We are well into ITS blogs 2010. As I start to read through all the blogs, I'm finding a variety of topics discussed in addition to the required class topics. This is terrific because it makes the reader excited to see what is coming next. Many of you take your thoughts and connect them back to ITS Web 2.0, tell stories that relate back to your practice and grad school, or simply find something related to education that is interesting to you.
I was cleaning out my email Inbox today and came across an email I received from Edublogs back in December, inviting me to vote for the best Blog of 2009. Since I had obviously missed my chance to vote, I went to the site and found the winners. Do you have a favorite among these?
Also, I was wondering what ITSer Blog post most interested you this week and why?
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Blogs in the News
Michelle Simmons Robinson, Commerce ITSer, found a terrific and timely blog discussion on blogs. Be sure to check it out from her blog site!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Don't Like What You See?
Some ITSers have commented that they are not able to see their post upfront on their blog or that their comments are not viewed in the same way as in other blogs. Dave G. from Loudoun discovered that this is a layout issue and suggests that you revisit the templates and look at them closely in terms of how each presents the main blog posts and how comments are handled.
A feature that has been used in some of the blogs is one that allows the Blogger to approve comments before they are published. For those of you using this feature, what do you think about your choice to enable this feature?
A feature that has been used in some of the blogs is one that allows the Blogger to approve comments before they are published. For those of you using this feature, what do you think about your choice to enable this feature?
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
First Week of Blog activity
Our 0709ITS blog adventure is well underway! I'm pleased to announce that everyone has initiated a blog and most are actively posting and commenting. One sentiment that has been shared among many when describing past blog reading experiences is that blogs can be very boring to read. Others have commented on the use of blogs as boring online journals. What is missing from these blogs? To me it is clear that a major consideration for blog writing is The Audience.
So one instructional benefit for using blogs is that blogs promote skills associated with writing for an audience. Be sure to check out all the pedagogical implications in Richardson's blog chapters. There are plenty more.
As you write your own blogs, be conscious of those techniques you've learned and hope to share with your students about how to write for an audience. Are you captivating your audiences? Check to see the quantity and quality of the comments you are receiving :)
So one instructional benefit for using blogs is that blogs promote skills associated with writing for an audience. Be sure to check out all the pedagogical implications in Richardson's blog chapters. There are plenty more.
As you write your own blogs, be conscious of those techniques you've learned and hope to share with your students about how to write for an audience. Are you captivating your audiences? Check to see the quantity and quality of the comments you are receiving :)
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Where has the time gone?
It has been two years since I've updated this blog! My initial intention was to journal my way through my quest to understand Web 2.0 tools. It's not like I haven't been learning about them. I read about them, used them, helped design a course about them, taught the course, and then studied the experience. The result? A fantastic article co-written with Priscilla and published in Computers in the Schools.
After experimenting with Wikis, Blogs, and Podcasts, I am now investigating Facebook and social networking. I recently came across an article that outlined the trends in Higher Education. One of those trends indicated an increase in student use of Facebook for classroom collaborations, creating a situation where the traditional Blackboard discussion boards are used less and less by students for discussing course issues.
When I created my Facebook account, I was given the option to connect to my school Blackboard site for the purpose of receiving course announcements in my Facebook account. Since I was creating the announcements in my Blackboard courses, I didn't see the value of it. But what about for students? How much time and energy do our graduate students spend on Facebook?
I could just ask them, but I think I'm going to 'friend' as many as I can. So far what I've learned is that I know a lot about my students that I never would have known before. I'm still exploring the notion that this information actually helps build my relationships with the students and has educational value.
In the 2nd Edition of Will Richardson's book, Blogs, Wikis, and Podcast, the is an addition to the chapter on Social networking that focuses on Twitter. I will add that tool on my list to learn about and better understand in terms of educational value.
After experimenting with Wikis, Blogs, and Podcasts, I am now investigating Facebook and social networking. I recently came across an article that outlined the trends in Higher Education. One of those trends indicated an increase in student use of Facebook for classroom collaborations, creating a situation where the traditional Blackboard discussion boards are used less and less by students for discussing course issues.
When I created my Facebook account, I was given the option to connect to my school Blackboard site for the purpose of receiving course announcements in my Facebook account. Since I was creating the announcements in my Blackboard courses, I didn't see the value of it. But what about for students? How much time and energy do our graduate students spend on Facebook?
I could just ask them, but I think I'm going to 'friend' as many as I can. So far what I've learned is that I know a lot about my students that I never would have known before. I'm still exploring the notion that this information actually helps build my relationships with the students and has educational value.
In the 2nd Edition of Will Richardson's book, Blogs, Wikis, and Podcast, the is an addition to the chapter on Social networking that focuses on Twitter. I will add that tool on my list to learn about and better understand in terms of educational value.
Friday, January 5, 2007
Emerging Technologies for Teaching and Learning
Wow! I can't believe how easy it was to setup my own blog! This is my second attempt at setting up a blog. I was not able to activate my blog on another site I chose and I did not have time to figure it out. There were other free sites to explore. It was easy to get an account and begin my blog on this site, recommended by one much wiser than me :)
My intention for this blog is to reflect on my learning about the emerging technologies we are incorporating into the ITS program. I am trying to think of the last time I learned a new tool technology tool....maybe 2002? This reflection process, I hope, will help me to better understand the use of this tool in education. I don't ever think I've had to learn a tool outside of the safe walls of a structured IT course, where the implications for teaching and learning were taught to me by those who had first hand experience in using the tools with students. It is really an exciting feeling and reminds me that I am becoming more of a producer of knowledge rather than a consumer of knowledge.
As I write this I feel so exposed. I am not quite sure that I am comfortable sharing my thinking this way. Yes, I have written portfolio reflections but somehow this has a different feel to it. Maybe its more of a jotting down of my thoughts rather than a structured What did I learn? So why is this important? and Now what am I going to do? I am not a journal writer but I believe there are many benefits to this process and it is not too late to become a journal writer, right?
I do believe though that by learning these new tools, I am stepping back into the shoes of my own students and feeling the same types anxieties, frustrations, and thrills that comes with learning something new. Recently I have felt that I've lost that connection with my students as one does when they teach the same topics each year. I have forgotten for the most part the frustrations of web publishing and the exhilarations of viewing my pages on the Internet. This experience is one way to develop my sense of empathy and an important part of my whole new mind.
My intention for this blog is to reflect on my learning about the emerging technologies we are incorporating into the ITS program. I am trying to think of the last time I learned a new tool technology tool....maybe 2002? This reflection process, I hope, will help me to better understand the use of this tool in education. I don't ever think I've had to learn a tool outside of the safe walls of a structured IT course, where the implications for teaching and learning were taught to me by those who had first hand experience in using the tools with students. It is really an exciting feeling and reminds me that I am becoming more of a producer of knowledge rather than a consumer of knowledge.
As I write this I feel so exposed. I am not quite sure that I am comfortable sharing my thinking this way. Yes, I have written portfolio reflections but somehow this has a different feel to it. Maybe its more of a jotting down of my thoughts rather than a structured What did I learn? So why is this important? and Now what am I going to do? I am not a journal writer but I believe there are many benefits to this process and it is not too late to become a journal writer, right?
I do believe though that by learning these new tools, I am stepping back into the shoes of my own students and feeling the same types anxieties, frustrations, and thrills that comes with learning something new. Recently I have felt that I've lost that connection with my students as one does when they teach the same topics each year. I have forgotten for the most part the frustrations of web publishing and the exhilarations of viewing my pages on the Internet. This experience is one way to develop my sense of empathy and an important part of my whole new mind.
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