Final Reflections

What I Learned
I am pleased with what I learned in this course. I learned about many web tools, like wikis, blogs, and abilities to share materials. I knew about many of these but my understanding is greater having created and used them. I also learned that keeping up with technological advances requires a considerable investment of time because comfort with a tool only comes through practice.

I also learned that many proponents of educational technology make statements about the value and effectiveness of education technology that are as ungrounded in research as the work they criticize.

What I will use.
I am likely to use some combination of wiki or blog to collect student writing and as a way to encourage student reflection. I can see increasing use of podcasts, screencasts, etc. created by me and students as a way of not doing the same thing over and over again. I will be more open to using online data as a way of engaging students in actual problems. Simulations are likely to become a part of interacting with material in different ways.
I will probably drop in on my PLN periodically to graze, but there is still too much to look at.

How my technology principles have changed.
1. I think the biggest change I have seen is a recognition and acceptance that part of education is teaching about the technology. At the start of the class, I felt strongly that technology should be used to support education, but I've come to see that some of the education has to be about how to use the technology effectively. Like it or not, web2.0, social networking, are here to stay until they accelerate into something faster. Students need to learn how to use technology for more than entertainment. Just as I didn't know that certain applications like Google REader existed, let alone how to use, many students are at a similar place. Or they can make a boring PowerPoint, but not an effective one. At the same time, I can see where knowing a technology may be more important to students than some of the performance standards in science. Proficiency in electronic communication may be more employable than knowledge of electron orbitals.

2. I am not sure how to state this as a principle, but technology and web tools do challenge educational standards. Knowing "what" may not be as important as knowing "how", or "why", or "what if." One important aspect of PLN and also seen in many digital natives is instead of knowing something, you ask or just look it up. Information is easy to obtain and is not the exclusive realm of the teacher any more. Schools and therefore school standards need to move beyond the recall or recognition of facts to how to use them, how to evaluate them, how to do something with them. Unfortunately, the standards driven approach to education doesn't seem to get it, and I think it will be increasingly difficult to do the job the county is paying me for with the experiences students have available to them on the web outside of school.

VoiceThread and band width

Anyone have much experience with moving audio and sound files through school internet connections? I liked VoiceThread (even if getting a smooth product might take some more practice) and could see how it could be useful, but I started seeing lag times to load and upload it with DSL connections. I was getting slow speed with PDF files of slides. What would it be like if I were commenting about a video? I know most schools use something faster, like a T1 line, but I did have reason to be cautious when reading FAQ about VoiceThread. One section said that if 20 computers were connected to VoiceThread at a school, there might be problems.

My students who were also video production students never turned in an assignment they chose to make into a video using computer to computer connections. They always gave me a DVD. Were they really telling me about limitations in the big system or just the system as it manifests itself in my school?

Is one aspect of the promise of Web 2.0 interactivity, especially in the sharing of voice/visual tools, limited by the connection speeds available in homes and schools? I don't use wireless connections very much and wonder do they have more or less bandwidth than say DSL or T1 lines?

Project Plans

WebTools Projects

This presents my ideas for using web based tools in my classes for this year.

1. ChemMatters reading. Students will read back issue on a regular basis, perhaps every three weeks, and complete a student reaction statement.
ChemMatters is a general interest magazine from the American Chemical Society, published four times a year. Twenty five years of back issues can be purchased on a CD and with a site license, added to a school web page. This assignment will contribute significantly to the county reading requirement During each reading period, students will be given a year from which they can pick any of the four issues. They will access the account through the class bulletin board page, complete the reaction statement guidelines, and then submit their summary to the drop box. At certain times of the year, the classes will be instructed to read certain articles and participate in on-line discussion at the class nicenet.org site.
Status of project. CD and site license obtained. CD will be uploaded to bulletin board when it is open for teacher access in mid August. Drop box established at nicenet.org. Some articles for discussion selected and topic questions prepared.

