The Wonders of Weebly

My students have been learning a number of Web 2.0 tools, photo modification, sideshows, the need for Avatars, etc.  Because of all of these different programs on different sites, we needed an area where all can be put, and that way, seeing the growth of their learning would help build confidence in students, would help them self-assess, and would help students in comparison, and analysis of different tools with the same purpose.  It is the hope that the students will be able to synthesis all these tools and come up with an analysis of which Web 2.0 tool is the best for what situation.  The  evaluation in this area is to make judgements of each tool with their own defined criteria of needs, for a specific project that is called for in any course or subject, not just my  course.

Weebly is a simple, free Web design and hosting system that takes nearly all the pain out of creating a site.  You use drag and drop features to create the pages.  As a teacher you can set up a class of 40 students, setting the user names and passwords of the students one by one, or by uploading a text file of students names, etc.  The program lets you print out all passwords and as the teacher you can lock up the web sites so no one can see the student sites unless they have a password that you set up.  This is for the security and safety of the students.  


Another excellent feature of this tool is their blog area, which you can use for critical thinking activities and also for peer assessment as there is a comment section for his area.  

Weebly has big gaps in its feature set (when dragging and dropping, sometimes the machine lags in this area and sometimes the embedding feature jams up the visual look of the site but by closing off the site and then opening it, all rights itself.  As a quick-and-dirty site host, it's not bad. I really like its simplicity. You can start by selecting a page layout from Weebly's templates (all of which look good - see above picture), or just start typing on the default template. Adding elements like pictures (via uploads or Flickr), YouTube videos, and Google maps to a page is very simple, just drag and drop the feature.  Adding pages to your site is also easy, a click of a button.   But there are some limitations in this service. You can't put a picture into a block of text after the fact--there are separate module types for text and for text-plus-image. You can't put a headline or a caption on an embedded object (like a Google map or YouTube video);  And I'm not sure about space (how many pages you are allowed).  

At present it suites our needs for our eportfolio.  We'll continue to explore this aspect, and I'll continue to assess Weebly in this blog.

Below is a YouTube video on Weebly.

Here are more Web 2.0 tools that my students will be exploring this year in Grade 9/10.  As you can see below, Google covers many of the aspects of Bloom's Digital Taxonomy with their aspects.

http://blog.kathyschrock.net/2011/03/google-tools-and-blooms-revised.html

Finally, just to see how you too can integrate some Web 2.0 tools into daily practise see the Prezi below.

Bloom's Digital Taxonomy and Web 2 Tools on Prezi

Working on the Critical thinking - assessment in the E-Portofolios.

Students are beginning to collect their information and submit it on their portfolio.  With this understanding I have been giving open ended - or a variety of choices for their assignments.  One such assignment in Information Technology class was for the student to pick either a poster creating program they knew (Glogster) or a program to create a timeline (below is a list of several that I like and so do the students) to sequence the history and growth of the internet.  Students were to name at least 40 different events that changed the internet (from the start with Spotnix to the 250 million users today).  They were to add pictures and graphics to their timeline but the most important aspect of this assignment was not to memorize dates, but to see what changes the Internet.  So this is where the reflective question comes into the process.

With the correct prompting, I can assess where they in comprehension for of the goals.

Goal 1 - Learning a timeline program

• What was the learning intention or goal for this work? Did you achieve it? How do you know? Give evidence from the work.
• What can you do now in your work that you couldn’t do before? What contributed to your growth in understanding, knowledge, or skill?
• What strategies did you use to complete this work? If those strategies had not been available, is there another way you could have done the work?

Goal 2 - What was the importance of looking at the history of the internet?

• How does this work connect to your interests or life experiences?

Goal 3 - What did you learn?  Do all three.

• Which aspects of the assignment were easy for you? Which ones were difficult?
• What surprised you about this assignment?
• What are you still wondering about now that you have completed the assignment?

With the shortage of time, and the need to learn, I believe I can do the three goals simutaniously, Students worked on learning the new program they chose for the first day.  They had 3 web sites as references to start with.  The 2nd day they had a PowerPoint presentation where specific points of interest were to be added to their time line.  On the 3rd day they continued to work on the timeline but comments thrown out there diagrams like the ones below:

http://www.satmagazine.com/cgi-bin/display_article.cgi?number=1609810110

http://webhostinggeeks.com/infographics/the-internet-growth/

or 

Apps for Appetizers

Apps

In the morning today many of our staffs joined us in the library at Sullivan Heights to have "Apps for Appetizers".  For breakfast we had croissants, jam, and coffee around tables that had IPads on the tables, and the lists of Apps on the IPads themselves.  The following is that list of Apps.  There are many.  The purpose of today's Pro D was to have the teachers look through these apps, decide if they are useful, and then investigate others they believe will be useful for our students.  Check out these of interest.  Soon I'll remove the apps the teachers do not want and add those that they researched this morning and want to include on the IPads for the students to use.  You can do your own comparison.  Thank you.

