Crossing the River

Now that I have identified the goals for my Inquiry project, I somehow feel like I am on one side of the river and the answers to my questions are on the other.  Rather than struggling to swim against the current, I have built myself some stepping stones (Web 2.0 Tools) that I will use to slowly make my way to the other side.  

Proposed Web 2.0 Tools

The tools that I have chosen are meant to inspire learning and create change in my personal, professional and teaching and learning environments.  I have tried to balance the three and will be exploring the following tools:

1.  Blogging and RSS 

RSS

The first reason for choosing Blogging and RSS for this inquiry project is for professional reasons.  As all teachers are taught, I think reflection is a big part of my day-to-day life in order to better myself as an educator.  I agree with Blake-Plock's (2009) article Why Teachers Should Blog when she blogged about the ability for a blog “to teach yourself what you think.”  Discovering what Blake-Plock talks about in the difference between “understand[ing] that it’s not all about ‘getting it right’, but rather is a matter of ‘getting it’,” has been a barrier in my blogging career thus far.    I have attempted personal blogging but did not have the inspiration, focus and purpose behind it that allowed me to get over that fear of getting it wrong.  It also did not follow the suggestions that Richardson (2010) has for “real blogging” such as the analysis and synthesis stages (pg. 31).  The use of blogging and RSS will allow me to reflect professionally as a teacher as well as to collect ideas, suggestions, resources, etc. from other teachers who are participating in the same idea of reflecting publically.

The second reason for choosing Blogging and RSS as a tool is for the benefit of my students.  In order for my classroom to become what Kist (2010) calls the “new literacies classroom,” I have to be able to integrate the tools, such as blogging, that are part that ever-expanding world (pg. 8).  Campbell (2011) points out that “the activity of blogging motivates students to write because of the publishing opportunity that blogging offers and the recognition that they receive from their peers.”  It is this inspiration that I want to be able to offer to my students in order to have them want to write and to become better writers.  Only through my own exploration of these tools am I going to be able to use them in a productive way in both my professional and teaching life.

The third reason for choosing RSS is to explore some of my personal interests in digital photography.  I thoroughly enjoy digital photography and have spent time learning more through books and various classes.  Now that I have been introduced to RSS and blogging, there is a whole community of photographers that I can follow, view their photos and learn different techniques.  

Blogging and RSS will definitely be the most difficult part of this inquiry project.  I enjoy following blogs, but putting my own voice out there for others to read is a bit intimidating.  I look forward to being challenged and exploring the uses of blogging and RSS in a personal, professional and teaching and learning atmosphere.

Twitter

2.  Twitter

For many years I have explored social networking through the venue of Facebook.  When I learned about Twitter, I scoffed at the idea of what I only thought was posting status updates.  Why did I need another social network just to post what I was doing that day?  Little did I know that Twitter is what Richardson (2010) says, “one of the most powerful tools for connecting and sharing the great content and professional development opportunities that are available to educators today” (pg. 11).  The complexities that are involved in a Tweet, as outlined in Raffi Krikorian’s Map of a Tweet (as cited in The Economist Online, 2011), have opened my eyes to the possibilities of Twitter in my professional life.  I have only just begun to look at Twitter and the various terminologies that go along with it (tweet, hashtags, etc.), but Anderson’s (2011) LiveBinder, An Educator's Guide to Twitter, has been a great resource in order to get my feet wet.  I hope to use Twitter in order to expand my professional learning network.  Twitter appears to be the best choice of tools for this area since, as Richardson points out, “Twitter creates a “network at my fingertips” phenomeon where people ask questions and get answers, link to great blog posts or resources, or share ideas for projects as they go though the day” (pg. 86).  Over the course of this project I would like to expand my use of Twitter in a professional manner and develop my “”sixth sense” in terms of the network; [and to] feel more a part of the larger conversation, more a part of the community” (Richardson, pg. 86-86). 

Diigo

3.  Diigo, Delicious and Evernote

I feel it is important to include a social bookmarking and productivity tool into my exploration to manage all of the information that I am going to be encountering by using the previous two tools.  As Richardson (2010) points out, “With more than 10 billion pages of information on the Web already and millions more being added each year, it’s no wonder people are starting to feel overwhelmed by the Internet” (pg. 89).  I am no exception to this statement.  Throughout the span of a day I may use my work iMac, personal iMac, MacBook Pro, iPhone or iPad.  I read blogs, view websites, check social networking sites, etc. on all of these different devices.  When I find a source that I like or want to look back at, I typically hit the bookmark button and move on.  