2. Chemistry podcasts -- Students will have the option of looking at chemistry podcasts to help with understanding of material.
I purchased a site license for the Bergmann and Sams (Peak Educational Consulting) pod/video casts for introductory chemistry. The value for me is that a prepared presentation is much less time consuming than making my own or doing voice over powerpoints. These will posted on the school bulletin board. Students will be encouraged to look at some of the topics before discussion of new material in class. At some point, I might try running a class discussion about the material using the nicenet.org connecticon about a podcast without doing any in class discussion. For other topics, students can use the podcast material for any available topic for which they have difficulty.
The second part of will involve recording one teacher’s presentation of material for the organic/biochemistry class and making it available to students in my class as a podcast.
Status of project. Everything is in place for the first podcast and will be ready to go when I can get access to the bulletin board again. The second project needs some trial work when classes start.


3. WISE programs -- use the online WISE learning programs on Recycling Tires and Will Fuel Cells replace Gasoline Engines?
These on-line simulations reinforce important chemistry ideas and show how the principles of chemistry have important applications outside of the classroom. My plan is to use the recycling tires during the section on materials science and the fuel cell part with the organic chemistry study of hydrocarbon fuels.
Status of project. I have worked through the units on my own. I have looked at the teacher material and suggestions for using it. I need to try accessing the programs through student access at my school to see if can be run on the machines in the computer labs.

Reflections on A/V posting

First I found making good PPT with images very time consuming. I wish there were a way to copy the URL or source information at the same time you copy the picture. Having to copy two things slows down the work. Then, if you are doing a good job like NC did on her Earth show, the source should be included on the slide. More time.

I learned more about the A/V capability of my Mac. Turns out it has a built in microphone which can be used to voice over a slide show. Not quite a screencast, but useful. I think the most useful screencasting tool would be if I had an ActivBoard again or what I imagine the more familiar (to you but not me) SmartBoard. It could record what was being said while actively changing the image on the board, like say writing in data or drawing a circle around something important. There isn't that much that can be done with a screen and powerpoint, unless you want to hide something, then bring it out again.

Getting the voice over to upload was another learning process. I learned that Wikis don't store files, so the file has to go somewhere. The Mac takes the slide show with voice and makes it into a movie, storing it as Quick Time. The voice over greatly increased its size, making it go from a 10 MB ppt to 150 MB. I don't know if it were just the voice or the file type.

Teacher Tube is a bit frustrating because your video isn't available to embed for up to 24 hours and has a limit of 100MB

Uploading video and audio files is very time consuming from home. Maybe this is an advantage of doing it through a web site because the sound is already there. Something else for me to try.

I found the class comments about how different PPT holders differed in what they did to the slide or what they didn't allow to be interesting.

As a tool, I can't see using the web as a repository for slide shows that I would need. They all seem enough of a hassle that if I wanted the slide show, I would just carry it on a flash drive. Maybe posting it has a place for collaborative work, but the upload, download time needs to be considered. I wish the voice over program I used had an edit function so misspeaks could be removed without doing the whole show over. Perhaps it exists somewhere but I am too inexperienced to know it.

I don't think I would do voice over slide shows much for my class because while I might use the visuals, I would rather talk to the class, judging their reactions as cues for what I have to say next, than to talk to the computer.

I had an interesting experience with the Wiki this week that is worth remembering if using a wiki for real time class interaction. I was editing and someone else logged on. The wiki gave me some options, but when I followed what I thought was the best one, it deleted everything I wrote and kept the other person's work. I can see students getting very frustrated if they were all trying to write in something, and some or all the comments were lost because only one at a time could be recorded.

PowerPoints and other visual tools in the classroom

I am wondering how many of you make and use PowerPoints and other visual tools for use in the classroom? I don't like the PowerPoint as lecture note format that is so commonly used; all bulleted text, which can be made fairly easily. I admit I don't have a great deal of experience making PowerPoints, but finding images and inserting them effectively in a slide takes up much more time than I want or certainly have to spend getting ready for a class. I like images that will show up large, sometimes even cropping the image I clip before inserting it.

