Hi Tech Princess

Having a projector in your classroom offers all kinds of possibilities for connectivity, including a laptop or desktop computer, interactive whiteboard, interactive tablet, document camera, video player, digital microscope, etc. If you have these peripherals set up on one cart and properly connected, it’s just a matter of knowing what to switch around to use what you need with your projector at any given time. 

The first thing that teachers ask about if they are connecting a computer to the projector is the speaker volume. Neither a computer nor a projector provides audio loud enough to be heard throughout a classroom. For that you will need external speakers on your multimedia cart. A number of effective speaker systems by Altec Lansing, Logitech, and Creative Labs (among others) work well with a laptop and are loud enough for a classroom, but check the output power watt of the system. A 3-watt external speaker system will not be much louder than the internal computer speaker. As a rule, a 12-watt speaker system is loud enough for a classroom, but won’t blast through the whole school. It’s hard to find a 12-watt without a subwoofer, but it’s possible. Check the sale flyers for local discount and electronics stores for special deals or shop online. Make sure you check the specifications to be sure it will work with your computer. 

Another way teachers are using projectors is to use it in place of a television for playing videos and dvds. Your vcr/dvd can be connected to your projector with a couple of adapters and a composite video/audio cable. You’ll need to purchase the adapters from Radio Shack or another electronics store. The parts you will need are an inline 1/8″ mini-jack coupler (catalog #274-886 @ Radio Shack), a audio Y-adapter (catalog #274-883 @ Radio Shack) and any composite audio/video cable (the one with the red, yellow and white connectors). 

To connect your dvd/vcr to your projector, plug the audio cables (red and white) into the Y-adapter and the video (yellow) into the projector. Connect the coupler to the single plug on the Y-adapter and on the open end connect your speaker plug. The other plugs on the composite cable are connected to the dvd/vcr using the color codes for audio and video output. Once you make these connections properly, the projector will project the video from your dvd/vcr and the speakers will play the audio from your dvd/vcr. 

We will create a civilization of the Mind in Cyberspace. May it be more humane and fair than the world your governments have made before. ~ John Perry Barlow (from A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace)

John Perry Barlow, former lyricist for the Grateful Dead, first applied the term “Cyberspace” to the objects and identities within the Internet in 1990. The word originated with William Gibson’s science fiction short story, “Burning Chrome” and 1984 novel, Neuromancer, credited with launching the cyberpunk generation.  

Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation … A graphic representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding. ~ William Barlow, from Neuromancer

Widely published across cyberspace, the premise of Barlow’s Declaration is to maintain the freedom of the Internet from government regulation and encourage its own moral social constructs. How’s that going for us? The answers are complicated so I leave that to you to decide. While you mull that over, let’s address that social construct of the Internet.

In the beginning there was the central mainframe and it was confined to communication within the network, and it was good but not good enough. Then there was ARPANET and all manner of switches to connect networks, and they were good but not good enough. Then there was CERN and UUCP and TECHNET and INET and they were very good but not good enough. And then there was public access and e-mail and then the World Wide Web and then the dot com, and they were all very, very good but not good enough. So the Internet grew and grew until it reached everyone in the world. Everyone, that is, who had access and could afford it. (see Histories of the Internet)

According the the World Internet Users and Population Stats released on June 30, 2008, 21.8% of the world population uses the Internet. That includes 73.6% of North America, 59.5% of Oceania/Australia, and 48.1% of Europe but only 15.2% of Asia and 5.3% of Africa. These are the stats for worldwide usage:

In my last post, I mentioned some of the safety concerns on the Internet. The net is a place for business and information but it is also a worldwide playground. We want kids to use the playground but we wouldn’t allow them to play on land filled with debris and dangers, of course. The Internet can be just that if parents and teachers are not vigilant about its use with children. Here are some general guidelines to remember:

1. Limit usage. Schedule a time for kids to use the Internet (20 minutes, for example) and even a time of day, if possible. Be firm and be consistent.
2. Keep the computer in sight. Put it in a high traffic area in the home so you can see what your child is accessing online.
3. Use your tools. Check browser histories and install parent controls. Know your child’s passwords for social networking (MySpace, for example) and gaming sites. You need to know with whom they are communicating, how often, and what kind of communication is taking place. Install filters to block inappropriate sites and install virus protection software. Downloads are not always free and often carry viruses. Protect your computer from these hazards.
4. Teach your child. Just as you tell your child not to talk to strangers in public, teach them to be cautious about who they meet online. Be open and honest with them so they will be more likely to tell you when something happens that makes them feel uncomfortable. 
5. Encourage offline activities. Online chatting and gaming can be addictive. There is another world out there for them to discover and enjoy. Provide opportunities for them to participate in sports, exercise, or fun with friends and family in the real world.

There are many games and activities for kids to practice safety tips. One of my favorites is SurfSwell Island (Disney). A few great links for additional information and tools can be found on these sites:

• CommonSense Media
• CyberSmart!
• GetNetWise
• iSafe
• Net Smartz Kids
• StaySafeOnline
• Web Wise Kids

Even adults should be guarded in their use of the net. The fastest growing crime, identity theft, occurs easily and frequently online. Never give personal or private information online to anyone you do not know. If you must use a credit card online, check the site thoroughly to be certain it is a secure site and that your information will be kept safe.

As teachers, one thing that is stressed to us throughout our undergraduate classes, even moreso in graduate educational leadership, is safety first. When I became a second grade teacher, I was constantly reminded of my in loco parentis responsibility to the safety of the child in my care throughout the school day. When I became a middle school science teacher, I was often reminded about the use of chemicals and contaminants in my classroom and to be mindful of potentially harmful exposure. When I studied for my masters in educational leadership, I was frequently reminded of the importance of campus safety and overseeing the events at our school to be certain everything was kept safe and supervised appropriately. 

Today we live in a world bombarded by digital information at the mere click of a virtual button. This obviously presents safety concerns that were not even considered way back in my undergraduate days when the greatest fear was a child falling off the monkey bars. How do you control dissemination of that much information? How do you safeguard access to and use of that information at school? I would be interested in comments on this topic by educators who share these concerns. This is a dilemma we face that changes as rapidly as the technology itself. 

Our district has been in the process this year of revising our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) to include considerations that were not issues when our last AUP was written. Podcasting is one example of a relatively recent technology integration strategy in school classrooms. What is appropriate for a school presentation is not necessarily appropriate for posting on the world wide web. Bullying has always been a concern in schools but cyberbullying presents a whole series of concerns we didn’t have before. These are just a couple of the many issues we must consider in our AUP revisions.For students, the internet is like a virtual set of monkey bars. It offers opportunities to develop specific skills, interact socially, and have fun. It also presents certain perils to anyone attempting to use it, even while using it appropriately. How many here have inadvertently clicked on something they would rather not have seen.  

Teachers have used movies in their classrooms for as long as there have been movies! The World Wide Web has helped us to realize the power of video and helped teachers to take it to a whole new level. Using only a FlipCam, in a matter of seconds students can upload video to YouTube or any number of other video vaults, some of these useful in school but most not so much. TeacherTube is selective in maintaining homemade video that has some degree of educational value. UnitedStreaming (now Discovery Education Streaming) brings professional educational video right into the classroom. Atomic Learning was created by technology educators for the purpose of teaching technology to teachers through the use of professional online video instruction tools. 

