Reflective Response- Week 2

MAPping Activity
The MAPping activity was a valuable exercise for me, and will be valuable for my students, as well.  Previously, I felt that I could probably spot a bogus website, but now I'm not so sure. As an educated adult, I previously felt that I could spot obviously wrong information, but the reality is....if I'm searching for it, I'm probably not very knowledgeable on it in the first place. This is especially true for my students. The Alan November website provided me with some great resources. I was aware of what the extensions stood for, and even how to check the history of a website, but I did not know how to track down the publisher of a website, or discover a site's external links. In the future, when I set out to find information, especially if it is for research or school, I will dig a little deeper to discover the site's history, publisher/author and what its external links are. Just because a site looks credible judging by the url, advertisements, or official look, it could be unreliable.

At the beginning of each year, I always go over how to evaluate websites with my students, as they will be using the Internet frequently for research throughout the year.  I preach to them to not rely on the first couple of Google results, and to trust scholarly sources. However, like my students tend to do if left unchecked, I find myself Googling for information at least daily, and I am guilty of clicking on the first couple of results. I frequently tell my students, "Just because it's on the Internet, it doesn't mean it's true," but it does take a little extra time and effort to examine the websites. Having knowledge of and access to these tools will enable all of us to become better informed in our research.  In "the old days" we didn't have to worry so much about the validity of information, because for information to make it to print, it was reviewed and checked multiple times. However, today, anyone can post information on the Internet, and anyone can find it. If we fail to educate students that phony, bogus or just plain incorrect information is so readily available on the web, we are setting them up for misunderstandings and failure. We need to stress the importance of finding quality information, not just quick information.

Social Bookmarking
I am just now getting into the idea of social bookmarking.  The two biggest draws for me are: 1) I can access my favorites no matter which computer I'm working on, which is a big plus when I prepare for lessons at home and at school, and 2) since "2 brains are better than 1," social bookmarking allows for collaboration, which is a time saver for me.

I used Diigo with my students this past year. I loved it! I heard about it one year at TCEA, but I thought it sounded like a hassle, but with a teacher account, it really isn't so bad. This past year, I worked with our English teacher, and we had our kids contribute sites, pictures, songs, etc. for several research projects. As a teacher, I liked that I could easily see which students had contributed, and I was easily able to see the comments that each student attached to her submission. (Part of the research assignment was that each student had to contribute X number of resources, and comment about why they chose the resource, and what it had to offer.) I also liked that I was able to check over the sources where my kids were pulling their research from, to make sure they were using the research criteria we had talked about.

I'm also getting into Pintrest.  At first, I used Pintrest for personal things, like recipes and craft ideas, but of course, my school interests now have a special board. My favorite thing about Pintrest is that I have access to other people's boards that are jam-packed with tons of excellent ideas and resources.

Wikis
I created a wiki about iPad and Web 2.0 resources that I used with my classes last year.  I was asked to present at a Region 10 tech conference, so I presented straight off of my wiki.  It is a work in progress...as I try out new apps and ideas next year, I plan to add to my wiki.  I chose to set up a wiki and share it, because as a teacher, sometimes it's nice to have a collection of ideas in one place to browse through.

Wikis are a double-edged sword in my opinion....could be dangerous, but have great potential to be useful, too.  On one hand, it's an outlet for anyone, anywhere to publish information to the Internet. That information could be factual, or it could be totally bogus. However, I look at wikis more as a collaborative tool.  For example, my student technology group that I worked with this past year (we got to participate in Year 2 of Region 10's The Future is Now project), all of the kids had access to the wiki, and they could all contribute, but they also had the task of checking each other to make sure that the information we put out there was accurate, dependable and looked the best that it could. Wikis also offer a forum for students to write for an audience, not just writing up a report that only the teacher is going to read and grade. If they publish their findings on a wiki, there is more motivation to do a good job, because their name is going to be attached to it out on the web for the world to see.

Web 2.0 Tools
I'm interested to learn more about video editing. I think videos, especially with music are far more powerful to today's learners that just lectures and worksheets. My students always have their earbuds stuffed in their ears, and are always watching media on their mobile devices.  If kids can create their own video media displaying what they have learned, I feel that is sort of "speaking their language." I also think that if students are given the task of having to teach an idea to their peers via a video, it forces them to understand the topic at an even deeper level. If you expect to teach it, you have to know your subject better than just completing a worksheet over it.