A: I pretty much liked the whole thing. There were a few tools that I don’t see as being as useful as others. I like having an RSS feed to my reader, but, honestly, I check it may be once a month unless it ties in with a unit that I am in the middle of teaching. I love the Wiki and am planning on using Writeboard with a writing workshop in the spring.

The only thing that I would consider changing is maybe adding some more toys to play with in the tool section. I’d love a really accessible animation tool, but I don’t know that I’ve seen one that I’ve really liked. Maybe adding in a search engine link would be useful as well. It also would have been lovely to have a check in/share with at least 2 other teachers who are in the class. Yes, I lucked out because my teaching partner was here, but it is so much more enriching when you have someone in person to talk to or to bounce possible uses off of. (Yes, I am aware at how grammatically awful that last sentence was.) I am wired for the social. Having talking time makes it more “real” to me and solidifies my understandings.

I am definitely getting more and more comfortable using technology in the classroom (not that I was ever afraid of it). It doesn’t always cooperate, and I know to always have a back up plan. I still need to do more research on using the Activboard, but I’m enjoying the things I can explore at home…..I would love a Part 2. Maybe a Pi 2.5 or even a 3.0? I’m an exploration junkie. So, overall, a big YAY! on Pi 2.0.

The kids were really excited about the election, understandably so.  Some of them raced to get to the wiki at home.  The second unit, not as much.  I think partly, the novelty has worn off, and partly maybe the topic of “human rights” isn’t as compelling to them.  I was hoping they’d continue the debate we had in class.  Maybe that was unrealistic of me.  Maybe they were done with it in class.  I’m thinking of adding a new incarnation around their fictional “advertising groups” around the propaganda art we’ll be studying.  But, I will keep debating whether it is the topic of the unit, the format of my post, or just the novelty wearing off for some.

I don’t know that this serves an academic purpose, but this lets you create share-able sticky notes, like post-its.  http://www.posti.ca/

I also liked the ranking tool that lets the kids choose the order in which they would put answers.  However, since we can already do that on the Activboard, I’m not sure I would utilize it often.

http://delicious.com/peachteach

In terms of the classroom, we’re going to try constructing a wiki around election issues, to deepen the discussion and debate about current topics and the candidates. In the spring, I want to use a wiki for a writing workshop, so that kids can edit each other’s work and not delete the original work. Each commentator will then be accessible to the author for questioning. I think it will make my spring workshop smoother, and it will give me a chance to see how much the kids remember from the fall wiki experiment.

In terms of the wikis I viewed, I liked Brian Smith’s AP Environmental Science class page. It looked like a good gateway to the class by providing resources the students could use, scads of articles around the topic, and a discussion area. What I wish it had was a syllabus. As a non-class participant, I wasn’t sure what the scope and the content of the class covered. I’m sure his students were quite aware, however. Their enthusiasm (and the teacher’s) seemed tangible even through the wiki format. I also looked at Carl’s page on Venezuela. What I couldn’t figure out was which parts were teacher generated and which came from students. The lack of crediting sources bugged me a bit. It made me wonder, what is the standard policy on crediting sources on a Wiki. Is there one? I know all about the controversy involving Stephen Colbert and Wikipedia, but I wondered if there was a commonly agreed upon rule or rules in terms of academic use and sourcing.

On a totally unrelated note, in terms of a visual aspect, I tend to lead with my left, which means looking to my right on the computer screen. I’m used to looking to the right of the screen for archives, etc. It took me a bit to visually notice that the info I was seeking was on the left.

LibraryThing I’m staying away from. As a complete bibliophile I could get WAY too into it and never come up for air. I like the idea of having an outside inventory of my collection, but I think I need to focus on minimizing my book stash rather than documenting it right now.

Jing seems like it would be really useful for explaining steps…like when we teach the kids how to do Powerpoint presentations. I could give them handouts with really specific directions and kid-oriented notes and comments, instead of my current way of trying to explain. I’ve seen friends use it (or something like it) informally in the journalling community to out trolling or inappropriate behavior.

We are doing a lot of work around political cartoons this year. Pixton seems like a prime tool to use later this fall to have the kids create their own political cartoons. It would level the playing field for the kids that cannot draw well or feel that their drawing skills aren’t up to the task. With this tool, that complaint is moot.

I see some kids who are geared toward the create and share mindset rise to the occasion because they have an audience, but I see others who share and never look back, never assess or attempt to improve or grow…because the sharing is seen as the goal, rather than reflection.  Reflection has always been part of my role as a teacher, but fighting the “post and run” mentality adds another layer to work through with a kid.  As a teacher, I’m also acutely aware of how the quality of what is shared reflects, as well, back on me.  How does one balance the process and the product?  Once something is online, there’s no going back.

Reading blogs seems easier than reading a book. Does that mean they are geared toward those with shorter attention spans? Blogs are, after all, usually short and relatively to the point. I find that after a while, unless a blogger is really compelling, I don’t bother with long posts. Strange that the same criteria does NOT take effect for magazines or books. In those two, the more in depth the better. There is some quality about a computer screen that makes me skim, blast past, in ways I would never dream of doing with other touchable elements of media. And, that tendency seems to get stronger the longer I’m online.

I like the collaborative element of blogs. Getting comments from friends on my online journal helps me stay in touch, picks me up after a bad day, and helps spread news quickly. I like seeing the academic side of that on sites, such as woodward’s site on Extreme Loud and Incredibly Close or the site on The Secret Life of Bees. That said, if given my choice, I’d pick personal blogs, such as Tony’s, first. Probably the gossipy Leon in me.