I love Weebly!!

For the produsage 2 assignment I debated which tools to use.  Then I came across Weebly.com.  This has been the easiest and most enjoyable tool I've experimented with this semester.

They have a minute long video to get you started and a step-by-step site planner that guides you along the way (which I used extensively!).  You can follow along the guide or they also have a support center where you can click on the specific issue you are having form a pre-existing category. If that isn't enough, you can submit a question to their help department.

The layout makes it very simple to customize, add pictures, video, slideshows, polls, surveys, you name it!!! You have the option to add pages to the menu bar at the top (or wherever you choose to put it) to categorize your content.  You can basically create as many pages as you'd like, show them or hide them, and they even have the option of sub-pages (for the content you think is less important).

And that is all for FREE!! Imagine that! Furthermore, they have more help options if you chose to upgrade, get your own domain, and include ads.

Not enough?? They also offer LIVE TRAINING!!! Have I mentioned I love Weebly.com??!!!

I loved the outcome of my Produsage 2 assignemnt and I envision I will be using Weebly.com for lots more to come!!

Check out my new feeds bar on the right!!

I am so proud of myself lol.  I actually can't take the credit for all I did was search, read, and follow directions, BUT I learned how to add gadgets to my blog! So I added the course #eme6414 and went ahead and added a poll I created on polleverywhere.com. Not too bad :)

I google searched "how to add twitter feed to blogger" and came across this http://tsbray.blogspot.com/2013/03/twitter-feed-on-blogger.html.

His blog is actually very helpful for lots of things.  Glad I came across it. I've added him to my pages in case you want to check him out.

Polleverywhere.com

So I was reading this article titled "13 free web tools students and teachers should know about" and spent quite some time reading about and trying lots of the tools mentioned.
The one I experimented with today was polleverywhere.com.  I loved the 1 minute tutorial which was easy to follow in order to get started.
Aside from the tutorial, they provide various examples and a tour of the page.

Here's one of the polls I created.  I created this one with the intent of posting it to my Facebook to see if any of my friends would be willing to participate in order for me to get some practice with the site.

Here's the widget in case anyone else would like to participate as well.

<script language="javascript" src="http://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/aHta1zTFgcX8jWB/web.js?height=250&results_count_format=percent&width=300" type="text/javascript"></script>

.....except it doesn't show up on my blog for some reason.  So I guess that's something I will need to keep practicing with.  Here's what it said to do:

Can anyone help? I would like to figure this out so that I can use it with my classrooms.  I'm debating upgrading to the paid version, which would allow me to automatically grade responses for when I want to quiz my students and /or give them practice quizzes.

Week 5 prompt

How do you judge the value of expertise on the Web? Does it differ from your notion of expertise in face-to-face settings? Why or why not?


This is a good question.  I once read a quote by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche on one of my friend's Facebook posts.  It read: "An artist should never be judged according to the measure of his works". This baffled me quite a bit. My first instinct was to think the opposite, artists should be judged by their work.  But the conversation lead to the idea that any one person couldn't be a good judge of 'art'.  It went on to the philosophy of "what is art" "art is a matter of perspective", "can someone be considered an artist even if no one else experiences their art?" and so on. Deeper one could make the argument that we are all artists, in a more complex way than the contemporary term.  My friend who posted the quote went on to say " Perhaps everyone is performing art altruistically in a way" and another person commented "Everyone is an artists and everything is art."\

This is exactly how I feel about expertise on the web.  Who is to judge 'expertise' and which criteria is one to use? Afterall being an expert means skill or knowledge of a particular trade. By that definition, an 16 year hacker can be considered an expert.  
In their article, Leadbeater and Miller, 2004, state".....Pro-Ams, innovative, committed and networked amateurs working to professional standards." From what I understand a Pro-Am is basically an amateur working to professional standards. Therefore judging 'expertise' by this definition could encompass a large array of people.  As they mention in the article, Linoux was created by a computer student in Finland.  He was by no means an expert, yet he created something (over time) to professional standards. 

For me what has changed is the overall meaning of the term "expertise" regardless if it is face-to-face or on the web.  In today's day in age there are many more 'experts' out there that don't necessarily fit the category of professional, for example, yet they may be experts of their own trade.  The Internet and the use of Web2.0 tools has enabled expertise to be within finger's reach.  Besides, many of the areas of expertise that exist not, didn't exist 15 years ago, opening the door to endless opportunities in the future. 

