Week 11: Collaborative Applications

First, congratulations to each of you for getting your podcasts up and running. I know for several of your it was quite the arduous process. Projects like these require such exactness that even one little error dooms the entire outcome.

This week will be a bit different than week's past and really starts to mark the transition from presenting new content to working on your projects. Let's see what's in store.

1. Watch the VoiceThread on Collaborative Applications
1. Explore these Collaborative Applications
   
1. Vyew
2. Wikispaces, PBWiki, & Wikipedia
   
3. Google Docs and Spreadsheets.

THERE IS NO WIKI GALLERY PROJECT OR BLOG ASSOCIATED WITH COLLABORATIVE APPLICATIONS THIS WEEK. Instead, your Technology Integration Plan is due.

1. First, review the syllabus regarding the entire project and what needs to be in the plan.
2. Second, compose your technology integration plan. Here are some questions that might help you with your brainstorming.
   
1. How might I use technology to create assignments for students?
2. How might my students use technology to learn content?
3. How might my students use technology to demonstrate their learning?
4. How might I use technology to assess student learning?
5. How might I use technology to communicate with parents and students?
6. How might I use technology to document my teaching?
   
3. Third, create a post on your blog that includes a link to a .pdf of your plan. In your post, please include:
1. A brief overview of what the project will entail
2. Identify the specific grade level(s) you are designing it for
3. Identify the specific GLCES and METS that you believe it addresses
4. Discuss what technologies you will be using to create the final project (the 8-10 minute video or digital story) NOTE: This is not part of your plan, but I want to know what you are going to use to showcase your plan.
   

Please have the technology plan up by Saturday night/Sunday morning. Link the permalink to your blog post under the "Tech Plan" column.

One final note, I'm a bit behind on the grading, but hope to be caught up by mid-week.

Best of luck and as always let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers,

Joe

Week 10: Podcasting

Watch out. We're going to do amazing things this week! By the end of this week, you will have created your very own audio and video podcasts. You'll also have all the skills you will need for creating the final Technology Integration Project video. Lots to do, so let's get started.

Preparation

1. Watch the VoiceThread about Podcasting.
2. Read the following
   
1. 7 Things You Should Know About Podcasting
2. Podcasting with Purpose

Needed Technology:
For this week's project, you will probably need to draw heavily on the learning new technologies skill sets we've been developing throughout the semester. Below are some technologies that you may not be familiar with. Before you begin trying to complete the project, I highly recommend you seek out some resources to get a better understanding of how to use these technologies. To focus your research a bit more, I have identified some of the specific skills you will need to use each of the technologies below.

1. Audacity: For this project, you will need some kind of a sound recording software. Audacity is a free download and is user-friendly. Be sure as well to get the LAME encoder so that you can export your file to .mp3
1. Skills you will need
1. How to download and install Audacity and the LAME encoder
2. How to record projects
3. Basic sound editing with Audacity
4. How to export project to .mp3
2. You will also need some kind of video-editing software. Most computer already come with this software. For PCs, look for Windows Movie Maker, and Mac users probably will want to use iMovie. Please email me asap if you do not have access to a video-editing application.
1. Skills you will need
1. How to locate these files on your computer
2. How to import files to work with
3. How to move files on to the timeline/storyboards
4. How to resize/edit clips
5. How to save movie in podcastable formats.
3. iTunes or another media aggregator
1. Skills you will need
1. How to download and install
2. How to subscribe to podcasts using iTunes.
   

Weekly Gallery Project:
For our project this week, we will be creating both an audio and a video podcast. As far as content for your podcast, please develop a 2-3 minute mini-lesson for students of a specific grade-level. As you have done in the past, identify the specific grade-level you are intending this for as well as at least one grade-level expectation that your lesson would help satisfy.

There are numerous ways you could go about completing this project. If I were doing this, here's how I would probably go about it.

Creating the Audio Podcast

1. Create a new folder on your computer where you are going to save everything for this project.
   
2. Develop a polished PowerPoint with images that you would use to teach students during your 2-3 minute mini-lesson (Don't use animation in the PPT; it won't come through in the video version). You can use your own photos, create your own screen-captures, or draw on CC-licensed works. Be sure to save this PPT in the file you created.
   
3. Open audacity and start recording. Minimize audacity letting it run in the background and then view your PowerPoint, narrating each slide. When you are finished narrating your PPT, click back into Audacity, stop the recording and save your project to the project folder.
   
