Changing the Education System: Making Lasting Memories

The greatest need for change in our educational system is the need to create learning opportunities where students are engaged, excited, and connected to their personal learning environment. We need to create curriculum that enables students to grasp material, make lasting memories, and have fun in the process. Learning, not schooling, needs to be the goal in order to create a system where learners are dedicated to their own growth and development and understand the importance of their place in the world. The following video was created in response to this need.

BP18_2009103_Reflective Media Asset 2(Glogster)

BP17_2009103_Web 2.0(Response to Peer Post- Kiley Craft)

Slideshare.net – Is used to share presentations created in Powerpoint, Acrobat Presentations and Word Documents. It can be an interface for your audience to view your presentations or a hosting place where you can embed shows into your site or blog. Content can also be linked to from social networks such as linked in or facebook. Presentations you share can be public or restricted based upon several variables.

Much like any site open to the public some presentations are better that others. The first show I viewed had no audio and consisted of about 35 slides that contained text and pictures to teach the audience a process. The next two were essentially slideshows of pictures set to music. The first was Hawaii wallpapers for computers and the images were stunning but no information was provided as to whether the person who posted them was the photographer or simply assembled the show from found images. The second of these was more interested because while it was still just pictures set to music you are informed that it is an artists portfolio of work and they composed the music as well which made it a much stronger presentation for me. After viewing two more that I thought were very informative and possible useful to colleagues, I used the embedded share feature to email the colleagues links to the show so that they could evaluate for themselves whether they could use it.

BP16_2009103_Web 2.0(Glogster Edu)

http://edu.glogster.com/

A glog is an online multimedia poster. The Glogster Education website could be used to create a portal to house multimedia projects that students create. Within a glog, students could create multimedia posters of themselves and include images and videos to add more depth. Glogster EDU even supports SchoolTube videos! Glogster Education glogs can be set to private for select viewers. Teachers control all the activities of their learners and the platform is private and safe.

A glog would probably appeal more to the visual learner than a blog would. I could definitely see my students using glogs to visually organize information. One of the things that students could do with glogs is create an online portfolio of their learning. On their glogs, they can create links to presentations, videos, photos, websites and more. The site also offers tools and artwork for the designer to add to their glogs. With glogs teachers can integrate core subjects for learner portfolios and use the glogs for alternative assessments. Final glogs can be embedded into class websites, blogs, etc.

The benefits of using glogs are much like the benefits of using blogs. As a teacher, you can monitor student information and allow students leeway to set-up their space to fit the needs of a given assignment. Another benefit for educators is that the educator that registers for the glogs can create up to 200 accounts. Teachers can use glogs as a tool for differentiation by linking specific assignments to a specified section on the glog. I’ve even seen trainers use glogs to set up access to different courses. The possibilities are endless. You can also tag glogs to help with organizing them and with finding glogs created by others. On this site you can also add comments to provide feedback for student work.

References

Glogster Edu Staff. (2008). A new world of educational innovation awaits you. Retrieved on October 18, 2009 from http://edu.glogster.com/

BP15_2009103_Web 2.0(Build Your Wild Self)

www.buildyourwildself.com

A Web 2.0 tool that I thought was fun and could see my students having a great time creating with is www.buildyourwildself.com. On this website, you are able to build an avatar of yourself. It is easy to use and you can create as many as you’d like. This website is powered by the Wildlife Conservation Society. The colors are vivid and the avatar illustrations are beautiful and kid-friendly. After creating your avatar, you can send it to a friend, put it on your desktop, or use it to represent yourself in other interactive arenas.

Last month, my students created websites. I suggested to one group that they create an image or avatar to walk their viewers through the website. I wish I had known about this site prior to that conversation. If I had, I would’ve told them to use this site to create their avatars! They would’ve had a blast creating and the result would have been phenomenal. When we explore Glogs, I will have my students create an avatar using this site to include in their Glogs.

Another cool tool that this site provides is a write-up about your avatar based on the elements you choose to create it. For instance, my avatar’s name is FlyTye, the Atoo-bird and she has a palm cockatoo crest. According to the site, this crest helps her communicate and a raised crest can signal to other birds that she’s a friend. Each write-up is positive and would be a great benefit to a student’s self-esteem and self-perception.

Students can also print their avatars and use them as posters or to create other artwork. This website encourages imagination and gives a little insight into animal life through the write-ups of each character. There are also links to the New York Zoos and Aquariums from this site.

References

Wildlife Conservation Society Staff. (2009). Retrieved on October 18, 2009 from http://www.buildyourwildself.com

BP14_2009103_Web 2.0(ProProfs.com)

http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/

One of the most interesting and helpful Web 2.0 tools that I’ve found this week is ProProfs Quiz School. This site allows you the opportunity to create free quizzes, online tests, training, recruitment, and exams for your classroom, company, or friends. One of the aspects that make this site so awesome is that it offers many features like statistics, analytics, geographic user identification, flexible result types, style customizations and seamless integration with other websites. It also supports a wide variety of quiz question styles, from multiple choice to true-or-false, etc. Another great feature of this site is that it allows you to tag your quizzes and share them on the web, while also giving you access to quizzes created by others.

This website can be used by educators, companies, families, and friends. Quizzes can be made for any purpose and for any occasion. You can even customize your quizzes by adding your images, logos, and changing the colors and styles. You can embed the quizzes into your website, blogs, facebook pages, etc. There are no ads in quizzes placed on your sites and all of the ads that you find on their website are family-safe. Another highlight of this site is that it is 100% safe for use in the educational environment.

I found this site last week when I was searching the Internet for a quiz making site to create an online quiz for my classroom. My motivation for creating the quiz online was that I was already bombarded by a million papers that needed to be graded and needed a quick and easy way for students to take a multiple-choice science test. I was absolutely amazes and impressed by this site! Not only does it cut my grading time down, it also allows me to view quiz results instantly and provides students with a certificate of completion upon completing the quiz. I will definitely use this site often! Another benefit of this site is that it allows you to search through and use other quizzes created by educators. Whereas, I had to type in all of the questions for the quiz that I am giving this week, I can search the site in the future to find quizzes on material in my curriculum.

I embedded the quiz into my classroom blog and will have the students take the quiz in the computer lab.

References

ProProfs.com Staff. (2009). ProProfs Quiz School. Retrieved October 18, 2009 from http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/

Image courtesy 5jcity.blogspot.com

BP13_2009102_Reflective Media Asset 1 (SchoolTube)