(note: Since publishing this post, I have put a wiki together that goes into more depth about Tweetdeck)

As Jim and I started discussing this 13 More Things class way back in January, the first thing we added was Twitter. Now after viewing the Twitter resources and setting up your account, you are probably wondering “What were they thinking? Why is everyone so wound up about this really stupid thing.” Trust me, I was in the same place a few months ago. Now it is the most important part of my personal professional development.  So what do I see in Twitter that you don’t? Let me see if I can explain it.

I tweet so that I can:

• establish relationships with like minded educators locally, nationally, and globally
• learn new things both professionally and personally
• stay up to date with with world and local events
• stay involved politically
• make new friends
• get tech support
• have a good laugh
• help others

Wow, that’s a quite a list. This isn’t what Twitter was designed for. It was designed to let people keep up with friends and family.  However, the early adopters of this technology leveraged this medium to meet their needs. They changed twitter and made it a valuable resource for educators worldwide.

Let me show you how I use Twitter

How do I do all this? I do not use the web interface. There is no way to accomplish all of my goals with that interface.  I use Tweetdeck, an a free Adobe Air application. You can download it from http://tweetdeck.com. (All of the screenshots that follow are of my Tweetdeck.) Tweetdeck allows you to make as many groups as you would like. (Also all you need to do is click on a person’s avatar and there are buttons for @replying, retweeting, and many other options. This make Tweetdeck easy to use. You can link your Facebook account too.) (The following screenshot is a composite.)

Needless to say, but I get a lot more out of Twitter when I can group my responses. Here’s some more of my groups.

Just so you get a better idea, here are a very few of the conversations that crossed my screen on 7/21.

You may have noticed some strange notations in the tweets so what follows is a marked up column that shows hashtags and a has a few comments about some of the tweets. Hopefully you’ll be able to see the kind of content I gain daily form twitter.

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I also mentioned that I made a few friends. Here are some of them.

My last set of screen shots were taken while I was writing this post.  I may be techie, but I do stupid things at times, like closing all of the toolbars and navigation bars in FireFox. So I turned to my Twitter Network for help.

Very quickly I heard from @irasocol

I responded:

Meanwhile, others, some I didn’t know responded:

Eventually I figured it out with their help and sent a thank you tweet. If you look at the timestamps, This entire conversation took place and I fixed the problem in less than 30 minutes. Regular tech support would have taken a lot longer.  The greatest thing about Twitter is that these conversations occur in real time. You can ask a question and will probably get a response.

There is a real live education community on Twitter and I encourage you to dive in. The people are friendly and very helpful. Enjoy.

PS. If you noticed the green borders or overlays on some of the avatars, that is to protest the Iranian Election debacle.

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As I reviewed the blog posts for this current session of 23Things, one of the more common problems has been keeping track of passwords and log-in IDs for a number of services. I thought I’d discuss a couple of options.

Here are a couple of ideas for remembering passwords.

My favorite is to download and install the free Last Pass plug in for your browser. It remembers passwords, log-ins, and can even create secure passwords. All information is stored in a secure vault  on your computer that only you (the user) can access. All you have to remember is one password. I love it. http://lastpass.com

Another one I got from an article on online security. Let’s assume that your usual user name is “ssz” and you are establishing an account at Amazon.com.

First, decide on a pattern for any site. For example, I decide to use the 1st, 2nd, last letter in the site’s name

Then for the password, tack on your user name shortened to 3 or 4 letters. Add another a number. So now you have: aMn6ssz3

If the site requires a symbol, just add it to the end. (I usually add an underline.) So now you have:

aMn6ssz3_

Use this system for each site. Here are a couple more examples:

Target: tAt6ssz3 or tAt6ssz3_
Netflix: nEx6ssz3 or nEx6ssz3_

Now you have a unique password for each site. As for user names I have two variations. My main one and my emergency backup one. (Just like Dave Barry‘s dog and his emergency backup dog.)

I think you get the idea, but I still think Last Pass is the easier option.

This is the last official task for my 23 Things You Should Know about Web 2.0 class.  It has been really enjoyable and I have learned so much. (Like using Notepad to strip the code from MS Word and Open Office BEFORE copying to a blog. Saves a lot of trouble. Thanks @suewaters and @dr_mike for all of your help.)
For this task, I decided to write a number of goal statements that relate to this class. So here goes nothing

• Technology Integration Goals for 08-09

Create and use a classroom wiki to post assignments and collaborative projects. My wiki will also include copies of all handouts and links to online resources. Individual student pages will be developed as needed.

