Harper's Talk Show

This Saturday, July 30, 2011 at 12:00 noon I will be having a live talk show on Blogtalkradio.  My topic is coming from an assignment that I recently discussed among my peers.  Should teachers and students become friends on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or GooglePlus.  This time I want  parents, students, and teachers to respond to this question.  I am excited about how they are going to address this issue.  For the most part this website has three packages; free for Basic users, Premium, Plus and Pro.  Unfortunately the Basic user can only have 5 callers. You are more than welcome to listen in!

Integrating Social Network

I chose to do a social studies lesson on the States in North America.  Many of my students who live in New Jersey have not traveled outside of their township.  I wanted them to get to know facts about the historical states, geography, and the culture of different states. 

 Subject: Social Studies

Grade: 5^th

Goal: To utilize a social network web 2.0 tool for the purpose of research and collaborating with their peers and teacher

Objectives:

All students will utilize historical thinking and research skills to maximize their understanding of history and geography 6.1

Students will create a Edmodo group and share their information

Students will explore and research the different states of their choice and write descriptions, highlight important information and create a list in Edmodo

Students will describe the geography of the state and give historical facts and write their findings

Students will create a travel brochure using publisher

Students will write a one paragraph reflection blog

Technology:

www.edmodo.com

SmartBoard

USB 2.0 Flash Drive

Computer

Microsoft Publisher

Blog

Description:
There are 20 students in the class. Five students are gifted and 7 are special needs.
There will be 4 groups of 5 students.  Each group will chose a team leader and that team leader will collaborate with his or her team.  The team will discuss who will have the different tasks.

Teacher will explain each student must contribute to the project and will create graphic organizers on www.bubbl.us.com

Students will create a social group in Edmodo

Students will do research on historical places within the state and make sure to create a list of your research and add to your library

Choose one area where they would like to tour and do a geography research of that state

The next student will take that information and find tours they can attend and visit the museums

Student will find a place to have fun day and type up the brochure

Student will find a hotel, a place to eat and present the cost for the weekend

Teacher will show students an example of a brochure

Once students are finish with their brochure they will write a one paragraph reflection on their project

Evaluation:

Students will be evaluated on their brochure and reflection blog by a rubric

Researching and Evaluating Web 2.0 Tools

Searching for web 2.0 tools became over whelming.  I felt like I was in a candy store and became uncertain about which candy I can choose that would entice my taste buds.  There seemed to be a vast amount of sites that does different task.  The human filters I used were Google, Kathy Schrocks guide for educators and students and Discovery Education Web 2.0 Tools.  Using Google may have a huge amount of information but I was still able to narrow my search. I took Kathy Schrocks’ course on Web 2.0 and I knew I was going to receive quality information.  Lastly, I looked at Discovery Education Web 2.0 tools.  They did not present many tools but I knew the site had valuable information.   My main goal was to search for sites that educators, students and parents can view and use.  I am pleased about the sites that attracted my attention. I chose PB Works, JayCut and Prezi.

PB Works 28/32

PB Works is a wiki. The website has 3 cost options. Basic is free, classroom is $99 per year and campus is $799 per year.  What enticed me about this website, it minded me of our school base website but this site has more options.  Using PB Works gives me the feel of independence and it allows my classroom to feel like a community within itself.  I love the fact I can use this site for class resources such as publish class notes, power point lectures, schedules and give examples of students’ work.  Also, my students can collaborate when doing group projects, students can present student portfolios and best of all parents would be informed about homework, upcoming exams and events.  Furthermore, I explored the site and read where it is highly recommended by administers, teachers, colleges and business associates.  I opened up a page where a 5^th grade teacher, Mr. Boyer used Glogster and posted it on his page.  I created a test page just to see how easy it is to use without using a tutorial.  It is fairly easy but practice makes perfect and using their tutorials would help out a lot.  PB Works often has webinars about using their site.  The next section is August 2, 2011 7pm Eastern time and 4pm Pacific time.  In addition, I feel safe when using this site.

          PB Works has a “secure socket layer technology that protects your information using both server authentication and data encryption, ensuring that your data is safe, secure and available only to authorized users”.  I love this information because as an educator we must make sure sites meets the CIPA.

