Mobile Musings

Hard policy questions about student blogging

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:29:00 +0000

A question for you: Should all student blogging be moderated?

I am really conflicted about this. I believe strongly in the benefits of student blogging. I think that if blogging is done in a closed (non-public) environment, it isn't really blogging and doesn't have the benefits of writing for an authentic audience.

In general, I think that teaching students to be responsible is a far better approach than trying to block or filter everything that might be dangerous. We should more time talking about 21st century skills and how to act prudently in the world that is out there.

On the other hand, I understand concerns about student online safety. There are many more subtle issues than just a concern that students might write something inappropriate.

Also when making a district-level decision about blogging policy, the feelings of the administration, board, and community need to be considered. Or do they? Is this a cop-out? This has been keeping me up nights.

I hope the edublogging community will write about these issues and post links to their thoughts. here. These are not easy issues, and I am looking for some thoughtful discussion on them.

Online graphic organizers

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:55:00 +0000

I recently evaluated some of the online graphic organizers available. The results are here. Different projects and student groups have different needs, so you'll want to evaluate them for your own purposes.

Please post a comment here or on the wiki if there are other online graphic organizers you've tried and liked.

End of Palm education purchase program

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:38:00 +0000

Palm has announced that their Education Purchase program will end Oct. 31.

If you have recently purchased a volume of Palm handhelds, make sure to get your claim form in asap.

Student blogging - working through the sticky issues

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:41:00 +0000

I spend a lot of time talking to people about the benefits of blogging. Students writing for a real audience and purpose leads to better writing, more motivation, critical thinking, collaboration, yada yada.

However, there are some admittedly sticky issues around student blogging. This week I had a chance to work through some of these in collaboration with a progressive district that is encouraging teachers and students to use blogs and other Web 2.0 technologies to develop literacy and critical thinking skills. Some of the issues we're talking about are:

How do you set up student accounts without having student email accounts?
If you want students to go beyond commenting on teacher posts to creating their own posts or even hosting their own blogs, how can that be monitored?

Many of the common blogging tools don't really address these issues. I'm a big fan of WordPress, so I started there. WordPress.com (they host) requires a valid and unique email address to get an account. WordPress.org (you host) will accept a bogus email account, but it's a hassle to have a large number of blogs on it. On either of these, if a student is administering their own blog, there is no automated way to see their work.

Some other popular blogging services (e.g. Blogger) are blocked in many schools, making their use less than optimal. Other blogging services that strive to be safe for students (e.g. Class Blogmeister) limit administration and primary authorship to teachers. Others charge a fee. Some school blogging platforms that are free aren't open source, meaning that they may or may not be free or even available next week. Other free services are less than reliable in terms of being up 24/7.

In the course of all this, we looked at WordPress MU, the multi-user version of WordPress. This works like Wordpress.com in that any registered user can create a new blog easily on the fly. (This works by setting up a domain with a wildcard, for example, *.blog.someschool.edu. Then if a student creates a blog, it becomes jsmith.blog.someschool.edu.) And the administrator can easily monitor and manage all blogs under the domain. The only drawback is that you have to host it yourself, but it really isn't very difficult. You just need a box with Apache, MySQL and PHP.

The interface is very slick. It has all the things I love about WordPress plus a whole suite of useful admin tools.

I'll post some updates as we get into using this more.

(Sidenote on student email: A pretty usable workaround on this is the Gmail trick. If your teacher gmail account is ksmithteacher@gmail.com and a student uses the email address ksmithteacher+kjonesstudent@gmail.com, all email to that address will go to you at ksmithteacher@gmail.com. That allows you to register students for services that require a unique and valid email without maintaining or needing to monitor an email account for them.)

Dell's new low-cost laptop

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:43:00 +0000

The long-rumored, low-cost laptop from Dell is now official: the Inspiron Mini 9 (currently available for pre-order only).

The prices start at $349 (not quite as low as had been rumored and hoped for, but prices generally fall over time) and go up to $449. Like other low-cost laptops, the lower end model ships with Linux (Ubuntu) and higher-priced models are available with XP. These models all ship with hard drives (4-16 GB) and wireless. Ports include USB (3), VGA out, Ethernet, headphone, mic, and a 3-in-1 media card reader. A web cam is optional.

Stay tuned for more info as these begin shipping. We'll also be posting a comparison grid of the many new low-cost laptops soon.

A passion for content

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:52:00 +0000

Some of you may have noticed that through this summer, I've been writing a little less on this blog. The reason is that over the past year, I have gotten very involved in the area of Open Education (similar to open source software, but focused on content) and thinking and writing a lot about that.

