Post 34: Podcasting in Simple English

Curious about Podcasting?
Common Craft's video says it all, in simple English, in 3 minutes.

Post 33: Leadership in the Age of Technology

Presentation to Lincoln County School District administrators.
Smaller District with a big vision, and making it happen.
Addresses leadership in the age of digital natives and digital immigrants.
Digital natives are rapidly becoming our new teachers.
(PDF version GoogleDoc version)


Slide 14: Making it Happen. Teacher and Student Blogs.

Post 32: DrGunZ Video

As a teacher or administrator, how would you respond to a student who sent you the following video on YouTube? Take a careful look at the various components and imagine some creative applications and responses. Remember, most of us are digital immigrants communicating with a digital native.

Post 31: Hood River Workshop

The following message was created by a cell phone call I made in front of the Hood River HS faculty. The phone-call used Jott (a free Web2.0 tool) that not only recorded the message, but converted it to text and automatically posted in this Blog. Take a moment to reflect on what this means.

Hi, welcome to the Hood River School District. We are here at one of the elementary schools. It's nice to come up here to visit and meet with you guys. I hope all of you leave with something that you can start doing tomorrow that will help impact kids. Listen (recording)

The presentation title was "Possibilites - Tools, Tips and Topics." I began by taking several minutes to quickly create a Hood River Blog. I then took a few pictures and uploaded them to Google Photo (picasaweb.google.com) and uploaded them in a new Post in their blog. Low tech, immediate results.

Post 30: The Power of Pull

"Instead of fear of failure learning (i.e., push learning) such as experienced in most high schools, colleges and many training settings, learning needs to be irresistible and help learners unconsciously acquire information. In effect, learning should be:

• Interesting, fun, interactive, collaborative, cool, compelling, exciting, social or friendly, challenging, authentic (simulations for instance), flexible (learn when want to learn), user generated, captivating (draw learners into it—learning is a perk not a terrible experience)
• Simply stated, an alternative to the regular classroom.

The Power of Pull: Imagine walking by a bakery and encountering the tantalizing smell of your favorite cookie being baked. It would be almost impossible to resist going in and partaking. Learning can, and should, present the same attraction for learners. Ideally, it should be irresistible. With the pull-technique: 

• Draw the learner to the knowledge. 
• All learners have different modes by which they learn best. 
• The top three are visual, aural and kinesthetic. 
• Some people learn by reading and seeing — they are the visual learners and will absorb information most effectively this way. 
• The aural group learns by hearing. They need to hear information in addition to seeing it to fully absorb and embrace it. 
• The third group needs to do, that is, have hands-on experiences to deeply seat the information in neural circuits. 
• While one of these styles may predominate in an individual, it is important for training to incorporate all three modes to create a varied and interesting learning environment."
  

Gillette, Charlie. "The Power of Pull." Norwich U. (Jan. 1 2008):4.20 Jan. 2008 .

Post 29: Welcome Newport High

Welcome to Newport High School. We know there's no use for cell phones in education for kids and teachers so we have to make sure we're not allowed to use them. However, maybe there are some things we might want to consider. listen (recording)

The above message was created by a cell phone call in front of the Newport HS faculty (this is how I began the presentation). Jott (a free Web2.0 tool) not only recorded the message, but converted it to text and automatically posted in this blog.

While the principal (Jon Zagel) did some preliminary staff meeting activities, I quickly created a Newport HS Blog and uploaded some pics and a video taken moments before. Enjoy.

See Post #22 for the Workshop Agenda.

Post 28: Sketchcast Web2.0 tool

OK --- just another little Web2.0 tool. But, it won't take you long to realize that Sketchcast.com sure has alot of potential. It took me 3 minutes to create this great little demonstration of Website Layout and Design strategies. Just remember, a picture is worth a thousand words --- and one just sketches and talks, then Posts the results in Blog or website. Imagine the possibilities.

Post 27: gMail, Blogging, and Google Docs Tutorials

Are you looking for a set of activities or tutorials for setting up a gMail Account, Blog, or Google Docs? Look no further. I created the following activities using Google Docs, then Published so they would be available to everyone. Feel free to link to these activities or send any ideas for improvement.

