Wandering Heart

The other day my wife confronted me –

            “Who is it?”

            “What are you talking about? Who’s who?”

            “I've seen the texts and the conversations on the computer. What’s her name?”

“Her name's Diigo…”

Yeah, I’m digging Diigo. It’s not only helping me organize my Master’s and School worlds but also the rest of my life. My wife and I finally bought a house (we had been living with her parents since we sold our condo last July) and you can see that reflected in my Diigo library. You can also get a glimpse into my semi-neurotic obsession with trying to reduce the environmental toxins in our lives and especially things that off-gas (other than myself).

One thing that I finally figured out that was making me crazy was how to get the little blue "d" button to appear in the upper right hand corner of the browser:

I must have done it accidentally the first time, and it looks like it may only be available for Chrome but it turns out that it's called the Web Highlighter on Chrome and I like it much better than the Diigolet. For one thing I can close the browser bar and free up some additional space on the screen. It’s also more compact and once selected gives me access to all the Diigo functionality I need. But my favorite thing is that it tells me if I have already bookmarked something by adding a small red bookmark at the top of the button. The Diigolet gives you no indication that you have saved the page so I end up wasting a lot of time re-saving or going back and forth to see if I have saved an item.

In the shameless self promotion department – Before I had kids I used to be the kind of person that groaned internally, and sometimes externally, when people would start talking about their kids or take pictures out. Now if they wanted to talk pets count me in. Vets, wet vs. dry food, idiosyncrasies, poo poo, funny stories, you name it I was game. Of course that all changed when I had kids. Like a reformed smoker speaking out against smoking, I have become the most annoying person in the room.

I've shared a little bit with my cohort-mates throughout the program that when my oldest was born he had some very serious medical issues to deal with. At first we didn't know if he was going to make it as he had a very hard time breathing due to a congenital airway obstruction. He ended up needing a tracheostomy and the doctors weren't sure if he would someday have a diminished voice or even be able to talk at all. Long story short, we were exceedingly fortunate and he had reconstructive surgery a couple of summers ago and is doing great (and very loud!). Today was a big day for him and an exciting yet bittersweet one for us.

Annoyingly Yours...

Sometimes I get a creative idea and I refuse to let it go for better or worse. A little back story: My current afternoon classes are currently working on a project where they are required to design, build and test a scale-model vehicle powered by a Co2 cartridge. The idea is to apply what we have learning about aerodynamics, the forces of motion and and Newton's 3 laws to make the fastest car possible. For my Animoto I decided to show my students examples of past projects as they get ready to start the design process to reinforce concepts and give them some ideas to jump start the creative process:



 
I picked the accompanying song for obvious reasons but I also liked how it's annoyingly catchy. Like a "song of the summer" that burns into your brain until you can't get the melody out of your head. On one hand you don't particularly like it but on the other it parasitically sticks to you like a remora. I observed this same phenomena with the jingle from the Japanese Rube Goldberg clips as seen in my last post. The tune drive the students crazy but they can't forget it, even years later. 

The other song I was considering was the opening track from Pixar's Cars but I wasn't sure if the students would make the connection or if it really even mattered. I feel like "Real Gone" is overall the better song and has a natural propulsive energy to that nicely reflects the project but I am kind of stuck on the idea of the Gary Numan song. I'd be curious to find out which one you like better. Let me know what you think and I'll go with whichever gets more nods!

Clip of the Day

A few years ago I ran across this catchy video clip on YouTube that connected with what my students had been studying in class (Rube Goldberg Machines):

I downloaded it and showed it to my classes and they loved it. It dawned on me just how much of a YouTube generation today's learners are and I began looking for other short clips that I show a few times a week at the beginning of class as the Clip of the Day. In preparing for this weeks wiki classwork I was reminded of another clip I show:

To date these clips are pretty much a one way process - I find them and show them. While once in a while a student recommends one that is relevant and actually school appropriate I am looking for ideas to make the collection (or creation?) and sharing of them more collaborative. Let me know if you have any thoughts!