This interest has grown out of my work in developing content for mobile devices. I have come to the conclusion that mainstream textbook publishers are not likely to come out with meaningful content for mobile devices, and so we are forging on without them. :) After developing a large library of content on a contract basis for schools, we are now looking at open-licensed work as a more far-reaching strategy.

If you are interested in Open Ed and my thoughts on it, you might also want to read my Open Ed blog and check out our new open dictionary project.

In the meantime, I'll still be here on Mobile Musings as well. :)

TeacherTube Mashup

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:48:00 +0000

(cross-posted form Karen's Mashups)

Below is one of my favorite mashups of all time -- a compilation of different clips from TeacherTube. If you aren't familiar with TeacherTube, it's a video sharing service for educators that has all kinds of great content for a variety of subjects and grades and even professional development topics, produced by teachers, students, and professional organizations. I think this is a terrific resource for differentiating instruction (especially with mobile devices).

Full credits and links for this show here.

Please feel free to use this in any way you find useful. I plan to use it at professional development workshops to give folks a quick look at all the great free video resources available to them.

Throwing out the textbooks

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:56:00 +0000

I presented a keynote a couple weeks ago on Open Education. In talking about the reasons for open ed, I make the following points:

We must differentiate instruction if we are going to engage and reach students who have increasingly diverse backgrounds, skills, and interests.
Textbooks are not an effective tool for differentiating (or engaging) students.
Technology can be a better tool, but high quality content is required for effective integration.
There is a huge industry that has grown up around the development and adoption of textbooks. There is a lot of money invested in this industry, and it is not likely to change, regardless of the benefits to learning.
Open educational resources (OER) provide a new approach to this challenge.

So after my presentation, a very excited teacher came up to me and said, "I've done just what you've said! I've thrown out our textbooks!" (He told me later that they actually sold their textbooks. Great idea for a fund-raiser!)

He then went out to his car and brought back the materials he's developed to share with me. He is a history teacher and has developed a very innovative system that he calls the "dynamic classroom." It involves binders that the kids construct over the course of the year, bringing together predictable learning routines, effective strategies, and hands on activities.

What most struck me in talking to this gentleman was 1.) his passion for his subject matter and for teaching, 2.) how much personal time and effort he's put into his teaching, and 3.) the results he's gotten with his students.

Then I started thinking about the potential of this approach. The materials appeared to be perfectly suited to building a wiki. I began imagining each kid with a $300 laptop building interactive web sites instead of binders. The possibilities are rich. Then I started thinking about this project built as an open-licensed curriculum. Everyone could benefit from the work this industrious teacher has done.

I know that there are teachers all over the world doing creative things like this, prompting their students to have rich learning experiences. These teachers know more about their content and engaging kids than most textbook publishers do. I think that most of these teachers are willing to share.

This is the potential of Open Education.
----------
Image courtesy of Alexander Baxevanis.

Take control of your own learning

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:49:00 +0000

Over the last year or so, I have been working on methods to differentiate professional development that I facilitate. Some things have worked better than others, and I'm refining my methods.

A lot of the impetus is on the participants, and I encourage them to take control of their own learning. Occasionally, I have a group, though, that just wont. If they don't understand something, they don't ask questions or use the various provided resources to help them. Worse yet, sometimes they just sit and do nothing. Others who may already know something I'm covering don't explore new areas as I encourage them to do; they instead do email or shop online. It's frustrating.

Over the past week, I have worked with a group that did a uniformly great job of making the most out of the PD time based on their own needs and abilities. People who were at a beginner level asked a lot of questions, used various resources provided, and learned at their own pace. People who were further along and more comfortable with what we were doing worked on advanced topics of interest to them, regardless of where we were as a group. They asked questions as needed, and everyone had a successful workshop.

After the workshop, a couple people who had asked me about something that had sent them on their own leaning course that was different from where we were as a "group" stopped to talk to me. They thanked me for letting them do their own thing and not being insistent that everyone in the group do the same activities. I thanked them for being assertive and independent about their own learning. I shared that sometimes people aren't willing or able to do that. They went on to say that many of the workshops they go to have facilitators who are very strict about everyone "being on the same screen." They said they've had bad experiences in the past with facilitators constantly looking over their shoulder and being intolerant of them working at their own pace or on their own interests.

That really got me thinking. Maybe the reason that some educators seem to have trouble taking control of their own learning in PD is that they aren't encouraged to do so. Even worse, they may be discouraged from this.

I know that it is not always comfortable as a PD facilitator to have a roomful of participants all working on different things, at different paces, and with different styles -- but that's what differentiation is all about! If we can't model and practice this ourselves with adult learners, how can we expect to accomplish it with kids?

The best learning practices are not always neat and orderly. We need to remember this for adults as well as kids.

MAHETC rocks!