1. Lesson/Tutorial: creating a gMail Account

2. Lesson/Tutorial: creating and posting a Blog

• View video: "Hype about Blogging" and "Blogging for educators and students"
• Creating a Blog and Posting (using Google Blogger)
• Lesson for customizing Blogger (editing the Profile)

3. Lesson/Tutorial: creating and effectively using Google Docs

Post 26: Willamette U. - M.A.T. Workshop

Drew Hinds and Chris Brantley (MAT instructors) invited me to do a mini-workshop which I titled "Blogging and other Web2.0 tools in Education." Too much to discuss in too little time, but I got the vision out there and the MAT group is already running with it.

Sara (one of the MAT students) assisted in creating a MAT group Blog to post their Community Service experiences (rather than the original plan of passing around emails). They also created a second Blog to open up discussions and support from within their group. Very impressive!

MAT Web2.0 Agenda of my presentation follows:

1. Welcome (and cell phone <-> blog demo)
2. Web2.0 discussion and demonstrations
   
• Slideshow (via Google Docs Presentation)
  
• Share some current world statistics -> Relate to Todays Kids -> Web2.0
  
3. Web2.0 Tools (bj-workshops.blogspot.com)
• Google Docs (word, sheets, presentation) and share/publish/post
• CatzWalk, Clothing, Delicious, E-LearningPresentation
  
• Del.icio.us (social bookmarking) and OSLIS (cite referencing)
• Voice-Thread and avBlogger Audio Recorder
  
4. Blogging Demonstrations
   
• Teacher Demo's:
• Blogology (post #2) and Dale, Doug, Kristin; bj-workshops (post #16)
  
• Building a Blog (post #21)
  
• Create, Post, Modify

Post 25: Web Design Layout and Design Tutorials

Online Video Tutorials specially designed for learning how to create great web sites. I'm using Camtasia Studio for the production and experimenting with varied outputs.

1. C.R.A.P. (Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity). Layout and design principles behind every great website. (YouTube Version) (Google Version)

2. HTML Editor: create a new webpage using a free editor called SeaMonkey --- by Mozilla, the folks who make Firefox. (YouTube Version) (Google Version)

3. Modifying an existing webpage using SeaMonkey HTML Editor. (YouTube Version) (Google Version)

Sample: Before and After (to increase Usability, Readability, Comprehension).

• Strategies include: less text, shorter sentences, use of bullets, pull-quotes, and annotated images.
  

Post 24: VoiceThread

VoiceThread is a simple but powerful Web2.0 tool. Imagine posting several photographs of a World War II veteran in action, then having this person annotate (speak) while viewing the photos! Or imagine a student posting photographs or scanning images of a project then annotating (speaking) about each picture. VoiceThread is as simple as uploading pics, documents, or presentations and simply annotating over the top.
After recording one can share and publish the results. Just copy the URL or the Embedded Coding into an Email, Blog, or Webpage.

Sample #1: Old photographs uploaded and narrated over the top using VoiceThread.

Sample #2: Overview of Cite Referencing. Hint: use your mouse-cursor on the video to enlarge and move around the page while listening!

Post 23: I'd like to welcome...

I'd like to welcome you to the E-learning conference at Newport and a little reminder to turn off your cell phones or put them in the vibrate mode and of course I'm sure we can't think of many applications of this tool in the classroom. Listen

Powered by Jott

--- If you're viewing this Post for the first time it is important to understand that all the Audio and Text you see above was automatically posted and generated by simply using my Cell Phone! Yes, Jott translatted my audio into text! I began the conference by calling the Jott toll-free number and simply recorded a message. After I hung up Jott took over and did all the rest. A few minutes later this Post magically appeared.

Post 22: E-Learning Workshops

Web2.0 Tools, Tips and Topics in the E-Learning World
Nov. 5, 2007 Newport, Or. Conference Flyer and Jan. 16, 2008

__ 1. Welcome Newport HS staff.

__ 2. Begin with small slide show (via Google Docs Presentation tool)

__ 3. Demonstrate a few Web2.0 Tools - with Tips and Topics (via my Google Blog)

• Post 02 - Blog-ology (teacher posts question -> student responses)
  
  
• Post 16 - Teachers: Blog4Staff Workshop and Dale's teacher blog posts
  
  
• Trip blog online2.org/alps and YackLive (walkie-talkie)
  
  
• Post 05 - Why Google Docs rocks (videoYT) (video2)----(docs.google.com)
• demo: German2IntroG.Docs, MMC_Unit 10
  
• Post 10 - Google Docs -> Create/Edit/Share
• Publishing and Tecker911 Demo1 Demo2
  
