tors see the environments -- as another way to hold classes.
The value of these spaces is the opportunity to create instructional experiences that do not involve holding class. Example: I used VRML to create a 20m diameter eyeball with all the parts labeled and textured just like a real one so that visitors to the space could fly in and around it ... looking at it from all sides ... even inside looking out thru the lens. Limitations on the technology didn't permit me to actually show the effect of focal distance inside the eye, but that was about the only limitation. It was not a place to "hold a class" -- it was a space for the student to experience the content in a different, more direct, more personal way. It'll never be used, of course, because it required a specialized plug-in -- just like Second Life and There.com do -- and while the plug in was free, the company providing it only had a PC version.
I have the same problem with Elluminate and all the other "webinar" software that requires people to sacrifice participation on the altar of synchonicity. They all require people to gather in real time, seated politely at their own desks, and get lectured at by a disembodied voice -- or worse -- a talking head. Sure they provide a "back channel" text chat which, often as not, is ignored by the presenter. Ya, I can go back and passively watch the recordings, but the value -- the promise -- is participation and these kinds of synchronous channels rob the learner of that participation.
I understand that using the technology to do the same old thing is a common step in technological adoption, but come on people! Isn't it time we got OUT of the classroom model and started getting into learning??
Repeat after me.
"As good as the classroom" isn't good enough.…
nd tap in the chat— we want to hear from you, too.Better with Practice: PBL Implementation Tips from the Field
Session 1 - Creating a Culture of Inquiry
February 18 at 2:00 pacific, repeated at 5:00 pacificHere's the Elluminate link.We've broken the webinar into four acts: Act 1: Inspiring Wonder
Act 2: Activating Prior Knowledge
Act 3: Modeling Curiosity
Act 4: Building on What Came Before: The Class Archive
Thanks again to Project Foundry for sponsoring the Better with Practice webinar series.
…
b 2.0 tools to what you already do. For example, if you normally have students do a poster, try edu-gloster. If you want to post problems or questions and have students respond, try Voicthread. If you want students to develop review tools, try Quizlet. If you want students to summarise findings, try ToonDoo.
*Next if you want to differentiate your own learning materials, you can develop lesson tools and put them online where students can access them 24/7.
*If you want to give your program more of an overhaul, it makes more sense to get into student blogging or wikiing. One of the most interesting ideas I've come across is Wiki Wednesdays, where students pursue science problems they are interested in and do independent research studies.
*Finally there are plenty of global science projects your students can join and contribute to real research and data bases -- in effect becoming scientists.
I think if this is for action research, where you need to start is with a question of what kind of change you want to see and how that will be measured, and then think of you you can use the power of the internet to achieve that. Will this add a completely new dimension to your program? Will it give you better way to teach something you or the kids struggle with? Are you going to use it as a way to better differentiate? remediate? Or do you just want to redesign one unit or one lesson and see what happens?
If you'd like to chat more about some of these ideas, I have a Skype id and we can talk, or I have access to an Elluminate account and we can hold an online meeting and brainstorm ideas.
I hope some of these questions will give you a good starting point.…
gn. We love it. We use flipcharts using Promethean software, have access to all the school programs such as KidPix, and also use a wide bank of Web 2.0 tools on it too.
We also have a pod of 7 laptops (every class does, so we can borrow from other classes to make up 1/2 or full class bank). These can be left in the classes' separate side room area (glass windows between this and the main room from bench to ceiling, sliding windows can open if you want - or closed to contain a noisier activity). They can also be taken into the classroom (wifi) for a small group/partner/individual work. We have two kiddies with major OT issues, so typing is a better option than writing for them at the moment while they get some therapy. Also have 4 kids on major alternate/extension programs. Great for differentiation.
We also have our own school intranet page (school stuff including photos - available to our school community only) and a class blog (Edublogs) where we post lots of fun stuff, learning games, videos, podcasts and where the kids learn to blog (using initials instead of names).
We also have access to 3 labs - scheduled times with some free to 'book'. Great if whole class needs to use the computer at the same time. Programs most used include:
Google products (Google Docs, Google EArth, Google Maps), Microsoft products (Word, Powerpoint, Excel, Publisher), Wordle, Taxedo, PhotoFunia, Prezi, Audacity to name a few.
As teachers, we are discovering Elluminate! Amazing place to hold and participate in webinars.…
Added by Angela Clark at 11:25pm on March 30, 2011
vices.com/candnninfo_16.html
for only $20 ROUND TRIP!I
found them when I was doing a search on airport shuttles. The offer is
legitimate as I just booked mine with them. They are looking for more
reservations to keep the cost down so I decided to help promote their
services although I am not affiliated with them in any way.
