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Monday, June 16, 2008

Web 2.0: Gadgets, Gizmos, and Widgets

Here are some additional resources to supplement the materials that I have provided on my presentation wiki.

Classroom Blogs
Overall Blogging Examples
Blogging Utilities

Instruction & Tech Conference for 21st Century Learners

I am attending the Integrating Instruction and Technology for the 21st Century Learner conference in Storm Lake, Iowa today. It is being sponsored by the Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency.

There is a wonderful collection of offerings today. The keynote on all three days is Doug Johnson. He is a good presenter and today is doing a great job of laying the foundation for integrating technology into our curriculum in his presentation "The Technology? Skills Every Student Needs."

I will be presenting later today. This presentation, "Web 2.0: Gadgets, Gizmos and Widgets." It is my review of over 20 goodies that I like. You can find the wiki I have created with all of the links that I will be using.

This is also the first day of the Emerging Instructional Technologies class that I am teaching this summer. Robin Galloway is subbing for me today. Even though I am away, I can't stay away so I Skyped with the students this morning before the keynote address. It worked quite well. Good to see the students. Can't wait until I get to meet them in person tomorrow.

Sitting in Doug Johnson's follow-up session. Cited the Mitri Group's report on the success of technology in education.
He has provided a wealth of information in his 28-page handout.

Well, I better get back to the conference. Will update this blog posting as time progresses. This is how you can get an on-going update of this conference.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Doodle 4 Google

Just found a fun art contest sponsored by Google.

There is a video on YouTube that introduces you to the guy (Dennis Hwang) who draws the various thematic title pages for Google. It shows a time-lapsed video of him creating one with a couple of mice on it.

When he is finished, he tells you about the contest for k-12 schools. Kids can sign-up their schools to participate. The winner's doodle will be shown on Google for a whole day.

Check it out!!! The 2008 winner in at http://www.google.com/doodle4google/

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Technology Does Make a Difference!

Recently I was reading our local paper, The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, when I found an article reviewing a recent lecture given by Dr. Michael Bugeja. Dr. Bugeja is the director of the School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University. He seems to be a well-published author, but he seems to be on a one-man crusade against using technology in education.

As you might guess, I didn't agree with him on most of his ideas. I had listened to him on our local Iowa Public Radio station a few months ago and didn't agree with him then either. In fact, I called into the station to talk with him. We had just gotten the discussion going when the engineer at the station disconnected me. I was later assured that it was an accident.

Anywho, I read this article about a speech that he gave at the University of Northern Iowa and decided that I needed to share my side of the argument as well. Below you will see the letter to the editor that I wrote. I found writing this letter terribly therapeutic in many ways. I got to relieve my pent-up frustration from seeing this ludite educator receive all of this press. I also had a chance to share ideas about technology's role in education.

I hope that you like my letter and will share your insights with me. Better yet, if you DON'T like it, respond with where you think that I went astray:

Dear Courier Editor;

I am writing in response to Dr. Michael Bugeja comments as he “railed against the infusion of technology in the classroom.” I didn’t attend his hour-long talk that was covered in the Courier on Saturday, April 26, but I DID hear his interview on KUNI a couple of months ago on The Exchange. At that time he said that technology in the classroom was unnecessary. It was an unneeded expense for students and schools. He said that a good lecturer could make a teacher-based lesson engaging and that we didn’t need technology for that.
Admittedly, a good lecturer can be riveting. Descriptions of events can be useful. But how can a verbal description of Tiananmen Square replace a video of a single individual confronting a cavalry of tanks, which is easily accessible on YouTube. (http://snurl.com/25wql) How can it equal using Google Earth to transport the class to an interactive birds eye (and somewhat 3-D) view of Tiananmen Square? How can it match the impact of using a video conferencing program, Skype, to actually talk with someone in China who was at that monumental confrontation in 1989?
It can’t.
Our world is permanently linked. We have the opportunity to connect our classrooms with the rest of the world in a way that has never before been available. We have the resources that can turn the traditional didactic teacher-based instructional format into an interactive student-based learning experience that will enable our students to be active participants in our global society.

Sincerely,

Leigh E. Zeitz

Graphic from www.budapestsun.com

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Blogs and Wikis at IACON 2008

IACON 2008 is where it IS HAPPENING in Iowa this week.

I will be presenting a Web 2.0 Tools workshop with Will Coghill-Behrends and Rebecca Anthony from University of Iowa. They will be discussing ePortfolios and Social Networks. They will cover Classroom 2.0 (even talk with Steve Hargadon over Skype) and then introduce the group to Ning - Your Customizable Social Network.

Classroom Blogs
Overall Blogging Examples
Blogging Utilities
Create Your Own Blog
  • Blogger - Quick and easy blogging spot.
  • WordPress - Takes a little longer, but includes tagging and couple of other treats. It's worth the extra time.
Wikis
  • Wikipedia - The encyclopedia created and edited by "the masses".

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Wikimapia - The People's Mapping Utility



Wikimapia combines Google Maps (including satellite imaging) with a wiki system. This was created in 2006 to allow users to "Describe the whole planet Earth." This is your opportunity to identify your favorite place and then add descriptive information. It will allow you to embed the image like the one I have here on this posting or you can just have a link to it like this one.

Above, you can see an aerial view of the local Kwik Star here in Cedar Falls. For those of you who don't live in the midwest, Kwik Star is a convenience where you can purchase everything from gas (petro) to coffee to pizza to soda. It is a popular haunt of students and local residents alike.

You can add your own comments to the description of this Kwik Star (or anything else in WikiMapia) by just clicking on the box and then adding your comment. You can also add a vote as to whether or not it is an accurate description of the area.

WikiMapia is a Wonderful way for bring geography alive for students and teachers. It allows us to be part of the mapping process. You can mashup blog postings with mapping with audio commentary with ????

Give it a try.