Integrating ICT Workshop May 17, 2005 Presented by Alec Couros.

Integrating ICT

Workshop

May 17, 2005

Presented by Alec Couros

• "[This device] appealed at once to the eye and to the ear, thus naturally forming the habit of attention, which is so difficult to form by the study of books .... Whenever a pupil does not fully understand, [it] will have the opportunity ... of enlarging and making intelligible."

• "[These instruments are] not uncommon, but are but little resorted to by the teacher.”

• "The teacher knows almost as little how to use it as his pupils.”

Quotes from the 1840’s and 1850’s regarding the use of the chalkboard, from UPAEP.

• "...the existing system is utterly inefficient. The teacher...may pour it in the ear, or extract it from the printed page,...but unless he teaches through the eye...no satisfactory instruction can be conveyed."

Sir David Brewer (1856) regarding the magic lantern and stereoscope.

• "[It] is going to make school so attractive that a big army with swords and guns couldn't keep boys and girls out of it."

Thomas Edison (1911) regarding motion pictures/film.

• Edison continued …“Mix moving pictures with education and you'll have something that makes kids want to go to school. You'll have to lick 'em to keep 'em away." (1911)

Overview of Session

• Beginning at the Curriculum• Learning 2 Search/Searching 2 Learn• Telecollaborative Projects• Another Look at Old Tools• Using Digital Photography• Blogging• Free & Open Content• Free & Open Software• Podcasting & Beyond

Beginning @ the Curriculum

• Evergreen Curriculum– Source for all curriculum and policy documents.

• EC Virtual Resource Centre– Many excellent sites which have been evaluated for

appropriate content and curriculum use.

• Central iSchool– Excellent resources which have been developed by K-

12 teachers in the province. All resources are free to use and adapt.

iTeacherED- Resource from the Faculty of Education, University of

Regina.

Before we go any further …

How do we keep track of allthese resources?

Welcome to Spurl!

Learning 2 Search, Searching 2 Learn

• Google– Popular search engine, but most users just scratch the

surface of its capabilities (e.g., math, conversions, images, local, maps, define, translation)

• Soople– Easy access to many Google searches.

• Yahoo!– Another popular search engine with excellent features

(maps, video, creative commons search).

• Cant decide? Try Yagoohoogle.• Others: MSN Search, AlltheWeb, Ask Jeeves,

Yahooligans, DogPile, MusicPlasma, Kartoo, Answers.

Telecollaborative Projects

Some of the greatest power of the net lies not in connecting people to information, but rather in connecting in people to people. Telecollaborative projects can be excellent ways to engage students in meaningful learning activities. Some projects include:

• The Flat Stanley Project• Monster Exchange• Postcard Geography• Global Grocery List• Many more here at 2Learn.ca

Another Look at Old Tools

• Using the Commenting Feature in MS WordExcellent tool for commenting directly on student written assignments.

• Using the Tracking Feature in MS WordAn excellent way of tracking changes to a document.

• Alternative Uses of Presentation SoftwareFrom eBooks, to Gameshows, presentation software can be used in many OTHER ways than just ‘presentations’.

Using Digital Photography

• FlickrFlickr is an interesting photo-sharing community. Becoming a member allows you to do upload, share and manage photos.

• PicasaAn excellent photo management software package from Google.

• “50 Ideas to Use With Digital Cameras”Excellent ideas for using digital cameras in the classroom.

Educational Blogging

• A weblog, or blog, is a web application that which contains periodic time-stamped posts on a common webpage. There are personal diaries, educational blogs, political blogs, techie blogs, etc.

• Popular and easy-to-use blogging applications include Blogger, MSN Spaces and Livejournal.

• As there are so many blogs to read, you can keep track of educational blogs through a feed aggregator such as Bloglines.

• An excellent blog which focuses on blogging in education is Weblogg-ed.

For teachers, blogs are attractive because they require little effort to maintain, unlike more elaborate classroom Web Sites, which were once heralded as a boon for teaching.

Free & Open Content

• There is an abundance of free & open content that is available in the public domain. This is not to be confused with illegally downloaded (seemingly free) content. Tapping into free & open content can provide educators with an abundance of excellent, reusable and adaptable resources.

• Some excellent free & open content resources include: Creative Commons, Project Gutenberg, Wikipedia, CAREO, Flickr, FreeFoto, Pics4Learning, FreeNaturePictures, MorgueFile.

Free & Open Software

There are also many popular titles of software that are available for free, or are open source. Open source software (OSS) packages allow individuals to use software, but additionally, users have the ability to adapt software for specific uses. One of the most popular types of open source software is Linux, and others are listed below.

• Open OfficeAn excellent and free, fully functional office suite.

• The GIMPA free image manipulation program similar to Adobe Photoshop.

• Tux TypingExcellent open source typing program.

• Tux PaintAn innovative and unique open source painting program.

• The Open CDA package of many useful Windows compatible OS applications.

Podcasting & Beyond

Podcasting is the practice of making audio files available online in a way that allows software to automatically detect new files and download them (Wikipedia).

• Some Podcasts include: Quirks & Quarks, /Nerd, NASA, Mathew Bischoff, Podcast Directory.

• And it seems that video blogging is right around the corner. As bandwidth increases, technology becomes more sophisticated and youth become more savvy, what is the future of technology in the classroom?

Keeping Up On New Technologies

• Network of Innovative Schools• SlashDot (news for nerds, stuff that matters)• Weblogg-ed• SchoolForge• NewScientist.com

• My own Blog and resource site:http://www.educationaltechnology.ca/courosYou can download today’s presentation from here as well.

Copyright Issues

Thank you for listening.

Contact:[email protected]

www.educationaltechnology.ca/couros