Ed Tech Buzz at Hilton Elementary Schools: Announcing a New Online Course

Ed Tech Buzz at Hilton Elementary Schools: Announcing a New Online Course

I'm really excited to finally have at least part of an online course developed in Moodle!!

Please use the link above to go to my post about it on my Tech Study Group blog. If you, or anyone in your districts would like to take this online pilot course, please contact me. I'm looking for volunteers to enroll, take the course, and provide feedback.

Collaborative Learning, the Wiki Way

So, how can a wiki be useful in a classroom, you might be asking yourself. If you think of a wiki as a collaborative website where many people can add information and edit the information that is already there, then it does have value in an educational setting. Out of need to find online research sites which are "kid-friendly" for young students, Denise Duffy at the Village Elementary School in Hilton, NY, began a school-wide wiki, The Village Elementary Wiki. A 3rd Grader class added the first content as they researched the Arctic region. This has led to some wonderful learning! The class who began the wiki has spent extra class time going back to the wiki over and over again to reread, edit, revise, and improve upon the content they first entered. Try getting young students to do this on paper! Trust me, it doesn't happen! Secondly, another class has begun their research and is using the wiki as their starting place. It gives them information in "3rd grade-friendly" text (because it was written by their peers, with references cited) and it is getting them excited about their research. They are identifying what is "missing" or what they would like to know more about, and that is guiding the research they are doing. They are looking forward to being able to add the the wiki! Their teachers and I are getting "goose-bumps" as we are observing this! We are looking forward to watching this wiki grow as more and more classes begin to add content on a variety of subjects. And PB Wiki is a wonderful tool to use. Not only does it provide some free space for hosting the wiki, but it has very WYSIWYG text editing, which makes it very easy for young students to use and really take ownership of. If you would like more information on PB Wiki, you can visit their website or contact Lori Burch.

Lori's Geek of the Week Entry

I know I'm a bit on the geeky side, but I found this article from ABC News really interesting in so many ways. Below is an excerpt. Click on the title to go to ABC News online and read the entire article.

So Much Data, Relatively Little Space

By BRIAN BERGSTEIN AP Technology WriterBOSTON Mar 5, 2007 (AP)

A new study that estimates how much digital information the world is generating (hint: a lot) finds that for the first time, there's not enough storage space to hold it all. Good thing we delete some stuff. . .

. . . Add it all up and IDC determined that the world generated 161 billion gigabytes (161 exabytes) of digital information last year.
Oh, the equivalents! That's like 12 stacks of books that each reach from the Earth to the sun. Or you might think of it as 3 million times the information in all the books ever written, according to IDC. You'd need more than 2 billion of the most capacious iPods on the market to get 161 exabytes.

So, what do you think? How does this effect us in education? What are the implications for us as a society? Post your thoughts.

Ed Tech Buzz at Hilton Elementary Schools: Embracing Web 2.0 in an Education 1.0 Universe

Ed Tech Buzz at Hilton Elementary Schools: Embracing Web 2.0 in an Education 1.0 Universe

This is a post I recently added to the blog I use in my district for my technology study groups. I thought it would be of interest to all of you as well.

Ed Tech Buzz at Hilton Elementary Schools: More on Web 2.0 Tools

Ed Tech Buzz at Hilton Elementary Schools: More on Web 2.0 Tools

Here's a follow-up to the post above. There are links to many Web 2.0 resources as well as a link to our podcast on the subject and to a Seedlings @ Bit by Bit podcast also on the subject.

Classroom Blogging

Oh, my. It's been a really long time since any of us has posted here! We've all been busy posting podcasts on our ITS Tech Time site and also posting to a variety of wikis and other places and I'm afraid "Digital Illuminations" has been neglected.

Anyway, I'm back with this post.

I've just listened to an excellent podcast on the topic of classroom blogging. It's a recording of a presentation done by Bob Sprankle at the ACTEM (Association of Computer Technology Educators of Maine) Annual Conference held last fall. He has wonderful examples of how and why to use blogging with students. He also has links to a myriad of classroom blogging resources. You will find the links below.

He mentions an issue with using Blogger with students which is that of the blue bar at the top that links to other, random blogs. If you would like to begin blogging with your students, but this is a concern you have with using Blogger in the classroom, please email me and I can fill you in on some options for addressing that.

Bit by Bit Episode 32 - Classroom Blogging Podcast
Workshop Links from this Podcast
Blog Tool Options Wiki by Wesley Fryer