  
• Post 12 - Jott (use your phone: converts audio to text -> send-to email or blog)
• Post 19 - A/V Blogger (audio recorder). Post to blog or webpage.
• Post 15 - UStream (audio/video recording and Live Broadcasting)
  
• Post 07 - YackPack record/post audio; synchronus or asynchronus (barryj-gmail, POD group)
  
• Post 14 - Social Bookmarking (del.icio.us) video
  
• Post 17 - Cite Referencing (OSLIS and Zotero)
  
• Post 18 - Why RSS (or ATOM)? video1 or video2 (Feedburner and GoogleReader)
• Image and Video uploading (Google Images/Video; Flickr; YouTube; others)
  
• iGoogle (CMS) and Web2.0 Tools

__ 4. Follow-up workshop on Blogging. Leave with your Blog up and running!

Post 21: Building a Blog (Step by Step)

Let's begin by viewing a great little video titled "What's all the hype about Blogging?
Creating a blog is pretty simple. The following steps include some great tutorials (short videos, annotated illustrations, and step-by-step instructions). One can cut to the chase and create a Blog in 3 minutes. However, if you are new to Blogging then it is wise to walk through the following steps:

1. Create a Gmail Account (if you don't already have one) using this step-by-step tutorial.
   
2. Create your Blog using this step-by-step tutorial (several video clips and illustrations).
   
3. Configure your Blog using this tutorial to modify settings, update personal Profile, and more).
   
4. Activity 1: create a new Post, Publish it, and send the URL to a friend.
   
5. Activity 2: Practice logging out, logging in to Blogger, and Editing a Post.
   
6. Activity 3: For those with a little web design background -> experiment with Edit HTML.

Tracy's Testimony to value of Blogging follows:

I attended the eLearning Guild’s Annual Gathering this year and one presentation really hit home for me. The speaker mentioned that since he had started blogging, a year previous, he had learned more from blogging and reading the blogs of peers than he had in his entire academic career. I though to myself “Ya, right? Who’s going to believe that?” He knew the audience was thinking the same thing and said to just try it and experience it yourself.

So the first thing I did upon my return was start my own and behold he was right. I truly believe I have learned a great deal from this simple process. Blogging is a wonderful way to learn directly from one another. Each day I read many different postings from people I then can summarize, analyze, draw my own conclusion and post my own ideas and thoughts on those same topics. By doing this one simple example of peer-to-peer learning/teaching I am able to learn a many new things each day and expand my existing knowledge on those topics of which I am already aware.

Post 20: Circuit Training Sheet (S.Sheet Demo)

The following spreadsheet was created using GoogleDocs Web2.0 spreadsheet tool. No brainer to use, and simply select Publish to Blog when done.

Post 19: avBlogger (Record Voice/Video)

Userplane's avBlogger is a great Web2.0 tool that lets one record audio and/or video.

• Fully web-based. Just register on their website (avblog.userplane.com)
  
• Record -> Play -> Save -> copy/paste coding into your blog or webpage.
• Many possibilities (like recording for foreign language, giving a speech, etc.
  
• Select the Play button below to listen to my first audio recording.
  

A/V Blog
by Userplane

Post 18: RSS --- Really Simple, really important

Always chasing information? Spend too much time locating your favorite sites to see if any new content (feeds) have been added? Yes, del.icio.us (see Post #14) is very helpful for locating your favorite 'static' sites, but the logic is really backwards. Why should you do all the chasing?

Enter RSS. Often called Really Simple Syndication, this process simply collects all the sites of your choice (called aggregating) and 'pushes' all the updates back to you, and all in one place.
This 2-minute video says it all (video 2)

Key Advantages of RSS to Educators:

• Students that blog their assignments or research or reflection/journaling -> all updates will be sent to the instructor in one place. No more chasing.
• Or, when researching any topic, simply subscribe to the leading news agencies, data-rich blogs, and other key resources and let them syndicate (push/send) you updates as they become available.
  
  
• Keep track of news, podcasts, photos, blogs, just-about-anything of interest.
• Reading on the internet requires two separate skills: one, the quick analysis to find what is worth reading, and the second, a switch to slow analysis to carefully consider what has been found. What RSS does is allow students to make this distinction, to receive content as "bits" easy to scan, and then to select what they want to read.

Subscribe to an RSS feeder today. Bloglines is a favorite for most folks, and here is a nice step-by-step tutorial; but if you're already a Google fan, go with Google Reader as it integrates nicely. FeedBurner (recently purchased by Google) offers site statistics and much more.

