K12 Online Conference

Here's my second blog about the K12 Online conference. I went into the chat When Night Fall Begins around 1 pm EST today (Saturday, October 27. There were only a couple of us there beside the moderator. Showed a lot of people there but they apparently had stepped away. It took the moderator awhile to figure that out. I think it was Bobbi Stevens. We chatted for awhile about where I am on the continuum of tech ed. He also talked with me abit about podcasting. I still need to accomplish that task. Going to work on that as soon as I post this blog. He had several great sites to recommend. The interesting thing is that this is all being recorded so even when there are only a couple of people you want to have some type of discussion. I hope to go online once more today before the Red Sox game comes on. There are several important aspects of the K12 Online conference. The first of course is having the ability to not only listen to great presenters but also to actually have an opportunity to chat with them. I also love the fact that you can go in and listen to the presentations whenever you want. this has been very important to me this fall because of my schedule. I still have lots of them to read. And of course, the most important aspect are all the great connections to be made. The networking is endless. Everyone is very helpful and so anxious to share their knowledge and enthusiasm. Jeff, thanks for bringing this conference to our attention.

K12 Online conference

I went to the K12Online conference Fireside chat on Saturday October 20. I have to say that I feel a bit like a voyeur listening to so many people that are knowledgeable in the tech field. I was a little hesitant to participate but explained that I'm a newbie just trying to learn as much as I can. The chat was led by Clarence Fisher and Alan Levine. Lots of good discussion. Talked some about Second Life, innovateonline, trailfire. Unfortunately we lost power for about 20 minutes so I missed the last of the chat. I find myself wishing I had a lot more time to check out all the resources that are mentioned. I've been listening to several of the presentations. All good stuff. This conference is such a great networking and educational tool.

Podcast

I just want to say that I am trying hard to create a podcast but so far have not had any luck. I can record it, but can't seem to save it and reopen it, never mind trying to export it and make it available in my blog. I've spent a couple of hours on it so far. I'll try again later in the week but I have very limited time this week. This is when I would really love to be able to talk it through with someone.

Juggling

I'm actually trying to catch up on some of the assignments. This is the post for Topic of our choice from the week of September 30th. The biggest challenge I've had recently is trying to juggle work, assignments and family. Work has totally overtaken my time with many nights on the road. Add to that unexpectedly babysitting my grandchild and enduring a scratched cornea and needless to say I've gotten behind. (Of course, I live in New England and have gotten sidetracked with Red Sox games.) It's also difficult to stay connected with a completely online class. Of all the courses I've taken this is the first one that has been completely online. It's very strange having relatively no connection with others. I say that and yet fully realize that the very topic we're learning about has everything to do with being connected to others. It's just that the learning curve is huge especially when for me there is no practical application at this time. I've been thinking about how I could use Wiki's with Girl Scout volunteers but it comes back to access. Many don't have enough access to computers to make it feasible. I am going to put more thought into it once I really know how to set one up to see how I can utilize a Wiki to support them.

Wikis in Education

I spent quite a bit of time trying to research information pertaining to the use of wikis in the classroom. Lots of stuff being written about them especially since there is a learning curve for so many teachers and administration. Students are growing up in an age where technology is second nature to them and they are picking it up quickly. The challenge is to utilize wikis to enhance teaching. They are a powerful tool that we are only just beginning to understand and appreciate. Such a great way for students and teachers to collaborate, give feedback and learn. The learning is a two way street. Some of the places I visited while researching were www.innovateonline and second life cable network and Universtiy of New Hampshire's Faculty and Instructional Technology Summer Institute at unh.edu/idc/fitsi/2007. Each site had interesting presentations.

Media Sharing

Up until this course I hadn't paid any attention to sites like You Tube. Quite the opportunity for people to have their "15 minutes of fame". The site I really enjoyed looking at was Voice Thread. I can see this being utilized a great deal in classrooms. What a great way for students to publish their work incorporating photos and voice as well as providing an opportunity for interaction with others. This opens up doors. I'm looking forward to looking at more of the threads.

Social bookmarking

Here again is an amazing tool. Social bookmarking obviously has many uses but as a trainer I am always looking for best practices, interesting topics, methods. Much the same as a teacher would compile lesson plans or pertinent links to their curriculum. I am looking forward to have an opportunity to play with this.

I have to say that I have enjoyed reading Richardson's book. He has provided lots of valuable information to get everyone started utilizing technology. I find myself jotting down all the links he refers to.

RSS feeds

I have to say RSS feeds are impressive. Such a powerful tool to utilize in the classroom and in day to day life. Considering how incredibly busy everyone is this can be such a time saver for gathering pertinent information. I have to say that this course is really making me wish that I had the opportunity to work with students in a classroom to get them excited about all this new technology. I'm sure most of them are more aware of the newest technology than most of their teachers, but they may not fully understand the potential of it. I haven't played with the RSS feed much yet, but hope to soon.