Can't wait to read this section as it builds. I've learned so much from Steve Dembo and everyone else regarding Web 2.0. The DEN itself embraces Web 2.0 in wonderful ways. The opportunity to learn from each other from various areas of the country and the world is an incredible resource for us as educators. I look forward to learning from all of you.
Steve,
I am having confusion trying to find where to read the individual blogs that STAR Den write. How does anyone find the one I write???
I have not been able to search effectively either yet on the new board. However, I have found a way to find people that you know. If you know their username that they use here at the DEN:
http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/ then type the person's username. For example my blog would be located at http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/neene. since I can see your username here from the forums I know I can find you at http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/phawkenson
But I agree we need a better way to search directly in the future. As I type this, I have an idea. I am going to start a page on the New York blog to link to everyone's personal STAR Blog who would like to make theirs listed. Thanks for sparking the idea.
I'm getting extremely frustrated because I wanted to use blogs and wikis with my students. Unfortunately the district blocks them. I have one set up to communicate with the teachers in the school (I'm a library media specialist). The district has unblocked it, but I can only add things at home, since the district won't unblock the site that allows me to work on it in the school. I wanted to collaborate with another lms in the district and have our students work on a research project together online, but there are so many obsticles that it probably won't happen. Instead of teaching the kids to use these resources properly, we aren't allowed to access them. I really want to prepare our kids with the skills they need, but there are too many roadblocks. What are other districts doing?
I became frustrated for the same reason. In fact I wanted to ask a similar question myself to other DEN members. I have found myself spending countless hours trying to find loop holes in the system to allow my students to have access to things they will have access to in the future so that I can give them the proper education that they need. In my school I proposed buying an xserve with the new leopard server software. The server has podcasting and wiki capabilities. Being that the school bought it we can control what is blocked and what is not. Now as a school our staff can create wikis, podcasts, blogs, etc. Most of the staff is uneducated about web 2.0 so it is difficult to get them started but I am hoping that we will have some inservice days where I can share my knowledge to help get us and my students up to date in the realm of web services.
I would agree that a lot of teachers don't know about web 2.0. I know some media specialists that are very interested in having students involved in meaningful blogging. One resource that they have been comfortable using (at the middle school level) is a free service called Class Blogmeister which is available at: http://classblogmeister.com/
We have experienced similar frustrations in my district as well. I don't understand why PBwiki is blocked - it is designed for education! Delicious is blocked as well as are blogs etc.
I'm interested in finding solutions. I believe that xserve is for MACs is that correct? I wonder what there is similar for PCs?
The xserve is an Apple product but designed for any platform. It has built in rss so you can podcast as well as a blog. You can setup accounts for teachers, students, etc. You can even setup wikis for anyone. If you keep and run it in your school you can do any of the things you would want to do on the sites you mentioned.
I would talk to your district about set up a Moodle server in your district. Everytng the you mentioned above blogs, wikis are available through the server. The software itself has a chat room, discussion fourms, and many other worthwhile options. The great thing is the server is secured because its the districts and everything I mentioned above could be monitored or achived in the event of misuse by a student. In my district I have my class and the students log in using their school user name and password for the server. Once they logged into Moodle I simply put them in my class and created these items. I even went as far as to create groups so that they could only chat for example with people who were working on their project! This has been a saving grace to teachers who want students to collaborate in using these tools. Good luck!
I would talk to your district about set up a Moodle server in your district. Everytng the you mentioned above blogs, wikis are available through the server. The software itself has a chat room, discussion fourms, and many other worthwhile options. The great thing is the server is secured because its the districts and everything I mentioned above could be monitored or achived in the event of misuse by a student. In my district I have my class and the students log in using their school user name and password for the server. Once they logged into Moodle I simply put them in my class and created these items. I even went as far as to create groups so that they could only chat for example with people who were working on their project! This has been a saving grace to teachers who want students to collaborate in using these tools. Good luck!
