I am signing out! All assignments are completed not a moment too soon. This blog is postified, widgetified, and clarified. I have run the race, surfed the web, and performed on the web 2.0. It is finished.
The last word on technical issues is that I went ahead and created two student accounts for this edublog. I named the users as exco1 and exco2. When I created the users as students, I used the gmail+ hack to have all information forwarded to me. The users were immediately assigned passwords and a blog site. For exco1, the site is http://exco1.edublogs.org/. The student can login and work on their own blog site once I assign the password information. Managing the content on the sites might prove to be a challenge, but it could be monitored by subscribing to the RSS feeds for each student site.
In order to have exco1 contribute and collaborate on this blog, http://thefamousdredtech.edublogs.org , permissions were modified to allow exco1 to become a contributer. This allows the student to add posts and modify their profile, but not change any other properties on the blog. The only real concern is that exco1 can now go back and modify his email address which will take away some control from the teacher.
The demonstrative nature of the “IBC News” Googlesite will allow for a rather simple evaluation. Observing and assisting students in creating their working pages will be an excellent gauge of the success of the project. This evaluation will continue on throughout the project and changes can be implemented to the Googlesite throughout the project. Some simple questions need to be dwelt on by the instructor:
Are students successfully creating and linking their work pages?
Are students journaling on their blog-style page daily?
Are students previewing the “Sample Pages” for guidance?
Are students referring to the “Project Directions” for information on their project?
Are students using the “Resources” link to get information?
Is their evidence of team collaboration on the group pages?
Have students posted needed files and external files to their page?
The answer to all of these questions should be yes. They can all be assessed by checking student work, observing them while they work, and requesting feedback from students.
Implementation is not going to be difficult with this particular project. It may be a little time consuming working out all of the quirks, but that is to be expected.
Initially, at the beginning of of my session with my International Baccalaureate students, the Googlesite, “IBC News”, will be introduced. Students will be introduced to the project in four steps. The first step is previewing all of the links on the “IBC News” Googlesite. Second, the class will be led to the “Project Directions” link and guided through the details of the multimedia video project. Once the project is clearly understood, students will be introduced to the “Sample Pages” located on the Googlesite. Previewing and discussing these sample pages will help clarify to the students exactly what is expected of them. It will also provide them concrete examples of most of the products that they will be producing throughout the IBC News project. The fourth step is to guide students in creating and linking their team page, personal page, and process journal page. The process journal can be used immediately to post their initial impressions of the project, as well as any unanswered questions.
Filters and Opposition
At present, the district filters are blocking the “IBC News” Googlesite when logged in as a student. A unblock request has been submitted. This has been accomplished many times in the past without any questions being asked. Unblocking usually occurs within 24 hours. Once unblocking has occurred on the primary URL, all links on the site must be tested to ensure they work. It is likely further unblock requests will need to be made, however opposition is not anticipated.
Should an administrator or IT director have concerns with the issue of students using the “IBC News” Googlesite, a persuasion campaign will be started and will not stop until the the site is unblocked. Usually, in instances where an administrator is uncomfortable with a technology, a little assurance and information are all that’s needed. If that is not successful, an “advocate” for technology at the district office will be asked to step in and offer their support.
The final development for my IBC News project wiki proved to be simpler than expected. The site was created simply by accessing Googlesites with a web browser. It was quite well equipped to produce all of the results specified in the design. It easily allowed page creation with a variety of templates, as well as the insertion of links, files, and media. Googlesites appearance feature allowed for a custom look and banner. Perhaps one of the most useful features was the capability to purchase and administer a domain name in association with Googlesites. For this project www.explorecomputers.net was linked to the site, and the capability to securely manage up to 200 users will allow for a streamlined project experience. At present, one student account is set up as falcon1, with a password of falcon. Extra users can even be uploaded using a CSV file created in Microsoft Excel, which is a significant time-saving tool. In regard to users uploading users, the CSV file can be created using Microsoft Excel, OpenOffice, or Googledocs.
