First Impressions of Google Wave

So in one of the first "waves" ever sent to me, Angie (who I'd sent an invite to Google Wave) asked, "So can you describe Google Wave in five words?" Like many of us she wanted to know why she would begin using this new platform without watching the looooong video on the "About Google Wave" site and why she wouldn't just use email or skype.

Well, I've been using it a bit and reading some good posts on what others thought of the wave. And while I think the possibilities down the road are great, here are some of my early impressions.

Things I like:

• Like many Google products it's very intuitive and has a friendly, clean interface. You don't feel like you need a manual to get started. And if you have a Google account already this is just another piece to add.
• Possibility to be a great tool for collaboration. Sure you can use it for email communication, but it might be at its best with groups, where you need to track the thread of the conversation. Google Wave might really be a great way to share information, links and documents all in one "wave," in real-time.
• Less email (the bane of my existence on some days...I can't even talk about it) or at least the possibility to create one wave that would allow participants to respond without several "replies to all" ending up in inboxes.

Things I don't like (right now):

• Seems slow. In a few practice waves with multiple contributors the "real-time" communication was a little slow. I imagine this will get better as Google continues to work out the kinks.
• Not enough people on wave. As invites to wave continue to go out this will also get better, but Google Wave is not very exciting if you don't have anyone to wave to.

To be fair Google Wave is still in "preview mode," so it will improve and there are all sorts of cool things I've heard will eventually be a part of wave. So for now I enjoy what it is and look forward to the future of the wave.

In the meantime I have three more invites to Google Wave. I'll send them to the first three educators who contact me with the email or gmail account they'd like to use.

Oh, and my answer in five words was skypeIM + email + Wiki = google wave. Not bad for a five word limit. :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/axio/3973598646/

Additional Links & Readings:

• Jane Hart has a great Google Wave Reading List
• Lee Stacey's short and sweet Confused by Google Wave? post
• Google Wave Overview from the official site
• ESchool News Google Wave has Great Potential for Education

Twitter for Your Personal Learning

It's important to reflect on the implementation of professional development. Are the participants using the tools you're showing them weeks after the session? If not, why?

In the past few months I've had only a couple of workshops on Introduction to Twitter. However weeks after the meetings, many of the workshop participants don't seem to be using twitter. In the meantime I continue to hear about the power of Twitter as a learning tool for teachers and students and its possible impact on education. And I personally get great ideas EVERY DAY from twitter. So what's the deal?

I know there are a lot of factors to explain this, and I know teachers are very busy (and sometimes just need the tech credit :). And sometimes they just don't feel they have time to implement a new technology mid-semester. But with holidays around the corner, I'm going to encourage many of the educators to take a second look at Twitter. And I've reflected on a few reasons for the lack of use as well as a bit of advice for teachers who are interested in trying it out.

Why some educators might not be using Twitter (even after what I'm sure was an enlightening workshop:)?

• Time - Twitter is sometimes difficult to master in a hour or even 90-minute workshop. I can give examples and testimonials of how great it is, but until teachers can see the benefit and build a network and receive great info - it can be hard to see. Twitter takes time. I followed about eight people for about a month before I felt I really got into it. And it takes time to maintain and update. However, once I started to receive lots of great ideas and resources from others (more on this below), the time I now save has been well worth the initial investment.
• Misperceptions - I wish Twitter did not have "What are you doing?" at the top of the page because often the updates don't reflect that. Sure, there are some who use it as an opportunity to share what they're doing, but many of updates can be used to spread important ideas, information and resources. I get seven or eight sites every day with great information from Twitter. Information I would have spent much more time searching to find in Google or sites I wouldn't have know to look for. Unfortunately, for some workshop participants Twitter can sound very trivial, and although they'll politely pay attention and accept the tech credit, at the end of the day it's easy to dismiss as another fad in social networking. So don't limit Twitter to just a "social" network, instead think of it a "learning" network.
• Following too many and/or the wrong people- Twitter is what you make it. And who follows you is not as important as who you follow. But it takes time to create a group to follow who will give relevant information. Following celebrities sounds fun, and I'm sure Oprah is a super person, but she might not give me the info. I'm looking for. I've seen too many teachers start off following all the suggested celebrities. While that might sound fun, it's probably not the best way to build a personal learning network. Twitter lists (a relatively new feature) make it much easier to locate groups worth following, but you may want to start slow with a handful of users and add more when as you get use to it.
  