Students will do their written assignments using Google Docs so that we can engage in synchronous editing

Image via CrunchBase

and collaboration. I will grade and comment on written work directly on the document in Google Docs.  Work will be submitted for grading and monitoring by listing me as a collaborator. This will cut down on lost work, use of paper, and allow the students to access their work from home.

Students will use web based tools to help them revise. Using SpokenText.net, students will covert their written work to speech and listen to their work as part of the editing process.

Students will create and post to a blog on a weekly basis.  I will assign a topic for a given week. Each student will be expected to respond to the prompt.

Students will be taught how to comment appropriately. They will be expected to comment on other blogs weekly.  A rubric will be developed to evaluate the comments.

Students will be introduced to appropriate web 2.0 applications as needed.

Students will be able to appropriately embed graphics and copied text so that the licensing requirements are met.

Students will be able to locate Creative Commons materials for online use.

I will create podcasts to assist students with complicated text.

I will try to establish an ongoing relationship with another class with a focus on collaboration. I would like to begin will reciprocal blog commenting and go from there.

I will locate  and use online multimedia resources to supplement the curriculum.

I will write a proposal for a COW to be housed by and used in the special education department classrooms.

I will have my students use the technology, not have it use them.

• Web 2.0 Skills that I Want to Master

I want to be able to use Audacity effectively so that I can publish podcasts for student use.

I want to learn and master video editing. I’ve never done it, but I got a Flip clone (Vado by Creative Media) for Christmas.

Master screen-casting as a tool to help students be more independent while learning new tech skills.

I want to learn all about Skype and Ustream (or similar sites) so that I can engage in active conversation with others about education (and with extended family).

I want to figure out the most effective ways to use this technology in my classes.

• Share with others

I will continue to bookmark and tag interesting websites in both Delicious and Diigo.  If I find something I think someone in my building could use, I’ll send them the link.

Image via CrunchBase

I will encourage others to take the next 23 Things class.  It was fun.

I will volunteer to co-facilitate the next 23 Things class.

I will keep bugging the powers-that-be to give us the kind of technology and training to help our students develop 21st Century Skills inside the Michigan Merit Curriculum.

Image via CrunchBase

Image via Wikipedia

I will continue to advocate for open source software to help the district reduce costs.

• My PLC

I will continue to read the blogs of my 23 Things classmates, commenting as appropriate.

I will encourage my colleagues to explore web 2.0 and try to use it in their classes.

I will follow my PLC on Twitter.

I will continue to blog about educational technology and education in Michigan schools.

I will attempt to serve as a voice of reason in the maddness that is education in the state of Michigan.

I will keep learning.

I will not give up.

In my pre-web 2.0 world Professional Development (PD) could be basically be broken down into three categories:

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• Local Professional Development:

A boring sage-on-the-stage, supposedly “inspirational,” district inservice. My main accomplishment was getting lots of papers graded.

• Countywide Professional Development Day:

More conference like. Some years great, some years terrible. I got many papers graded.

• Conferences:

If I wanted to go, I’d have to pay my own way. Also, time away from class not necessarily approved if district didn’t think attendance “fit” with their PD plan.

None of these had much impact on what went on in my classroom. Sadly, I lost interest in gaining inspiration and new ideas for my teaching. I began to do just what my administrator and the state told me to do. My teaching suffered. I couldn’t wait to retire, but I still have 12 years to go. I was becoming the type of teacher that I despised. My love of teaching waned. I learned the technology and programs the school said I hadto and figured out ways to use these for my personal benefit, but that was it.

I became more and more frustrated with the politics of education. NCLB and the State of Michigan no longer seemed to care about anything other than test scores. They had lost the focus on the student. Flexibility gone. Creativity gone. Teach the “programmed” curriculum. My learning disabled students were left to struggle through curriculum that was (and still is) not appropriate for them. I locked myself away from other teachers to avoid the politics. I just wanted to be left alone in my classroom. I was suffering from burn out. I knew something had to change or I might as well quit and go do else.

