Kidblog.org

This is one of my favourite explorations in this inquiry.  I had been wanting to get my students blogging for quite some time but just hadn't dedicated the time to set it up or plan for its use.  I have also enjoyed demonstrating my own learning via a blog so I liked the idea of beginning the process of going paperless with my senior students in English 12.  In Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms, Will Richardson (2010) says the best way to understand the potential for blogs as a teaching and learning tool is to become a blogger.  I began blogging for my course work in the fall of 2010 and then added a blog for my classes shortly after.  I had tried a personal blog but I have never been much of a diary/journal writer, so this quickly was forgotten.  The course blogs and blog for my classes however, were a huge epiphany for me.  I could not believe how they changed my learning and teaching.

In the blog for my classes I was able to keep students updated on what was happening in the class, provide PDFs of assignments and handouts, and also communicate with parents and others who may be interested in what is going on in my classes.  The biggest thing I realized was how much time my blog actually saved me.  It literally takes me 5 minutes each day to update the blog, but I no longer have to send homework to the office for absent students, photocopy missing worksheets, send emails to parents about what we are doing in class, or spend time in class filling absent students in on our class learning.  This information is all available on the blog!  I knew I wanted to have my students use this tool, and this inquiry made it possible to stop procrastinating.

I chose Kidblog.org, as I said in my inquiry proposal, because a friend was using it with much success.  As I have stated in my updates, I was confused as to why this site says it is perfect for elementary and middle school students.  I believe now that the reason for this is because the site creators do not think there is as much need for student safety concerns with teenagers, as there may be with younger students.

The best thing about this tool is how easy it was to set up.  I don't think it even took me a half hour to set up all my students in 2 classes.  Kidblog.org was created by someone with computer programming and classroom teaching experience, and it does seem that they understand the needs of classroom teachers. (Kidblog.org, 2011)  I was further pleased when I found that Kidblog.org was ranked as one of the top 25 sites of 2010 by Technology & Learning magazine. (Kapular, 2011)  For these reasons, I did not seriously explore another option for my student blogging.  I do use Blogger, obviously for this blog, and I use WordPress for my class blog so I feel I already know the ins and outs of those platforms.  I like that Kidblog.org works in a very similar fashion but that I was able to set up all the blogs for my students so they were ready to go without having to do any set up.

The home page for Kidblog.org is not cluttered or intimidating.

Once I signed up, it was easy to create my classes.  I appreciated that I did not have to provide an overwhelming amount of personal information, nor did I have to provide any information about my students other than a user name and password.  I chose to use my students' real names and assigned them passwords myself, which seems to have worked well.  My husband did this with his grade 6 class and chose to only use his students' first names, which seems to be common in elementary school blogging.

For "Role" the options include: student, administrator, teacher, moderator, guest.  This means that I can include people who can only observe the blog posts but not post themselves.  This would be great to include parents or a guest, like an author or colleague.

Once my classes were set up I had a separate "Home Page" for each class.  I was worried this would be inconvenient but I can easily navigate between the two classes via a drop down menu at the top of the page.

From this "Dashboard" I can easily see recent posts, recent comments, and navigate to settings or the actual class blogs.

My "Home Page" for each class contains a list of all the student blogs and their recent posts.  Each student or visitor to the site can also see this home page if they were to go to www.kidblog.org/English12C.  The difference between what my students and I see, and what a visitor sees occurs when they try to go to one of the blogs or read a post.

The titles of the posts are visible, but their content is not.  I chose to use this protected setting for my first trial of Kidblog.org but I can easily make the class blogs public by adjusting the settings on my dashboard.  I can also choose whether the classes can see each others' posts or if they can only see the posts of students in their actual class.  For this inquiry I kept the settings pretty tight but the students really wanted to read the posts from the opposite block so I may adjust this as we begin our discussions of The Crucible.  When blogging first became popular many schools feared for the safety of their students, as discussed by Barack (2005) in Schools Lower the Boom on Blogs.  Barack (2005) points out that student don't necessarily understand that data posted online can remain there, and could come back to "haunt" a student when applying for jobs. (Barack, 2005) Because I did not have to provide any information about the students and I could keep the class blogs private, I did not have to follow many of the safety tips suggested in Choosing Web 2.0 tools for Learning and Teaching... (Berger & Trexler, 2010, p. 175) However, if I move forward with using class blogs more intensely next year, I will provide information to parents via my course outline, and give them the option of being able to see what their child posts.  I have an incredibly responsible group of grade 12 students this year and was not concerned about inappropriate comments on their classmates' blogs.  There were a few of them who tried to be funny after our first posts, but when they realized they could not be anonymous they stayed focused on the discussion topics.

