Thing 20 -- Online Audio & Video

Why Multimedia? 

Our world has become incredibly media-rich. Kids grow up on a 2 minute news cycle in which everything passes by in flashy audio & video. While there is great value in books and static images, the inclusion of audio and video instantly brings any subject to life. It's also comfortable and familiar. Kids are accustomed to processing audio and video. Incorporating audio & video resources is a great way to instantly apply UDL principals as well,

Just having music playing in the background is a great classroom management tool. When I taught high school, I always played music during 'student' time. I rarely had to even have to ask them to be quiet, as soon as I paused the track, they stopped and looked at me, knowing I had something to say.  Now in PD sessions, I play music at the beginning, it fills the emptiness of the room and creates a more relaxed atmosphere. I've even noticed when I don't have music playing there is much less social interaction between attendees.

I use video to provide examples and background knowledge or to get my students thinking. Video clips can encapsulate ideas in an engaging summary. I use video clips to quickly get all my students on the same page and set the theme for the course.

Which Resource?

I'm very excited to have explored Learn 360 for this module. This is a video subscription service available in my district and I've recently been asked to provide training and consulting on classroom integration. Learn 360 gives teachers access to audio and video files of all types. Both clips and full-length videos, audiobooks, speeches, music, images and more. All files are downloadable and can be integrated into already existing lessons such as Powerpoint, Inspiration and others software programs. There's even an easy Moodle integration plug-in.

Many of the resources also come with pre-made worksheets, or have teacher-created resources attache to them. Or you can create your own and attach those to the Learn 360 site, sharing with ALL Learn 360 users. You can search by grade, content area, state standard, media type or keyword.

Learn 360 is much more than just an resource site with integrated sharing and collaboration. Save your results to a playlist, create a quiz, blog and more.

Audio  or Video?

Of course, each media type has its strengths and weaknesses but in the end I think they're fairly equal. Like anything else, you need to have a balance in your classroom.

Video is fun, but when it's video after video day in and day out, kids will lose interest. And each has something different to offer. In video, images contribute heavily to the meaning as do our own opinions when we see people. 

Audio alone gives kids more to work with cognitively. They can listen to something and then interpret it for tone or create their own visual representation.

Thing 17.1 -- PLN

 

A great resource for Michigan teachers. The platform provides a space to keep track of professional development, store certification information and even build a learning plan to keep you on track for re-certification or personal learning goals. You can also build your learning community by joining a collaboration space or following a blog. 

However, Learnport, like many online resources, can be a bit daunting. There is SO much available it takes quite a bit of time to learn and explore. I’m afraid without proper support, either by administration or a home-grown cohort of teachers using the system together, it can easily become one of those things that just isn’t used to its potential. 

That said, based on my personal experience, the courses offerings are the simplest and most valuable part to start with Learnport. The offerings are incredibly, extensive, very up-to-date and often free options for continuing their learning. And since it’s all web-based, course access and completion is quite manageable. I personally recommend the Intro to Blended Learning course as a follow up to 21 Things. While 21 Things is good at introducing the tools, Intro to Blended takes it to the next level with considerations for effective integration in classroom instruction. 

 

I use Twitter almost exclusively as a PLN. I follow many professional organizations and other educators across the country. I think it’s important for educators to do this because, whether you think Twitter is valuable or not, the kids are doing it. As an educator it’s important to have shared cultural experiences with students. Knowing even a little bit about what Twitter is, how it works and how kids interact with it should be a priority for teachers.  You can participate in Twitter backchanneling as an alternative to live participation in conferences and networking events. Tuesday evenings from 6-7 check into #edchat to network with educators nationwide on all things ed tech. Through this process you can learn how to utilize backchanneling in your own courses and start slow with a tool such as Today’s Meet. 

Facebook has fast become the preferred method of communication for the younger generation. In fact, many colleges and universities no longer provide email addresses to students, but rather rely on staff creating and maintaining Facebook groups. The one big trick to Facebook is keeping the personal you separate from the professional you, which FB does not readily support. With ever-shifting privacy rules educators have to really stay on top of how they connect to students. But that’s no reason to eschew FB. And it’s a great way to instruct students on good Internet social behavior. Again, there are alternatives that give you an FB feel such as edmodo. (Free and run by the folks over at Twitter) 

Another wonderful, statewide resource for educators to get involved in all things ed tech. The annual MACUL conference routinely draws top-notch ed tech professionals from across the nation as do the various smaller MACUL conference throughout the year. MACUL recently dropped their membership fees, so anyone can become a member. The MACUL journal is a well developed, manageable resource (not too long, well focused on timely topics) But it does take a bit of cajoling to get actively involved in MACUL. Despite repeated attempts, I’ve not had much luck hooking up with any of the SIGs, which is frustrating. But for anyone looking for general information and resources applicable to ed tech within the parameters of Michigan, you can’t miss with MACUL. 

Although the focus of Sloan is toward higher ed, there are a few pioneer programs in k-12 that also work with them.  Bridging the gap between k-12 and higher ed is increasingly important. k-12 educators should have an understanding of what the expectations and experiences are for students once they leave. And higher ed needs to know where they’re coming from. Most colleges and universities offer most of their courses through some kind of LMS. Assignments, course communication and other traditional F2F interactions are done online. But students leave k-12 with little , if any, practical experience in managing academic learning, workload etc. in this way. Sloan Consortium provides many free resources, support and networking through membership. 