JayCut 26/32

JayCut excited me because I love creating digital stories.  I recently completed the Digital Story course and had fun with my projects.  It was a lot of work but educational.  JayCut is an upscale editing and movie maker website. It reminds me of movie maker but its features are somewhat different. You work in the timeline mode.  Whereas, in movie maker you have an option; you can use story board or timeline to work in. I upload one of my digital movies that have a wmv file and it automatically converted the file. In addition, I upload some pictures to create a movie and the process of laying out my pictures and adding transitions on the timeline was not the same as I thought it would be in Movie Maker.  I came to the conclusion; I must review the tutorials and practice in order to see the high end of this site.  I like the idea I can share my videos with my class, the parents and my friends.  Also, the site is strict about users uploading pornography or obscenity.  However, this site does “contain links to other websites and they strongly feel they are not responsible for the privacy policies or practices of third party websites”.

         

Prezi 28/32

Lastly, I chose Prezi.  I enjoy working on Prezi’s site.  Prezi is fun and upscale.  You work on a large blank prezi canvas in which you can change the color. It has a transformation zebra that allows you to do great things with your typed words and it has a bubble menu that permits you to add video, audio, pictures, frames, boarders, colors and a path that helps you to organize the sequence of your presentation.  Their tutorial is excellent and easy to understand.  The only problem I had and a host of other users is importing audio on your prezi. I followed the manual to the letter and it gave me audio but not how I wanted to appear on my page. However, the website’s security surprised me.  It stated, “This site is for adults to use”.  In addition, “The service may contain links to other independent third party websites (Linked Sites).  These link sites are provided solely as a convenience to our visitors.  Such linked sites are not under Prezi’s control, and Prezi is not responsible or doesn’t necessarily endorse the content or practices of such linked sites, including any information or materials contained on such linked sites”.  I did not get a chance to ask the website is there anyway educators can change the filtering. But that question is going to be on my list of things to do.  It would be a shame that students under 18 cannot use this site.

          On the other hand, I did have the opportunity to email 2 websites.  One was about one of their security features and that site is Flickr and the other site was Prezi.  I was concern about their audio feature.   However, Prezi did not respond to my concerns but Flickr did.   I was previously informed that Flickr has many objectionable materials on its site. I do like Flickr because it gives educators and students the option to choose pictures from creative commons.  I sent an email to the developers explaining how students need a site like this but I also gave my concern about the pictures not being student friendly, what can be done to avoid my school district from blocking this site completely.   Flickr wrote back and said, “To avoid such issues, we suggest that you enable the SafeSearch of your account. SafeSearch is a feature that allows you to control what turns up in your searches on Flickr, and it's on for everyone by default. For more information, please visit our FAQ page at:

http://www.flickr.com/help/filters/#249      

http://www.diigo.com/list/yharper/web-20-tools

Building a Media Library EDIM 514 - CC

 I chose to use images under the Creative Common Licensing. Many teachers give projects that require students to incorporate pictures.  Most educators teach their students not to plagiarize when copying other authors’ work.  However, we do forget to carry that same concept when it comes to downloading, and copying photos from the internet.  Most people think it’s only one picture and they are not going to sell it.  Having this mind set can cause problems.  The five images I chose under the Creative Common licensing were Flickr, Google Images, Animal Photos, Free Large Photos and Dreamstime.

          Flickr and Google Images are the well known sites many teachers and students have used for projects. Flickr is stricter than Google Images.  I find their pictures to be very limited in the liking but it meets the need.  Animal Photos are great for teachers and students to use for science.  The pictures are clear and colorful.  There was no price tag for using the images but users must read the details.  In addition, Free Large Photos are excellent for teachers and students who are doing a social studies project.  The pictures are clear and free.  However, there is a fee for business use.  Lastly, Dreamstime has free sign up but some of their images have price tags if you want high quality resolutions frames. From experience having high RF is needed when creating a movie maker project.

http://www.diigo.com/list/yharper/creative-common-images


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Creative Commons Licensing

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Creating a creative common license for my blog was very new to me.  I have heard of this website but never knew how to go about licensing my work.  After reading the different creative common licenses, I found this process difficult for me to choose.  As an educator I must be honest with myself.  I’ve learned how to recycle, borrow, share and ironically still be territorial in the classroom. Having these thoughts in mind I chose Attribution-Non Commercial No Derivative License.  This is the most restrictive of the licensing that are listed. 

