Posts from — September 2011

Seedlings @ Bit by Bit Podcast: Show 119
September 26, 2011

We’re joined by Wes Fryer! We go back to 9/23/11 and share a great conversation with a teaser to Wes’ new book, what ePublishing entails, and Zombies!

Links from the show:

• Speed of Creativity (Wes’ Blog)
• Playing with Media: Simple Ideas for Powerful Sharing by Wesley Fryer
• Playing with Media (eBooks)
• SHARE: Playing with Media (share your student work inspired by Wes’ book here!)
• iRig Microphone

SEEDLINGS on Facebook!

Music:

• “And So We Strive” by Stuart Lawson

Technorati Tags: bitbybit, seedlings, education, cheryloakes, alicebarr, bobsprankle, wes fryer, wesfryer, #playingwithmedia

Seedlings @ Bit By Bit Podcast: Show 119 [ 11:56 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

(cross-posted at TechLearning)

I have long recommended fellow educators to check out one of my favorite books, Web Literacy for Educators by Alan November. This book gives passage into the inner workings of search engines and how to fully control them to do your bidding. Before reading this book, I thought I understood how to “search;” but Alan November showed me that I was only scratching the surface. I contend that November’s book is a must read for all educators in order to be fully equipped to teach the necessary skills of Internet research to students, and it would serve as an outstanding curriculum guide (equipped with lesson ideas and teaching strategies) for schools.

Many of us (myself included) haven’t been taught the proper use of search engines; we’ve just figured them out as we’ve used them. But there’s so much more beneath even the “Advanced Search” options that Google, for instance, offers, and I find myself still learning new tricks with Google’s excellent “A Google A Day” game.

I’m not exactly sure when Google put forth this treasure, but I just found it and am hooked. The game is quite simple in design: you’re given a question and need to find the answer. Your efforts are timed, and usually take several layers of searching to arrive at the desired outcome, however, there is of course more than one way to discover the answers. Hints can be given along the way if you get really stuck.

A typical question is illustrated by the one I answered on September 18, 2011:

What bean was so prized by the people of Tenochtitlan that it was 
used as currency?

It took me 1 minute and 37 seconds to find the answer (but in my defense, I hadn’t completely finished my first cup of coffee). When I completed it, “A Google A Day” displayed my path to find the answer (I won’t include it here, so I don’t ruin your own search).

“A Google A Day” is a separate search engine than “regular Google,”  to ensure the user doesn’t find someone else’s answer:

To keep the game interesting for everyone, we created Deja Google – A wormhole inspired time machine that searches the Internet as it existed before the game began. Because nobody wants someone’s recent blog post about finding an answer spoiling their fun.

Users can go back in time to complete questions on days they missed, and of course, you could repeat the search of any question as many times as you’d like, trying different query approaches.

Along with the game, is the amazing resource, “Tips and Tricks” which includes the link to “Google Inside Search,” where users can learn even more about successful searching techniques in the “Features” and “More Help” sections. (There’s plenty more to do at the “Google Inside Search” page, such as enjoy and learn the meanings of all the Google Logos that have graced the past Google pages).

“A Google A Day” is an excellent resource for teachers to use with students together or pass on to students for their own independent study. I can imagine classes breaking up into teams to compete against each other, or graphing their best times each day. Each daily answer could also lead to even more research for students.

Students, and teachers, will become “power searchers” in no time with this fun and engaging game.

Seedlings @ Bit by Bit Podcast: Show 118
September 12, 2011

We’re BACK! Season 4 of Seedlings has started!

Links from the show:

• New York Times Article: “In Classroom of Future, Stagnant Scores”
• Liz Davis’ Reply
• Add YOUR OWN 2 Cents at TechLearning! 

“Geek of the Week” Links for 2011-09-12

Chat Transcript from EdTech Talk coming soon!

SEEDLINGS on Facebook!

Music:

• “And So We Strive” by Stuart Lawson

Technorati Tags: bitbybit, seedlings, education, cheryloakes, alicebarr, bobsprankle

Seedlings @ Bit By Bit Podcast: Show 118 [ 37:07 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Seedlings @ Bit by Bit Podcast Teaser!
September 8, 2011

It’s a Teaser! Join us MONDAY!

