If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn. ~ Charlie Parker
Technology Resources
Using Fakewall for Webcomic Character Facebook
Jul 23rd
A participant in our Western Massachusetts Writing Project Summer Institute asked me to help her find some resources for a project that she hopes to do this year, using fake Facebook sites with her students to create posts for characters from various novels. She also wondered if there was a place to do this where kids (as literary characters) could interact (in character). That gives the idea a little wrinkle.
After a little research, this what I wrote to her:
First of all, here are some possibilities for creating your own “social network” concept in your classroom:
- Edmodo is a free networking system for schools. I have not used it but plenty of teachers swear by it and love it. http://www.edmodo.com/ It is closed system, and designed to at least resemble the idea of Facebook within a teacher-monitored framework
- Edublogs — You could set up blogs for your students, or a single classroom blog (which is what I do) where students contribute to the site. (now ad-free, by the way). http://edublogs.org/
- Kidblogs — Another free site that popped up last year. I have not used it but other teachers have said they like it. It’s for elementary and middle school students, so there are some limits to what they can do as bloggers. That may not matter, though. http://kidblog.org/home.php
- Ning — here, you create a real social network, and you can make it private or public. They do have a free service for teachers, sponsored by Pearson (which makes me wary), or paid services. The lowest is about $20 a year, I think. I believe users need to be 13 or older to use it. https://www.ning.com/
- WordPress — another free blogging platform.
But, if you are looking to replicate Facebook for literary characters, you need to check out:
- Fakewall — it is designed to resemble a facebook page but it is not real. http://www.myfakewall.com/ Looks interesting to me.
- This blog post shares out five different ways (including Fakewall) to create fake facebook pages. http://web20edu.com/2011/04/16/fake-facebook-templates-and-pages-for-student-projects/ It’s worth checking out. — and you should check out his other blog post about 11 Ways to use Fake Facebook ideas with students — http://web20edu.com/2011/04/18/11-ways-to-use-fake-facebook-applications-to-enhance-student-learning/
I hope that all helps. I’d be interested in knowing how it goes for you. If you are at the University level, the Ning platform would be the way to go, if you want my opinion. You could also use some of the Fake Facebook Templates and then embed them into Ning, where conversations could take place.
But I knew I needed to show her, too, and since I had no experiences with this, I decided to use Fakewall to set up a fake Facebook page for my webcomic character, Boolean from Boolean Squared. To be honest, he is not the sort who would stay long on Facebook — too mainstream for a hacker like him. But still …
I found Fakewall very easy to use, and it seems like a simple way for a teacher to bring the concept of social networking around literary characters into the classroom setting. The only downside is that others cannot comment on a page, so the entire fake page is really the work of one person.
Peace (on the fake page),
Kevin
Ad-Free Edublogs
Jul 22nd
This is good news. Edublogs — which is where my blog and my blogs for my classroom are hosted — has announced that is now advertising-free. In the past few years, you had to pay for the premium service to remove ads (and get a host of other cool tools but it was the advertising that generated criticism) and to be honest, I have gladly paid for it for this blog and will continue to do so. I have been a huge fan of Edublogs through the years, even during its various growing pains, glitches and more. I have stood with it because I have valued the service and sort of feel like Edublogs is part of my virtual home.
And now I can recommend Edublogs more highly ever to other teachers.
I always warned folks of the advertising because if you are using sites with kids, you should avoid shoving ads into their eyeballs. And not all teachers want or have the resources to pay the $40 a year to get a premium service. With the announcement, that roadblock is gone. In reading the press announcement, it seems like the company has finally reached a critical mass to become profitable enough to go without ads (they are seeking their one millionth blog — wow).
Thank you, Edublogs.
Peace (in the ad-free world),
Kevin
Simple Diagrams is Simple
Jul 20th
I saw a few folks talking about Simple Diagrams, a software platform that runs on Adobe Air. It can be used to make, well, simple diagrams and it works quite nicely. The diagram gets outputted as an image file. There’s a playful essence to it, I think, which might come in hand with kids in the classroom. There is a free version and a paid version of Simple Diagrams, but the free version gives you quite a large toolbox to work from, although one limitation is the inability to save a diagram in progress. I created this one for Day in a Sentence in a short bit of time.
Peace (in the play),
Kevin
From Digital Ethnography: A Video Collage
Jun 19th
You need to check this project out from Prof. Wesch and his students as they continue to explore the impact of technology on students. (Did one student say that 75 percent of what he knows he learned from Youtube?)
Here is what Prof. Wesch says at their blog:
Today the Digital Ethnography Research Team of 2011 is proud to announce the release of the Visions of Students Today: a “video collage” about student life created by students themselves and presented using the wonders of HTML5, allowing us to “cite” books and videos that are being presented in the remix as they are being shown.
Since the call for submissions went out in January we have received hundreds of submissions. The remix in the middle of the screen is in many ways a video of my own experience viewing these videos, shot from my own point of view. You see me sifting through videos, putting them in piles, checking resources, reading and re-reading the lines that have informed and inspired me. It took me 3 months to sift through these materials; you get to race through them in 5 minutes.
But just as important, check out all of the other various strands that come alive with this project, as students take the videos and ideas in different directions. You will have to read the blog post there to get a better sense of what I am talking about, or click inside the video collage itself to follow other strands (wow — html5 does open up some new possibilities, doesn’t it?).
