Reflection on article, LMSs, and Moodle - week 11

This week's article about Ross and his work with LMSs was a good starting point for my presentation.

I agree with Ross, I think adding a component of online learning via Moodle or other LMSs does add another dimension to the classroom.

I see the benefits as being:

-one central location for students to submit assignments and for teachers to upload them

-a way to connect with class outside of the traditional school setting and not restricted by time

-virtual classroom allows for discussions, collaborations, and connections

-LMSs allow for easy integration of web 2.0 tools

-supporting different styles of learning


At the same time, I do see some potential drawbacks:

-management of LMSs - teachers have so much to do already, will they have time to setup a Moodle account and maintain it? Is it realistic to expect a classroom teacher to spend all day teaching and then login in the evening to answer questions?

-Just because the information is put on the system, it doesn't mean learning is occurring. I think online learning requires skills that some students do not instinctively have. Therefore, it is important that if teachers do incorporate LMSs into their classrooms, then they must take time out to teach the skills necessary for successful navigation and online learning.

-teachers and students need support(technologically and others) in creating and maintaining a successful experience with LMSs and online learning - the question is, will the support be there?


And finally, I noticed that Ross mentioned that they "didn't have sufficient data to quantify the impact of their respective systems"; only comments by teachers stating that there's more engagement and positive energy. I would be interested to see some real data on this in the future...that is, is student performance enhanced with the use of LMSs?


Okay, I lied, that wasn't my "finally"...but I will end with a few comments on Moodle. I personally have not used it yet, but I have one colleague setting it up at our school now and another colleague that used it when she taught in Hong Kong. She said she really liked it and thought it was a good program - it's only the initial setup that is the headache. But in Hong Kong schools, they have computer technicians for that and so it wasn't an issue! Wouldn't that be nice? Anyways, she said her best experience with it was when all her students pulled out their cellphones and "wrote" a quiz on Moodle...yeah, what a concept, huh?

So we have a plan...in May or June(why do we always fool ourselves into believing there's more time in June?) we are going to make every effort to get together and setup Moodle for the next school year(are we really thinking about that already?). Looking forward to it...

-

Lesson 11 Presentation - Google Docs & Slideshare - week 11

This was my presentation week and so I decided to create a powerpoint via Google Docs. I also thought it would be cool to take this opportunity to play around with Slideshare. I was pleased to discover that Slideshare allowed for uploading of Google Doc presentations, but was disappointed to see that my ppt looks funny in Slideshare. : (

I don't know why...maybe something with formatting? not compatible? Did I do something funny in the Google docs? I don't know, this will be something for me to figure out in the future. I tried to edit it in Slideshare, but it won't allow me to look at each slide...hmm..further exploration will be needed to fix it.

So for now, my Google docs ppt will be the one I will use with the class. But this little setback got me thinking...why use Slideshare?

Shortly after, I received an email from Slideshare that reminded me why it is a good tool (this was purely a coincidence...sounds more spooky than it was):
- view & download presentations, documents, pdfs etc on any topic you like
- embed into blogs, websites & wikis
- upload any formats: ppt, pptx, doc, docx, pdf, odp, Apple Keynote, IWork pages etc
- create a webinar or audio presentation using our free slidecasting tool
- embed YouTube Videos inside your SlideShare presentations
- use our event functionality to send conference invites, archive slide decks, publicise your event etc
- build cool mashups & widgets using our free APIs (for developers)

I think what appeals to me is the audio component and webinar feature. But other than that, Google docs works pretty good for sharing ppts.
I noticed that Slideshare allows for embedding of videos - but if you take a look at mine, the links and videos aren't live??? Hmm...what did I do wrong???

Anyways, here is my lesson 11 presentation on Learning Management Systems:

Google Docs Version

Slideshare Version

Not quite a podcast, but my first audio recording - week 10

Okay, recording audio files takes talent - I totally respect all radio talk-show hosts, commentators, people who record audio books, and regular podcasters 150% more now that I've experienced it.

I mean, let's face it, I don't have the best voice and I'm not the most eloquent speaker so podcasting for me would require LOTS of practise!

