Instructify

This article also appears on LEARN NC.

BY AARON FOWLES

The classroom walls have tumbled down. While students in traditional classrooms have been limited by the four walls of their room and the two covers of their textbook, 21st-century students have the opportunity to reach across oceans to learn from their peers on the opposite side of the world. Rather than reading about life in China from a dated social studies textbook, students can now discover firsthand the realities that face their global peers using information communication technology. This is a major shift.

When students broadcast their digital voice and place their digital footprint on foreign lands, they gain real-world experiences that have been previously inaccessible to them. All students, not just children from privileged families, now have the power to reach out through technology and create real, meaningful relationships with fellow global citizens.

Classrooms that aim to raise students to global consciousness can’t afford to miss out on international educational collaboration. Students interact with people their own age in a place they’ve never seen, and may have never even conceived of before. This can be especially meaningful for high-poverty areas, where students may never leave their own city — or their own neighborhood. International educational collaboration, powered by the internet, allows those students to get a view of the world in a fresh and inviting way.
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BY KEVIN HODGSON

Tom Barrett has turned collaboration and sharing among teachers into an art form, and the results of these collaborations is a series of Google Presentations that can provide valuable insight into a wealth of possible technology tools for the classroom.

Tom (whose blog at EDTE.CH is worth a visit or two) has been exploring the possibility of iPods, Wallwisher, pocket video cameras, Twitter, Google Earth, Prezi and more as potential learning opportunities for students.

The real power comes when he asks teachers with ideas and experience to add to his presentations through the collaborative nature of Google Presentations. The result is a list of ever-growing resources that tap into a wide range of topics and levels of entry with a wide array of teaching voices.

Tom Barrett’s Interesting Ways to…

• Get to Know Your New Class
• Ideas for Class Blog Posts
• Use a Learning Platform in the Classroom
• Support Spelling in the Classroom
• Teach Reading Comprehension in the Classroom
• Use Web Conferencing in the Classroom
• Make Your Classroom a Sparkly Place to Learn
• Use Audio in Your Classroom
• Use Wallwisher in the Classroom
• Support Writing in the Classroom
• Use an iPod Touch in the Classroom
• Nintendo Wii in the Classroom
• Use a Wiki in the Classroom
• Use a Visualizer in the Classroom
• Use Twitter in the Classroom
• Use Wordle in the Classroom
• Use Your Pocket Video Camera in the Classroom
• Use Google Docs in the Classroom
• Use Google Earth in the Classroom
• Use a Nintendo DS in the Classroom
• Use Search Engines in the Classroom
• Use Your Interactive Whiteboard in the Classroom
• Prezi in the Classroom
• Use Voicethread in the Classroom
• Use the iPad in the Classroom
• Use Google Search in the Classroom
• Use Google Maps in the Classroom

BY KEVIN HODGSON

If you can spare five minutes, you can learn all about technology and the classroom. This is the idea behind Mark Barnes’ Learn It In 5 website, and I have to say the site does what it says. I watched a short video tutorial about using Twitter in the classroom (others focus on using YouTube, podcasting, wikis and more) and found it to be useful, simple in its explanation. and a perfect entry point for curious teachers.

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BY REBECCAH HAINES

As most of you know very well, the day-to-day (not to mention hour-to-hour) tasks of a teacher can be hectic and time-consuming. In addition to actually teaching the warm little bodies in our classes, we have to grade papers, attend meetings, participate in school leadership committees, create bulletin boards, set up for labs, meet with students, plan future lessons, prepare for and administer tests…the list seems endless. As if that isn’t enough, we’re also faced with the critical task of communicating with parents about their students and the classroom in general. Thankfully, the internet has made this task a little less time-consuming for teachers and parents. This article will discuss the many tools that can help you design a website to keep parents in the loop.

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BY REBECCAH HAINES

This article is also posted on LEARN NC.

As educators, most of us are familiar with the dreaded School Improvement Plan (SIP). Every few years each school is required to create an extensive, detailed document that outlines its plan for constant improvement until the next document is due. In the interim, success on reaching goals is evaluated, documented, and sent off to the central office. As any teacher who’s been involved in this process can attest, creating this document can be extremely labor intensive.

