Twitter chat #edtechchat (Don't blink!)

Tonight I entered my first Twitter Chat with #edtechchat.  I used the link provided by our instructor to find a chat that interested me; I choose one dealing with technology not only because I am a technology educator, but because this is a always-changing topic that I will forever need to be on-top of!  I liked this chat topic because I work in a computer lab setting; technology is what I do everyday. The content was listed on the link I provided above; the participants listed themselves when the chat began - it was fast and furious!  I was glad I wasn't the only one who thought the chat was going at a rapid pace - one guy tweeted "Is this chat going fast or am I having a heart attack?"

Toward the end of the chat, Q5: What are some tools and resources that could be used for professional development? There was a link provided that had google docs on-call so everyone could add their favorite PD tool.  This blew me away! Not only are we tweeting various tips and resources and talking about technology, but now we are using the tools and collaborating our ideas into one fluid document.  Amazing! 

I ended up following five people from the twitter chat and also gained my own followers!  I found it challenging to keep up with all the posts.  They were entered so fast and then the next, followed by the next...it was never ending!  I did like how the moderator set up the guidelines beforehand; I will post questions such as Q1 and Q2 and you can respond using A1 and A2; this was easier for me to follow.  I had a couple of shout-outs and a couple of participants retweet my response.  I think the only thing to improve my experience would be to chat more often using Twitter to get used to the experience and flow of the responses. All in all, I really liked it! 

Web 2.0 tools: Glogster

I use the free Web 2.0 tool, Glogster, in my Word Processing class when we work through our career unit.  I wanted the kids to try something other than PowerPoint (yawn) and even beyond Prezi.  I was looking for an online tool that would allow my students to create a collage with images and text and stumbled across information on Glogster.  The educational version of Glogster will allow a teacher to sign up a course and enroll 100 students for free.  Students will create their profile which consists of a username, email address and other generic questions.  Once enrolled, students can click "create glog" and a blank canvas appears.  They can add animated images or regular clipart, videos, text or upload images from a saved file into their glog.  I have my students create a career collage and look up facts and figures on their future career.  Glogster is very user friendly and FREE!  Once students are finished adding their required text to their glog, then they can change the background, change font color, style, size, etc to personalize their glog.

Glogs can be paired with google, uploaded to edmoto or embedded into a webpage.  Below is an example of one of my student's career glog.

Here is a link to Glogster:  http://edu.glogster.com/

Digital Presentation

So this week we are working on a presentation for a group of teachers.  The topic can range anywhere from Digital Citizenship, Copyright Laws, Fair Use, Digital Citizenship, etc. 
We are to use Web 2.0 tools to create our presentation and I tried GoAnimate for the first time.  Set up was easy; just created an account using my email address and created a user name and password.  There are templates to choose from, although most you have to be a subscriber to use; only basic ones are available to non-subscribers.  I was able to choose my character for the video from 4-5 options; again, only subscribers have more options.  I typed in what I wanted my characters to say and then click "preview" and was able to view what my final video would look like.  Click here to see my creation:  Go Animate Video

Social Networking

Social Networking

Social networking resources that would be helpful for working with diverse students could include sites such as Facebook and Twitter; two of which I am becoming more familiar with using.  Let’s look at the facts: there are 750 million Facebook users worldwide and 100 million Twitter users worldwide.  40 percent of those Twitter users do not actually tweet, but sign in to read others’ posts.  The current value of Facebook rests at $80 billion (The Fiscal Times 2011).

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/09/12/The-Social-Media-Explosion-By-the-Numbers

More and more, teachers are at least making an effort, in my opinion, to become familiar with these social media sites and some even include them into the lesson planning.  Our district uses Twitter for updating sports scores during game coverage and tweeting reminders and announcements.  We also have a school spirit Facebook page that any club, organization, sports team, etc can post information regarding student recognition and/or accomplishments, school-wide announcements or information that the student body would need to know.  Of the two, I think our students interact more with Twitter than Facebook.

I strictly use Facebook for my personal, family use. I have not tried to use it for educational purposes, although I do have a Facebook PowerPoint lesson plan (see attached) that could be used to illustrate a public figure in our history. 

Twitter, in my opinion, would be very easy to integrate into the classroom.  A teacher could set up a class hashtag and each student could add information and tag the class; sort of like what we do for this course. We all use the hashtag #STJedutech – check us out!