Journal #8 : WIKI

What's a wiki? In 1995 Ward Cunningham wanted to construct a website that would allow people to collaborate ideas and information. He created what we know as a “wiki”. He coined the term wiki after the Hawaiian word wiki-wiki which means “quick”. This type of website allows any visitor to become a participant. Anyone can create or edit the actual site contents without any special technical knowledge or tools. All you need is a computer with an Internet connection. It is an on-going collaboration which purpose is the sharing of people’s ideas and knowledge. A well known and common example is Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia with millions of contributors and editors.

SIDE NOTE:

On March 15, 2007, wiki entered the online Oxford English Dictionary

Who uses wikis? Wikis are used on personal projects by trying to share things online, such as family information and photos, but also it’s very popular with educators in the K-12 community, as well as in college courses as we use here in EDUC 422. Educators are seeking further education in professional development workshops and communicate with their professional peers. It is easy to use and readily accessible for the classroom environment.

Pros and Cons? There are a few pros and cons that were talked about in the wiki world and on the discussion boards. Most of it was all positive feedback from the thread discussions. Some benefits with wikis are that they are engaging and creative, they encouraged critical thinking, promoted collaboration and contributed to a new type of learning in education.

Some cons in the wiki world are there are people who vandalize the site with misinformation and malicious statements. Fortunately they can be easily corrected and removed by serious and responsible wiki contributors. It also opens the door to privacy issues. Students need to protect their identities and be informed of the dangers of online predators.

Popular wiki creation sites for educators:

Wikispaces [www.wikispaces.com]
PBWiki [pbwiki.com]
Pikiwiki [pikiwiki.com]
Wikidot [http://www.wikidot.com]
Netcipia [netcipia.com] wiki + blog in one place
Zoho [zoho.com] full Office-like productivity suite + wiki

Journal #7-Mining For Gold

RSS (Real Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary) is a special type of computer coding that allows information to be tracked through the internet. It has two parts to it, the feeder and aggregator. The feed of the RSS uses a XML, which is another type of HTML. It contains certain information and reads special types of information that the uses is searching for. So once a person decides what information she wants, the computer can track it and send the information to the computer directly. An example of this useful technology is getting information regarding current events in San Diego. Subscribing to the appropriate RSS sites will get all the information needed to keep up with current events in San Diego and use it until not needed anymore. By unsubscribing to the RSS, the information stops. There are two types of RSS aggregators and feeds, one is the client side and the other is Internet hosted. The difference between the two readers is that the client-based uses the computer operating system such as Safari or Vista. The Internet-hosted aggregators are more functional because they can be accessed at any computer. The more popular Internet-hosted readers are Bloglines, iGoogle and Netvibes.

Questions:
1. Is RSS functional for the classroom?
*Yes, as mentioned in the article, the RSS can bring a wealth of knowledge in about a particular subject.
2. Is tagging RSS a necessity?
*Yes because the there are so many websites that bring information about the topic of desire but only a few may be needed for future reference and social bookmarking through Delicious will make it more simple to gain access to.

Bigenho, Chris (march2009). Mining for gold. Learning & Leading with Technology, 6, Retrieved march 2009, from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/200904/

Journal #6-Growing Your Personal Network

Personal Learning networks (PLNs) have been imperative to the advancement of out networking strategies. They have allowed a faster form of information giving and gathering and have made progress speed along at a rapid pace. Some of the “old school” PLNs were phones, emails, face-to-face meetings, letter writing, and facsimiles. The modernization of the informational age of technology creates a whole new way of communication with others outside of our physical reach.

The three main types of PLNs are useful in there specific ways and are categorized in the following:
1. Personally maintained synchronous connections: basically these are instantaneous networks such as Skype, iChat and uStream.
2. Personally and socially maintained semisynchronous connections: These programs are designed for networking with others but not in “real time”. Some programs include texting, GoogleDocs, and Twitter discussion boards.
3. Dynamically maintained asynchronous connections: This tool connects us with content sources such as Delicious. The RSS allows the computer to search for information and gather want you are looking for.

Questions:
1. Does the movement of technology make a difference in what quality of work we produce?
*Yes, it I think that it helps because we have instantaneous information at our fingertips and it prevents us from becoming distracted.
2. Is all this instant technologicalinformation distracting to the quality of work we produce.
*Yes….the curiosity of the mind prevents us to focus on the specific task and also there is always an ever changing form of technology that has to be taught and learned before perfection.

Warlick, David (march2009). Growing your personal network. Learning & Leading with Technology, 6, Retrieved march 2009, from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/200904/

Inspiration

This was a organization tool.

Sally's Powerpoint

Powerpoint geared for Middle School Social Studies. Used Mac Powerpoint Application.Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

id="__ss_1134628">Sally's Powerpoint

View more presentations from sally1968.