Then a miracle occurred. I discovered iTunes, podcasts, and Wesley Fryer. I started listening to Wes’s Moving at the Speed of Creativity podcasts. As soon as I began listening, my world began to change. Wes inspired

Image by Wesley Fryer via Flickr

me to do more. He inspired me to start using technology as something other than a replacement for the typewriter. I began to think and care again. Ideas started sprouting. I began to figure out what I needed to do to become the teacher I wanted to be. The joy of teaching returned. (I hope Wes understands how much he’s improved my teaching and my life. Thanks Wes. Okay, enough with the fangirl stuff.)

I began to seek out more and more resources. I took charge of by PD for the first time in my almost 30 years in education.

I started using my twice a day 40 minute commute to learn from a number of wonderful educators. I’ve become so addicted to my PD in my car. I actually missed commuting over the Christmas break. I just wanted time alone in my car to learn. It has been a long time since I wanted to learn new things. (When I become passionate about something I develop an obsession-like focus. I must master whatever I am doing. It’s been years since that focus was my teaching. Now if the Special Ed paperwork would go away, my world would be idyllic.)

I started signing up for PD opportunities that were offered through the Monroe County Intermediate School District (MCISD), signing up for just about anything that Jim Dornberg presented. He mentioned this 23 Things class to me and I quickly signed up. I didn’t need the carrot of 20 PD hours, but is was a very nice bonus. I just wanted to know more!

This year when the Countywide PD Program arrived in my inbox, I quickly chose to attend Leslie Fisher’s gadgets session. (I’ve always loved gadgets.) In that session she formally introduced me to Twitter and the Professional Learning Community (PLC) that thrives there. I was hooked. During that session, I met Cheryl Lykowski (on Twitter she’s @clykowski) another Monroe County educator and I began to follow her. I also stared following Jim (@jdornberg on Twitter). From there my PLC has exploded. Twitter is an amazing resource to help locate some of the best resources on the web.

So this is my new definition of professional development:

Web 2.0 PD is a personal, flexible way to invigorate both teaching and learning. The learner controls what is learned, when it’s learned, and where it’s learned.

This definition is what I have adopted as my personal philosophy for my own, ongoing PD.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________
(What follows is part of the Thing 22 assignment. This stuff didn’t really fit the the rest of the post.)

The main disadvantage is that there is so much material available that it can be difficult to locate and determine the most effective personal development plan. Carefully selecting your colleagues for your PLC is probably the best way to go about this.

As for future PD Offerings: I would love see another class like this offered through the ISD. I found it very helpful. The only thing I would change is to allow the end date to be more open ended. A few of the people taking this class dropped out because they ran out of time. Maybe this could be an continually ongoing PD opportunity.

Also I would think that offerings on each of these and other specific web 2.0 topics (Jim – like those on your Google Doc), would be another way to go. I would love an entire day devoted to face-to-face web 2.0 networking would be great.

Bringing Wesley Fryer in for the Countywide Inservice would be fantastic.

Now on to Thing 23

Task #1: Embed a video.

This video really illustrates why we need to change the way we teach.

Image via CrunchBase

Task #2: Blog Entry (The blog entry below is the assignment for my 23 Things class. I plan to blog on the content of the video after I get this course done. That Jim Dornberg is a task master)

It is great that so many video resources are online for use in classrooms. I use the short clips as writing prompts and to illustrate a

Image via Wikipedia

point.  Also online screencasts are great ways to show students how to accomplish specific tasks on the web. Fortunately my district allows You Tube access for teachers. Since I use Firefox and Realplayer I use the Realplayer plugin to easily download videos.

Having so many options is also part of the problem.  It is hard to find appropriate videos for the classroom. I find using Teacher Tube a better option. Netflix also has a watch now option for members. This would be a great way to

Image via CrunchBase

view films. Unfortunately due to bandwidth issues, this streaming site is blocked.

For Thing 20 we had to embed a gcast podcast into our blogs.  Topic of podcast is: The Top 5 Ways You Can Use Podcasting in Your Classroom. This podcast is really rough. My cell phone’s battery was dying. I apologize that this is not up to broadcast quality.


