Thing 23: The End of One Journey...The Beginning of a New Chapter

Hello one and all.

I have been bothered since my last post that I was unable to remember how to directly link my new wiki the other night. I was thinking that I have failed this class with something so simple.
So I am trying to correct my mistake to get you to my wiki in Web 2.0 style:

http://tslimonthlynotes.wikispaces.com/

I was making the process to complicated. I will be able to sleep better tonight........

I was BLOWN AWAY by the video in this Thing. I watched it twice, pausing to take notes for future reflection and Web exploration trips. There was so much Web content in that video. It shows me that this course has given me a peak and some initial experience in the world of Web 2.0. But there is so much more to be done and explored in utilizing the Web personally and professionally for enrichment and interactions with others.

Prior to this course my use of the Internet was strictly for information gathering and email. I am now a converted believer of the potential that exists to enhance relationships and educational experiences for my myself, colleagues, and my students with Web 2.0. I now have the tools to introduce and teach others how to access and create a varied range of Internet resources. Whether it is blogs, RSS, or links of digital media, social bookmarking, etc, I now have the ability to use and lead others down the Web 2.0 path.

Detroit Public Schools has been making strides to incorporate technology and the infrastructures to support them into its' buildings. It will now be my responsibility to investigate and see how I can bridge my learning into my daily practices. As with all, change is difficult, but as this course has shown me, change can be rewarding. I have invested much time completing and growing in this class. Initially I thought this class would take 1 to 1 1/2 hours per Thing, but I invested considerably more time and effort to be successful in each Thing. I may have less sleep because of this course, but I am excited about what I have learned.

Thanks Carol and Jacki. This was a great experience. I have not taken an on-line class before and had some reservations. I was afraid that I would be unmotivated and find on-line education to be a sub par method of learning compared to a classroom setting. How wrong I was. On-line resources offer everything---text, articles, video, pictures, support, etc. I was also surprised to find that I felt connect with my classmates and facilitators while completing the Things. What do you know, another enlightening part of this experience.

Thanks again and I look forward to crossing paths with everyone in the future. Gregory Jacoby

Thing 22-Entering the Wiki World

Here is the link to my latest endeavor into the wiki world:

http://tslimonthlynotes.wikispaces.com/

I decided to create a rough draft of monthly departmental notes for my Communication Disorders Department. I often hear from my supervisor the process that occurs each month in trying to collaboratively create monthly notes between 4 individuals. The document is attached to emails and updated with multiple updates coming back to the main contact. So I thought what better New Years' gift could I give my supervisors than that of a wiki. They can edit and save and then share with the staff of speech language pathologists to view for updated notes, images, videos and links. Needless to say having the ability to attach images, videos and links is an added bonus which has not been an option in the past.

I will conduct a mini training session so that my supervisors can learn about wikis and try out a new way of doing business. Much of our administration duties and reports for the district are conducted on computers and Internet based practices.

In creating my wiki I found that I was looking for many of the features I am used to using with Microsoft Word. The options seem to be more limited. I also had problems when content disappeared. I had no "back-up" or "go-back" button to back up to my last step and try to edit a different way. I look under the advanced options but it was not clear as to what those options were. I will have to do some more experimentation with my next document.

Wikis seem to differ from blogs in that wikis can be used to create documents, complete projects, create study guides, etc. Wikis are also represent a shared authorship or ownership of content. Blogs seem to be more for sharing ideas and opinions that build on one another which are housed in one's authored blog site. It seems to be a little harder to see what has been edited with a wiki over time when looking at the latest saved update.

Blogs seem to be more appropriate for representing an individuals interests which invites others to comment and follow that individual's sharing of information and views. Wikis can be for shared experiences where everyone has a vested interest in editing, saving, and improving on a given project. Both medium offer many similar features and abilities to link into images, videos, other web sites, etc.

Another great "Thing" Thanks for the enrichment. Gregory Jacoby

Thing 21-Wikis

Very interesting session today. As with many topics covered with "23 Things", my paradigms are shifting. As so well put in Lee LeFever's video "Wikis in Plain English", wikis offer a revolutionary way to work on team projects. I am so used to sending documents out to others as an attachment to an email that then gets modified and updated to get to a final draft document. Everyone is always retitling the document so we know which one is the latest version. Editing, saving, and linking at one location where others can meet to create and provide input is great.