But I still believe in the power in voice and I'm going to try REALLY hard to leave my comfort zone next school year and go through with my podcast project (teachers and students reading from one of their favorite books or maybe favorite poem?).

Now that I have an account at podbean...I can share them easily with the entire school! I still have a lot of playing to do at podbean...but I just figured out I have a webpage that people can (that shows my list of podcasts) and I have all these other interaces for storage of files, uploading,publishing,looking for subscriptions, etc.

Check out my first audio recording.

RSS and Podcasts - week 10

Podcasts are so much fun! I was exploring a bit on the CBC website and found a great one called, "The Book Club: Canada Reads 2010 Readings" - a group of 2010 panelists read excerpts from the books they nominated. I was really happy to find this because it's exactly what I would like to do in my library.

Wouldn't it be so cool to have students and teachers recommend their favorite books (a booktalk and/or a reading)through podcasts? I'm excited!

And RSS feeds are so simple - it sounded like such a complicated concept! I've subscribed to (is that the correct terminology?) a couple of feeds on my blog and I love the idea that the latest stories and podcasts related to books on the CBC website will come directly to me! What an easy way to keep current on a variety of topics from a variety of sources! : )

Reflections on reading - week 9

This week's articles had me thinking about the power of podcasting and YouTubing in the classroom. First the podcasting...

I thought Campbell brought up lots of interesting and good points in regards to podcasting. As he describes how "Jenny" loves to hear her prof's excitement in her podcasts, I am reminded that this format does add a personal touch that reading text from a screen doesn't have. It's funny, this is my 7th online course through UBC, and you (Joanne) are the first instructor (that I can remember) to ever include an introductory podcast. I remember listening to it and feeling a bit more confident that I could get through the work - whereas when I read the course outline and assignment criteria - I felt completely overwhelmed. The verbal explanation clarified a lot of things and just put my mind at ease - I didn't realize how much I would appreciate that until I heard/experienced it.

And I think that says it all for me - podcasting allows for that human touch that reading off a screen or piece of paper just doesn't provide.

Here are a few more points that stuck with me:

- "...we in higher educaton do them a disservice if we exclude their creative digital tools from their education" (Campbell 2005)

- "one cannot attempt to read a newspaper while driving a car. Even reading a newspaper while walking across campus is difficult, although some people try. By contrast, podcasts can be listened to very easily while driving, walking, or working out at the gym" (Campbell 2005) AND it can be listened to at a time the listener wants...an important aspect!

-I recognize the term Drupal - our school board is experimenting with it and offering it to a few schools as a pilot project (as a platform for creating school websites).

-"voice is literally inspired language, language full of breath, breath as language. Consider the phrase "thinking aloud"" (Campbell 2005)

-"effective listening is no less crucial a skill than effective speaking, and even if the learner cannot control the tempo of a speaker's delivery, with a podcast he or she can listen again and again" (Campbell 2005).


I thought Trier offered some interesting concepts to consider as well. The terminology always cracks me up - we really are adding new words to the dictionary, aren't we? There's so much to wrap my head around: hot and cold media, vodcasting, vidcasting, vlogging, cool hunting and gathering (my personal favorite of all the ones he described),time shifting, and culture jamming.

I thought the time shifting was particularly interesting because I started to consider the possibilities...my "what ifs"

What if...
- I created podcasts as a way to introduce new books to students - a booktalk, or review, or maybe just a simple introduction? - I could upload it to our library website and students could listen to them whenever they like.

-Students created their own podcasts as a way to recommend and review books?

The time shift concept is huge for me because there's not always time during classes for me to engage students the way I want, but podcasting would be an interactive solution - I see it as, I'm reaching out to the students outside of classtime, using a form of media that they enjoy, and allowing them the flexibility to access it anytime, anywhere...I think I'm starting to understand the appeal...

Twitter unblocked - week 9

Thanks Diane for the information! I didn't know Twitter was also unblocked...it'll make it a lot easier to check out tweets now. Like I said in week 7, I think Twitter is a really useful pro-d tool and I like being able to read up on tweets during the day when I have a moment. By the time I get home, it's usually 5 or 6 (it'll be later with the tennis team starting their season soon) and the last thing I want to do is tweet or read a whole bunch of them.