Scratch

Ok...so where to start.  Here's a new tool I played around with today (it only took me 4 hours lol).

Here's the link http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/11582073/

What I liked about it: 

- self-created (by teachers or students)

- you can aggregate content (by 'seeing inside' and remixing)

- fun way to participate in a learning game (attention grabbing)

- students/teachers can comment for a nice discussion

- FAQs and tutorial available

What I didn't like about it:

- it took me 4 hours to make that silly (and incomplete) game

- tutorial didn't fully explain each term individually....I had to guess or copy the tutorial

- it wasn't saving appropriately (I had to re-do the quadrants 11 times!!!!!!!!!)

But in all seriousness, if I knew how to use it and it functioned appropriately, the uses of games or self-created projects through the use of tools such as Scratch are wonderful tools for learning.  

As a teacher, when creating a learning game one must always keep in mind objectives.  Once a good learning game is designed it has beneficial uses for the teacher and students.  It enables the teacher a quick glance at the scores to see where the students are at, as a quick (unofficial) assessment. This frees-up the teacher to provide feedback and redirect instruction.

As a student, these can be fun (attention-getters) and a way to self-assess.

As an IDer, this is yet another tool under one's belt.  Just as we try different tools in this course, Scratch and other game-based learning tools can be a way to train IDers to practice linking objectives with tasks.  It also facilitates creative options for developing instruction.

Cognitive overload!

I have been busy busy busy.  Lurking ain't easy! lol Lurking around Lonely Planet  and its social media tools can feel never-ending.  I've now taken pages of notes but have yet to finish the first draft of my community paper.
I've also been busy (but enjoying it a bit more...a lot more) actively participating in Tripadvisor's online community.

On another note, I've also been busy trying out new tools.  I tried Edublog, Quora, and Wordpress.

Funny story about how I got interested in Wordpress; for the past week I have been on an amazing road-trip. We had just made it to Arches National Park, when I crossed the street towards the visitor's center behind an RV and as I was checking it out (I dream of traveling the country via RV one day) I noticed they had their blog address printed on the back of it, "ourjoyride.wordpress.com".  I immediately got on my phone and checked them out. They are living the dream and blogging along the way!

So, what can I say about the tools I tried this week?

Edublog= I liked how it has a step-by-step guide that you can follow to get started.  It has all the basics of any blog; dashboard, themes, posts publishing, and so on, but also has classroom/teacher specific tools. There's lots and lots to do, including an Edublog teacher challenge.  So far, I've chosen my title and theme.  It doesn't sound like a lot, but there's lots to think about.  I'm hoping to use this Edublog with my classes next school year.  

Easy to follow links depending on what you want to do.

Wordpress= So far, I haven't had too much time to play with this tool, other than the basics of setting it up.  I think I like it better (if not way better than blogger).  I'm planning on using this as my main platform for prdusage #2.  It's easy to click around and figure out what to do.  For some reason I liked the old blogger but I haven't been able to grasp the new one.  In Wordpress, I particularly like the Daily Prompt and Weekly Photo Challenge, they are inspirational and help me get ideas for my own blog.

Quora= This tool was a nice break from reading how to create blogs, making choices, and planning ahead.  It was very distracting and it sucked me right in! I created my profile, selected topics of interest and immediately got active with it. It's like reading a newsfeed personalized for you and all you like to read about.  I definitely see myself using Quora long-term.

I'm tired of clicking and reading...but this cognitive overload is definite sign that I'm learning.  Nothing that's worthwile is ever easy. :) 

Week 4 prompt

Ok...lots to say here!

I started thinking about how I felt on such issues such as authorship, copyright, and open access and its impact on my ability and willingness to engage with web 2.0 tools. Then I realized I didn't have much to say. lol So I searched the internet.

It was funny because after my search query the first page was filled with blogs from EME6414..... so I searched further.

I came across an article by McGrail & McGrail, 2010, "Copying right and Copying wrong with Web2.0 tools in the Teacher Education and Communications Classrooms". It is so relevant to my life, both personally and professionally.

