The End is Near!

Okay, here goes a quick analysis of five of the tools from this week. First off, we have Custom Dice Printing. This, in a word, is awesome. You feed in the data for the six sides (whatever you want: photos, text, numbers) and it creates a doc with everything facing the correct way, so that you can just cut it out, fold it up, and tape it together. This is a super tool for fun group work. For example, after reading a literature piece, give out a die to each group, each person rolls, and there are different questions/activities on each side. The questions can be different on each die, allowing for differentiation. Or, just print them with numbers and have a chart at the front of the class with questions/activities corresponding to the numbers. Or, have photos on the dice, using them as a springboard for a writing/speaking task. Or...you get the idea. Easy, free, and no login needed!

Next comes Test-Giving Software. This is good, but only if you have a fully connected class. Meaning, everyone needs to have a smartphone/wireless connection. So, this may not be useful for everyone. Also, it is similar to what we did with the quizzes with the Google Doc. The interface here, however, looks a to be a little more practical for classroom use. This could be used for spontaneous quizzes, too, as it is very easy for the teacher to create a quiz quickly.

Thirdly, we have Museum Box. This is very nice. Pick a topic, and the student creates a space with digital content on the subject. For example, a project could be a biography of someone, the student can upload pictures, videos, text, links or whatever. It is attractively organized, and fairly intuitive (at least on the viewing side; I did not try to create anything). Down side: there is a per school registration fee, I think about $100 per year. Maybe there are ways to share the cost, and there is some way to get a price reduction, but I did not go through all the nitty-gritty.

Here Kid "TV Reporters" we have something cute. It is basically a site that has videos of kids going around and guiding virtual school trips, like: "Meet a Meteorolgist!" or "A Kid's History of the Yo-Yo". There are a lot of videos to choose from. It is not made for EFL, but since there are kids talking, the language is not overly difficult. They also have instructions on how to go about making a video.

This idea LitTrips blew my mind. The basic idea is that it gives you, through GoogleMaps, a visual journey through a book. Problem is, after filling out forms and the such to try to view one of the "LitTrips", it was in some sort of weird file format that my computer didn't recognize. I did not have the time to try to solve the tech issues. If anyone out there figures it out, please comment, as the concept is very intriguing.

Week 12 - Mobile and QR

First off, the video about the school system that has gone mobile (or, if you prefer, the commercial for a company that manufactures computer components, and thus has a vested interest in getting their products used by more and more people): This seemed to be so extreme to me. Are students really incapable of learning anything without the assistance of some mobile device? I have link ed  (in previous posts) to several articles that raise an alarm over the type of significant cognitive changes brought about by constant digital whiplash. True, one could argue that it is just a "different" type of cognition, and not an inferior type. But are we certain of that to the degree that we are willing to turn the classroom into an extension of the 24/7 app and net centered thinking that already occupies much of our students' non-school time? I would hope that those proceeding would do so with caution, and the fact that this project was funded by Cisco should also make us pause.

QR Codes: A thought that I keep having time and time again throughout this course is: is this a way to do something new, or just a new way to do something old? If it is a new way of doing something old, is it better than the old way? Tali, in her last post, noted that Tackk is just a new version of making a poster, and wondered what is wrong with the old fashioned tools of paper, markers and glue. I feel the same regarding some of the usages of the QR codes. They are essentially a way of sharing a hyperlink, so the question is under what circumstances is it better than the old way? In an advertisement, I get it. People may not put in the effort to type in a URL that they see, but if it just a one step action of scanning a QR, they may bite. So, thinking about Avraham's activity: The old alternative would be to create a googledoc with the four links, and email the students the link to the googledoc, and give them the handouts separately. So I see that this "all-in-one" solution of giving out the worksheets with the embedded QR codes is preferable. I also liked the book report poster, as it helps keep the poster very clean, without a lot of text, and allows the reader to focus in on what their point of interest is. Some of the other uses do not excite me. Create a QR code that is a link to the homework assignment? Why not just have a central classroom site where you post a normal link?
Bottom line: It looks like a tool that will be useful in some cases, but more bells and whistles in others.

