Marianne’s Blog

Check out the embedded presentation below. It was created collaboratively online from remote locations by 3 members. The presentation was prepared for a Tech workshop on Web 2.0 in the classroom.

When I started tinkering with Scratch, I think that I was looking in the wrong direction. I was thinking product, while I should have been thinking process. My first choice was to create a simple linear graphing tool (similar to Green Globs), but I got a bit frustrated, and I think that the program might be a bit limited for this without many hours of programming.

As I scanned through the operations available, they at first seemed way too basic, but I came to realize that a fair bit can be done with what appears to be very little. I do like the way the program is set up. It is very inviting and fairly easy to get around.

I came across a Scratch music program, and I thought that would be a good place to begin anew. I borrowed the piano key sprites, and created a keyboard that could be played using the computer keyboard. It also showed the corresponding notes on the treble clef. I created the treble clef with Microsoft Word drawing tools and saved the image as a jpeg. This was very easily brought into Scratch. Scratch comes with a basic soundfont that, from what I can tell is monophonic, but I have not investigated that too much. I could still do quite a bit more to make this a bit flashier, and I think that students would love to do that sort of thing. The process ended up being quite enjoyable, and I’m certain that students could take great pride in creating something of their own.

Teachers at our school are regularly seeking out and sharing Flash, Java and other interactive game-type applications that enhance learning. We have a Smartboard in the middle school that is frequently used for these types of activities. I am not sure that I would use Scratch for its game application necessarily. As stated above, it is the process involved in Scratch that I would find of value. A very good example of this is in the Bungee-Ball example from your presentation. Looking at the interaction of the bungee balls was very cool, but not as interesting as thinking about how the author did the programming. The concepts of logic are very clear in the programming involved in Scratch. We stress critical thinking a great deal at our school, and this programming is an outstanding way of demonstrating this skill. Using Scratch is not a one-shot deal. Clearly, it becomes easier with each use, and it takes time to appreciate the program’s capability.

The Scratch website has good support documents and examples from educational organizations that are already using Scratch. Students can access the program from anywhere so much of it could be done outside of the classroom. It’s free, and that is amazing!

Below is something I created while learning to use Scratch. It took a very long time and I am not even close to making it a game. The difficulty does not lie in using the program itself (once familiar with it) but more so in being creative and designing a game where older students will be interested in playing and scoring points, going on to different levels, etc. However, Scratch can certainly be introduced to students as one of the options to present their work in. This will create high interest among students and also a fun way to present their learning.

There is so much information available to our students that, at first, it seems like a goldmine. Unfortunately, there is an abundance of wrong or even harmful information. It is a daunting, but essential task of the administration to safeguard the students from much of this information.

Upon review of some of the educational sites, it appears that, for most students these dedicated sites would be sufficient in gathering accurate and current information. However, access to the entire web is open to students when they leave the school. This being the case, educating the students to make informed and safe decisions would seem to be the prudent choice.

The article noted that many parents feel it is our job as educators to oversee their children’s web use. Whether this belief is justified or not, does not change the fact that these students do need guidance in making wise choices. This gives the teachers an excellent opportunity to engage the students in critical thinking.

It is a huge responsibility that we undertake, each time we allow the students to log onto the web. Once again, we must gauge the return value the students would gain in opening up the web to potentially unsafe sites. This would definitely take a good deal of planning from the IT staff and teachers. It would be difficult to safeguard our children, if we don’t fully understand the risks ourselves. I think the old adage, ‘better to be safe than sorry,’ would be one to adhere to in this matter.

Students must buy in to an ‘acceptable use policy’ to ensure that the opportunities offered through the web will remain safe and accessible for all students. The article stated that most students can correctly answer questions with regards to safe practices on the web. This does necessarily mean that they would recognize an unsafe situation when it arises. This is why continual education and teacher monitoring is essential.

At SIS, we are fairly good at monitoring our students, but we could do more to make students aware of the potential dangers on the web. We also need to continue to help students become more aware of the new tools and the incredible potential the web can offer. We have our students maintain their portfolio on a safe Wiki, where teachers and parents are invited to share in the student learning.

Tags: Online Safety and Security

After reading Leadership and New Tools, I was left with much food for thought. Scott McLeod claims that, although it would be good for administrators to be familiar with these new web tools, it is not entirely necessary. The only problem I see here is that it would be difficult to maintain a clear vision and direction, and you might end up on a rollercoaster of the latest trends without fully understanding their capabilities. Staff buy-in would increase greatly if the admin team had a strong sense of the capabilities and value of moving the school to incorporate these tools.

The article alluded to the need for comprehensive planning. With the abundance of Web 2.0 and open source programs and resources, time would be needed to determine which tools best suited the curriculum and the needs of the staff and students. Also professional development would be necessary to insure a smooth implementation of the program.

Our school is somewhat limited in our traditional library, so we are heavily dependent on the web as a primary resource. We are a laptop school, so students always have access to computers. At this point, I would say that our students are doing fairly standard, and now dated, searches on the web. With this vast amount of resources readily available, teachers must ensure that students learn how to discriminate reliable from unreliable content.

Our grades three to five will be using laptops next year, and there is talk about using open-source programs. After reading this article, I did a search and was amazed at the number of outstanding programs available. It would be a waste not to take advantage of these free applications.

Some teachers at our school use blogging, but it is more the exception than the rule. This article gives some excellent concrete ideas as to how blogs can be used easily and productively. Our students have been maintaining their portfolios on zoho wiki, and I don’t think that we have yet utilized this resource to its fullest. The fact that we can share, collaborate and edit that information gives us an outstanding opportunity for students, parent and teachers to be ‘on the same page,’ and continue to develop learning far beyond many traditional practices.

SIS uses a Denbigh as its organizational tool. It is comprehensive and very user friendly. I have not yet looked into open-source programs as an administrative tool thus far.

I was pleasantly surprised with the depth of available open-source programs, blogging tools and Wikis. It would seem irresponsible for a school not to take advantage of at least some of these tools.

Tags: Web tools