In my 10 minutes on Twitter, I already found a couple of interesting articles/sites:

I've heard about Glogster from a fellow TL via email. It looks pretty cool - definitely a web 2.0 tool worth exploring. And I think the word is getting out because I've now seen two examples of it in the last couple of weeks - first was used by some classmates for their wiki project and now as a library page

This page is great - gives me some great ideas of how to jazz up my library page.

These two articles relate to what we've been talking about - the first is called "How today's college students use Wikipedia for course-related research" and the second one is "Vanguard, laggard, or relic? The possible futures of higher education after the Epistemic Revolution"

My Voicethread - FINALLY! - week 9

Okay, so my Voicethread isn't perfect, but I finally completed it! The important thing is, I know how most of it works, I just have to work out this microphone issue. I don't know what's going on...I borrowed this headset from another teacher, tested out the microphone, checked out the volume - I still can't figure out why the recording is so soft. I'll have to play around with it some more to figure it out. But next time, I think I will try recording the audio parts on a recorder and uploading them to each slide. I think that might work better.

But despite the issues with the microphone, I had a lot of fun uploading my pictures (great way to tell a story), attempting to record my voice (it's pretty difficult to find the words to say when the recorder is on!), creating speech clouds, and my favorite - drawing on the picture!!! I can see how this would be an effective tool (especially for giving directions/instructions) when combined with the audio piece.

Very cool! I look forward to trying it out with the students and playing around with it more in the near future. I think the students will love it!

If you want to read the speech bubbles (and sorry again for the poor sound quality) go to
my voicethread

Some YouTube videos - week 9

I really like Youtube - you can find some really good videp clips with relative ease - which makes it an invaluable resource for the classroom and library. Of course, like other resources, we have to teach our students to think critically about the videos they watch on YouTube - with technological advances, it makes it a lot easier for people to create fake videos (i.e. Science experiments)depicting outcomes that are untrue.

But one of the things that I don't like about YouTube is the random and sometimes inappropriate stuff that results from your search - for example, today I searched "teacher-librarian and 21st century learning" - the first few videos seemed fine, but then I look down the list and see "sexy teacher-librarian". Now, I didn't look at the video, so I don't know what that's all about, but the title alone made me feel uncomfortable. Come on, really, what's the relevance here?

I can see why teachers would want to use TeacherTube.

But here are a couple of videos I like:

Screenshot of my iGoogle page - week 9

I just realized that I never posted my iGoogle page in week 2...so here it is. I really like having all the optional tools and so I see them as accessories that I can change whenever I like.
Here's what it looks like right now:

Flickr - my photo album - week 8

I can see why people like/love to create online photo albums now - pictures are such a great way to share our experiences with others.

I just spent the last hour trying to transfer the pictures from my phone (there was software involved, so it just took a bit of time) to my computer so I could upload them to Flickr...it was worth it! Now that I've figured out how that works, I'll be taking a lot more pictures with my phone! The pictures look so small on my phone, I thought for sure the quality was terrible, but now that I've seen them on my computer - they're really not that bad!

I didn't use any of the extra features on Flickr - but I thought it was pretty neat that editing (cropping, removing red-eye, etc) could be as easy as "drag and click". As well, I thought it was really cool and fun that I could create calendars, albums, and cards with my photos (for a small fee) - something I definitely want to try in the future. What a great Christmas gift idea - especially for my nieces and nephews!

Check out my slideshow on Flickr. I've included my Olympic adventures and a short video that some students created for a project called GreenBricks (I blogged about this in my post called Blogging about Blogs).

Tag, you're it! - Reflections on Golder and Huberman's article - week 8

Sorry for the cheesy title - I couldn't help myself! : )

Okay, I know I said last week that I found tagging to be more difficult than it looks...but after reading this article, I'm even more convinced that it's a complex process, that if done well, makes finding what you want (text, images, videos) on the Internet a lot easier - this is huge in the research world!