My personal experience participating in our school’s last SIP committee was no different: Reams of data had to be collected and analyzed. Goals had to be pinpointed, voted upon, and revised. Success indicators had to be determined and recorded. It took our committee of eight or so teachers nearly the entire school year to prepare this document. Not only was the process labor intensive, it used a tremendous amount of paper. Drafts, revisions, and submissions to the staff required new copies each time.

Several years ago, there weren’t a lot of options for streamlining the SIP process. But the recent explosion of Web 2.0 tools, thankfully, offers schools many time-saving options. No longer does the process need to be so time consuming. By using the following collaborative tools, schools can go through the SIP process much more efficiently and collaboratively, and with much less paper. (more…)

If you’re a PBWiki user, you’ve probably gotten an email that the venerable and easy-to-use wiki app is changing its name. Why they’d want to do such a thing is beyond me — few things have as many positive connotations as peanut butter, in my opinion.

Nevertheless, changes they shall make. That means they have to dump all their old merch, such as PBWiki T-shirts. If you’d like one of these for free, all you have to do is guess PBWiki’s new name. Guess correctly — or even come up with a guess that’s interesting or clever — and you get a free shirt.

Maybe this is just a way to offload old duds, or a desperate attempt to crowdsource their new moniker. Whatever. The first thing I learned in college was to never pass up a free T-shirt. So send in your guesses, and enjoy the new addition to your wardrobe. -BILL FERRIS

Official Announcement – We’re changing our name! via The Daily Peanut (official PBwiki blog)

Related stuff:

Sticki Wiki: This Wiki Spreads as Easy as Peanut Butter

Wikipedia is just something we use and we know, so there’s no need to really know where it comes from. It is just internet magic. Okay, so you really must know more about Wikipedia? Are you ready for things to get really meta-abstract? Wikipedia has an entry on wikis, an About page for their site and a Wikipedia page for Wikipedia! Does your brain feel like Swiss cheese yet?

That’s probably too much info jamming you up right now. That was my point — I inflict some information overload, then while you’ve vulnerable to suggestion I hit you with the link I really want you to visit. Check out this tutorial from North Carolina State University Libraries. In under 6 minutes “Wikipedia: Beneath the Surface” offers up a great overview on this collaborative community.

What I found really engaging about this video was its focus on the discussion and history tabs. Many readers might just read the article on their subject, gather whatever info they want to know and they’re on their merry way. The discussion and history really help give the reader insight to the zeitgeist of an issue, such as how some people prefer modern pulsating nasal irrigation devices over traditional neti pots. Really. You might also explore issues like Wikiality, vandalism and misinformation.

Wikipedia has the dubious distinction of being the place students go when taking certain liberties for writing papers. The Wikipedia community can also be a place to help illustrate proper citation and research — irony completed. Your students might soon be on their way to reading between the lines in Wikipedia articles. -NICK YINGLING

Wikipedia: Beneath the Surface

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Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem on Wikipedia: A Template For Collaborative Student Research

Wikipedia: I’ll need a citation for that…

3 Challenges to Wiki Use in Instruction
Every teacher’s got a wiki these days. So what do you do with it in class? Integrating a piece of technology doesn’t lend itself to flying by the seat of one’s pants. THE Journal presents 3 Challenges to Wiki Use in Instruction, discussing what factors must be overcome to get the most out of wikis in education.

The World of 100
Imagine if the world were condensed into a village of 100 people. Now imagine if these villagers’ lifestyles were documented in the form of snazzy-looking charts. Toby Ng Design has created The World of 100, an illustration project in which demographic information such as population, literacy and air quality are depicted in striking graphic representations.

Learn 35+ Languages for Free in iTunes
LifeClever presents this list of free language courses available on iTunes. Good for your language students, or for anyone who’d like to converse in another language.