Journal: #5 Collaboration in a Web 2.0 Environment

by Glen Bull

The information that this author gives is important to collaboration via websites and online feed in the classroom. RSS which stands for, Really Simple Syndication is an important tool in Web 2.0 learning. IN the educational world, the possibilities that RSS offers are collaborative writing projects, blogs in which students can follow postings, group projects which involve shared images and resources, and tagging or teaching news and topics related to the assignment such as a social bookmarking network.

Since this article published in 2006 many updates and changes have occurred to simplify online collaboration. It is more widely used than the article states and students are using the same skills in the classroom as they are outside when networking with their peers. Face book, BlogSpot, my space have connected students in a social and personal way, but also have enable a new educational networking via cyberspace.

The Web 2.0 application is different than the 1.0 version, in that information comes to the user rather than the user searching for the web information. With 2.0 applications and data are stored on the Web, the cost is free to users seeking that particular information and incorporating RSS feeds are readily accessible. As Greg Bull states, a Web 2.0 desktop offers an excellent starting point for exploring the interactive capabilities of the Web environment. Access is easier to the user.

Questions:
#1 What is the importance of the RSS updated versions to 2.0?

It was important to give users the capability to access information and use that to benefit there education and networking within the online community.

#2 Do people really care about this new information, and why we have it? Or are they happy with being uniformed?

Just bring on the latest technology and who cares how it got here! I am sure that most people are happy that computer scientist and IT guys are concerned with advancement of technology to make our lives easier in cyberspace. A big thanks you to all of them!

Bull, Glen (April 2006). Collabortion in a Web 2.0 Environment. Learning & Leading with Technology, 33, Retrieved March 9, 2009 , from http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=April_No_7_&Template=/MembersOnly.cfm&ContentFileID=2642

Journal #4: Create, Collaborate, Communicate; Empowering Students With 21st Century Skills

by Chris Riedel

In this article the author stressed the importance of bringing students and educators into the 21st century by integrating technology into their everyday educational lives. This is apparent after knowing that in the United States education placed last in the IT rankings of various industries. Sadly, education ranked after coalmining, a job in its own right is important, but is not fundamental in shaping and educating the minds of our future leaders of society.

As education becomes more intertwined with the advances of technology and schools are able to form budgets in which technological tools are placed in the classroom, the need for teachers to be able to use those resources to their full potential. In today’s society, corporations are looking for employees who are, creative in problem solving, have critical and analytical thinking skills, and gather and evaluate information. So who is responsible for training and preparing our youth?

According to Howie DiBlasi, teachers are the stepping stones in this IT world and he has outlined the top 16 things that educators need to do and has some advice in how to make this happen.

1. Hug a Geek- Find an IT mentor
2. Create a Social Network-Use web based platforms such as Ning
3. Develop Problem Solving Skills-Integrated brainteasers or puzzles to help development
4. Start Collaborating-Google Docs is a perfect format for interacting on projects
5. Use project Based Learning-Use real world scenarios to teach traditional skills
6. Develop Information Processing Skills-Teach students how to validate information and understand the IT structure
7. Give Kids a Global Voice-Collaborate with classrooms outside of school using web features such as ePals
8. Discover RSS-Using information through IT
9. Improve Critical Thinking Skills- Many tools available, one is project based learning
10. Teach our Kids to Be Self-Directed- make kids feel invested in learning by creating interesting projects that they will see all the way through
11. Create, Collaborate, Communicate-School Blogs are a perfect avenue for all students to participate in
12. Discover Social Bookmarking- Delicious is a good resource for shared information
13. Use interactive Video Conferencing- IVC can connect classrooms via Skype
14. Integrate Web 2.0 Tools Into Every Aspect of the Curriculum-See DiBlasi’s website for helpful hints
15. Promote 1:1 Computing- With refurbished computers, it is easier to put it into the school budget
16. Staff Development Is Fundamental-Teacher resource training is key to making this IT change in the classroom

Questions:
#1 How often should teachers be educated in technology?

Teachers should be required every year to take a refresher course or an informational course that teaches skills needed in the classroom. If the teachers are not current with IT, it ultimately affects the students.

#2 With budget cuts, and limited spending within school districts, how can all classrooms be prepared for the technology of the 21st century?

Unfortunately it is up to the parents and teachers to be creative in finding ways to make sure that the students have the necessary technology to stay competitive with other districts that have the funding for technology. Using private businesses, large corporations or individual families may sponsor or fundraise to make the necessary monetary costs for computers.

Journal January 2009 32-33. 21 Feb 2009 .Riedel, Chris. "Create, Collaborate, Communicate: Empowering Students With 21st Century Skills." The