I Meant What I Said and I Said What I Meant

I spent a LONG time looking through Classroom 2.0 and only feel like I scratched the surface. Classroom 2.0 has a bunch of interesting forum posts that I’d love to read into more in depth. There are some interesting groups that would be helpful in my area of study, and many have a great deal of links to Web 2.0 resources that I could use in the classroom. I’m going to spend more time looking at these after I finish this (relatively) quick post so I can go back!

As for social networking, I’ve tried Twitter in the past and often just get bogged down and stop updating early on in the game. I never made it a good habit. On the other hand, I’m quite a fan of Facebook and have set up a Facebook page and groups for each of my three different courses. I plan on using the group pages to remind the students about upcoming due dates, lab days, etc. The group pages can also be used to post interesting science articles easily and have discussions among the students.

Off to discover some more in Classroom 2.0! More posts later describing what I find!

I enjoy youtube. I think its a great source of information and can be used in many different ways. I particularly like finding experiments and demonstrations that I can either show in class, or demonstrate myself in class. This is a video I found by searching a general term and then looking to see what else this person had posted. So much fun!

I’ve watched a number of videos from this professor in England. Its a great series with wonderful information.

I had a hard time trying to find a How To video- not because there aren’t a number out there, but because I couldn’t decide on what to learn how to do. I finally decided after having a quick nap with my dog that I would look up How To Teach Your Dog Tricks. I found this great video that led me to spend over an hour watching a series of videos by the poster. It was great! Here’s the one that caught my initial interest.

I watched this video when a number of my friends had it posted on facebook. Its beautiful.

I’ve subscribed to a number of podcasts over the past few years. I typically use iTunes to listen to podcasts, but I like the idea of putting them into my Google Reader.

I’ve downloaded a lot of the Vodcasts from the MIT: Open Courseware. I like being able to pick and choose which episodes I want to download and watch. I also like the fact that I can skip episodes that have already downloaded and the fact that they can be put on my iPod for future use. Overall, podcasting has been a great tool for me to be able to refresh information that I plan on teaching in my AP course.

I love the Educational Podcasting Network and I have subscribed to a number of those podcasts under the science heading so far.

My biggest issue with podcasts is finding the time to listen to them, but having them on my iPod as I’m walking to and from campus should help to limit the number of unwatched/unlistened to podcasts. Just as I developed a good Google Reader habit, I must also develop a good Podcast habit. Here goes!!!!

LibraryThing is going to be quite dangerous. I personally tend to have a difficult time finding good recommendations from friends and family but LibraryThing is going to be so helpful!

Many books that deal with the sciences are often boring, tedious, and dry. Sites like LibraryThing will help to get input into whether the book can stimulate both learning and enjoyment. I’ve recently purchased the book Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World by Simon Garfield because it was recommended to me. If I enjoy it, I’m sure I’ll be using LibraryThing to find more books of similar content.

I’m thinking of offering an assignment to read a book such as Mauve to my AP Chemistry students after the test is over and requiring them to do a modified book report. LibraryThing will be a great source in that respect.

As a female and a scientist, I’ve always wondered the impact that cosmetics have. This is a great video that answers many questions… Great find from my Google Reader!

I was interested in Quizlet and Timetoast.

I think quizlet was a great site with an already handy little quiz testing element names and symbols. I’ll certainly be using this in my class- perhaps even as a competition to see who in the class can get the highest scores or compare classes against one another. Either way, I’m really excited about it.

Timetoast allows you to make time lines- I think I’m going to require timelines for an online project in which students will be required to go through the history of important chemists and their findings.

Both tools are fun and will be useful in my courses.

I attended Gardner Campbell’s talk regarding assessment of these 21st century tools in a classroom setting.

The main questions he sought answers for were:
What indicates that deep learning is taking place?
How can we craft thoughtful qualitative and quantitative assessments without breaking the bank?
Can students be involved in crafting their own assessments of learning?

Mr. Campbell first began the talk by discussing some of the history of the assessment of learning. Originally it was done in a setting in which oral examinations were given in a public setting and everyone was allowed and encouraged to ask questions of the examinee. This is similar to what is done for graduate school defenses, and is still practiced in Italy. Due to space and time constraints, this is no longer a viable testing situation and written alternatives were adopted. These examinations are no longer the social events they once were.

