<Heavy sigh of relief.>  I was really worried that I wouldn’t finish everything before the kids came back.  The last few weeks before school starts got pretty busy, there, for a bit.  But, here we are.  And here’s the funniest thing:

About a week ago on my RSS feeds, I got an article, “11 Techy Things For Teachers to Try This Year,” on the Free Technology for Teachers page.  The challenge has been issued!  Actually, many of the things on this list we covered in this course.  There were two ideas, though, that I want to look at.  The first is using Google Earth to tell stories from history.  I’ve thought about using GE before, but never quite in this way.  The other is something I’ve never even heard of called “backchanneling,” which is using a forum or chat-room type setting where students are allowed to ask questions they were too shy to ask in class or post comments they wanted to say, but didn’t have time to.  So, I’ll probably do some exploring there.

The BIG goal for me this year is to get kids started making and editing their own videos.  So far, this seems to me to be one of the best ways to get kids really thinking about what they’ve learned.  When they have to state it in their own language, with their own visual imagery, that requires a great deal of thought.  It gets a child (and the adult teaching!) to delve into a topic that might seem simple on the surface, but has great depth once you start to really consider it.  It also teaches kids storyboarding, organization and writing skills . . . which is certainly not a wasted effort.

I see so much potential with this.  It’s a little daunting because I know it can get expensive, and I know that I still have a lot to learn on the subject.  It’s less daunting, though, when I feel that I’ve learned some skills that will help me find more training, and do a better job of sharing that knowledge with others.

Sooooo, are we gonna get another one next summer?  Are we?  Huh? 

Cym Lloyd, signing off . . . .

The first really great discovery here is that someone else has already started a project that I’d thought of and would like to do.  (Hooray!  One less thing I have to create!!!!)  I found it on Ning by exploring their Social Studies links.  The project is “The Way We Are Classroom Project,” which has students from all over the world interact and share information about their cultures and daily lives.  I’m a little concerned that the district won’t view this type of thing favorably, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

I believe Ning’s “closed social network” ability for classrooms has immense potential.  Right now, it appears to me that “The Way We Are Classroom Project” is functioning primarily via email.  Do what?!?!?!?!?  I can only begin to imagine how much learning would occur if kids could participate in a closed (hopefully safe) social network that allowed them to make friends all over the world, unlimited by having to have some “responsible other” pair them up with one or two others.  They could talk to kids anywhere.  They could and would become real to each other.  Their understanding of each other’s lives and cultures would grow exponentially.  That’s the kind of thing that really does have the potential to change the face of the world we live in for the better.

For the simple reason that school’s about to start, and I’m already snowed under, I’m going to cave and skip 21.  I’ll try to come back to it . . . 

It was easier than I thought it would be to adjust to using GoogleDocs.  It doesn’t quite have all the smells and bells of MS Office, but it’s pretty close. 

One of the neatest things I noticed is that if I make changes to the document, I don’t have to email everyone all over again.  When they access it, they’ll automatically get all that. 

I spent some time today talking with one of the ELA people on my campus about collaboration between history and ELA.  We wanted to see if we could offer some extra credit reading for kids in my class.  I’ve created the document, and I can now share it with the ELA teacher, who can edit/ add to it/ etc.  Then, I can post it on my school web page.

Other ideas . . . hmm.  I like the idea of kids being able to share their projects, essays, etc. with me without having to bring a flashdrive (or whatever) and plug it into my computer.  I really don’t like other people to access my computer with their files because it’s such an EXCELLENT way to get a virus.

Third idea:  I’m trying to think of a way I might be able to combine the Word function with the spreadsheet function to create an “add-on” grading rubric.   It could work . . .

The RSS feed has produced some answers to questions for me in the last week or so.  I’d wanted to see if I could figure out a way to create a test on my school web page.  That’s not hard.  Getting the data reported to me is.  So, I’m looking forward to playing around with some new survey tools I found from a “Free Technology for Teachers” feed called “Nine Survey Tools for Teachers and Students.” 

I also found “Smilebox,” a web-based scrapbooking site.  The possible classroom applications for this run along the same lines as “Glogster.”  Like “Picaboo,” though, you do have to be willing to download software on your computer, which doesn’t make “Smilebox” impossible at school, but a bit problematic. 

