As I was reading over some testimonials for the screencapture tool Jing, I started to buy into the idea of using screencasts, not only to enrich and support classroom experiences, but to deliver lecture- type instruction.
By now, many of us have experienced what its like to teach the same thing several times a day, and the potential gamble that ensues when we could be less prepared at the beginning of the day, or tired later in the school day. Why not create a screencast with microphone recording of exactly what we want kids to see and hear? For math we could show exactly how a problem is worked... in science we could script a lecture and screen capture examples of the content from the web.
I'm not suggesting to completely replace significant interaction time, but these screen casts could be very useful in various ways: first of all, you could record them well in advance when you are planning the unit of instruction. Additionally, you could post them to a class website if you have one and therefore give students enriched content exposure or another assignment or extra credit.
Here is the website for the Jing software: http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html
Things I was missing out on Part 1: Diigo
When life is feeling crazy, you often don't take the time to utilize technology to its full potential. I recently did a little searching into the bookmarking site Diigo, and there are several features to this site that I was not fully utilizing. It's great to know what I've been missing out on, and its a reminder to me that there is usually more to such a tool than meets the eye. I like having the Diigo toolbar, because it provides quick options for marking and highlighting my research and saving it for later or for collaboration with other teachers and colleagues.
Here is a review of some features I didn't know about until recently:
1) You can "Send to Blog" something cool that you read or is relevant to a conversation with colleagues very easily. Therefore, your annotations from web browsing can be converted directly to blog posts! Pretty cool if you are trying to build up your blog (should have been me! :)
2) When you are really digging (no pun intended, wow that's a total JHeil moment :) into a web page, you can simply forward the entire page with your sticky notes and highlights to the person you are collaborating with, and they in turn can write their own comments under your sticky notes!
3) You can also forward multiple bookmarks with highlights and notes from a particular subject. This would have been helpful when we were making our ITU in the day cohort!
4) "Enhanced Linkrolls" ... you can make a collaborative platform on your blog or website where collaborators can simply place all of their findings and thoughts on a topic!
5) You can syndicate your tagroll, or list of bookmarks to another blog or website easily with an RSS, linkroll or "tagcloud"
To start working with Diigo, or take their own guided tour you can go to this link: (:
Here is a review of some features I didn't know about until recently:
1) You can "Send to Blog" something cool that you read or is relevant to a conversation with colleagues very easily. Therefore, your annotations from web browsing can be converted directly to blog posts! Pretty cool if you are trying to build up your blog (should have been me! :)
2) When you are really digging (no pun intended, wow that's a total JHeil moment :) into a web page, you can simply forward the entire page with your sticky notes and highlights to the person you are collaborating with, and they in turn can write their own comments under your sticky notes!
3) You can also forward multiple bookmarks with highlights and notes from a particular subject. This would have been helpful when we were making our ITU in the day cohort!
4) "Enhanced Linkrolls" ... you can make a collaborative platform on your blog or website where collaborators can simply place all of their findings and thoughts on a topic!
5) You can syndicate your tagroll, or list of bookmarks to another blog or website easily with an RSS, linkroll or "tagcloud"
To start working with Diigo, or take their own guided tour you can go to this link: (:
Digital Reflection for EDSS 530
No sound, but this is a tour of what I've been working with this semester!
DIGITAL REFLECTION: YouTube
DIGITAL REFLECTION: YouTube
ED Chat 5/13/12
I participated in another Ed Chat today, and I found it remarkable how excited some people can get when you show appreciation for their thoughts and contributions. I posted some links to Physical Education articles that were about using video and PE being good for brain development, and I also commented on some interesting posts related to assessment. I got instant thank-yous from the individuals who I had read and commented on, and the passion for education and their ability to advocate for their niche in education.
scoop IT! Curation
Here is a link to my ongoing curations, on Scoop It! related to teaching PE and Weight Training, and research that has assisted me: http://www.scoop.it/t/weight-training/curate
ECHS iPad reflection... continued
Once we entered the geometry classroom with iPads, I noticed that the room was set up a little atypically. There were desks that a pair of students could sit at, and the on-screen projection was the working process of a student in the third row, who was using EverNote to help get through a practice test. But the feeling of the room is what seemed most significant: it was very relaxed. Students were all working on the practice tests, and I learned that this is a regular process of randomized questions that students can take as many times as they need to. In fact, in Dr. Nank's geometry class sutdents can take ANY of the tests as much as they want till they get the score they want.
Students in that class have decreased D/F rates significantly since they implemented iPads (at the beginning of this school year). D/F rates for geometry are 85% lower in that class compared to the rest of the school (only about 3 total students in 3 classes of about 40 kids). But still, the fact that seem very meaningful to me is that students were very busy working on the tests and seemed very content to continue doing more practice. This is a comfortable learning environment were students are happy to have the iPads to work with. I asked about 8 different kids that day what their favorite class was, and each one said "geometry."
This seems like an example of students taking charge of their own learning process. They have freedom. Yes, there are even games on the iPads, but the reason kids are all excelling has to do with them becoming responsible, and to do that they have to have freedom to choose. I don't mind sounding a bit cliche or simple here, but I feel that the classrooms with iPads are "keeping it real." You see, the world that these young adults live in is full of phones, games, and they would hope...iPads. Since technology is such a part of their world, it would seem beneficial for them to acquire academic knowledge and skills while using it. My perspective remains unchanged, that technology does this very thing for students: It helps them explore and connect with content at their own pace and it simply makes learning more fun.
Students in that class have decreased D/F rates significantly since they implemented iPads (at the beginning of this school year). D/F rates for geometry are 85% lower in that class compared to the rest of the school (only about 3 total students in 3 classes of about 40 kids). But still, the fact that seem very meaningful to me is that students were very busy working on the tests and seemed very content to continue doing more practice. This is a comfortable learning environment were students are happy to have the iPads to work with. I asked about 8 different kids that day what their favorite class was, and each one said "geometry."
This seems like an example of students taking charge of their own learning process. They have freedom. Yes, there are even games on the iPads, but the reason kids are all excelling has to do with them becoming responsible, and to do that they have to have freedom to choose. I don't mind sounding a bit cliche or simple here, but I feel that the classrooms with iPads are "keeping it real." You see, the world that these young adults live in is full of phones, games, and they would hope...iPads. Since technology is such a part of their world, it would seem beneficial for them to acquire academic knowledge and skills while using it. My perspective remains unchanged, that technology does this very thing for students: It helps them explore and connect with content at their own pace and it simply makes learning more fun.
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Head for the great outdoors!