This past year my colleagues and I have been teaching digital storytelling which takes podcasting to a higher level. Digital storytelling begins with a theme that is carried through the careful editing of a script or use of existing audio, addition of text for an opening and closing and where further emphasis is required, selection of images or video to best illustrate the audio, and finally the choice of appropriate background music to enhance the overall effect of the story. Google digital storytelling to locate hundreds of resources. Here are a few with ideas and examples of digital storytelling, many of which you can use with students:

• Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling
• Listen Deeply ~ Tell Stories
• DigiTales
• DigiStory

It is amazing how powerful this medium is for educating and enlightening! Teaching the YouTube generation offers many challenges but also many opportunities for sharing new perspectives. Here are a few specific examples that help us to realize the incredible power of video:  

• The Water Buffalo
• Rivers Know This
• Trail Etiquette (my daughter’s Girl Scout Gold Award PSA)

One thought that comes to mind often as I view these videos and others like them is the connectedness of human life and the common thread of family or personal history. Last year, one of my daughters was assigned by her world history teacher to interview a World War II Veteran for the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. She chose to interview her father about his father’s experience in the European Theater. It was such an amazing experience for her and for our family that over the summer, we repeated this project with my own father who served in the Pacific Theater. These two perspectives are a critical reminder of our own history and legacy.  

For further information and videos, check out the following links: 

• Library of Congress Wecasts
• PBS NOVA
• NASA TV
• Annenberg Media
• History Channel Speeches and Video
• School Tube
• Streaming Video Webcasts
• TeacherTube 

Back in the “olden days” before television, people gathered around a radio to hear fascinating tales, history-making speeches, and comedic plays. Abbott and Costello confused themselves and everyone else with their silly wordplay, Flash Gordon left the audience hanging from one week to the next, the Lone Ranger rescued someone in distress, Red Skelton made everyone laugh till they cried, and Dick Tracy always solved the crime. A far cry from Wii, that was home entertainment! [You can still listen to many of these old programs, btw, on the Old Time Radio (OTR) Network.] 

Today with any recording device and in only an instant anyone can upload an audio or video recording for all the world to hear. According to one eMarketer, over 33 million American listened to online radio last week. And that is just radio! Thousands of podcasts are uploaded every day, most of them free downloads and linked for easy access on popular services like iTunes. 

In education, podcasting is quickly becoming a classroom trend. Just yesterday I had the privilege of assisting two fifth grade teachers in creating their first podcasts and they left the workshop thrilled with their podcasts and excited to share them with students on their new classroom ipods.

Podcasting offers so many possibilities that the opportunities for enhancing education with this medium are as many as you can possibly imagine and even more! An article I read recently, There’s Something in the Air: Podcasting in Education, provides examples of podcasting in the classroom. Technology is literally changing the way teachers teach and the manner in which students learn. One educational podcast I’ve long relished Bob Sprankle’s Room 208 listening to students discussing important societal issues (fyi, Mr. Sprankle is no longer teaching the class … he is now a computer teacher). Another popular student podcast is Radio WilliowWeb by the students of Willowdale Elemetary School in Omaha, Nebraska.

Among many others, here are a few useful educational podcast sites for you to see for yourself some of the incredible ways that teachers are using this medium with their students: 

• Education Podcast Network (podcasts in several subject areas) 
• Edupodder.Com (library of educational podcasts San Jose State)
• Learn Out Loud (large collection of educational podcasts with a video tour of the site)
• Podcast Alley (selection of podcasts with instructional ideas for teachers)
• Podcasts for Teachers [conversations with educators about instruction and technology through Fordham University 's Regional Educational Technology Center (RETC)]

 So get in the classroom and podcast! What a motivating way to help your students make themselves heard.  

Okay, you have your classroom blog and it’s working great with your students, but now you are ready to take it to the next level. A wiki application will allow students to collaborate on projects with the ability to add and modify text. 

The most commonly used wiki is Wikipedia, an online multilingual encyclopedic reference site with over 1.5 million articles that are viewed daily by over 60 million visitors, any of whom can edit these articles. Although the reliability of articles is often suspect because it is so easily edited, a wiki has application in any content within the classroom and teachers are making use of this invaluable online resource. 

TeachingWiki is one example of such a resource used by universities for teaching rhetoric and composition. More and more K-12 teachers are also beginning to use wikis along with blogs in their curriculum.

Here are a few of the free educational wiki sites available for classroom use: 

• Wikia (Wikicities) 
• WikiSpaces
• PBwiki

If you’ve never edited a wiki before, try my WikiSpaces! For starters add a technology tip there that you find especially useful.  