• Resistance to another social networking platform - In a few trainings I've heard, "This is like updating Facebook." And while the process is similar and you'll find those who integrated the two, I think a main difference is the audience (and this is a point to caution educators on). Facebook updates are mostly going out to a controlled group of "friends" while Twitter is a broadcast in a commons. There are some who "protect their tweets" limiting those who can see their updates, but this also limits those who you interact with. Be aware of the difference, if you choose to use both. Twitter can be the learning tool you use, while Facebook (or sites like it) can remain your social networking tool.
• Too Much "Pulling" not Enough "Pushing" - For some of us who remember web 1.0 it can be hard to move beyond the web as a place to read and pull information and move into the web 2.0 model of the contributing and pushing of information. I suspect some educators are using Twitter to read updates but maybe not post updates themselves. Although there is nothing wrong with this, they aren't benefiting from the "network" part of this tool. I'm not saying constantly "push" because there are Twitter users I've "unfollowed" just because I couldn't keep up with the constant flurry of updates. But pushing out info, answering questions or participating in Twitter groups is part of what makes the learning in Twitter so powerful.
• How am I going to use this in my class? - Twitter can be a powerful tool for learning more and connecting with other teachers, but if you want details about its use in classroom, there is evidence that students can use microblogging for learning too. The grade level will dictate the needed level of teacher supervision, but there are platforms like Edmodo that are available for use with students. Students can also benefit from the ability to quickly share information in a networked setting. But like a lot of technology, the teacher needs to become familiar with the technology before feeling comfortable using with students.

So give it a try (or another try)and see how much you can benefit from being part of a personal learning network using Twitter.

A Few Ideas for Blogging

Lately, I've spent a lot of time talking "blogging" with teachers. Blogging is a great way to engage students and can be used in some fashion with all students. Classrooms without a lot of technology hardware can blog and collect a digital portfolio of students writing, while also teaching some valuable Internet safety lessons. Many teachers are interested in blogging but wonder if this might be one more thing to maintain and manage throughout the day. Blogs can be used in a lot of ways to help teachers work smarter not harder.

And sometimes everyone just needs a few ideas for getting started. And while there are many ideas for classroom blogging on the Internet, I'd like to throw out some advice and a few easy ways I've seen teachers in our district blogging with students.

• Keep it simple and ask a simple open-ended question. Remember blogging is not meant to create a lot more written work for the teacher. Post a question and let the kids respond. Some of the best blogs I've seen used with students are less about the post and more about the comments/responses from the students.
• Use pictures. Marlo presented Image Journaling as part of our session for NCTIES last year, and it was brilliant in its simplicity. Post a picture (observing copyright) and have the students respond to a question involving the image. Great for descriptive writing, prediction strategies, summarizing etc...
• Use multimedia. With the popularity of hand-held video cameras (like the Flipcamera) teachers can easily upload lessons and group performance videos to their blogs. This is a great way to showcase some of the events in your classroom, while allowing students to create digital content. Please note large videos can be much harder to upload into a blog.
• Showcase student work. Let the blog be a digital bulletin board for displaying student work. Pictures can be scanned in and student writing can be posted, giving students a chance to show off what they've done in class with a potentially global audience.

It does take some effort in getting started, but the majority of teachers I've spoken with who have blogged with their students over the course of a year really seem to think the blog has helped. Try it and I think you'll agree.

Some Good Sites for IWB Resources

Interactive whiteboards (IWB), whether Activ or SMART are great tools for instruction. I've always thought an IWB doesn't make a teacher great, but the addition of an interactive whiteboard in the hands of a great teacher is an amazing tool for learning.
I've been lucky enough to see some of these classes in action where the interactive whiteboard has become an integral part of every day's instruction.

So here are some of the better sites I've seen to look for resources for either the Activboard, SMARTboard or both.

• Promethean Planet for Activboards and
  SMART Exchange for SMARTboards are still two of the best places for starting. Each site has downloadable lessons and good resources for their software.
• Kenton Co School's SmartBoard Smartmath (SMART) Kenton County School's has notebook files to download as well as a list of interactive websites.
• National Library of Virtual Manipulatives (Activ or SMART) good site for interactive math manipulatives and tools to use with IWBs.
• juliethompson.com/SMART (Activ or SMART) This site has a nice collection of links to interactive sites for use on an IWB with K-3 students. Although the site specifically mentions the SMARTboard, most of the sites I checked out could be used on either board.
• WPS's smart-lessons (SMART) Great collection of K-12 notebook files by grade level and subject area.
• topmarks.co.uk/interactive (Activ or SMART) this site has a lot of free educational materials for IWBs and the downloaded files are in swf which can be inserted into either IWB.

So there's a small list I'd recommend to teachers searching for some resources. Do you know of some I need to add?

Top Sites for CopyrightFriendly Pictures for Your Blog

"When you use pictures in your blog please make sure you are observing copyright."