100 Free Online Lectures that Will Make You a Better Teacher
As a dedicated teacher, you’re always looking to improve professionally, right? A good tip at the right time can make a world of difference. This list of online videos will give you knowledge and ideas for getting even better at what you do. These videos deal with instructional suggestions, technology demos, and rules of the road for new teachers. -BILL FERRIS

Photo credit: One Good Bumblebee on Flickr.

Walden, and 99 other Free Online Books Every Student of Humanity Should Read
The Universities and Colleges blog presents this list of 100 classic works of literature in the public domain (that is to say, free). The books are available at Project Gutenberg, which has even more books, once you and your students get through these 100. Piece of cake, right?

100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn and Study Better
A lot of your students have iPods. You may have even confiscated a few. Use those gadgets for education with this list from the Online Education Database. You’ll find study guides, tutorials, podcasting tools and more.

The 15 Clearest Benefits of Gaming
We all knew gaming developed hand-eye coordination. It can also help students develop empathy, assist in dealing with post-traumatic stress, and spark their imaginations. Kris Graft of Edge Online provides a thorough listing of the upside of video games, but the author unfortunately neglects obvious benefits such as saving Princess Toadstool or PWNING your friends.

10 Best Practices for using wikis in education
You’ve spent hours putting together a wiki that you know will allow students to learn and produce lots of valuable content. You send them the link and…nothing happens. Don’t let your wiki go to waste. Technology Teacher has 10 tips on how to use wikis to engage your students.

Have you ever seen the words “embed” or “embed code” on a web site, and wondered what that meant? Embed refers to code that you can use to create a small version of a multimedia (visual and/or audio based) Web application on another Web page outside the service that it resides on.

For example, you can put (embed) a YouTube video on a blog or wiki page. But first, you have to face the code — don’t worry, it won’t be painful. First, copy the code. Services like You Tube, Slideshare, Flickr, and many others will usually have the embed code on the page for the video (see above for an example. If you see the video or slide show somewhere else, it might list a link to the embed code). Then copy the code.

Next figure out what you want to do with the code — in a blog post, a wiki (Wikispaces, Wet Paint, and PB Wiki all take embed code), or simple web page sites like Jottit.com? You will either look for an embed tool (usually, it looks like a TV set), or if it gives you the option of seeing “Code,” click on that. Paste the code where asked. In some cases (say, embedding You Tube video) you may just need to paste the page URL without all those pesky brackets.  You can also use this trick to add video to Google Earth place marks (just go to the properties page for a place mark, and add the You Tube embed code).

I hope this lets you see how EASY it is to add multimedia to your wikis, blog posts, and other places on the web. -ALICE MERCER

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How to register students for Web 2.0 tools without an email address

The Wikipedia discussion tab is where it’s at

What is RSS, and Where Can I Get Some for my Little Ones?

I’m sure you all know about Wikipedia, both the good and bad points . Add another feature to the “good” list: Simple English Wikipedia makes the venerable online encyclopedia perfect for young children or English language learners. It’s pretty much what it sounds like — all articles are written in simple English words and grammar, and the sentences are short for easier comprehension.

The only drawback I could find was that some of the articles on the Simple English Wikipedia aren’t as comprehensive as those on Wikipedia (for an example, compare Simple English’s take on George Washington Carver versus Wikipedia’s). The great thing about it, though, is that the more people find out about SEW, the more people will improve the articles. Simple English Wikipedia is a wonderful project that only needs a little time. The best results often come from the simplest ideas. -BILL FERRIS

Simple English Wikipedia

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Wikipedia: who, what, how, and so on

Google Knol: a new Wikipedia?

The Wikipedia discussion tab is where it’s at

Wikipedia: I’ll need a citation for that…

Pencils? Check.

Notebooks? Check.

Online word processor application? Check.

In addition to standbys like pens, pads, and the ever-popular Trapper Keeper, today’s learners need a new set of school supplies, too.  These tools enable students to take advantage of the new learning possibilities the Web has to offer, such as making research easier, or finding better, cheaper ways of doing what they’re already doing.

In that spirit, here’s my top 10 new-school school supplies (all of which, by the way, are completely free).