Other great RSS tutorials and information:

• Reading & Writing - Blogging and RSS (exceptional!)
  
• Web2.0 Tutorials [RSS]
• Signing up for Bloglines
  

Post 17: Cite Referencing (MLA Citation Maker)

Students and teachers often use information off the Internet to produce a report, presentation, lesson plan, web page, etc.
Examples typically include images and text. Giving credit to the authors is always recommended, and an industry standard for the correct format is called MLA.

Using an online tool called MLA Citation Maker is as easy as: 1) click on the appropriate category, 2) fill in some basic information, and 3) let the online software do the rest.

This great tool will generate the correct format and all one has to do is copy/paste it their document.
OLSIS, ."MLS Citation Maker." OSLIS.1 Jan. 2006. 15 Oct. 2007 .

PS: Comment #1 from MrMoses also offers a terrific alternative. If you're a Firefox user check out this video on Zotero then apply the Firefox Zotero addon. Zotero makes it easy to collect, manage and cite your research. And it's fully web-based. As MrMoses states, 'Talk about bridging the gap between 20th and 21st Century modes of education!'

Post 16: The Doug and Dale Team

Following my demonstration to a small group of students and administrators at Sprague HS, the Adkins brothers (both master teachers) went to work.

• The building principal approached both of them to begin implementing a plan to expose Web2.0 tools to the staff. The three of us met for several hours to refine a plan of attack --- which was little more than to take some of the ideas they began shortly after the presentation.
  
• Dale developed a Blog to post his Lesson Plans and important links for his Science classes. Parents and IEP folks are always requesting this information!
  
• Meanwhile, Doug developed a Blog to post the Lesson Plans for a Teacher Workshop on 'Blog Design' whereby each department would spend one hour in the lab and leave with their own Lesson Plan Blog.
  
• Doug also started a 2nd Blog to share ideas with staff and students. And most exciting, he now has all his students create their own blog for his course (and they are all posted in a table of contents).
  
• And Ms. Thompson posted Spanish 1 Lesson Plan Blog that also includes Audio recordings.
  
• What I appreciated most about this process is all of this occurred within 1 week after the initial presentation to a small group of students and several administrators who were in attendance.
• Shift Happens (and very quickly) when you work with the right people. Find an administrator who will support change, and find your 'lead teachers' who have vision and the respect of the faculty. That is a winning combination.
  

Post 15: Ustream.TV (live broadcasting)

If you have a webcam and a microphone then here's a great tool for live andio and video broadcasting to a worldwide audience. If you don't have a webcam, then UStream still broadcast (like a radio) using only audio (voice).

One feature I especially like (besides being fully web-based and free) is the ability to record your broadcasts (video and/or audio only) which can then be posted to your blog or website for playback at any time.

• It's SPAM free, Safe and Secure Site, Parental Controls for Minors, Privacy Settings - Puts You In Control, and ZERO tolarence for Inappropriate Behavior.
• Once you're registered, this tool is as simple as hitting 4 buttons: Start Broadcast, Start Recording, Stop Recording, Stop Broadcasting.

Use your imagination for educational applications, including:

• Daily or Weekly Live Broadcasting (invite others to watch and listen).
• Record and deliver a speech; Playback and re-record until it's perfect; then submit it (the URL) to your instructor. If you record using the video (as well as the audio) it's like giving it live in front of an audience you don't have to look at :)
  
• Record your foreign language words/phrases, practice, and submit to your instructor.
  
• Record a F2F interview (Live and/or recorded) and post on your Blog or Webpage.

Here's a link to my UStream video's. It's pretty empty, but I wanted you to see the options.

Post 14: del.icio.us (delicious) Social Bookmarking

del.icio.us is a social bookmarking website, which means it is designed to allow you to store and share your favorites/bookmarks on the web instead of inside your browser.
Here's a great 3 minute video that says it all.

• This has huge advantages, as you can now access your bookmarks from anywhere, anytime, no matter whether you're at home, in a library, on a friends computer, or accessing the Internet from your cell phone, Blackberry, or iPhone.
• Second, you can choose to share some (or all) of your bookmarks publicly so friends and co-workers can view them for reference, amusement, collaboration, or anything else.
• Simply enter the URL and as many 'tag' descriptors as you wish and let them do the managing. You can place their Toolbar on your browser, or go to their website, login, and voila -> there sit all your favorite sites.
  
