Presentations

Presentations

Group 1 - E-portfolios

Group 2 - Twitter

Group 4 - Versal

Group 5 - Citation and Referencing

Group 6 - Social Media in the Classroom

All of the presentations were informative.  Some of the information I was previously aware of because I had done research in that area.  I had looked at using twitter in my classroom earlier in the year but instead opted for a twitter board where students make a tweet on paper about something they learned and post it in our classroom instead of online.  I had never heard of Versal so that was interesting to learn about.  Social media in the classroom is always a hot topic and comes down to do you use it or not.  I have used blogs in my classroom before but I find it hard to keep up with as new projects are constantly being introduced.  I use YouTube quite a bit for informational videos about how to do things or to inspire writing.  One website I had never seen before was http://powermylearning.org/ .  I am still looking at all the activities that it provides to see if I can incorporate them into my classroom.

Change and innovation theory & Online Simulation

Simulations

Simulations are an easy way to engage students.  They provide real life situations for students to work through and learn information.  The difficult part is finding good simulations to expose students to.  Webquests are one of the few simulations that I have used in the past.  I have created a couple webquests in the past but they are time consuming and they are outdated fast.



Change and Innovation Theory

Change is hard to accomplish.  My current class is incredibly negative and always giving up before starting.  We have been working all year on having a growth mindset.  It takes alot of effort to unfreeze their thinking.  Once you have thought the same way for an extended period of time it is hard to think any differently.  Luckily I have support from the entire staff and principal and they have been helping with the transition phase.  They hear the same messages from everyone in the building which helps solidify the message and will make the refreezing much easier and faster.

Our school division is in the process of changing the ways that teachers approach report cards and recently watched this video.  It shows how one person may look crazy and be the leader but all it takes is someone to follow to make a change.

http://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement?language=en

Cloud Computing

I love cloud computing.  I use them in my personal life and professional life.

Google Drive

Let's just say I believe that Google is going to take over the world. :)  I use Google Drive with my students so that if we are working on an essay I can see exactly what they are doing and give them suggestions on how to improve as we are working on it.  I also use it for university.  One of the major benefits is the ability to collaborate with each other.  I have used it on many projects to brainstorm and create projects.  I also like to use it when I need to have a document accessible anywhere.  I can create the document and work on it from anywhere and any device.  We use Google Drive at our school for the staff to stay up to date and have all the documents that are needed.  For example staff meeting minutes are shared with each other on Google Drive.

Google Calendar
I use Google Calendar to keep up to date with University, school, appointments, and birthdays.  It is convenient because it allows me to check on any device what is going on and when.  I'm not stuck running to my phone to see if I have an appointment.  I can check on my computer, tablet or anyone elses device.

Google has so many cloud options to explore and they are each just as useful.

Dropbox

I have been using Dropbox for a long time.  So many times you have issues sending documents that are large... they are too big to send be email, message, or any other way.  Dropbox has been my solution to this.  It is also fantastic because you can access any of your documents there.  Dropbox also has options to back up your camera roll which is nice because then you don't have to worry about your phone being erased or wrecked and losing all of your photos.  I can then access those photos from anywhere as a result.  I use Dropbox with students to upload their videos that they create so that I can look at them.  I made a school account that each of the students can access their own folder and so can I.  I can view them whenever I have time.

Podcasts and Mobile Learning

Podcasts have been around for quite a while.  I haven't used them very much but if you wanted to listen and learn something they are very convenient.  I personally am a visual learner and need to see something in order to learn it.  So for me, I would rather watch a video than listen to an audiocast.  I took a DE class about 19th century literature and had to read 9 different books.  I had to buy the books but ended up finding the audio for the books as well.  This made my reading so much easier... I could listen to the books and read along with them at the same time.

Librivox is a great site for downloading audiobooks.  It is free and it is available on almost any device.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 offers so many tools to users.  I use Web 2.0 tools so often.  Some of my favourites include: Blogger, PbWorks, Google Maps, Delicious, and Symbaloo.

Blogger
Blogger is technically a blogging application but as you can tell from my Portfolio is useful for many different options.  I have used it with students to track what they think about a class as well as a place to show what they learned.  It is easy to use and navigate.

