10/25--Google Groups (short entry)

Today I played around with Google Groups a bit.  Although I couldn't find a Google Group that I actually wanted to join--most of them seem pretty specific or restrictive--I did create a sample Google Group for my American Lit. class.  The group is called American Literature 2011, and its e-mail is amlit2011@googlegroups.com.  I restricted the enrollment, so people have to be invited to join.  So far, I'm the only member.  :)

I am not yet sure how I'd use this in the classroom.  Perhaps as an alternative to Discussion Boards?  Perhaps as a means to facilitate project group conversation?  I need to give this some thought.

10/24--time away from technology.

Okay, this post has nothing to do with using digital technologies in the classroom, but it does concern a teaching technique that I wanted to think about.  In face-to-face classes, it's sometimes difficult to think of a good, relevant icebreaker.  So last Thursday I explored the Internet for ideas, and this one was my favorite:

• “Stranded on an Island.”  Get into a group of 3-4 people.  Each person should answer the following questions:  (1) What one item would I bring if I were to be stranded on a desert island?  and (2) Why would I bring this item?  Then, as a group, decide how your group could combine your items to improve your chances of survival.  Each group will report its results to the class.

I like this idea for two major reasons.  To begin with, it gets the students talking to each other.  Secondly, I like it because it gets the students in the position of THINKING TOGETHER to come up with a response, which is something that they're going to have to do during class discussions all semester long.  I know that the "desert island" idea may seem a bit dated, but I do think it will get them thinking in creative ways, which is particularly important for a writing class.

10/19--MapSkip

I learned about this site at the TYCA Conference and today I decided to explore it a bit more.  At first it seemed a bit hard to use (I'm not sure if the site was completely functional), but I see this as a site for REAL possibilities for "writing about place."  Students (and teachers) register for the site, identify a place they want to "write a story about" (a hand icon clicks on a map, showing the place you're writing about), and then you may write the story right there on line.  It's that simple.  And what's nice is that students can add photos, sounds, and videos to the stories as well.  Another good feature is that students can comment on the stories of others, not unlike with a blog.  

I think I will likely make this site an option for my Group Technology Project--the site is http://www.mapskip.com/.  Check it out.

10/18 TitanPad and Wordle possibilities.

TitanPad

On one of the sites I found through Diigo, I came across TitanPad, which is a collaborative writing sharing program.  Students can peer review with each other online in real time, one document at a time.  In fact, it's easier than Google Docs in some ways because all you have to do is go to http://www.titanpad.com/, click "Create Public Pad," and then the system immediately assigns the entering writer a URL to work at.  I could see using this in English 0090 or 1021 online classes; perhaps what I would do, though, is assign the URLs in advance to groups of students, rather than have them self-select their own URLs.  With Dawn, I tried to e-mail her the chat room link we were assigned, but it didn't work that well.  But when I sent it to her via Facebook, it was fine.  So what's nice is that we could collaborate on a document (with different colors showing different individual contributions) and also chat about that document simultaneously.

Wordle

I also wanted to write down an exercise that I learned about Wordle (again, inspired through a Diigo site!).  As an means of introducing themselves to the class, I could have 0090 students create a Wordle--just have them write words that describe themselves and who they are.  If certain words mean a lot to them, they can mention those words twice or more.  Even for non-online classes, maybe they'd be willing to use them to introduce themselves to the class.

Cool stuff!  

10/11--More on Google--Google Reader, Google Docs

Today I figured out some things about Google Reader and Google Docs. 

Google Reader is a good way to organize blogs; it serves as an RSS feed that constantly streams in new materials to read.  Apparently I'm already subscribed to some blogs, but I learned how to subscribe to some more "bulk" RSS feeds, so I subscribed to one on News.  This Google App seems mostly like it's about reading; it reminds me mostly of Diigo and Delicious.  Like those apps, I think it'd be most useful in preparing the student to write a viable research paper.

I also learned more about using Google Docs.  Apparently, it's a word processing program, not just a place to read and collaborate on documents.  An author can create a Google Doc, just as one can create something in MS Word--even a spreadsheet or a presentation.  People may collaborate on Google Docs in several ways--but the people with whom you collaborate HAVE to have a Google account and MUST be e-mailed (invited) in order to collaborate.  The collaboration may be done asynchronously or together, at the same time, even by Publishing the Doc to the web.  I could see my students using this for online peer review, even the English 0090 students, a couple of times.

I think I need to explore Etherpad a bit more because it seems pretty similar to this collaboration in Google Docs.

10/7--Beginning Google

Today I began to play around with Google applications.  The first place I went was Google Calendar, which seems pretty user friendly.  It enables the user to add events on a daily basis and connect with other Google Calendars as well.  I think I'm going to start using it!  I then moved to Google Reader and did some searches with it, but I need to experiment with this more.

I also went to Barnes & Noble today and purchased *Google-pedia*, 3rd edition, by Michael Miller.  It discusses pretty much every Google application one could ever wish to know about:  Google Reader, Google Talk, Google Chat, Google Docs, and even how to use Blogger and YouTube with Google.  I plan to look into this book more as well. 

10/4--an additional post about Audacity.

I thought I'd make one more post because I discovered something interesting this evening about Audacity, a site for creating podcasts:  the URL for it is actually http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ and not http://www.audacity.com/, as I always thought it was.  I have not yet tinkered around with Audacity or made a podcast, but I plan to in the future.  But I have now downloaded the latest non-beta version of Audacity to my desktop on my home computer.

I'm still a bit confused about where these podcasts can be posted for RSS access, but I'm sure I'll figure this out in time.

 

10/4 at the ctl--Diigo and Delicious

Today I worked on Diigo and Delicious, mostly.  Primarily I learned about how to do bookmarking on Diigo.  I had signed up for the "Education" privileges on Diigo, so I have been receiving a stream of educational websites sent to my e-mail each day.  Today I went through those websites and decided which ones I wanted to bookmark to Diigo using the "Diigolet" function.  You can see which ones I chose at http://www.diigo.com/user/briandivine.

What's nice about Diigo is, in addition to the websites being sent to me free via e-mail, I can do searches for key articles/topics using tags-either ones that they suggest or that I create.

I set up an account at Delicious as well.   It's at http://www.delicious.com/BrianCLewis.  This site also involves bookmarking; I don't know as much about it yet, but it seems like the sites for Delicious come up right for the reader on the website, and the reader can pick and choose.

I could see my 1021 and 1022 students using Diigo or Delicious as a means of accumulating possible research sites for papers.  Not sure it would be as helpful to my English 0090 students.