Concept Clouds (blog 10)

Of all the programs that we've used so far in my educational technology class, wordle is my favorite. www.wordle.net is a website that generates a word cloud from a section of text. Word clouds, also called concept clouds, are visual presentations of text content in collage form, with words sized according their times of occurrence. They are incredibly useful in business presentations, as summaries of information and as visual aids. Concept clouds also have a place in education.

I'm interested in special education, which means I'll be working with children of varying disabilities. Many children struggle with reading long paragraphs and taking the main idea from a passage. Examining a concept cloud before they read the material will help them to grasp the important concepts in the reading and note when those ideas are brought up by the writer. Looking at a concept cloud after looking over the material will improve their understanding of the material as a whole. Concept Clouds can aid children with other, more severe disabilities as well. The options offered by Wordle allow creations to be stimulating and colorful. This visual stimulation is great for children who have trouble focusing or have a limited attention capacity. It also can make activities such as word recognition and identification fun, which always results in greater learning.

This website has samples of word clouds made from Presidential speeches.

And here is one of the word clouds I've made on my own,

here's one of an album by Owl City:

Distance Education (blog 9)

A fairly recent development in education has been the growing popularity and accessibility of distance education. The idea of learning through correspondence rather than attending classes on site is not a new one, but technological advances have made it far more convenient. Many high schools now have classes, such as health and life schools, that may be taken online. And this trend has extended to universities as well. But rather just being limited to individual classes, entire programs are now offered at a distance, with lectures, assignments, and student-teacher interaction all taking place on the internet.

As an aspiring educator, the increase in distance education programs will greatly affect me. One of the advantages of distance education classes is that they are flexible in terms of schedule, and therefore perfect for working professionals who cannot put a career on hold to return to school for a higher level degree. The field of education is sure to change and further develop during my teaching career, and it will be very important for me to continue to take classes to improve my skills. Distance Education will provide this opportunity while allowing me to keep my position in the classroom. It is also possible that in my time as a teacher I will need to conduct a class online and correspond with students who are not present in my classroom. This could especially benefit students with special needs that make it difficult for them to physically attend school five days a week. Having a way for assignments to be done and turned in from home could be the key to success for some students with disabilities. As a teacher, it will be my responsibility to do all that I can to ensure my students' success, and that means being open to possibly learning through distance education and assisting students through it as well.

This article by the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ascilite) explores some new opportunities available to students with special needs through distance education.

(http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/wollongong98/asc98-pdf/parfittjonguyen.pdf)

Creating a Professional Web Presence (blog 8)

Whether we are aware of it or not, nearly all of us have a presence on the internet. It's easy to discover what sort of presence you have by simply searching for your name in google. A search of "Keely Spence" yields the following information:
- I am a member on facebook
- I maintain a blog (this one)
Though that may not seem like much information, following up on these two pieces of information can quickly lead to more:

I am a member of the "China" network on facebook, and it's where I grew up. I attend the University of Florida, and am in the college of Education...

All this is accessible in a matter of minutes, and, due to the nature of the importance of technology in the job market today, will be seen by any future employers I may have. Because this is fairly inevitable, it makes sense to take advantage of the opportunity and share information about myself intentionally: creating my own web presence. (click here to see my page, or go to http://sites.google.com/site/keelykspence/)

Having a web presence is a good idea for any individual seeking employment, but it especially is applicable in education. Being a teacher requires a high level of professionalism, but engages an individual's personal life as well, because it involves relationships. A quality teacher establishes good rapport with students and with coworkers, relationships that are personal, but highly professional as well. For this reason, employers desire to be acquainted with multiple aspects of an individual's life, more than appears on a resume. Having a web presence allows a teacher to share personal information easily, giving background and insight into hobbies, interests, and experiences. It also allows for professional information to be be presented in the form of a resume and samples of projects and lessons. The web presence itself is a testament to the capabilities of a teacher in the realm of technological skills. All of these factors make a web presence important for any teacher, and worth teaching to older students as well as they prepare for a greater role in society as working individuals.