PbWorks

PbWorks is a great wiki application.  I have used it for students as portfolio pages.  Students each had their own page to add all their work to and then they had the option to share the pages with their families.  I honestly do not think I would use it now with the introduction of new technology.  I would rather have a dedicated portfolio site for each student.

Google Maps

Google Maps are so convenient.  They truly have eliminated the need for me to buy a paper map.  I can access maps on my phone, computer, and tablet.  The only downside is that it is internet based and if you do not have internet you do not have a map unless you have screen captured the map.  Even with screen capturing you loose the ability to zoom in and out and get more details.

Delicious/Symbaloo

I first started using Delicious in my ECMP 355 class with Alec Couros at the U of R.  I have used this application ever since.  I find it is a technology that is fading as people like to have the visual, which is where Symbaloo is dominating.   I started using Symbaloo last year when another teacher showed me.  It works great for sharing resources with students about specific topics.  You can make a seperate webmix for each of your topics/concepts and share it with students.  It is also visual  and easy to navigate and use.

Delicious

Symbaloo

Social Networking

When I think about Social Networking there are so many options.

Facebook is one of the Social Networks that I currently use in my classroom.  I use this to let parents know what is happening in the classroom, if there are any assignments coming up, and if there are any special events happening.

There are so many other social networks out there.  Some of them may not be considered social networks but in my mind they are.  Pinterest is one of my favourites.  I have boards created for each of the classes that I teach with different ideas that I could do in my class.  You share with others and look at others which to me makes it social.

Social Networking also includes Twitter and being able to share your ideas, thoughts, things you find or do with anyone who is following you.  Twitter like Facebook can be used to let people know what is going on in your classroom or just to keep up to date on things you are interested in.

Video Conferencing

Skype
Video Conferencing has been a big part of my life for over ten years.  I love to travel and Skype has been there for me on every trip.  I subscribe yearly to their plan.  This way I can phone from any WiFi connection on my device and talk to anyone on their phone.  This of course doesn't provide a video between the parties but it does connect between the phone and computer.

My partner for the group project and I used Skype to communicate back and forth throughout this course.  The best thing about using this medium was that you could message back and forth, you could talk, and you could video conference.

Video Conferencing Experiences in DE

I have also taken many distance education classes and have used several different types of conferencing.
1. I watched the video feed from the university - it was only one way communication.
2. I watched the video feed from the university and used a telephone to communicate with the professor.
3. Video conference both ways.

Video Conferencing in DE

If I was using video conferencing in distance education I would use Skype to communicate synchronously.  This provides a free platform to communicate between students and teachers and allows it to be a little more personal than just talking without seeing each other.

Sections Analysis

Sections Analysis of all Technologies

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1e27znzq4NSNm-zorcsF0mwaxvZejyFH5NlgE-Ukr8mw/edit?usp=sharing

Jing

Jing

Jing is a diverse screen capturing tool that allows users to do a variety of different tasks.  It is an easy to use way to share images and short videos from your desktop with others.  Jing also gives you the ability to add visual elements to enhance your images or videos.  Jing is a program that needs to be downloaded on to your desktop and appears as a sun on the side of your screen.  It is quick and easy to use and the features are easily accessed.  I watched two videos for this project: http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/screen-casting/jing.html and http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/screen-casting/jing-in-reality.html.  The first video described the basics of Jing and the second video described how I could apply it to my teaching.

What I Knew Before

I had Jing installed on my computer before starting this learning process, I used Jing to screen capture images that I wanted to use for my Grade 5/6 classroom.  I would cut worksheets and use different pieces of them or I would cut images that I found on the internet and wanted to show at a later time. I only used the most basic features of this program.  So because I had this program on my computer and I wasn’t using it to the best of its ability, I decided that I should learn more about it. 

What I Learned

History and Storage

When watching the CAI videos I was most surprised to learn that all the work that I captured is stored on my computer and on the Jing server.  When I went into my history, there were documents that I had image captured from three years ago.

