Websites for Everyone:
This is not the first time I have worked towards building a website.
The first time I made a website, it was in Grade 10 Computer Science, in 1999, and I was using html to try and design a very simple, unexciting webpage for a class project. As I recall, I'd decided to make a Smashing Pumpkins fansite (dating myself yet further) and the process of building it was absolutely painful. I got a fairly good grade on the final result, but I remember being rather disappointed by the appearance of the site, though it was no worse than probably half the pages on the Internet at the time.
Fast forward to the year 2013 and I'm working on building a website again, using Weebly, which allows me to build a website without any special training or programs, using a vastly more intuitive interface and with a result that is considerably more impressive than the first one. Several of the options I have now, such as including a blog, embedding YouTube videos and such, didn't even exist back in the year before the turn of the millennium, let alone were possible to create without any real difficulty. Even five or six years ago, website design was still primarily for those with technical savvy, and now today, virtually anyone can make an attractive, functional website and furthermore, do it for free.
Cyber Citizenship- Some Brief Musings:
With greater power and vastly increased options, however, does come a certain added responsibility. It was more or less understood back in 1999 that I was free to pilfer virtually whatever image I could from the Internet, as there was no organized Creative Commons. Today, we have more opportunity and thus, more obligation to act as responsible digital citizens.
It wasn't that long ago that it seemed that living the cyber-pirate's life, so to speak, was not only an acceptable means of existing in cyberculture, but the only ones. The music industry was flush with enormous profits, most software was priced well outside of any reasonable budget and it was exceedingly easy to portray the people that built sites like Napster and the Pirate Bay as modern-day Robin Hoods.
Today, the situation has changed vastly. If you don't want to pay the outrageous, ridiculous sums for, say, Microsoft Office, there are legitimate free options such as OpenOffice or Google Docs. The rise of Creative Commons has placed a huge amount of media for free use by anyone. While many things remain unaffected thus far by this change, it seems that the "wild west" of the Internet is slowly settling down somewhat in favor of a somewhat more organized communal approach. Thankfully for all concerned, the Wikimedia Foundation seems to be the light of the future for the Internet, rather than 4chan.
Cyber citizenship, with its associated rights and responsibilities is a real thing and for many young people today it is probably just as important in their daily lives as their national citizenships are. We're used to thinking of globalization as a vaguely sinister concept, foisted on us by powerful corporate and media interests for the exclusive profit of a tiny cabal. Cyber-citizenship, however, offers us the potential to create an alternative globalization, sharing the benefits of technology and creativity with all people. While obviously there will always be a leading role for technical experts in Web 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, entry into this online world is relatively easily obtained. This is something that we will have to teach children about, as it will be as much a part of their daily lives as their national heritage.
In the meantime, though, I have a website to finish.
Sunday, 27 January 2013
Sunday, 20 January 2013
Week Two: Testing The Waters
The first week of a class is almost inevitably largely a progress of getting to know the instructor and getting used to being back in the rhythm of school again. In our second week, we got into exploring the world of technology in earnest.
Monday-
On Monday we did many things, including looking at some examples of successful e-portfolios and discussing the "Three C's", Creating, Communicating and Collaborating. We also discussed something which I actually have some familiarity with, Google Docs, and we opened a program together in which we can share applications we have worked with. In my mind, Google Drive and Google Docs are some of the most valuable online applications in existence. One of the truisms of Microsoft Office is that it is hideously overpriced and the use of Google Docs potentially frees the user from having to pay for either a computer with Office preinstalled or actually buying the program in retail. In addition, it allows for online storage, which means that if a computer suddenly crashes, you will not lose your progress, nor will the death of a computer mean the potential loss of the files in question.
Tuesday-
One of the more interesting things we played with on Tuesday was a program called Jing, which allows you to make a capture of your computer screen and upload it to the Internet to be used either publicly or privately. Relatively easy to use, Jing could be useful for getting images to use on a website or class project, as well as for creating a tutorial for learning how to use a particular online application that you were utilizing for your classroom. I look forward to playing more with Jing.
