BP#18_Kido'z_Web 2.0

image retrieved from http://www.kidoz.net

This web 2.0 website is a great web browser site for parents to have control over what their kids view on the internet. This site is free and is free of ads. In fact, it’s downloaded on your desktop. This site is very easy to navigate and very colorful. In fact kids don’t need to know how to read or write to use this site. Parents don’t have to stand over their kids and monitor them as they navigate through the internet because they can add the sites that they want their kids to view. There are a plethora of wonderful sites that are already available. Parents can add or delete websites if they want. One of the assets of kido’z is that it’s offered in a variety of languages. It supports games, websites, and videos. It is a very colorful and inviting site that kids from 0 to 8 years would love. Kids can do just about anything that adults can do on the internet, again, without knowing how to read and write. There is also a Parent Control Account that allows parents and teachers to rate videos, websites, and games by clicking the number of stars that apply to their ratings. In order for this website to work your computer needs to have Adobe Air, which can be downloaded. Kido’z blocks links that lead to sites that have not been approved. Kido’z is a wonderful site for teachers to use with their students and for them to also recommend to parents for their kids. There are many uses for teachers. They can download website content that is related to their academic content as well as download videos that are related to course content.

BP#17_Comment Web 2.0

Web 2.0=Wikis
Wikis have several educational benefits to teachers and students. They are becoming more and more popular. It is great for collaborative learning and exploration. Students can easily create simple websites, without learning HTML code, and extensive web design.
The wiki provides a ready to use site with a simple user interface, ability to easily
add pages, and simple navigation structure. This allows students to spend more time devel-
oping the content of the site, instead of trying to learn how to make one. The simplicity of
the wiki syntax, or language for formatting text, inserting images and creating links, means
students spend less time trying to figure out how to make the site do what they want. As
more organizations adopt the wiki for collaboration & information, students will be well
prepared to use it in their careers.
A wiki makes it easy for students to write, revise and submit as assignment, since all three activities can take place in the wiki. A student can be given a wiki page to develop a term paper, and might start by tracking their background research. This allows the teacher, and peers, to see what they’re using, help them if they’re off track, suggest other resources, or even get ideas based on what others find useful. Next, the student can draft the paper in the wiki, taking advantage of the wiki’s automatic revision history that saves a before & after version of the document each time s/he makes changes. This allows the teacher and peers to see the evolution of the paper over time, and continually comment on it, rather than offering comments only on the final draft. When the student completes the final draft, the teacher and peers can read it on the wiki, and offer feed-back.
Students are exciting about learning these days because of wonderful resources like wikis.
Posted by my4brownsons at 8:53 PM

1 comments:

Educational Uses For Blogs said...
@Patricia, before my Fullsail experience the only wiki that I heard about was wikipedia. I've used it a few times but then I heard that it was not accurate because people were allowed to put whatever they wanted on wikipedia. But since this program I've learned otherwise. It is a great tool to use in education especially with the writing process. Thanks for the additional information.

BP#16_Kido'z_Web 2.0 Tool

image retrieved from http://www.kidoz.net

This web 2.0 website is a great web browser site for parents to have control over what their kids view on the internet. This site is free and is free of ads. In fact, it’s downloaded on your desktop. This site is very easy to navigate and very colorful. In fact kids don’t need to know how to read or write to use this site. Parents don’t have to stand over their kids and monitor them as they navigate through the internet because they can add the sites that they want their kids to view. There are a plethora of wonderful sites that are already available. Parents can add or delete websites if they want. One of the assets of kido’z is that it’s offered in a variety of languages. It supports games, websites, and videos. It is a very colorful and inviting site that kids from 0 to 8 years would love. Kids can do just about anything that adults can do on the internet, again, without knowing how to read and write. There is also a Parent Control Account that allows parents and teachers to rate videos, websites, and games by clicking the number of stars that apply to their ratings.In order for this website to work your computer needs to have Adobe Air, which can be downloaded. Kido’z blocks links that lead to sites that have not been approved. Kido’z is a wonderful site for teachers to use with their students and for them to also recommend to parents for their kids. There are many uses for teachers. They can download website content that is related to their academic content as well as download videos that are related to course content.