Even when you find good visuals, they may not be good visuals to use for an in front of class talk because the text on a copied diagram may actually be to small to read. I am finding that making powerpoints that are used on computers may actually be easier and more helpful to students because the text on a diagram is easier to follow.

I like giving students a chance to make them because it can be an effective project, especially when I ask on an evaluation, why did you pick the slides that you did? What were you hoping would coming across with this image? I generally keep a copy of student's work if they let me and use them again.

Given my new awareness of copyright, how do you instruct students about citing slides? I liked Natasha Cleveland's copyright information on her slides. Natasha or anyone else, can you tell me how to include this infomation on a slide? Is there an easy way to download the source link when you save an image from someplace like CreativeCommons or Goggle. When I was selecting slides, it was easy to copy but if I had to go back to find the URL, I might have to look through ten pages of images again.

Thanks for any insights you might have to share.

PLN for week 6

This week I started getting ready to get back to school and to work for less money. State plans to furlough us for 3 of the 5 preplanning days. Guess it will be just another day to work without getting paid for it, although this time I will actually see less money in a pay check.

I asked the chemistry list serve for advice with programs that draw organic molecules for you. I quickly got four ideas, which I am working on. I connected with my school's webmaster to start putting together how my plans for this year can be added. I also am working on understanding several podcasting tools I will be using, including the Bergmann/Sams podcasts for first year chemistry. Also finished work on my other MSU course.

Best Tool for receiving student work?

This school year I want to try having students turn in some work electronically. I would like all the work to show up on one page, like a blog or wiki because I think this will make it easier for me to read it and manage it. I want to be able to know who submitted it. Lastly, I want the ability to erase/delete all the work when the assignment is finished so the site doesn't get crowded when students use it every three or four weeks. What platform and provider might be the best for this? I would prefer something that only the students could get into if possible.

The big picture idea is that we have a reading requirement. ChemMatters is a chemistry periodical for which we have 25 years of back issues on CD. Students need to read it on line because it looks better in color and license rules for use prohibit photocopying (nor do I want to spend the time or money). Students would be writing reaction statements, which I evaluate mostly by completion. I figure since the students are already on a computer reading it, it would be easy to collect reactions electronically. Then if they are all on one page, I can read them faster, and since their grade is for completion, I don't have to keep track of paper to hand back. Originally, I thought I would collect as an e-mail but I can see where a blog or wiki would be much better and not risk clogging my school e-mail account. I am looking for the best spot for the repository because it will probably work better if not connected to our school system.

Thanks for your ideas.

Week 5 reflections

I liked some of the resources on CIESE site. They would be very valuable to me if and when I teach Environmental Science again. The Chemistry activities on WISE look interesting. At first glance, I think I will try to use the Recycling Rubber tires and End of Gasoline Engine modules this year in class.

I want to spend some time thinking of ways to incorporate real time data into chemistry teaching. The pace needed to cover all our curriculum seems fast, with little time to do "real" anything, like make the chemistry concepts apply to real life.

With regards to PLN, I am letting go of Twitter. I really didn't get into it that much. Following others didn't produce the gains I might like for the time involved. I personally don't like sending out messages. With enough other things to do, this seemed like always one of the last areas I would check. Now that I have only two weeks of summer left before returning for preplanning meetings on Aug. 3, I have to concentrate time where I can be most productive. With another MSU course to finish and the need to start school with a refreshed and more relaxed state of mind, time management is important.

Web seminar NSDL

I participated in the Nat. Sci. Digital Library seminar for chemistry teachings on 14 July. The set up was a bit odd but it worked okay. You logged on to see the images, but the audio came over the telephone by dialing a toll free number. This helped deliver sound faster than some web programs seem to be able to do. The visual part looked like it was a download from a smart board. I didn't see the people, just the images they selected and these were not live so they couldn't do live linking. They incorporated a survey where participants beeped their phones for the multiple choice answer.

