Here is the future of online communication, in development (and pre-release) today. Check out the short video here, or Wave me when you get an account; my username is thomsonro.
Check it out!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Google Wave!
Here is the future of online communication, in development (and pre-release) today. Check out the short video here, or Wave me when you get an account; my username is thomsonro.
Check it out!
Friday, October 9, 2009
Blogging for Reflection & Learning
A valuable video (<15 min.) by Jill Walker Rettberg on the value of blogging to improve writing / literacy. Classroom experiences & tips included!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Bloom's Taxonomy 2.0
From classroom20.com comes an updated version of Bloom's Taxonomy; a reminder that we need to rethink what education means in the context of Web 2.0...
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Videoconferencing @ the library
Distance education, Drury-style! The E.C. Drury Library hosted our first live teacher teleconference today -- Mr. Sheppard (currently in British Columbia) interacted with his class here in Milton via web-cameras and microphones. The event was a success, and paves the way for more staff / student interaction via internet technology. Web 2.0: it's all @ the school library!
Back to Blogging!
Greetings! School is now back in session, and with the end of vacation time comes my return to Web 2.0 Blogging; thanks to all who have read or followed my posts.
I just finished reading a short, but interesting research summary article by Dr. Chun Wei Choo of the University of Toronto. His research was around the question of whether or not the culture of an organization affects its information use. I think this is one of those questions to which the answer seems obvious, but for which real research is required in order to establish credible parameters for assessment and discussion.
In the end he writes:
"To summarize, our research showed that the part of organizational culture that deals specifically with information – the values and norms that people have about creating, sharing, and applying information – has a significant effect on information use outcomes."
To my mind, this is the concrete evidence needed to support the necessity of changing the information culture of education systems; if we are to adequately prepare our students for their likely futures, we need to teach and practice the five "information behaviours and values" Choo designates:
-Integrity (using information in a principled and trustful way)
-Informality (trust and use of informal sources)
-Transparency (openness in reporting information)
-Sharing (providing others with information)
-Proactiveness (actively obtaining and applying new information)
We do our students a disservice if we do not prepare them for the job-based information cultures to which they will eventually head, and we cannot prepare them if we are not willing to educate ourselves in the ways of Web 2.0.
I just finished reading a short, but interesting research summary article by Dr. Chun Wei Choo of the University of Toronto. His research was around the question of whether or not the culture of an organization affects its information use. I think this is one of those questions to which the answer seems obvious, but for which real research is required in order to establish credible parameters for assessment and discussion.
In the end he writes:
"To summarize, our research showed that the part of organizational culture that deals specifically with information – the values and norms that people have about creating, sharing, and applying information – has a significant effect on information use outcomes."
To my mind, this is the concrete evidence needed to support the necessity of changing the information culture of education systems; if we are to adequately prepare our students for their likely futures, we need to teach and practice the five "information behaviours and values" Choo designates:
-Integrity (using information in a principled and trustful way)
-Informality (trust and use of informal sources)
-Transparency (openness in reporting information)
-Sharing (providing others with information)
-Proactiveness (actively obtaining and applying new information)
We do our students a disservice if we do not prepare them for the job-based information cultures to which they will eventually head, and we cannot prepare them if we are not willing to educate ourselves in the ways of Web 2.0.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Facebook & Twitter in the classroom!
Here's an update on the as-Web2.0-as-possible summer school class I'm running:
Ning -- we're using a course Ning: it is great. Students have done group work collaboration on it, and some students are using it to get last minute essay writing tips from me over the weekend!
Facebook -- the Facebook assignments are starting to roll in, although they're not due for another few days. Students had to create a Facebook profile page for a character in the novel The Great Gatsby. I look forward to reading the profiles.
Twitter -- we had an informal, in-class debate about character morality the other day. While I facilitated turn-taking in the face-to-face classroom, several students were back-channeling their opinions on the screen at the front. It was great to have the opinions flying in two ways, and the back-channeling provides a transcript of the arguments!
More updates soon, perhaps after the Facebook assignments have been marked. :-)
Ning -- we're using a course Ning: it is great. Students have done group work collaboration on it, and some students are using it to get last minute essay writing tips from me over the weekend!
Facebook -- the Facebook assignments are starting to roll in, although they're not due for another few days. Students had to create a Facebook profile page for a character in the novel The Great Gatsby. I look forward to reading the profiles.
Twitter -- we had an informal, in-class debate about character morality the other day. While I facilitated turn-taking in the face-to-face classroom, several students were back-channeling their opinions on the screen at the front. It was great to have the opinions flying in two ways, and the back-channeling provides a transcript of the arguments!
More updates soon, perhaps after the Facebook assignments have been marked. :-)
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Where are the updates?
Ok, Ok... it's been a while. I blame year-end crazyness, a family trip, and getting ready for summer school.
That last one took a while, as I wanted to try some web 2.0 things in summer school that I've never used with a class before. Setting up the Ning (and updating the course web site) took some time, but it was totally worth it. Thomson Summer School Ning membership is growing daily, and I see students using this space for project collaboration already: it's only day 2! My in-Ning blog gets updated often, and I'm seeking comment feedback on the nature of the course itself, as well as offering reminders & updates.
Twitter accounts are growing as well: 1/4 of the class is now following me (thomsonro), and I hope to get into some back-channeling next week.
If the marking doesn't pile up too much, I'll update this blog with my summer school web 2.0 experiences often. Feel free to comment back if you've used Ning or Twitter in classroom contexts before.
That last one took a while, as I wanted to try some web 2.0 things in summer school that I've never used with a class before. Setting up the Ning (and updating the course web site) took some time, but it was totally worth it. Thomson Summer School Ning membership is growing daily, and I see students using this space for project collaboration already: it's only day 2! My in-Ning blog gets updated often, and I'm seeking comment feedback on the nature of the course itself, as well as offering reminders & updates.
Twitter accounts are growing as well: 1/4 of the class is now following me (thomsonro), and I hope to get into some back-channeling next week.
If the marking doesn't pile up too much, I'll update this blog with my summer school web 2.0 experiences often. Feel free to comment back if you've used Ning or Twitter in classroom contexts before.
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