Videos are no exception.  As well as being stored on my computer, my videos that are stored on the server are also provided to me as a URL.  I can create a video for my students and can easily share it with them by just providing them with the URL.  This is fantastic because I do not have to upload it anywhere for students to access it and students do not have to download it anywhere.  They can watch the video on any device that they have with the provided URL. The URL is automatically copied to your clipboard so you just need to hit paste where you want it. http://screencast.com/t/sUs8AJLi

Image Capturing

There are many features that I did not realize that I could do with an image within Jing.  I was pulling my image out of Jing and putting them into a different program such as Paint, Windows Photo Gallery, or Adobe Photoshop to add text and arrows.  Now I know that I can add text that includes: any typesets that are installed on my computer, a variety of text colours and multiply sizes of text.  These are all added and changed quickly before saving the image to my computer, as can be seen by the image below.

Adding arrows and drawing attention to specific things is a feature that I commonly use when creating informational sheets for my students.  It is another feature that is quickly accessible from the toolbar on the side of the screen.  I am not sure why I didn’t see these features earlier but I think when you start using a program for a specific purpose you don’t see the other options that are available.  I really like the fact that you can change the colours of the arrows and the text boxes.

The last feature that I learned about when capturing images is the recapture button.  This feature was great to learn about because before if I didn’t have the capture screen lined up the way I wanted I was closing out of the program and then going back in.  Now after I have my screen capture box drawn of what I was going to capture I just need to click the redo button in the tools and now I can go back and get what I want.

Video Capturing

I was completely oblivious to the fact that I had video capturing at my fingertips with a program that I already had on my computer.  Jing allows you to take up to 5 minutes of video.  This video is then available to use or share on your computer.  One of the best parts about the video capturing is that it captures everything you do from when you hit the record button.  So if I want to add my voice, change screens, add a picture, or just give video instructions.  These are all possible with Jing’s video capturing tool.  This was incredibly useful to learn because now I can easily demonstrate to students how to do something and give instructions that they can watch over and over without me having to repeat myself ten times.  For example: http://screencast.com/t/HfD1TZKC

If you have a video camera on your laptop or an external camera, you can also have your image show up on the screen.  This way students would know that you are talking to them and it is no different than if you were standing right in front of them.  I didn’t try this feature because my laptop does not have a camera and my external camera was not available.  

An additional feature with the video capturing is that you have the option to edit your video in Camtasia Studio. Camtasia Studios is video editing software that allows the user to take the video that you captured in Jing and add transitions, animations, and audio effects to name a few.  The downside to Jing accessing Camtasia is that Camtasia is a program that you need to buy.  It does offer you a free trial but that is not a long term solution.

Additional Settings/Buttons

I learned that you can upload directly to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and a few other social media sites with Jing.  There is a place in the setting to customize your tool bar and have easy access to each of these features.  I had never gone into the settings before but I can see where this would be incredibly useful.  If you are a teacher who does a lot of videos and has a YouTube channel, it would be incredibly handy to be able to just click the button and have your videos automatically stored there.

Teacher Uses

When I was looking into which videos to watch to learn about Jing I chose to go with teachertrainingvideos.com because I am a teacher and I wanted to learn how I could use Jing more effectively in personal life as well as in my classroom.  I learned it was good for feedback, explanations, reading aloud, and commentaries.  Each of these ideas opened up a whole new way to use Jing in my classroom.

I never thought of using Jing for feedback to students.  So many times when I am marking students work on the computer using Google Docs or Word, it would be so much easier to capture a video and record what I want to tell the student.  For example, it is hard to explain to a student why the sentence structure is incorrect with words.  It would be way easier with Jing.

 Explaining is a large part of teaching.  Students need to understand the concept that you are trying to teach and be able to apply it to their assignments or the real world.  Jing makes that a little easier.  In Saskatchewan schools, teachers are supposed to utilize technology and incorporate it into their teaching.  With Jing you can have an entire lesson ready to go with the entering of a URL.

        Having students read to Jing was definitely an idea I had never thought of but will be using frequently.  I have many students who need to practice reading out loud to improve their fluency, pronunciation and making sure that they are reading all of the words in the text.  Most Saskatchewan schools use Fountas and Pinnell testing to level their students to see if they are at, below, or above grade level expectations.  My school is no different.  I recently tested my students and was wondering how I was going to help a couple of the students improve so that they are at grade level and then I watched this video on Jing and a light bulb turned on.  I can have the students read the text using Jing and then listen to themselves.  This way my students can hear the mistakes that they are making and it becomes more meaningful to them.  This will work better than me saying this is what you are missing or need to improve on.

