I did something I NEVER do when I read a book– I jumped to the end of it and read the epilogue first. I don't know what possessed me to do this because I'm not one to ruin the end of a book. I hate spoilers (but then again, this book was not set up for spoiler alerts). But I will say, reading about English teacher Tom McHale's 45 minutes before school started created a little anxiety for me. I often find myself scrambling the half hour before class starts and it never seems to go as smoothly (or productively) as it was for Mr. McHale. Good for him, but after eighteen years of teaching, it will take me some time to get to that point.
Okay, so now to discuss three highlights of the book. Well one is the book itself. It will be a great resource to reference as I continue to introduce more technology into my classroom since I definitely won't remember everything I read about blogs, wikis, podcasts, etc. The book is well-written and accessible. Richardson shares his pedagogy at the beginning of the book to validate the Read/Write Web which is valuable in case an administrator or parent raises issues or concerns.
Wikis
As I read the chapter I found myself vacillating between, "This is such a great idea; I should do this!" and "This is way too hard; I'm not going to be able to manage this." Honestly that's still how I feel. I totally see lots of value of including Wikis in the academic classroom. But like so much in education, effective practices take time, a luxury most educators do not have. I hate to pull the "too much on my plate" card because I have always found that to be a pedantic excuse, but the sad truth is that it is the reality.
My willingness to possibly give Wikis a shot comes from our experience with the Dracula scenario. I thought that activity was a cool way to collaborate and share ideas. I also enjoyed playing around in the sandbox, so to speak, with the Widgets. As I mentioned in my Wiki Reflection, I have a colleague who uses a Wiki and I know that he would be more than happy to assist me in the "World of Wikis" should I have a question or problem. I guess the hardest part, as with almost anything, is getting started.
Models are always helpful to me. I like to see what other people have done and then try to improve upon it to suit my own needs. However, I did not check out the Wikis that Richardson cited in the chapter by "real" teachers, but I am interested in looking at them. I'm curious, has anyone else looked at them yet? What did you think?
Podcasts
I have wanted my students to create digital stories for over a year now, but because I was not familiar with the process, I haven't been able to make it happen. This chapter was particularly interesting to me as it spoke to my inner story-teller/director. For my other summer technology class I had to create an iMovie and upload it to YouTube. I shared it with you all in an email, but here's the link again in case you missed it and are curious to see my amateur film (filmed on my iPhone, nonetheless) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDdp_BK9cnk Richardson was quick to point out on page 117, "Before you get your students podcasting, I would urge you to try it out first. Again, I think you need to experience what you are asking your students to do– not only so you can support their technical use, but also so you understand what Web publishing really feels like." This statement is so true, and not just about technical projects. It's true for any assignment. When I can, I complete the writing assignments that I give my own students so that I have a model, but also so I know what it feels like to do what I've asked them to do. Yet one project option I include for my students that I had never experienced for myself (until this summer) was movie-making. I will say, even though I had never made a movie, I had enough knowledge to warn my students that it takes a butt-load of time to create. I usually warn them that four minutes of screen time easily takes eight to ten hours of production and editing. And that does not necessarily include writing the storyboard. This chapter jazzed me up and will hopefully serve as a valuable resource when I hit that part in my curriculum where students could create their own digital stories rather than write them the conventional way. Another thought I had while reading this chapter was resurrecting our school newspaper to meet the demands of the 21st century, so to speak. The last few years we have not been successful in getting enough students interested in keeping the traditional school newspaper alive. Creating news podcasts like Willowdale Elementary in Nebraska could be the way to get students on board and interested. We have a video production class so maybe they could be the ones to bring this concept to life. I think there are lots of clever ways to incorporate podcasts, iMovies, and other multimedia into the classroom. Just give me the TIME!!!
Okay, so now to discuss three highlights of the book. Well one is the book itself. It will be a great resource to reference as I continue to introduce more technology into my classroom since I definitely won't remember everything I read about blogs, wikis, podcasts, etc. The book is well-written and accessible. Richardson shares his pedagogy at the beginning of the book to validate the Read/Write Web which is valuable in case an administrator or parent raises issues or concerns.
Wikis
As I read the chapter I found myself vacillating between, "This is such a great idea; I should do this!" and "This is way too hard; I'm not going to be able to manage this." Honestly that's still how I feel. I totally see lots of value of including Wikis in the academic classroom. But like so much in education, effective practices take time, a luxury most educators do not have. I hate to pull the "too much on my plate" card because I have always found that to be a pedantic excuse, but the sad truth is that it is the reality.
My willingness to possibly give Wikis a shot comes from our experience with the Dracula scenario. I thought that activity was a cool way to collaborate and share ideas. I also enjoyed playing around in the sandbox, so to speak, with the Widgets. As I mentioned in my Wiki Reflection, I have a colleague who uses a Wiki and I know that he would be more than happy to assist me in the "World of Wikis" should I have a question or problem. I guess the hardest part, as with almost anything, is getting started.
Models are always helpful to me. I like to see what other people have done and then try to improve upon it to suit my own needs. However, I did not check out the Wikis that Richardson cited in the chapter by "real" teachers, but I am interested in looking at them. I'm curious, has anyone else looked at them yet? What did you think?
Podcasts
I have wanted my students to create digital stories for over a year now, but because I was not familiar with the process, I haven't been able to make it happen. This chapter was particularly interesting to me as it spoke to my inner story-teller/director. For my other summer technology class I had to create an iMovie and upload it to YouTube. I shared it with you all in an email, but here's the link again in case you missed it and are curious to see my amateur film (filmed on my iPhone, nonetheless) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDdp_BK9cnk Richardson was quick to point out on page 117, "Before you get your students podcasting, I would urge you to try it out first. Again, I think you need to experience what you are asking your students to do– not only so you can support their technical use, but also so you understand what Web publishing really feels like." This statement is so true, and not just about technical projects. It's true for any assignment. When I can, I complete the writing assignments that I give my own students so that I have a model, but also so I know what it feels like to do what I've asked them to do. Yet one project option I include for my students that I had never experienced for myself (until this summer) was movie-making. I will say, even though I had never made a movie, I had enough knowledge to warn my students that it takes a butt-load of time to create. I usually warn them that four minutes of screen time easily takes eight to ten hours of production and editing. And that does not necessarily include writing the storyboard. This chapter jazzed me up and will hopefully serve as a valuable resource when I hit that part in my curriculum where students could create their own digital stories rather than write them the conventional way. Another thought I had while reading this chapter was resurrecting our school newspaper to meet the demands of the 21st century, so to speak. The last few years we have not been successful in getting enough students interested in keeping the traditional school newspaper alive. Creating news podcasts like Willowdale Elementary in Nebraska could be the way to get students on board and interested. We have a video production class so maybe they could be the ones to bring this concept to life. I think there are lots of clever ways to incorporate podcasts, iMovies, and other multimedia into the classroom. Just give me the TIME!!!