I was very impressed at how quickly the students adapted to blogging.  They seemed to really like the medium and I love that they were not afraid to experiment with the tools.  Many of them changed the colours of their fonts and few even added links and images.  Seeing the empty "Tag" boxes reminds me that I need to introduce the concept of tags and then include that in their future posts.

My blog looks the same as the students'.  I decided to also use this blog as a place to showcase some student work from a visual assignment so that those students could still have their work "posted on the wall."  It was exciting to see a couple of students use Prezi for their Visual Found Poems.

For the final writing assignment of our Kite Runner unit, I considered having them do their writing on their blogs.  I decided against this as I did not want them to be able to see each other's work.  The more casual reflective writing does not attract much attention to weaker students, but my fear was that with more formal writing expectations, the differences between the students would be magnified.  I cannot make certain blog posts visible to just me, and others visible to everyone.  Richtel (2012), in Term Paper Blogging, has me reconsidering this formal write I did at the end of the unit.  If, as I hope to do next year, student blogging becomes our form of writing, sharing, commenting and discussing, perhaps I won't need the formal "term paper" style write I usually do.  My only fear is that most post-secondary programs still require students to write formal papers and I want my students to be prepared.  I have found that in the blogging I do for my Diploma in Ed. program, I still retain the formal style and citation, but feel more comfortable to add an anecdote or emoticon, that I may not add in a formal essay. :D

One final element I want to add is a link back to this post and article.  I like the positive tone and I feel I have accomplished these 6 things with my class blogging.

After having explored Kidblog.org, I cannot see changing to another web 2.0 tool for class blogs.  If I were to use Blogger or WordPress it would not be as simple to set up the class or to monitor the posts.  I also would not have the security features that Kidblog offers.  I like that I can have my class set up for September so that the students can get to work right away.  This has been a positive inquiry experience.

References:

Barack, L. (2005). Schools Lower the Boom on Blogs. School Library Journal, 51(12), 24.

Berger, P. & Trexler, S. (2010). Choosing Web 2.0 tools for learning and teaching in a Digital World.
       Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited

Kapular, D. (2011). TOP 25 SITES OF 2010. Technology & Learning, 31(6), 16.

Kidblog.org (2011) About Kidblog. Retrieved from http://kidblog.org/about.php

Richtel, M. (2012, January 22). Term Paper Blogging. New York Times. p. 28.

On the topic of connections...

In the interest of finding research and articles to better understand my topics of inquiry, I found a short article by Jennifer Frahm (2010) where she discusses businesses creating a "hyper-connected" marketplace through the accelerated speed of the Web 2.0 world. (Frahm, 2010)  I definitely experienced this on my recent vacation.  Not only am I now often asked for my email when making a purchase or eating at a restaurant, I am encouraged to "Like us on Facebook" to receive discount coupons, or "Follow us on Twitter" to keep up to date with the daily specials.  Frahm (2010) discusses how this also moves into a "cultural shift" within organizations and businesses where "more companies are discovering that an über-connected workplace is not just about implementing a new set of tools - it is also about embracing a cultural shift to create an open environment, where employees are encouraged to share, innovate and collaborate virtually." (Frahm, 2010, p. 48)  As consumers, we become part of this open environment and as a result, are also part of the collaboration and innovation.  We are asked opinions about products, suggest new colours or menu items, and are the easily accessible "focus group" for any connected company.