Social Studies

• National Geographic World Atlas
• World Atlas

Math

• Quick Graph
•  High Calc Calculator
•  IFormulae
• TanZen

Science

• ·      Chemistry Game
• ·      IMotion HD
• ·      IMovie
• ·      LabTimer
• ·      Molecules
• ·      Newton’s Grane
• ·      SkyORB
• ·      Solar Walk
• ·      Video Science
• ·      3D Brain
• ·      Anatomy 3D
• ·      Pocket Universe
• ·      Science 360 Movies
• ·      TinkerBox
• ·      3D Cell Simulation

Museums

• ·      Montreal
• ·      Canada

BASES

• ·      Imotion
• ·      Imovie
• ·      The mind mapping programs listed below. for organization
• ·      Pictello
• ·      Flash Cards

News

• ·      BBC
• ·      CBC
• ·      Global
• ·      News Canada
• ·      CBCTV
• ·      NY Times

Comic Making Programs

• ·      Comic Book
• ·      Comics
• ·      Strip Designer
• ·      Toontastic

Mind Mapping

• Idea Sketch
• An Idea Free
• IBrainstorm

Languages/English

• ·      Dictionannaire
• ·      Flash cards
• ·      Flashcards +
• ·      Word Solitaire
• ·      InaWorld – entertainment
• ·      Storyist

Productivity

• ·      Evernote
• ·      InClass
• ·      Keynote
• ·      Pages
• ·      Student Clicker
• ·      Teacher Clicker
• ·      Timer
• ·      Drawing Pad
• ·      GogoDocs
• ·      Screen Chomp
• ·      Show Me
• ·      Skitch for IPad
• ·      Work Observer
• ·      Wunderlist

Others

• ·      Twitter
• ·      VoiceThread
• ·      Whitebloard
• ·      Study Blue
• ·      NoteHub
• ·      Prezi Viewer

Videos

• ·      Ted Talks
• ·      How Stuff Works

This is yours.....

This is your employee at the school district who thinks people may not be interested in her blog of learning (I'm so proud of you!!!) but the journey is important to record to see your growth and I have at that!  You are amazing!

This is  your staff member doing research on different strategies to better herself as a teacher and learning the most important lesson of all, technology is just a tool, it's us the teacher, that makes the different.  

This is your teacher teaching your child using all the tools that he can learn to build better communication between himself,  the students, and the parents. Your ideas in this area have changed our school tremendous.  Thanks to you for the changes in our school web site.  It's almost done!  check out the "news" section (blog) we will use for instant updates.

These are my colleagues.  These are some of the people I consider my friends.  They are just a few of the supporters and the demanders of learning in Sullivan Heights.  These are the people that I am proud of: their passion for learning, their drive to be better, their foresight to look towards the future of education for their students.  These are the people that drive the passion in our school, the passion of learning for their students and for themselves.  They enflame my passion as well to be a better teacher and a better facilitator of technology in our school

These are but a few examples of the results of our Pro D today.  But this link explains all the people in our school who are working hard on personal goals of improvements. We were to start with one goal, but it seems many of us have expanded to two or three or four or five goals now right @klaw6?   I'm proud to be part of Sullivan Heights Secondary School. 

I have never said "This is my school" because to me,  it is not the building that I want to claim.  These are my students, and these are my colleagues.  This is my network.  That is what I am proud to claim.  See this link to see our list of research blogs.

Thank you for reading my rant.

E-portfolio Continues....

With the number of free web sites out on the web, which ones should you used?  Before you even start with this question you need to consider what will you use the the portfolio for. You as a teacher need to understand why you are asking students to create the portfolio and you need them to understand this use as well as make this their same goal.
Starting an ePortfolio is like starting writing a letter. We fear the “blank page” and wonder where and how to start.

Students will ask the questions:

•  What shall I put in my ePortfolio?
• How am I going to present myself?
• Who is going to read it?
• How am I going to speak to my readers?

and you need to be prepared to answer these important questions. You need to understand the purpose of why you are asking students to create portfolios.

All ePortfolios contain the following elements:

• Products – which can be things you have done on your own or with the help of others – such as your web 2.0 tools, or anything that you produced to show a skill.
• Reflections – after a specific activity, on what you have learned, on a specific event or something that was discussed or read.
• Feedback – what the readers of your ePortfolio think of its contents

The student themselves must  select which of these is more important for their ePortfolio so they can take ownership of their learning.