4. Because of switching between Audacity and PPT, you will have a bit more audio at the start and beginning of your audio. You can cut those segments out of your audio.
5. Export your audio to .mp3 and save the .mp3 to your project file. Next, upload this file to your afs space. If you need help uploading to afs, check out my FTP to afs space handouts from here.
6. Once the file is uploaded, be sure to check to make sure you can access it. My "FTP to afs space" handouts will help you figure out what the appropriate url should be for it.

Creating the Video Podcast

1. Go back to your PPT, and Choose File-"Save As"--"JPEG" and tell it to save all of your slides as jpegs to your project folder.
2. Open up Windows Movie Maker or iMovie, and import the jpegs of all your slides as well as the .mp3 audio file.
3. First, lay down your .mp3 file on the timeline, then pull down each of your slides in the order they should appear.
4. Listen to your audio to figure out where each of the slide transitions should occur. You can resize each of the slide clips by dragging on their edges.
5. Once you have the audio and the images aligned properly, you can save your movie to your computer. Be sure to save your movie as either a .wmv (Window Movie Maker) or .mov (iMovie).
   
6. Upload your movie to your afs space the same way you did with the audio file. Again, test your address to make sure it routes to your video.

Weekly Blog Post

1. Please identify the grade-level this mini-lesson is for as well as the grade-level expectation that it meets.
   
2. In a paragraph or two, discuss how teachers might use podcasting in their classrooms. In order to complete your podcast, you will need to create links (embedded please) in your post to both the audio file and the video file you uploaded to AFS. The act of creating the link is what enables the files to be available through your RSS feed.
3. Please link the permalink of this post to the Wiki Gallery under the "Podcast" column.
   

Double-Check

1. If you've done everything right, you should be able to acquire both your audio and video podcasts through a media aggregator such as iTunes.
   

Final Thoughts
This assignments pulls together many of the technologies and ideas we've been developing across the semester and it probably is the most complex project to date. While I want you to see what you can do "on your own" so to speak without jing videos that walk you through step-by-step, I also don't want you to struggle unnecessarily. Ask for help when you need it; remember, that, too, is part of our learning new technologies strategies.

Please have this week's assignment completed by midnight Saturday evening/Sunday morning.

Best of luck.

Cheers,

Joe

Week 9: Maps and Mashups

View Larger Map

Welcome back from spring break. In the past couple of weeks, we focused on digital images and storytelling. This week, we are going to learn about mashing technologies together. One of the most popular K-12 applications of mashing is with map programs.

To learn more about what mashing is, read through the following resources:

1. 7 Things You Should Know About Mapping Mashups - (A nice concise overview)
   
2. The Horizon Report 2008 - Feel free to read the entire report, but the section on Mashing is on pages 20-22.
3. Dr. Mashup or, Why Educators Should Learn To Stop Worrying and Love the Remix - A more in-depth look at mashing and remixing.

To see some examples of Mashups, check out these resources:

1. Using Google Maps and Google Earth - Look at section titled "Google Mashups"
2. Map Mashing Classroom Applications - A wiki produced by people at MSU
   
3. Google Lit Trips - Also has some nice resources for how to create Lit Trips

Weekly Gallery Project:
Your task for this week is to create your own map mashup to represent content that you could share with students as part of a lesson. Here are the requirements for the project:

1. Your map must have at least 5 different placemarks on the map.
2. Each of the placemarks should contain text for your students to read to help them understand why the placemark is important. Envision that your students will be looking through the maps on their own, so the text should be elaborate enough to help students be self-sufficient.
   
3. At least three placemarks should contain embedded images within the placemarks. You can either use CC images or images that you have taken. If you use CC image, be sure to properly cite the images as well. Smaller images will work better for this exercise.
   
4. At least two of your placemarks should included hyperlinks to web pages that students can click on to help them learn more about the content introduced in the placemark.
5. If you really want to go all out, you can embed a YouTube video inside a placemark. You can count an embedded YouTube video in lieu of one of the images. Be sure to give credit for the video though.
   

To learn about placemarks, adding images, including hyperlinks, etc. draw on some of the learning new technology strategies we are working on. For example, you might search through Google Video, YouTube, or TeacherTube. You might look through the help resources or user guides that accompany the mapping program. Feel free to choose whatever mapping program meets the assignments needs. In the past, students have found Google Maps easy to use, and it provides a link so that you can also view your map in Google Earth.