I found it worthwhile because I had heard of NSDL resources before, but I had never looked at them. This course gave me the incentive to pay more attention to it when it passed through my list serve. I still use a land line with a Princess phone so I had to hold the phone during the entire seminar. A speaker phone would have been easier to use and allow access to the typing chat feature had I wanted to ask questions.

Probably the most useful thing I learned was about the interactive periodic table which has video links for all the elements.

I probably would not have chosen to attend a seminar like this, but giving an hour to it from home was okay. So I am thinking one of the benefits of on line professional development is that I might participate in something I otherwise wouldn't consider. Probably keeping it under an hour is a good thing because it can then fall into the lost time category of other web interaction.

PLN for Week 4 -- computer 1.0

Some of my PLN time last week was spent on computer 1.0. I had to buy a new Mac in May to replace one stolen from my house. This one has iWork on it, and I spent a great deal of time learning how it handles graphs, how it combines desktop publishing features in to the word processing and spreadsheet programs. No need for MS Publisher. I also learned more about how to use iPhoto (compression feature already built in so I can send small MB pictures as e-mail or to my blog) and a bit about iMovie. I attended some Apple training and the face to face with computer between us was easy and probably more efficient than asking text about it. REminds me on someone's earlier post from week one about having students call her because it was so much more effective than doing it as e-mail or text. Turns out that this investment in learning my new machine will have benefits for me with blog and web pages because many of the commands are the same.

Sorry to learn that the ability to save files from Mac to PDF is a Mac feature. I guess PC users have to buy an Abode product to do this although I think Randy said he found something on line that allowed transfer.

Reflections on simulations

This week I have been looking at some chemistry simulations. I checked out some of the ones mentioned in the text (chapter 3).
ExploreLearning http://www.explorelearning.com/ has some nice gizmos (their word). I would probably use them projected to the class because you can run through the simulation pretty fast and getting students computers for such a short time is probably not worth the time. There is a subscription cost, unknown to me still, associated with using these long term. I question if the graphics are large enough to be easily seen if projected to the class.

Youtryit is interesting but limited.

I added some to the class simulation list. Most of the ones I added I learned about through the NSTA chemistry list serve.

I will probably use some of the molecular modeling ones because I am terrible at drawing spacefilling models, plus being able to rotate them is invaluable. I think I would use actual models initially in the year, but after students have had some practice putting together molecules, the visual might be enough when it comes time to introduce a new functional group.

If any of you might consider using Virtual Worlds as an educational tool, I can forward you an e-mail from someone on the NSTA chem list serve who compiled a list of resources and samples.

Friends and Facebook comic

I wanted to copy this cartoon about friends and facebook directly to the page, but I didn't want to pay for the cartoon service that would allow me to do this. I especially recommend it to anyone concerned by the numbers of followers, friends, etc. http://www.uclick.com/client/atl/nq/2009/06/30/

Week 3 reflections and images

Week Three reflections

The image editing tools can be fun to play with. However, I find the process much more time consuming than I would use on a regular basis. The editing features are not that much more special than what I can do with iPhoto. For students, I see the image remaking tool as another way to digress from task, much like the animation features of PowerPoint. If the point is to teach photo editing skills, great, but if the goal is to reinforce science understanding, students should be spending more time on the content in their reports.

I am unlikely to subscribe now that I have uploaded my five free pictures. I did have trouble uploading an image I acquired from Creative Commons, although I later realized it was in how I saved the image in the first place. (needed to save as image, and not copy.) I realize that if I am going to use my camera for a blog, I need to change my camera settings. Typically I take pictures on outdoor vacations with highest number of pixels so that I have the option of enlarging them into prints if I want. These take too long to upload to blogger, and I would be better off with less resolution.

I found the copyright information worthwhile and will probably require students who make powerpoints to include the information on the first slide as suggested by EducationWorld. Most of the time I want students to include more graphics or images on PowerPoints than words. Students should talk to the class (not just read the words off a slide) because this shows understanding of their topic. The PowerPoint is the graph reinforcement.