Upon our return from vacation, I had to unsubscribe or delete emails from many companies that I did not want to receive communication from, despite my willingness to provide my email - although I sometimes just say, "you already have my information" to save the stare of "why don't you want to give me your email, what's the big deal?"  Frahm (2010) says that as a "communication revolutionary" I recognize that my communities and networks are increasing in power, and she is right, I do realize this.  Even with the recent teacher strike in British Columbia, I could see how Twitter and Facebook were powerful i spreading messages and sharing powerful stories and links.  I also saw how frustrating it was to read tweets or posts from people who appeared to be ignorant, mean, and hateful.  Frahm (2010) warns against diving into this type of über-connected marketplace without understanding the culture or the social communication tools.  This was definitely my experience in evaluating my connectedness over spring break.

Frahm, J. (2010). At a crossroads. Communication World, 27(5), 48.

Disconnecting from the Web 2.0 world - Is it possible?

I am just returning from a 2 week spring break vacation.  I feel very fortunate to have had this time to relax and be with my family.  We love to travel and this year decided to go to San Diego, California for 10 days.  Not unlike most of the other families who were traveling on similar spring break adventures, we brought along our "gadgets."  My 11-year old had her iPod and I had my iPad and laptop.  I really wanted to "disconnect" on this holiday as I was beginning to feel that I am constantly plugged into some device and I also wanted to distance myself from the labour strife that has been plaguing BC teachers since September.  I brought the iPad, I told myself, to keep my 3-year old occupied on flights and in the hotel room in the evenings.  I brought my laptop, I told myself, because I had to finish an assignment for my LIBE 465 class and it was due during my vacation.  The good thing is, I finished the assignment and then did manage to disconnect from much of my web world.  The bad thing is, I am now paying the price.

I did not put my devices away and not use them at all, quite the contrary.  I was still checking Facebook as I had friends in the Dominican and Hawaii and I was curious about their adventures.  I checked Twitter for updates on Bill 22 legislation, and I checked my email to prevent a backlog of emails I knew I would have if I didn't check daily.  But I mostly used my devices for pleasure.  I read 2 books on the iPad, an experience I am actually really enjoying despite thinking I would never give up reading "real" books.  I am also enjoying doing crosswords, playing Angry Birds and reading audible books with my daughter, and playing a "little" (wink, wink) solitaire every now and then.

While on vacation I tried to remember what we did "before" - before we could be connected 24/7?  We used to go on holidays and get the post office to hold our mail.  We missed calls or if we had an answering machine, the messages were recorded for our return.  We used to leave names of hotels, flights and destinations with friends and family "in case of an emergency." We used to just wait until we got home to hear about what other people were doing.  Before we were connected 24/7, I would not have gone on vacation if I was taking a course because I would have been in a classroom and could not have handed my assignment in electronically.  (Although I will say I had a bit of panic when it took 10 minutes to upload my assignment to Vista, so I then spent the next hour uploading my 40 page PowerPoint to my course blog and my library web site "just in case.")

I realized how much I enjoy being "connected" while on vacation.  We would scout locations online for our next day's outings.  We planned meals by searching for Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives locations - yep, we ate at 2!  And we "chatted" with family and friends to share our stories.  The difference between this vacation "connectivity" and the regular connectedness I have during my work life, is that this was more for fun.  I wasn't researching a tool or searching for an article to support my "findings."  I was using my web 2.0 tools in a different way.  The irony is of course, that I am still using these experiences to support my learning in this class and in my library.  I am never so far removed from my work life that I don't think about it at all.  Everywhere I go I think about how I can apply "this" to school, to teaching, to my library.  One of the first things I did this first period in English 12 was share my holiday stories with my students.  Even though my connectedness was different, it was, and now I know, always will be, relevant to my work and home life.  I am realizing that the web and the tools it has to offer, are part of me now, they aren't just something I am trying or experimenting with. 

I think another thing I am realizing is how much I need an iPhone.... I know, my husband is laughing now too.  It really was just a want before but now I realize I need one if I want to maintain and move forward in my use of technology and web 2.0 tools.  The one element I am missing is the portability of my devices.  My iPad and laptop are only useful when I have Wifi and the iPad is still a bit cumbersome when hauling "kid gear" on a vacation - I don't need to be worrying about the iPad too.  I would like to be able to record ideas, snap a photo to remember a sign or information, make a list of things to remember, or even look up information about something unexpected on the trip.  I would also have ideas for this blog or my other course that I wish I could have make note of quickly rather than waiting to get back to the hotel later in the day.

