Zoho Chat

Wrapping up EDT6480 for this spring semester, our task is to explore one of the following Web 2.0 applications: Google Docs, Zoho or Expressr. I am a frequent user of and have already blogged about Google Docs last year so I decided to take on a new tool. I have heard reference to "Zoho" among Web2 talk for some time. So I suppose it was about time I explore it.



**First impression: Wow- they do A LOT of stuff. On the homepage, Zoho lists it's functionality with everything from presentations and documents to webmeetings and wikis. It seems like these tools (many are productivity, others collaboration) are geared for the business world- for example invoicing & HR tools.


**Digging further: I already have a wiki service I am happy with and there are a million presentation apps. Google Docs satisfies my need for collaborative "on the cloud" documents and I don't need a new email address (love my gmail). So I am searching for something unique that Zoho can offer me..

**Aaha moment: Zoho Chat. This is intriguing because I noticed the embedding functionality. Upon further review and toying around I am impressed with Zoho Chat. I have not had a "chat" account since my AOL IM days in college but it does allow you to import contacts from many other services or by email address. There are three embedding options for your wiki/blog/website: Live Chat, a "Shoutbox" and Live Support.

**Educational use: The main reason I am interested in chat for teaching and learning is two-fold. First, I have been realizing how powerful backchannel discussions can be for professional development. During sessions for my graduate class on WizIQ, chat functionality allowed for those without microphones to communicate effectively with the group during a live session. Also, being an attendee at several Classroom2.0/Future of Education Live Elluminate events (webinars), one need only glance at the rich discussion and resource sharing that takes place in the chat to understand the value of that functionality.

**Application: I can envision using Zoho chat's embed tools for a few things. One, for remote professional development and collaboration among teachers. Someone could lead a session right from a school's website or wiki. The chatroom would be the channel for guiding discussion and review of whatever the subject. Second, I can envision a 21st C. classroom where a teacher allows for students to collaborate in an embedded chat from the class website or wiki. Students could share their thoughts, resources and reflections. I do believe I would have to look into the security and privacy features of Zoho Chat before recommending it for that purpose, but if your class wiki was password protected, only those who have access would be able to see the chatroom so that might be a good work-around if an embedded Zoho Chat is automatically "public".

So, here it is...

Chat away!!

Snap Shots

Introducing Snap Shots

I just installed a nice little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site, interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles and Amazon products, display inline videos, RSS, MP3s, photos, stock charts and more.

Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.

Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.

A Strategy to Break Barriers: Empathy

In teaching, as in everything else that draws on human capital, there is such a wide range of strengths, weaknesses, prior-knowledge and prior experience. Our attitudes towards things are derived on many of these personal factors as well as the climate of the particular workplace. When approaching a new method or change to existing structures, each teacher will react to it based on their prior dispositions. In my building, there has been much frustration with technology support and IT technicians over the past several years. This is one factor that has led to the common attitude of “why try?” in regards to integrating technology. These negative experiences may also spill over to their own personal technology use and the possibility of using web-based tools for professional development.

InJustice by Swamibu
Attribution-NonCommercial License

Other factors for not wanting to extend professional development or teaching to an online format can be the shear resistance to any type of change. People are comfortable with the things they have been doing because these things are proven and the resources and support are already in place. Taking risks may not be embraced because of the possibility of time being wasted, unwanted frustrations or just the amount of effort involved. These are not things that teachers should be blamed for, but feelings that should be acknowledged and then put to rest through positive and systematic culture change.

When implementing or pushing for teachers to participate in online learning, leaders should “consider the social environment and teachers’ willingness to learn” (Brothwick & Pierson, 2008, p.103). The peer coaching model may be one way to ease teachers’ fears and apprehension about online learning environments as well as other technology PD. Teacher’s who have been through the process can get others excited by talking about the positive aspects while also relating to the up-front hesitations to ‘jump in the pool’. Dennis Small quotes an elementary principal who has used peer mentoring to overcome such obstacles, "teachers can empathize with the learning curve of a fellow educator. This empathy is the great strength of peer coaching. With a mentor close by, teachers lead each other from concept to practice, at the right pace at the right time" (2008).