Weekly Blog Post:
For your blog post this week,

1. Embed your map in your blog. You may need to tweak the zoom on the map and change the settings so that the map looks good in your blog.
2. In your post,
   
1. Identify what grade level and subject matter you might use this map for. ( A single sentence is fine)
   
2. Give us an overview of what you think the mashup could help students learn and how you might use this map with students (at least a paragraph)
3. Link to the permalink for your blog post in the Wiki Gallery under the "Mashup" column.

On a final note, I will be in NYC Monday and Tuesday, but will be back online on Wednesday. Best of luck. I look forward to seeing the maps you create.

Cheers,

Joe

Week 8: Mock Interviews

First, just a quick reminder about your web portfolios. They are due the last weekend of spring break. I'll push it back so that you can have the entire weekend, but please have them ready for me to evaluate first thing Monday morning, March 10th. I sent out an extensive email about the web portfolios. Please be sure to look it over.

For this week, we will be doing mock interviews. In past courses, it's one of the topics that students have always found to be extremely helpful to them. It is easier in face-to-face sections where creating an interview-like atmosphere is more natural. I've been trying to decide how to do this in an online section and thought we would give VoiceThread a shot. Below you will find a link to a VoiceThread I created. On each new slide, there is an interview question for you. Here's how it will work.

1. Click on the link to the VoiceThread Mock Interviews.
2. Sign into your VT account. Please use your anonymous identity for this project.
3. Record a thread (voice please) for each one of the interview slides (excluding the title slide). I suggest that you treat this like you would an interview. Sit down, read the question, and record your first response. Don't worry about scripting out answers ahead of time or having polished answers--you won't have that luxury in a real interview.
4. In your blog post for the week, write about your experience with the interview. Please talk about:
1. What your avatar image was.
   
2. What questions you felt you answered best and why? (1 paragraph)
   
3. What questions you felt you struggled a bit with and why? (1 paragraph)
   
4. What can you take away from this experience to help you in a real interview. (1 paragraph)
5. Here's the weekly checklist.
   

Please complete the VoiceThread by THURSDAY, February 28th. On Friday, February 29th, I'll add my threads to the VT about what I would recommend when answering each question. The blog posts, then, will not be due until the final Sunday of Spring Break, March 9th so that you can take my comments into thought.

Also, I just found that the COE is offering mock interview opportunities. You may want to look into this.

Best of luck and let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers,

Joe

Weeks 7 & 8: Digital Storytelling

With spring break coming up, I thought that I would introduce what we will be covering this week and next. That way, if you want, you can get your work done ahead of time in case you are leaving for vacation. Though there are several ways you can create digital stories, we will focus on using VoiceThread.

Please also remember that your Web Portfolios are due on Saturday, March 8th in their finished and polished form. You should be working on these each week.

NOTE: To complete the lessons for this week and some of the coming weeks, you need to have a microphone. I bought one for $7 dollars at Meijer and it seems to work fine, so don't break the bank on one. If you can't afford one, ask your friends or check in room 133 of EH. You may be able to check out one at the desk there.

For this week, 7:

VoiceThread has several nice tutorials about their product that are worth exploring. At the very least, please look over the following:

1. Introduction on VoiceThread.
2. How to manage identities.
   
3. How to moderate comments.
   
4. How to use zoom in VT.
5. Here is one about the doodler feature.
6. This will show you how you can embed a VT in your blog or website.
   

Here are some examples of Digital Storytelling you should browse through.

1. Federal Holidays
2. MathCasts Project
3. Great Books Stories Wiki
   
4. SFETT's ICAN

Besides VT, some other popular technologies for creating digital stories are:

1. Any kind of movie software, iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Windows Movie Maker
2. Microsoft Photo Story 3 (PC only)
3. Slideshare
   
4. Alan Levine has 50 different tools you can use
   

If you can't get enough of digital storytelling, check out our del.icio.us account.

For Week 7 Weekly Project:

1. Open a VT account and upload an image for your avatar. The identities tutorial will show you how to do this. If you want, you can upload a picture of yourself to clearly identify yourself. However, please remember that VoiceThread are often public. Make sure that you have one identity where the picture is not of you or someone else (be creative) and use a name other than your own. You can use this identity when you want to leave comments that are more anonymous, and it is also what I would recommend if I were having students use it.
   