More Food For Thought

Interesting read on how technology affects learning.
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/05/multitasking_while_studying_divided_attention_and_technological_gadgets.single.html#pagebreak_anchor_2

Another side of Google

I know that this week is the rah-rah Google week, but everyone has to remember that if you are using Google Docs, you are dependent on Google. What could be wrong with that? Well, according to their terms of usage, they can shut down any service (like Google drive/docs) at any time. So, always have a "backup" backup plan. And, you could find yourself frozen out of your account, like this fellow.
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/04/life_without_google_when_my_account_was_suspended_i_felt_like_i_d_been_dumped.single.html#pagebreak_anchor_2

Week 10 Post

One of the resources discussed this week is the Simple Wikipedia.
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
This is as it sounds to be: a simplified form of Wikipedia. Not to get into the issue of whether or not one should rely on an open, mass-edited online encyclopedia (I personally have found it to be very accurate) the fact is that this is the go to source for many when seeking out info. Now, for our students, there is Hebrew Wikipedia. But if we want them to use English, this can go a long way.
For comparisons sake, let us look at the first sections in the entries for Martin Luther King Jr. on both Wikipedias:
     Regular: Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience. King has become a national icon in the history of American progressivism.^[1]A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, serving as its first president. With the SCLC, King led an unsuccessful struggle against segregation in Albany, Georgia, in 1962, and organized nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama, that attracted national attention following television news coverage of the brutal police response. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. There, he established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history. He also established his reputation as a radical, and became an object of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's COINTELPRO for the rest of his life. FBI agents investigated him for possible communist ties, recorded his extramarital liaisons and reported on them to government officials, and on one occasion, mailed King a threatening anonymous letter that he interpreted as an attempt to make him commit suicide
     Simple: Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968)^[1] was a famous American leader of civil rights. He fought for civil rights. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He was the son of Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King. His father was also a civil rights leader. He was married to Coretta Scott King.He became a Baptist minister. He worked hard to make people understand that black people should always be treated equally to white people. He gave speeches and led rallies to encourage African Americans to protest without the need for violence. One peaceful strategy was for African Americans to have sit-ins. This is where they would sit in a restaurant seat that was supposed to be only for white people. They would politely ask for some food and refuse to leave until someone gave them food. Another strategy that King used was leading boycotts. This is where people would refuse to buy goods or services from people who did not treat white people and black people the same.

As you can see, in the simple version there are fewer abbreviations and long words. The grammar and syntax are much simpler (less passive voice, easier adjectives). However, it also seems to be targeted more towards children, with no mention of extramarital liasons or enemies he made  in the movement. So, the point is, it may be a good way to access info in English, but we have to have a heightened awareness as to the reliability of the information.

It may also be (it seems this way from a little browsing, but no promises) that the simple Wikipedia is more appropriate for children in general and the religious public in particular from a content aspect.

Another thing I tried out is the noodletools search page http://tinyurl.com/1hyc (see, I snuck in another tool)! It is really beyond my ability to describe fully what there is over there, you must check it out yourselves. I will share one thing, though. For anyone who has had to write academic/seminar papers, one of the most frustraing things is searching for scholoarly articles on googe, finding something that seems to be just what you need, and then finding it behind a pay firewall (for "only" $29.999 for one-time access!), requiring you to desparately email everyone you know (Do you have a login for ...?). On this site, you can do a search that is limited to articles in open access journals. I did a search on a topic that I already wrote about (gender-neutral pronouns) and found a very nice article from somebody at Yale, available for saving as a PDF or printing. When I did the same search on Google Scholar, I found some great articles, and could access them for just $39.95 each.