Social bookmarking is simply an online resource for sharing bookmarks with others, usually with the whole world. One of the first of these in education (and, hence, still among the more popular) is Portaportal. Many have moved their links to Del.icio.us and Portaportal’s use of advertising. My links have been on my Portaportal site for years and I can see the advantage of moving everything over to my Del.icio.us site, but I simply do not have time to do it! 

With all that is available to us on the Internet, it’s important to find the right tool to organize and relay that information to students. There are several considerations for social bookmarking included in 7 Things to Know about Social Bookmarking. A list of possible bookmarking tools with a brief review of each can be found in Never Search Alone.  For organizational tips and tricks, see the article Focus on Effectiveness: Organizing Resources. 

The impact on education for having a bookmark page handy is obvious! It not only keeps a teacher’s resources online and available from anyplace with Internet access, but primarily it allows a student in one click without error to go straight from a bookmarking tool to a previewed site deemed valuable (as well as safe) by the teacher for use in the classroom.

Okay, I am originally from Florida so I have to start this one with “Go Gators!”  

Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, the real purpose of this blog post is to say a little something about aggregators, essentially an online news reader that pulls select RSS feeds for podcasts, blogs, vlogs, syndicated news, searches, media files, and much more into one location for quick user access. Tags can be added to feeds in most aggregators that allow the feeds to be organized according to user preferences. A few popular aggregators and social bookmarking tools include (not in any particular order):

• Bloglines
• Del.icio.us
• Diigo
• Netvibes
• Pageflakes
• Portaportal
• Technorati

I’ve tried all of these. At this point, not that it matters, I favor Netvibes and even use it as my home page with links to my own web sites along with other frequently used sites and resources. Everyone with an aggregator has a personal preference, depending on features, flexibility, and ease of use. Aggregators often include personal notes like sticky notes, to do lists, a personal calendar and other useful items. The trend is to combine as many tools as possible into one resource — using a blog, for example, with bookmarks, RSS feeds, tags, etc. Consider the features you need in your selection of an aggregator or social bookmarking tool.

Not only is an aggregator useful for a teacher in quickly finding sites and resources needed, but students can also create their own aggregators to help them organize information for school projects, research or areas of interest. Have students add your Portaportal, SOL bookmarks, research tools, and other educational sources on their aggregators for quick and easy access.

Blogs (web logs) are the first and most frequently used example of the read-write web in education. Teachers and students are using them in classrooms worldwide for exchanges in every curriculum. For examples of blogging in education at all levels in all subjects, check out Classroom Blogs and Wikis. This diversity among them is indeed astounding! There are also tips for teachers to consider when using blogs in the classroom. The Top 100 Education Blogs provides additional insight for how blogs are being used for providing online information to educators and even in professional development. 

The best part of blogging, in my opinion, is the ability of students to edit and rewrite their own entries as well as respond to the entries of other bloggers, all of this live online. The worst part of blogging is, well, often the same thing. Any blogger needs to remember that the same rules of etiquette apply online as offline. In fact, those rules apply even more online because words travel in an instant and seem harsher without the benefit of personal voice inflection and gestures. Michael Moncur of figby.com explains his perspective in his article Whatever Happened to Online Etiquette?  Others have made either similar or opposing comments about etiquette in blogging and Moncur mentions a few of those views in his own article. 

Another concern about blogging for educators is the fear of bringing inappropriate material into the classroom. It’s a valid concern and any teacher using a blog with students should carefully investigate the options before setting up a blog. Free blogs are available to anyone with online access and they are used for transmitting all kinds of information, not all of it the kind that we want to bring to our students.  In RCPS, some blog sites are blocked for this reason. Please check the site before you go to the trouble of setting up a blog just to be sure it is exactly what you want to use and to be certain that it is available to your students at school and at home. Edublogs is one that is available for use within our schools so you might want to start right here.  

Good luck and happy blogging!