Weekly Tech Tip: Beginners Guide - Social Networking for Educators

While Myspace & Facebook are still largely taboo in k-12 schools social networking has recently made a huge splash for Educators. There are many social networks that have been created in the past three years designed specifically for teacher professional development and educational research. This week's tech tip introduces you to a few popular networks for teachers.

Weekly Tech Tip:

Related links:

• NEA's list of social networks they recommend for teachers
• ElEdBlog - Space to discuss articles from NEA Today
• ASCD EDge
• Classroom 2.0
• Educator's PLN
• iTeach Mobile
• English Companion Ning - Where English teachers go to help each other
• Early Career Teachers - NCTE Ning
• Art Education 2.0 - Using New Technology in Art Classrooms
• MEMO - Minnesota Educational Media Organization - Serving school ...
• k12Online
• SEMTEC The SE MN preK-12 Technology Coordinators
• The Future of Education
• WebQuest Dialog
• Independent School Educators network

Want to build your own social network, try these platforms:

• Ning!
• Mojofiti - Social network & blogging platform that instantly communicates in 27 languages
• Taskbarn
• Planypus
• Wetpaint - free wiki platform that has social networking features

Link Stew:

• Educon 2.2 is this weekend
• Follow them on Twitter!
• Attend Virtually (links to Elluminate Sessions Steaming unConference Sessions)
• Avatara - Create 3d avatars online
• iTALC - free computer lab management software - gives you big brother control over your fleet of machines
• Try Android 2.1 on Windows

Blog Carnival

• How to Request Ad Removal from an Educational Network
• 50 Cool Search Engines for Serious Readers
• "Will Richardson and the new high school, Clay Shirky and the new college" by Alex Reid on Digital Digs

Professional Responsibility - If You Are A Teacher

20 Questions:

1. Is teaching a professional job?
2. Do teachers have professional responsibilities beyond their teaching contract?
3. What are professionals responsible for?
4. Why do you do what you do?
5. Do professionals have a responsibility to keep up-to-date on what is current in their respective fields of study?
6. Would you expect your doctor or dentist to be aware of new medical developments, assuming you consider doctors or dentists professionals?
7. Would you expect a detective to keep up with current trends in forensics?
8. How is it that many teachers are unaware of sweeping trends in education?
9. If you are a teacher, shouldn't you know what UBD is?
10. If you are a teacher, shouldn't you know what web 2.0 is?
11. If you are a teacher, shouldn't you be aware of the concept of disruptive innovation?
12. If you are a teacher, shouldn't you know what is in NCLB?
13. If you are a teacher, shouldn't you know what state education policy is? Or at least how to look it up?
14. If you are a teacher, shouldn't you know what bills are being passed around the state legislature?
15. If you are a teacher, shouldn't you know, understand, and be able to at lease paraphrase your state's academic standards in your content area?
16. If our teacher contracts don't explicitly address #9-#15 do we have professional responsibilities to address these on our own?
17. Should teacher contracts address these issues? Or is it our own professional responsibility to address these for ourselves?
18. Wouldn't teacher unions have an easier time negotiating "professional" salaries for teachers if more teachers exhibited "professional" behavior in their own learning?
19. Why is it that when a "professional" teacher takes great interest in all of these things they usually are asked to move into an administrative or leadership role?
20. If you are a teacher, what motivates you to care about these issues?
    

Digital Backpack & Digital Briefcase

I need your help. Last year I created a tool for our students and teachers to use called the "Digital Backpack." This was meant to serve three primary purposes:

1. educate students about how different search engines work;
2. Bring all of the different web apps and web 2.0 resources into one place;
3. Serve as a bridge for students and teachers from proprietary software to free and open source cloud computing.

This fall I created a similar tool that is more teacher oriented called the "Digital Briefcase. " I consider this project to be in beta since I am sure there are a ton of resources I have overlooked. Please send any suggestions or comments to: canderson@goodhue.k12.mn.us

Here is what I would like: I want to hear your ideas, and success stories involving technology integration. I have added a link next to each item in the Digital Backpack to a page on this wiki. You can edit this wiki yourself: the invitation key is 'Pappert.' In exchange I am giving you the code to put the Digital Backpack or Digital Briefcase on your website.

Sincerely,


Carl Anderson

Get the Embed Code

Get the Embed Code

Online Teacher Technology Training

I have been busy this summer. Our district started to implement a project I put together that teaches technology and technology integration to teachers online. Now, there are products out there like InfoSource that do this but our program is outcome based and follows a method that hopefully will align with what teachers need to do to prepare curriculum, activities, etc. for their practice. Feel free to utilize any or all of these online lessons. You can even participate in our discussion boards. However, some lessons are designed specifically for our district's needs.