Wednesday-
On Wednesday we had a presentation from Andy McKiel and Darren Kuropatwa on "What Really Matters" in which we had to create a visual representation on what we thought really mattered in the classroom. In doing so, we had to use a few very interesting websites. We used compfight.com to find Creative Commons images to use as the backdrop. I appreciate being shown this resource, because while in the "old days", it was quite easy to simply rip images from somewhere else and put them on schoolwork without anyone knowing, now many school assignments are being shared more widely. By using Creative Commons material, you are choosing to avoid any potential legal problems but also contributing to one of the most fascinating parts of Internet culture, the idea of providing valuable programs and services for free. We used pixlr.com to edit the images and text into a viable representation. This was another program that I look forward to using in the future, as it was quite simple and intuitive to use and could, I think, be grasped readily by Grade Three or Four students.
Thursday-
We spent much of Thursday discussing the workshop we had with Darren and Andy, as well as talking about online privacy and maintaining a positive internet presence. This is one thing that I would like to start building up as I have virtually no online presence right now, one way or the other. While most of the references to other Kristopher Keens seem to be either positive or neutral, it's best to build up your own reputation so that when the inevitable Google search comes from an employer or as is quite likely, students themselves.
We also discussed beginning to set up our websites, of which we have two primary options, one being for a classroom website and the other one being set up to support teaching of a specific topic related to the curriculum. I'm actually more inclined to make the latter than the former, as I'm actually quite eager to get into some of the content for my placement as soon as possible and likely will not be able to do so in some of my classes, as my placement is Middle Years. I'm interested in doing something do with the Communities of the World cluster in Grade 7, as I think I could easily find a great many useful resources for students.
Next week, we will be working extensively on our websites, learning about some of the tools we can use to make one, as well as getting some class work time in which to do so. I'm a little nervous about setting up a website, as I haven't done that since high school, but I'm looking forward to the challenge!
Monday-
On Monday we did many things, including looking at some examples of successful e-portfolios and discussing the "Three C's", Creating, Communicating and Collaborating. We also discussed something which I actually have some familiarity with, Google Docs, and we opened a program together in which we can share applications we have worked with. In my mind, Google Drive and Google Docs are some of the most valuable online applications in existence. One of the truisms of Microsoft Office is that it is hideously overpriced and the use of Google Docs potentially frees the user from having to pay for either a computer with Office preinstalled or actually buying the program in retail. In addition, it allows for online storage, which means that if a computer suddenly crashes, you will not lose your progress, nor will the death of a computer mean the potential loss of the files in question.
Tuesday-
One of the more interesting things we played with on Tuesday was a program called Jing, which allows you to make a capture of your computer screen and upload it to the Internet to be used either publicly or privately. Relatively easy to use, Jing could be useful for getting images to use on a website or class project, as well as for creating a tutorial for learning how to use a particular online application that you were utilizing for your classroom. I look forward to playing more with Jing.
Wednesday-
On Wednesday we had a presentation from Andy McKiel and Darren Kuropatwa on "What Really Matters" in which we had to create a visual representation on what we thought really mattered in the classroom. In doing so, we had to use a few very interesting websites. We used compfight.com to find Creative Commons images to use as the backdrop. I appreciate being shown this resource, because while in the "old days", it was quite easy to simply rip images from somewhere else and put them on schoolwork without anyone knowing, now many school assignments are being shared more widely. By using Creative Commons material, you are choosing to avoid any potential legal problems but also contributing to one of the most fascinating parts of Internet culture, the idea of providing valuable programs and services for free. We used pixlr.com to edit the images and text into a viable representation. This was another program that I look forward to using in the future, as it was quite simple and intuitive to use and could, I think, be grasped readily by Grade Three or Four students.
Thursday-
We spent much of Thursday discussing the workshop we had with Darren and Andy, as well as talking about online privacy and maintaining a positive internet presence. This is one thing that I would like to start building up as I have virtually no online presence right now, one way or the other. While most of the references to other Kristopher Keens seem to be either positive or neutral, it's best to build up your own reputation so that when the inevitable Google search comes from an employer or as is quite likely, students themselves.
We also discussed beginning to set up our websites, of which we have two primary options, one being for a classroom website and the other one being set up to support teaching of a specific topic related to the curriculum. I'm actually more inclined to make the latter than the former, as I'm actually quite eager to get into some of the content for my placement as soon as possible and likely will not be able to do so in some of my classes, as my placement is Middle Years. I'm interested in doing something do with the Communities of the World cluster in Grade 7, as I think I could easily find a great many useful resources for students.
Next week, we will be working extensively on our websites, learning about some of the tools we can use to make one, as well as getting some class work time in which to do so. I'm a little nervous about setting up a website, as I haven't done that since high school, but I'm looking forward to the challenge!