This site, the web presence design lab, makes designing an attractive and informative web presence easy: http://www.webpresencedesignlab.com/

Cloud Computing (blog 7)

In my Educational Technology class we read an article on CNN written John D. Sutter. It was called "A Trip Into the Secret Online 'Cloud'" and addressed the security and actual location of information saved to "the cloud". Some background: cloud computing is a method of more efficiently processing and storing virtual data. All of us use cloud computing every time we update our profiles on facebook, save a document on google docs, or access the inbox of an email account. Rather than having machines sitting idle when information isn't needed, they are employed processing other data, and companies share these data centers to save on costs. It sounds like a great idea, but in his article, John Sutter questions the security of such a method. What would happen if these machines shut down? People everywhere would lose photos, correspondences, work files, contacts, calendars, financial information... and so much more. Clearly, the information saved in the 'cloud' is crucial for how we live our lives, so it is incredibly important that that information is secure. Sutter contacted many companies trying to locate his information or secure a tour of these data storing facilities. He writes of the frustration he experienced in the process, but what we should take from this article is not that our virtual files are in peril, but rather that being informed is necessary in such a quickly changing world as our own.

This certainly holds true in education. Children today are growing up in a world that is increasingly dependent on technology. This dependence is in many ways liberating, removing limits of space and ability, but it is also risky. Education today must prepare students to function and succeed in such a world, and that means instilling in them a sense of curiosity. We cannot be complacent in regards to understanding our changing society. In order to make full use of technology, children must learn to understand it, and this applies to cloud computing as well as any other technological advancement.

Click here to see how google has taken advantage of the innovations in cloud computing by selling cloud space to beginning companies.

Open Source Software (blog 6)

Open Source software is produced by collaborative effort, and rather than withholding the program codes like large corporations do, open source software is available to everyone for use and editing. This means that no one really can own the rights to open source software, and it can constantly be updated and improved. The development and use of Open Source software has many ramifications for our society, both positive and negative. This collaboration resulting from the the software's availability benefits all users through the continual improvements in the software, as well as the fact that no one fully owns the software, so it can be circulated for a low price, and sometimes even at no price at all.

This has tremendous advantages for offices and schools, especially in the current economic climate. All schools have had to redesign their budgets in order to function with the cut back in funding. There is little money to spare for expensive computer programs. But at the same time, it is the responsibility of the educational system to prepare students for success in our society, and that means equipping them with the skills they'll need. With the increased emphasis on technology, and understanding of common computer programs is key. This is where open source software comes in. Through open source software, schools can provide students with the skills that they need while at the same time having the funds to provide other resources such as sports equipment, libraries, and improved school facilities.

This website (www.osalt.com) views open source software as a beneficial alternative to the software produced by large private corporations. It provides many different programs and has organized them under different categories such as 'education', 'communications', 'graphic applications'... and many others. Osalt is a good way to browse through programs, it gives a better idea of what's out there in the area of open source resources.

Webspiration

Here is a concept map I made on Webspiration that shows how different folksonomies could be used in education:

(Or click here to see it larger)

Digital Storytelling (blog 5)

I have always loved stories. At the age of five I sat enraptured listening as my mom read aloud from the Chronicles of Narnia, and as soon as I could write letters I was creating books. Storytelling has been a fascination of mine ever since, and I love telling stories to children now. I have to confess that I have felt wary of the concept of digital storytelling, viewing it as something along the lines of glorified flannel board. But as we discussed it this week in class my perception of digital storytelling changed. In class we looked at examples of digital storytelling sites and programs like imovie, goanimate, and animoto (a list of fifty programs is provided at http://cogdogroo.wikispaces.com/StoryTools). These resources combine audio and visual files and present them in an interactive way that engages the audience. Examples of this are short animated films, slide shows, movies documenting experiences, collages, maps, and time lines. Digital storytelling is a broad field, and there are plenty of tools available, so there are countless possibilities. Presentations can be perfectly tailored to suit the material that you want to share, so that the audience is engaged and experiences the information rather than simples looking at it or being told about it.

Digital storytelling can be an incredible tool in the classroom. Presentations can be taken numerous directions, and offer variety that can help to break up a long day. Utilizing multiple forms of sensory input guarantees that children will be less distracted than when listening to a lecture or looking at a power point, and digital storytelling has the added advantage of the capability of interaction. Teachers can use digital storytelling to create maps and time lines to help in lesson presentation, but most digital storytelling tools are simple enough that the creation of these aids can be assigned to the children, helping them develop technological skills and giving them a more comprehensive grasp of the information. Development of digital stories may not be appropriate for all classrooms, such as classes designated for children with special needs. However, digital storytelling can still be incredibly useful with these students, presenting information in a fun and engaging way, provided that the programs are not overly stimulating.


This video provides an example of what can be done with digital storytelling. It won first prize in a digital storytelling competition where contestants from the Philippines told their stories as they related to the city of Iligan: