My article about integrating technology into the curriculum with teachers on Kosrae has been published:
International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning
http://www.apacall.org/ijpl/v4n4/
Here is a presentation about the integration technology research that was created for PDK (Phi Delta Kappa, an education service organization) for one of the research workshops.
SlideShare software is a good way to share presentations with others. This software offers the opportunity share publicly or privately.
Take a look at the final course presentation for Patti Rodriguez in the technology course for the School of Education, ED 451. Not only is it creative, but she actually delivered this presentation in the required 5-minute allotment.
With your updated browser, access the BLOG for Ms. Rodriguez at the following link:
http://shepatte.blogspot.com/2008/05/when-technology-student-collide.html
I encourage you to give her feedback on her efforts to continually upgrade her technology skills. If you have a GMAIL account, please leave her a message by clicking on the “Post a comment” button. She deserves a pat on the back.
“People in the industry foresee a time in which for many people, the only thing they’ll need on a computer is a browser,” said Mitch Kapor, the software pioneer who now sits on the board of the Mozilla Foundation and has created a start-up, FoxMarks, that is developing a tool to synchronize bookmarks between computers. “The browser is just extraordinarily strategic.”
That notion has helped to rekindle the browser wars and has resulted in the latest wave of innovation. Firefox 3.0, for example, runs more than twice as fast as the previous version while using less memory, Mozilla says.
The browser is also smarter and maintains three months of a user’s browsing history to try to predict what site he or she may want to visit. Typing the word “football” into the browser, for example, quickly generates a list of all the sites visited with “football” in the name or description.
Firefox has named this new tool the “awesome bar” and says it could replace the need for people to maintain long and messy lists of bookmarks. It will also personalize the browser an individual user.
Internet Explorer 8, from Microsoft, promises its own set of tricks. One new tool, Web slices, allows a user to bookmark a dynamic piece of a Web site, like an online auction or a sports score, and save it in the margin of the browser, where the user can watch as it changes.
Another new feature, called activities, allows users to highlight text on a page, click on it, then instantly send it to another site, like a mapping, e-mail or blogging service.
His group (Firefox) will have one other company besides Mozilla to keep its eye on: Apple’s Safari Web browser has a little over 5 percent of the market, according to Net Applications, and subsists mostly on the loyalty of devoted Mac and iPhone owners.
Shawn Hardin, chief executive of Flock, which is developing a browser that helps users
share photos, videos and blog entries more easily, said consumers would ultimately benefit from the new browser battle.
“We are seeing choice in the browser market really emerge as a significant force for the first time in a while,” Mr. Hardin said.
I tried out my brand new ‘del.icio.us’ list during the Spring 2007 semester [http://del.icio.us/jcyrus]. I was initially intrigued by the ability to have online access to my coveted bookmarked sites via any Internet-connected computer. In addition, I could have access to other lists via the tags that are used to categorize (or bundle) various groups of posts.
Now, my undergraduate students are required to have a del.icio.us list as an assignment. In the Fall 2007 semester, the pre-service teachers taking the required “Integrating Technology” course were required to have a ‘del.icio.us’ list with 35 posts, a network of 3, notes on all posts and bundles. Below are a few of the more engaging and interesting lists from that semester – several of which are still being used and updated.
Fall ‘07
http://del.icio.us/8stanley
http://del.icio.us/chatrekay
http://del.icio.us/joleengay
http://del.icio.us/luwainajoyce
http://del.icio.us/normajean71
http://del.icio.us/sgcruz
For the Spring 2008 semester, the pre-service teachers enrolled in the required ‘Integrating Technology’ course were tasked to produce 50 posts in addition to networking with 3 to 5 others and organizing the posts with appropriate tags and bundles.
The course for ‘Integrating Technology,’ entitled Education 451: Audio/Video Education, is a required course for elementary and secondary perspective teachers within the School of Education. The educational value for these beginning teachers spans several areas: information, communication, connection and collaboration. Del.icio.us users can gather information about a specific topic and keep the links in one place. For group projects, learners can communicate, connect and collaborate using the links in several ways, such as subscribing to each others’ lists. The beauty of connecting and gathering information is that one can access other del.icio.us lists to expand the area of research and fact gathering.
It’s a wonderful tool [http://del.icio.us/ed.tech] that can be used for a wonderful classroom activity and course requirement.
Spring ‘08
http://del.icio.us/jonilinlsn2
http://del.icio.us/kelliemeno
http://del.icio.us/mbolivarez (categorized posts in bundles according to courses)
http://del.icio.us/mfranquez86
http://del.icio.us/rita_rose_hualde
http://del.icio.us/sonyadahill2
There are many possibilities in which a 'del.icio.us' list assignment can be included into the pre-service curricula.
bookmarks and feeds into interactive slideshows…The instructions are not very direct or clear, but with a bit of perseverance, one can create a slide slow, create a group (which I haven't done yet), and email the URL.
