One of the greatest resources we have as educators is each other. This blog will focus on educational technology and its integration into classroom curriculum.
Use this blog to discuss resources, classroom management tips, software selection, troubleshooting tips, and any other educational technology topics.
I had the opportunity yesterday to BE the student - an opportunity that is becoming all to rare these days. I participated in the Tech Talk Forum (gr K-8). The bulk of my experience in the classroom is working with teens and adults, so I take any opportunity I can to get connected with what's going on in the lower grades. Brad and Edith Dishman, part-time instructors on the Eighth Floor and full-time wizzards in Owasso, facilitated the course. What fun! I am very impressed with what they are doing in their elementary classrooms with Skype and wikis and many other technologies.
Besides sharing tools and talking "what ifs," many people shared great resources, software, and websites. I have way too many new things to check out now!! Edith shared a site I know everyone will want to know about -Donors Choosehttp://www.donorschoose.org/homepage/main.html?zone=323. This is an online resource that connects donors with teachers who need "stuff." For example, check out what Mrs. V. from southwest Oklahoma got: http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?zone=323&id=258339. Thanks so much, Edith, for sharing this resource - it's wonderful!
If you know of a site that is a must share . . . please do!
Clearly, I am s sucker for opportunities to build my learning comunity. I have finally committed to creating a "professional" Facebook account. I've blogged about how much fun I've had with Facebook and how it has become a great way for me to keep in touch with family and friends. I didn't want to mix personal and professional, so I am not. I have found that there are some great professional development groups on Facebook and that it can be a wonderful vehicle for learning. So I'm in, hook, line, and one more thing to keep up with!
Scott and Lisa have also created profiles. Won't you be our friends? :-D
In the last few weeks I have had to move my office twice (we got new carpets). Most people might think this is just a necessary annoyance. I agree; however, I also see it as an opportunity to purge, purge, and purge. In the process I have come across several little jewels that I tucked away or “piled” for one reason or another, articles to read, lesson plans to spark my thinking, post-its with wild ideas, etc. One of the articles I saved was from the November 2007 edition of Technology and Learning. The article is “The Importance of Being Clickable.” By technology standards, 2007 is a LONG time ago. However, the idea of being clickable is becoming increasingly relevant – especially if you are job hunting as so many are. How aware are you of your online persona? Do you have one? Do you think you should? I would be willing to wager that if you Google yourself, you are out there. You are somebody in cyberspace if nowhere else!
So, I Googled my myself. (When did that become a sentence that makes sense?) Lee Anne Morris is not an overly common name, so I had several hits on the first page that were about me. When I added Tulsa or Oklahoma to my search, it was pretty much all about me. (and when is that not good! :-D ) Even for someone who teaches tech integration and breaths Web 2.0, I don’t have an impressively large online presence, but I’m there. I am professionally clickable! I can tell quite a bit about me from seeing the social networks and learning communities I participate in. I can see evidence that I am learning from and contributing to my profession. So I am okay with how I am representing myself with my online persona.
Take a minute to Google yourself. (Still makes me laugh.) What do you find? What more could you do during the summer to be more “clickable”? You know I am going to suggest you take classes on the Eighth Floor, so you might as well at least check out all the spectacular classes we are offering.
Wow, is it really possible that the semester is coming to an end . . . at some point . . . please? We are having an amazingly busy spring here on the Eighth Floor. It is fun, but busy. I had an absolute blast yesterday with the ladies at University of Oklahoma learning PowerPoint - I wanted them to know that. They are always a fun, eager crowd. Yesterday afternoon, I taught the Digital Pictures Projects class to another very fun group of women here on the Eighth Floor. Along with several tools that foster digital storytelling, we played with the Animoto.com tool. Now, that was a blast! Go check it out.
As the semester winds down, I get time to focus a little on my OWN learning, or as they say, "get my learn on" – I wasn’t born this smart, ya know! People always want to know how I know all this stuff. One of my best resources for “what’s going on” when it comes to technology and education is Classroom 2.0. I know many of you have heard me talk about this social networking group. The folks here are a huge part of my learning community. Because I am such a sharerer, I wanted to tell you a little more about what goes one here.
Classroom 2.0 is a social network for those interested in collaborative technologies in education. One of my favorite parts is the Classroom 2.0 LIVE. These are real-time online classes offered in Elluminate (easy for beginners – they have directions). The workshops are about an hour long and full of great resources and relevant information. If you can’t attend the real-time class, you can go to the archives, which is where I usually end up. Hey, it’s asynchronous learning at its best!
I encourage you to poke around. There is one today on open content in education. I will be hitting the archives next week to hear that one.
If you are already a member of Classroom 2.0 or sign up in the future, add me as a friend!! Hopefully you can find me . . .Lee Anne Morris or lamorris.
