Video again!

Sorry about that. The video didn't load completely. So here it is. Thanks again!

Awakening to Possibilities!

Throughout this course I have learned alot. I knew I was behind in the understanding of technology available for teaching. I had no idea. I don't think anyone could know about all the stuff there is that could be used for teaching. My guiding principles haven't changed. I still believe that these things are tools for the teacher to use in helping students learn content. I heard a song on the radio on the way to school tonight that really mirrored my feelings on the digital aspect of my life. My computer at home is still dial up and most of my work has to be done at school where we have DSL. Not everyone likes country music (and I understand why) but bear with me....watch the video and listen to the words. By the way, they got some of the lyrics wrong. The last chorus is "I still like the sound of a shovel head on a gravel road". It has been a great class and has really been an awakening for me! Hope this works! -Wally
ok, that didn't work. Please see the video in my next blog above.

Virtual Professional Development

Attended a virtual classroom tonight. It was from the Web Class 2.0 Beginner Series entitled: RSS and making life easier. We talked about this in class and I definitely need to get it organized. Having the websites you want delivered to you. Makes viewing student blogs easier. I liked this better than prerecorded programs I have used like the Classrooms for the Future embedded learning series. The live atmosphere makes you feel like you are not alone. Unfortunately my microphone wasn't working.

Project!

I have read everyones ideas about using the things they learned from the Web Tools course in their classrooms. Really good ideas! It looks like a Wiki is a better choice than a class Blog. I would like to set something up like this for my Investigative Techniques class. My original idea was to choose a student "scribe" to record the activities for each days lesson. Because the class is project driven, I now believe that once a week would be enough. The responsibilty of the scribe would be to summarize what was done during that week. The idea is not new but the use of the wiki is. Here are the criteria for the scribe's report:
1.) Dates
2.) Newsy Item of the week. (Something humorous that happened)
3.) Class Summary: What was done for the week, assignments that were due.
4.) Homework

I would also like to post pictures of the students projects and eventually video. I need to check about confidentiality. I want to create links from the wiki to things like youtube videos that could help motivate students interest in the topics that we cover. I would like to have the students look up the videos and suggest some as ideas. I don't want them to be able to change anything without my permission/preview of material.
I would also like to post a course syllabus on the Wiki. These are my ideas! Now, I have to get to work!

Personal Learning Network

Some new folks to follow this week. They read about my comments on "Tuva" and gave me a good idea to look up a book about Richard Feynman called "Genius". Still adding more folks to my list. I am finding out that there just isn't enough time to do everything I want to!

Week #6

I am continuing to be amazed at what can be done with the computer. Adding audio to presentations and posting them on the internet. How cool is that! There are some good programs available on the internet to accomplish this task. Some are easier than others but will accomplish the same goal. "Jing" didn't work for me so I tried "Screen-o-matic". That worked and was easy! Still need to learn how to "embed" video into you tube and our class website. Have to start thinking about final progects now!

This Week

For my final project I would like to incorporate a blog for my invesitagative techniques class. I need to check out the "Trackstar" site and see if that could help. http://trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar. I need to get some more people to follow on twitter. I am getting some good info there.