While it was nice to disconnect from my course work and job action, I am regretting this decision now.  I did do quite a bit of course work but did not update my posts.  I will now "pay" for this decision over the next couple of days as I upload my posts to my blog, edit the ones I have saved, and go back to add images, tags, and links.  I realize that it is not possible to be completely disconnected from my web 2.0 world, despite the need to relax and relieve some very real stress.  This does make me wonder how our 24/7 connectedness is contributing to that stress - it is very different when you can't do something because you are away, and choosing not to do something even when you can while you are away.

A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet: 39 Sites For Using iPads in the Classroom

Lots of great places to explore here:

A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet: 39 Sites For Using iPads in the Classroom

OK, now I feel stupid

Looking for the "tag" option on Blogger has reminded me of a lesson on tagging and folksonomy that I did in LIBE 465.  I was so focused on the word "tag" that I didn't notice the "Labels" box at the bottom of my posting area, LOL.  After posting my last entry I went to the Blogger help option and found the information in about 3 seconds.  My plan is to now go back to previous posts to add appropriate tags.

Berger and Trexler (2010) say that tagging is "at the heart of social bookmarking" (p. 45) and I am finding this to be true in my own Web 2.0 explorations.  Good tagging allows us to find information through key words but the trick is using key words that others will also use.  Some librarians, as suggested in Berger and Trexler (2010), are concerned that folksonomy should not replace taxonomy, a more traditional tagging system.  I, like some librarians, do not believe that one has to replace the other.  I believe the two can work together to make searching and finding information more effective for everyone.

Update:  As I was going through to add labels to my posts I discovered that there is a limit of 200 characters.  For my last update post I well exceeded that limit and then had to go back and remove some tags.  This was harder to do than I thought as I was really trying to cover all the topics in my post.  I wish Blogger had a "character count" like Twitter so that I can know when I am nearing my character limit.

References:

Berger, P., & Trexler, S. (2010). Choosing Web 2.0 tools for learning and teaching in a digital world. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.

Blog Addition

Today I added a "Search this Blog" gadget to make finding topics on my blog a little easier.  This is a great feature as it allows my readers to find what I have posted on certain topics.  I tested it by entering "Twitter" and got a list of posts that mention Twitter.

One thing I am noticing about using Blogger that is different from my class blog on WordPress is that I don't seem to have an option of adding tags to my blog posts when I compose them.  I am now searching for this option on Blogger.  If anyone else knows how to add this feature on Blogger I would appreciate the help.

Inquiry Update

It seems that I have been doing a lot of inquiry and playing, and not a lot of updating.  I think this is mostly due to the fact that many of the tools have become part of my daily routine, and less a "thing" that I am learning about and exploring.  I think this is a good thing :), but I thought I better spend some time commenting on my "findings."

Twitter - This has been a huge surprise for me.  I, like some of my classmates exploring this tool, have been surprised by the educational advantages of Twitter.  I expected Twitter to be a lot like Facebook, with people updating what they are eating, or where they are, but have discovered a wealth of information and a great feeling of connectedness with peers from all over Canada and the US.  I like that I have control over whom I "follow" and that I can choose to not follow people who tweet simple "I am at Starbucks."  During this stressful time in education in BC, I have also appreciated the feelings of support and a way to communicate our "issues" with others through Twitter.

Personally, I tend to "tweet" things that I am trying in my inquiry, like class blogging, or I "retweet" ideas and information that I think is worth sharing.  I have been using my inquiry blog as a place to store some great tutorials for Twitter and other tools in my inquiry, and I have also "favourited" ideas that I want to revisit.  I definitely have a "why reinvent the wheel" philosophy about Twitter.  So many people have already asked a question and many have written how-to articles or created videos to answer those questions.  I have found that some things are already becoming dated as Twitter has evolved but, especially among education Tweeters, the information provided is very useful.

