computing. As long as I can remember, I have loved 2 things: learning new things, and using technology. During my time here at Iowa State, I found a perfect way to connect the two, by getting a teaching degree and the minor in technology.

During my student teaching placements I was eager to jump in and use all of the knowledge I had amassed here at ISU, especially regarding technology integration. I was able to use technology to supplement our 5th grade social studies text by taking virtual field trips to many historical locations. I was able to incorporate meaningful uses of technology into writing by designing a research paper outline template in Kidspiration and having students use that as a framework to design a research project/paper. For reading, I used technology to create student-made movies from fairy tales that they'd written in groups, after reading multiple versions of one fairy tale. All of these endeavors were very successful.

I am excited to be completing my Reading Endorsement, and am looking forward to finding even more ways to use technology in the classroom through this class.