1. OpenOffice — Why pay a bunch of money to Microsoft when you can get top-quality, MS-compatible programs for free? The OpenOffice suite packs a word processor, spreadsheets, presentation software, graphics software, and a database program. The open-source OpenOffice can do pretty much anything Microsoft Office can do, except drain your bank account.
2. A Cell phone — Whether it’s for podcasting, conducting surveys, or staying organized, the cellular phone has a huge amount of educational potential for those who know how to use it.
3. Remember the Milk –Back in my day, I wrote inky scribbles on my palm to stay organized. Today’s kids have Remember the Milk, which can keep track of assignments, activities, chores, and all applicable due dates and priorities. It also has fewer smudges.
4. Diigo — Invaluable for research, Diigo lets students bookmark and annotate webpages so they won’t forget why they bookmarked a page in the first place. They can also read other folks’ notes or annotations for further insight. Like any good Web 2.0 tool, Diigo lets them share their bookmarks and annotations with friends, too.
5. BibMe — Once students have found some great sources on Diigo, how do they cite them? Nobody has the time or energy to leaf through their MLA style manual to find the proper citation format for a newspaper article or whatever. If your students can muster the effort to enter a title, author, or ISBN number, BibMe will do the hard part and churn out a citation pre-formatted for the bibliography. If only the entire research paper process was this simple.
6. Google Docs — Does many of the things OpenOffice does. Google Docs also adds a collaborative element, as multiple students will be able to edit a document, spreadsheet or presentation.
7. OpenDrive – No more excuses about hard drive crashes. OpenDrive offers 1GB of storage online. Students can sync it with files on their hard drive for backups, collaborate with friends on projects, or use it to store their ever-expanding music collection. And for the time being at least, it’s free.
8. VoiceThread — A slideshow with a soundtrack, VoiceThread lets students tell stories visually as well as textually. Easily upload video, audio, even record narration via their cell phone (I told you those things were handy), with any luck VoiceThread will replace PowerPoint.
9. Adobe Photoshop Express Beta — If you thought Microsoft Office was expensive, check out the price tag for Adobe Photoshop. Fortunately, Photoshop Express Beta performs most of the photo editing functions students will need without costing a cent. They don’t even have to download anything. Now that’s express!
10. PB Wiki — Wikis are great for class projects and to cross-reference other pieces of information. And PB Wiki makes setting up a wiki a breeze, even if you don’t know a wiki from a blog.

As with any top 10 list, I had to exclude other worthy applications. Now’s your chance to tout your favorites (or to tell me what a jerk I am) in the comments. -BILL FERRIS

UPDATE: Okay, so cell phones aren’t exactly free. However, your students probably own them already, and most of the educational uses for them won’t cost you anything to implement.

Photo credit: jgodsey on flickr

I discussed how Wikipedia is more of a work in (constant) progress, rather than a finished product. A big part of how that happens is the ongoing discussion that contributors have. There is a little magic tab at the top of each Wikipedia article that will take you into the discussions that give you a look at the “editorial” process at Wikipedia. Since everyone can contribute and edit, the editorial meetings are as open as the rest of the process. You can learn a lot about an article or subject by reading the discussions. Or at least take the measure of a particular contributor.Discussions are great to look at whenever you see flags on an article about tone, accuracy, or controversy, and offer insight into what’s going on. I have two favorite examples of this. The first is for the article on Jesse Jackson which needless to say has a lot of controversy and contention associated with it (in addition to vandalism). It’s interesting to see the discussion at this time (and it will change if you catch this article more than a month or so after it’s published) about Jesse Jackson’s remarks regarding Barack Obama. Last time I looked (a year ago) there was a lot of commentary around the PUSH years in Chicago, and vandalism. The great thing about the discussion tab is that with a controversial public figure, you can at least see the discussion and process of how things came to the current point they are at.Next, on more obscure topics, you can get some illumination or insight you might otherwise not get. I found this when looking at the Wikipedia page on the Hmong (which are a significant portion of my student population). The discussion page for Hmong had a very interesting discussion about the term “Miao.” This ethnic group had originally come out of China, into present day Laos/Vietnam, and now in refugee camps in Thailand, with some coming to the U.S., where the term is considered derogatory. Some contributors from China where contending that with changes following the revolution, it no longer had a stigmatized status in China proper. It showed the various layers in this ethnic group because of it’s long diaspora status. -ALICE MERCER

Carolyn Foote’s wonderful article on the Wikipedia discussion page

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Wikipedia: who, what, how, and so on

Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem on Wikipedia: A Template For Collaborative Student Research

Google Knol: a new Wikipedia?

Photo credit: zoe prinds-flash on flickr

If you haven’t heard, not only do some professors not want students to use Wikipedia for research papers, Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales, also thinks this is a bad idea.

Why? Well, here is the quote from Mr. Wales himself…

No, I don’t think people should cite it, and I don’t think people should cite Britannica, either — the error rate there isn’t very good. People shouldn’t be citing encyclopedias in the first place. Wikipedia and other encyclopedias should be solid enough to give good, solid background information to inform your studies for a deeper level. And really, it’s more reliable to read Wikipedia for background than to read random Web pages on the Internet.

But, there maybe some circumstances where you need to cite Wikipedia. Let’s look at some of them:

1. A report on Wikipedia, or how something is treated in Wikipeida.
2. If you require students to list entry level documents they read (like encyclopedias and other reference documents) to get to their other sources (Wikipedia can be a great source for further reading). Some teachers like to see the development of a student’s research by doing this.
3. In primary and middle school, it’s more common to allow students to use encyclopedias to some extent in their reports.

Jimmy Wales may not want you to cite Wikipedia, but that doesn’t stop them from making it easy with a built in citation generator. Just look in the left column under tool box and you’ll see “cite this page.” Click and it will give you loads of examples like this, for paracelsus, with choices for formats including APA, MLA, MHRA, Chicago (Turabian), CSE, Bluebook, AMA, and BibTeX. However, the citation generator does come with this caveat at the top:

IMPORTANT NOTE: Most educators and professionals do not consider it appropriate to use tertiary sources such as encyclopedias as a sole source for any information — citing an encyclopedia as an important reference in footnotes or bibliographies may result in censure or a failing grade. Wikipedia articles should be used for background information, as a reference for correct terminology and search terms, and as a starting point for further research.

As with any community-built reference, there is a possibility for error in Wikipedia’s content — please check your facts against multiple sources and read our disclaimers for more information.

You can’t say that they didn’t warn you, or make your life easier. Remember, use it with caution. -ALICE MERCER

Citing Wikipedia from Wikipedia

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Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem on Wikipedia: A Template For Collaborative Student Research

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If you are on a computer, and visiting a blog like Instructify, you probably already know something about Wikipedia. But what exactly do you know? You may think it’s like an encyclopedia, but not as accurate–”Hey, if my 10 year old nephew can add to it, how good can it be?”

Well, it depends on who you ask — for example, academics rate it higher than lay people, while scientists at Nature.com and the folks at Britannica differ on which resource is more accurate.

While Wikipedia is used like an encyclopedia, it has some fundamental differences. Encyclopedias have articles written and edited by experts. However, they have their own set of problems and inaccuracies (see here). When comparing the two, people often come in with the assumption that encyclopedias are “accurate.”

Wikipedia’s weakness is that any yahoo as well as any expert can edit it. What about when it works? Its strength is that it undergoes constant evolution and that can lead to more and better information, not just vandalism. Click on the picture above to see a timelapse video (sped up) of the first 24 hours of edits on the Wikipedia page on the July 7, 2005 London Train Bombings. People are adding more information, correcting information, and making it better. Think about that conceptually and the often static nature of encyclopedias, and you begin to wrap your brain around how it ends up being so useful and more up to date than other resources.

Big thanks to ars techica for the great articles on Wikipedia and, Mathew Needleman for the video. -ALICE MERCER

Experts rate Wikipedia’s accuracy higher than non-experts

Wikipedia founder: “don’t cite”

Britannica begs to differ on Wikipedia’s accuracy

Video timeline – Wikipedia: London Train Bombings

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Instructifeature: Five Tips to Improve Students’ Information Evaluation