WOW! I don’t even know where to begin! I was fortunate enough to participate in Will Richardson’s pre-conference workshop “Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasting”. WOW! I’m still dumbstruck.
Will did a fantastic job explaining many of the new web2.0 tools, but how do you hold your presentation to 6 hours with soooo much to cover? There was a tremendous amount of information to cover and sometimes you just have to give your audience a “taste”.
Even though I feel halfway proficient with blogs and wikis, Will taught me a lot. We even had the opportunity to discuss Gmail and how to make folders. Just think, I’ve been fussing about not being able to file my emails and there all along was the solution right under my nose.
Well, enough of my rambling, here are my notes from Will’s workshop. By the way, I took all my conference notes using Google documents. I was sharing them with my friends Kim and Jan. Neat tool! Kim took some great notes, too. Take a look at her notes and her blog, Swimming in the River.
NCAETC
Will Richardson’s Pre-Conference Workshop
“Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts”
Wiki with information posted
Kim’s Notebook:
Will’s Wiki
“It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.” Will Richardson
“It’s not just about technology, but it is about communication” W. R.
BLOGS
Benefits:
- motivation
- writing skills
- reading skills
- collaboration
- network building
- community building
Will’s list of blogs he recommends
Blogging the verb:
- not diary or journal in classic sense
- reading, synthesis, writing, reading some more
Everything is miscellaneous
Small Pieces Loosely Joined David Weinbernner
Principal Blog
New teacher cohort at Fischbowl
monitoring versus moderating:
- teach the difference between safe and unsafe use of Internet
Blogging Policies from Arapahoe High School
AHS BLOGGING POLICY
This is a set of general guidelines for the use of weblogs (“blogs”) at Arapahoe High School. Blogs are considered an extension of the classroom and therefore are subject to these guidelines as well as the rules and regulations of Arapahoe High School and Littleton Public Schools. The use of school computers is limited to assigned schoolwork; personal blogs that do not pertain to classwork at Arapahoe High School should not be accessed from school computers. These guidelines are not meant to be exhaustive and do not cover every contingency. If you are ever in doubt about the appropriateness of an item – ask a parent or teacher.
Safe and Responsible Blogging
The most basic guideline to remember when blogging is that the blog is an extension of your classroom. You should not write anything on a blog that you would not say or write in your classroom. Use common sense, but if you are ever in doubt ask a teacher or parent whether or not what you are considering posting is appropriate. If you are going to err, err on the safe side. Here are some specific items to consider:
- The use of blogs is considered an extension of your classroom. Therefore, any speech that is considered inappropriate in the classroom is inappropriate on a blog. This includes, but is not limited to, profanity; racist, sexist or discriminatory remarks; personal attacks.
- Blogs are used primarily as learning tools, either as extensions of conversations and thinking outside of regular class time, or as the basis for beginning new classroom discussions. Either way, be sure to follow all rules and suggestions that are offered by your teachers regarding appropriate posting in your class.
- Blogs are about ideas – therefore, agree or disagree with the idea, not the person. Freedom of speech does not give you the right to be uncivil. Use constructive criticism and use evidence to support your position. Read others’ posts carefully – often in the heat of the moment you may think that a person is saying one thing, when really they are not.
- Try not to generalize. Sentences that start with words like “All” (e.g., “All teachers,” “All administrators,” “All liberals,” “All conservatives”) are typically going to be too general.
- Blogs are public. Whatever you post on a blog can be read by anyone and everyone on the Internet. Even if you delete a post or comment, it has often already been archived elsewhere on the web. Do not post anything that you wouldn’t want your parents, your best friend, your worst enemy, or a future employer to read.
- Blog safely. NEVER post personal information on the web (including, but not limited to, last names, personal details including address or phone numbers, or photographs). (Note: The advice to not use your last name is for your protection. Teachers may choose to use their last names for their posts/comments.) Do not, under any circumstances, agree to meet someone you have met over the Internet.
- Because your login to the blogging site (e.g., Blogger) is typically linked to your profile, any personal blog you create in class is directly linked to your class blog and must follow these blogging guidelines. In addition to following the information above about not sharing too much personal information (in your profile or in any posts/comments you make), you need to realize that anywhere you use that login links back to your class blog. Therefore, anywhere that you use that login (posting to a separate personal blog, commenting on someone else’s blog, etc.), you need to treat the same as a school blog and follow these guidelines. You should also monitor any comments you receive on your personal blog and – if they are inappropriate – delete them. If you would like to post or comment somewhere and not follow these guidelines, you need to create a separate login to the blogging site so that it does not connect back to your class blog. You may not use that login from school computers. We would still recommend you follow the portion of these guidelines that address your personal safety (e.g., not posting personal information, etc.)
- Linking to web sites from your blog or blog comments in support of your argument is an excellent idea. But never link to something without reading the entire article to make sure it is appropriate for a school setting.
- Use of quotations in a blog is acceptable. Make sure that you follow the proper formatting and cite the source of the quote.
- Pictures may be inserted into a blog. Make sure that the image is appropriate for use in a school document and copyright laws are followed. Do not post any images that can identify yourself or others.
Successful Bloggers
The following are some traits of successful bloggers:
- Their posts (or comments) are well written. This includes not only good content, but – because these are school-related blogs – also follows writing conventions including spelling, grammar and punctuation.
- Their posts (or comments) are responsive. They respond to other people’s ideas – whether it is a post by a teacher, a comment by a student, or an idea elsewhere on the Internet. The power of blogs is in their connectedness – they are connected to a larger community of ideas. Participate in that community.