Customizations
Some of the Googlesite customizations that were utilized by inserting template pages. This allowed for pages that had built-in file managers, blog-style capability, list organizers, and video galleries. The video galleries drew from videos on Google Video and YouTube. Furthermore, a live news feed on Google News is being pulled on the resources page which allows students to draw upon current information right on the blog. This was an added feature that seems useful. Another customization, as mentioned above, is the purchase of the domain name in association with the site. This site name allows for a much easier administration. Student users are not only assigned a name, but a unique email address, a calendar, access to GoogleDocs, and all the Google Account features. These are all able to be revoked or deleted when students not longer need access to the IBC News site.
Results
In the end, the results of the pilot Googlesite are consistent with the design expectations. Several features, such as ease of use, even exceed expectations. The IBC News site is ready to be used with a live group of students and all that needs to be done is to enter in user names.
However, as with any large project, many factors are involved and problems with certainly arise. An area to keep watch on are the district restrictions on various URL’s. Student access is limited to YouTube, but they are allowed access to GoogleVideo. With their Google account, students “should” be able to upload their own projects to Google videos and share them privately with the IBC news sites. Time will tell which aspects of the IBC News site need adjusting, but for now it is ready to be piloted by a group of students.
The intended use for the wiki is that of a hub for a large multimedia project. Ideally, students would work on the site every single day. Uses would vary depending on the phase of the project. The main purposes would be for students to:
Enter daily process journal on Blog-style page. (student created)
Collaborate with team members on planning pages (student created)
Create planning documents such as storyboards and scripts (student created)
Post documents in formats like PDF and Word
See examples of required pages (teacher created)
Post or embed finished projects to a video gallery(teacher and student created)
Access necessary web resources.
Access assignment information in detail (teacher created)
Frequency of Use
During the course of the project, this website will be a central hub of all student work and activity. Once the project has been completed, most of the student pages will be deleted to get ready for the next class.
Well, my 1 minute podcast ended up being 3 minutes, but I had fun making it. The podcast is an interview from The Famous Dr. Ed-Tech with Matt Sherwood (Me) regarding my assignment for EdTech700.
I am going to develop out a Googlesite wiki to use in conjunction with my International Baccalaureate(IB) class. This is one period a day where some of the best and brightest students come into my classroom to work on a technology project every day for six to nine weeks. Specifically, students will work in groups to create a five minute video newscast with multiple segments.
Users
The users are eighth graders who are enrolled in the IB program. In order to qualify for the program, students had to demonstrate a high level of academic achievement and testing ability. IB students are often involved in GATE programs and other academic achievements such as science fair, fine arts shows, and advanced band.
In regard to technology, IB students are often avid users of computers, cell phones, iPods, and other personal devices. Computers are often required in their other IB classes for traditional uses such as typing and research. They usually are quick to learn new technology. They are very familiar with Microsoft office and Internet Explorer. Most understand wikis, but have not had to do any serious work involving the use of one.
Teacher Goals for Users
Students will be using the Googlesite as a source of collaboration and documentation for their collaborative project on Newscasting. It will be the “creative hub” for the project and allow them to freely cooperate and share on group work.
IB students will use the website to:
Create a group page that is the primary source of information and collaboration for the group.
Create collaborative pages for planning and brainstorming.
Create a “calendar page” for important due dates.
Create an individual page that is a launching point for personal assignments such as research, script writing, and storyboarding.
Create an online “Process Journal” to document daily progress and problems encountered during the project.
Create a “File Share” page for important files.
Post final project video or link.
Similar Websites
This is sort of similar to the handbook700 idea, but it is meant to be a bit more collaborative in nature. The IB Googlesite will provide students with more control and ownership.
A School or teacher (http://collabowiki.wikispaces.com/SCIENCE+FAIR!!!!) has used wikispaces as a hub for science fair projects. This is similar to the way the Googlesite should be used.
