What Will We Do at MCHS

After our discussion regarding what we will do at MCHS everyone created a wiki or a blog. Please take a minute to share your website address so we can share ideas and thoughts. Visit one anothers sites for some ideas and make suggestions to everyone. Use the space for comments to do this.

Web 2.0 Chapter 8 - Podcasting, Video and Screencasting, Live Streaming: Multimedia Publishing for the Masses

According to Wikipedia, "A podcast is a series of audio or video digital media files which are distributed over the Internet by syndicated download, through Web feeds, to portable media players and personal computers." (I will leave the links to Wikipedia for the identified terms as the definition of the podcast is directly from their website.) The term podcast has stuck to the video or audio produced and distributed by many people even though they may not be distributed through Apple. The difference between a true podcast and any media file is simply the distribution method. Any media file distributed through the Apple iTunes website becomes a podcast. The same media file if not distributed through the Apple website is not truly a podcast. It has become the norm however to refer to any media file distributed electronically to be called a podcast much to the happiness of Apple I'm sure.

In many conversations I've had with educators there is an interest in making a "podcast". Usually I find that people get ahead of themselves and think the big picture rather than looking at it from a step by step process. The first step is to identify what media is desired to be created either audio or video. Next the initial media has to be recorded and saved as an electronic file. This then may be edited or modified in a way to optimize what the creator wants to share. Once the file is complete with any changes saved, using for example Windows Movie Maker for video, Audacity for audio or other software, the media now must be published or placed where the intended audience has access to it. (This is the step where the media either remains a media file of streaming video, audio or actually becomes a true podcast.) In many cases the author has a select audience locally and can publish the media by placing it in a location that the intended audience has access to such as a school or business server where it can be shared through a website. If the intended audience is a group of students in a specific school and or community members in that area it may not be necessary to go beyond the local website to achieve the intended purpose. If world wide publishing is the intention then the next step may be to publish the media file to the iTunes website of Apple. The creator needs to determine their intentions and desired goal.

Another consideration one should make before spending any amount of time creating any media file for distribution is whether or not there is already available media that covers the intentions of the person. If it is already created and shared there may be no need to reinvent the wheel so to speak. There are some great websites out on the Internet that offer media files and or podcasts for free download. The Education Podcast Network is one of these. If you click on the Title of this post you can navigate to the podcast network mentioned.

Web 2.0 Chapter 7: Fun With Flickr

Creating, Publishing, and Using Images Online as stated in Will Richardson's Book "is becoming more and more accessible every day. This chapter is related to Flickr although there are many different sites that can be used for this purpose. Flickr allows users to post images up to 100MB per month. Flickr sends a message to new users that states the following:

You can use Flickr to:
Organize your photos in a meaningful way - http://flickr.com/photos/organize/
Share your photos and stay in touch with your friends and family - http://flickr.com/photos/friends/
Form a group for a wedding, reunion and event
Find beautiful, cool or intriguing photos and videos
And much, much more

If you click on the title of this post you can go to Flickr and start using their website services.

Please share your ideas on how a service like this may be used in a classroom or for education purposes.

Web 2.0 Chapter 6 - The Social Web / Learning Together

The Social Web and Learning Together, what does this mean? Well in an abbreviated definition it is the way many people utilize the Internet. This can be considered a mass team effort project. Consider Wikipedia and sites where people from all over the world can contribute definitions, personal experiences, basic and advanced information. This is an extreme example of educational teamwork.

The next generation of Internet users are becoming members of "online communities" and communicating regularly through them. Twitter is just one of many of these communities and messaging sites. The messaging sites are becoming more and more popular for educational use. If you click on the title of this post it will take you to the Twitter website so you can explore. There are many, many sites out there but this is just one to mention.