All the photo enhancing tools remind me of an article that I saw perhaps 25 years ago as photo retouching software was just being developed and long before anyone had easy access to it. The article was titled "The End of the Photograph As Evidence of Anything Real." This is another reality check that many students probably need to be reminded of. What you see, just because it is a photograph like image, doesn't mean it actually exists that way. Maybe the way to help students see this is to have them alter images of their own.



Detail of green sign on outhouse on trail in Whistler, Canada
Sign cropped and zoomed.










Butterfly laying eggs, cropped and color enhanced


Black bear Whistler, Canada after cropping and heat mapping

The heat mapping would be more useful in class if there were an easy to follow color code about what was hot and what not.

Video:

Twitter and PLN

I spent part of day trying out Twitter and thinking about how it might support a PLN. Here are my observations, based on one day's experience.

1. I like sites like eduratereview. All the material is related to education, and it is like a news feed. I could see checking into this one or twice a month and scanning for articles of interest. It gives a quick title, and then links.

2. "Following" is a very mixed bag. When most tweets are about something educational, they can have some value in that I hear about new resources. Like on willrichard45 (?), I found something that took me to his blog, and there I started to learn something about Diigo.

3. I was disappointed with the gardenglen link that Eric mentioned frequently. If I am following him to learn more about education and the web, there is too much unrelated to this on the page. My time is much more valuable than following several days worth of preparation to attend a conference. Moreover, all this garbage makes me respect the site and the person less. I think the idea of following is to find people who have interesting perspectives on something of interest to you. In a similar manner, I lose respect for people on a list serve who feel compelled to respond to all to answer a very specific question. Maybe for some, knowing that a person spends more time tweeting than doing yard work makes this person a reliable commentator on education. Personally, I like the more old fashioned way of evaluating a person by credentials and references within a community. To earn my respect, I would like to follow people who respect the value of time and use the short format of Twitter to relay conciseness.

4. I am learning I am a much more private person than many that exist on-line. I don't like the idea that others can see what I am following. I don't like leaving a very open trail because I worry how it can be misinterpreted. I don't think I would post openly to many blogs or twitter sites because I don't know how the information will be interpreted. As a teacher, I am especially sensitive to what people can find out about me because there are many who might question what I look at and form an incorrect image of me which could hurt me professionally. I think it is too easy to lose context when following a web trail.

5. Following another's tweets is weird and somewhat annoying because you see the replies to earlier messages so much of the page lacks context.

6. I wonder how much effort one needs to put in to evaluate all the people someone might be following. Because there seems to be no grouping, educational technology can be right up there with the person's community tennis team. For me, so far, list serves are more useful because at least there is some agreement about what people will post.

PLN -- first comments

Over my 25 plus year career in education, I have learned a great deal from colleagues and teachers. Most of this has occurred over conversations or through workshops. Consequently, at this point in my career, I consider myself at stage 5 of the Utescht scale in many areas of my professional life. (Definitely not stage five with electronic resources) I have more than enough ideas about teaching my content area. I don't have a great desire to learn too much about some content areas because even if I learned them, I couldn't put them into place with my county pacing guide. When I taught at an independent, I had much greater freedom about what I taught, and during this time I pursued new ideas because I knew I could try them out. With my classes, the greatest area in which I am interested is in student feedback on their learning. When I need something, I usually get adequate information from the NSTA list serves.

I seek out information when I have something new to do, such as when I switched to teaching high school chemistry two years. I sought out respected sources of information that came from personal experience or reliable services, such as NSTA. I probably got the most out of attending a workshop and talking with teachers about what they did.

I like the PLN that take place during a course. Here there is a small group of people doing the same thing at the same time. I've enjoyed much of the discussion that has taken place in my MSU courses. I have to admit though, that I didn't feel compelled to keep in touch with many of my classmates. What brought us together was the class at hand.