Do you think the peer coaching model can be applied to online teaching and learning as well as classroom technology integration? They seem to go hand-in-hand to me, because part of getting a mentee’s buy-in will come from their recognition that there will be support available even when the coach is no longer by their side, and this could come in the form of continued online learning.

References:

Borthwick, A. and Pierson, M. (2008). Transforming classroom practice: Professional development strategies in educational technology. Eugene, Oregon: International Society for Technology in Education.

Small, D. (2008, July). Elementary schools: Washington: Peer to peer. T.H.E. Journal. Retrieved March 7, 2009, from http://www.thejournal.com/articles/22925_2

Online Learning: A ‘Disruption’?

Question: Should legislation make Online teaching and Learning mandatory for teachers?

Short answer here for me is: Teaching, no, not yet. Learning, yes.

I believe that when pondering questions like this it is important to go back to the basic goals of education, and to keep them in perspective when considering mandating change. The role of a teacher is to most effectively help their students achieve in their learning. And as Patricia Deubel effectively states, "the whole point of using technology in instruction, either via virtual courses or classrooms or Web-enhancements to face-to-face classroom instruction, is to strengthen education and provide additional learning opportunities to meet the needs of all learners" (2007).

At this time, online learning for K-12 students is in its infancy. I do not believe that requiring all teachers to teach courses (or know how to) online makes sense, yet. There will need to be a group of early adopting teachers who are highly qualified (both technologically and content wise) who lead the front of the growing online learning sector. Colleges and universities should be anticipating the growing number of "online teachers" who will be needed in the near future and be training them accordingly. To take a seasoned classroom teacher and mandate that they learn how to become an 'online' teacher is a retro-fitting that does not make much sense.

Michigan is obviously on the leading edge of the online learning wave by requiring students (starting in '11) to graduate with an online learning experience (Deubel, 2007). Clayton Christensen, Michael Horn & Curtis Johnson refer to this in their 2008 book "Disrupting Class" as the beginning stage, or "computer-based learning" phase of a "disruption" in the tradition model of learning. The end result, they predict, is a new age of "student-centric technology" where personalized, student-driven software will customize the learning experience for all or most students based on their needs (p. 91-92). The initial data that backs their claims include the fact that "public education enrollments in online classes… have skyrocketed from 45,000 in 2000 to roughly 1 million today" (Christensen et al., 2008, p. 91). I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in how technology will shape the future of education!

In regards to an online-learning mandate for teachers, I do feel that it would be a benefit to both the individual teacher as well as to the education system as a whole if all teachers increased their online professional development experiences. This does not mean that everyone should HAVE to enroll in a formal continuing education class through a college or university. SOME may find that to be a good way to go. Other routes to becoming an online learner simply may be subscribing to an RSS feed for a professional journal or blog. Others could join a learning community such as Classroom 2.0. Others may want to find live chats, webinars or become networked through social sites like Twitter. The point that a mandate like this would drive home is that teachers need to expand their horizons outside the silos of their classrooms or buildings. By growing your Personal Learning Network online, a teacher can effectively increase their awareness and understanding of the skills that will be necessary for their students to gain while they are under our watch.

References:

Christensen, C.M., Horn, M.B. & Johnson, C.W. (2008). Disrupting class: How disruptive innovation will change the way the world learns.
New York: McGraw-Hill

Deubel, P. (2007, January). Should States Mandate Online Learning? T.H.E. Journal. Retrieved February 27, 2009, from http://www.thejournal.com/articles/20003

Online Safety & Filtering: Build Student Skills & Administrative Trust

While I completely understand the apprehension that comes with allowing students to access the internet (due to the fact that there IS lots of 'bad stuff' out there) I am somewhat confused by some stories of blocked resources I have heard. To me, CIPA clearly states that sites that must be blocked are those that are offensive, pornography, or harmful to minors. That is fairly straight forward. I do not know an educator that would want to use a site that falls under any of those categories in their teaching practice. So why is it that some schools are blocking access to some Web 2.0 tools that could be used for educational purposes? Administrators certainly need to protect their students and also please their stakeholders –the community- but they also must trust their teachers. Teachers who are early adopters of tools like wikis, podcasts or other online resources are not going to be the people who just blindly let their students surf around on a random site!

pier with red life belt by gari.baldi
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In my opinion, these are the teachers who are probably leading the front on educating students about appropriate use, how to collaborate safely online, and modeling for their students how to use the anywhere-web for productive learning activities.