I teach art and when the video mentioned commentaries, I immediately thought about describing a famous piece of art.  I could have students pick a famous piece of art and answer a list of questions about it.  They could use the Jing and point out what they are talking about and demonstrate their thinking.  For example, is Mona Lisa smiling or frowning could be the question.  Students would then use their rationale to explain their thoughts.

Conclusion

Jing has so many uses that I never explored or even thought of before.  The videos were incredibly helpful and expanded my understanding of how to use Jing both personally and professionally.  I would recommend the videos to anyone who uses screen capturing tools or video capturing tools.  They are easy to use and free.

CAI - Jing

I have had Jing on my computer for several years.  I have only ever used it as a screen capture tool for a static image.  So for this project I decided to find out what other capabilities it has.

I learned:

You can use the video capture tool and anything you say or do when it is on will be recorded and stored on a personal Jing website.  It then provides you with a URL and it can easily be distributed to students or used at a later date.

I did not know that everything including screen captured images were stored in the history.  I clicked on my history and I have images going back 3 years that I have used in my classroom or my personal life.

You can edit the screen captures that you do.  Previously I was putting the images into a different program to add words or arrows and such and did not know that I could do it all in Jing. 

You can reselect your capture size instead of closing out the program and going back in.

You can add differnent buttons and have the videos immediately uploaded to facebook, Youtube, Twitter, and a few others.

This website also had more CAI videos on how to use it in the classroom

http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/screen-casting/jing-in-reality.html

Learned:

Provide video feedback to students.

Get students to discuss a picture, or object, or explain how to do something

Ability to use and record yourself talking using the webcam.

Reading aloud and capture themselves (great for parent teacher interviews)

Commentary on a video - explain what they think is happening or reexplaining

More info, examples, and SECTIONS analysis

https://sites.google.com/site/mdde610project/home

CAI/Flipped Classroom

Flipped Classroom - The flipped classroom has intrigued me for the last couple years.  This year I took the idea and tried to create a blended classroom.  So instead of students having to watch videos for homework they would watch the videos in class and then complete their work.  I chose this route because some students do not have internet and many times homework does not get done.  I also wanted to free up some of my time to help students who were struggling.  When I started this process I thought students would enjoy watching the videos and working more at their own pace, instead I found this particular class wanted to be spoon fed.  They wanted me at the front showing them what to do and then they wanted to practice and have additional help.  I also found that they would completely skip the videos and try and do the work.  Then they would come to me and say I don't know how to do this.  I found it extremely frustrating.  As the year progressed I changed the way that I approached math to more of a module based system.  They work at their own pace and there are instruction sheets built into the modules as well as videos available for students to watch and learn.  This seems to be working better.  

CAI - I am constantly going online to learn how to do something.  My favourite example of this is when I owned a Ford Tempo.  I went online and found a YouTube video on how to change the brakes.  I bought the brakes and followed the video and had no problems changing the brakes in my car even though I am not a mechanic and had never done anything like that before.  It may have taken me a little longer than a mechanic but it saved me hundreds of dollars and they worked great.

For my CAI project I want to learn more about the features of Jing and about more of its features.  I currently used it has a screen capture tool on my computer.  If I find a piece of information that I want to use with my class or part of a worksheet I capture what I want and then use it.  I haven't looked at any of the features of it.  So I am going to look at the project done and referenced in our class as well as go online and find how it is being used in education. http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/screen-casting/jing.html

Adobe Connect

I see the value in Adobe Connect as a place to meet, share information, and create classes.  One downfall that I see is that it is flash based and as a result will not properly run on Apple based products without an additional application.  This limits its use in many ways.  The typical Saskatchewan classroom has Ipads in at its disposal.  If you were to create a blended classroom or a flipped classroom you would be restricted by the devices that you have available.  For example, in my classroom I have 8 Ipads and 5 computers.  Adobe Connect would work on the computers but not on the Ipads which is more than half of the technology that I have available and at my disposal. 