There are a couple of things I am still working on with Twitter.  Firstly, I watched a video about "retweeting" but am still a bit unsure that I am doing it "correctly."  The video talked about copying the original tweet and then adding "RT" and pasting the tweet after this.  My question is then, why is there a "Retweet" icon?  This does the same thing but without the "RT."  Is the "RT" necessary?  By following others' retweets, it seems that many use the suggested format, and others just use the "Retweet" button.  I have done both and don't really see that it makes much difference for me as a follower other than knowing it is a retweet right at the beginning.

My other question is about the smaller URLs some Tweeters use for links.  I have not done any inquiry into this but it looks to me that this is another Web 2.0 tool available.  It definitely helps in limiting the number of characters in a tweet so I need to look into this.  I did have one thing I retweeted result in a "mention" that led me to the following link:

I have not been able to trace the tweet that resulted in this "violation," but I will be checking out TinyUrl to learn more.

UPDATE: - I realized, thanks to the comments of my classmates, that I have a bit.ly link on my AddThis toolbar. Cool!

Kidblog.org - I have stuck with this blog site for my class blog and have been very pleased with the results.  I have not encountered anything that would cause me to change sites at this time.  My students have found it easy to navigate and we were even able to upload some of their visual found poem assignments to share with other class members.  The students seem to like the format and responded well to doing their writing on a blog.

As the teacher, I too find it easy to navigate.  I have been able to evaluate their posts and responses quite easily and I like that I can see who posted and when so that I can remind them to keep up-to-date with their assignments.

My husband, who teaches grade 6, is also using this site with his class. There were some initial "emergency" phone calls to me the first time they used it - my husband is a bit on the technologically challenged side - but once they got going he said they wanted to do all their discussions on the blog.

The security of the site is nice, especially for elementary students and I suspect this is why the site says it is ideal for these aged students.  Visitors can see that there is a blog but they cannot read any of the posts unless they are logged in.  I also like that I did not have to provide any personal information about my students, and even though I used their real names, it would be easy to set it up with nicknames or something similar, to create complete anonymity for the students.  I can make my class sites public if I want and I may explore this option next year.  It would be nice to find a similar class in another school to blog with so that the students could get feedback and comments from outside their class.

RSS/iGoogle/Google Reader - When beginning my inquiry into RSS feeds I, as I said in an earlier post, was surprised that I was already "signed up."  I then made iGoogle my internet home page and I haven't looked back.  What a time saving tool this is!  I can see who has updated blogs or sites that I visit regularly without actually having to go to the site - I love this!  It has also allowed me to comment on my classmates blog posts and I have really appreciated the feedback I have received from them.

I have added Delicious, Facebook, Twitter, Google Calendar, and even my local weather to my home page.  I want to add Pinterest, as I prefer this to Delicious, and if I am following others' posts correctly, this could soon be an option.

I try to clear my Google Reader feed a couple times a day but I have also used the "mark all as read" feature a few times.  I realize I don't need to read every new post and that I will need to adjust some of the subscriptions I have added.  One site, YALSA, seems to have upwards of ten updates a day.  Do I really need this as a subscription?  This will be part of the adapting process as I continue to develop my PLN.

Google Apps - I am using iGoogle, Google Reader, and Google Calendar.  I am also in the processing of introducing Google Docs to my students.  As the librarian and technology support person in my school I am trying to get students to use this tool to prevent the issues that arise when they have a PC at home, and we have all MACs at our school.  I have used Google Docs personally in other classes to work collaboratively, and have really liked the ease of use.  The teachers I worked with and I also really liked the "chat" feature as we worked on an assignment.  We could discuss and edit at the same time.  After spring break my English 12 students will begin their Lit Circles and I think this will be a good time for them to blog and use Google Docs to share their discussions about their novels.  The online nature of the program is great as they do not have to be at school to work together.

There have been a couple of great links for using Google Apps in education that I still want to investigate further.  I would like to try using Google Calendar for our computer lab bookings so that teachers can do this without having to physically come to the library to reserve lab space.  I would also like to get more staff members using these tools so that we can share ideas and lessons.

Survey Tools - This is one area of my inquiry that I have not explored much yet.  I did set up an account with Survey Monkey and attempted to create a survey about our school and library web sites.  I began by using one of their templates but became frustrated because it wouldn't let me do the changes I wanted to make to the questions - which it claimed I should be able to do.  Admittedly, I did not give myself enough time for this exploration so my rushing probably had something to do with the frustration.