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One day I decided began exploring iTunes

Image via Wikipedia

when I discovered podcasts. Wow! I couldn’t believe all of the free content available.  There was, and still is, a wide variety of categories of audio podcasts.  So, I started listening to

NPR‘s humorous current events quiz show Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me on my computer. I was hooked.  I quickly decided that I needed an Mp3 player so that I could listen to podcasts while commuting 40 minutes twice a day. Being married to my cheap, i mean frugal, husband, I wanted to spend as little as possible so I searched and eventually settled on a 2 gig Creative Zen Stone Plus. So far it has worked better than I expected.

This fall I began started looking for more variety in my podcasts.  I started to explore and listen to a number of different educational podcast.  As I began listening to Wes Fryer’s Moving at the Speed of Creativity podcast, I began to get excited about educational technology and teaching again.  Podcasts have become my primary means of Professional Development! Since then I have sampled many different podcasts, and I have a created a page on this blog that lists and reviews podcasts,

Image via Wikipedia

I have already begun using podcasts of PRI‘s This American Life and NPR’s Driveway Moments podcasts to illustrate different genres.  I also used audiobook podcasts of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and other short stories to support my struggling learning disabled readers.  I encourage students to covert all of their written work to spoken text using SpokenText.net to help them edit and revise their written work. This has really improved the revision process.

I have created a few of my own to help my students. I used Audacity to make an audio recording of The Crucible. My students thought it was neat that I was reading The Crucible to them through the computer.  At the end of last semester I used the same technology to record audio versions of the reading selections on the end of trimester Common Assessments that we use as final exams. This really helped to these learning disabled students.

The only problems I have encountered so far have involved technology. First, Audacity is a bit complicated and I need to become more proficient in its use. The second problem involves having access to enough Mp3 players/computers  with headphones/earbuds so that students can listen to the podcasts individually.  I solved the earbuds problem when I discovered that Walmart sold Maxwell earbuds for $1.50 a pair. I bought all that the Canton and Monroe, Mi stores had.  I hope they’ve restocked!

Of all of the web2.0 tools I’ve explored in this class, developing a wiki has taken the most time.  But before I ramble about my experience, like any good English student, I will answer the three questions that Jim Dornberg posed

The main difference between a wiki and a blog is in the way the posts are listed.  Blogs list posts in reverse chronological order (the most recent post is at the top of the page.)  Wiki pages are static. This means that the order of the information presented doesn’t change unless the author deliberately moves it. While wikis and blogs are both great tools, their different organization and editing styles means that they lend themselves to different tasks.

Blogs are perfect for journaling tasks. Each author makes a dated entry on a given topic.  Professional blogs may include research and links but the thoughts of the author are the primary focus. Likewise, student blogs are focused on the student’s thoughts and how he/she expresses them.  They are also a good place to have students practice giving constructive comments/feedback on other writers’ work.  Along with journaling and commenting, I like to include “net etiquette” lessons. I do this through modeling (students see my comments) and direct instruction. Finally, blogs, as anything else driven by time, are fleeting. As more posts and comment are added, earlier posts disappear farther and farther into the background.

Wikis lend themselves to the to more permanent projects. I use my class wiki to post assignments, directions, and information that students will continue to need throughout a term.  Wikis can also be used for class projects. Rather than have a group project end with a presentation and pieces of paper which only teacher will read, student groups can post what they learned on a wiki page and others from around the world can benefit from what they learned and build from there.  With wikis there is no need for student groups to continually gather the same information about a topic. Once it is posted, the next group can find different information to add to the sum of knowledge already created.  Groups no longer need to be limited to one class. Students from a number of classes studying the same thing can collaborate on the same topic.

As with anything new, having students develop a wiki takes some practice. You have to watch closely for plagiarism to make sure all material has proper attribution and does not violate and licenses. This is especially true with images gathered from the web.  This is a good opportunity to teach about copyrights and Creative Commons licenses.  Also, you need to monitor what is being posted and edited. It helps that the students know that you can and do view the revision history for each page.  For this reason it is important that each student have an unique login so that it is clear who is posting what. Accountability is key to quality work. Individual student accounts are why I like pbwiki so much.

Now, before I selected a host for my wiki I played around with wikispaces and pbwiki. I found that I preferred  the look and ease of use of pbwiki. They offered an free upgrade just by completing some tasks for them.  Pbwiki allows a teacher to create classroom accounts for those students without email addresses. It also allows me to set individual access permissions for each page. This way I can set up a page for each student  that only that student and I can view and edit.  This comes in handy when I need to list all of the missing work for a given student.  I can upload media and other resources so that they can be easily accessed. I haven’t uploaded any podcasts yet but that is in my plans.