BP#15_Kideos_Web 2.0 Tool

Kideos videos for kids is a wonderful website for parents and teachers to use with kids. This free website with no ads is a great alternative for children to securely watch videos online. Each video has been screened by a Video Advisory Council consisting of parents and teachers. This enables them to be in control of what their children/students are watching. What is appealing about this site is that the videos are grouped according to age. It is a very kid friendly site because they can navigate the site on their own. Parents and teachers can also have their own personal tools to choose videos that are age appropriate so that the child will only access videos that match their age. Kideos has videos added to the site daily after it’s reviewed by the Council. So kids will always have new videos to view. Much of the content is very diverse. It includes children’s television shows, movies, educational videos, music videos, songs, cartoon and book characters, cute animals, and much, much more. As I perused the site I clicked on a Berenstain Bears video. The video had been posted on youtube. Below the video, there was a short summary of the video along with the age level the video is for. Also, I could add to a playlist if I desired. Below the video there are related videos. After clicking on the video I was able to click on full view and the quality of the video was good. The age levels are 0-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-10 years. The implication for education allows teachers to utilize this to access the educational videos that are available. This site can be recommended by teachers to parents to give parents a safe alternative for their children. This allows parents to have control and be comfortable over the type of videos their children view.

BP#14_Edu 2.0_Commercial

BP#13_Edu 2.0_Web 2.0 Tool

image uploaded from http://www.edu20.org

Edu 2.0 is a web 2.0 web hosting tool that allows you to create your own online school, similar to the learning management system blackboard and moodle. It’s geared to university, high school, or home schooled students. You can have as few as 1 or 2 students and as many as over thousands. When you register your school you get a custom url. When you first go on the site after registering there is a home page that is customizeable. As I perused the site, I noticed that it is easy to navigate. The home tab has other tags that allow you to have messages, a calendar, a friends section. You can upload photos, add groups, and there is a section for blogs. There is also a school tab. On that tab, everything about school, students, parents, teachers, administrators, policies, and classes are found. Then there is a teach tab. This is the area that teachers would upload the classes they’re teaching. The Teach tab also contains the teacher’s class schedule, the syllabus, lessons, and teachers can upload videos & photos. There are other educational resources, a teacher can add attachments, reset passwords, and send students messages. A calendar is also available as well as an area in the teach tab to post events and assessments such as team assignments, tests, quizzes, student grades, attendance, wikis, chat, debates, and blogs. There is also an area that allows teacher to make a master class if teaching more than one class. Then there’s the Learn Tab, this area is used by students currently taking classes. The Resources section of Edu 2.0 tool contains a 20,000 plus library of educational resources that includes videos, quizzes, self paced courses, best practices, experiments, blogs, and curriculum. Also, in that section there is free online support, forums, faq, training, blog, and a guided tour of the site. The great thing about this site is that anyone can use this website and it is so similar to the things that you can do on Blackboard. I teach an online community course and use blackboard for my class. What I like about Edu 2.0 is that you can create your own course and you also have access to over 20,000 other resources.

BP#12_ 20091013_Lesson Plan Using Flickr

The lesson that I found that would use flickr was added by Kameron Tucker Banes at..... http://wiki.itap.purdue.edu/display/INSITE/Example+of+Flickr+at+the+Elementary+Level

It was originally titled "Wildlife Animals in Indiana but I changed it to.....

Wildlife Animals in Ohio

Grades 2-3

Writing Lesson

Pre-requisite: Students must have basic computer skills and knowledge. Teacher should create a group account on Flickr.

Objective: Students will use the computer to find different wildlife that inhabit Indiana. They will use Flickr, to find their pictures and create a narrative.

Materials:

Computer with internet Connection

Group Flickr account

Pictures of wildlife animals in Ohio

Procedures:

1. After discussing the types of wildlife animals in Ohio, upload pictures from a list of them.

2. Pull up account of pictures through flickr.com on projector for students

3. Tell students purpose and description of lesson. Example: "While using the pictures for inspiration, I want you to write a story about the animals in the picture. Don't worry about spelling, just focus on creating a detailed description."

4. Allow students to write for 15 to 20 minutes

5. Ask a few students to share stories

6. Continue to follow procedure as many times as time will allow.

This particular lesson can be adapted to include Ohio flowers, plants, trees, etc.

BP11_200911_comment_ Response to Patricia Brown's Blog

Web 2.0 #1 Ning

BP#6-

Ning is a social networking platform that allows people to create and manage their own social network. This tool was created by Gina Bianchini. Ning has made a real impact in the Web 2.0 game as anyone today is able to create their own social network and stay connected with friends from all over the world.

Ning can be used for almost anything in education. I've seen Ning used by everyday teenagers to famous celebrities like Ellen. Ning can be used for business purposes as well. People who are interested in your idea and what your company does could join your network and give you great feedback. In our previous course, a few of the groups created a ning website that merged poetry with music. This site was interactive and engaging. My group used created a ning site to allow students to share projects, and promote blogging and collaboration. Unfortunately, the difficult part of this my school district blocks websites such as these, and this is truly unfortunate because there are many exciting experiences students can be introduced to.

