Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Second Life




I recently had an opportunity to take part in a meeting within Second Life. Second Life is a virtual environment in which multiple users can interact with each other. Within this virtual world avatars can purchase land, built structures, socialize, present information, and teach others, with many more options that may be unknown to me. While there are many areas of Second Life that are used for personal interaction our purpose that day was to interact within the interface and to gather ideas for how it can be used for education.
Once you sign up for an account you are asked to create a username within SL (and to download the software, which is free). You may create your first name, but there are predetermined last names that you much select from (although the reasoning behind this was not immediately known). Once logged in, there were approximately 25 avatars that represented both colleagues I knew (identifiable because I knew their avatar’s name before logging in) and those that I did not know, only that they were part of the same University program that I was (although I did encounter avatars that were strangers and not part of our group). We were given instructions mainly through a chat interface, along with a list of islands to visit. We were then directed to find a partner (or in many cases form groups of 3 people) to teleport to different locations. No other instructions were given (with the exception to stay with and communicate with your small group).
The lack of direction allowed us to wander around getting used to this virtual reality. Although this was a great way to simply explore, I personally would have preferred to know ahead of time that this was the goal. I kept waiting for further instructions, which distracted me from my surroundings. For a first time participant Second Life was relatively easy to use. We were shown the basics of how to get around with ease, although one would most likely be able to find their way around even without guidance.
My opinion of this virtual reality? I’m not sure yet. I’m certainly happy I had the experience, but unsure that I would want to use it with the students in my building. Second Life would require a decent chunk of educational time that would be used for students to get past the “wow” factor. After which I don’t believe that the students in my building would use it for open exploration as a learning environment. They would need to have a specific task in mind to keep them focused. I see that organizations such as museums could showcase their body of work within Second Life and that I could build a lesson around that. How is it different than me taking them to the Internet site for that museum? Why is Second Life a better option than that? I understand that this is simply one example and that I need to conduct more research before passing judgment. But….based on my one time experience, I’m not convinced it would be worth the class time it would take to get students to use it correctly. Additionally, teachers would have to put in time to not only learn the interface, but to see how exactly they could apply it to their subjects.
I’m keeping an open mind to Second Life. I’ve even begun reading an article about how it could be used in education. What I would prefer to see is a specific example of an elementary school that has used it, and how it played out. Of course, if CPS blocks Second Class (which is unknown by me at the time of this posting) then the conversation is mute.

This website is a wiki which contains videos that teach about second life: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Video_Tutorials

Another wiki with ways to use Second Life in Education

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

A Few of My Favorite Sites

This week’s blog posting asked for favorite resource depositories or lists. I had a hard time narrowing the list down to one or two, so I’m going to include a few of my absolute “go-to” resources.

1.The first is CommonCraft. This video site offers simple black and white drawings explaining “in Plain English” (or German, French, Spanish, or Portuguese) common concepts. In the “technology” section you can find very basic introductory videos to explain blogs, wikis, RSS, and social networking to name a few. They are great ways to explain the very basics in a quick, easy to understand format. The homepage for specific videos contain the actual video, a section under that tells you “what it teaches”, and other related videos (as well as the creation date). My favorite example however isn’t educational. It is a “Happy Halloween” video that explains how to avoid zombies. Take a look:


2. Along the same lines I have gone to Videojug on many occasions as well. Videojug has thousands of videos and articles on just about all of life’s topics. Educationally I have used it with my Dell TechKnow students to explain to them what components are found on the inside of a computer. This video coupled with additional websites allowed my students to acquire the background information they needed before they actually dug into their computers. A word of caution, however. I linked directly to the video I wanted them to see. Didn’t feel it was necessary to have them go to the home page and find out “how to paint a portrait of a nude woman”…



3. The third depository comes from my own site Nicole Zumpano.com. As explained in previous blogs, my Wednesday Web provides a list of links that center on specific topics such as holidays, web 2.0 educational tools, and subject-specific topics. I’m proud of the fact that I was able to publish this every Wednesday this school year and never repeated a topic. Feel free to share the lists. I’d appreciate a shout out (or an email) if you do.


