Thinking About Learning

I regret that I was out of the blogging loop for the last couple of months.  Finishing up the school year, having a son graduating from high school,  and a daughter planning a wedding, I’ve just had a lot on my plate!  Now it’s nice to have some time to relax and reflect.

My first year as a technology integration specialist was wonderful!  I was a little apprehensive about starting in a new school after teaching in my previous school for 14 years, but I was very warmly received.  My teachers were very welcoming to me, and they were receptive to what I had to offer in the realm of technology.  I was impressed that they were so open to trying something new.  One of my greatest impacts this year was with blogging.  In December I started with a couple of fifth grade classes, and by February, over 220 of the students in my school had their own blogs.  Students loved it and would ask me in the halls in the morning, “Are we coming to blog today?”  Teachers loved it as a way for students to reflect on their learning.  It was definitely a win-win scenario!

My other area of positive impact this year was  project-based learning.   Podcasting,  Photo Story, and research using Open Mind were some of the most engaging learning activities.  The last month of school, I had a second grade students who each researched an animal and wrote digital stories about their animals based on the book, Diary of a Worm.  They navigated through our school’s social bookmarking site, Diigo,  to locate information to research, wrote and edited text, located copyright permissible images, created a PowerPoint, converted it to JPEGS, created a Photo Story with it, and narrated it.  These second graders learned and used technology skills that many teachers don’t possess.  I was very impressed with what they accomplished.  It was so much fun to work with them, because every new thing that I showed them received a “WOW” reaction.   They were so motivated and enthusiastic!  I don’t think Disney World would measure much higher on their “WOW” meters.  They were sponges soaking it all in and loving every minute of it.  I can’t wait to see what these kids will accomplish next year as third graders!

In thinking about next year, I want to continue with the blogging and projects.  Some other goals I have are to get my teachers more involved with using Diigo and to focus more on using Web 2.0 tools for assessment.  Another emphasis will be to raise awareness with my teachers about copyright issues related to the Internet, fair use, and Creative Commons.  I also want to be a catalyst for greater collaboration among teachers.

I had a fabulous year! This job change was the right thing at the right time in my life.  I have made new friends and learned so much.  I’m already excited about next year…the journey continues!

At last! With the release of Diigo 3 and the subsequent chatter in the Twitterverse, this great social bookmarking app is finally getting the attention it deserves!! Until recently I only had 2 close friends who were Diigo users. We included a social bookmarking page on our Digital Educators wiki to use in our Diigo evangelization efforts in our district. In spite of our best efforts, we’ve been unable to convert many other Technology Integration Specialists or teachers to our way of thinking about the advantages of Diigo. People just have a hard time moving out of their delicious comfort zones, but maybe some will be willing to jump on this bandwagon soon.

Here’s how I’m introducing Diigo at my K-5 school…I set up a school-wide Diigo account. Only teachers have the ability to add bookmarks (they’re still learning about tagging), but students can access the bookmarks. It’s a great way for teachers to collaborate and save sites for students to use for research, extending learning, and at-home study. Students use the highlighting tool when they are researching. When I taught them how to use the highlighting, we had a fabulous lesson about finding main ideas and determining important information.

Diigo 3 offers some useful new tools. A Diigo sidebar allows quick and easy access to your bookmarks, annotations, and other readers of your URLs. The bookmarking dialogue box offers a suggested tag and the option to share it with friends, groups or Twitter. The send button enables you to email your bookmark, blog it, or send it to Twitter or Facebook. I still need to play with the slideshow feature.

Diigo has added new meaning to the word “social” in “social bookmarking.” While I find this personally appealing, I am concerned about how this may impact my students. At this point they are novice users and stay within our own bookmarks, but they are digital self-taught learners. Soon they will figure out how to explore the larger Diigo world, which contains lots more than elementary-appropriate content. It would be great to have an education version of Diigo.

Ryan Bretag posted a great entry about Diigo on his Metanoia blog. He includes a great chart that compares the features of Diigo with Del.ic.ious and Zoterro, and includes the Diigo promo video as well. He makes a very strong case for the use of Diigo!

I’ve been off grid for about 2 weeks…never have time to write at school and had other obligations every night. Cool week at school though! I worked with 3rd grade students to create podcasts after they had researched Revolutionary War battles that took place in South Carolina. After completing the research, they worked in teams to write newscasts about each battle. This was a first podcasting experience for these students. They were very excited, and their teacher reported that she got much better effort with the writing because of their high motivation. In addition to all the Social Studies standards covered in this lesson, 14 state ELA standards were addressed through the course of the unit:

• Analyze informational texts to draw conclusions and make inferences.
• Create responses to informational texts through a variety of methods such as drawings, written works, and oral presentations.
• Carry out independent reading for extended periods of time to gain information.
• Use graphic features such as illustrations, graphs, charts, maps, diagrams, and graphic organizers as sources of information.
• The student will use word analysis and vocabulary strategies to read fluently.
• Use prewriting techniques such as creating lists, having discussions, using graphic organizers, and using literary models to organize written works.
• Use complete sentences (including compound sentences) in writing.
• The student will write for a variety of purposes and audiences.
• Create written descriptions about people, places, or events such as those important to South Carolina history.
• Use print sources such as books, magazines, charts, graphs, diagrams, dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, and thesauri and nonprint media to access information.
• Organize information by classifying or sequencing.
• Paraphrase research information accurately and meaningfully.
• Use the Internet as a source of information.
• Use vocabulary (including Standard American English) that is appropriate for the particular audience or purpose.

That’s the beauty of project-based learning! Multiple standards can be covered in relatively short chunks. Students spent 2 class periods researching and 2 class periods writing/revising/practicing for the podcasts. They also learned about social bookmarking as they used Diigo to locate bookmarked information. Check it out: Ms. Wayne’s Podcasts. Expressive voice was a positive, noticeable focus of student writing. To share my opinion of these student efforts, I will quote a student from the Battle of Camden newcast, “Yes, Sir-ee!”