Ning can be used as a social networking site that would tap into the creative juices of our students. Allowing students to keep in touch with friends, by creating their own websites. I like Ning because of all the control I have as a user. Being a member of MySpace or Facebook is great, but being a member of Ning means something more. I'm more than just another member. With Ning I can have unlimited access to customize all aspects of my page and the social network I maintain.Ning usage in education can bring students and teachers together in order to build the professional relationships necessary for effective collaboration. Collaboration can take many forms, this web 2.0 tool allows people to partner on projects and start conversations on topics related to global education.

BP10_20091011_blog_ Social Bookmarking

Until I began the EMDT degree program at Fullsail University, the only bookmarking that I knew about was the one on indivdual computers that allowed you to bookmark websites. But the only problem with that was that you could only access bookmarks on the computer you saved it on. I don’t know how many times that I’ve been in my school or, since I travel from school to school, that I wished that I had access to the site I bookmarked. But, alas, it’s on another computer that I, at the time, don’t have access to. Social bookmarking is a necessary organizational tool for anyone who is interactive on the Web. (Brockenberry, J., 2009). Social bookmarking is a new phenomenon to me. Based upon my experience with one computer bookmarking, I see the value of being able to bookmark sites that can be resources for me in the future without being limited to one computer. I’ve already started using the social bookmarking tool Del.icio.us. Every educational website that I visit, I save it in Del.icio.us. Since del.icio.us doesn’t restrict the number of accounts that can be created, not only individual students can have accounts, but accounts can be created for workgroups or entire classes with each student in the group having the password to the account so he or she can add bookmarks. What’s also great about social bookmarking is that you can add tags that allow you to mark how you’re going to use the site especially if you’re doing research. There are many educational uses of social bookmarking. You can network with other educators around the world, create social bookmark accounts for your school's academic departments, as well as subscribe to someone's bookmarks via RSS and receive updates whenever they add new websites as well as sharing bookmarks with other schools. (Classroom 2.0, 2009) Social bookmarking is a mechanism for building learning communities by using tags to stay informed. (Using del.icio.us in Education, 2007) It's wonderful for teachers and students to collaborate in finding websites that correspond to instruction.

References

Brockenberry, J., 2009. Technology and literacy in urban schools. Retrieved from urbanliteracyanswers.blogspot.com

Grosseck, Gabriela, 2007. Using del.ici.us in education. Retrieved from www.scribd.com

Johnson, Doug, 2007. It's delightful it's del.icio.us. Retrieved from www.educationalworld.com

Utecht, J., Social bookmarking in education, 2009. Retrieved from wiki.classroom20.com

BP#9_Web 2.0 Commercial

BP#8_Gcast_Web 2.0 Tools

Image taken from gcast.com

GCAST is a web 2.0 tool that allows you to have your own podcast channel. You can use this tool to publish your podcast for free. With GCAST you can audio broadcast and easily record voice messages, mix music, and share it so others can hear. It is very simple to use, in fact you can create your podcast

using a telephone. To get started you have to establish an account and create a PIN for your phone number on the website. Once you have recorded your audio you can begin to work with them in Gcast’s playlist manager, where you can make changes and mix your music. You are also able to upload audio files from your computer. When you’re done with the recording you can direct people to your website or in emails by providing the link to your own Gcast podcast homepage. Gcast podcasts can be embedded into your blog and you can allow people to subscribe it in iTunes. You can paste your RSS feed in there. You can use a phone with an 800 number to record a podcast for a cost. This is a great way for teachers to use the student’s cell phone in the classroom by connecting it to learning. Students can be given a topic and call in to record their opinions in the podcast. Students can read their favorite books and record a podcast. Instructors can tests students who are studying foreign languages by having the students record a podcast to listen to their fluency. Gcast will store all your audio and automatically generate your podcast channel. Teachers and administrators can record a podcast to share classroom or school news. For students who easily forget their homework assignments, teachers can use a podcast to remind them. Those students who are audio learners would really benefit from teachers using podcasts to engage learners.

BP#7_Raylit_ Web 2.0 Tools

images uploaded from raylit.com

RAYLIT is another web 2.0 tool that is available for teachers and parents of 3 through 8 year olds. This site consists of educational games, video and activities for children. The lessons are interactive stories, and rhymes. It is one hour sessions that educate and entertain with characters that are funny and engaging. The curriculum in Raylit covers analytical skills, phonics, reading, writing, numbers, and science. They have characters that say they put fun in learning. When you type in your child’s name a character comes on and greets your child by name. The educational games are loaded by age and there are over 750 educational games and videos. In the introduction the character gives the child an interesting fact. In particular the character gave a fact about butterflies and how they use their feet to taste food. With each change of activity the character uses the child’s name to introduce the new activity. The site is very interactive and most students can navigate through the site by themselves. I did notice that when they showed videos, the captions under it was not age appropriate because no one was reading the captions to the pre-schoolers. Even with that, I think this site is a valuable resource for pre-school to primary school teachers and parents. With this web 2.0 children can work independently. I found that most of the material presented is age appropriate and I really like that once a child’s name is clicked the characters continually call their names. This makes this website more personable and for children in this age bracket it commands their attention. Raylit does teach and the characters explain concepts to the children. They ask questions in a game format to make sure the children have grasped the concept. One of the good things about Raylit is that it’s a free site and there are no ads. Parents can rest assure that their child will have an educational fun time using this site to prepare them for school.