4. The Wednesday Web concept isn’t new. For years teachers have been posting links like this. One excellent example is the awesome Lucy Gray. See her site for ALL things tech-ed related!! http://elemenous.typepad.com/weblog/

5. Finally, I have to imagine many of you have seen the inspirational (yet slightly humbling) “Pay Attention” video (linked below). The home of the video is Jordan School District, located in Utah. We should all strive to have a site so rich in content.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

WebQuests

WebQuests are inquiry based assignments where the user is given a task, along with a detailed description of instructions, in order to complete an activity involving Internet resources. They are considered authentic assignments and utilize higher order thinking skills if written properly. Bernie Dodge of San Diego State University first began using the phrase in 1995 and has a website dedicated to all things WebQuest.


Since then, a surplus of WebQuest sites have popped up all over the Internet, including that of Tom March who helped break WebQuests into the k-12 market. The trick becomes identifying which is a quality assignment and which is a scavenger hunt in disguise. The good news is that there are countless rubrics and descriptions of what a quality WebQuest should look like. The bad news is picking one out to follow.
The WebQuest I focused on was found under Eduscapes’grade level literature WebQuests.



It is a WebQuest I have utilized as a resource with my 4th grade students, titled “The Realm of Fairy Tales.” In this WebQuest the tasks are: read 8 out of 15 fairy tales online, analyze the fairy tales by identifying recurring themes using a Themes Chart, outline a story map for your own fairy tale, then write your own fairy tale based on your story map.
This lesson is geared toward 4-5 grade students. The tasks seemed straightforward and easy for students to understand. The Themes Chart was well organized and broken down into 8 characteristics that are found in many fairy tales, making it easy for students to check off characteristics that are listed on the Themes Chart as they read each fairy tale. Each of the stories were 2-3 pages in length but would require a student to be reading on grade level to accurately understand. After reading students fill out a story map and begin creating their own fairy tales.
In all, this WebQuest provided excellent resources but was not, in my opinion, one utilizing higher order thinking skills (at least not until they create their own fairy tale at the end of the assignment). A better approach would have been to have students compare 3-4 fairy tales (8 seems too many- students would tend to become distracted after a few) and to decide for themselves what the common themes were- not to be told beforehand what to look for. To further the use of technology integration, students could work in teams to create a fairy tale then create a VoiceThread or podcast of their story.

Below are a few of the resources that I found helpful when using WebQuests in the classroom:

Building blocks of a WebQuest (detailed description of each step with examples

A WebQuest about WebQuests for elementary school teachers

Eduscapes’ site on all things WebQuest

Sunday, July 5, 2009

The Value of Internet Resources

*Note: The following posts are part of my coursework in National Louis' TIE 542 class.

What is the value of Internet resources for education? The answer depends on who is collecting the resources and what they will be used for. Internet resources allow students to not only learn at their own pace, but to learn on a level that may produce success. These resources are not limited to school walls or school hours. They may be accessed at a time when the learner is more apt to retain the information. Not all students perform their best work in front of peers or during the school day. Internet resources allow them the time to learn when and where they feel most comfortable and to revisit information in a non-threatening setting. In the case of students similar to my own it allows them a chance to explore settings and cultures that they may never experience in their lifetime.

Not all Internet resources are created equally, however. All too often I see educators find websites (not necessarily resources) and plop their kids down in front of the computer. I see these experiences as very limiting. In a sense the Internet is being used as a virtual babysitter. What I would like to see more of is teachers teaching students how to evaluate and locate quality resources, above and beyond a simple “Google” search. I would like teachers to take time to look for resources that will truly benefit their students and their curriculum; not a game or music site to keep them busy. As a Lead Technology Teacher this is something that I should be more educated in. I should be able to teach my teachers how to locate valuable resources (and pass this knowledge on to students) as well as provide them with resources of value.

I have begun to do this through the creation of my “Wednesday Web” resource list for my faculty. Each week I provide a list of web resources for educators centered on a specific theme (posted in the Staff Area of First Class). After telling some friends about this resource I decided to move it to my personal website for people to access outside of First Class. I’m proud to say that I never repeated a topic last year. The list can be found here: http://nicolezumpano.com/wednesdayweb.php

Now….just because I’ve posted these resources doesn’t mean they are being used. I had a few loyal teachers who would read them on a regular basis, but I think overall the exposure was somewhat limited due to the fact that not everyone was comfortable accessing First Class. This year I plan to post the links in blog format. With any luck I may have teachers share additional resources that they have found useful, with hopes of enhancing education for students outside of my school walls as well as in.