Digital Writing Teaching Circle--Meeting #5

DIGITAL WRITING TEACHING CIRCLE--MEETING #5
FRIDAY, APRIL 1--4-5 PM
On WebEx

Present: Brian Lewis (facilitator), Steve Anderson, Jacque Arnold, Laura Funke, Dianne Gregory, Stephanie Laurey, Laurie Lykken, Bob Bledsoe, Brandy Opse-Weber

Absent: Sue Taylor

1.  Announcements

a.       Brian reminded everyone to hand in their Individual Reflection #1 who has not done so.

b.      Brian reminded everyone to sign up for Individual Conference #2 on the wiki.

c.       Brian reminded everyone that we don’t meet again until April 22 after today’s meeting.  That meeting will be from 4-5:15.

d.      Laurie asked everyone to create a Voki on the wiki, in order to help her with her individual technology project.  She provided directions for everyone and asked us to fill out a survey as well. 

2.  Jacque presented some information.  First, she pointed out that her school website at U of Mn-Mankato has several links to many different software programs that educators can use.  This site is located at http://www.mnsu.edu/its/academic/tools/.  She then went on to discuss Jing, www.techsmith.com/jing, and she showed us a video about it.  We learned about some of its key features:

a.       It makes screen captures of photos.

b.      It allows you to make brief five-minute videos.

c.       These things may be shared in online spaces (e-mail, Twitter, blogs).

d.      Jing is free.

3.  Stephanie introduced us to an online game that her students have begun using, Salubrious Nation (www.salubriousnation.com).  She demonstrated the game for us; it has eight levels that can be played.  Students make guesses regarding various questions about the state of the health of our nation on the basis of demographic information provided for them.  They then earn points for accurate guesses.  This game can teach such skills as cause-effect relationships, correlations, argument, research, and correlation to students.  It can also make students more aware of the condition of our country and sometimes shatter social myths as well (e.g., obesity only being prevalent in poor areas of the country).
4.  Brian introduced two collaborative programs

a.       The first was called Vyew, www.vyew.com, a collaboration platform very similar to AdobeConnect.  It has a whiteboard, video communication capabilities, and chat.  Students can be invited to participate.  It should work well for online group communication.  It is also free and requires no installations.  Continuous rooms are always saved and on.

b.      The second was called TitanPad, www.titanpad.com.  This could be used for

online peer review.  Students simply need to click a button to go into a room.  They can chat with other students and share their written work with each other.  Color-coding indicates which students are contributing what to the peer review conversation.  They can also save their work.  Students can either be invited to join the room or be given a link to show up at.

5.  Closing remarks

a.       Next meeting will be IN WEBEX, FRIDAY, APRIL 22, FROM 4-5:15 PM.   BRIAN WILL SEND EVERYONE THE WEBX MEETING LINK AT LEAST 24 HOURS BEFORE THE ONLINE MEETING. 

b.      Steve and Sue will share digital writing/new media techniques and explain why they would work well for the English classroom.

c.       April 29 meeting is pretty open—what do you want to do for it?  Send me ideas.

d.      Reminder: last meeting is ftf at Century College.  Those who complete all TC requirements will be given a book on digital writing.

e.       Technology table on wiki needs some organizing—how should we organize it?  Send me ideas.

   
6.  HOMEWORK FOR EVERYONE BEFORE NEXT MEETING:

a.       Find at least ONE new media teaching technique that you think might be worth sharing with the group if you have not yet done so.

b.      Your Individual Reflection #2 is due to Brian via e-mail ASAP, if you haven’t already submitted it.  (Please use the form provided for you.)

c.       Please sign up for your Individual Meeting #2 on the wiki if you haven't done so already. 

d.      Please do a Voki (at Laurie’s request, for her individual project) and try to complete an activity with Jing as well (post your results on the wiki).

e.       Work on your own individual projects.

f.       Share your ideas with Brian about what you want to do with (a) the wiki technology table and (b) our April 29 meeting.

Meeting ended at about 5:03 pm.  A recording of the meeting was done and is on the MnSCU WebEx site.

Brian