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 13:56:00 +0000

Wow -- I had a great time at the Mid-Atlantic Handheld and Emerging Technology Conference again this year. It had all the elements of a great conference: small, high energy, interesting people, very hands on and interactive, and an intriguing mix of pedagogy and technology.

Thanks to everyone who helped put this together and who attended. Stay tuned for upcoming posts on some things that got me thinking there.

If you didn't get a chance to attend, check out the wiki. All the session and workshop materials are here.

And for those who did attend, I posted some follow-up things from my sessions that answer some questions raised or otherwise might be of interest. (This on-going communication is one of the things I love about PD wikis.)

Power-hungriness

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:07:00 +0000

If you are a gadget geek like me, you probably struggle with the whole battery issue. I love rechargeable batteries, but, over time, the juice seems to drain out of them. Pretty soon, it seems like you have to recharge them almost every day.

Then I found the La Crosse Technology BC-900 AlphaPower Battery Charger. This charger has a refresh mode that refreshes batteries so they hold a charge again like new. It also has some other nice features like automatically defaulting to the optimal setting for prolonging battery life and switching to trickle charge when charging is complete to ensure maximum battery capacity.

I don't know exactly how this all works, but it really seems to work.

(Thanks for Brad for this one.)

LOL - History of Mobile Technology

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:53:00 +0000

Each year at NECC, the team of Saul Rockman, Michael Jay, Heidi Rogers, and Elliot Soloway present a humorous session called "LOL @ NECC." This year's session was filled with many laughs.

Here is one of my favorites...a look at the history of ed tech and the beginnings of the Learning Company.

No more "Pimp your web site" - Ad-free Wikispaces for free

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:04:00 +0000

Wikispaces is now offering complimentary upgrades to ad-free spaces for K-12 educators!

If you're starting a new space, use this link to start as an ad free K-12 space. If you want to upgrade an existing site, go to Manage Spaces and and click Subscription. Then scroll to the bottom and request a complimentary upgrade.

I love Wikispaces, and this forward-thinking policy is one more plus. Their wikis are very easy for beginners to use. I'm using them as a basis for many of my workshops so that people have the information to access later and so that those who can't attend can participate virtually.

Thank you, Wikispaces!

(Thanks to Becky Hart for this info.)

Wow! Think of all the money I could have made!

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 03:12:00 +0000

BestBuy is now offering a new service: For $9.99, they'll pair your Bluetooth devices. (This is especially popular in California, where the handsfree law just went into effect.)

And to think of all the times I've done this for folks for free. :)

The first kids open dictionary

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:45:00 +0000

For months, I have been writing about our project to create the first kids open dictionary.

I am very excited to unveil the first piece of this: a collaborative, wiki-based dictionary builder. If you have a second, check out the site and add a quick definition (or click on recent changes to edit one someone else has done). Whatever you do doesn't have to be perfect. Others can add to it and edit it later.

This project grew out of the need we have seen in classrooms and other informal learning environments for a dictionary that is kid-appropriate (both in terms of language level and content) and open for everyone to use in any context.

Down the road, we'll be publishing this as a completely open, public domain dictionary that can be used on the web or offline on desktops, laptops, handhelds, ipods, phones, etc. Teachers will also be able to export custom glossary lists to incorporate into their own lessons, ebooks, web sites, etc.

We are excited about this project and hope many of you will join in and contribute. It only takes a couple minutes and is a great way to share and become a part of the Open Educational Resources movement.

New free, sharable PD wiki on web 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:44:00 +0000

We had a great time at the Web 2.0 All-You-Can-Eat Buffet workshop in San Antonio.

All of the resources we shared are available for anyone to access, share, and use in any setting in the Web 2.0 All-You-Can-Eat Buffet wiki.

Here is the "roadmap" and some quick start guides for the workshop.

Enjoy!

Over the past year, I have been working on strategies for differentiating PD. I am more convinced than ever that a great way to provide meaningful, hands-on, inquiry-driven PD is with a wiki and a "road map" that lets people work at their own level. I am trying to do less and less presentation at my workshops. I sometimes get a few comments from people who prefer a slower, step-by-step walk-through of each thing we're doing, but most people like what I think is a more authentic and meaningful approach to PD. Here are some comments people have made about this:

Live blogging Edubloggercon

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:52:00 +0000

For those interested, I'm liveblogging Edubloggercon at the NECC ning.

Technorati Tags: ebc08 edubloggercon

Feel the energy and learn virtually

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:26:00 +0000

I woke up this morning with my head buzzing with energy, ideas, and anticipation. Like many others, I'm heading off to NECC today. This year's conference promises to be a goldmine of ideas, conversations, and interactions.

If you can't attend this conference, there are lots of opportunities to participate virtually. A list is below. In fact, I suspect that those who take advantage of these online resources will gain far more than those who just sit in sessions. I know that I'll be digesting all this stuff for weeks to come.