I found this article (and their study) really interesting. Here are some things that really stood out for me:

This paragraph in particular stuck with me:
"Items often lie between categories or equally well in multiple categories. The lines one ultimately draws for oneself reflect one’s own experiences, daily practices, needs and concerns. Many experiences are shared with others and may be nearly universal within a culture or community, similar ways of organizing and sensemaking do result; after all, societies are able to collectively organize knowledge and coordinate action" (Golder and Huberman)

Tagging is sensemaking and sensemaking is influenced by social factors (Golder and Huberman).

This is so simply put, but yet is the best description of tagging I've read so far.

It’s done by regular people, not experts, for regular people. It allows people to find things using terms that a collective group would use. I think it speaks to all of us, rather than having one expert grouping things based on a system or rule.

As the authors point out, collective tagging allows us to learn from one another through sharing and organizing information.

I like how tagging is done for personal use, but through that, it can benefit others (help them find things that they also enjoy) – it really is a great sharing tool.
But I guess a limitation of tagging is the fact that the tags are only useful if the tagger makes sense of information that connect to others (shared sensemaking).

THE STUDY ON DELICIOUS
Some things I found interesting:

"users’ lists of tags can be considered descriptive of the interests they hold as well as of their method of classifying those interests" (Golder and Huberman)

"Users’ tag lists grow over time, as they discover new interests and
add new tags to categorize and describe them" (Golder and Huberman) - I wonder if this is partly due to the fact that we become more comfortable with the tagging process as we engage in it more.
Interesting how the number of tags a person has can reflect his/her own interest level. Makes sense, so simple yet so revealing for data collectors.

"Because sensemaking is a retrospective process, information must be observed before one can establish its meaning" (Golder and Huberman) - Which is why I think tagging can be such a difficult task.

The Kinds of Tags Used
Wow, I did not know there were so many categories of tags. From my limited tagging experience, my tags usually fell into the category of "Identifying What (or Who) it is About".

I did use “identifying qualities and characteristics” on Shelfari because I thought this would be meaningful to students when looking for a book. I guess we do have to consider who our audience members are when we are tagging – that is, what would be most useful to the group of people we are trying to reach?

I agree with the authors – the kinds of tags used in Delicious are separated into the categories of extrinsic and intrinsic tags (relative to the tagger). I’m curious, is one kind of tag more useful than the other?

Consistency of Tagging
"This stability has important implications for the collective
usefulness of individual tagging behavior" (Golder and Huberman)

It’s fascinating to see that as more people bookmark and tag a URL – the tags become more fixed and stable. You would think that if there were more tags then it would be more chaotic as people bring their own ideas and thoughts.
I guess,there is something to the idea of collective agreement (due to imitation and shared knowledge) – this reminds me of our discussion around Wikipedia, which I think, also relies on consistency and agreement among the people.

"Part of the reason these stable patterns emerge is that the ideas
and characteristics that are represented in tags are stable. As the
ideas themselves change, these stable states may likewise change" (Golder and Huberman) - Interesting point to consider. As technology advances, will there be so many new ideas one day that we won't be able to share a common a language anymore?

A Possible Limitation of Tagging in Delicious
I also found the fact that we can't go back and "re-tag" previous bookmarks in Delicious could contribute to the limitations of tagging. As we get better at tagging, what if we discover that our previous tags aren't as accurate as they could be? Could this affect it's level of connectivity and usefulness for others?

Creative Commons and Photosharing - my thoughts - week 8

WOW – The concept of Creative Commons is quite complex – even if you use something that someone has allowed you to, you must give attribution (credit, I'm guessing) to that person. Good to know!

There is a lot of stuff that people are willing to share – does make for an enriched information world out there, doesn’t it?

I guess people see it more as exposure for their work that they might not get otherwise. I guess the same goes for Youtube. A student I know recorded his dance routine and put it on Youtube - he says it's for exposure. It’s funny, I’ve never really thought about it this way, but it makes sense. For me, it’s more about protecting my privacy and not wanting to put myself out there. But for people who want to be discovered, technology has really opened the door.

As much as I don't want to put myself out there, I do enjoy looking at my friends' photos. It is a way to stay connected and I appreciate that they are sharing a piece of their life with me. This is what I would use Flickr and Picasa for - a way to share and connect with my friends and family, especially the ones that live far away. We'll see, I'll have to just get over my need for privacy and share some more photos...or at least start taking more so I'll have something to share! : )

I'm glad that this week's lesson is on Creative Commons because a colleague and I have been trying to figure out how to teach our students about intellectual freedom.
Lee (my colleague) and I worked on creating an assignment that has students looking into this issue.