I see students being able to upload and share their Powerpoint presentations. I’ll also be able to find presentations that others have done so that I don’t have to recreate the wheel everytime I have a bright idea. For example see below.

Well, I finally figured out how to embed this. The trick is to copy all of the provided code. Then use the html editor, click <code> paste copied code from slideshare, click</Code> then save.

Image via Wikipedia

Let me get this out of the way, I am a Google Apps fangirl. I have gone so far as to try to get my school district to adopt Google Apps for Education. Now why would a good girl like me convert to Google worship?

It all began by listening to Wes Fryer’s Moving at the Speed of Creativity podcasts. He started describing the benefits of using Google Docs and Google Notebook. The ease of collaboration between students and teachers struck me as something I needed to get my students to do.

It’s times like this that my ADHD asserts itself and takes over the impulse control center of my brain so, I jumped right into the deep end without looking.

I grabbed a computer lab and quickly discovered that each student needed email addresses to access Google Accounts. I went ahead and registered my students for Gmail accounts soon maxing out on the number of Gmail addresses I could add from home. Fortunately, I was able to get enough addresses for both first and second trimester.

I began by having my students write their essays in MS Word and than importing the finished document into Google Docs. This proved to be too cumbersome, but they were able to correctly use MLA formatting. I quickly dumped this plan and moved right into having the students compose right in Google Docs. This works so much better. I can now watch each student write in real time, and I can make engage in synchronous editing/commenting.

When they begin a new writing assignment, I have them open an new document, name it, and then share the blank document with me immediately. I then open each student’s document in a separate browser tab. This way I can monitor their progress and offer timely advice and assistance. I am finding that this has really improved their writing and on task behavior. Blogger Tom Barrett (a teacher from Great Britian) calls this unobtrusive collaboration.

Grading became my next challenge. I didn’t want to have to print each draft of a document to comment. Once again my Twitter network came through. Someone pointed me to Tom Barrett’s Blog post about marking assignments. This gave me a few ideas. I expanded on this by creating and attaching the grading rubric to the bottom of each work. Now I can grade and comment on each I am including a link to an image of an example of a marked up essay. I am considering moving all commenting to the footer with the rubric. I think that will make it easier for the student to read.

I am still working on better implementing Google Docs, but as far as I’m concerned, I am going to require all written work to be done and turned in to me using Google Docs. A few general comments about using Google Docs below.

I will blog more about Google Notebook and other Google Apps as I integrate them into my classes.

Other Benefits of using Google Docs:

• Students can access their assignments from any computer with internet access. Previously, if they began an essay at school, it was saved on the school server and could not be accessed at home.  Now students really can complete and submit work whenever they can.
• No more lost papers. Every couple of minutes Google Docs automatically saves all work, a crash doesn’t mean having to redo work. Also, a student cannot claim to have turned something in to me and accuse me of losing it. The work is either on the server or its not. End of discussion.
• Being able to monitor their progress in real time has helped to increase on task behavior. If I don’t notice any progress, I can pull op the revision history and actually show the student how much time he has wasted.
• The revision history is great. It can provide actual time on task data for parents. This way I have  concrete data to show them about how much time their student is using or wasting.

Deficiencies noticed when using Google Docs:

• Daily access to computers is a necessity. After having being unable to find a lab for daily use, I borrowed 10 laptops for the last month of the first trimester.  Laptops greatly improved implementation. Tech Support reclaimed the laptops after Thanksgiving, but the school opened up a couple of other labs so I have access to a lab just about everyday.
• Formatting essays is biggest deficiency that I have found in Google Docs, but it can be over come by exporting the finished document into MS Word/Open Office and doing the final formatting in MS Word/Open Office before printing.  I only print a completed final copy this way when it is a major paper or if it is need for their portfolio. (Update: I have since figured out how to have the students permanently set double spacing and font size. This has solved  some of the formatting issues
• The undo keystroke – ctrl-Z – doesn’t work well. Because Google Docs saves continuously, “undo” only works if a mistake is noticed immediately.