As evidenced by the various wiki links that were offered for browsing, wikis definitely provide forums for all interested parties both to participate in the creation and benefit from sharing of information. I found, as an observer of these wikis, that they were very informative and showed many different variations of how a wiki can be utilized.

The wikis that were collaborative projects between schools in very different parts of the world were of particular interest to me. Sites such as Comparing Hemispheres, Welker's Wikinomics and Flat Planet and even Arbor Heights Elementary School all expanded not only students' knowledge on a given subject but also engaged exposing students to different perspectives. This is particularly true when engaging participants in other cultures and geographic locations. Learning has been so much more meaningful when there is a way to personalize the learning, and wikis definitely offer a way of personalization when individuals have a way to be directly involved.

The educational wikis website was a little overwhelming with the breadth of wikis available. Ensuring accuracy of information located in these wikis is one of the main areas that need to be verified or at least kept in perspective as you are engaged in any given wiki. Limiting access to editing of a wiki would be one way of improving the integrity of information within a given wiki. Viewing wikis as a collaborative experience where one is able to interact and enrich one's perspective is one way to not necessarily view information as being explicitly factual. Creating a board of reviews like Wikipedia does would be a difficult control process I would think for the standard wiki developer.

I could see how wikis could be utilized for staff/professional development in my various schools as well as for various administrative projects within my support department of communication disorders. Once a group of individuals is oriented as to how to utilize a wiki, I believe it would be useful. I look forward to creating a wiki for a project in early 2010 to create a more effective, efficient and better overall project. Gregory Jacoby

Thing 20-Subscribing to Podcasts

So many informational and interesting podcasts and vodcasts. Podcasting is almost the same as navigating the Internet in that you need to prioritize what and where you want to dedicate your time and exposure. I like how iTunes helps manage your podcasts and will stop subscriptions if you don't listen to podcasts after a certain period of time.

I found many student created podcasts in the Education Podcast Network (EPN). I listened to various selections from 1st graders presenting their original written works to middle school students describing their educational history to a high school monthly broadcast on school topics and news. In Podcast Alley (PA) I found selections on Canadian Bears and Astronomy. Both websites had very interesting podcast selections and offered different kinds of listening and viewing experiences. EPN offered many podcasts which were developed by students and teachers while PA seemed to have more seasoned producers. This may not be totally true, but this is my impression based on my experiences today.

After my introduction to podcasts in Thing 19, I felt that I had a framework for narrowing down my search for podcasts to view/listen to, but after spending time in EPN, PA, and iTunes Podcasts I feel a Little overwhelmed with all my subscriptions. I guess over time I will add more podcasts to listen to and unsubscribe to others.

Several podcasts that I subscribed to via my new iTunes account include Teach42-Education and Technology by Steve Dembo, National Public Radio's Science Friday, and Public Broadcasting Station's Share the Earth for K-12 and the Education Podcast by John Merrow. Now I will need to obtain an iPod so I can keep up with all my enriching audio podcasts. I am sure I will have to add others podcasts that looked interesting from the last Thing session. I also realized that I need to get a better computer to process all these new capabilities. I need to increase my efficiency to better manage my time. Have a great day, Gregory Jacoby

Thing 19-Podcasts

Podcasting has been an area that I have been eagerly awaiting to add to my skill set. I am not sure why it has taken this class to get me to learn and enter the world of Podcasts, but it has. I am excited about the posibilities of making use of Podcasts to assist with my professional development and personal enrichment.

I enjoyed both the Uncle Seth and Ask a Ninja videos and there creativity (especially the regular feeding of apple pies to whales). I can't ignore all the Commoncraft videos that have been very instructional and enlightening in the clear presentation of new concepts for my learning over the course of this class.

I had some difficulty downloading and utilizing Quick Time and Adobe Flash Player. I was ultimately able to listen to both RESA Great Educational Podcasts but not able to view. One of the interesting interesting sites I browsed through was at Lower Merion School district (www.lmds.org/staff/techmentor/podcast). I found an interesting podcast on Three Suggestions for use of technology in the classroom. It explained how to access/evaluate how to better integrate technology into the your teaching, the curriculum and classroom.