While I haven't started my on-line PLN, I have my doubts as to how valuable it will be for me. I find that I remember very little of what I read about on-line. Even when I organize ideas and make notes on them, what I use in my classes are things I have seen. I seldom find it helpful to read someone else's lab write up on-line.

Online learning and "The Dumbest Generation"

I am slow to get to my thoughts on Twiiter and PLN this week because I daily commuted to an AP Env. Sci. training session.

I feel behind, but also don't miss the mental frenzy that goes with checking posts. During some down time and an overnight session with no laptop, I read The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Mark Bauerlein, 2008). While the ultimate argument of his book is that American adolescents spend time on screen at the considerable loss of intellectual growth through reading, he did include one chapter on studies of on-line learning that bolster his case. These might be something to consider as we contemplate Web 2.0 applications in our classes.

He acknowledges that the wired, gaming, messaging generation may develop better spatial awareness and some planning, but doesn't feel that students become better learners in the process.

A quote from Bill Joy founder of Sun Microsystems at a WEb 2.0 conference: I"m skeptical that anything has to do with learning. It sounds like encapsulated entertainment."

Overall, blogs, etc reduce student reading ability because they spend little time reading books where they might encounter more unusual words. "For most users, screen time doesn't graduate them to higher knowledge/skills levels. It superpowers their social impulses, but it blocks intellectual gains." (Bauerlein, 139)

Another section deals with research into how people look at computer screens. A web consulting company of Jakob Nielsen looks at individual responses and more importantly, monitors what user is really doing with eye movement cameras. Some of the findings:
1. 0nly 16% of uses read text on a web page in linear, word to word fashion. They scan text, fixate on interesting items and then quickly move on.
2. Readers of RSS feeds spend even less time on headlines than on the newsletter itself. Typically a reader will look at the first two words in the headline, and if nothing in those two words sparks interest, then will go to next page.
3. Most readers look at web pages in F pattern, read top line, some in the middle, and the left edge. Lower right corner often ignored.
4. Teens display reading skills, research procedures, and patience levels insufficient to navigate the web effectively.
5. Adolesecents complete online tasks only 55% of the time, compared with adults 66%. Students have short attention spans and want to be stimulated.
6. Much of the problem comes from the large amounts of time students have control over what they do with digital technology, much more than required school time. They are so grooved that efforts from school may not change them.

Ultimately, digital technology presents adolescents so much choice, that they spend nearly all of their time on sites with people who share their opinions and don't challenge them to grow intellectually.

Cooking egg-- I don't like the soundtrack so you might turn it off

I picked this because I mentioned this in a comment on Natasha's blog page as an example of using YouTube materials instead of experiments. This is the only example of this demonstration I could find with a short search. Please comment if you think you see enough of this to make it a valuable replacement of a demonstration for high school chemistry. Thanks.

Blogs, Wikis, week 1 assignment

After looking at a number of educational blogs and wikis, I can see where they can have some value to student learning.

1. Many class wiki help communicate information to students. I can't always tell from the ones I've seen how participatory they are, but if a teacher maintains it regularly it can help with learning. For example, I post assignments, worksheets, PDF readings on my class bulletin board page. The readings are especially valuable because they look better in the original multi color printing plus they save dollars and paper. Students are increasing becoming more comfortable with doing on-line reading.

2. How a class wiki could be helpful.

A. If I were able to set up an interactive wiki, the students and I could share information about assignments. I like the idea of password protecting it so it would be only for my classes, which would allow more communication with fewer risks. The route where I have to approve everything before posting won't work for me. Nothing would ever get posted or I wouldn't get any other work accomplished.

Maybe one could ask a question, and someone else could reply besides me. This would be especially valuable for those who start homework after I go to bed. With longer term assignments or some particularly confusing task, being able to respond to a question only once and future readers could see it would save all of us time.