I also tried out Tackk (tackk.com). I am not the most graphics inclined guy, but I was able to make an invitation poster for my daughter's Bat Mitzvah in about 3 minutes (see it here:http://tackk.com/jbstgp). There are other graphic options there that I didn't even check out yet, but it seems to be really user friendly.

Week 7

I loved the link to the activity of filling in the song lyrics (http://www.listen-and-write.com/youtube/show3/4448) from this week's material. A great advantage of this is the element of competition. Being that it does not go the the next phrase of the song until the current one is filled in, it creates a race to see who can finish first. This requirement for the combination of accuracy and speed is so important to real communication.When speaking to someone (or hearing a speech) there usually is not an option to hear the words several times, so being able to quickly understand the spoken word is essential.

I want to take a diversion and let you know about a very helpful EFL site http://www.bu.edu/av/celop2/
(full disclosure: my uncle, David Maisel, is the one who developed the site).
Tech wise, it is very bare bones, but there are a wealth of invaluable resources there. For example, there are over 1000 recorded audio dialogues of every possible vocabulary or grammar topic (under "audio of speech") and incredibly detailed vocabulary lists (for example: "KnowThinkBelieveAssume,etc.doc   68 verbs for believing that something is true, each with a different degree or source of certainty" and "communicative functions.doc   135 purposes of communicating: agreeing, announcing, apologizing, asking, attracting attention,blaming, blessing, boasting, etc."). Obviously, not everything there is helpful for all teachers. Some of the lists in particular are way beyond what the students would be able to handle, but we, as teachers, can certainly enjoy them!

The Innovative Educator has a cute cartoon http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.co.il/2013/04/education-reformers.html. The essential point is: how much do those setting educational policy know about the real life challenges that teachers face? Do they spend time as teachers or are they working from theories without being grounded in reality? I am sure that those of you who are already teaching all have horror stories about unreasonable demands by the establishment (Have they met these kids I need to teach?!). But, on the other hand (for life is not black and white, just countless shades of gray) perhaps those too involved in the nitty gritty are stuck among the trees and can't see the forest. (For those who took the Differentiated Instruction course in September, this will sound familiar). No answers here, just awareness of the questions. 

Week Six post

Last summer, my family went to the Hula Valley nature reserve. After going through the exhibits, everyone went into a room where there was a quiz on the information in the exhibits. Each seat had a device to enter the answers to multiple choice questions, and the winners were announced at the end (alas, no prizes). Lisa Nielsen has a post http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.co.il/2013/03/6-free-ways-to-capture-student.html#more on variations of this theme for the classroom. She is not talking about expensive systems that come with their own hardware, rather ways of making use of existing tech (including smartphones and even "dumbphones" to accomplish similar things. There are a few good ideas there. One idea is to use texting for quick quizzes in the classroom. Say, they read a text, the teacher reads out multiple choice (or short answer) questions, and the students text them in to the teacher. This saves time over handing out and collecting quiz sheets, and can give the teacher instant feedback on what is or is not being learned. One could also use a GoogleDoc, but this does not require advance planning.

"Technology won't replace teachers, but teachers who use technology will probably replace teachers who don't". So says somebody at a conference attended by Steve Wheeler (http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.co.il/2013/03/technology-wont-replace-teachers-but.html). The truth of this statement obviously depends on a few subfactors, such as subject being taught and orientation of the school, but the essential point is that in an increasingly technological world, a tech literate teacher has a clear advantage, all other things being equal, over a technophobe. The key phrase, however, is "all other things being equal". So, with all that we are gaining from the course, let us remember that the tech skills are just tools towards a higher goal, and not the goal in and of itself.