Okay so where can I get pictures to use?

It's a fair question. Sometimes the "copyright" mention in the workshop sessions (any workshop session) turns into a lot of "don't." So where should you get pictures for use in your classroom blog?

Most of the time teachers aren't really interested in hearing me talk about how much I like creative commons, they really just want a few sites to check out and see if they can find the pic they need. So here are a handful of sites I'd recommend, but I'd also need to mention that one of the best ways to use pictures would be to take your own (or even better have students take them). This won't work for all pictures but is a way to avoid any issues in copyright.

I'll also say that while many of the sites are "copyright friendly" and not likely to have any questionable content, it might not be a good idea to pull up pictures with your students. I've used all these sites before and not encountered anything objectionable but enter disclaimer here.

Top Sites for Copyright-Friendly Pictures for Your Blog:

• Pics4Learning This site grants teachers and students the use of the pictures on its site, many of which were submitted by teachers and students. I love the idea, but there are some areas that there is not a lot of content. As a plus, it is very easy to use the site.
• Flickr Flickr is a great one for finding pictures uploaded by users who in many cases have some real skills in photography. In most cases you'll find more than enough images to choose from. However not all content should be used. Be sure to check under Additional Information for details on the rights for the image. You may need to become familiar with creative commons licenses.
  
• Compfight isn't a part of the Flickr site, but it does provide an easy option for searching. In Compfight you can easily search Flickr for only creative commons images. Just set the search option at the top of the page to Creative Commons Only.
  
• Photo8 is maintained by a photographer who has a nice collection of quality photos that are now public domain. Again, this site might not have the volume of pictures other sites offer but should ease any copyright fears.
• UncleSam'sPhotos The government might seem like an unlikely source of great photos. However, they have a nice directory of free stock photos available for commercial or personal use. There are a few steps to get to the content, but there are many good pictures related to the military, civics and United States.

Finally in many cases "copyright-friendly" still means cite the source. Even if this step is optional, it is still a good to model the process for our students.

So there they are, not a comprehensive list but a good starting place for pictures to use on your blog (voicethreads, webpage, etc...)

WSFCS Online Learning

This month the WSFCS Instructional Technology Dept will offer self-paced online workshops for the teachers in our district. We've talked for some time about the ways we are going to transform the way we offer staff development using Moodle, and this month is a big step in that direction.

Teachers seeking tech credits will be able to login to the WSFCS staff development webpage and register for online courses. These courses will be listed as Other- Online in the location. Once the teacher has registered for the course, directions will be given about setting up a WSFCS Online Learning account and the course's enrollment key. Workshop participants can then complete the course anytime during the month the course is offered.

This month we have teachers enrolled in workshops on Photostory, Learning Village, Schoolcenter, Google Docs, Audacity, PowerPoint, Excel, Learn360 and Moviemaker. We'll continue to offer different technology workshops throughout the year online, hoping to meet the demand from our teachers.

The feedback we received from our pilot teachers was that they very much enjoyed being able to do the workshop on their own time. Teachers' days are very busy, and often the times we can offer face-to-face workshops are at times when teachers are preparing or recovering from a full day with students. Online learning is a vehicle for offering on-demand staff development at times the participant chooses.

If we can better provide WSFCS teachers with technology tools and knowledge, then they can better transform the way they offer instruction to their students. I think this is a very powerful idea whose time has come.

A Chance to Transform

President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan are discussing the need to change the school calendar in an effort to increase the number of instructional hours for students in the U.S.

Earlier this year the president stated, "The challenges of the new century demand more time in the classroom." More time in the classroom or more time learning?

While I agree there is a need to examine ways to make certain our students will be competitive in a global economy, I wonder if sending students to school more or for longer hours is missing an opportunity to really transform the ways we offer education and learning.

This issue has many elements to it, not the least of which would be funding, but for argument's sake I'd like to focus just on the issue of time spent in the physical school vs. time spent learning.

What if we expected more learning outside of schools rather than more time in schools? What if instead of trying reform we made an effort to transform schools. Instead of more of what we are doing, what if we looked at something instead of?

Currently NCVPS offers students in North Carolina the chance to take courses and earn credit online. April Patterson is currently the contact for our district. What would happen if instead of requiring more time in the physical school building, we could provide opportunities to take more learning online and look for ways to provide Internet access to all homes in the U.S. It seems to me this might be a better way of preparing students for the future, while focusing on the digital divide in our country. 

I know that there are probably many issues I haven't anticipated, but I wonder if this isn't an opportunity to transform the model of the classroom and take a look at how learning could and should take place in a digital age.