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.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, July 13, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
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.
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/
Saturday, July 4, 2009
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.
Video:
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.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
Video:
Monday, June 29, 2009
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.
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.
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