B. I would like to use it as a place to discuss topics. For example, I might assign an online reading and then have a place to make comments. Much like with on line classes, I could require students to post a number of times per semester. If everyone posted all the time, it would get repetitive and very long with 140 honors chemistry students. Another idea is to assign one or two students to be discussion leaders for a weekly article. They make up the questions to ask or start discussion of the article. I might assess only their participation, while encouraging others to participate.

I share opinions of others that some students will comment in a situation like this where they will never say anything in class. I also know that for some students this would be great because they love to text and to chat.

C. Next year I will be teaching half the classes for a popular course that has been taught by the same person since its inception when the school opened seven years ago. I am sure there will be students who are going to feel cheated because they aren't getting the teacher they expected. I am considering recording his lectures and making them available on an internet site.

D. Students prepare powerpoints on some chemistry topic of interest as a special topic of the week. I could put this on a course wiki, and this would allow students in other classes to see them.

E. I have done web assignments where students download a template of questions or data table. Then they have to report this information back to a master template where all students can add their information. At the end we have a data table with each person's contribution. Sometimes I will also narrow their search times by providing links to where they can find the information. Two quick sources come to mind, something from SciLinks.org (NSTA service of picking best websites for teachers) or when doing environmental topics the CIA data base.

Questions and concerns I have at this moment about using Blogs and Wikis for education.

1. Reading various blogs is an up and down process; some are interesting, some are not. During a summer or this class where I have time to follow my interests, this uneven value and content is easier to live with. I don't think the nature of blogs and especially the comment section will ever be 100% useful, but here are some things I wish more would consider.

A. side bar table of contents so you could quickly get to a topic that might be of interest to you.

B. When mention is made of another web site, include some description of what is there in addition to providing the link. A descriptor can help me decide if this is truly germane or an interesting digression.

C. I wish more comment sections could be organized around by thread. Sometimes there are several areas of comment. I may only find one of them useful, but because the comment section, is chronological, reading through all of them is necessary to see which ones discuss my topic of interest. Very often, if the number of comments exceeds 10 or 20, and most were things like "Way to go." "Totally agree with you." "Thanks for posting," I move on. I know there must be a way to do this, but many blogs don't use it. For example, my wife's daughter is an ultimate (frisbee) player, and often likes to follow her daughter's tournament information. The posts on rec.sport.disc are more topical and easier to ignore some.

I am sure some of this is a learned skill. In other MSU classes, discussion is done on D2L. With this you get a menu, showing connect to thread. Because this is done by title, and if users are good with including relevant information or content summary in the title, you can see if this is something you would like to open. However, the easy path is to press the reply button. So, it looks like your post is still in response to "having trouble with lab 4" but the actual discussion is personal chat about the individual's horses. I am learning by watching what shows up in the Update section for the class posts how titles can be useful. For example, when the update shows someone added two words to the Blog post, this usually means that this is a new blog site to follow. My department members at school are getting very good at putting as much of the message as possible in e-mail subject lines. Sometimes the title is the entire message, and I've found this helps manage a file with only one look at it.

D. I still don't see how managing more information is done by creating more. To use a blog well for education, it shouldn't encourage the wondering, valuable as this can be sometimes for serendipity finds.

Thoughts on Web 2.0

I thought the article on Web 2.o as the future of education was more interesting that the two chapters in the text.

Here are some thoughts and areas I am struggling with.

1. The participatory part of Web 2.0 may increase engagement. However, is it engagement with ideas associated with education? Anecdotes: 1) students spend more time with the glitzy features of PowerPOint or Imovie, and their final product doesn't show a great level of understanding or application of the concepts. 2) Allowing students access to online materials opens up their ability to do anything else but the required task. They check facebook through channels they know that get around the network blocker and browse for cars and prom dresses.

2. Much of the internet is still about information. So you can find the information, does this make you competent in using it? For example, I consider locally produced food very desirable. All the information I can find on line is not going to give me the feel I have for when a crop is ready, when I have to implement a pest control strategy, how long I can go without watering my plants. A certain level of education is about being able to do something, and I am not sure many of the Web 2.0 offerings actually help you do something. Do want to have surgery performed by a web trained doctor? How about car repair from a person who only blogs about it. Or consider, as one of the the class people commented on her web page, she can do somethings by phone much faster than doing something by text.