RSS and Diigo

In the RSS chapter this week Richardson (Richardson, 2010) said one of the things that he really likes about the tool is that he spends less time looking all over the web for information. Instead it comes to him through his aggregator. This reminded me about Twitter and how it really is an aggregator of sorts for me as well. In fact in the first of the two Richardson clips from the EduCon 2.5 post from Prof Arzt's Integrating Technology and Literacy blog he talks about 19 bold ideas for tech in (and out) of the classroom:

iste-presentation from Will Richardson on Vimeo.

For idea 14 he says to stop Googling stuff and talks about how one of the most important things that has happened to him in the last 5 years is that instead of going to Google to answer a question he goes to Twitter where he has developed a like-minded network who can answer his questions better. I'd like to say that Twitter helps me find information about teaching or technology (or better yet both) but I really only use it at this point to follow my favorite hobby. But this has given me enough exposure to it to confirm what Richardson is talking about. I spend a lot less time on the web looking for info because it comes to me. When my favorite site or magazine publishes an article they almost always tweet a link to it. To a degree someone’s reputation is at stake when posting links to make sure that they are worthwhile, topical and working. With all the recent developments in the Lance Armstrong saga I had all the information, and more, than I could want delivered right to me. I hope that I find RSS to offer the same kind of functionality but am skeptical it can do it as elegantly as Twitter. 

As for Diigo, I'm ruined. Ruined as in there is no turning back. It's kind of like the first time you live on your own without a roommate. Or own a car where it can be locked and unlocked with the key fob – there's no going back. Diigo has changed the way I surf the web. The way the web works unfortunately enables my stream of consciousness, complete no tasks before starting new ones, tendencies. I used to browse with 10 tabs open at once and now – wait, scratch that, I currently have 14 open between two browsers haha. 

So maybe I still need an intervention and while I haven’t done much with it other than make bookmarks I am much more organized and efficient. Prior I used to email links to myself which just further clogged up my already clogged up email. Even worse I would sometimes save multiple links in a word document and email that to myself. And now everything is one easy to search (tags) and organize (lists) place.
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. (3rd ed.). Corwin Press.

Tech All Over The Place

It's been a busy week for me on the Technology front. I signed up for and began using Diigo. I am starting to get the hang of it but wondering if the software offers too much. I really just want a simple way to organize and centralize my bookmarks. I am hoping I don't find Diigo to be a product that attempts to be everything to everyone instead of something that really focuses on a core competency and nails it. I am going to give it some more time and see how it goes.

I then spent some time researching and comparing Google Drive to Dropbox. I'd like everything to be as integrated as possible and would like to avoid having to navigate to eight separate web sites to enter a password and log in to use eight different web tools. I know other tools exist to streamline that process but here again we are looking at another log in and password and just on principle alone that doesn't appeal to me. I want to use a tool, not spend time fiddling, adjusting, tweaking, optimizing or managing it (which is a large part why I switched from Android to iOS when I purchased my last smart phone). I looked at a number of comparisons and it while both have their pros and cons as they always do it looks like Dropbox has better iOS integration and a more intuitive interface. I have really liked it so far.

Next up was Animoto. I signed up for an account and started collecting photos in my Dropbox to make one for a lesson that I will do sometime next week. I looked at a number of Animoto's from the links in class but one that really ended up catching my attention was one of the samples from the Animoto site. Its called "Canlis family trip to Europe" (scroll down a bit) and it really resonates with me. I think part of it is has to do with where I'm at in life with a young family of my own (a 1 and 3 year old with another on the way) and how I really look forward to doing a trip like this with them someday.

The other element of the clip that drew me in was the music. I really liked the song they picked. The tone and lyrics fit so well and it even sounded like the singers native language might be French. Right from the first few notes it felt authentic in a way that stock music doesn't. It reminded me of a Hyundai commercial from a few years ago that after seeing a few times I started thinking that what I assumed were actors signing and performing in the video might actually be musicians.

It turned out they were an actual group. And that is also true of the Canlis Animoto.The group's name is The Leftover Cuties and the song it titled "Take a Walk on the Sunny Side of Town". I also just discovered that another one of their (Leftover Cuties) songs was used for a different Hyundai commercial! Weird.

I also like the fact that the pictures in the Canlis Family Animoto aren't rotating around or spinning or bursting into a thousand pieces as they transition from one to another. I find this distracting when you see these kinds of elements in PowerPoints or Prezi's. The effects here are subtle and if the photos (and music) are compelling they should be able to stand on their own merits and speak for themselves. Feel free to remind me of the post after I finish my first Animoto and the music is boring while the pictures fly all over the place!