What comes through loud and clear is a growing transformation of the daily lives of young people, and the question of whether traditional education is meeting their needs for learning, exploring and making a difference on the world. And we get to hear that story directly from the students.
Peace (in the collage),
Kevin
Speaking out the Essay on the iPod
Jun 7th
I walked into a room the other day, thinking my son was talking to me. He wasn’t. He was talking to his iPod.
Using the free Dragon Dictate app, he was doing his “final version” of an essay about Sparta for class, moving from a rough draft on paper to a final version on his iPod. I watched as he read his piece, and then edited the text on Dragon (for Greek towns and words that it didn’t know), and when done, he emailed it to me to print off for him. I have to admit: the final product looked pretty decent.
I had to ask him — why use Dragon instead of typing?
His reply? “It’s easier this way. I can get it done faster.” Of course, I would have preferred something along the lines of “This captures my voice in ways writing can’t!” or “My writing improves when I use this device!” or something that teachers want to hear. But the 13 year old boy is seeking the quickest path to completing the project.
I know of one of my own students who has some writing difficulties who also uses Dragon at home for some projects. So, I asked him if he had used the app to create any final versions of projects for me this year. He told me he had done his entire environmental essay on it, moving from his rough draft outline and notes to a final version.
I would never have known, and I guess that is the point. The app and device — and others like it — are available for students with and/or without learning difficulties and if the final product looks good and reads well, does it matter how it came? It might for some teachers and I am unsure about it, too.
It raises the question: Is it writing if an entire piece of writing has done orally?
Peace (in the impact of the app),
Kevin
Using SugarSync to Collaborate with Myself
May 28th
I was stuck the other day (again) with a file on my home computer — dutifully in my “school work folder” — and for the last time, I realized that I needed to figure out a better system for sharing work with myself. As it happened, that afternoon, a technology magazine that I subscribe to did a whole spread comparing Dropbox (which I know many people use) and SugarSync (which I had never heard of before).
The magazine review came clearly down on the side of SugarSync on a range of variables, including size of free account (5 gig), using multiple media files, and backing up revisions of work.They also liked the “magic briefcase” where you can store a file and edit and revise, and it will be save the revisions on whatever computer it originates from. (Here is another comparison between the two services; again, it recommends SugarSync)
What the heck? I installed it, and wow, it is nice now to be connected to my files here at home and there at school. I know this is no revolutionary idea for many of you and it reminds me how so often things like Dropbox are on my radar for months and months, but I just need the opportunity, need and time to put it to use.
I thought I might try out the “public sharing” with SugarSync. Here is an old file from my school computer (I am at home right now). It’s an MP3 of an old Poem for Two Voices (which we are working on right now in class)
What kind of syncing program do you use?
Peace (in the sync),
Kevin
Using iPod Touch for Cell Mitosis Project
May 27th
I won’t take credit for this, other than I helped figure out how to bring all of the student projects together with LiveBinders. But my science teacher colleague has been one of a group of teachers piloting the use of our new iPod Touches, and she learned how to use an app called “Storykit” so that our sixth graders could collaborate on a story about cell mitosis. She has traditionally done these on poster papers, but moved to the mobile devices this year.
I like that you can add images and audio with Storykit, and that it publishes the story online with a link. I don’t like that you can’t embed the story from the Storykit site and the layout is sort of boring (but it is much more interesting on the Touch itself — more fluid and interesting). The kids didn’t care, though. And the use of the Livebinder brings them all under one “roof” to share with families and with the other classes.
And the world.
Peace (in the touch),
Kevin
Kevin
Digital Storytelling, ELL Students, and Voice
May 26th
I sat with some teachers in an English Language Learners graduate class yesterday afternoon to introduce the concept of digital storytelling and emphasizing how using technology to tell a story can honor and celebrate student voices. The instructor is part of our Western Massachusetts Writing Project, and she sat in on a claymation animation camp I ran a few years ago.
I was lucky to have a supportive network in the National Writing Project to send along some samples of student work to use (Thanks to Bonnie, Cliff and Michelle). I took them through the use of Photostory 3, and most were excited to think about the possibilities for their classrooms. Here is my presentation:
Peace (in the value of voice),
Kevin
PS — I have added this resource to my Digital Storytelling website.
An After-life for Delicious
Apr 28th
Here is an email I got from Yahoo, regarding my Delicious bookmarking account. (If you remember, it was discovered that Yahoo was going to be killing off or selling off some of its assets, including the very popular Delicious social bookmarking service.)
Dear Delicious User,
Yahoo! is excited to announce that Delicious has been acquired by the founders of YouTube, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. As creators of the largest online video platform, Hurley and Chen have firsthand expertise enabling millions of consumers to share their experiences with the world. Delicious will become part of their new Internet company, AVOS.
To continue using Delicious, you must agree to let Yahoo! transfer your bookmarks to AVOS. After a transition period and after your bookmarks are transferred, you will be subject to the AVOS terms of service and privacy policy.
That is good news, but I have to admit, I already made the full switch of my bookmarking over to Diigo, and like it. My decision was based on the concern of losing my hundreds, eh thousands, of bookmarks. I can’t say I have yet tapped into all that Diigo can do, but I do like it.
I’ll probably still allow the service to move my Delicious bookmarks to its new platform, if only because I am curious about what these two are up to with their new company.
Peace (in the bookmark),
Kevin
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