Blogs, Twitter and Wordle

I've had busy couple of days with my Web 2.0 tools. As I mentioned in the first post about Web 2.0, I have used a blog (obviously), but I created my blog for the library today! It is not perfect yet and I'm still fiddling around with format and gadgets, but it is up and running and tomorrow I will be posting my first "real" post about some new and old books that we have in the library. I will add my blog to the blog roll on this blog, but for my virtual portfolio, I'll hyperlink it in this post.

The blog is called Bell's Book Blurb. Check it out and let me know what you think.

I used Wordle for the first time this week as well. I have seen this in my school before and never really knew what it was. I have to say that I am underwhelmed. I like the idea of the words and the design is eye-catching, but I'm not sure how I would use it in my class yet. I am thinking that I would use it for vocabulary and have it around as a reminder for my special ed students or use as a motivational poster.

Then I did some research and found some really great ideas about how to use it in a practical and kinda fun way! Greg Smith writes on his blog, Technology Education Know-How about how to use it in a classroom setting effectively:

"Wordle is a tool that creates a graphical display to show the frequency of word usage in a text, web page or document. This is called a Word Cloud. The bigger the word is, indicates its dominance of usage. As I’m sure you know; Visual Feedback can give a more lucid understanding of what you read. To give you an example here is the “First Inaugural Address by George Washington in 1789”.

You or your students can use this tool in many ways.

Here are some ideas that I’ve had:

1. Students can use it to monitor the frequency of word usage in their own writings.

a. How often do they use the same adjectives or nouns?

b. Are they overusing words?

2. Students can use it to analyzing news articles.

a. What is this article about?

b. What’s the gist that the author is trying to get across?

c. Check out this assignment http://www.boxoftricks.net/?p=103

3. Teachers can use it for field trip reviews.

a. Have each student generate a list of what they saw are learned on the field trip. Combine the list, copy and paste into Wordle. Whoop! you have an instant “What’s Important List” from the field trip. (side note: A wiki would be good for creating that list. ;-) )

4. Teachers can create a Current Events Analysis.

a. Copy the RSS feed from popular news sights like Google News and use Wordle to give you the hot topics.

b. Copy the text from a news page and use the same way.

5. What are your students listening to? Copy and paste the lyrics of popular songs into Wordle and find out.

6. What is important on your school campus? Copy and paste your schools mission and vision statements into Wordle and find out. My schools Wordle.

7. Self Reflection; If you where to write a story about yourself, what would your Wordle say?

8. Current Study posters. What is curricularly important in your class this week? Create a Wordle that visualizes that.

There are as many ways to use Wordle as there are clouds in the sky. If you where to Wordle this blog post what would be the biggest word? So, today’s theme would be? You guessed it, Wordle!

Leave a post and let me know how you used or plan to use Wordle in your educational setting."

Many of these suggestions would be good for an ELA teacher, but I can see some connections for me, a science teacher. We are going on a field trip in May and I think this would be a great way for my students to express what they learned, as they aren't always able to express themselves fully. It is not an essay or a big description of events, just words.

(I wasn't following Mr. Smith before, but I've just added him to my blog roll!)


The other big event of this week is that I am now on Twitter!! Yes, I have resisted, but I have signed up the library to be on Twitter. I am only following a handful of people (including some in this class and my other one) and I would be thrilled beyond belief if someone would follow me! So, if you are feeling charitable, please follow the musings of a desperate librarian! The user name is WCSlibrary.

I've heard of teachers following politicians, authors and other people of importance, but I think for the library, I'm going to stick with literary people. I am still learning and haven't really seen how I will use Twitter in the classroom, but I may do some research and get some ideas.

P.S. I've added the library blog to this account, so I will know be known as Miss Bell! I may change it back later, but we'll see...