BTW – The Eighth Floor summer schedule will be available very soon. Enrollment begins Monday, May 4th, 2009. We have some exciting new programs this summer. Keep checking the website!
Scott has been playing with a groovey little text message voting tool called Live Audience Polling. Are you interested in playing along? It's kind of like when you vote for American Idol. You get a number to send the text to and you have to start your text with different number followed by your answer.
Here's a question you can answer and contribute to our pole: Have you ever used a cell phone as a learning/teaching tool in the class room? Any thoughts beyond yes or no?
To send a message, Text 52020 plus your message to 99503. Give it a shot. Text us your answer!
ODLA - Oklahoma Distance Learning . . . and then some!
Yesterday I attended and presented at the ODLA conference in OKC. It was fun . . . and believe me when I tell you that is not something I say very often about presenting at conferences. But it was fun. I think I know why, too -- for three reasons.
One, I got to present with two instructors I work with A LOT here on the Eighth Floor, Dana Linda and Linda Jones. We facilitate the Online Learning Series together each semester. We have this team teaching thing down to an art and it always feels good to fire up the classroom with them.
Two, I got to talk about online learning, and I LOVE to talk about online learning. Our topic was The Critical First 48 Hours. Great topic - Dana's brilliant idea. If our good intentions bear fruit, we'll post our presentation at some point. (go ahead - hold your breath)
Three, I met some seriously cool people from around the state that have jobs similar to mine. There was SO much to talk about. Just a few short years ago, I rarely met folks who had teaching positions similar to mine. I am excited to see instructional design and technology integration finding a permanent home in educational institutions across the state.
Bonus, I expanded my professional learning network. From that, I have some fantastic shares, but one really good "share" that I can't just keep to myself. It would be wrong. Kelly Fitzmorris from OSU Stillwater sent me a list of Web 2.0 toolsshe created. It is quite well done. She gives short explainations of various tools and groups them by purpose. A few of the tools are new to me, and I can't wait to play with them. Take a minute to have a look. http://osuweb20.blogspot.com/
Scott also has a really good "share." He went to a presentation on mobile phone tools for the classroom and is already planning a class for the fall. The presenter was Jim Britton from NSU and here are some links you might be interested in - just sayin'.
You Tube EDU aggregates video from colleges and universities. The launch was made quietly this past week, but with contributions from Dartmouth, Stanford, University of Minnesota, UNC Chapel Hill, Purdue, Harvard, VirginiaTech, and more than 100 others, the site stands a chance to get attention easily. There are already more than 20,000 videos on YouTube EDU. Content is varied, ranging from lectures on quantum physics to "Snow Day in Chapel Hill." With no plans for indexing the videos with a controlled vocabulary (confirmed by Obadiah Greenberg of the Strategic Partnerships team at YouTube) it's starting out eclectic but browsable--typical YouTube. Many of you may be aware that YouTube is not the only vehicle for watching and uploading videos for your students. TeacherTube and SchoolTube may be more appropriate. I have found a number of videos on TeacherTube that I use in the classroom. Educational sharing at its best!
I poked around a little. For the most part the topics are strongly scholastic – good news. The quality of some of the videos wasn’t great – but the topics are fantastic. Check this one out on Googling the Brain on a Chip.
Do you think Encyclopedia Britannica can do what Wikipedia has done? I guess they are going to try, but I admit, I am a bit skeptical. When I first skimmed over a post in the AppScout blog, I was intrigued, even a little excited. I thought this was a great idea, for EB to adapt to a new way of learning and free information – very altruistic of them, in fact. But, then, I started to think about it and read some of the comments made on the post, especially the ones made by Tom from Britannica. I love that there is always another side to “things.” And, there is absolutely another side to this thing.
From what I can understand EB has created an online version to which users/readers can contribute. When folks make contributions, the EB staff will review that information and, I guess, regurgitate it online. Essentially, you submit what you have to offer, and they decide if it is worthy and correct – they edit it. At least I think I get the process, according to Tom from Britannica. Again, it sounds great to me at first, but the more I think about it, I’m a little disappointed by what they are offering. If I feel I am expert enough to contribute to a page or topic, do I really want them editing my contribution? What if they missed my point? Will they ask ME if what they are publishing is in line with my thoughts – true? How is this really a contribution from me if they make all the decisions?
And another thing . . . I don’t believe EB is free. That’s not very “Wikipedia like.” What’s wrong with EB just being EB? How financially necessary is it for them to compete with Wikipedia? Hang on . . . Who thinks it is totally bizarre that I am suggesting Encyclopedia Britannica is competing with Wikispaces out of financial desperation?
So, what do you think? Will EB’s answer to Wikispaces keep them relevant?
One of the greatest resources we have as educators is each other. This blog will focus on educational technology and its integration into classroom curriculum. 