For an activity that we will discuss at our next meeting explore Twitter as well as Diigio and del.icio.us websites, but most importantly how they may be used in educational environments. You may need to do some of this activity at home as we currently block some of the Twitter website. The other two are available at school. Have some fun and give your opinion at our next meeting.

http://www.diigo.com/
http://delicious.com/

Web 2.0 Chapter 5 - RSS: The New Killer App for Educators

RSS or Real Simple Syndication - What? OK so we have another acronym in education and technology. I don't think there are enough acronyms in education or technology. All joking aside, if you are an educator then RSS feeds are definitely something you should be aware of. In a simple explanation RSS allows the educator to create something like an online newspaper with only information they want to read about. Instead of going through the electronic paper to see what topics they are interested in they only see things that they have previously marked as being interested in or subscribing to. Think of it this way: You spend an afternoon browsing through the Internet doing searches for a specific topic and find some great weblogs. You select those that you like the most and can subscribe to them using Google Reader or your own chosen reader. (Not every blog can be subscribed to yet.) The next time you go online you can go to one web page and it would have a small preview of every blog you subscribed to. This way you can quickly scan your personally created reader page and pick those articles that you want to see more on. You can save a great amount of time by not having to go all over the Internet finding what you already know is of interest.

I know the above information makes it sound more simple than many believe it to be, but if you go to http://www.google.com/reader you can try it for yourself. You will find that with a little time spent you can create a new favorite website because you can pick all the content. The time spent will be well worth the effort. I think that the most time consuming component is finding blogs that allow subscribing to which I have an interest in. One website that has a number of links with RSS tools can be found here. http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Software/Internet/Clients/WWW/Feed_Readers/

Web 2.0 - Chapter 4 - Wikis: Easy Collaboration for All

Wikis - What are they, how do they work, are they reliable sources of information and how can they be used in schools? Not to long ago the word wiki wasn't known by many people. Now many people have heard the term but many still do not know what it is. In a much simplified definition, a wiki is a website where people can participate in creating an online encyclopedia of sorts. An encyclopedia??? If you remember using books called encyclopedias for research while in school then you probably didn't grow up using the Internet everyday. While encyclopedias contain a wealth of information the accumulation of the information, the sorting and organizing and eventually the publishing of the information in book form can take awhile and changes or updated information doesn't appear until the next release of the books. Online Wikis can be changed almost instantly. Different people can contribute to the wealth of information with their own expertise.



Reliability of the information on a wiki is the most concerning to many educators. After all, if anyone can contribute to a wiki how reliable can the information really be? The answer to this isn't technical but more of a numbers issue. If you consider the number of people that would like the information on a wiki to be accurate versus the number of people that would like to see false information posted those looking for accuracy will (should) win. This is where it is important for educators to place emphasis with students that multiple information sources are needed for reliability. Students should not trust anything from anyone or everyone but rather should look for multiple sources of the same information, compare the material found and make decisions based on what they find as far as accuracy. The same methods that applied when doing research with magazines, books, encyclopedias and other sources still applies today when using online resources.



What are your favorite Wikis? Do you have some websites that you have found a good educator wiki? What uses of a wiki can you think of for a class, hobby or student activity? Do you have a wiki that you have found that you think would work for teachers? If so please post your thoughts on Wikis and be sure to share a wiki favorite of your own if you have one.

Web 2.0 Discussion - Chapter 2 - Weblogs: Pedagogy and Practice

The use of Weblogs is increasing in schools as the technology becomes more available in education. I found the information regarding the use of Weblogs as a tool to highlight and share best practices interesting. Related to this is the idea of using the weblog as a building block for school web pages. If you click on the title of this Chapter 2 unit you can link to our school website to see what teachers have websites listed. It is a surprise to me, knowing that several teachers use weblogs, that more teachers have not asked to put their weblog on the school website.

Anyone that would like assistance before next weeks discussion group or would like to schedule a time in the near future to have assistance creating a blog please email me. I would be happy to assist any way I can. If you would simply like to have a site you created linked to the website then email Dan Kane or myself and we will post the information.

I would urge everyone to visit as many of the sites listed in Chapter 2 for some ideas.