Many of our students use images from the Internet (in their projects) with no regards to this aspect at all. I've made some progress this year with getting them to cite their image sources in their bibliography, but many of them think this is unnecessary for some reason.

As they start to create more blogs, wikis, and technology-based projects, intellectual property becomes a significant issue that we have to address. Most of the students obtain images from Google, not realizing that many, if not all, are not free for the taking. As Lee and I researched a bit on our own, we found that most websites had information (sometimes very difficult to understand) about the usage of their images. It was clear, we were not allowed to use their image in a simple cut and paste fashion – rather, it always required either filling out a form or writing an email asking for persmission of use. From our digging, we created an assignment that had students digging deeper themselves.

We have to provide opportunities in the classroom for assignments such as this if we want them to understand and respect intellectual freedom. As well, we have to point out to them that even if they do use images from the Creative Commons, they still have to give credit where credit is due, otherwise, people will not be happy either. (I learned this from a post in the Creative Commons section of Flickr)

A lot of the legal language we encountered was difficult – Lee and I found ourselves puzzled by the terminology and procedures at times. So we worked in a vocabulary section in our assignment so students could write down words they didn't understand (for further investigation).

We were hoping that by providing this assignment with our guidance, students will acquire some of the language and concepts of intellectual property.

We're both pretty excited about this project and hope the students will find it worthwhile. Now that I've learned a bit more about Creative Commons, I think I'll work that into the assignment as well.

We'll need to talk to students about searching for images in the “Creative Commons” rather than just Googling. But whatever they find, they still need to dig further to learn about the “properties” of the photo.

Personally, I feel that I need to learn more about the legal jargon so that I can make sense of it for the students. Most of the time, they don't even realize that they're being unethical when they take images without asking or giving attribution. We just have to take the time to educate them on this.


I think there are a couple of good websites to use with students when it comes to this topic:
Creativecommons.org – this short video gives a pretty good description of Creative Commons. I think it would be a good starting place for a lesson on Intellectual freedom.

Wikimedia Commons – there is information about the usage of each photo when you click on them. We need to teach students to go through this process before they cut and paste!

However, I am confused a bit about giving attribution – what if no names are given, how do we give proper attribution? Something I need to look into so that I can pass on the correct information to them.

Bomomo - week 8

I just played with Bomomo very briefly and although I didn't create anything amazing (I'm not very artistic), I found it relaxing to create and doodle. I think my niece (who is 5 years-old and simply adorable), would really love this program. And, I think she'll be 100% more creative than I am, so I'm excited to see what she'll create with it!

Facebook and Twitter - week 7

Facebook

I did a search on school libraries here and was surprised to find the AASL there. But it makes sense - just another way to reach out, right?

It has given me something to think about - it really would be a good way to connect our library to our students since they are always on Facebook...I realized that I don't have to be their friends on Facebook. Rather, I could set-up a library account that is open to all and it could be used as an information page AND a page to connect them to our library page. Note to self...consider experimenting with this next school year.

Personally, I don't go on Facebook much - only to connect with friends occasionally (especially the ones who don't live in the city). As well, I like going on to Facebook and looking at their photo albums - it really is a great way to share a piece of your life with your friends. I'm still not that comfortable with posting my pictures up, but maybe one day...


Twitter

I will start by saying that I have mix feelings about Twitter. I see the potential for it and I've found some really cool current articles/websites from Twitter - so I really appreciate Twitter as a valuable pro-d resource (I love that it keeps me up-to-date on all of this). As well, I can see it being a fun experiment for a class project. I've already spoken to a teacher about it and we are thinking about trying it out for one of our collaborative project.

With that said, I find it kind of exhausting trying to follow everyone's tweet! I got so overwhelmed with everything going on, that tweeting just got moved down on my priority list because once you fall behind on the tweets - there's no catching up! But I guess I just have to deal with this fact and not try to catch up. Rather, I should just take this as a "in the moment" resource. If I can work it into a daily routine, then it will can definitely be a powerful tool/resource.