The second podcast that was interesting was a discussion regarding the new administrations Race to the Top initiative. I found it at the Learning Matters Web site (learningmattters.tv/blog/podcasts/race-to-the-top). There always seems to be an interesting dynamic between politicians and education and the resulting programs that are devised to enhance and improve education.

I look forward to the next "Thing" and more podcasting. Gregory Jacoby

Thing 18-Slideshare

More fun stuff....... Here is a presentation I found to be not only beautiful but meditative on Slideshare titled National Geographic by Gyula Dio:

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

View more presentations from Gyula Dio .

I really enjoy reading National Geographic regularly and the photography is exceptional in every issue. I believe that I have seen this photographer's name in issues that I have read. I find National Geographic pictures to be great for engaging students to expressively communicate utilizing pictures for descriptions. Pictures can also be used for prompts for written expression activities.

Here is one regarding Music Therapy with Autism Spectrum Disorders by Mimi Sinclair:

Music Therapy with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Review of Research

View more documents from Mimi Sinclair.

I chose this presentation because it allowed me to review some of the literature and research regarding success with utilizing music with ASD students. This presentation reminded me of the standard PowerPoint presentations that I have created in the past and been exposed to when I returned to school for my Masters degree and when I was working in the business world.

I don't have much current experience with PowerPoint presentations in my current capacity as a speech pathologist in schools. I could potentially have students use PowerPoint as a language activity. Using Slideshare in the classroom would be a way for reinforcing a given subject or providing students with models regarding options available for creative presentations.

Based on what I viewed on Slideshare, what can be created and embedded into PowerPoint has come a long way from 10-20 years ago. When I worked with PowerPoint I was usually placing printed content into a given standard template. Another area that I will have to expand my adventurous-self to discover. Gregory Jacoby

Thing 17-Knowtes, Trailfire, and Remember the Milk

Very interesting Web 2.0 tools to sample and browse in "Thing 17". This lesson has further proven that I need to definitely be more adventurous with Internet use. But I guess this message has been reinforced with each step along my journey in this course.

I spent some time in the following sites:

Knowtes was my first stop. Although I do not teach a specific class subject, I can see some applications of this web site to support both language development and even articulatory drills with my speech-language students. Incorporating spelling and vocabulary lists on Knowtes would give students support to practice and prepare for their weekly spelling tests and improve vocabulary knowledge which would enhance comprehension of the various texts being read. I like the flexibility of being able to invite others to join into a "Deck". This site may have limitations in that students may not remain motivated after the initial exposure to the site. The other problem may be having access to computer to utilize the decks.

My second exploration was of Trailfire. I found several "trails" that were very informative in exploring many facets of a given subject/topic. One example was when I was searching for information about learning disabilities. Several of the trails included web sites dealing with basic textbook definitions, learning disability support organizations, medline, and intervention web sites that could be utilized by parents, kids and teens, and treatment professionals. I found this web site to be helpful in seeing what web searches others have come up with so that I can be more productive (i.e., not having to recreate the wheel). The trails also have the nice feature of allowing me the ability to email the originator to collaborate or comment which supports the interactive nature of Web 2.0.

The final site I browsed was that of Remember the Milk. This site could offer the potential to help me meet my deadlines especially in terms of the various reports, medicaid billing, and IEP due dates, meetings, etc. I often have to manage information at multiple buildings and have calendars at each building of items that need to be completed. Having the ability to place and prioritize information and get reminders via my email would be helpful. Some of my information applies to other colleagues, so I could share my organized list with others. Also rather than waiting for a calendar on a monthly basis, all my information could be loaded in at one time so that I wouldn't have to worry about it after my initial input of important dates or re-occurring reports that are due.

I look forward to trying to incorporate some of these Web application tools at work to see how I might better streamline and become more efficient in my administrative duties as a speech therapist. It seems that in this day and age, we are being asked to provide more written documentation than ever. The more I can be efficient with some of these tasks, the more I will have time to spend with my students providing direct therapy. That would make me happy. Have a great day, Gregory Jacoby