As I teacher I often assigned students with projects which involve the use of images, videos, audio, and other resources. Oftentimes they create the content themselves, however often enough, they find the content on the Internet.

As a student, amateur blogger, and recreational social media user, I 'acquire' content from the Internet as well. It may not present a huge issue in my life at the moment, but it could. Any tine we share content through the use of Web 2.0 tools for mass publication (such as our blogs for example) we run into copyright issues.  If we are not the original authors or creators of content, we must give credit where credit is due.  A problem that arises with such ease of sharing and mass publication via the internet, is the level of difficulty, sometimes, of actually finding the original author/creator.

MCGrail and McGrail, 2010, mention "We wish to prepare our students for responsible and ethical participation in the newest forms of creative expression in our age.  Such preparation is a cornerstone of free speech and democratic citizenship for the future."  This is enough for me to keep reading and learning on the topic of copyright, authorship, and open access.  At this stage in my personal education, I am simply aware of how much I don't know and need to learn, but I am well on my way.

P.S. I posted about my reading to Tappestry! (and I got 3 ratings on my previous post lol)

References

McGrail, E, & McGrail, J. P. (2010). Copying right and copying wrong with web 2.0 tools in the teacher education and communications classrooms. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 10(3). Retrieved fromhttp://www.citejournal.org/vol10/iss3/languagearts/article1.cfm

Trying out Tappestry....and liking it?

So today I tried Tappestry for the first time.  I actually had never heard of it before this course.  So, what is it? Basically it's an app where one can keep track of things learned or things they wish to learn.

Here's some of the features that I liked about it:

• There's a 3 minute video demo you can watch.
• Once you download the app, there's a tutorial you can follow, explaining how to use the app.
• You can categorize, link, and tag what you learn by topic.
• You can sign in using Twitter or Facebook.  This helps me not have to remember yet another username and password.
• You can control your posts if you want to make them public, share them with contacts only, or keep it private for yourself.
• You can rate your post 1-4 stars, depending on how you judge its importance to you.
• Others can comment on your posts, as you can comment on theirs, which enables sharing of information and possibly expanding one's knowledge. 

Here's some of the features that I didn't like about it:

• I can't turn off the tutorial and it's slightly annoying every time I start the app.
• Either the entire app has only approximately 10 users, or I haven't figured out how to see a public display of everyone's posts.
• It wouldn't let me sign in with Twitter, so it left me no choice but to sign in with Facebook.  Not a terrible thing...but dislike nonetheless.
• I don't fully grasp how this tool can help me expand my knowledge....I'm hoping it's because I'm still disconnected from others.

I like the concept of being connected to others with the same learning topics....but since I can't seem to use it effectively....I'm not sure if I fully like it yet.

Does anyone have a Tappestry account? 

sigh...much better by the beginning of week 4! Wait, week 4 already??!!

I must admit that by this week, although I don't feel like an insider, I'm starting to feel at home in my inbound trajectory.  I'm also enjoying my active participation in my chosen CoP.  I've created a profile and have contributed in different ways which make me feel proud lol. Alongside this blog, I've been contributing to a personal blog, and that too is going great.  Between the two CoPs that I'm following, the class discussion and blog, and my blogs, I think I'm in good shape for my community paper due next weekend.
The first produsage paper was a challenge and I cannot wait to see my grade! I'm also looking forward to reading everyone else's produsage papers as I usually learn a lot by the sharing of ideas.
I started on Vanessa's paper for the reading for this week and it was quite enjoyable to read! One thing that I took from it was based on the concept of reciprocity.  I imagine that regardless of the type of CoP, online or face-to-face, and even within our inner social circles, reciprocity is crucial.  We do this, most of the time we're not aware we do it, but we expect a certain amount of equity in our relationships in terms of reciprocity.  If you've ever had that one co-worker who always needs help but can rarely offer any in return, you know what I'm talking about.  The same goes for friendships and even relationships with family members.  
When we participate in CoP the same applies.  No one is an active member of a CoP simply to provide free advice, we all want to get something out of what we do, otherwise we don't do it. Even if it's an acknowledgement or a thank you, we want to receive something back.  It's polite.  It's kind.  It's expected lol.
This fueled me to become even more active in the CoP I joined as part of this course for the paper.  It clarified roles and expectations for me and it inspired me to 'give back'.  Weird thing is, even without acknowledgement, it felt good to contribute.  I think I may have found an online place I'll always frequent even after this course is over. 
Anyways, that's it, a bit of everything to start off the week.  Big difference with last week's frustration posts!!
Thanks again to all who've helped me get more acquainted!! 

