Tool #10 - Underneath it All - Digital Citizenship

Technology is so prevalent and so commonplace today that most students take it for granted as a part of their daily lives. Still, it is important for students to understand proper online etiquette and safety precautions both at home and at school. Three of the most important things students should understand about being good digital citizens are:

1. Make wise decisions to stay safe, like not sharing personal information and visiting only appropriate sites. Also if a site makes you feel uncomfortable or if you feel a site is inappropriate in any way, stay away from it.
2. Always post only appropriate comments and respect others on the Internet. Cyber-bullying is real and hurtful; there are consequences for cyber-bullies, and victims should report it.
3. Remember that once you post something, it's permanent. Be wise and cautious about your posts and comments, because you may think you've deleted something, but it's still out there floating around in Cyberspace.

One of the best resources I found on the SBISD Ed Tech site was a link to a site called Digital Citizenship. This site has some useful "contracts" for both students and parents that outline precautions, guidelines, and expectations for student use of technology in the classroom.  These would be useful as part my syllabus packet that I send home with students at the beginning of each semester.  With students, I would "teach" the idea of digital citizenship by using the Child Pledge for Digital Citizenship I found on the Digital Citizenship site, and to share this idea with parents I would use the Parent Pledge for Digital Citizenship found on the same site. Having both parents and students sign "contracts" would emphasize the importance of digital citizenship, and later on the contracts could be used as reminders should some students stray from the contracts' explicit expectations.

Tool #5: Producing with Web 2.0 Tools

Now, we're talking. This is the kind of techy thing I LOVE! You can probably tell I had a difficult time stopping!  So much fun! This kind of thing is right up my alley. I tried a bunch of them (and spent way too much time playing ), and some of my favorites were Comic Strip Generator, Dumpr, and Wordle. Text to Picture also offers endless possibilities as does Big Huge Labs, which I love.  I'm thinking of using some of these graphic image sites to do a theatre project on publicity posters, etc. I've used Wordl for posters in my classroom, and I've even made rather evil word banks for students to use on vocabulary tests. WordSift is more left-brainish, so not as appealing to me, however I can see students making use of the suggested links.

"Because I said so!"

Glogster is a fun site, and students love photo manipulation, so this is a very useful alternative to traditional posters. Yes, students need to be a bit more organized to turn in their posters online, but most students are capable of using this technology. Some students may still prefer to use printed projects from Glogster on traditional poster board to create a kind of collage effect which can be very cool. 


Animoto is cool, but it reminds me of Windows Movie Maker but with fewer options. Windows Movie Maker allows you to create videos of any length with more ways to manipulate pictures and music. Animoto could be a nice alternative to Power Points for student presentations. Another cool presentation tool for students is Prezi.  I've seen my own kids use this for school projects, and it's a perfect fit for Social Studies and English classes, maybe even for Science presentations.  Check out my Animoto movie at the bottom of this post. I could spend all day doing this kind of thing.

"Rocky Mountain High"

Thing #23: Summarize Your Thoughts about This Program

Technology is like a box of chocolates - so many tidbits to discover and enjoy.

Like the delicious all-chocolate piece, I was already familiar with some of the tidbits in 23 Things, but I believe I came away from each Thing with a new tasty tool, skill, or insight into technology and how to apply it to my classroom. Here's a few of my observations:

• My "Favorite Things" include the ones covering Google tools, especially Google Reader, image/text generators, and finding, embedding, and using video. Google Reader enables me to stay current in topics that interest me like never before, and the image/text generators and video applications offer many possibilities to add a touch of creativity to documents or assignments that might otherwise be somewhat bland.


• Overall the program encouraged me to delve deeper into the opportunities technology offers and provided me with interesting new tools to use both in teaching and privately.


• I can't believe it, but I LOVE blogging! Admittedly, I was skeptical when first instructed to start a blog, but before long the blog bug bit, and I was hooked. I actually look forward now to creating new posts, reading comments on my posts (sadly very few, but still nice), and following other players' blogs and even professional blogs, especially the political ones. The infinite opportunities for blogging in education excite me, but are also somewhat frustrating because so seemingly few of us are interested in and willing to utilize this tool to reach and collaborate with colleagues, students, and event parents. Unfortunately the wheels of change tend to roll at a snail's pace in our field.


• With my newly discovered fondness for blogging, I eagerly sought friends and colleagues also playing 23 Things, but I found it a little difficult to find blogs to follow by authors I actually know. Following the blogs of educators from other districts was helpful and informative, and it was helpful to see SBISD bloggers identified, but it would be even better if bloggers were identified not only by blog title but also by name. Making this information available might encourage those teachers working together to share ideas specific to their school and learning environment.
  
• Would I play again with L2P? You bet! When does the next game begin? My only hesitation would be playing during the school year for fear that I would spend more time playing than teaching. Summertime, however, is a perfect time to play.


• Describe 23 Things in one word? Enlightening
• More detail? 23 Things broadened my technological horizons while providing a worthwhile and fun summer staff development experience.

Thanks, team captains, for developing and organizing the game and giving me the opportunity to play!

Thing #22: Nings

What a good idea! Nings could be used in a variety of ways in education, and since kids love Facebook and MySpace, they should really buy into using a Ning sponsored by a teacher, coach, club sponsor, etc.

At first I thought that the most successful application of class Nings would be in college, or maybe in upper level high school classes. But then I thought about how many of my own students have requested to "friend" me on Facebook, something that is strictly forbidden in my personal Facebook rules. So I decided to try out using a Ning this coming year. I'm not sure exactly how I'll use it yet, or if my students will even be interested (since so few of them ever visit my school web page), but I've set up a Ning account and will work on the page over the next few days. Who knows, it might never be visited, or I might decide it's folly and delete it before it ever gets started. Guess we'll see....

Thing #21: Podcasts and Videocasts

I enjoyed this Thing, especially learning to use Photo Story. It's like an advanced PowerPoint. It's also very similar to software I've been using to create DVD's of our family vacation photos. I like that you can tell a story without narration too. Sometimes images paired with music creates a more powerful message than the spoken word. My students would enjoy using this on a variety of projects, but I think I'd like to see them create a story that documents the process used in creating a final product. Here's my Videocast. It was fun!