Warm regards,
Kim
Caise, NBCT
Classroom 2.0 LIVE! Co-host
Elluminate/LearnCentral
Community Facilitator
Flat Classroom Administrator
Texas
DEN Leadership Council
FableVision Ambassador…
onsible for being familiar enough with Collaborate to present, and we are going to help you!
Training sessions for those new to Collaborate or who want a refresher for this conference start tomorrow. The schedule and information are at http://www.classroom20.com/page/learning-2-0-training. The first of three live training sessions (you only need to attend one) is tomorrow. There will also be a recorded version after tomorrow's session (recommended only for those who are already familiar with Collaborate).
As a speaker, we do have a "badge" you are welcome to display (and we'd love it if you'd link back to http://www.learning.20.com). The badge is at http://www.classroom20.com/group/2012-learning-2-0-presenters/forum/topics/presenter-badge.
There will be a special page with links to enter the session rooms during the conference, entering with which will give you moderator privileges. This will get updated the day before sessions start, and will be at http://www.classroom20.com/page/learning-2-0-presenter-and-volunteer-links-page. We'll cover this in the training.
Also for reference during the conference, the lounge (or "green room") for presenters and moderators will be at http://www.l20.me. Again, more information in the training, but keep this email handy.
Thanks for participating! Can't wait to be part of this with you! Be sure to promote the conference--it is free, and there are still presentation slots available.
See you online,
Steve
Steve HargadonChair, Learning 2.0http://www.stevehargadon.comsteve@hargadon.com…
e outside of the public school system. Most have given up on working within the system and have decided that it is the teaching and the kids that they love, but the system was beating them down. They jumped out and tested their own wings.
Imagine standing at the beginning of your own launch into making what your gut tells you is the way to teach - that if it is valid, you will get the wind beneath your wings as word of mouth spreads from the students that thrived under your teaching. What would your course look like when you have all the control and you will fly or fall based on the happiness of your 'client families'?
Some of the things I find I love about autonomy is that I am planning this out always with the thought of what would I want for my own kids if this were someone else's course that they were taking and know that I don't have to clear it with anyone to try it out. I don't have to ask for my connection to the net to be unblocked for my kids. I have kids from all over the US, Canada, and beyond which is really interesting. I love the live, interaction of an Elluminate online classroom where I can teach from home (in my pajamas sometimes ;0) I was the one that got to pick the schedule that best met my kids' and my needs and fit the curriculum - 3 days a week because there is no need to babysit them the other two days while they do independent work. I love that technology is right there in the kids' own hands 24/7 at home not locked up in a cabinet at school. I love watching their friendships grow in the live, online class, the social Ning, and seeing and hearing about the fun they are having in their local lab co-ops and families as they send me pictures of them exploring science together while I lead my own local kids in our hands on research such as stream studies. I love it when the chat is flying on the topic at hand and I also love that they know I can turn it off for a few moments with a simple click if we stray too far off topic and I need to get our focus back on task.
I love being inspires by others taking the plunge into their own programs. Greg Landrym who is a professor of Human Anatomy at a North Carolina University and home school dad, teaches kids using Elluminate throughout the school year and then has them come to a variety of college campuses for two week anatomy camps where they get hands-on experience (including working with a cadaver). These high school students get a taste of dorm life as he is with the boys on one floor and his wife stays with the girls on another. They mentor these high school kids into what he knows he want to see walking in the door of his college classes. He is doing absolutely outstanding work with these kids and they love it!
Some of the hard things about autonomy. You have to find the funding/business and keep it going. You can feel like you are shouldering all the work and liability on your own. It is your own 'baby' so you really do spend way more hours on it than you ever would in the public school classroom setting. Hmmm, financial security, health benefits, retirement? Yes, even in the autonomous model you still have tests that hang over your head. Students have ACT/SATs, CLEPS, AP tests, that loom large in their college planning. The families of kids going the atypical route through high school know colleges weigh the kids scores more heavily than those of the typical entering freshmen, so they are ever cognizant of making choices that get their kids there while still providing an enjoyable experience for their sons and daughters along the way
So, if you really were at the precipice of planning your own teaching business, with all that autonomy, what would it look like compared to what you are doing now? How would you handle the downsides? Would it make you more or less comfortable with the status quo?…
My recent educational/philosophical leanings are toward a more student centered/student empowered classroom experience in the k12 environment where the teacher serves as a formal teacher of…
This year has been life-changing for me. I have entered the technology world and there is no turning back. On September 8th I sat in the Reed Theater at Fredericksburg Academy and started a journey…
Added by Carey Pohanka at 6:33pm on December 1, 2008
This next year, I'll be setting up my own eTeaching system and doing online teacher training. Mostly out of interest and to see if I can do it. As part of that process, I'm presently…