BP#6_Eduslide_Eduslide_Web 2.0 Tools

image uploaded from eduslide.org

Eduslide is the web 2.0 tool that I want to discuss. Eduslide is a multimedia web 2.0 tool that allows anyone to create educational content and deliver it online. It is an online management system where you can create your own e-learning modules. Of course this is free of charge. This web 2.0 tool offer different ways of presenting information using wikis, chat, blogs, slides, and tests. Eduslide has over 70,000 software tutorials and hundreds of school education lessons that can be modified. With this web 2.0 tool you can create educational content. Eduslide is a great tool for those that want to teach online classes. When I first entered the site I thought it was mainly for the adult learner. But as I perused the site I noticed that instructors from elementary through the adult learner have utilized this site to develop e-learning lessons for their students. Many of the sites were password protected therefore their students were the only ones that could access the site. You can subscribe to courses or take them free. This site allows instructors to create lessons they want their students to learn and it even has a place for students to type in their notes from the lesson. Instructors can add students, look at reports, and structure their courses based upon content and age level. Not only can you create your own lessons but you can take courses that are already set up. You can make the coursework that you created public or you can keep it private by having it password protected just for your students. There are also video content in eduslide that you can use in your course content. The implication for teachers is that an instructor can use eduslide as a resource for their students for homework or even for those students that are not able to be in the classroom. It also is a wonderful resource for both students and teachers.

BP#5_ETC_Screenshot

BP#4_AR/CBL Screenshot

BP3_WGO_Screenshot

WGO Blog

BP#2_Anti-Teaching

The implication is that I believe that the educational system as we know it, is obsolete. It has been for a very long time. With the onset of NCLB we have a crisis of learning significance that has stifled the educational system’s progress towards a PLE. NCLB has been counterproductive to allowing the set up of PLE. With teachers teaching to the test it has taken not only the joy out of teaching but has caused what Michael Wesch calls “anti teaching.” I’ve observed that many students are turned off when it comes to school and they do not know and understand the purpose of school. Students creating personal learning environments is where we should be. Whereas in the past the students were fed information like babies are fed baby food. The only thing is that the educational system has not been allowed to grow up. But I believe education has to mature and allow students to become an intricate part of their learning environment. We must transition into that to make room for intrinsic motivation. In allowing students to participate in their own learning through PLEs, it will allow the multiple intelligences to come to be recognized because students will be free to experience brain based learning instead of schools targeting one type of learner. I was real excited to read how Michael Wesch used the virtual learning environment to engage his students in his anthropology class. Boy, I wish I had teachers like him during my undergraduate work. I believe it would have prepared me better as an educator. I am very excited about the coursework at Fullsail. I’m learning more how to engage students using web 2.0 tools and PLEs. Since PLE’s are suppose to allow students to be responsible for their own learning it is important for teachers to begin to make the transition from what Michael Wesch calls anti teaching to a personal learning environment. I look at technology as being a tool to assist both teachers and students to participate in the learning environment. I look at it as being an means to an end. I believe that one of the key components to 21^st century schools is for students to become participants in their own learning instead of spectators.

BP#1_Education Uses For Blogs

Before the FSO program I saw no use for blogs, especially in the classroom setting. I thought of blogs as just someone posting their opinion about a myriad of subjects and so I never gave a consideration of the educational uses for blogs. Boy, was I out of touch! The 3rd class of FSO program introduced me to how teachers can make blogs work for them to enhance student learning. I had to do a tutorial for our ning site on utilizing wikis and blogs and I really got an eye opener. I realized that yes indeed teachers can and should utilize blogs. I googled a few sites like edtechpost and slideshare and a few others on the subject of how blogs can be used in education. The authors of the sites gave some suggestions on how educators can use blogs to engage students. Blogs can be used as a group discussion tool. If a class is studying a particular current event, they can use a blog to discuss or comment on their opinion of that current event. Blogs can also be used to review books or stories that a class is reading. A teacher can use a blog to allow students to write what they've learned and how they can apply their learning. Students can use blogs to share stories with each other. Teachers can also create an ongoing portfolio of samples of student writing. Students can be given writing or video prompts so they can post their comments and reactions. Teachers and students can create online book clubs or create a collection of story starters. I believe I'm just scratching the surface in how educators can use blogs.