Richardson - Chapters 3 & 4

Reading chapters 3 & 4 (Richardson, 2010) this week gave me a lot to think about. 

Beginning with chapter 4, I'll start by saying that anytime someone mentions Wikipedia I always think about this clip from the TV show The Office:

That said I love Wikipedia. While certainly not perfect I think it is one of the most powerful tools on the web and is an amazing force in the continuing democratization of knowledge. Not to mention an almost unparalleled, on the internet at least, level of accuracy. If I haven't crossed the line into overstatement yet let me do that now by saying that in my humble opinion Wikipedia is one of the greatest collaborative efforts undertaken by human kind. 

This is a topic that I think absolutely needs to be taught in school and not just left to the few occasions the Librarian has with the kids. Creating and discussing a class wiki would be a great way to hook the students in before even mentioning Wikipedia. The reality is that many of us overuse and/or rely on Wikipedia far too much. Looking at the pros and cons of the resource and what other alternatives are available (and in what situations would it be best to use them) while creating and using a wiki would make for a great unit in my class. 

Initially I thought I would have the students create one about a topic we are learning in class such as Bridge Types or Galloping Gertie or Newton's laws of motion but then I realized that a better version already exists on Wikipedia as you can see from the links above and it probably would make sense to make our own as they would probably get the info from there anyway. Perhaps it would be better to make a wiki about the experience of designing  creating and testing a class project?

In regards to chapter 3 I continue to think about ways to introduce blogging to my students but still have some big concerns. Initially I was thinking of starting small as Richardson recommends and use a blog to post daily assignments and objectives. The more I think about it the less it makes sense though. For one thing I have a schedule where the year is divided up into 5 rotations of about 36 consecutive class days each. I have 6 classes a day and see each group of students for two of the rotations for the year. The rotating nature of the schedule makes it more difficult to use a blog due to its chronological nature as I would end up repeating/rewriting a lot. While I have thought about some workarounds I already tend to pretty time inefficient so I'm not sure that would be the best use of everyone's time. I'll keep thinking about this one and maybe try it with just a couple of classes at first. Can't see how it goes until I start. 

The other big issue for me is digital safety. It would only take one student posting something inappropriate, accidentally or otherwise, to potentially jeopardize a lot of things I'd rather not jeopardize. I guess I could start by keeping the blog(s) "in house" but in my mind that really runs counter to what blogs an blogging are all about. Still have a lot to think about and work out as far as blogging with students go. 
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. (3rd ed.). Corwin Press.

Don't Just Buy Stuff - Do Stuff

I am convinced that the above title is an ad slogan (or former one) for some company that I can't think of. My web searches have turned up nothing so it looks like I may be off track. If anyone knows if it is actually a slogan, or the correct phrase, please let me know!

I was thinking of the slogan while reading the first two chapters of our assigned text where the author lays out his ideas on the "read/write" nature of the web and how that functionality is now accessible to just about any user. It made me think about how in response to an age of automation and virtualization a strong do-it-yourself culture has developed. Whether we are talking about the web and blogs or YouTube or even MAKE magazine. MAKE is an amazing resource that really captures the DIY spirit.

 Before my blog for this class Twitter was my first and only foray into social media. And it probably doesn’t fully count as I never actually tweet and really only use it to follow others. I am really an introvert by nature and just happen to do a job that is heavy on the people interaction. Students, administrators, parents, department supervisors and colleagues are just some of the folks you come into contact with on a daily basis. By the time the end of the day or week rolls around and having gone home and spent time with my family (two little ones and another on the way) my “interact with others, virtual or otherwise” account is usually reflecting a negative balance.

Yet our book’s author makes the case for the power and potential of user created content by challenging educators to experience it themselves first. Not just by digitizing traditional classroom assignments but by stretching their own learning and in the process modeling for their students. Other than my classmates (and professors) blogs the majority of blogs I have been looking at I’ve found through #edchat on Twitter. My favorite so far is Will Richarson's . Check it out if you get a chance.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. (3rd ed.). Corwin Press.