1.1 - Understanding File Properties (5 pts)

1.2 - File Formats & File Extensions (5 pts)

1.3 - Hooking up a Periphials (3 pts)

1.4 - Burning CDs and DVDs (5 pts)

1.5 - Backing Up Your Files (5 pts)

1.6 - Wireless vs Ethernet (5 pts)

1.7 - Dealing with a frozen computer (2 pts)

2.1 - Search engines (7pts)

2.2 - Language Translators (5pts)

2.3 - Databases – ebsco, Google Scholar (5pts)

2.4 - Anatomy of a URL (5pts)

2.5 - Netiquette & Internet Safety (3pts)

3.1 - Fair use (5pts)

4.1 - Google Docs & Spreadsheets (7pts)

4.2 - Zoho (7pts)

4.3 - Presentation Programs (6pts)

4.4 - Online Storage (5pts)

5.1 - Digital Cameras + Digital Image Basics (5pts)

5.2 - Digital Image Software (Gimp, Photoshop, Picassa, Splashup, Picnik, etc.) (10pts)

5.3 - Image sharing – Flickr, Photobucket, etc. (5pts)

6.1 - Capturing Video (6pts)

6.2 - Digital Video Content (7pts)

6.3 - Video Editing (10pts)

6.4 - Publishing video online – YouTube, TeacherTube, etc. (7pts)

7.1 - Podcasts (5pts)

7.2 - Audacity (5pts)

7.3 - Creating a podcast (10pts)

8.1 - Concept Mapping Software (5pts)

8.2 - Wikis (10pts)

9.1 - Blogs (7pts)

9.2 - Social Bookmarking (del.icio.us) (4pts)

9.3 - RSS (4pts)

9.4 - Power of the comment (3pts)

9.5 - Skype (5 pts)

10.1 - Updating your website (basics) / webpage design considerations (5pts)

10.2 - HTML tricks to enhance your webpage (5pts)

10.3 - Embedding Video (2pts)

10.4 - Widgets (5pts)

10.5 - Online Quizzes and Worksheets (5pts)

10.6 - Digital Drop (3pts)

11.1 - Rubistar (4pts)

11.2 - Online Lesson Plan Sharing (3pts)

11.3 - SMARTtech lessons and teacher toolkit (5pts)

11.4 - WebQuests (3pts)

12.1 - Open Source vs. Proprietary Software (5pts)

12.2 - Serious Games (5pts)

12.3 - Virtual Worlds (5pts)

RE: So Digital Natives Don't Exist?

The following is my comment to Tim Wilson's post on The Savvy Technologist titled: "So Digital Natives Don't Exist?"

I think that many teachers, especially those for whom it has been a long time since they were students, forget that learning is not easy and learning new technologies is not necessarily easy either. The frustrations they encounter when trying to learn how to use, much less how to utilize, a new technology are largely felt as a personal deficit or shortcoming. Where the student is used to this and has active strategies for dealing with this frustration (some better than others) the veteran teacher who has not been a student themselves for some time (especially the teacher for whom delivery of lessons is automated as Chris Craft illustrates) no longer has this strategy. The Digital Native/Immigrant argument is ideal for this teacher because it provides an explanation for why they have tried and failed or tried and only had minimal success. I completely agree that this argument has hindered progress.

Also, modern technology has an effect on the cognitive load that is disruptive to experienced teachers. By having to integrate technology into instruction (or alter pedagogy) the part of teaching that was once automated has to be unlearned and retooled. For a teacher who was used to having their eyes in the back of their head functional this can be blinding, especially if done effectively. Effective integration of technology in the classroom involves a substantial pedagogical shift; its big enough to turn expert teachers into novices.

It is easier to say, "I can't learn this, I am a digital immigrant," and to say, "We need to figure out how to reach these Digital Natives." than to say, "What implication does this technology have for teaching and learning and how do I modify my teaching methods and policies to benefit my students?" More often than not the answer to that question involves a teacher giving up some control of the learning that occurs in their classroom and empowering students by making them responsible. It also usually involves individualization of learning where the student is placed in the center and the teacher acts as guide or mentor. This is offsetting in many ways to the teacher who is comfortable with traditional behaviorist teaching methods, spending many years perfecting their lectures and worksheets, and has developed secure classroom procedures to perpetuate an illusion of respect from their students. "I am just a digital immigrant," simply means, "I am unwilling to change what I do if it makes me uncomfortable," or "I am unwilling to give up control or look stupid."