Writing objectives.

As I'm working on my lesson plan for the produsage assignment due later tonight I'm reviewing the correct ways of writing objectives.  
There is a webpage that I'm using as a refresher of what I've learned in previous courses.

The link is http://www.personal.psu.edu/bxb11/Objectives/


Reminded me that according to Benjamin Bloom, and his colleagues, there are six levels of cognition:

1. Knowledge: rote memorization, recognition, or recall of facts
2. Comprehension: understanding what the facts mean
3. Application: correct use of the facts, rules, or ideas
4. Analysis: breaking down information into component parts
5. Synthesis: combination of facts, ideas, or information to make a new whole
6. Evaluation: judging or forming an opinion about the information or situation

I like bloom's taxonomy because it helps the instructor to pose higher-order thinking questions that facilitates critical thinking.  This helps me while creating my lesson plan for the produsage in terms of what to expect the students to do.  I don't want them to simply create a blog recalling terms pertinent to a topic.  I want them to be able to correctly apply terms and information learned, and to also be able to evaluate the information others have applied.  

Week 3 prompt

In an American History or Psychology course students could collaborate to create a wiki/blog about a certain historic person or a topic.  For example groups in my A.P. psychology course could create a wiki/blog about perspectives in psychology- behavioral, cognitive, psychodynamic and so on. With a given rubric they would have to do some research on their own and add specific content to the wiki/blog such as psychologists related to the perspective, famous experiments related to it, and therapies. 

This would support learning in a student-centered manner making the student responsible for his/her own learning.  The students would have to use critical thinking skill while selecting information relevant to the topic, as well as help them develop their writing skills since they'll have to carefully edit what they post.  
Some challenges they'll face will be working in groups and everyone contributing a fair amount.  Another challenge as a teacher will be to monitor their posts for accuracy and plagiarism. Both could be circumvented by having classmates from other groups peer-review posts for accuracy and plagiarism, which would in turn continue to develop their critical thinking skills and further promote learning of the topic.  The teacher could also provide a survey to each group where the participants would rate the amount of contribution by all members of the group.  

Frustrated!

I feel like a nincompoop! I am feeling frustrated, overwhelmed, lost, and did I mention frustrated?!

Issue #1- how do I add the feed section on the side of the blog?

I've added multiple blogs to my 'follow' list but these don't appear anywhere.  I've also tried messing with the settings, template, and such, but I was unsuccessful.

Issue #2- Feedly and HootSuite.....ugh!

    Feedly-- how do I add twitter to it? Do I have to add each and every single page I want to follow single-handedly??? So if I want to follow my classmates, I will have to add 20+ urls??? That is ludicrous!!!

   

    HootSuite-- This one took me a while, but I may be getting the hang of it.  I can create tabs for different media--so for example blogger can have its own tab.  However again, how do I get all my classmate's blogs in one spot without having to enter each one by hand????

Issue #3-- Basically my head is spinning from having to follow/participate in the following: 

• class blog
• classmate's blogs
• class wiki
• class diigo
• class twitter
• both communities of practice for the paper
• class discussion board
• remember to post on my own blog

I really need a one-stop-shop for all of these! Please help!

Finding online communities

Looking into online communities, what they are, and which ones to join for the online community paper due on week 4, I came across this website http://socialmediatoday.com/elliot-volkman/343142/what-online-community which was quite helpful. It provided a clear definition s to what an online community consists of and also clarified what 'tool' meant in an online community.  

For the online community paper, we are to present the context and tools (among other things) of the community we are following.  I was confused about what 'tools' meant.  I thought "isn't the page the community is on the 'tool'?" As I understand it now (and I hope I'm correct) the tools that an online community uses are those that enable it to disseminate information, share, and post to other media outlets. 

I also found this one http://www.instructionaldesigncentral.com/htm/IDC_instructionaldesignsites.htm which I used to select which two online communities to follow.  

Ok, off I go to participate and lurk around!

A TED talk about Khan Academy!