I’ve decided this is one of the most valuable tools for personal learning I’ve found.  It’s just bringing everything I tell it to look for right to me in one place.  Plus, it’s easy to skim through.  I got the comment the other day, “Where do you get all this stuff?”  It was neat to be able to share what I’ve learned with someone else.

 . . . proving once again that I CAN’T COUNT!!!!!    I probably spent more time on this than any of the others, because it’s something I have a real interest in pursuing.  I already knew I wanted to offer kids the opportunity to create their own, curriculum-related digital videos.  This just takes it a step farther–’casting it as well as making it.

As it turns out, it can get pretty complicated, even for a simple video.  I took home videos (pushing the “Easy Button”) and went in search of royalty free music.  Whoa!  It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.  You aren’t going to find many (any?) recognized titles outside of classical music.  There isn’t anything wrong with classical, but it didn’t suit the style of what I was putting together (a concept-development of “summer”).  So, how do you search for a piece of rock & roll that has something to do with “summer”?  Not a simple process.  Hours later I came across a site that offered a piece I liked for a licensing fee.  It was less than $20 for a public school teacher using it in teaching, so I went for it. 

On to editing . . . I used “Pinnacle,” which I like because it’s pretty simple and straightforward.  No problems there.  Here’s where everything started falling apart.  I had immense difficulty figuring out how to locate the feed code for my own blog (using a Google Blogger).  I don’t know if that’s just Blogger, or if I’m stoo-pid.  I did try to use the “Help” feature and Googled for more help.  I think everything out there is using a different software version than I have or something, because I never could get it to work.  Wonder:  since our school webpages already have that set up (I think), is that enough?  I’ll have to play with it.  At any rate, none of the blogs I run (I’m cheap–they’re all freebies) had enough space allotted to upload even a short video.

Anyway, about 8 hours and several missing clumps of hair later I finally decided to table it for the purposes of Thing 18.  I’ll come back to it and work on it over a longer period of time, so I don’t get frustrated with it.

Sooooo, I pulled out one of my all-time favorite books, Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott, and read a few pages out of it.  BTW, for anyone who’s wondering (after my diatribe in the Thing 19 post), this book is in the public domain.

My one idea is to have students create their own digital video, upload those (maybe one at a time so I don’t use up tons of ether-space) and VODcast them.  That may run into student privacy issues, but we’ll see.  One day at a time.

Only a couple of other people had posted their podcasts by the time I started writing this.  Why does everyone else’s stuff always sound/ look/ seem so much better than my own?  There’s a “Burning Question” for the next wiki . . . .  I really, really, really hate the sound of my own voice!

Video: livestrong. “How to Shoot a Recurve Bow,” YouTube, June 18, 2009. Accessed online July 29, 2010 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lxDctyx8lM.

Wow.  YouTube:  total, guilt-wracked fun, because it’s one massive, walking copyright violation after another.  I do love the ease of finding things like a how-to video for my latest hobby addiction (traditional recurve archery, in this case).  That one (happily) doesn’t seem to violate anything–completely original.  My absolute, all-time favorite (and the video that first introduced me to YouTube) is “Wizards in Winter Christmas Lights.”  If you’ve never seen it, go take a look.  The music is fabulous:  “Wizards in Winter” by Transiberian Orchestra, from the album “The Lost Christmas Eve” (c. 2004, Transiberian Orchestra and Lava recording label).  Someone spent untold hours and more money than I can even dream about creating a computerized Christmas light display on their house to this tune.  Yes, really!  Ya do have to kinda wonder, though, if the creator had permission to use the music.

And then, there are the ones who publish entire broadcast or film productions, either in one fell swoop–such as “When the Moors Ruled in Europe,” (c. 2008, BBC)–or in segments, such as “Russia: Land of the Tsars,” (c. 2003, A&E Home Video).  Both of these are topics I looked up, along with Michael Woods’s ”Story of India,” (c. 2007, PBS) for information on teaching world history. 

It might be argued that the “Wizard in Winter” person’s derivative work does more to interest people in Transiberian Orchestra’s music than to steal from them.  I doubt s/he intended to rip off TSO.  Totally and completely stealing an entire work and making it available to as many people as possible is a different story, and is sooooo wrong.  Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone had the moral strength of character to “just say no”?