It is the stance of ISTE, and I completely agree with it, that education about the internet is at the heart of online safety for our students. In fact, a requirement from CIPA IS that schools are required to educate minors about appropriate online safety (Thumann, 2008). There are amazing resources out there for educating students, families, and fellow teachers about internet-safety issues. It simply takes an investment of time from our administrators and teachers who must say "yes, we will instruct our students from K-12 about how to appropriately access and utilize the online learning tools that are available for them." I know time comes at a premium these days in our world of high-stakes learning, but we would be blind to think that our students are not going to be going forth into a world where these skills will be ESSENTIAL for them to be productive members of our society.

Doug Johnson asserts that we should "assess children's understanding of ethical concepts. Technology use privileges should not be given to students until they have demonstrated that they know and can apply ethical standards and school policies" (2005). I whole-heartedly agree with this statement. We don't let children walk to school by themselves until they have demonstrated the skills necessary to do so safely, so we should not put students in a scenario where a bad choice is being made because it is an uneducated choice. We need to be preemptive in this battle and teachers of every level should be talking "cyber-safety", "cyber-bullying" and "netiquette". Then, administrations need to trust that teachers will be making the right decisions about which sites to send their students to for learning activities, and loosen the noose of the filters so that only the necessary content is blocked. Don't block a site just because students can send messages to each other on it! That is part of learning!

Another great take from Edutopia: Stumbling Blocks: Playing It Too Safe Online Will Make You Sorry

Resources:

Thumann, L. (2008, November 3). An update to the Childen's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). Message posted to http://thumannresources.com/

Johnson, D. (2005). Best practices for meeting CIPA requirements. EdTech Magazine, Q4 2005. Retrieved February 19, 2009 from http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/best-practices-for-meeting-cipa-requirements.html

Creating Visual Directions with Digital Photography

In my 4th grade classroom, the only way I have to project something from a computer to show my students is to take them to the computer lab where there is a projector and Smartboard or use my classroom computer which is connected to the 32" TV in the corner of the room. Neither is ideal, but I often use the TV to show students images, media clips, or documents with very large text.



I told the students that I wanted them to see how to play a new math game that would be good practice for our division unit. I told them they would get a break from my voice, and that I wanted to say as little as possible while giving them the directions. They were intrigued by this new approach and as I scrolled through these Visual Directions. They were very quiet, and when we were done I gave them a 2 sentence summary of their task, and off they went to play the game. There was very little confusion, and the students were on task and engaged quicker than usual when compared to similar transitions. I could really see how visual they are in their learning! The only downside I see to this instructional approach is the time that it takes to think through and plan the photos and then compose the document. But how great would this be for creating differentiated instruction for complicated tasks or projects -or- what about preparing visual directions for a substitute teacher so that you know the students will be presented something exactly how you want it!?

I would like to make the point here that Wes Fryer makes so well: we should seek to engage, not enthrall. However, having students enthralled by your instructional method for a short time I do not think is a bad thing if the end results have the students on task in a fun, social learning environment.


Visual Directions for Division Dash

This is one approach to reaching students with different learning styles. However, the biggest impact would happen when I put the camera in the hands of the students and have them become the teachers, creating visual directions that will solidify their learning. That would be a true example of a 21st century teaching style. (Having more than one digital camera in the room would make this more feasible-but where there's a will there's a way..sounds like a grant waiting to be written..)

These pictures were taken for an assignment for EDT 5500, Photography Workshop, at Western Michigan University (an elective for my masters program).