Delicious

This becomes an issue when I want to go back and view it again because I cannot remember whether I bookmarked it on my iPad or iMac, or if I bookmarked it while I was at work or at home.  Needless to say my supply of bookmarks is an unorganized, frustrating and not very useful list of websites that I typically do not return to again, or repeatedly re-bookmark on different devices.  Therefore, I am ready to move into Richardson’s community of bookmarks and find a new way of organizing my information (pg. 90). The idea of being able to highlight, annotate and make notes on websites, blog posts, etc. is attractive but what I especially like is that I am actually “making a copy of the whole page for use later on” and that it is an online program (Richardson, pg. 95).  This helps to ensure that I can always look back at what I have saved and that it does not matter where I am or what device I am using. 

The social ability of sites like Diigo, as displayed on Diigobuzz’s (2008) YouTube video lends this tool as another way to expand my professional learning network.  

Glogster

4.  Glogster
According to Wikipedia's (2011) article entitled Glogster EDU, Glogster “enables users to combine videos, music, sounds, pictures, text, data attachments, special effects, animations and links into a digital poster”.  These are all aspects of technology that I want to be able to use to engage my students as learners in the classroom. According to Wikipedia, “Glogster EDU provides students with the opportunity for self expression and develops their creativity.”  It opens up the possibility to create a visual display of student learning that steps outside of the traditional paper and pencil poster.  Roche's article Glogster in the Classroom (2011) also lists several reasons for using Glogster in the classroom that sold me on the use of this site as a teaching and learning tool to explore during the inquiry process.  After watching this YouTube Video and beginning to explore the tool myself, it appears to be a user friendly application that students would be able to use without affecting their ability to display their learning.  

Glogster

5.  Animoto

Animoto is a tool that I have not heard much about prior to this course.  I have explored other video editing software such as iMovie and MovieMaker, but have not explored the use of an online editing program.  I was never too impressed with MovieMaker, but on several occasions, I have created video and picture montages using iMovie in order to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, etc. and it is an exciting and creative approach to multimedia.   According to Sheneman’s (2010) research, Animoto is even easier to use than MovieMaker.  The user-friendly ability of a tool was an important part of my decision making when choosing Web 2.0 tools to use and explore.  If tools are not user-friendly, they end up frustrating and discouraging users from using the full potential of the tool, which is not what I want to encounter or for my students to encounter.  Fryer's (2008) Animoto for Education – Use It for Thoughtful Media Creations also explores the use of Animoto and the possibilities for all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy to be reached.  It can be difficult to guide students to those high levels of thinking in the classroom, so if a tool like Animoto can be used to reach those higher levels and inspire and motive students, that is an added advantage.  Unfortunately, Sheneman also points out five weaknesses that Animoto poses for its users, which I hope to address through my own exploration in order to determine whether Animoto is the right tool for my students.

Goodreads

6.  Goodreads and Shelfari

Goodreads and Shelfari and both described as “social cataloguing websites” according to Wikipedia (2011).  My understanding is that it is the social network version of a book club.  This is what inspired me to investigate these two tools as a personal aspect of my inquiry.  I enjoy reading and have always wanted to join a book club but find it hard to find a group of people who enjoy all of the same books that I would read, plus the time to actually join a book club.  Through the use of these tools, I hope to discuss books that I have read or would like to read with others, as well as explore other books that may be of interest to me from the suggestions of others.  

Shelfari

Bookseller Chick's (2008)  article Goodreads, Shelfari and Librarything: A Features Comparison outlines many of the similarities and differences between Goodreads and Shelfari, most noteworthy, the fact that Amazon owns Shelfari whereas Goodreads is privately owned.  Through my exploration I will look at the various features of each and decide which one I personally like better and would like to continue using.

References: 
 

Berger, P., & Trexler, S. (2010). Choosing web 2.0 tools for learning and teaching in a digital world. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unltd Inc.

Campbell, K.. (2011, August). New technologies and the English classroom. English Leadership Quarterly, 34(1), 7-10.  Retrieved October 1, 2011, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 2422748771).

Kist, W. (2010). The socially networked classroom, teaching in the new media age. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Sheneman, L. (2010) Digital storytelling: how to get the best results. School Library Monthly, XXVII(1), 40-41.  Retrieved October 1, 2011, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 2131214271).