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Teachertube Reflections
Following is an annotated bibliography of three articles that look at different aspects of Teachertube.
De Avila, J. (2008, March 26). Teachers tap video-sharing in the classroom. Wall Street Journal, p. D1. Retrieved August 6, 2010, from Factiva (J000000020080326e43q00032).
An unbiased look at the advantages and disadvantages of both Teachertube and Schooltube, as well as several comparisons of the two sites.
Kendall, S. L. (2010). Social Sciences: Teachertube. Reference Reviews, 24(1), 34. Retrieved August 6, 2010, from Emerald (0950-4125).
A positive review of Teachertube that covers topics such as a brief history, description of tabs and what their functions, how to perform searches and sharing features.
Lucking, R. A., Wighting, M. J., & Christmann, E. P. (2009). Teachertube for science. Science Scope, 32(8), 62-64. Retrieved August 6, 2010, from Research Library (1678541941).
Geared specifically toward middle school science teachers, this article discusses features of teachertube such as how to download and upload videos, the social networking aspect for teachers, and they types of resources that a middle school science teacher would be interested in.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Building a Better Blog
Question 3: Throughout the readings, advice was given for successful blogging. What do you think was the best advice for individual blogging? What do you think was the best advice for classroom blogging?
I loved the idea of the blog creator being more of a mediator (for both personal and classroom). In the past, I have thought of a blog as an on-line journal, but the readings made me realize that they can be more of a true "log" in the sense that interested parties can come in to log in /comment on their views. In the past, my blogs have been stiff, formal (and frankly boring), with an intended audience of my professors and classmates. I think a successful school blog with the intended audience of students and faculty will be more interactive, fun, humerous and interesting (hopefully anyway!).
I also prefer when blog entries are not terrible long, and are broken up a bit. Blogs are something I will peek at during a quick break in the day. I follow a couple of authors that are a little long-winded, and I will frequently pass over a new post, knowing I will not have time for it. Too much personal information is a distraction (and can be disturbing!). But I always check Mo Willems (http://mowillemsdoodles.blogspot.com/) because I know he will be short, sweet, funny and have some great doodles! Pigeon also has a Twitter account for those interested parties out there, and you know who you are!
I loved the idea of the blog creator being more of a mediator (for both personal and classroom). In the past, I have thought of a blog as an on-line journal, but the readings made me realize that they can be more of a true "log" in the sense that interested parties can come in to log in /comment on their views. In the past, my blogs have been stiff, formal (and frankly boring), with an intended audience of my professors and classmates. I think a successful school blog with the intended audience of students and faculty will be more interactive, fun, humerous and interesting (hopefully anyway!).
I also prefer when blog entries are not terrible long, and are broken up a bit. Blogs are something I will peek at during a quick break in the day. I follow a couple of authors that are a little long-winded, and I will frequently pass over a new post, knowing I will not have time for it. Too much personal information is a distraction (and can be disturbing!). But I always check Mo Willems (http://mowillemsdoodles.blogspot.com/) because I know he will be short, sweet, funny and have some great doodles! Pigeon also has a Twitter account for those interested parties out there, and you know who you are!
Classroom blogs of the future (mine anyway!)
Question 2: The additional readings give examples of how blogs have been used in the classroom. On the news this week, I learned that a science textbook has included blog entries from students at Central Square Middle School. What are other ways that blogs are currently being used in the classroom and how else do you envision blogs could be used in the future?
I am sure that someone has already done this, but as I was doing this week's readings, I really envisioned an on-line book club, where the host/mediator/librarian either creates weekly discussion questions based on the book, or asks students to create discussion questions. I am so interested in this idea that I am contemplating shopping it around for one of my fieldwork projects. I have heard of a local school that has a Twitter book club, but I think I would like to try blog format. Anyone know of any willing host librarians (read here- guinea pigs)?
For myself, I will definitely use a blog in the same way that is discussed in Cowan's "diary of a blog: listening to kids in an elementary school library" when I start at my future school. I think it would be a fantastic way for the students to get to know me, for me to get to know them, as well as begin to introduce some fun technology.
I think blogs would also be a great format for projects that require observation over time, such as astronomy. This could certianly be geared toward other hard or social sciences. Foreign language classes could have a blog that centers on something cultural like recipes. A drama club could use it as reflection process of a production, getting viewpoints from the "star" as well as stage crew, orchestra, chorus, etc. The limits are only our imagination!
I am sure that someone has already done this, but as I was doing this week's readings, I really envisioned an on-line book club, where the host/mediator/librarian either creates weekly discussion questions based on the book, or asks students to create discussion questions. I am so interested in this idea that I am contemplating shopping it around for one of my fieldwork projects. I have heard of a local school that has a Twitter book club, but I think I would like to try blog format. Anyone know of any willing host librarians (read here- guinea pigs)?
For myself, I will definitely use a blog in the same way that is discussed in Cowan's "diary of a blog: listening to kids in an elementary school library" when I start at my future school. I think it would be a fantastic way for the students to get to know me, for me to get to know them, as well as begin to introduce some fun technology.
I think blogs would also be a great format for projects that require observation over time, such as astronomy. This could certianly be geared toward other hard or social sciences. Foreign language classes could have a blog that centers on something cultural like recipes. A drama club could use it as reflection process of a production, getting viewpoints from the "star" as well as stage crew, orchestra, chorus, etc. The limits are only our imagination!
My favorite blogs
Question 1: In Mary Ann Bell's "Celebrating Communicating: Blogging Redux," she itemizes people's favorite blogs and why they follow them. What are some of your favorite teacher, librarian or educational technology blogs and why do you follow them?
I have just started following blogs, so I am still finding ones that I like. My current favorites are Fahrenheit 451: Freedom to Read (http://pelhamlibrary.blogspot.com/), and a Librarian's Guide to Etiquette (http://libetiquette.blogspot.com/). Fahrenheit 451 always has interesting articles on challenged books, and the Guide to Etiquette is just silly library fun.
Last semester I did a project on a school library going Dewey-free, and reviewed a blog that detailed the transition for a public loibrary in Chicago area (http://deweyfree.com/). They had a specific target audience and scope, and when the project was done, they knew to wind down the blog. They included lots of pictures and kept the entries short. All of these facotes served the blog well.
I have heard that Kathy Schrock's blog is very good, and the article also mentioned it, so I will be checking that out! I have mostly been following classmates as well as favorite authors, so I am very open to suggestions!
I have just started following blogs, so I am still finding ones that I like. My current favorites are Fahrenheit 451: Freedom to Read (http://pelhamlibrary.blogspot.com/), and a Librarian's Guide to Etiquette (http://libetiquette.blogspot.com/). Fahrenheit 451 always has interesting articles on challenged books, and the Guide to Etiquette is just silly library fun.
Last semester I did a project on a school library going Dewey-free, and reviewed a blog that detailed the transition for a public loibrary in Chicago area (http://deweyfree.com/). They had a specific target audience and scope, and when the project was done, they knew to wind down the blog. They included lots of pictures and kept the entries short. All of these facotes served the blog well.
I have heard that Kathy Schrock's blog is very good, and the article also mentioned it, so I will be checking that out! I have mostly been following classmates as well as favorite authors, so I am very open to suggestions!
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