Sunday, July 10, 2011
My Professional Learning Network
Twitter: @ted4schools and @ensint
Youtube: a channel with tutorials and videos for students (in progress)
OCC: the online community within the IBO website
IB Biology wiki
Blogs: ted4schools and EnsinoInternacional.com
Facebook: The International School Teacher
Skype with other science teachers and educators
Delicious account (starting it up...)
Because I can quickly find what I am looking for, I currently feel it's more productive to actively seek out information rather than 'program' my PNL to deliver it for me. I tend to stay connected through the above means more as a way of being inspired my random thoughts/projects/ideas than expecting a topic I'm particularly interested in at the moment to appear.
Youtube: a channel with tutorials and videos for students (in progress)
OCC: the online community within the IBO website
IB Biology wiki
Blogs: ted4schools and EnsinoInternacional.com
Facebook: The International School Teacher
Skype with other science teachers and educators
Delicious account (starting it up...)
Because I can quickly find what I am looking for, I currently feel it's more productive to actively seek out information rather than 'program' my PNL to deliver it for me. I tend to stay connected through the above means more as a way of being inspired my random thoughts/projects/ideas than expecting a topic I'm particularly interested in at the moment to appear.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
iGoogle
This is a screenshot of my personal iGoogle start page. It has a travel photo of the day, the local weather forecast of my hometown, Belgrade and other cities which I might be visiting in the near future, as well as my Google Calendar and different newsfeeds (top center is my club's fan page).
I find that I don't use this page very often, as I am (almost) always on my email - which has sidebars showing my calendar - and for everything else, I look it up quite quickly.
For students, however, I can see the benefit of having this as a started page. Firstly, the customization aspect is important for teens to express their individuality. Secondly, it's an easy way to receive updates from both teachers and the 'outside world' in the same location. I find it would be particularly effective with the 1:1 program, as students wouldn't have to login to their accounts before seeing this - naturally, they would always be logged in.
GoogleMaps in the classroom
One project that I am contemplating is to have students plan a field trip to a particular location, anywhere in the world, and map the stops of the field trip on GoogleMaps. Here's how I envision it:
Say our students would like to go to Madrid. We would then find a partner school in Madrid who might, perhaps, be interested in coming to Belgrade. We would plan their field trip in Madrid, with things we'd like them to see for us, and we would return the favor in Belgrade. Students would then share what they saw on behalf of one another through skype or a video conference.
More realistically, students could map out a field trip - or a selection of field trips - and present to the administration the costs and educational benefits in order to propose that the field trip actually happen. This would evidently be an interdisciplinary effort, and not only a Science or Biology field trip.
Next school year, the seniors will also continue their investigations which take place in the Belgrade zoo. With the help of a GPS, I would like to link their reports to the accurate geographic location of the animals which they are talking about.
p.s.: GoogleEarth crashed as I tried to share my tour of Germany and it's nowhere to be found. So there, humanity has been spared.
Photo collage
This is a collage made with Picasa with pictures from my last trip to Brazil, in December 2010.
How to prepare students for mass-sharing.
If you visit 100 facebook pages about a certain topic, you'll find that in 90 of them there's a group of people offending each other for a comment that was made. I believe this proportion is even higher on Youtube videos.
Therefore, in my opinion, the most important aspect of educating a future (or current) 'mass-sharer' is that of tolerance, of respect for another's opinions and shortcomings, the ability to celebrate or recognize someone else's success or insightfulness (through something more than clicking the 'like' button). Sometimes, the anonymity of the web and the bi-dimensional nature of written text (where it is impossible sometimes to detect sarcasm or humor) causes people to be excessively aggressive and offensive, and somewhat less open to accept someone else's opinions.
If in person people often 'turn off' for someone trying to convince or explain a different point of view, having to read something attempting to convince you can be even more easily turned off. Often, online conversations (except perhaps when video is included) typically don't include asking for clarifications and readers act based on their first intepretation of what they read, which can be very dangerous.
Also, when having a conversation online with a friend you know in person, it is often possible to 'read' the non-verbal cues, or imagine and incorporate them into a virtual, textual conversation. When talking to someone you never met in person, or to 'youtubeuser1983', the text - often not written properly - and your own interpretation are the only things you have to go on. And that could be very dangerous.
Therefore, in my opinion, the most important aspect of educating a future (or current) 'mass-sharer' is that of tolerance, of respect for another's opinions and shortcomings, the ability to celebrate or recognize someone else's success or insightfulness (through something more than clicking the 'like' button). Sometimes, the anonymity of the web and the bi-dimensional nature of written text (where it is impossible sometimes to detect sarcasm or humor) causes people to be excessively aggressive and offensive, and somewhat less open to accept someone else's opinions.
If in person people often 'turn off' for someone trying to convince or explain a different point of view, having to read something attempting to convince you can be even more easily turned off. Often, online conversations (except perhaps when video is included) typically don't include asking for clarifications and readers act based on their first intepretation of what they read, which can be very dangerous.
Also, when having a conversation online with a friend you know in person, it is often possible to 'read' the non-verbal cues, or imagine and incorporate them into a virtual, textual conversation. When talking to someone you never met in person, or to 'youtubeuser1983', the text - often not written properly - and your own interpretation are the only things you have to go on. And that could be very dangerous.
How to find web resources for my classroom
I usually find resources for my classroom socially. There are wikis and forums related to the classes I teach (such as the OCC) which contain a lot of resources for the MYP/DP classroom. Due to the specifics of either program, most of the resources available online are not necessarily aligned with the expectations of my classroom. For this reason, I tend to get inspired by the work I find on the web, and then develop my own.
Delicious is also an interesting tool for finding specific materials, or materials that fit a particular set of criteria, as it occurs in the MYP, or curriculum expectations, as it occurs in the DP. Many IB and MYP teachers are also sharing their resources through Delicious, which makes it another valuable source of inspiration and classroom activities, one that I plan on using more often.
Delicious is also an interesting tool for finding specific materials, or materials that fit a particular set of criteria, as it occurs in the MYP, or curriculum expectations, as it occurs in the DP. Many IB and MYP teachers are also sharing their resources through Delicious, which makes it another valuable source of inspiration and classroom activities, one that I plan on using more often.
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