          I love to share my work and ideas and many teachers have the same thoughts.  Having my colleagues see the value of my work makes me feel proud and would cause me to create more.  However, I still want to keep a part of my originality for my own.  I don’t want anyone to remix, tweak or build upon my work.  I believe certain ideas or work should be honored and untouched.   Also, I have problems with people loving your ideas, changing them to fit their likings but don’t want to give credit to the original owner and keeping the same licensing.   I want to make sure my licensing does not have any room for this to happen.

          As for my students I would encourage them to critically think about choosing a license that best fit their needs or ideas.  I would be very honest and avoid choosing for them.  I do not want to give them the wrong advice because there can be a time when something can go drastically wrong. I would explain the different licensing such as, the licenses, Attribution-Share Alike, Attribution-No Dervis, Attribution-Non Commercial, Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike, and Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivs and the power each one have.  Also, I would inform them to keep in mind; they are going to have mixed emotions on how they want their project or ideas to be shared.  At times they may not mind if their ideas are modified.  However, there is going to be that one project that they would want to protect and not allow anyone to remix, tweak, build upon or use for commercial use.   Lastly, my students are going to be aware of people taking their work but don’t want to give credit to the owner.  With all of this knowledge I would advise them to choose wisely. 

EDIM 514 Welcome

Hello Everyone!

My name is Yvonne Harper.  I am married with two children; a daughter 22, a son 18 and a 2 year old female black Labrador. My son just graduated from high school and will be attending Rider University this September and my daughter is transferring to Kean University.   I am a non-traditional student.  I received my Bachelor of Science Degree in Special Education 8 years ago and now I am pursuing my Master in Instructional Media. 

          I started this journey of graduated school March 14, 2011.  I was very nervous about attending graduated school online.  My last online course I took was disappointing.  The course was extremely accelerated. I took a 3 week course and I  felt it was only busy work and not work that gave me meaning. When I spoke to Wilkes’ advisor of the program she was very encouraging and supportive and that broke the ice.  After completing my first week I was satisfied that I made the right choice in choosing Wilkes University.  The work load is a lot but comfortable.  I feel like I am learning instead of just completing a vast amount of busy work.  I will recommend this program to my colleagues or anyone who may be interested in a graduated program in technology.

As stated earlier, I am a Special Education teacher.  I started my career in Middle School and work there for 4 years.  In 2007, our district went full time inclusion.  That year my assignment changed.  My principal and vice principal wanted me to teach the lower level grades.  I was needed in the lower grades because I have training in the Wilson Reading Program.  This program is geared to students who cannot read, have a difficult time decoding words or struggle with comprehension skills.   This year I taught Pre-K to 5^th grade literacy and math.

Google Earth - The Native Americans

Technology is a powerful tool and it provides a wealth of information and in many cases it’s free.  Google Earth gave me an opportunity to express one of my passions and organize a trip without leaving the room.  The topic I covered was the Native Americans and the areas explored were their origin, their contributions and their hardships.  I wanted students to demonstrate their knowledge of the United States, understand life and the events in the past and how it relates to them in the future.

          In many of our history books it’s written that Christopher Columbus discovered North America.  However, North America was never barren and indigenous free.  The Native Americans’ ancestors came from Asia and travel throughout North America.  Students will learn that people migrate for many reasons and just like the people of today they move because of a need.  Students will also discover the Native Americans were smart people. 

When the Europeans first came to this country many reported back to their home that the Native Americans were a wild group of people, untamed.  To the contrary, they were an organized tribe with excellent agricultural skills, hunting skills and a well developed society.  Many of the Native Americans befriended the Europeans, taught them how to plant, hunt for food, have domestic animals and some believe they took part of the United States’ Constitution.  I believe when students use their synthesizing mind some will investigate the Iroquois Confederacy and their laws and make connection to our Constitution.   Unfortunately many people still did not appreciate their value and began to complain. 

Lastly, through this virtual tour my students will see the cruelty that the Native Americans experienced.  Former President Andrew Jackson showed he did not have a respectful and ethnical mind.  I want my students to experience what the Native Americans went through and make a connection to their own personal lives. I believe once students study the Native Americans’ culture they will realize they have many things in common.    

NJ Standard 6.1