I struggled with the problem of students forgetting to bring their scripts to my video class. All too often I heard students complaining that they could not start shooting their video because the one absent kid was the one they entrusted with the script.
This was before Google Docs. Now, all my students register on Google. Teammates add each other to their doc and collaborate on one script. They also include me. I can check the history to see who added what to the final draft. There are time when I have peeked at the doc late at night only to find two kids writting.
I no longer hear that someone forgot the script.
Another Web 2.0 tool that has made its way into my video classroom is Social Bookmarking. Using Firefox, I can quickly post a link to our Del.icio.us page for my students. Sometimes, I ask my students to access the page to read an article posted on the day's subject.
My favorite part is how easy it is to link my bookmarks to our classroom blog. Everytime I post something new, it shows up on the blog. Here are both pages for you to see:
http://del.icio.us/onairedhews
http://www.kwalitylearning.com/wordpress/
As a member of this DEN and a member of Classroom 2.0, I see how things can assist one another in developing collaboritive projects. I have created a group for just Discovery Education users. I have had success in sharing thoughts about what everyone would like to experience in a conference or training sessions. There have also been other classroom 2.0 members that have inquired about a variety of Discovery Education applications. So I see it being a way to spread the word about the great benefits of the products we all love here in the DEN. I even see Teacher Tube being another great area to promote Discovery and its education benefits. So, come join in the fun of http://classroom20.ning.com and I will see you in the Discovery Education group!
P.S. Checkout www.voicethread.com I can see it being another avenue to spread Discovery.
Does anyone use class blogmeister in their classroom? I set up blogs for my students, but when we tried to access them, the site moved so slow that most students never got a chance to log in.
Was it just a bad day or is this a common problem? Should I try another blogging site?
Thanks!
I have a class using it without any problems at all. Our school Division purchased a domain name through Edublogs as well for teachers who wanted blogs. I've not tried ePals, but I've heard good things...
I have been using classblogmeister more and more and haven't had any slow down problems. They do stagger getting into the program though because I have to stagger them signing in to the computers or there is a slow down.
Try epals.com. They now have a new feature "School Blog". It's free and web-based. Might be a starting point to get your district to considering opening up a particular blog if it is secure.
I think this would be the right place to ask - - I've spent some time focusing on Google tools but is anyone using Sakai? I'm going to take a closer look but I was wondering if anyone could shed some light or experiences.
Ronique
My literacy Specialist and I are going to start working on some collaborative creative writing projects using online word processors this semester. Because of this, I've been researching different options. I've looked at Sakai before, but I find Google Docs more user friendly. The Google Docs website is much more attractive (less junk), and I find it more intuitive to navigate. If you want teachers and kids to use it, I would say "Less is More."
I am searching for information about using video webcasting in my class. I am currently planning a unit for next year and would like to possibly take my class on a field trip to interview a scientist and broadcast the visit & interview to my school for another grade level to view.
Does anyone have any info on what software/technical capabilities I need to have? I know it's possible what I'm searching for I need to do to make it work.
Any help will be appreciated!
Thanks,
Eileen
I am searching for information about using video webcasting in my class. I am currently planning a unit for next year and would like to possibly take my class on a field trip to interview a scientist and broadcast the visit & interview to my school for another grade level to view.
Does anyone have any info on what software/technical capabilities I need to have? I know it's possible but I'm searching for what I need to do to make it work.
Any help will be appreciated!
Thanks,
Eileen
You will need a digital video camera, ex. Mini-DV Camera, that will allow you to upload your information to the computer. Once uploaded to the computer, you can then use the software that come with the camera, or other video editing software, to make the content accessable in an internet friendly format. Most of the cameras come with this software, and are fairly easy to use.
Hope that helps.
Blogs, wikis, and podcasts, oh my! This forum is for discussing the newest of the new, and of course your old favorites. Whether you're here to ask for help, or to share how your school uses Web 2.0, you'll find others interested in skating along the cutting edge with you here.