So I think if tweeting is to be manageable for me, I have to:
- explore another tweeting site like tweetdeck so that I can organize my tweets a bit more

-get tweets sent to my phone so that I would manage them on a more regular basis

Also, it would be great if our school district would unblock Twitter - this way I can work it into my daily work routine. I mean, since they've unblocked Facebook, I don't really see the point of blocking Twitter. How much more distracting are these two SNSs when they all have phones anyways? IM is just as distracting, so are we going to ban phones too?

Reflection on Todd's article - week 7

This week's reading by Todd again was a reminder that teachers and teacher-librarians have such an important role in the lives of 21st century learners. It's undeniable - education and learning is changing. Whether or not we agree with the major role that technology and social networking are playing in our students' lives - it's happening and as Todd says we should "harness the opportunity, not fight it" (Todd 2008).

Here are some points that I found interesting:

- The terms Digital immigrants vs digital natives may be a bit off
I'm glad to hear someone else say this! I know some colleagues and friends (my age) that are very tech savvy, love gadgets, etc. At the same time, there are some teenagers that may love social networking and IMing, but they are not what I would consider tech savvy at all.

- efficiency in terms of technology – sometimes really not age dependent.

- the use of library and searching has declined –
Interesting to read this – a lot of students still look for my help – they don’t even bother searching themselves. But I also know that some students prefer to surf the Internet for information without any assistance at all.

- the virtual infomation seeker profile was interesting
I would like to challenge the word “read” b/c most of the speedy searching they do makes me dizzy. And I question whether or not they actually read!

-“clicking extenstively” (info seeker profile)
YES – it's true, they don’t have patience for advanced searching, indexes, and table of contents - but sometimes these are the best search techniques!

- “squirreling behavior” (info seeker profile)
I found this an amusing descriptor! : )

- no evidence that the Google generation is any better at info literacy than previous generation despite their increased immersion with technology
I thought this was a very interesting point and a point I really agree with. Yes, the students are faster in many ways than I am on the computer, but I don't think they are always very thoughtful with their tasks because they are listening to music, facebooking, checking their email, and youtubing - all at the same time as they are attempting to do good research.

– “critical that librarians re-imagine and reshape not just instructional practices, but also rethink access practices” (Todd 2008)

- “commons of cyberspace” – users generate content rather than consume it – sharing of information. Has changed from consuming fixed content to active interactions with information and networking.
This is the reality of our world today and so we do have to change (to some degree) how we teach our students.

- “web 2.0 is a platform that moves beyond the selection of ideas, to facilitating the creation and production of them” (Todd 2008)

– “web-based social networks appear to be an important driver of young people’s information use. Their growth and implications for school libraries cannot be considered lightly.” (Todd 2008)


Todd's study was also revealing and confirming:

Teens – Online activities are deeply embedded in their lives
Students have told me this. They say that they spend hours each evening on the Internet...usually on Facebook.

Teens – all have online profiles and engage in social networking – girls more than boys. Boys tend to share and make videos more.
This makes sense - teenage girls are more social and really that's what they live for at that age. Boys tend to be less concerned with socializing, I think, and more with play and entertainment.

Teens have constructed complex network of friends on social networks
This is just so difficult for me to imagine - how can friendships online be complex and fulfilling? One student proudly told me that she has over 300 friends on Facebook. What does that even mean? Does she even know what the word "friend" means? How is it possible to maintain meaningful friendships with 300 people? Why would you want to?

31% of teens are nonconformists – that is, they use inappropriate language online and post pictures and information freely. As well, they are on the cutting edge of social networking and do communicate with parents a lot but not in person. Lastly, they get lower grades.
Hmm...interesting. On one hand, they are very creative and tech savvy - so I wouldn't want to stifle the creativity, but on the other hand all the other descriptors concern me a lot! Again, I have to remind myself that we probably won't be stopping these nonconformists from using the Internet - but we really do have to educate them.

“teens say that social network sites help them to manage their friendships” (Todd 2008)
Well, I guess if you have 300 "friends" you need a management system, right? Sorry, I don't get this at all!