The third thing I want to write about is a quick review of the spelling games from this week's unit. The Funbrain was a cute idea, having you check of the wrong spelling out of four words, and then giving the correct spelling for that word. The problem was that being that it was a wrong spelling, you don't really know what the correct spelling is! For example,  one of the "wrong" words I had was "pairt". So, what do you do to correct it? Part? Paint? Pair? Anyway, I wrote "paint" and got it wrong (they wanted "pair"). The point is, check out the game before using it. Just because it is on the internet does not mean it is perfect.
The next site was kidspell. Here, there are a bunch of game choices, based on level. The good thing here is that it allows you to build your own spelling list to make the games. Some of the games played smoother than others, and difficulty levels can be adjusted.
The one I liked the best was the eduplace site. There was a great game, matching halves of words on a square chart (about 15 words). It seems that the site is tied to a specific textbook series, so it may be less helpful.
By the way, with all spelling sites, make sure you check if it is U.S. spelling or British; there are many differences!

Week 5

"Let me give you an example. Here is one of today’s examination questions: How long will it take a 5 Kg mass to fall to the ground if dropped from a height of 20 metres? (Do not use computers, calculators or any other aids. Do not talk) This could easily be changed to: Use the Internet to find out how long it will  take a 5 Kg mass to fall to the ground if dropped from a height of 20 metres. Discuss the answer with your colleagues and report the results of the discussion. Justify why you think the answer is right."
This is a quote from an interview in Steve Wheelers' blog. To me, the pros and cons are as follows: The first question is testing memorization of a formula and the application of the formula. It helps to ensure that the student does the math carefully, and enables the student to apply the concept to other similar math problems. The second question does not require the learning of the formula, but does require the student to think critically and understand the rationale behind the rule. The discussion with other students can also help to clarify the concept. If this gives the student a greater feel for the "truth" behind the theory of gravitational pull etc., I think, despite being a bit of a tech skeptic, that the second question will lead to a more important learning experience.

Lisa Nielson (http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.co.il/2013/03/3-ways-to-connect-with-parents-via-cell.html#more) has a nice idea for keeping parents updated. The basic idea is to do a weekly podcast style update for the parents to hear what has been going on in the classroom, or for upcoming events. As a parent, this sounds like a good idea. No more finding out about the book report the day before it is due, not that MY kids would ever do such a thing :). She recommends the "phonecasting" service called iPadio. This enables you to record a podcast through calling a phone #, then the service makes it available to you online. You could then post it or email it to parents. I watched a how-to video on their site (http://blog.ipadio.com/11/introduction-to-ipadio/) and it does seem pretty easy to use.

I got to the following chart from the 2 cents worth blog (http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/). This was very striking to me. This is an example of using technology (a computer generated graphic) to present information in a clear and understandable way. The way it enables the student/reader to compare and contrast the wars, and to see the overall cost of the wars, in terms of both life and money, is more effective that a frontal lecture replete with statistics on the subject

The Wars the US fought infographic

Something funny for Pesach

This gets hysterical about a minute in.

So, Steve Wheeler has a post http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.co.il/2013/03/whos-afraid-of-big-bad-mooc.html#!/2013/03/whos-afraid-of-big-bad-mooc.html on the subject of MOOC's, Massive Open Online Courses. These are courses given on a university level, generally not accredited, and free. The post touches upon the questions of how brick and mortar colleges are going to change in order to deal with this "threat". Now, you might question whether this is really a threat, because if the "whole point" of going to college is to get a degree, and these courses are unaccredited, then what is the threat; nobody would "go to" one of these "universities" instead of a "real" college? Wheeler argues (based on Thomas Friedman) that having the diploma will become less important in the future, and the focus will be more on "what you know" and not "where did you learn it". Either way, the main point he raises at the end is that schools will have to give courses in a way that there is real value added over the on line version. This got me thinking about our course: In what ways would it be better (or worse) if it were done "live"? Just for one thought, I think a classroom atmosphere would be great to generate discussion on the practical uses of the technology. We are getting a good amount of that through the activity forums (which, by the way, are written on much more often than forums at other online courses I have taken), but a live give in take would be an improvement. Please comment on other ways you feel going "live" would impact this course!

In another post http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.co.il/#!/2013/03/gold-mines.html, he mentions something called the 100 Word Challenge. This is a place for students to post short (guess how many words) on a given theme each month. "Winners" are selected and showcased. The idea is to give the students  a creative outlet, with public recognition, and to get them to be producers of language, not just consumers.While our students will not be able to write on the level required for that site (it is for students whose English is L1, and probably L-only) perhaps teachers from several schools here could start something similar for our EFL students. Even if all of us get together and set up a site for our current and future students, that would be enough to get it going.

The new posts on Lisa Nielsen's blog are not so techy, so I read through an old one (a guest post) http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.co.il/2012/07/5-reasons-to-allow-students-to-use-cell.html on why we should allow smart phones into class. There is good food for thought here, especially regarding the point that in other areas of life they will be able to problem solve with cell phones, so why not in school? Remarkably, however, the author does not address the primary drawback in allowing the phones in class, which is that the students will be distracted and not be doing what they need to be doing. Just from my experience here at Herzog, it is very clear that students that have smart phones open are engaged on a lower level (no preaching here, I include myself in this assessment). So, is there a middle ground? By the way, if you want an in depth read on the "Internet as an extension of our minds"see http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/superman/2013/03/cognitive_enhancement_how_the_internet_is_expanding_our_minds.html

Through Bob Spankle's bit by bit blog (an old post) I came across this site http://www.thinkb4u.com/. This is a great site with interactive tutorials on issues connected to being online. There are sections for teachers, advising how to teach students about proper and improper online behavior, sections for students, and sections for parents. Definitely worth a browse!

Text analyazer possibilities

One of the tools that I was very impressed with was the text profiler. It was presented in the course as a way to make sure that the text we present to our students is on their level, and that is a great use. The thing that struck me was the potential for using it the other way around. Firstly, in completing assignments for the college (especially long papers) we could run our texts through the analyzer to check if we are using a sophisticated enough vocabulary, and then to modify, by changing more general, basic words to more specific, academic words as needed. Secondly (and I used this idea for my activity), it could be a way of helping our students to enhance their vocabulary, by showing them a simple text, and seeing if they could "smarten it up" using a thesaurus. I am not talking about acting as a sesquipedalian for its own sake (look up that word and its etymology for fun!), but rather for the purpose of elevating our writing/speech so that the sophistication of our vocabulary can match the sophistication of our thoughts.

Bullying

A bit off topic, but this book http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/books/review/sticks-and-stones-emily-bazelons-book-on-bullying.html?ref=books&pagewanted=all (and subject) are very in the news. I would be interested in hearing from those in the group with teaching experience about how prevelant the problem is here, what are signs to look out for, and what can we do to help.

Steve Wheeler has a nice post (http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.co.il/#!/2013/03/skills-or-literacies.html) about navigating one's way in the digital world. His main point here is that in any new context/culture people find themselves, the only way to really get the hang of it is through immersion. He gives the example of when he, used to driving on the left side of the road, first had to drive in the U.S. At first he was hesitant and made errors, but, through driving, came to reach a comfort level. The same is true of technologies. The only way a person can be at home in a technology is through the trial and error of usage. He gives the example of learning that TYPING IN ALL CAPS is the online equivalent of shouting. A benefit of the course we are taking is that it will allow us to get to use new technologies in a safe zone so that we can achieve a comfort level with them before trying them out on the outside world of our students (who are apt to laugh at our attempts if we are not practiced enough).

Not much going on at Lisa Nielson's blog. There is a guest post (http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.co.il/2013/03/children-of-core-american-students-at.html) by Kris Nielson (her husband?) advertising his new book on education in America. His basic take is (or seems to be, from the post) that the emphasis on standardized testing on a state and federal level hampers the ability of teachers to bring out the best in their students in an individuated way. This seems to me to be kind of axiomatic. If we are going to push for a common standard, that will automatically mean a lessening of focus on the individual. The purpose of standardized testing is to ensure that the students are progressing in their learning. It may be that for the excellent teachers, these tests are a hindrance, but my feeling is that for the rank and file, having clearly defined goals in their teaching can help to get them to accomplish more than if goals were more open ended.

