Week 11: Second Life

Once I discovered how to search properly and teleport, Second Life showed its potential and I had a lot of fun. I spent most of my time at the ISTE Island and found many new resources for using Second Life. Check out the scheduled docent tours, the volunteer register, the information wall and the educational blog display.

Another aspect that is very compelling, is the opportunity to meet up with people you know in your real life. I was surprised at how much fun it was to check out a new place and be able to make comment to someone I knew.

At the ISTE site, I also met another teacher and we had a short chat. This seemed pretty normal and had a very different tone from another chat I had a couple of weeks ago on the Welcome Island. The first person that contacted me when I first arrived in Second Life ended up using swear words because I didn't answer.

So, there is so much more to look at. But, as they say in business, Second Life experiences depend on "location, location, location." As I wondered through the University Islands and the ISTE site, and even a Latin music performance at the Smithsonian Island, I began to see what a rich resource Second Life is.

Week 10: Games and Simulations

Gaming and simulation experiences in class are varied. Some, are structured, goal oriented and able to be assessed; some, are simply geared for practicing and reinforcing concepts for a given period of time. My interest in games and simulations, is focused on finding products that provide a high level of student motivation and engagement as well as standards-based objectives, lesson plans, and assessment possibilities.

Technology-based simulations, especially Tom Snyder products, have proven to be successful learning experiences in my classroom. These simulations come with teacher materials to support instruction and assessment. Tom Snyder software must be purchased and may become obsolete as operating systems change. My favorite series is Science Court, for grades 4-6.

I recently discovered a free resource that fits my classroom criteria. The pre-Algebra game, Lure of the Labyrinth, is a free, multi-player, role-based and allows teachers to be administrators for student players. Lesson plans and standards are also available. This game is a product of a US DOE grant, LG2G, Learning Games to Go.

Lesson plans from Lure of the Labyrinth include topics such as:

Equivalent Ratios Lesson and Resources (Grade 7)
Proportional Reasoning Lesson and Resources (Grade 8)
Proportional Applications Lesson and Resources (Grade 8)

The skill practice game is another category of game that is helpful in the classroom . For this, I've found the Arcademic site very useful. The games, are exciting and they provide practice for a variety of basic skills; students can also participate in multi-player races.

Week 8: Wikis - Example from My Classroom Wiki

I began a class Wiki because I needed time and space for students to engage in reflective thought and discussion – outside of class. The project included researching a person that influenced the 20th Century, writing a script, and creating a performance. Assignments were posted to to the home page, and I gave class grades for the responses.

The reward for me as a teacher, was the chance to share in their ideas as decisions were being made, and I found it really easy to grade/score the assignments. The is a series of posts from a 6th grade group using Wiki posts to make their final decision about whom to study.

Assignment 2: Group Discussion

• Find your Group's Page listed by one of the member's user names.
• Create a discussion regarding the individual of your choice. See instructions on the Group Page.
• After your team agrees on the individual, add to the History Day Discussion (Assignment #3)

(Names have been removed)
re: Choosing a Person
Yeah...I guess there's no Jinx Olsen, a mix-up, I believe. We are looking for someone new....*sigh*....this is bad...

re: Choosing a Person
What if our person is Mahatma Ghandi? I think he's really cool, and changed the world most definitely.

re: Choosing a Person
I know you want a girl...but I really can't find anybody! :(

re: Choosing a Person
I KNOW!!! We should do The Beatles! That fits into the category of Artist, right? The Beatles are really awesome...and I bet that nobody has ever done The Beatles before.. :)

re: Choosing a Person
(to non group member), please keep out of this, thank you. We can handle this on our own.

re: Choosing a Person
Yeah...I guess there's no Jinx Olsen, a mix-up, I believe. We are looking for someone new....*sigh*....this is bad...

re: Choosing a Person
Umm.. can we find a woman lawyer? That would be cool.

re: Choosing a Person
how exactly would she have changed America, though? Unless she was the first..

re: Choosing a Person
Look at Sandra Day O'Connor! She sounds like a good person. She was the first woman lawyer in the supreme court.

The final decision was to study Sandra Day O'Connor. Other wiki uses included script writing, and negotiating decisions about costumes and sets.

The students' first post was a response to a survey question about their previous knowledge of Web 2.0 tools.
re: Web 2.0 - Have you used it before?

• Yes, I think so.
• Yes, I have used web 2.0, and I have used nings and blogs.
• No I have never used one and I have never experienced this but I think this is very cool and I think it will help me connect with the other members in my group.
• i haven't used the web 2.0 thingymabb but it sounds awesome
• Yes, I think so.
• I have never used wiki spaces before, but I have used a ning which is similar to this.
• No, I have never used wiki space before.
• I have never heard of nings and Web 2.0.
• I have never used wiki spaces before, but I have used a ning which is similar to this.

The best part about this project has been to see how readily the students learned and applied this technology.

Week 9: Social Media

How Media Ecologies Can Address Diverse Student Needs, an article published in College Teaching January 2009, concludes that "diverse media are valued by students and likely to contribute to greater learning . . . A rich ecology of media appears to enhance student learning."

The ecology metaphor seems fitting as it is illustrated in this graphic showing the branches of learning media. With current research showing that social media can benefit students with diverse needs, it seems that it is worth the risk and effort to try and teach K-12 students to use these tools appropriately.



The challenge for me is the experimental nature of including all the "new" media into my instructional plans and finding that sometimes my ideas don't work or that the technology isn't quite what I needed. There's always troubleshooting, redesigning, and a lot of learning through trial and error.

According to Cris Worsnop, a media literacy expert, all of these challenges are often part of a media educator's experience including using social media and the type of teaching it takes to learn new literacies.

"If you scratch a media educator, you will often reveal a progressive educator who has been attracted to the subject by the likelihood that progressive pedagogy will be a perfect fit to the content. Media classrooms often display the following characteristics, typical of
progressive education:

* Group and collaborative work is encouraged and rewarded
* Independent and project work is encouraged and rewarded
* Self- and peer assessment is practiced and acknowledged in final grades
* Abstractions including creativity, originality, and experimentation are encouraged and rewarded
* It is not a problem when a student knows more than a teacher
* The process of work is valued, sometimes as much as or more than the product
* Sometimes work is undertaken without a clear expectation for the outcome
* Risk taking, experimentation, investigation, and discovery are all acknowledged as powerful learning tools"

Worsnop's writing appears online at the Center for Media Literacy. The quote above is from Reading Online, the journal of the International Reading Association.