I am asking students to create an electronic portfolio so that I have an area I can assess, see their work but also give them an area where their critical thinking skills can be improved.  In their reflection of what they have learned.

A critical thinker:

•  Is open-minded and mindful of alternatives

• Tries to be well-informed

• Judges well the credibility of sources

•  Identifies conclusions, reasons, and assumptions
• Judges well the quality of an argument, including the acceptability of its reasons, assumptions, and evidence

• Can well develop and defend a reasonable position

•  Asks appropriate clarifying questions

• Formulates plausible hypotheses; plans experiments well

• Defines terms in a way appropriate for the context

• Draws conclusions when warranted, but with caution
and
• Integrates all items in this list when deciding what to believe or do.

"http://www.criticalthinking.org/" 

These portfolios will be a work in process, hopefully students will develop their critical thinking skills.  The good thing about an ePortfolio is that it is always “work in progress.” That means:

• students can always improve your ePortfolio.
• students can always ask friends or family  to help you improve it (self, peer, and parent assessment will be used)
• There is no such thing as the completed or final ePortfolio.” However, students can always use it to reflect on what they have learned and ask the people they trust to help them to improve it.
• But also just as important you the teacher can ask specifically for some items to be put in their portfolio.

We are excited about using electronic portfolios, and hope that this process will not only teach students a modern concept used in the business world today to apply for job opportunities, but also develop an opportunity for parents/guardians to see first-hand some of the students work online. It is the hope that using these portfolios with critical thinking questions, students will developed the above skills mentioned.   I look forward to the results.  

"First one through gets bloodied."

I have heard this expression a number of times at the Digital Conferences  and in our staff room with different colleagues in Surrey School District.  Although I agree in it's veracity I also know that the second person following that same path of research in a new area of study can be in a worst situation then the first person.  Being with a large group of researchers at our school investigating everything from electronic portfolio, twitter, and Web 2.0 tools to researching the effectiveness and uses of Facebook, Document readers, and free web tools, we have come across a number of hiccups in what we are trying to do.  We all know there are always bumps in the road of change, and being the first you usually come across unexpected problems when researching something new.  This I agree with. 

Consider the 2nd person that goes through the same path of research.  We have a number of people trying twitter for learning with their students, for conversing on different topics and reporting homework to both students and parents.  Although one person introduced the use of twitter to the school there can be more then one person who's has gotten bloodied travelling down this same path in their research.

by Questa Durron

Think of a window.  The first one through this window of research breaks the glass, and although sometimes they get cut, usually the glass gets pushed out of the way, falling forward and away from the researcher.  This person may get cut, but usually continues to break the path.  Now consider the second person through that same window.   You can see all the jagged edges that they now need to avoid.  

The second person down this path of research is scrutinized more diligently then the first, for failure instead of success because of the first incident of blood being let.  This 2nd person needs to avoid what possible mistakes or bumps were encounter previously, but now there are more shards of glass to avoid. Many people watching the 2nd person will assume the same mistakes will be made.  Some must work against a preconceived negative outlook of others, working uphill if the 1^st attempt went bad.

In many ways to continue on with a path set by someone else is problematic because the 2^nd person knows what problems they will encountered, what mistakes will materialize and knowing these problems does not necessarily make the voyage easier.  More then this, they have to overcome additional obstacles the first person did not have.  Notice the edges of glass that were left behind, or the barriers that were put up to close up that broken window.

We are all the same in our school, all looking at doing an better job by changing the way we do things in our classrooms, to make learning more effective and efficient for our students.  We all care about the students and we want to do the best we can.  The first one that tries something new is important but it is just as important that second person, and sometimes even harder for that person to continue on.  

As Winston Churchill once said "To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often".  We're trying to be perfect, but the definition of perfection changes in this changing world.  So we must remember as well what Nelson Mandela once said "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world".  We're working at changing a child's world, one child at a time if necessary.

The Overwhelming effect of App Learning

This Wednesday I worked with two teachers  with the Ipads in our school, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, both in science.  It was a great time, and a wonderful learning experience but in the process of  facilitating learning with these two teachers I was learning as well.  The teachers had explored for a week the IPad apps we loaded on our IPads so far (teachers can sign out the IPads to borrow for a week so they may feel comfortable with them).  At present we have 38 apps on the IPads.  Some the science teachers found useful, some not.  Both teachers had specific ideas of what they wanted to do with the IPads and were surprised with some of the apps of science already on them.  Some of the apps available are Science 360, Planatary, NASA, IMotion for videoing experiments, Garage Band for making audio explanations of what they learned,  and others.