I personally am very inspired by both TED talks and the concept behind Khan Academy.  It's revolutionary what the web and its tools can allow in this day and age.
Khan Academy is a great example of produsage.  If you visit the website you'll see that there are youtube video lessons categorized by different topics.  Viewers can communicate by posting comments and questions.  Furthermore these videos can be easily shared, added to a blog (wink wink) and used by all types of instructors as supplemental material with their lessons.
This enables blended learning to occur.  The student can easily view the lesson at their own pace, pause, rewind, and revise on their own, then attend class and practice with the help and feedback from the instructor.  It allows for student-centered learning, it frees the teacher from having to do a generic lessons and actually enables him/her to have hands-on time with each individual student to reinforce learning at his/her own level.

I am so excited for the future of education!!!!

Produsage

How might the concept of produsage be applied in your life (personal and/or professional) as it stands today? Are you already a produser? If yes, what do you do? If no, why not?

After reading Dr. Axel Bruns's article I have a better understanding of the many variables that make up the term (and action) of produsage.  I understand this term to entail online content created by users in a collaborative manner, distributed by various different participants, and never completely finished products.

The term may be applied to my life in the following ways: I act as an amateur citizen journalist whenever I forward/share news and political stories from different pages I follow.  I particularly prefer to share articles the mainstream news media doesn't cover, political mobilization articles, and anything relating to protecting the environment (including unprocessed, non-GMO, all natural foods).  

I don't know if I can fully consider myself a produser just yet.  I contribute to the cycle of others' produsage but I've yet to create my own content, unless of course one considers this blog. Lack of knowledge has been the main reason as to why I've yet to be a produser, however, this class has already sent me on my way!

In the near future....once I've graduated and have more time for hobbies, I would love to start a blog about my personal interests, probably one about healthy eating, all-natural products, and ways to 'go-green'.

Revolution happens when society adopts new behaviors.

My dream is to one day open a blended learning classroom.  I imagine it will be made up of online courses and f2f classes which will be individually geared towards each student.  Furthermore, I would love to include classes for parents on topics such as parenting styles, problem behaviors, and child development.  As far as I'm concerned this doesn't exist.  Oftentimes when I'm asked what I plan on doing once I graduate I answer "I'm not sure", which is usually followed by a question such as "well, what job do you want to get?" to which I answer "it doesn't exist yet".  I realized early in my teaching career that my students (10 years younger than I) were going to be better prepared for future jobs than I was.  Indeed, when I went to high school, many of today's jobs didn't exist.

What didn't exist when I went to high school were these Web 2.0 tools.  The web and its' 2.0 tools have allowed for communication, cooperation, and action in ways we hadn't imagined.  To think that education would continue in a conventional/traditional manner is an archaic thought at this day and age.  This is one of the challenges faced by educational institutions.  

The same way that the media and web2.0 tools enabled dissemination of sexual molestation stories as the ones faced by the Church in 2002 (for example), these tools can and are being used for/by various institutions today for breaking barriers between the way people communicate.  Shirky, 2012, states that "the possibilities of global organization enabled by those tools continue to grow" (pg. 158). And this is exactly why I'm so heart-set on opening my own blended learning school.  The goal is not only to keep up with the times, but rather to cash-in (so to speak) on these available tools, in order to improve (my vision) education.  

Many think that home-schooling isn't effective.  I believe that 'home' is exactly where learning happens the most.  Why not combine formal education with a home environment, place the student at the center of his/her learning, and totally involve parents into the mix? 

Yea, that's my idea.  We shall see :)

(here's a little online home-school fail just for laughs)

Late initial post....must.work.on.my.blogging.skills!

Whoa, this week has flown by for me! I expected to post my initial blog post by Wednesday, but I just can't seem to get my footing right.  I must admit that I'm totally still intimidated by this class and it predisposes me to avoid the course all together.  I've been walking around with the book, reading, highlighting, but I just don't get to the computer to blog away.  I actually sat, by myself, for 4 hours on the beach this 4th of July and read away.....yet again I didn't make it to the computer.  Why brain?!!! Why?!

Things to work on to get on track: a) Start tweeter account and get on board with the rest of the class. b) Figure our RSS feeds for my blog. c)Figure out how to blog from my mobile phone.