• Another beauty of this tool is their use of tagging. When you use their tool to add a Favorite/Bookmark it is called tagging. You enter key words to describe the site. Then, to locate the site in the future, simply use their 'Search' box and type in any key word(s) and voila -> guaranteed to locate the link you're looking for.
• Awesome tool --- go sign up now at http://del.icio.us
• Add this into your IE Toolbar
• Add this into your Firefox Toolbar
  

Post 13: YackPack Live Voice (Chat Tool)

1-touch, 2-Way Audio. Fully Web 2.0.

• Another great feature of YackPack is a live voice tool they call Walkie Talkie Widget.
  
• Schedule a time to have everybody meet at your Blog (or website) and hold a Live-conference or work session?
  
• Simply press the 'Live' Button to Talk. Everybody else listens.
  (the image in this Post is just a picture. Use full LiveVoice button at top of Blog)
  
• Take turns, or talk all at once. It's Live, it's easy, and it's a great tool for collaboration.

A demo of this tool is located at the top of the vertical navigation bar in this blog.

Talk LIVE to anyone currently viewing our blog. It as simple as: 1) Speakers turned on to Listen; 2) Microphone turned on to talk, and 3) Press the LIVE! button and begin talking. Voice over IP technology is wonderful.

Post 12: What the heck is Jott? [audio to text]

This post was created by using my cell phone.

• Using new Web 2.0 software called Jott I am able to call a 1-866 number, state the recipient (like 'Blogger' or 'myself' or Andy) and just talk.
  
• After I hang up, Jott takes over and converts my audio into text with amazing accuracy.
  
• It then posts the converted text to my blog or sends it as an email including both the text and audio to the recipient.

No typing, just talk.
Click here to listen

Post 11: iPhone post to Blog

I'm cruising the countryside in central Michigan and experimenting with my sons new iPhone (he's driving, of course). Amazing, innovative, incredible tool.

• Used the iPhone Maps feature (map and linear instructions) to direct us to a small music store and arrived without a glitch.
  
• Opened up the iPhone Browser and processed my Email. Connection speed wasn't the greatest, but what can one expect in central Michigan.
• While in the browser, I opened up my Blog and posted this.
  
• We also used the iPhone to watch a full length movie . This device has the highest resolution of any device currently on the market.
  
• Also listened to music (8 gigs holds alot of songs --- and data, too).
• Of course this device works anywhere (either WiFi or satellite).

Who needs a laptop when traveling?

Post 10: Google Docs & Peer Editing

OK --- Google Docs is exceeding my expectations. Better take this Web2.0 App seriously.

• I just spent the last 30 minutes synchronously co-editing with the author of a new online PE/Health course. The author/creator posted the Syllabus as a Document in Google Docs and sent me an invite to co-edit.
• We're literally watching each other type as words appear on the screen.
  
• I used the built-in spell checker and Saved, and she added colored-notes for my opinion on certain topics. We continued to update based on each other notes and suggestions.
  
• Both of us noticed the changes instantly and neither of us lost any of our updates. Geez --- how do they do that?
  
• This is just too cool to put into words.
• A revision button let's us look back at previous versions all the way to its conception.
  
• Had we sent attachments back and forth this would have taken forever.
• And here is a Circuit Training Journal Spreadsheet that was created in Google Docs. I just hit Publish and it's available for everyone to view!
• And don't forget about their new Presentation tool (virtual version of Powerpoint).
• And when we were done, I simply hit File, export to .pdf and .html to offer students other view options.
• One click to Post this doc to a Blog.
  

-> Google Docs demo (Student Project).
_

Post 9: Web 2.0, Rigor, Relevance & Education

Continuing from previous Blog --- following the video I asked the kids 'What is Web 2.0?' and sent them to Google for 3 minutes. I then requested rapid fire, key word definitions and wrote them on the board, including Blogs, YouTube, Google Docs, Wikis, social networking, and more. I then asked for a raise of hands who used some of these tools and 100% of the kids hands went up. Of course social networking was the most popular tool (gaming, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, etc.). However, I suspect very few educators have actually experienced or are using many of these tools.

Here is my response: schools want more rigor out of kids, which means they must first achieve more relevance. Todays kids are social, social, social --- and that is a key component of Web 2.0.
So, educators, become the 'guide on the side' that models and encourages kids to use these tools for the lessons and activities you plan in your classroom. I guarantee kids will become much more engaged with your curriculum, and rigor is simply a bi-product.