Day Four: Fooling around with VoiceThread

This is a late posting but on Day Four of ATI (Advancing Technology Institute 2009) Nicolette introduced VoiceThread, another way to facilitate a forum for academic discussions. I created two - one with simple text comments and another to critique an issue of Pawprints, the MHS student newspaper. This was relatively simple to learn. Not only useful as a teaching tool, VoiceThread could provide another way for students to demonstrate mastery of a concept beyond writing an essay or taking a test. (It would not replace these assessments but rather supplement them.) On a side note, I got a chance to mess with code on Blogger to expand sidebar and main content windows and felt super-cool!

Day Three continued: Using Jing

This is my first attempt at capturing a screen image using Jing and then posting to my blog. I think students will be able to use this function when creating author presentations. Additionally, I am going to try to capture the evacuation map and have that posted for classroom use instead of relying on one 8 x 14 image tacked to the wall.

Day Three: A month has passed...

I have limited experience with blogging. I am still searching for a definition that will sit well with me. I have resented blogging on news sites because any idiot can post information and with relative anonymity - there is a journalistic code of ethics that governs reporters but no such code for the general population which finds no problem with editorializing.

I know very little about blogging except that students in TOK (Theory of Knowledge) were required to post comments weekly; I was invited to explore it but never did. I also know some students came to resent the requirement by the end of the year - they were simply overwhelmed by the volume of writing but perhaps it paid off - I never asked.

It seems using a blog has been much like using a webpage - I wonder if they are one and the same and what the distinction is between the two? I do believe it will be beneficial to create my own blog via Blogger (as evidenced here). I want to use this site to launch and try out various applications I want to incorporate into classroom practice. I hope to post podcasts and vodcasts there first which is my MTP (Modest Tech Project). I have been told my project is more than modest so I look forward to monkeying around with the different applications.

• What is the blog's purpose? How does the blogger communicate her purpose? How well does the blog communicate its purpose?
• Does the blog address or target a particular audience? If so, how? How might you describe a representative audience member?
• In what ways does the blog engage the reader visually?
• What elements are present? For example, are there links, video clips, photographic images, graphic images, text, etc.? How do these elements help communicate a message?
• Does the blog elicit response? If so, how and/or what kinds of response are evident? To what extent are readers invited to participate: to comment or to post?
• What can you learn from the blog's title and URL?

Five to ten principles I value are:
1. Good writing - clear and engaging.
2. Known purpose from the top.
3. Links to vital information at the top.
4. Engaging format - easily read but not boring either.
5. Title that reveals topics
6. Links to other blogs
7. Short sidebars that deliver info.
8. Audience is obvious.
9. Don't be afraid to prune after building (or "growing") the site.
10. Original colors and photos have more allure than simply downloading and borrowing freebies.
11. White space can be appropriate.
12. Rule of thirds (like photojournalism, like gardening, like hanging artwork)
13. Think of blog as gallery?
14. What is function or purpose of site?
15. Different blogs - personal, academic, technological

Day Two: Time

Today we have been exploring blog design. Students seem intrigued by design components and may be more invested in posting if they "own" the space. Has anyone found this to be true? How much time is needed - classroom time - for students to create their site?

Day One: Trials

I've never used a format nor forum such as this. I wonder if others have been just as apprehensive. As an educator, I have been wary of such applications as they seem like toys and distractions but the more I read and study, the more I realize I have left myself behind. Any thoughts on how I can jump into the waters of today's technology without drowning?