Can you learn to swim without water?

What was your first answer?  Yes.....watch video, practise motions in the air, talk about it?  Or No, can't be done authentically until you are immersed in the pool or lake?
Now try this one....can you learn to blog without a computer or device?  I say yes!  And here's how.....

1)  Think of a blog post - opinions, questions, facts about a topic.  Write it on a whiteboard, chalkboard or paper at the front of the room.
2)  Give students a few large sticky notes.  Have them write their responses.
3)  Students put responses below the post.
4)  Students read each other's responses and add replies or further questions.
5)  Move sticky notes as needed to show threads of conversation.
6)  Draw pictures if needed and 'upload' by sticking them up too!
7)  Owner of the blog can 'take down' responses if needed.

For anyone who said No, can't get the iPads or book the lab, I challenge you to try it the paper way!

http://bit.ly/19CWgwQ

Two of Me

http://bit.ly/1G2mKpW

I never knew how old my elementary teachers were. It seemed to be a big secret what their first names were. Many years later, it was a long time in the teaching world before I met someone who shared their age with their students. It just wasn't done when I first started teaching. Now I have no qualms about telling them my age and they all know my given name. However, in many ways I still have 2 identities. 'Trish' and 'Ms. Morgan'.  Personal and Professional.  I keep and am told to keep many personal views to myself, such as political and religious. I respect this because I know I am a role model for my students. Whether I want it to or not, what I believe would influence them. Curriculum and professional ethics guide me to model positive character traits, such as, respect for people and environment, honesty and truthfulness, compassion, open-mindedness and patience. Most of the time, I have no trouble distinguishing between what I should share with students and what I shouldn't. And then along came online Social Media. 'Trish' soon had a Facebook account and a Twitter account. As I was setting them up, I thought to myself that perhaps I should not make myself easily searchable. So I played with my name a bit, added numbers, switched letters around and decided not to share this with my students. They know I have accounts. I'll refer to information I learned through Twitter or refer to a 'chat' I had with my daughter through Facebook but I don't show them the accounts. They know we have a class Twitter and websites but those are monitored and used by 'Ms. Morgan'. While I feel pretty comfortable with my decisions, I love to continue the discussion and have found a link with perspectives I agree with.  I also found the guidelines for Nurses in New Brunswick that has two useful charts that address benefits/risks and do's/don'ts. I found it very interesting because of some of the similarities in our professions.  I wonder if we should create something similar for teachers?
And finally, I attend many ETFO events and have heard about cases (no names) of teachers who have not used technology wisely. This Voice magazine article shares our union's advice.  The most common advice seems to suggest that common sense will guide us best.  Both of me think it's a good place to start.

From Shy to Sharing

To blog or not to blog.  

That had been the question.  Until this past January. Then I had to, turns out that was the incentive I needed.  Not too surprising as it's the same one I use for my students.  Here's how, here's what to keep in mind, here are some topics to get started.  Now go.  I even helped get my daughter get started on one as we drove to the airport a few years ago.  She was about to do an overseas exchange and didn't want to have to write the same messages over and over to her friends and family.  So she blogged her experiences.  She had a reason.  We discussed Wordpress in the car and a few basic ideas. It was and still is very effective. While it started out as communication, it became more than that.  It became her. A voice that was intelligent, humourous, opinionated, and descriptive.  Add to that her burgeoning skills as a photographer and she soon captured the power of the blog.  She has an ever increasing audience and has expanded her writing to include magazine articles, online travel articles and food and restaurant reviews to name a few.  I was actually a little hesitant to start my own blog knowing I had offspring with waaaaay more experience.  But like her, I had a reason.  Someone asked me to share my thoughts and experiences.  And most of all, I had a little community who encouraged me.  That was so important at the beginning.  I will not soon forget this the next time I set a class of newbies into the blog world.  I'll also remember that, as with my daughter, this just may show me a new side to my students.  Taking this course allowed me to see and live both sides of 'Integrating Technology'.  I could share my experiences and try new ideas.  And it's worth mentioning again that the opportunity to comment on other blogs and read comments about mine were invaluable.
Oh and speaking of that little community?  Blogger has a nice feature that shows you details about your 'views' and a map.  While I thought I was just posting to my Google+ group, I now see I have views in India and South America! Amazing. And I must confess, exciting.  To think that someone on the other side of the world is reading my words is incredible. (Please don't tell me it's just a machine somewhere...)  I like picturing someone like me, who used to only read blogs. Maybe I'll inspire them to start writing and I will hear their voice.
Until then, what next?  Earlier today I found myself talking about a website I like with another colleague. Sumo Paint.  And I realized she would probably like to read about a few of the other ideas I have mentioned these past weeks.  So I'm going to tweet out my blog.  I've learned some things, I should share them.
In the meantime I'll take another course, of course!

Let's Get Together!

Collaboration... the word is everywhere in education.  It isn't a new concept, its just been highlighted as one of the 21st Century Skills, so it seems to have achieved a higher status.  What is new?  Technology is decimating barriers such as distance, clarity, and limits to participation numbers.  When I look at the MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course) available, it is astounding. In my world, I share and use video conferencing for two purposes.  Student learning and Professional Development. Here are examples of both.

For many years now I have participated in something called CATC Camp. (Computers Across the Curriculum) I've jumpstarted and shared most of my technology learning at this amazing PD opportunity which is available to any WRDSB teacher.  One of the best collaboration ideas I've been involved in came from a brainstorming session one summer at this camp.  Myself and four other teachers, who had classes from Grade 2 to 6, decided to use Adobe Connect to bring together and share our learning asynchronously.  Our topic was Canada. Each month we would meet online and the host school would invite the other classes to connect with us.  Hence we titled our project 'Canada Connects'.

This first picture shows my class checking in with the 4 other schools.  We can all see each other.  In the next photo, one student holds up a script while the other shares a flag they have created and describes it to the other schools.  On this particular occasion my students decided they wanted to ask the other schools to vote, using a built in polling tool, for the best new Canadian flag.  (We had been studying its history.)
The winning flag is also portrayed.  The artist was able to thank those who voted for it!



The students really enjoyed the experience throughout the year.  It gave them an audience for their efforts.  We shared facts, poems, artwork, up loaded stories, and songs.  As well, we invited guests to join us from the east coast and west.  By June, we were all saddened to say goodbye as we had come to know many students at the other schools by name. For the teachers it was a very engaging experience in learning that challenged us to really think about the tool and how to make the most of its capabilities.  I have used Adobe Connect for various planning sessions with other teachers and at conferences.  I'm grateful that my board supports it for all teachers. It alleviates unnecessary travel and allows for screen shares. The chat features and tools make it very interactive. It's nice to see everyone's face.  By far though, the most memorable occasions are the ones involving student connection.

Recently I began using Blackboard Collaborate.  As a presenter for OTF Connects, I needed to learn how to use it a few days before an online seminar that my partner and I were presenting.  Fortunately, with our Adobe experience we were able to transfer our skills and had a successful session.  We were initially disappointed that the bandwidth would not support video of us speaking and we would not be able to see our participants.  However, there were so many other features available that we still felt a rapport with everyone.  We uploaded a Powerpoint that was created with interaction in mind. We used polling tools, participant features and the interactive whiteboard for feedback and input. We could also leave the whiteboard and go to the web at any time. The chat room was ideal as teachers could ask questions while the presentation continued and then we could weave in an answer as we went. The participants logged in from all over Ontario and we were able to share experiences and learn from each other. We were able to share links to forms and spreadsheets, post results, and make decisions based on a collective input. A final bonus was that since we could present from home, we could wear our comfy clothes and snack at will!!! Comfy collaboration, now that's a barrier worth breaking!

Gone Slidin'!

Slideshow Presentation tools!  Love'em!  I use them and my students use them. Which ones?  And Why? Is there a Why Not To?

1) Google Slides/Presentations 

  As part of the suite of Google Apps suite of tools, Slides is an easy to use, collaborative, presentation tool for anyone, but especially, educators, students and the business world.  I use this program with my Grade 5 students partly because it is linked to their Google Apps for Education account so there is no separate login or cost.  They can access it at home, collaborate with other students, share projects with me, see my comments, and link videos including Youtube quite easily.  I recently walked in on a grade 3 class learning how to use Slides, it didn't take them long. The teacher says they got it quite quickly, he gave them a little push and they have gone sliding!  

2) Prezi Edu displays information not as a series of slides, but as one large board that zooms in on specific information or images. For a while this one was limited to students over 13, until the Education version came out.  There is a free version which is what I access. It doesn’t offer features like slide transitions, object animations, master slides or timed slide progression. It does offer a few features that are unique such as a bird's eye view of your whole presentation. Check out this link for a quick sample. Link to sample Prezi

I also enjoyed reading Ned Potter's review.  It is very thorough and helpful.

3) Explain Everything is a screen casting app. It has been popular as an Apple mobile device app, and last summer it was released for Windows 8.1. This interactive whiteboard tool lets you annotate, animate, narrate, import, and export almost anything to and from almost anywhere. You can create slides, draw in any colour, add shapes, add text, and (something I wish Google Slides had), use a laser pointer. How to Use

This app has been a learning consultant's dream as they help teachers and students with the ever pressing need to 'Explain their Thinking'. I've used this app as a next step for students who have become proficient with "Educreations". It has more tools and many more recording capabilities.

4) Haiku Deck promotes itself as a simple app where you can put together slide decks, which is the idea of piling slides on top of each other. When it first arrived a few years ago I was impressed with the library of over 40 million free images to use as backgrounds.  Best of all was the built in copyright feature for images. It was nice to see an app that recognizes the importance of acknowledging ownership rights. The themes are simple, yet interesting and the layouts just versatile enough to make presentations unique.  It can be used on a PC, Mac, Chrome OS, and the iPad.

A few days ago an announcement from Haiku Deck came out that is pretty amazing.  They now have a new AI (artificial intelligence) tool that I have never seen in an app before.  They call it Haiku Deck Zuru.  It will generate presentations for you!  Upload an outline or even an existing presentation created elsewhere and it will automatically build a deck for you.  New AI tool

I'm looking forward to trying this one, however it isn't free.

These are just 4 possible presentation programs. There are many, many others. Why? Because they improve learning.  How? Here's a great list I found that highlights the benefits.

• Professional, fine-tuned presentation (especially with the implementation of peer review) for the instructor and the student
• Richer, more engaging ways of representing information
• Enhanced value of content through links to digital resources (audio files, images, web pages, etc.) 
• Improved student retention of material from lectures and demonstrations using presentation software
• Broader engagement of students during a lecture through connections to all types of learners (including visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile learners)
• Address the variety of learning styles and strategies (active, reflective, sensory, intuitive, visual, verbal, sequential, global)
• Decreased preparation time through teacher collaboration
• More efficient pace to lessons by eliminating time-consuming transitions between media (which causes students to stop paying attention)
• More time for students to review instructions
• Improved computer skills, including learning to conceptually use presentation software (knowledge which should be transferable to any package)
• Increased student cooperation and collaboration
• Opportunity to practice public speaking skills while using presentation software and tools to develop their own signature style of engaging an audience
• Simplification of complex concepts or lessons
• Enhanced language learning through the engagement of the four language skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening
• Improved organization 
• Extension of learning through presentations outside of the classroom (students access presentations digitally for preview and review)

Are there pitfalls as well? Sure. Overuse and incorrect use would be top of the short list. But if you slip off the sled, think about what went wrong and then climb back up the hill for another great ride!