On a scale from ‘0’ to ‘5,’ the mean rating for Writely was 4.67.
This technology tool has been purchased by Google. Use of the Writely tool is obtained through a GMAIL account.
IMAGINE LEARNING
On a scale from ‘0’ to ‘5,’ the mean rating for Imagine Learning was 3.89.
“This program is great for our student’s to use in the classroom and at home. It falls in line with the class that we are currently taking (ESL), thus, it has some activities for children to perform that correlates to the methodologies in which will assist in their developmental skills”.
BLOGGER
LEARN OUT LOUD
On a scale from ‘0’ to ‘5,’ the mean rating for LearnOutLoud was 3.33.
“Learn out loud is a website where users are provided with both an audio and visual learning environment. Some of the features include educational audio books, MP3 downloads, podcasts, and DVD videos. Users can learn a foreign language, or even listen to classical music. The website has a directory of many different topics such as education, history, languages, travel, etc. For example, if a user wanted to learn more about Benjamin Franklin, he/she could easily download the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. I enjoyed this website because it had a variety of many topics to choose from, and their resources were helpful and easily accessible”.
“This software is like most search engines, it gives too many results and you have to be very specific about what you are looking for. This is supposed to be a tutorial software and that is exactly what it is and no more”.
HOT POTATOES
On a scale from ‘0’ to ‘5,’ the mean rating for Hot Potatoes was 1.25.
“The concept for Hot Potatoes is a very good one as it allows one to create learning exercises or quizzes to reinforce and check student learning, but it is very difficult to complete the exercise. There are tutorials and very detailed explanations about the design concepts with instructions, which I was initially excited about, but when I tried to navigate my way around to create a sample exercise, I kept getting stuck and couldn’t understand what I needed to do next after I completed the tutorial on a sample question using JMix. I think that the program design needs to be upgraded so that it is user friendly, efficient and easy to use. Also, it would be very useful for it to be flexible in hiding the correct answer or feedback section of the same exercise for the student’s edition and incorporating it for a teacher’s edition”.
“Hot Potatoes appears to be intended for teacher construction of tests and other forms of assessment. However, the program may be difficult for people at first glance. Hot Potatoes really does not allow for web exploration. It is designed for document creation. Hot Potatoes assists teachers and students in developing several kinds of assessments. It may not be characterized as incorporating the best use of multimedia. It really does not allow for communication between students or teachers. It is really not designed for online direct communication”.
iKEEPBOOKMARKS
“iKeepBookmarks.com [http://www.ikeepbookmarks.com] allows you to upload, and keep, your bookmarks on the web for free. You can access them at any time, from any computer… anywhere!”
On a scale from ‘0’ to ‘5,’ the mean rating for iKEEPBOOKMARKS was 3.45.
“iKeepBookmarks is a very helpful site for both teachers and students. Users can keep useful bookmarks of websites that they find very useful on this website so that they do not have to keep searching for it again on a search engine. Users can manipulate their environment on the site by describing the types of websites they decide to bookmark. Users can also put their bookmarks into folders. This website is very helpful for many different types of interests from education, gaming or shopping”.
“Although ikeepBookmarks does not do much to help students with work, it does help students remember all of their favorite sites, their user names, and passwords for each site, alongside websites recommended by the teachers”.
YAHOO BRIEFCASE
Yahoo! Briefcase [http://www.briefcase.yahoo.com] is a tool that allows you to store files online and then access them from anywhere. “You can easily access, edit, share and modify your files anywhere you can access the Internet just by uploading and downloading files through virtually any web browser on any web connection.”
On a scale from ‘0’ to ‘5,’ the mean rating for YAHOO BRIEFCASE was 3.46.
“Yahoo Briefcase is very easy to navigate and use. It is very self-explanatory (so) that no manual is required. I believe that ESL students could easily use the program without difficulty, provided they are self-directed computer users. Yahoo Briefcase is an extremely practical tool for students to consolidate all the work on the web, allowing them to retrieve and/or edit files anywhere they have access to the computer and the internet. However, it only simply allows one to input, retrieve and edit files and nothing else, like enable it to be multimedia.
TRIPOD
Tripod [http://www.tripod.lycos.com] on Lycos, established in 1994, is one of the leading personal publishing communities on the Web. Tripod makes it easy for members to create their own web site. With 20MB of web space for your web site, you can have a BLOG and a photo album along with your web site. Tripod also has clip art you can use on your web pages.
No rating available.