Website Review: Arcademic Skill Builders

Website Title: Arcademic Skill Builders

Publisher: ALTEC at the University of Kansas

Curriculum Area: Math; English Language Arts, Social Studies

Grade-level Span: K-8

Copyright or Last Updated Date: 2009

Reviewer: Brad

Website URL: www.arcademicskillbuilders.com

DESCRIPTION

Arcademic Skill Builders (ASB) is a funny name (was "Academic" taken?) for a totally cool website. This site is designed with the education of students as their first priority! The website provides dozens of FREE interactive learning games for students ranging from kindergarten to the middle grades. These games are easy to access, visually stunning, and really engage young people with the "cool" factor. Generally, these games would fall under "skill and drill" on the learning continuum, but some do have an element of teaching and feedback to them. The math games provide players with challenges related to basic facts for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in both the single player and multi-player modes. Multi-player modes allow students to actually compete against each other (such as in a computer lab) by sharing a private game password in fun races on boats, cars and other crafts. There are also math games for ratios, proportions and fractions. On the ELA side of things, word games on this site challenge young learners to improve their use of verbs and vowels or match synonyms and antonyms. Two capital-matching games help students learn the U.S. capital cities as well as world-wide country capital cities.

ASB provides multi-player games in a safe context, where users are not able to contact each other and no personal information is given. The site also proves to be teacher-friendly by providing a "Teacher Manual" on best practices for integrating the games into education. Students are able to share their success on the games by printing out "trophies" from individual games that they have succeeded on. And to make it all that much better, this AD-FREE site has been continually updated with new features and new games over the last few school years. A recent addition to the site even announces that ASB games can be played on the Wii gaming system!

INTERFACE AND INTERACTIONS

The design, thoroughness and accuracy of this website are impressive. During more than a year of use, I have never had any issues with students not being able to access a game, finding broken links, or anything negative whatsoever. The layout of the site is vivid but simple, with little navigation necessary to get where you want to go. The interface is intuitive for young students, who are drawn in by colorful graphics and logos for each game. Despite the plethora of links to the various games, the site does not seem "cluttered" like many other comparable educational games websites.

ASB uses a popout window for each flash-based game to open, but individual games still support direct linking, which means teachers can link to specific games from another site. Under each game link on the main page ASB lists the system and browser requirements needed for them to work, which is another detail that helps ensure no surprises when using with your students. The games all include colorful, simple, but well designed graphics which are very age appropriate. The games are all interactive, with players able to click on the screen (to choose the correct answer, for example) or use a keyboard to control their selections or move a manipulative. The website speed of loading time and also game play has been equally impressive, even with 26 students in a lab all playing the same game.

CLASSROOM USE

I have used ASB with my 4^th grade students for the last two school years. These games have been a supplement to our math units on multiplication, division, fractions and provided review for addition and subtraction. This use is designed for my students to develop automaticity with these foundational basic math facts. I have also introduced my students to the word games, but have not formally used them in correlation with a lesson. My students access ASB games from direct links from our 4^th grade wiki, which is accessible to them from both school and home.

As previously mentioned, these games are mainly for skill drills (as the website name suggests) and therefore do not fit into a constructivist learning theory. However, the rote memorization of basic math facts is a necessary component of elementary education- as higher order mathematical skills will build upon this numeracy. The format of these games can energize student learning of what may otherwise be a mundane task and encourage them to practice their basic facts with which they struggle. The premise for this type of game is a direct example of behaviorist learning theory (get the question right, your car goes faster, you win the race- get the question wrong, your car slows down). This instant feedback can be valuable for many learners; however, a teacher should be aware of students who do not learn best in these "high pressure" timed scenarios.

In addition to the traditional academic content, this site lends itself well for a continued discussion of online safety. The multi-player platform has students choose their own log-in name and gives them the option of creating public or password-protected games. Teachers can use this opportunity to talk with students about how to create safe and appropriate screen names, "surf away" from users who do have inappropriate screen names, and realize that they could be playing against users of any age from anywhere on the planet. The "walled garden" style of the ASB website should put teachers and parents at ease about having their children participate, as the website does not allow for user-to-user contact and does screen for inappropriate names.

NETS STANDARDS

NET*S: Students will

5) Digital Citizenship: a. advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.

• By interacting with others appropriately during multi-player use.

6) Technology Operations & Concepts: d. transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies.

• By fluently navigating the website to achieve the desired lesson results.

NETS*T: Teachers will

2) Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments: a. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.

• By including opportunities to practice their skills on the website as part of a broader lesson

4) Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility: c. promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information.

• By discussing the context of and setting boundaries for the use of multi-player modes.