End of the Ride

Well, my crash course in Web 2.0 is over, and I am still bleary eyed and sea sick from the ride. Blogs, Agrigators, Wikis, Podcasts and virtual social networks have resulted in a del.icio.us mess.
I used to think I was techno-savvy, but now I realize that the internet is growing exponetially and I had better check back in more often to keep up. Here's how my teaching practices have/will change:

I"ll continue to use my RSS feeds to keep me up to date on all the latest in science and technology. This will help me in general in my class, but also provide needed current events for my kid's projects.

I'll implement more video clips into my lessons, because that is just way more interesting than me. And easier than trying to model dynamic 3-D examples with my expo's on the white board.

I'll also try to have a video project where my kids shoot video.

Next semester I am going to do a bookblog where kids have to do a bookreport blog style. RSS feeds will make that much easier to grade.

For significant group assignments, I'm going to require a wiki to chronicle group participation and progress.

Shortcomings:
My own personal lack of understanding.
Shortage of equipment at school.
Lack of access at my student's homes.


I'll be sure to document my 'experiments' here, so check back often. Or rather, add me to your feeds and have it automatically tell you when updates are made so that you don't have to remember....

For Want of Wasted Time

I used to consider my 15 minute commute a perk, but I think I may want to revise my opinion. I have an iPod, and do subscribe to a few podcasts. But I had no idea how many options were out there! Right now I am listening to Science Magazine Podcast, September 21, 2007 about new data from Mars. Apparently they suspect underground caverns and caves caused by flowing water. They are discussing everything from the limits of the technology used to the ramifications of water on Mars. A few minutes ago I was learning more about String Theory and how Einstein may have been working towards that end before he died.
There is so much out there of value; I plan on using Nova's The Elegant Universe in my physics classroom tomorrow.
Now all I can say is I wish I had a longer commute!!

Super KWLs

Wikis sound like the ultimate KWL chart. Imagine a self guided unit in which plugged-in, motivated, capable students pick a topic, generate a list of what they know and what to know. The learning part comes in as they collaboratively correct and elaborate on what they know and answer their own questions. Many topics could even progress concurrently. As soon as I have a class full of these students, I'll get them started and then sit back and simply monitor.

In the mean time, I think wikis are great for group projects. So many of my kids are in different sports, extracurricular activities and have jobs that they have difficulty finding common time to work together. Next time I have a significant group project, I am going to provide and require that they use a wiki to communicate, document and develop their project. Anyone can work at any time and instantly know what the others have done/are doing.

I'm dizzy

I wish that all this work in techno land corresponded to calories burned in the real world. Creating accounts to blog, rss, podcast and the like is more work than I had expected, and I am begining to wish that I had used a common name and password for them all.

As I was looking as candidates for my RSS feed, I thought back to my astronomy class last year. I had them do an article review once a week on something related to space. Unfortunately, I had many students do the same article which was suspiciously the first one they would find on a google search. Having an RSS feed of articles pertaining to astronomy would shorten the amount of time they would spend researching and likely broaded the topics they researched. Of course, I am still limited by the necessity of all of my students having access.

Also I had a thought that via blogs and RSS feeds, we could read a book as a class and never discuss it during class time. If I have each student create a blog and post every chapter, then we could RSS feed all the posts by chapter to get a nice summary of what everyone thought. Then each student could react to the summary and so on and so forth. I think this is a great way to add some sustanance to AP and honors classes, without taking up instructional time.

My First

Well, they say that you always remember your first. I certainly will. For some reason my computer restarted mid-account-creation, and then I received all sorts of errors and complications. Hopefully it is all fixed now. Aside from technical drama, this foray into the bloggosphere is also steeped in irony. I have my students complete a project where they research some new science or technology and present it to the class. This last Thursday a student did an excellent presentation on social networking sites, such as facebook and myspace, blogs, podcasts and the like. Naturally the rest of the class wanted to know if I had any of these accounts. My response: Of course not! I am a respected teacher. There is a very clear line written in black sharpie marker between my teacher self and my every-other-roll self. When you introduce thoughts and feelings then shades of grey start to appear. I do (did?) not want to make myself so vulnerable. My classroom authority might start to change or even weaken.

Little did I know that my professional development assignment for this week would be to create a blog. I just can't wait for class tomorrow....