Intro to Web 2.0 Technology

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Burt Granofsky on December 31, 2008 at 2:20pm

Hey Gerry,

Are you delivering the PD face-to-face, or online? And how long will the class last (i.e. 2 hours or ongoing for 2 weeks)? If you just want to show teachers that these resources are out there, you could do that with a blog--just provide links to the different sites, and then teachers could comment on what they thought of the resources/how they could use them in the classroom. If you are looking for something more formal you could look into using Moodle, which is an open-source course management system. It's more sophisticated than a regular blog, but it is more conducive to professional development activities.

Regardless of whether you are presenting your PD online or offline, I think it's important to have some online component to show teachers. I find web 2.0 technologies so interesting and powerful because so many of them are connected, and because users truly do have a lot of freedom with how they use the tools. So showing teachers that they can use these tools, and that they do not have to become hard-core computer programmers to do so, is important.

Good luck
Burt

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Permalink Reply by Gerry on January 1, 2009 at 5:52am

Burt,
Thanks and Happy New Year.
The PD will be ongoing for 2 weeks and will be face to face but I wanted to add an online component too. I'm somewhat familiar with Moodle but haven't used it yet to present a course. I was thinking about presenting the info about the tools, demonstrating the possibles uses and then creating a wiki and having them post how they would use these 2.0 tools in the classroom.
I'm also looking for ways to motivate staff to utilize more technology in their classrooms, we tend to be more 20th century with regards to instruction.
Thanks again

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Permalink Reply by Matt Wiseley on January 5, 2009 at 6:12am

Gerry,

Check out http://jakes.editme.com/ if you haven't yet. He's got a lot of really great resources available.

Cheers,
Matt

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Permalink Reply by Antwon Lincoln on January 5, 2009 at 10:31am

You have to check out this link. Very clear and clear path of a 21st century student. Can be a great intro video for your group you will present to. When you do create your presentation, please share.

The Networked Student, The Networked TeacherClick here
Discovered this on Beth’s Thoughts on Technology in the Classroom You will also love her blog!
Antwon
Confessions of a Technology Leader Podcast

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Permalink Reply by Darcie Priester on January 5, 2009 at 10:55am

I did something similar to this last year at my old school. I didn't feel comfortable going too far into Web 2.0 tools with my staff, but I did give them ideas about wikis, blogs, and podcasts. I've uploaded the PowerPoint presentation I used last year, a sheet with all of the websites I used in the presentation, and a cheat sheet on how to create a wiki in wikispaces. Tweak these as needed...on the PowerPoint, I basically showed teachers examples of what each was, then gave them some good examples and bad examples (not revealing who those people were). We have something in our district called SchoolFusion, which serves as our websites, and unless you have those, you won't really need this part. Hope this helps!

Attachments:

• whataboutnextyear_Resources.doc, 37 KB
• whataboutnextyear.ppt, 6.5 MB
• Creating a Wiki.doc, 519 KB

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Permalink Reply by Gerry on January 5, 2009 at 4:50pm

Thanks for the resource links.
Darcie I like the PowerPoint
Antwon a great video and blog and Matt that site was great.
My presentation continues to grow on the drawing board, I'm beginning to realize I may need to focus on just a few and not overwhelm my teachers the first time through.
Thanks again
Gerry

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Permalink Reply by Linda Martin on January 5, 2009 at 6:51pm

My principal has asked me to run 2 1.5 hour PD workshops for both the faculty in my school and one other in the district. i was also considering doing something like "Using Web 2.0 in the Classroom" in order to cover all grade ranges and content areas. We are a PreK-8 school. Any recommendations on what to focus on for this short workshop?

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Permalink Reply by Gerry on January 7, 2009 at 4:07am

I would focus on wikis and blogs. Wikls are easy to implement and blogs can bring upper elementary writing to a different level. I would also touch on how the web has changed to a more collaborative tool. That's what I'm trying to do with my teachers.

Gerry

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Permalink Reply by John Faig on January 7, 2009 at 10:02pm

Gerry,

Feel free to check out my online course at http://klht20.wikispaces.com/23things. I used a version of the "23 things" course. I may create my own online course.

Here are my most important observations:
1. We used a Google Docs spreadsheet so that teachers could track which lesson they were working on. This way they could seek people working at the same pace. The spreadsheet also has information about their Delicious account names, blog addresses, etc.
2. Spend lots of time upfront on organizational issues. Web2.0 is an online world. Many teachers live offline and venture online when necessary. Make sure that teachers know how to use Firefox very well and explore the great productivity extensions (under addons/tabs @ mozzila.com). Much of Web2.0 resources are free. How will each teacher manage the avalanche of URLs, username and passwords?
3. Get every teacher to build a blog ASAP. Blogs tend to be the anchor for our online class. It is a place for links, thoughts, reflections, and frustrations. I found that learning web2.0 tools is better when the teachers use a site and then embed their results back into their own blog (kind of an informal ePortfolio). The blogs are also useful for teachers to see and read each others.

Hope that this helps.

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Permalink Reply by Susan Geiger on February 12, 2009 at 12:33pm

Hi Gerry, We are in the second week of a nine week web 2.0 learning program called the 23 Things. It was started by Helene Blowers, a librarian in a public library who wanted to bring her staff up to speed quickly on all things Web 2.0. The program spread quickly and has been adopted and modified by many libraries and schools and organizations. We used the California School Library Assoc. version modified for teachers, called Classroom Learning 2.O. which we further modified for our own school to create Moreau Learning Web 2.0

The idea behind the program is that people learn by doing. Participants explore various 2.0 tools and blog about their experiences. The library team is providing lots individual hand holding and encouragement.

We have been pretty blown away by the response we have had. We have 76 faculty, staff and administrators signed up and creating blogs and avatars. I think the success of the initiative has to do with timing. We are in the second year of a 1:1 laptop program, and people are ready to learn. Our goal is to expand horizons and have everyone become more comfortable online. It's also a lot of fun.

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Permalink Reply by Crystal Gasell on February 12, 2009 at 3:36pm

Each summer I work train teachers during four day summer workshops all over the state of Florida. There are so many resources out there, I believe it is better to share a handful and then work with teachers to create something they can use in their own classroom. By having teachers create their own wiki, blog, etc. they take ownership in it.

Here are some great copyright friendly handouts to share with your teachers. There are also movies that walk you through different software and web 2.0 apps.

mac: http://etc.usf.edu/te_mac/movies/index.html
windows: http://etc.usf.edu/te_win/movies/index.html

Enjoy and good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Carol Arcomano on February 12, 2009 at 5:29pm

Hi Gerry - Lord knows we all need pd in 2.0. Just keep in mind the majority of your audience (probably) knows very little of 2.0, aka you may need to focus on one tool at a time in a 2 hour period. Baby steps for most part. Maybe, introduce the big picture of the most popular tools, then individual sessions for each tool. Good luck:-)

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