I maintain both the school and library web sites and would like to at least have a poll to see who is using the sites and why.  I use Weebly for the web sites and I do have access to a poll option so I am going to explore that.  I am not sure how much use I really have for a survey in my teaching and library.  Right now I am more focused on directing people to the sites and the physical library and I am not sure we are ready for a survey yet.

iPad and Web 2.0 applications - I am loving the iPad - or more accurately, my three year-old is loving the iPad, LOL.  We have added lots of great apps for her to play with and I am amazed at how quickly she has learned how to operate this device.  We created a "folder" with "Apps for Lily" and she knows how to use all of them.  She can also get to her favourite shows on Netflix, save her art to the photo gallery, and listen to music.

I have been using the iPad to read my first ebook and am really liking this, despite my initial resistance.  I do feel a bit disloyal to books, but I think they will get over it, ha, ha.

I am curious to see what the new iPad 4 will offer.  I ran into my first "you need Flash to view this" problem yesterday when I was trying to view some video of my union demonstration when Premier Clark was in our town.  I could view the photos on Facebook but I could not go to the photographer's site to see the images and video in a slide show.

I have added the iGoogle app so I get my RSS feed on the iPad and I am using iCloud to connect my laptop, iPad and even my daughter's iPod.  I also am reading the Vancouver Sun through an app and am exploring iBooks, Kindle, and Kobo to compare different eReader options.  So far I do not really see much difference visually.  I think access to ebooks is the main difference.

I also signed up for some iTunes U "courses" to explore this app on the iPad.  I chose a technology course that I intend to view during my spring break.

Web 2.0 mentoring - My principal is being stubborn, LOL.  I sent her a friendly "prodding from the demonstration line" today hoping that she might be able to find 10 minutes over these next couple of days to do a blog update.  I know she is busy but I know that once she makes a habit of posting she will see the benefits of this great communication tool.

My inquiry has led to other staff members using the tools I have been exploring.  There are now 5 or 6 of use on Twitter and two other staff members are using iGoogle.  One of my colleagues is exploring Tweetdeck so I am curious to see how he likes this tool.  We also created Facebook pages for our school and library that I and one other staff member keep updated.  It is exciting that other staff members are now emailing us with things they would like us to post.  Facebook can be such a great tool, especially for connecting with students.

Inquiry leads to inquiry - If anything, this inquiry has gone well beyond the six tools it was originally suggested we explore.  I am using my AddThis tool bar regularly, especially to post ideas from Twitter to my blog or other links to Twitter.  This is one of my favourite "accidental" finds.

Another benefit of this inquiry has been the continued development of our school and library web sites.  I had created the library web site in the fall and planned to redesign the school web site after Christmas.  Through my inquiry into Web 2.0 tools I have been able to make the web site even better than I had originally hoped.  We have links to our Facebook page, slide shows, and "share this site" buttons so others can help us communicate with our learning community.  The speed of this tool was especially evident as our teacher job action began to unfold.  We were able to post information for parents and keep student updated on what to expect this week.  I tried to remember what we did back in 2005 when we were on strike for 2 weeks - signs on school doors and lots of phone calls I suspect.

I am also exploring Evernote as a way to connect my devices and perhaps get rid of my paper "to do" lists.  I have not made this tool a priority, yet, but I would really like to become as paperless as possible so I am hoping this may be an answer.

Thus far, I am very pleased with how my inquiry is progressing.  I like that I am actually using the tools I am exploring.  I continue to be amazed by the wealth of information and tools available to me.  At times it is a bit overwhelming and I am envious of people who seem to know all the latest tools.  I realize too, that I could spend entire days exploring these tools but that I have to set boundaries so that my "regular" work still gets done.  I do appreciate however, that these tools are making my "regular" work better and more efficient.

I have accumulated a stack of reading, both online and in print that I would also like to consider and add to this inquiry.  Most of my exploration has been my own but I would like to now "back it up" with some research and ideas from "experts" in various fields.  I think this will add some depth to my inquiry, and perhaps lead me to better practices in using Web 2.0 tools.