- Their posts (or comments) include textual references to support their opinions. Adding quotes or links to other works strengthens their response.
- They participate frequently. To be part of the dialogue, you have to participate fully and consistently.
- They are respectful of others. It’s okay to disagree; it’s not okay to be disagreeable. Be respectful of others and their opinions, and be civil when you disagree.
Sample
Here is a sample* of what appropriate blogging looks like. (*This is actual work taken from an AHS classroom blog, with typos corrected.)
Drawing Electricity from the Sky
Examine Benjamin West’s painting, Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky (1805). You may access this painting via the following link: http://www.frankelec.com/west_fullsize.htm. You can also find the painting on page 87 of your yellow American Literature book. After spending a few moments with the painting, please respond to one or more of the following questions:
- What do you think the artist is trying to achieve in this painting? Consider the sometimes clashing roles of science and religion and how they function in this painting.
- What are your reactions to this painting?
- What do you think Benjamin Franklin thought of this portrait of himself?
posted by Kristin | 9:17 AM
20 Comments:
Robin said…
1) The artist behind “Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky” wanted to juxtapose religion and science in a similar environment. However, he was probably looking for more similarities than differences. That is, science and religion have always been thought of as mutually exclusive, but Benjamin West brought them together to show that they cannot exist without each other. Benjamin Franklin is depicted as drawing science (electricity) from the heavens (God). The two are intertwined, for science seeks to explain the ways of the universe as designed by a creator, and the creator uses the natural laws of science to govern his kingdom.
12:33 PM
Robin said…
2) I really like the way Benjamin West brought science and religion together into a mutual package/relationship. It calls for more harmony and balance in society, instead of the polarized world we live in today.
12:35 PM
Robin said…
3) Initially, Franklin may have resented the connection between himself and religion; being a dissenting agnostic himself. However, Franklin, who holds himself in high regard, would appreciate the intonation that he serves as a transitive between science and religion for all people. He also knew that religious people would hold him in higher regard if he was portrayed not as blasphemer, but as a servant of God seeking to know the ways of the heavens.
12:40 PM
JocelynH said…
In the painting of Benjamin Franklin, he looks like he is trying to figure out what electricity is conducted from, in this case the metal key, and how it relates to science. In the background, there are children that look like something that Michelangelo would draw on the ceiling in which it represents the heavens from above. He looks like he is showing that there is a greater connection to science and to religion than there is or there should be a bigger connection.
In this painting, my first reaction was that I just saw Benjamin Franklin holding the key and thought back to what I had learned in elementary school. We all learned some time in our life that Mr. Franklin was the one who discovered that metal had a connection some how to lightning and that’s how electricity was conducted, but what we didn’t realize is its connection to religion. After analyzing the painting at a closer look, I saw the children in the background and it simply symbolized that religion was somehow related to his religion.
After Benjamin Franklin saw the portrait of himself, I think he probably would have liked it and it proved to people the connection with science and religion at a greater glance. He might’ve also had a strong reaction to what it shows and how “crazy” he is to try and conduct electricity with lightning weather.
12:56 PM
Elizabeth B. said…
1) I think that the artist is trying to show that he believes that science and religion should mix because even though they are very different, they coexist with each other. Religion cannot be 100% proven, but Science is all about facts and concepts that can be proven. Usually religion does not agree with science such as people evolving from apes not the seven days view that come religions have. Maybe the artist is trying to show that the two help explain each other and that they need each other to coexist for man to be able to explain the unknown.
1:32 PM
JeffN said…
1) Generally, science and religion have a very difficult time coexisting with one another. Take the idea of evolution and creationism. Only evolution can be taught in schools due to not only the Constitution of the United States but also because of their contrasting ideas. The picture, however, depicts the idea of the invention of electricity having something to do with the religion that Ben Franklin followed. This painting could potentially be saying that even though there is a separation of church and state and that even though the ideas of religion and science are on two entirely different ends of the spectrum, there is a possibility that the two do have something in common, share a common bond that could potentially affect life in the future.
4:12 PM
From Miguel Guhlin‘s Blog “Around the Corner”
VOX.com
Will’s Vox
Cool new blog
WIKIS
Free wikispaces for Teachers:
wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers100k
Will’s Wiki
George Siemens
Wikis are a presentation tool, not a discussion. Blogs are more of a discussion tool.
RSS Feeds
Will’s RSS guide
You subscribe to news (blogs, wikis, newspapers, etc..) and the information comes to you instead of you having to go to the site.
Google Reader and Newsgator are good aggregators
news.google.com search for news articles that you can subscribe to the feed
Pageflakes
Social Bookmarking
Delicious
Youtube
feed://www.youtube.com/rss/tag/Kentucky.rss
will bring in information about Kentucky
Photos
Flickr
Podcasting
Bob Sprankle
iPod, iRiver, Microphone on computer
iTunes to listen to podcasts
iMac: Garage Band
PC: Audacity
- use <–> to mix the music and audio
- download LAME as an encoder
- export as Mp3
- name & save to desktop
Podomatic
- get your own podcast blog
- you can automatically subscribe to iTunes
Vodcasting
- directly onto youtube and upload
- use embed to upload to blog or wiki
- use MovieMaker to create once you have it on the computer
- get democracy to rip videos from youtube so they can be seen at school
Screen Capture
- Windows Media Encoder
- Go to Smartboard recorder to record screen capture
- upload to youtube from there
- watch the machine is us on youtube
- record for tutorials
- Camtasia
Flickr