Bob Sprankle has not updated in a while, perhaps I will have to look for a different choice for my third blog to follow.

Not so tech, but

I found this to be an interesting article.
http://mobile.washingtonpost.com/c.jsp?item=http%3a%2f%2fwww.washingtonpost.com%2fFragment%2fSysConfig%2fWebPortal%2ftwpweb%2frss%2fmobile%2fblog-entry.jpp%3fuuid%3da6f98452-7232-11e2-a050-b83a7b35c4b5&cid=578815&spf=1
It turns out that the "old" stuff still has some appeal! It seems to me that this type of thing could be useful in teaching EFL, perhaps for vocabulary sets (if we do our own lyrics) or pronunciation skills (using pre-existing chants).

If you haven't seen it yet, check out the short clip from the "bit by bit" blog:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2Y0Gm02XGis

For me, the main point here is that the technology (Google Docs) is not doing something "new", but rather just making it easier and more convenient to do something "old". If you saw the movie "The Freedom Writers", the teacher there did essentially the same thing as this one, but using old-school notebooks and pens, not "newfangled" internet tools. So my question is: is there something inherently different here, or just traditional communication and teaching methods making use of updated technology? How would the entries from this clip compare with the more open-ended entries in the film mentioned above? Does putting pen to paper cause a different, more deliberative type of cognition that filling out an on-line form? 

[For those interested in the many applications of this question, see http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/]

The latest post in "The Innovative Educator" (http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.co.il/2013/02/an-unscholarly-professor-comes-out.html#more) is not about technology in education, but highlights a different issue: To what degree are we open to hearing suggestions and criticisms from outsiders who, although they might not have the technical and pedagogical training that we have (or will have), may have insights that we can gain from. This connects to the general issue of the democratization of knowledge. I find myself struggling with this when, after I read a news article, I scroll through the comments. Other than the obvious nonsense, there are often comments that can "make you go hmmm", and counter-comments that also sound right. Credentials are a good starting point for evaluating legitimacy, but sometimes it is specifically the non-credentialed outsider who can see things from a different perspective and achieve insight not available to those on the inside.

In the blog "Leaning With 'e'es" (wonderful title!) http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.co.il/2013/02/learning-is-changing.html, Steve discusses the issue mentioned above regarding the changes that technology is causing or our modalities of learning and thinking. Now, I know that tech is here to stay, and that we cannot get "off the train", but it is striking to me how we are now embarking on an irreversible, uncontrolled experiment, with no controls, no direction and no way out. I was approaching a friend on the sidewalk last week. A guy I wanted to touch base with, to connect to. I saw him from about 40 feet away (13 meters for some of you), but we did not have the eye contact needed to start the interaction, because (as I am sure you can guess), his eyes were on his phone from the time I saw him until he passed me. Not to be alarmist, but there is something in simple, interpersonal interactions that we are losing (very rapidly), and we do not know what the consequences of this will be. So, as a future educator, the question is to what degree do I embrace tech in order to help connect with the students, and to what degree do I try to keep the classroom as an oasis of face to face human interaction? No answers, just questions.

First Time, Here Goes

So, this is something new. Although I am a blog reader and podcast listener, I have, until now, held myself back from "producing". I have this quaint belief that not everything that goes on in my life needs to be shared (I know, sooo 20th century), but hey, everyone needs to do their thing, right? I am looking forward to learning new techniques/methods during this course. About the video on the 21st century learner, I think it was a bit simplistic. I am not sure that the only way to learn nowadays is with a device that has an electrical charge, and I do not think that the clip portrayed the complexity of what it means to teach and learn. On the other hand, it was only four minutes long (including credits). I would guess that I am in the middle of the pack as far as computer skills go, so I hope I won't be left behind in the dust. Either way, onward toward the future!