3. I completely don't get the author's idea of dealing with too much information by creating more. Anyone have thoughts on this?

4. I disagreed with the author's comments that participation makes selection better. The idea was of only buying things from Amazon with favorable user reviews. I think the author mistakes the need for and value of knowing something about the person making the comment. Even the stylish "was this review helpful to you?" doesn't tell me much. I have purchased some DVD for my classes based upon Amazon comments, and I was greatly disappointed with the product. For example, one teacher review of a movie on Trash said how much she learned from it and how engaged her students were in watching it. When I got it, with more personal background with the topic, I found the information about 15 years old, large sections would have put my students to sleep, and I needed much more explanation of what was happening. At least reviews from the librarians give you some information about the reviewer.

As science educators, we have a history of science based upon peer review at risk of being damaged or destroyed by participation by the masses. Just because a large number of people believe something doesn't make it true. We have to help students understand the difference between peer review or at least review based upon qualifications and what often passes for review online. In addition, many students don't understand how vested interests can manipulate google search results, or that favorable comments can be made as many times you might like, just like on American Idol a person can vote as often as he or she may like.

My experiences with technology

I have been using technology for a number of years in the classroom. Judging by what the text book authors are saying, I am probably not an early adapter, but I am definitely more engaged than the dismal picture presented in chapter 1o. Here are some of the ways I've used technology.

1. Electronic grade book (required by current county school system).

2. Student research and oral presentations. I have come to prefer oral reports to written ones because too much of the written work is copied without any thought. A well done PowerPoint aided presentation, especially where students are limited in number of words per slide and they need to explain the pictures they choose, helps me gauge their understanding.

3. My current school allows use of TurnItIn.com to check for copying. This is useful for research reports and lab reports.

4. For one year, I used an ActivBoard in my room.

5. Participated in field testing of National Geographic programs where students collected data and shared this with other classes across the country.

6. Started using clicker systems this year for quick classroom feedback during lecture/discussion.

7. Used remote sensing information on line for Science Olympiad events.

8. Dabbled with GIS systems to deal with environmental questions when program first came out about 12 years ago.

9. Use probes, especially motion detectors and pressure sensors in lab work.

10. Am somewhat limited with how online resources can be used in school. School filter and blocking software prohibit importation of many useful resources. While wanting to use web to distribute readings, I can't assume students can access internet from home. School acceptable use policies are really designed to protect the county network more than they are to foster education. I understand how much trouble can be caused when students load unauthorized material onto the network

11. My current chemistry text has online simulation labs which look interesting but I haven't used.

Guiding principles of technology (teaching)

My goal from students is understanding of scientific processes and how these show up in their lives. When I taught middle school, the goal for the class was helping students become better, more informed travelers on spaceship Earth. With each unit, they would have to compile a Tenants Manual For Spaceship Earth for the topic.

Now that I am teaching high school chemistry, I try to help students see how the state mandated curriculum actually applies to their lives.

What I think technology in education should do?
1. Increase students understanding of material.
2. Make sharing information easier.
3. Make preparation time shorter.
4. Improve the ability of teacher and/or student to grasp a concept.
5. Facilitate communication between students and teacher.
6. Serve as a way for students to demonstrate understanding.

Guiding education principles.
1. Learning requires effort. The only person learning is the one working at it.
2. Understanding is not equal to memorizing, recalling, or writing.
3. The process of answering questions is a helpful way to gauge understanding.
4. Learning often takes place when someone explains a concept to another person.
5. Knowing information is only a portion of learning. Being able to use or interpret it completes the task.
6. Working with materials and doing something can be both a learning experience and a way to gauge understanding.

Rime photo taken around noon, 1 June 2009 Mt. Washington NH. Temperature probably around 25 F, windspeed 55 mph