TheApple

Wow, that's a lot to ask for all at once!

I have been experimenting all year just trying to keep pace with the tech-abilities of my students. During the course of the school year I have made a blog, made several wikis, and joined facebook. I have a Box.net storage bin, a photobucket, a Meez avatar (!), a slideshare, a youtube, a teachertube, a slide slideshow, and a massive deli.cio.us site. I have learned how to embed, but have trouble with uploads. I have my own blog, but it only has one entry, and I track over a dozen other blogs in the areas of science, education, news, and personal interests. I use netvibes to help me keep track of everything, but my calendar is on an iGoogle page. For years I have maintained a website for student schedules and documents (on teacherweb.com). This year our school started maintaining "schoolloop" contacts with students and parents, so I have to keep that up, too. How am I doing?

As far as pros & cons of each, that will need to wait for another day.

I am still in high school, and some of my teachers utilize the collaboration features found in Google Docs. I personally like it because it makes group work much more efficient, and I can work with my classmates outside of class more often.

ktenkelly, aside from google docs, I don't even know what those things are that you named. :( !! And I've been trying to learn! I'm imagining all the folks out there who have only google-searched and used their email. It is so hard to keep up with technology.

ccapozzoli said:

Please share some of the best Web 2.0 tools that you have integrated successfully. Tell us about the tool, why you used it, how it worked, and the benefits of integrating the tool. Share pros and cons about your experiences with the interactive tool.

Wow, sorry to have thrown so much out at one time. Just looking for feedback about what you like integrating. I spend a ton of time on this "techie stuff" since I am always in search of ways to reach and inspire my teachers and students. I truly beilive this to be true.....my favorite quote... "If we teach today like we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow"- John Dewey, ...It is really something to ponder when teaching in the 21st Century.Thanks for all of you who have replied, I do appreciate your feedback!!

that is so great to hear that your teachers use google docs. let me ask you, as a hs student, do you thing google docs could cause more cheating if we introduce it?

Some people cheat. They use notes, cell phones, and anything else they can get their hands on. It's not the tools, it's the people. Using the Internet is a major new source of cheating. Google Docs will certainly take their turn in the process. However, part of the job of a teacher is to combat it an whatever way they can. A student once handed in a "report" that looked, to me, too good. I Googled the first sentence and got the original work, word for word. Unfortunately, neither the student nor the parent thought it was a big deal.

People are the problem...not the tools they use. Technology, like pencils, are here to stay. Bravo.

Please feel free to peruse this Web 2.0 PPT that I shared while presenting at the PETE&C in Feb. 08.
http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=ah72whp3ghj3_97f4v6gqfw
This is the streamline version.

ccapozzoli said:

Please feel free to peruse this Web 2.0 PPT that I shared while presenting at the PETE&C in Feb. 08.
http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=ah72whp3ghj3_97f4v6gqfw
This is the streamline version.

sanmccarron said:

Deven said:

ccapozzoli said:

that is so great to hear that your teachers use google docs. let me ask you, as a hs student, do you thing google docs could cause more cheating if we introduce it?

I hate to sound like a professor teaching freshman semantics (been there, done that) but the answer to your question depends on how you define cheating. If a teacher encourages collaboration and sets up the tools so that the students can collaborate, collaboration cannot be called cheating.

The world was once a very simple place where it was possible for a single individual to know almost everything that was available to be known. In a complex society such as ours, that is no longer possible. Now it is difficult for an expert to know everything about his or her own field of work or study. Knowledge, and by extension, wisdom, becomes a collective endeavor, much as it is in this society we call The Apple. By drawing on the learning, experience and intelligence of all the people here The Apple contains more information and wisdom than any one of its members. Am I cheating when we use this information in my daily teaching, something that I have to pass tests to be able to do?

Deven, so true. I expect collaboration in many areas because of the complexity of both the topic and the assignment. When I worked as a project manager I led chemists, hydrologists, risk assessors, civil engineers, artists, cadd folk, and others to the end product. A well-designed project will allow collaboration without enabling cheating. There is a difference between enabling cheating and the fact that some cheating will happen. And usually it is obvious when a student has cheated... at least later on in the year once you get to know him or her.

There will always what we call "slow adopters". When I worked in engineering in a major computer company there were people that performed calculations with a calculator only to manually enter them into a spreadsheet!!

The problem is a bit more complex. When calculators first appeared, they were THE technology of the time. Today, there's a new technology popping up almost every day. For those of us who like to experiment, that's great. For many who don't, that's not so great. They aren't going to check out everything. The Web 2.0 PPT list of items is great...for us, not them. They would prefer a much slower world. Unfortunately, I don't think that either side is right or wrong.

The thing I try to remember, and mention during workshops as often as possible, is to step back and remember what we are trying to do. It's not the technology. It's the "other" stuff teachers are responsible for. If we talk technology, "they" get worried. We have to tell 'em what they want to hear about, stuff like readin', writin' and 'rithmetic.

I prefer ktenkely's www.ilearntechnology.com site to something that just lists a zillion sites. Her site gives very practical ideas on how to use each site that she mentions. The Teacher List at www.theteacherlist.ca is another source for good information on a daily basis...one site at a time so folks can digest it better.

Does TheApple count as a Web 2.0 tool for teachers cause I love it! :p

It seems like "ignore the technology" and "normal" don't go together at all. It's no longer technology as a separate entity...technology is now an integral part of society. Education, unfortunatly, lags behind. It must catch up.

bloggingprof2b said:

ccapozzoli said:

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/309855 Have any of you read this one? This is what these kids are faced with when they get to some colleges. Educating the professors and powers in universities and colleges needs to take place so that students are not punished for doing exactly the same thing students who meet in libraries do.... study, collaborate and share.

You're absolutely right! If we don't educate the teachers, we're doing a disservice to the students. The problem that I see a lot is that some teachers are convinced that if they ignore the technology and consider it cheating then the students will stop using it and things will be back to "normal."