NECC ning (social network)
NECC Live (streaming video
Edubloggercon
Hitchhikr feed (aggregated blog and photo feed)
Twitter stream (If Twitter can get it together, that is. It's been a tough week.)

Change is good!

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:55:00 +0000

I was doing a Web 2.0 workshop last week and brought up Photoshop Express, the new, free, online photo editor. Imagine my delight when I saw the new resizing tool -- this was the one feature I thought this tool was really missing! I shrieked with glee upon see it.

This brought up one of the great things about Web 2.0 tools -- they are not constrained in the way that traditional boxed software is. They can add features, respond to user comments, and evolve as necessary, even daily. (In the old days of software, we had to wait until those 25,000 CDs were gone before we could update things.) And that is just what we are seeing in tools like Photoshop Express, the Google tool suite, and others.

Of course, this can be challenging in terms of staying up-t0-date, especially for those who are offering professional development. It is making printed user manuals a thing of the past and wiki-driven PD a must. But I like wikis better anyway, so I say, bring on the change!

The ideal MP3 player - the ongoing search

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:38:00 +0000

Sandisk has been continuing to refine their MP3 players and come out with a few new models. I've been trying out the Sansa Clip and really like it.

It has all the features I look for in a good MP3 player for schools: rechargeable battery, built-in recorder, low cost, and a display. It also has a few new things (for Sandisk) such as a clip and a standard mini-USB connector. And it's super small, and I like small!

What technology should be

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:21:00 +0000

I've often thought that technology must be easier to use in order to reach its real potential.

I love technology and am an enthusiastic early adopter....but for a lot of (most?) people, technologies like RSS, podcasting, wikis, and even wireless are too complex and require too much troubleshooting. When trying to get newbies up and running with things, I am often frustrated by the number of problems that can arise.

The power of easy-to-use technology has been highlighted for me by the Kindle. It really is a piece of technology that anyone can use. The wireless is as simple as flipping a switch (literally).

The interface is simple. The usability is high. Even the ergonomics of the device are comfortable and familiar. (It feels and works very much like a book.)

I've shown the Kindle to a couple people who aren't early adopters (including one who doesn't "like" technology), and the response has been very positive. People are blown away by the easy-to-read display, and they like the feel of the device. In showing it, I have not had to explain much; just turning it on and handing it over is enough. And, like other technologies, the content is a big driver. The newspapers are especially appealing. Reading newspapers online is convenient, "green," and cost effective, but for most of us, the traditional computer screen is not a good replacement for paper.

Add to the ease of use an integrated dictionary and web access to Wikipedia and more, and you have a pretty powerful tool.

When I think about the potential of truly easy-to-use technology for schools, I am optimistic. If teachers didn't have to deal with many instances of things that don't really work, maybe integration would have more of a tangible impact on learning.

News on a couple of my favorite tech tools

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:47:00 +0000

The price on the Kindle has just dropped to $359. I continue to love this device. Getting the New York Times whenever and wherever I want it is such a luxury. And the wireless has worked everywhere I've tried it, including rather remote areas of several states. I also like being able to email various types of docs to my Kindle to read when I have time.

Also, the Flip camera folks have a new model out the Mino. It is quite a bit smaller than the Ultra.

Creative has come out with their own pocket video camera, the Vado, which looks a lot like the popular Flip. I'm so happy with my Flip that I can't imagine switching, though the Vado is a bit cheaper.

Web 2.0 Resources

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Sun, 25 May 2008 23:38:00 +0000

Here is an awesome new wiki WebTools4u2use about Web 2.0 tools produced by my good friend Donna Baumbach.

Also, in preparing for my own upcoming workshops Web 2.0 All You Can Eat Buffet, I've had a lot of fun playing with many new Web 2.0 tools. Here's a sample project I created with VoiceThread. Please join in and add your comments (text, voice, video) about events in our nation's recent history.

Quizzler tip

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:50:00 +0000

If you have a problem with a Quizzler quiz that won't beam or read properly, check the length of the file (quiz) name. Like many programs, Quizzler doesn't like very long file names.

Kids ebooks on the Kindle

noreply@blogger.com (Karen F) — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:26:00 +0000

I am very happy with how easy it is to get ebooks to the Kindle and with the compatibility of Mobipocket (unencrypted) ebooks.

The K12 Handhelds ebook library works with no changes at all (and they look beautiful -- much more readable than on a handheld).

In addition to Mobipocket and Kindle ebooks, the Kindle will read Word docs, HTML, text files, JPGs, GIFS, BMPs, and PNGs. You can transfer files by USB, SD card, or the EVDO wireless. I think this always-available free wireless is one of the best features of this device.

Stay tuned for more on how "always-available" it is as I travel around. :)