SEEDLINGS on Facebook!

Music:

• “And So We Strive” by Stuart Lawson

Technorati Tags: bitbybit, seedlings, education, cheryloakes, alicebarr, bobsprankle, teaser, season 4

SEEDLINGS Season 4 Teaser! [ 6:21 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

(cross-posted at TechLearning)

This coming Sunday will mark the 10th Anniversary of 9/11. This will, without doubt, be a difficult day for many. Ten years is a long time, and yet it feels like just yesterday when I received the note handed to me while teaching that alerted to me of the tragedies taking place that fateful day. I still have that note. Every once in a while, I take it out and re-read it. It immediately transports me back to that horrible day and propels me into deep reflection.

This past summer was the first time I visited New York since 9/11 had happened. My family and I went down to Ground Zero and viewed the rebuilding and watched the cranes and workers finishing up the memorial that will open this week. We went to the FDNY Memorial Wall. It was a very somber and profound experience. Very emotional.

My daughter was 3 years old when 9/11 occurred. She has no memory of the actual events except of what she’s been told and learned later in her life. Many of our high school and even middle school students in our schools will have clear memories of the day. In the coming days, we will be bombarded with images, video, and recordings from the event in the media. These images will undoubtedly permeate our classroom walls, even at our younger grades. Schools, teachers, parents, and communities will approach the anniversary in different ways. Some will incorporate this historical moment through curriculum, discussion, and commemorative events. Others may choose not to. People will find the approach to marking the anniversary in the way that works best for them.

When 9/11 occurred, my wife and I did not have television. We missed all of the images that most of the world watched for days, weeks, months. In some ways, I feel fortunate to have only text (newspapers) and audio (radio) to inform me of the events, and wasn’t bombarded with the terrible images over and over again. However, in following years, I have felt the need to go and witness the images and even video from the day that have been archived on the Internet. I’m not entirely sure why I’ve needed to do this, but I do believe it is part of my own reckoning with this moment in history that has in many ways defined an integral part of our personal, national, and global identity.

You may have students who feel the need to do the same examination, or who seek guidance in educating themselves further about 9/11 due to the anniversary. It is my strong opinion that curriculum, discussions, or any study of 9/11 brought into the classroom should be well thought out in advance, with sensitivity to many issues such as age group, community needs, parental wishes, religious and political beliefs, etc. As stated above: this anniversary will be very difficult for many.

Parents and students may approach schools and teachers for tools to further understand and commemorate the event. There are many resources available electronically.

One of my favorite endeavors is Scholastic’s “I Will” 9/11 Tribute Movement. The intent is to mark the anniversary by making it “the single largest day of charitable service in history.” Many resources and lesson plans can be found at the site.

The National September 11 Memorial and Museum has an extensive online site, offering interactive timelines, webcasts, lesson plans and even a virtual tour of the memorial. They provide an excellent handout on “Talking to Your Children About 9/11.” They also have several iPhone/iPad apps dedicated to 9/11 and the Memorial. Older students may want to include their stories, photos, or video in the “Making History” interactive, collective section of the site.

The National Association of School Psychologists offers resources “to support parents, educators, and other caregivers helping children understand the many facets of the 10th Anniversary of September 11, 2001.”

The World Trade Center Tribute Site offers an educational toolkit for grades 5-12, including a teacher’s guide and learning standards to use with included oral histories.

I would be remiss if I were to leave out the collection housed at the Internet Archive: “Understanding 9/11A Television News Archive” which offers up over “3000 hours of television from 20 channels over 7 days” documenting both national and international television coverage. I am by no means recommending its inclusion in resources for students, but rather to note the unprecedented breadth of information available to us due to technological advancements.

The sites listed above —as well as my own thoughts about revisiting this difficult history through education— barely scratch the surface of this topic.

I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below about how best to explore this anniversary in education, as well as any sites/resources you have found that would benefit students, families, and community.

Thank you.