Performance Drivers/Barriers
Skills/Knoweldge - Students are familiar with the internet and Wikipedia, so they should have some idea as to how a wiki would work. It is highly doubtful that they have used a wiki in an academic setting due to the traditional technology experiences offered by the IB team of teachers. Furthermore, students will not likely be familiar with the way Googlesites works, as opposed to more familiar user interfaces such as Mediawiki.
Motivation – IB students are just like other students in that they are not likely to do more work than they are required to do. They are often loaded up with work and projects through the IB program, and thus are not interested in doing busywork beyond what is required of them. This may present itself as a problem if creating work on the wiki is not required. It will be easier to just us a word processor to journal and make assignments.
Environment – Students will do the vast majority of their Googlesite work and collaboration while in the computer lab during their 55 minute technology period. The lab is equipped with 36 HP computers, each running Windows XP. The school, Corona Fundamental Intermediate School, is equipped with two T1 lines, and will soon be upgraded to a fiber optic connection. Students will be at liberty to use Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. In the event that the Googlesite is blocked by district filtering, the teacher will be able to get it unblocked through contacting the IT department.
Incentives–A concern in this type of project is that overachieving students may do the majority of the work. The motivation for these students is to get the best possible grade without other students harming the group grade. Another concern is that underachieving students will allow overachieving students to overwork. Their motivation is usually ignorance, laziness, or a lack of initiative.
Wow. I had really looked forward to the summer session thinking that I would actually have MORE time to keep up on classwork, and I wrongly assumed that the coursework would be a little lighter. Needless to say, this has been very difficult to keep up with since my family has had vacations and reunions planned for the last year. It has been very hard to keep up with 572 and the 700 classes while jetting around the country.
So, I guess this is just an e-gripe since having duedates every week makes it impossible to actually go take a vacation anywhere and relax while I am gone. Arghh. Someday this will all be worth it.
Hi. My name is Matt Sherwood and I am a technology teacher in Corona, CA. I am currently earning a master’s degree in Educational Technology at SDSU, hence the title.
I have been teaching for 13 years now in fifth, third, seventh, and eighth grades. Only the last 3 years have I been strictly teaching technology at the middle school level. I am loving it. During that time I have been moving from just teaching MS office, to incorporating multimedia into my curriculum. This has been largely on account of the wonderful free programs available such as Audacity, Paint.net, Photo Story 3, and Windows Movie Maker (not so wonderful, but free and easy). I branched out into my first podcasting unit this year and created Podcasting101 for my gate class. I felt it had mixed success and I want to refine it a lot.
You may be wondering about my blog title. I am actually not a doctor of anything, or famous for that matter, but I earlier made a blog by a similar name for one of my other EdTech classes. Visit http://thefamousmredtech.blogspot.com to see what I’m talking about. I started My first blog back in August 2006 for a family website and I still keep my family blog there because I am reluctant to transfer it for fear of loosing all of my four readers in the process. This is called “From the Mouths of Babes” and can be found at http://sherweb.blogspot.com. Since then, I’ve pumped out various blogs for classes and lessons. Often they go unused, but I always plan to go back and use them at a later date. Most recently I created http://writenowsurvey.wordpress.org as a launching point for a district wide student survey. It worked out quite well.
Anyways, I much prefer the Wordpress “engine” over blogger. I had already transferred most of my other blogs to Wordpress. So needless to say, I am very happy to see an educational rendition of Wordpress and will very likely get some mileage out of it this year in some teacher inservices I am planning on offering.
Regarding wikis; they kind of are intimidating to me. I have tinkered with them, but have yet to successfully implement them in any educational manner. I like Google Sites and Wikispaces seems easy, but I’m not sure how to make them work in a school without rolling out 100’s of passwords.
For a final project, I would like to work out a plan for implementing blogs, podcasts, and wikis in a classroom setting so I can create a teacher-inservice based on my plan.
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