As the way that we teach changes, so does the way we assess learning. In the wake of standardized testing, can we properly assess learning versus a deeper understanding? What are we, as teachers, working to produce- rote test takers or students that are capable of more critical thinking? I’d argue to say that in many cases, we’re producing the latter and hoping that we can interest them into looking deeper. With the advent of Web 2.0, can we move more toward the deeper understanding side of the continuum? I’m hesitant but hopeful that the answer to this is yes. Because of the “Read and Write Web” we can move back into the space where the public can comment and question what is “correct” and can challenge the students to look deeper into the work they are producing. It will no longer suffice just to know something, but will instead focus on the why and how behind that something.

Mr. Campbell also talks about how Web 2.0 can allow for greater creativity and cross-domain learning. Allowing students to broaden their horizon and turn a subject they may not be particularly fond of and modify it slightly into something that interests them will allow for students to be more willing to learn. I’m interested in applying this sort of idea to my general chemistry class this upcoming year. I’d love for the students to each be assigned an element from the periodic table and use their creativity to write a fictional story, produce a piece of artwork, write an essay, or do an experiment that can be documented using an online blog.

With all of this new technology, the main question that is broached is how do we prove this learning is taking place? Campbell suggests that we use the students and allow them to assess the conditions of learning. I think this is a very good, yet challenging, idea. I’m sure after a few attempts, a good grading scale will come about, but more often than not, my students are scared to “grade” each other because they’ve never had the opportunity to assess one another. I’m hopeful to see how this all turns out!

Fourth of July Fun! on PhotoPeach

Special Thanks to Flickr users:

Photobunny  http://www.flickr.com/photos/photobunny_earl/1309409634/

Horrgakx http://www.flickr.com/photos/horrgakx/3580638743/

Jimnix  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimnix/3694478826/

Williamcho  http://www.flickr.com/photos/adforce1/3755480415/

Express Monorail  http://www.flickr.com/photos/expressmonorail/4338308590/

I chose Fireworks for my topic for my photo slideshow. I love the 4th of July and I really enjoy fireworks and these were some beautiful pictures. You can also watch my video on my wiki page.

I’m all out of order!  I was away for a week and I come back and I’m all out of sorts.  Thing 10… Creative Commons- I hadn’t ever heard of Creative Commons but I think I’m a fan!  Its awesome that there is a place for material to be shared but with limitations allowed by the author.  Kudos to everyone that shares!

I think it is very important to talk to our students about what is meant by Fair Use.  Because we are becoming a more technological society, who is responsible for introducing these concepts to students?  What grade level?  What class should the students learn these things?

I am going to start using CC for worksheets that I make for my classes.  It’ll be a good place to look for notes and other resources and to share my work as well.  All in all, I’m very excited to have learned about CC and will be using it more and more and more!

I’ve used flickr for a long time to share my photos, and was looking forward to this Thing since I saw it listed.  I hadn’t ever realized the Creative Commons search and I’m excited to be able to continue to use these tools in my classroom.

I’ve been on vacation celebrating my best friends wedding this past week and was so tired yesterday that I didn’t even see any fireworks because I was already sleeping.  So I chose to search firework pictures.  I’ve always had a hard time taking pictures of fireworks but these pictures are amazing.  It was interesting to see some of the photoshop work that people have done superimposing different firework displays on top of one another and because I don’t have those skills, I’m very impressed.  

This picture wasn’t taken last night, but because I love Disney and this picture is beautiful.  I love all the colors of the spindles from the pretty center.

I think that Flickr could be really useful if I were to introduce the students into the 3D nature of atoms and molecules.  I could have them search the photos for pictures of everyday things that would have similar 3-dimensionality as the molecule of interest.  A lot of the problem when teaching chemistry, in contrast to other sciences, is the interaction between the Microscopic and Macroscopic world.  Given more thought, Flickr could help bridge those gaps more easily.

Photo from Flickr user Express Monorail