The skills I would bring to Sloan is the k-12 perspective. I would be able to not only partner with other k-12 programs looking to enhance their online programs, but also with higher ed to ensure that the necessary elements are included. I highly recommend Sloan Consortium to anyone looking to enhance online  / blended elements of learning in their class or district.

Thing 15 - Staying Informed

Click here to visit my West Mi Ed Tech public page

I set up a Netvibes aggregator to go with my website -- West Mi Ed Tech. I've found this whole 21 Things process to be great for my work. Even thought I pretty familiar with tech tools, I've really expanded my toolkit and forced myself to try new things. I've already got a few aggregators that I use--google reader & Symbaloo. So I took this opportunity to start something fresh, just for my WMET. I love it. I was able to link my new WMET google calendar as well as a generic twitter feed for edtech. 

I chose the M-Live education news link and the Education Week Michigan news to make it specific to our area. I also added a couple of blogs I like; Blue Skunk and iear. And a few other generic news outlets; Ed Week Digital Directions, Google Ed Tech and Tech Crunch.

Of course it's one more thing to maintain, but my students will get good use out of it. It can be difficult to know what to pick or follow online. This netvibes page gives the beginner a nice one-stop source for getting started tapping into ed tech. I plan to add / remove content as I discover new items. I'm thinking I could create a new tab just for podcasts or just iOS info. 

As a teacher, this would be a great way to collect and share information for class projects, units, bell ringers etc. I found a few good examples for using netvibes in the classroom. The Thinking Stick site taught me how to share my page (which Netvibes didn't make very clear; insisting users need a Netvibes account to access a Netvibes page -- not true!)

Thinking Stick

Alexander Sperl
Langwitches 

Thing 14.2 -- Productivity; Google Calendar

So why a shared class calendar? Keep students and parents up-to-date with all your classroom happenings.  Standardized test dates, field trips & guest speakers, assignment details & due dates, and, most important of all,  VACATIONS! You can also link files and class resources via Google Drive. You could create one standard (school) calendar that links to all your calendars and then a separate one for each class or content area as needed. 

I created and shared a Google calendar for my Website. I've used shared calendars via 30 Boxes. I like a lot of the features in 30 boxes; it seems more robust. But the Google calendar is more convenient as it comes with the whole Google package and if you check out the google calendar labs you can see how to add 'flair' (event icons) and access other gadgets to beef up your calendar items. I'll have to return to this after exploring more. 

The West Mi Ed Tech calendar is public on google. Follow this link to access the html version.

Thing 14.1 -- Productivity; File Conversion

Converting files helps students access them regardless of the software they may be using. Putting them in .pdf format ups the security on your files as users can’t readily make changes to .pdf files. I often post items to district-wide shared drives which literally 1000s of users access and it’s reassuring to know that I have a secure paper trail in the event a rogue copy gets loose!:) 

Word allows you to do this quite easily. Simply choose .pdf as your file type when saving a document. I tend to keep duplicate copies of items I share with others; one .doc & one .pdf. This may seem extraneous, but by keeping an editable version, I can quickly update a rubric, newsletter or other doc and always know that I have the final available. It’s kind of like having a template. Plus I always know that the pdf is the official—best version. 

File conversion tools such as zamzar and media converter give you many more options and not just for working with text documents. The ability to convert to various audio, video and image files means anything you create can easily be viewed by any user. Here are just a few examples: tiff, thumbnail, html, pdf, jpg. A quick trick like this is especially useful as you consider multi-platform delivery. Students (and parents) access materials from a variety of endpoints devices; computers, phones, tablets etc. The ability (or willingness) of each individual manufacturer and operating system to support various file types can be frustrating. File conversion gives you a way to speak the language of each user. 

I really like the thumbnail option. Sometimes titles just aren’t enough. If you have a variety of resources for a particular unit of study, displaying thumbnails helps your students select what they’re looking for without having to click back and forth.

Thing 12.2 -- Rubistar

link to complete rubric

I created this rubric using Rubistar.  Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to test it out on a live audience. I intend to share it with colleagues district wide, as well as post on my Website which has been somewhat neglected as of late! 

At any rate, as with all the tools I've been learning and practicing via 21 Things, going through this process has helped me create a permanent resource for my students. 

 It's good to be 'forced' into the opportunity to create and share in this way. While this use of a rubric won't really give me any direct feedback, it will help me share valuable insight and process with them.

Thing 10 -- Digital Images

This is the original photo I took at Meijer Garden. Notice the color of the butterflies. I uploaded the photo via the 'upload to blogger' tool in Picasa. But now that the photo is shared on Google+ it seems to be gone from my photos on my hard drive. 






 

I used the saturation tool in Google+ editing to bring out the color. This would be useful for visually impaired students, or to create emphasis on something in a photo. I also added some text, but purposely chose a poorly contrasting tone to demonstrate that pretty isn't always better. It can be so easy to get carried away with 'fun' when you create something like this. Have students compare two images and discuss the positive / negative of each and their purpose in a presentation.


These photos are both available on my Google+ web albums. I can share them as I can any content on Google.