Web 2.0 Tools

Two years ago, I took a course through the U of A on Web 2.0 tools- nothing else, just Web 2.0. I initially thought that it would be a walk in the park because I was already using some of the tools personally and I thought it would be an easy conversion to using them in the classroom- I was wrong. I found that I did not know about all of the tools available and that using them in the classroom required a lot more thought and consideration. We were asked to create a blog (the one you are viewing now, as a matter of fact) and we had to complete a weekly blog posting on various Web 2.0 tools that we personally had to use and research the benefits and uses of them in a classroom setting for educational purposes. It turned out to be a lot of work, but also a tremendous learning opportunity for my professional life.

I have done extensive blog posts on some Web 2.0 tools for that course and if anyone is interested on my findings and opinions of them, you can find them in the 2008 archives on the menu on the left of the screen.

For this course, I would like to re-examine some of those tools, as some of my opinions have changed over the two years since I first posted.

Blogs: As I mentioned, I had to do basically a research paper every week for my blog. I started to resent my stupid blog and not enjoy posting entries. Eventually, I saw the benefit of putting my thoughts on “paper”, as a way of professional therapy. I resolved to use the blog after I was done the course and to keep up with entries. I even put a link to my blog on my school library website. I knew that no one would read it- and I don’t believe anyone has until January of this year- but it made me feel better that I was contributing something to my field. I was sharing my thoughts and experiences with others who may be in similar situations. I think I only ended up making 3 or 4 postings, but I thought about it a lot and wanted to do more. There was also an urge to rant about things at my school and about things that were going on, but I don’t think this blog (that is linked to my school site) is the appropriate place to do that!

I have found that since I have been back on the blog, I’ve been enjoying it. I think that it is a great tool to deliver information and experiences with others. I have such a high opinion of it that I am considering using a blog (or a wiki or both) to complete my final project and promote the library in my school. I want to use the blog as a way of advertising different events, new books, new software, etc. I think that I may also use a blog in my teaching as well. I am teaching a Special Ed course of Science and Social Studies and I think that I may use a blog in Social Studies as a journal for the students. They really enjoy sharing their lives with me and I think this could be a new and inventive way for them to communicate with me and with each other.

Wikis: I flat out love wikis!! I have been using them for a couple of years now, I have two of my own and one that I used as part of a class discussion (used a bit like an online forum).

-Graphic Novels and collection development

-Batman (Comic Vs. Film)

-2learn2gether

I really never understood what a wiki (except for Wikipedia) was before. They looked really complicated to create and to use, but I was pleasantly surprised when I tried to use one for the first time. It was very easy to do! I find them similar to a blog, but I am able to be more organized with my content. I am currently creating a wiki for my library to start a virtual book club. Students can pick books on my list and then they can discuss their thoughts about the selected works. I’m hoping that it will catch on and that we can have some good online discussions. It is another tool that I would like to use to promote the library. As with blogs, it could also be a fantastic way of creating a guided journal for students.

I love the ease of use, the organization of information and the way that others can add to your pages. It really offers an interactive way of learning- a bit more Socratic than traditional teaching.

I’m going to end this post for now otherwise the length may scare people and I want to break it up a bit. Remember, there was enough Web 2.0 content for an entire course, so I’ve got lots to say! Up next… Social Networking, Video/Photo Sharing and Social Bookmarking, I’ll bet you can’t wait!!!

Katie

My Coordinates

I used Option 1, The LoTi (The Levels of Teaching Innovation) Framework by Chris Moersch to find my personal coordinates. As I looked through the descriptors, I found that I fell in between Level 2 (Exploration) and Level 3 (Infusion). I tend to use technology more in my personal life and my other role as a librarian than I do in the classroom. I feel there are a couple of reasons for this: 1) availability of technology hardware 2)Classroom dynamics- some classes are not ready to explore new technologies or go beyond and drive their own learning.

My hope is that the school division will catch up with technology and it will be available for teachers if and when they would like to use it. I also hope to learn new and interesting ways of using technology in the classroom through classes (like this one) and other PD opportunities.

Katie