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
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Sunday, April 21, 2013
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.
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.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
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.
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.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
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!
"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!
Saturday, March 23, 2013
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
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
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
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/
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!
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