Blogs and Wikis

I found this Middle School Teaching Blog while looking for content I could use on with my hybrid course. I have posted it on the Blackboard site and asked students to look at it. It is too late in the semester to add another asignment, but I might require students next fall to find and share education blogs with the class- kind of webquest style as well as to follow and analyze blogs
I have set up my first Wiki in my hybrid course. I have students post part of there weekly reading reflections there. My intial reason was so I could easily collect questions, but the students are using it to communicate with one another about the wekly content. An unexpected bonus.
Below is the blogs I found and am sharing with them this semester. For fall I plan to post more.

	http://tln.typepad.com/middleweb/middle_grades_blogs_/

Prezi the new PowerPoint

The title says it all. Powerpoint, the old stand by of teachers and trainers is being replaced by Prezi. Since I never really mastered all the Powerpoint, I was a bit intimidated by the bells and whistles of Prezi. Prezi allows for more links and more movement than Powerpoint. I can see its value for teaching because of this, but it also concerns me.
Students today are used to the fast moving pace of tv and video games. Research has proven this over and over,and sometimes teachers feel like they have to constantly "entertain" and keep things moving to keep students engaged. Prezi is one way to do this with your presentations; either has to give them or alow students to create them. That's the plus of Prezi. Pedagogically, I know as a teacher educator that engagement and motivation are critical for learning.
I also know that sometimes the content needs to absorbed and contemplated and reviewed. Sometimes quiet and critical thinking time is needed, most especially when coming up with new ideas, concepts or inventions. I know this because I grew up in the "old school" and I consistently am trying to improve my education and my teaching. Do all of the teachers today- practicing and pre service know this? I am not so sure and I think I might be doing them a disservice. Technology must not be used simply for technology's sake. It must be used to improve student learning.
I am not dissing Prezi. I will use it. It is fun, easily mastered and will add to my instruction. But mayhaps more care may be needed. Several classmates posted on this topic, saying that some Prezis made them almost dizzy from the movement. In this case, perhaps the presentation outweighed the content?
Here's my first Prezi: I am working on a second.
http://prezi.com/acp31gyihzfi/read-it/

Diigo

http://www.diigo.com/user/jodyfernandez1

Once I played around with Diigo, I can see some real applications for using this in my courses. Rather than fool around with Youtube during classtime, I can easily access Diigo for my content. it's great during f2f because it is quick.

The best part of Diigo for me will be in my planning. I used to save applicable websites and readings to my computer (or on a flash drive) but that meant I had to be at my computer to do anything.Favorites unwieldy. It also made my  I can access Diigo from any computer and find the content immediately.

I used Diigo recently while at a training to save a URL that was mentioned so I could go back at look at it more thoroughly that evening.

I will share this with my students so they can set up an account to handle the plethora of teaching ideas websites as they prepare for their careers. In my online courses, I have students research articles and websites (and books) and compile an annotated bibliography on a particular topic. I can see them using Diigo for this instead. It would give them access for years to come and can be shared.

Podcasting

Podcasting has been my downfall. How could something so simple morph it an 8 hour ordeal. I first recorded my summary of the MOOC article using my computer software. While I wrote a script, I still had to stop and rerecord several times because I stumbled over words and the dogs barked.I couldn't figure out how to edit. I recorded the minimum of 3 minutes,  but then found it was too long /large a file to attach to the module. I signed up for Podbean only to find my computer software was not supported. I finally rerecorded on my phone and was able to link it on the module.

I require my students to "teach"  by reading a book aloud, asking questions, etc. In the past, I required them to read aloud to the class. This was time consuming (15 minutes times 30 students). In addition, reading aloud to classmates is not the same as reading to students.  Finally the ITV issues made it difficult to hear and see students at the other 3 locations. This semester I am offering them the opportunity to record themselves reading aloud to students. They can either video or audio record themselves. Pedagogically, I think this will be beneficial. It doesn't use up valuable classtime. The activity is more realistic and better mirrors what they will do in the future. And they don't worry about embarrassing themselves in class. They are using technology that they first encountered in the course immediately preceding this one and practicing real world skills.

So while my personal podcast experience was less than stellar, the applications for podcasting and videorecording in pre service education are easily seen.
I am attaching linking to Podbean. Don't judge me too harshly. It is about the learning not the points!www.jodyfernandez@podbean.com.

I am also trying to figure out how to put the podcast on the blog.Check back.

Social Networking

I am a big fan of Facebook both personally and professionally. I use it connect with family and friends, and to network with professional colleagues and get information from professional organizations such as the International Reading Association and the Association of Middle Level Educators (formerly NMSA).

I first started using it with students who had matriculated, and then with graduate students. Like many others, I hesitated to use it with undergraduates and current students do primarily to privacy issues. I have found that students are much more likely to check FB than their email or Blackboard and I can get information to them quickly. In fact, I did so just Friday when I was supposed to observe students teach out of county. Schools were closed due to tornadoes and we were able to connect and reschedule.

Being "friends" on Facebook can be done  by creating a separate student-teacher account for those who worry about privacy. I use my regular account because (1) it helps my students to see me as human; (2) it requires me to edit even more what I say to the world. Too often inappropriate posts are made, and while I always try to be good, knowing I will face questions in class on Monday keeps be more careful;and (3) it serves as very teachable moments for my pre service teachers. They are users of technology who need to see how it can be used effectively in teaching. If you have a FB account, feel free to" Friend" me.  Jody Fernandez www.facebook.com