The problem was, and is, the fact that I can't know every single App that we download, I can't learn and teach each one as fast as the teachers want to start exploring them and ask for help.  Thus the idea is for each person interested in downloading an app to teach other teachers their app selection.  The idea is for me not to be the central teacher, but for every teacher in the school to be an expert in one or more apps of their selection.  I am considering having an "App Appreciation Lunch Club" once a week, learning a couple of new apps during lunch time.  Another way to share in our school.

Why do this lunch time learning?  In August 2010, Pepperdine University launched a three -term study to assess the iPad potential in learning, and the 2011 results showed a number of interesting findings.  One of interest to me was what worked, what did not, why and what evidence was found.

WHAT WORKED

Faculty member knows the apps well, encourages students to teach each other with class activities

WHAT DID NOT

Faculty member does not know how to use the apps they require students to use for their course

WHY.

If a faculty member is frustrated with an app, most students won't even bother trying to use it, especially if they can learn the material elsewhere

EVIDENCE

Focus group feedback from students:

"Because there was no training on the apps I had to fend for myself and was confused much of the time. The professor was unable to help as they were just as confused. The iPad was ineffective because no one knew how to use the apps."
"You're more likely to help each other when it's portable and you can see what each other is doing."   Quantitative data from end-of-term surveys was also gathered.

Another item of interest:

WHAT WORKED

Encourage use of the iPad with everyday apps for note taking, email, PDF, ereaders, etc. Ease students into using the device.

WHAT DID NOT

Jumping right into complex app use or assignments when students are not comfortable with the iPad.

WHY

There is a learning curve to using the iPad.

EVIDENCE

Focus group feedback from students:

"I just finished the news brief in Keynote. It took longer than I expected. Keynote is not hard to use, but takes awhile to get use to just like using any new program." - iPad class student

Interesting concepts both, and something to explore further at the secondary level.  The most important concept is the true fact that the teacher must be very confident with the App before using it and that it must have revelence and add to the lesson, not be the lesson itself.

Another note of interest is the list of apps for Nutrient, some we may be able to use in Home Economics.  Something to share with them.

1. Wellness Dice


2. iAmino


3. Nutrient Facts


4. My Nutrients


5. FoodTracker Pro


6. Calorie Tracker


7. Metabolic Syndrome


8. EatRight Daily Food Log

Below, for your information, are some other studies on IPads for your perusal.

George Fox University

George Fox students put iPads to the test

Houston Community College: Southwest

Southwest College's iPad program allows students to revolutionize classroom

Indiana University

iPads in the classroom

Lafayette College

Lafayette College iPad Users Group

Oklahoma State University

Oklahoma State University to launch Apple iPad student pilot initiative

Seton Hill University

iPad on the Hill

Trinity College

Trinity College iPad Pilot

University of Maryland

University of Maryland introduces iPads as part of mobility initiative

University of Minnesota

College of Education and Human Development to provide iPads to all freshmen in largest research-based iPad pilot project in the nation

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame launches eReader study, creates first paperless course

Study results: Students benefit from iPads in the classroom

Washington College

OIT: Pilot Program

Student reply "That's why you do that, sneaky Ms. P, very sneaky".

Two days ago I had a student question me on the reason behind an assignment.  He was in my Information Technology Grade 12 class, in the movie making section, and he was assigned to do a movie a week to enter in the Vancouver Sun Movie Contest.  The winner gets a $1000.  I thought this alone would motivate the students. (See some entries already published here)

There are five different categories and the students get to choose which one they would like to enter - mocumentary, Public service announcement, music video, and others.  But one of the students called me on the assignment - "You're just trying to give us busy work Ms. P since there is only two weeks left of the class.  So why don't we just sit here quietly, and then you won't have to mark any of this."  My reply back was "I wasn't going to mark it anyways.  It's for you to learn something new.  To learn to plan and implement what you've planned."  

After we talked for a while I found out it wasn't the assignment that bugged the group, it was the categories.  The students wanted to do a video on a song already done, not a new song from someone in school.  This is where experience and versatility come in as a teacher.  I said sure, what song do you have in mind?  They told me the band, one of the people in the group mentioned that they followed the group on Twitter, and then the lightbulb in my head went off.  "OK, do the video, but when it's done, you're going to upload the video to your YouTube Channel and then tweet the band the address of the video."  

Here's where the fun came in.  The same student said "Oh, oh.  Now we're really going to have to do something special."  And "We're not sending what we've done to them, we have to start over".  Now I'm smiling the look of complete satisfaction and someone in the student group notices and says "Is that why you make projects like that Ms. P?  So we work harder at it?"  The reply "It's always like that when it's a real-life project and you have to share it.  You take more pride in your work when you're name is attached to it".

The response of the group "Sneaky Ms. P, very sneaky".  When I was walking away to help someone else in the classroom, I head the comment whispered "She's good....."  I hope so, the better I am the more kids learn.  ;)