2. Choose one of the following options for creating a digital story this week.
   
1. Create a digital story that you, as the teacher, would use to share with students as part of a lesson or unit.
2. Create a mock digital story that provides an example of something your students might construct as part of a lesson or unit in a course you teach.
3. When making your digital story, please make sure that you:
1. Have at least five slides to it.
2. Have at least one comment on each slide.
   
3. Have at least two different voices (identities) on it - you could enlist the help of friends, colleagues, or you could use the two identities you've set up.

For Week 7 Weekly Blog:

1. Embed your VoiceThread in your blog post for Week 7. Here is a VT on how to do this. I recommend using the 480X360 version they have for blogs. When you get the code, you will need to paste it into your blog post when you are using the "Edit HTML" tab rather than the "Compose" Tab.
2. In your text, please write about
1. Which option you chose for your digital story and what your experience was like in creating the story.
2. Devote a paragraph to explore some of the different ways teachers could use digital story telling in the courses.
3. Please link the permalink to this post on the Wiki Gallery under the "Story" Column.
   

Here is a checklist for this week. Please complete the Week 7 tasks by Saturday evening, Feb 23rd.


A Sneak Peak at Week 8

For week 8: Mock Interviews

In past courses, one of the topics that students have always found to be extremely helpful to them has been mock interviews. It is easier in face-to-face sections where creating an interview-like atmosphere is more natural. I've been trying to decide how to do this in an online section and thought we would give VoiceThread a shot. Below you will find a link to a VoiceThread I created. On each new slide, there is an interview question for you. Here's how it will work.

1. Click on the link to the VoiceThread Mock Interviews.
2. Sign into your VT account. Please use your anonymous identity for this project.
3. Record a thread (voice please) for each one of the interview slides (excluding the title slide). I suggest that you treat this like you would an interview. Sit down, read the question, and record your first response. Don't worry about scripting out answers ahead of time or having polished answers--you won't have that luxury in a real interview.
4. In your blog post for the week, write about your experience with the interview. You might talk about:
1. What questions you felt you answered best and why?
2. What questions you felt you struggled a bit with and why?
   
3. What can you take away from this experience to help you in a real interview.

You can complete your interview anytime you would like, but please do so by THURSDAY, February 28th. On Friday, February 29th, I'll add my threads to the VT about what I would recommend when answering each question. If you would like, you can wait to turn in your blog until the final Saturday of Spring Break, March 8th so that you can take my comments into thought

Best of luck for these two week and let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to seeing what you produce.

Cheers,

Joe

Week 6: Adding Images

Photo Attribution:

Original image: "Erickson Hall"
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/211/521366682_a6d488c52e_m.jpg
by: Joe Freidhoff

Released under an Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/


Here's the scenario for this week. Imagine you are at your field placement this week and a student asks you for help. She wants to find an image that she can use in a presentation she's creating. Generally, she has two questions. First, where do I go to find images to use? Second, what do I need to do to be sure I've given the creator of the image proper credit?

You know what you usually do when you need to get an image, but you aren't sure its what you should be recommending to students. You tell the student you will do some research on it and that the next time you meet, you'll be able to give her a credible answer.

For this week then, complete the following tasks:

Becoming Informed:

1. Creative Commons (CC) has some great resources to help you better understand copyright and the Internet. One of the nice aspects of their resources is that they can be shared with students. Check out the following movies and comics by them:
1. Wanna Work Together
2. Get Creative
3. Sharing Creative Works
4. How it Works
   
2. Once you've reviewed CC, it should be clear that you have four options for using a work.
   
1. Claim Fair Use.
2. Ask author for permission.
   
3. Use CC licensed work according to permissions outlined.
4. Use your own original work.

Locating Work:

1. To search for CC-licensed images, you can try out the following sites:
1. FlickrCC
2. Creative Commons Search

Giving Credit:

1. According to CC license, there are several specific steps you need to take when giving credit. Check out the Erickson Hall image above to see what these steps would look like when done.