I thought Teacher Tube would be better.  It wasn’t.  I searched for “Cold War,” and came up with “Cold War (Back in the USSR).”  Not only were photos used without so much as a crediting citation, but the Beatles’ song “Back in the USSR” (c. 1963, Lennon & McCartney, Parlophone recordings) is used almost in its entirety.  If it was licensed, there is no citation or annotation to that effect.  A classroom teacher made this video with students, and didn’t bother to teach them to cite sources, much less respect copyright laws.  Un-be-lievable. 

As far as using web video at school:  the idea of making a history “music video,” which is what “Back in the USSR” is intended to be, is pretty cool.  After trying to find my own royalty free music to do a vodcast video last Wednesday, though, I doubt I’ll get very far with it.  I searched for over an hour, and finally decided (since I plan to use the video in teaching) to pay the $19.95 to license a piece I found/ liked.  It was easier, and I’ll sleep better at night.  So for our history videos, we’ll have to leave it at that and maybe find some nice background muzak. 

I found some really good lesson plans on “Learning in Hand,” which was linked on our Thing 17 page as “iPods in Education.”  I like the idea of having my pre-AP class required to do a project that utilizes technology, and I found an option here in the “radio play” podcast plan.  I subscribed to “Environmental History Videocast.” It’s a bit above my students’ heads, but a few are great, and (if nothing else) provide good examples of what you can do with a VODcast for your project in my Pre-AP class.   

How incredible is the “Skip the Tuition” thing?!?!?  My family has accused me of being addicted to taking classes, which accusation I must admit bears some resemblance to truth.  I’m already listening to the Oxford U. Medieval English Lectures.  <sigh!>

I really want to specify use of VODcasting in what the kids do.  Apple Learning Interchange has some great examples of student ‘casting that are pretty inspirational.  What if . . . you could have a pre-AP class take turns through the year creating VODcasts for their colleagues in regular classes?  Hmmm.  Anyone out there have any thoughts on that one?

In general, I think Library Thing is a fine thing, if you’ll pardon the pun. I don’t know that I have the energy (or motivation) to enter my books in it, though, unless it were a book I had strong feelings about and wanted to write a review.   I don’t really care at all for the idea of sharing with all humanity everything I read.  That’s something I consider private, but that’s just a personal preference.

I found the “cataloging” process simple enough, although their tagging system is intially a bit clouded.  I cataloged about 5 books.  ISBN-13s are problematic with the Amazon search feature; LOC gave better results.  That may be because all my titles were e-books, and thus a little more obscure at this point in time.

I like the “Suggester” feature, but don’t find it too different from Amazon’s similar feature.  Which probably isn’t coincidental given that this dot-com site is linked into Amazon itself (hmmmm . .. ).

All in all, it’s a good idea, but I think I’ll hold off until I can think of a major use for it that pays off with respect to the effort involved in cataloging all that.

Update:  I’m thinking it might be fun to have some type of contest, where the kids read the book, enter it under their accounts, and create a review.  The student with the most reviews could win some type of prize or something.  The only problem with that is that I don’t teach ELA any more.

It’s a “Thing” kind of day at my house–catching up and spending waaaay too much time on this stuff! Delicious is interesting. I’ve not yet had time to let it all soak in and think of how the kids could use it, except as a self-directed learning tool (wonder if it’s blocked on our school site).

I spent a lot of time looking for those elusive world history topics that I need to work on: the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Era, Industrialization and the Cold War. I found some really good info. I think this is probably more effective than a custom RSS feed for finding things of this nature. The tags really help narrow things down (or broaden them, too, if needed).

I added a subscription, but it trashed up the page more than I wanted it to. It started to look more like my RSS feed. That’s fine, but the biggest problem I have with the RSS feed is that it just gets to be too much information, much of which I really don’t need/ want. I deleted it immediately. I didn’t have any trouble at all bundling tags, either–very clear and simple. I had lots of trouble adding people to my network. Maybe I just don’t know enough people? D’ya think?

I did go ahead and import some of my bookmarks. No big deal, really. The only problem I had was that the site didn’t give instructions for Internet Explorer 8, but it wasn’t hard to figure out using the IE7 directions.