Adobe has many great features.  It allows VoIP calls, chatting, and web camera.  It also allows sharing of pictures, computer screen PowerPoints, etc.  It is easy to use and very user friendly.  Ask questions by using Pods Poll or QandA for group or individuals

Share weblinks Breakout rooms and assign groups - content to main meeting

Hosts - manage Adobe connect sessions

Presenters - share some of the host priveledges - can share documents, presentations, computer screen

Participants - communicate with each other, with permission can speak and present

"Web Conferencing is one of the most powerful and practical uses of Internet technology ever created to optimize communications between employees, customers, prospects and suppliers. It combines the power of a live meeting with the cost-effectiveness of a conference call." (Coyner - http://www.isquare.com/webconf.cfm)

Coyner has several very good examples of how to improve web conferencing that range from keeping your presentation short to making sure you test multiple times if everything will work.

I didn't realize that there were so many different platforms to use for web conferencing.  I am only familiar with about 4:  Adobe Connect, Blackboard, Skype, and Google Hangouts.

Moodle

Our Moodle Course includes:

Assignments

Polls/Questionaires

Forums

Grades

Internal Mail and Messaging

Chat

Blogs

Practice Quiz

Glossaries

Navigation

Calendar

There are also many other features that are built in and not so obvious, like: plug ins and multimedia integration

• Why would you want to use a CMS/LMS?

A CMS/LMS platform provides a space where students can go and access all the information that they need to proceed through a course.  I am currently teaching grade 5/6 Math and would like to try using Moodle as the platform.  I want to do this because then students access videos, games, assignments, and quizzes all in the same area.  

• What features of Moodle do you like?

I like the Navigation feature down the side of the page.  This makes everything available with the click of a button.  I also like that if you choose to, you can set up the course so that it is in Units/Modules.  So instead of having all the assignments on one page I can break it up by Units so that younger students are not overwhelmed by the amount of information being shown.

• What features would you like to see added to Moodle?

I'm still really new to Moodle and at this point and I do not know which features I would add to Moodle.  Maybe from a student's perspective... customization for the user.  The designer gets to choose the colours and such and the user just has to deal with it.  

• How do commercial CMS/LMS systems compare to open source CMS/LMS systems?

I have to admit, when I think of open source or open education I think of free.  This is not the case with CMS/LMS systems.  Although the cost is quite lower as can be seen by the attachment from Itslearning.  

One of the biggest differences between Open source and commercial is that the commercial LMS/CMS systems have the support from the company.  With an open source you need to have technological capabilities.  You can not be scared to get in and try something and possibly have to spend a large amount of time customizing and figuring out the process.

If you leave cost and support out of the equation open source and commercial are relatively similar.

I like using Moodle but I need to find time to play on it more and try and create a course.  I was wanting to put my math modules on Moodle so that they could be accessed from home but I have not had time to do so as of yet.

E-portfolio

I chose to use Mahara for my portfolio.  One of the main reasons for choosing this was it was something different and I had never used it.  Another is that I only need it for this one class.  

When I first chose Mahara I watched the online video with explanations while I was going through the site.  I found that it was relatively easy to use.  One thing I do not like about Mahara is that it is not customizable.  I am a very creative person and I would love to change the background, header and font.  As I am just using this for a journal, I decided to stay with Mahara.

I have used Wordpress to build webpages and really enjoyed the capabilities that it offered.  I like the widgets, the customization, and it is fairly easy to use as well. I mainly used it to create and update our school website but now they have changed to a new system.

Edmodo tends to be a popular site in my school division for creating student e-portfolios. This provides students a place to show off their work, let parents and family see what they are working on, and to show how much they have grown since the beginning of the year.  One way that students stay engaged in e-portolios is with the use of technology.

I definitely see value in keeping and maintaining an e-porfolio.  It would be valuable to maintain if you were looking for a job because employers have an easy way to look and see what you have accomplished, your thoughts and opinions, and any work that you would like to highlight.  At the same like many good ideas it is time consuming.

One quote that I found interesting was: "Using technology in the classroom should change the way that instruction occurs if we are to move away from teacher-directed instructional methods to student-directed methods." (http://www.cjlt.ca/index.php/cjlt/article/view/92/86) Although I believe this to be true... the technology needs to be reliable and the teacher needs to be willing to adjust and change.

After using Mahara a little longer, I found that I did not like the way that the images were stored and I was not as familiar with it as I would like to be.  Blogger allows me to directly insert images and videos in my post.  So I switched to Blogger.