1/3 of teens have experienced online harassment
Students have expressed to me that it happens all the time. Again, education is important here.

Libraries are no longer for accessing information only – we must teach them skills for creation, critical thinking, tolerance of different points of view, ethical use of technology, and communication

Personal engagement with students is still important and appreciated by students – “essential human touch that school libraries provide” (Todd 2008)

I know as the teacher-librarian, I have to change with the times and needs of our students. But I am comforted to read that students still appreciate the face-to-face conversations they can have with me.

Our Group Wiki - week 7

Here is Our Group Wiki Project

This was a really good experience! I've never created a wiki before and it was a lot of fun to explore this with a couple of classmates. It really does create a new way for people to collaborate, share, and communicate.

I thought it was a relatively easy way to collaborate - we left messages for each other on the wiki, but I found that our main form of communication was email via our course site. I think next time I create a wiki with students or colleagues, I will use the "comment" section (of the wiki) more - I think it might make it easier to communicate with my collaborators on a regular basis.

But overall, I thought we did a good job on our wiki and worked well as a group. It's given me a new appreciation for peer editing. It's not easy editing someone else's work - I can see that students may have difficulty with this because a) they may not know how to edit others' work b) they may not feel comfortable changing someone's work c) they may lack the social skills needed to give constructive feedback.

These issues I've listed above doesn't deter me from using wikis with students; rather I see how important it is for them to go through the process of peer editing - it definitely is a skill that needs to practised and guided (if they are to get better at it).

Now that we've created a wiki, I feel a lot more confident that I can help students with such a project in the future. It took a bit of time to familiarize myself with the navigation (such as creating pages, linking it to the front page, creating links in the sidebar, embedding URLs), but once I was comfortable with that, it was quite easy and fun. I think, for my next wiki project, I'm going to try wikispaces...I like the layout/organization that I've seen so far in the other groups' wikis...so it's definitely worth exploring.

Next step, see if I can convince a colleague to experiment with me for our next collaborative project...

Tagging - week 7

So I first experienced tagging when I set up my shelf at shelfari. Each book I added included a page where I could add tags. The great part was I could choose from a bunch of tags that were already used by other "shelfers". I do like how tags that are frequently used are shown in bold and larger font - it makes everything more visual.

But I have to say - tagging from scratch is not as easy as it might sound. It's difficult coming up with single words to BEST describe a book - well, at least I found it difficult. I wanted the individual words to be descriptive and meaningful and that wasn't always easy for me.

My second experience with tagging was with Delicious when I was bookmarking websites. Again this was challenging. Thank goodness in both cases I had a list of tags to choose from to get me started.

I think the process of tagging would be a useful activity for students to experience - I think it would give then an opportunity to gain knowledge and skills:

-increase vocabulary
- develop ability to be descriptive yet concise
- understand the meaning of "key words" and hopefully this will help strengthen their own research skills
- and of course, it's a lot of fun!

Social Bookmarking - Delicious! - week 7

Okay, back to reality...those were some Olympics, right? What a wonderful and distracting two weeks it has been! The "Go Canada Go" feeling is still with me as I read the paper each morning.

But back to work...well, more specifically - back to my blogging!

So I played with Delicious today - and at first, after I read through the "how to" part, I thought to myself - "okay, what now?" I was confused for a couple of minutes, but I think I have the basic idea now.

I did a couple of simple searches and was able to bookmark a bunch of useful sites.


My Bookmark

But I do have one question - can I bookmark to delicious without being logged on to my account? I ask this because sometimes I find great websites, but I may not necessarily be in my delicious account. I like the "add to favorites" button so I was wondering if there was one for delicious...I think I read something about it, but didn't quite get what they were saying...

I see a lot of potential for this. Students, teachers, and TLs can easily share resources with one another for a variety of occasions - again, this makes the process of collaboration and sharing that much easier.

For me personally, I love the fact that I can bookmark a bunch a useful websites for students and send the class to one place to access them. This makes it a lot easier for me and them - and I would love to get them looking at lists other than the first page of a Google search! I really think the ease of this would encourage students to use recommended websites more often.

Facebook -You can find me... - Week 7

You can find me on facebook - Vincie