Your Own Works:

1. When you can, it's often a great idea to you use images that you have taken. There are several photo hosting sites that allow you to share your images with others.
1. Flickr
2. PicasaWeb
3. Photobucket
2. Because these images are on the web, it makes it easy to add multiple images to your website or blog. One of the major advantages of putting images into your web pages using one of these applications is that you can easily change the images without needing to change the format of your pages. I've mocked up examples of each of these so you can see what they might look like in your portfolio.
1. Flickr Badge (HTML) - Flickr images only
   
2. Flickr Flash Badge - Flickr images only
   
3. Flickriver - Flickr images only
   
4. PicasaWeb slideshow - PicasaWeb images only
   
5. Slideoo - Flickr only
   
6. Slide - Flickr, Photobucket and image urls
   

Weekly Gallery Projects:

1. Add a CC license to your blog. If you would like to reserve all rights for your blog/portfolio, you can remove it once I've been able to grade it. Here is a link that explains how to add the license to your blog.
2. Create an account at an online photo-hosting sites. Consider this a professional account that you will use to host images for your blog/website. In the future, it might even have images of students' work that you could share with parents.
3. Create a page in your portfolio that utilizes the badges or slideshow tools I showcased above. This page could be a revision of a page you have already created or it could be a page you haven't completed yet. Aim to have at least five images in your badge or slideshow. Link this page of your portfolio to the Wiki Gallery under the "Photos" column.

Weekly Blog

1. Find a CC image using FlickrCC or CC Search and add it properly to a post on your blog. Here is a jing video to show you how to do this. In this post,
1. Write about what you would have suggested to the student in the scenario BEFORE this week's lesson. (Where would you have had her look for images and what would you have told her to do to cite the image source?)
   
2. Based on what you've learned this week, what would you recommend to her now?

Here is a checklist for the week.

For next week, we will be getting into VoiceThread. VoiceThread offers a free general account that you can use, but there are a few restrictions on how many VTs you can create (and some other things, too). They do however, allow a free upgrade to their Professional account if you are a K-12 educator. I wrote them and asked if pre-service teachers could also qualify for the professional educator accounts. They granted us permission. If you want the educator account, when you sign up for it, you will need to use your msu email addresses and list my email as the school contact (freidhof@msu.edu). I recommend that you take time this week setting up your account so that when we start digital storytelling next week you are all ready to go.

Cheers,

Joe

Week 5: Organizing the Internet

During this week, you are going to learn how to use social bookmarks and online calendars as ways to organize your teaching. Here is the learning scenario for the week.

Your collaborating teacher asks you to plan a week-long unit of your choice. Though the topic is up to you, she does want to see a few things:

1. You need to identify at least two specific content expectations your unit will meet. Here are links to the K-8 GLCES, and to High School. In your blog post, you will need to tell us the grade level you are planning this unit for.
   
2. You also need to identify at least two specific technology standards from the METS that you will be working on in this unit.
   
3. You must supplement the content of the unit with at least five websites that address different aspects of the unit.
4. You need to use a public calendar to communicate with parents and students what you will be doing each of the five days.
   

Therefore, the agenda for this week is:

1. Watch the VoiceThread on Organizing the Internet.
2. Read through the GLCEs and the METS linked to above to help you pick a unit topic that you can clearly align with the content expectations.
   
3. Weekly Gallery Project
1. Set up a social bookmarking account of your choice (del.icio.us, is a popular one, but there are others as well.)
1. Organize at least five websites under a common tag that you can use with your students to help them learn your topic.
   
2. Set up a public calendar (google has one) in which you briefly outline what you aspects of the unit you will cover for each of the five days.
4. In your blog post for this week:
   
1. Identify the grade-level you've created this unit for.
2. Identify at least two GLCE's and two METS that this unit addresses.
3. Identify the tag you used to organize your five resources. Please embed a link back to this tag on your del.icio.us account (or whatever you chose). Here is a jing video to show you how to do this.
   
4. Devote a paragraph to each of your five web resources to let us know how you would use the site to help students learn. For example, you might consider saying, "On Monday, the lesson focuses on part A of the unit. The website URL will be used to help students x..., y... and z. On Tuesday, the topic changes to part B . . . "
5. WIKI gallery
1. Please link the permalink of your blog post for this week to the wiki gallery column "bookmark."
2. Please link the public page of your calendar to the wiki gallery's "calendar" column. Here is a jing video to show you how to find the public url.
6. In the survey, some people thought it would be a bit easier if they had a checklist of what they needed to complete for the week. Here you go.