We had an interesting combination of presentations this week. All three presentations covered a great deal of information about their innovation.  Hayley and Rebecca began with a great video, followed by an introduction and the history to FaceBook and MySpace. They demonstrated the mechanics and key features of these social networking tools. A key focus of their presentation was to walk us through the ‘terms of agreement’ which certainly made everyone aware of how little they really knew or understood about these terms especially regarding privacy.  See Hayley’s blog post for further details.  There was some discussion regarding the educational value of these tools. However, this will be further outlined on the class wiki. The presentation really left me with one question –  Do  students really want to see MySpace or FaceBook used in the classroom, do they want educators entering this domain?????

Google Docs

Lauren and Katie’s presentation introduced us to Google Docs. They were very creative by actually creating their presentation in Google Docs. They also used a great introductory video which basically outlined the concepts and process involved in using Google Docs. I see Google Docs as being an excellent tool for collaboration but Lauren and Katie had quite a few problems when they were putting their presentation together.  They made it quite clear that there are still many ‘bugs’ in the system. Lauren also found that using Google Docs within FireFox was more reliable than Internet Explorer. They did an excellent job outlining the educational value of such collaborative tools. The class suggested that they put together a list of recommendations for improving the software.   Nice idea!

Check out this blog post from Tom Barrett for an excellent application of Google Docs with his students.

Virtual Worlds

Jessica and Hayley ended the afternoon session with a very entertaining presentation on Virtual Worlds. They walked us through the amazing world of Second Life where we had the opportunity to follow Hayley’s avatar.  They also introduced us to TeenLife and Quest Atlantis and then the real fun came when everyone had a chance to create their own character and play with Habbo. A virtual room was set up for us to move furniture and interact with each other virtually. As we were unable to download SecondLife on all of the computers in the lab this was a great way to expose everyone to a virtual world.  There was quite a bit of debate regarding the educational value of virtual worlds and the majority of the class were so over whelmed by the ‘realness’ and dangers of such an environment to comprehend the educational value. I look forward to their wiki page for further information. I also came across this interesting  blog yesterday from CoolCatTeacher – it looks at using SecondLife with the visually impaired.    

Another great set of presentations – well done to our presenters!   

The morning session began with Simon and Matthieu sharing with us their valuable knowledge about YouTube, teachers.tv and Keepvid and how these can be used in an educational context. They demonstrated and engaged us in using these resources during this session. Simon and Mathieu addressed important issues such as copyright and appropriate use in the classroom.  They made us aware of the potential of these resources that many of us were unaware of. 

In the afternoon session Kate and Matt introduced us to the art of Twitter.  What fun! They called upon their personal network (with the help of Sue Waters) to demonstrate a typical ‘conversation’ at the beginning of the session.  Throughout the session we would hear a ‘ping’ every time someone responded to their question. They gave us a brief history and a very honest view of the educational value of Twitter in education. They provoked some valuable debate.  We all managed to set up a Twitter account and have a ‘play’. My biggest concern is that students will have another communication tool to distract them in class (ha, ha, ha) – but I know these students will be using it to discuss their work and share resources!!!

The presenters designed very effective support materials that they used throughout the sessions to help us understand their innovation.  Please keep an eye on the class wiki as the students will post their resources for everyone to share.

You may have your own resources you would like to share.

My main concern at the moment is to encourage my pre-service education students to engage with the blogging process in an ethical and safe manner in the hope that they can make informed decisions regarding their use in educational contexts.  During the initial planning of this unit I questioned whether I should set up the student blogs within our Learning Management System – I decided not to as this restricted access would impact their experience with blogs. Even though these are early days, after reading the students’ initial posts I’m pleased that I made this decision.

Now that I’ve let my students loose in the big wide world I realise the importance of making them aware of behaving ethically online. I found the following sites to be a useful start:

1. Blogging Ethics and Rules of the Blogosphere  

    

2. Blog Rules – David Warlick

3. To Blog or Not to Blog – Jeanne Kimbal

I would really like to know how you tackle the issue of behaving ethically online with your students?

Yes, I feel the same there is so much to learn and not just about how to use the technology but the impact they have. I believe that the biggest change and the greatest educational value in these new technologies (which grow old as I type) is their ability to connect people.

Rob I think you would be interested in reading the work of George Siemens (2006) who posits a new theory called “connectivism”. This theory integrates elements of a number of learning theories, social structures and technology to present a theory more appropriate to the needs of the knowledge society. Siemens notes, “Our desire to connect – to externalize – is a vital component of the learning process. Instead of merely developing learners for careers, we have an obligation to create a learning ecology where learners are able to shape their own meaning” (Siemens, 2006, http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism_self-amused.htm)

You may have heard about the ‘digital divide’ – it usually refers to those who have ‘access’ to technology and those who ‘do not have access’. This is indeed an issue, but in this field I am constantly reminded about another digital divide – the one between those who ‘know’ and those who ‘don’t know’ how to use and apply the technology in the learning and teaching environment. I would include myself in this situation – as I would be considered as a ‘don’t know’ regarding some of the new technology.

I have devised a WebQuest to help my students and to help me bridge this digital divide. In addition, I have created this to blog to share this experience.