Week One: Dabbling In The ICT Pool
I use the computer for virtually everything I do. I cannot imagine doing research without access to the Internet, or writing without being able to type. Outside of school, this is little different. I use instant messagers extensively and Skype occasionally for communication with others, including with many people whom I have never met "face-to-face" and yet consider myself to have very real friendships with. Even when I go to play Dungeons & Dragons (there's a subtle nod to it in the title of this blog), I use mainly books in PDF version as well as various online programs to ease the burden of being a Dungeon Master.
And yet, the truth is that I'm little more than a neophyte in the world of technology. If the technological world is seen as an ocean, I've been little more than a duck dabbling at the surface. I'm a little nervous about diving into largely uncharted waters, but excited as well. We've had two weeks in the class thus far, and I'll be taking much of the time on this blog to discuss what has happened and what we've begun to explore in that time.
One of the first activities we engaged in was to make a Wordle, in which we thought up words and phrases related to ICT and put them in the program to create a world cloud, which we then formatted to suit our interests and submitted. The world cloud is an excellent visual way of dissecting a text, with key concepts naturally coming to the surface and lesser ones being subsumed. We also learned in this exercise how important it is to be flexible regarding technology- it wouldn't save adequately on my computer for some reason, so I had to export it to Microsoft Document Writer and submit that file.
Another neat little exercise we did was to put up both questions and things we were passionate about on the WallWisher program, a neat little application which allows you to paste things on an online "wall" shareable only by people in a particular group. I could see the WallWisher program being useful for classroom use in a wide variety of topics well beyond technology itself. It could be used as an activation exercise in a unit, by getting students to post something that they know or think they know, as well as something they don't know or would like to learn about. The results could be an excellent way of stimulating discussion before getting on to the primary material of the class.
On Thursday, we were introduced to the concept of the eportfolio, which I think would probably be an overall more convenient means of storing a portfolio than a paper version, especially for me. Instead of bringing a cumbersome copy of a paper portfolio to an interview that may be hard to replace, you could simply provide a link to it on your resume or offer it up in one format or another during the interview process. Even if it is rarely examined, your portfolio provides a means of organizing and proritizing your accomplishments and attributes and may serve a valuable part in organizing your interview, even if it is never explicitly referred to or even mentioned.
And yet, the truth is that I'm little more than a neophyte in the world of technology. If the technological world is seen as an ocean, I've been little more than a duck dabbling at the surface. I'm a little nervous about diving into largely uncharted waters, but excited as well. We've had two weeks in the class thus far, and I'll be taking much of the time on this blog to discuss what has happened and what we've begun to explore in that time.
One of the first activities we engaged in was to make a Wordle, in which we thought up words and phrases related to ICT and put them in the program to create a world cloud, which we then formatted to suit our interests and submitted. The world cloud is an excellent visual way of dissecting a text, with key concepts naturally coming to the surface and lesser ones being subsumed. We also learned in this exercise how important it is to be flexible regarding technology- it wouldn't save adequately on my computer for some reason, so I had to export it to Microsoft Document Writer and submit that file.
Another neat little exercise we did was to put up both questions and things we were passionate about on the WallWisher program, a neat little application which allows you to paste things on an online "wall" shareable only by people in a particular group. I could see the WallWisher program being useful for classroom use in a wide variety of topics well beyond technology itself. It could be used as an activation exercise in a unit, by getting students to post something that they know or think they know, as well as something they don't know or would like to learn about. The results could be an excellent way of stimulating discussion before getting on to the primary material of the class.
On Thursday, we were introduced to the concept of the eportfolio, which I think would probably be an overall more convenient means of storing a portfolio than a paper version, especially for me. Instead of bringing a cumbersome copy of a paper portfolio to an interview that may be hard to replace, you could simply provide a link to it on your resume or offer it up in one format or another during the interview process. Even if it is rarely examined, your portfolio provides a means of organizing and proritizing your accomplishments and attributes and may serve a valuable part in organizing your interview, even if it is never explicitly referred to or even mentioned.
Technology In The Classroom (Then & Now)
Before I start discussing my adventures in Introduction to ICT and beyond, I'd like to start with a brief sketch of technological change in the classroom based on my observations and experiences.
Then:
When I went through the public school system, computers were making their presence felt in schools but only tentatively. My first contact with computers in a classroom environment would have been in the early 90s, on computers that did not even have Windows installed on them. The programs available were largely typing programs or simple mathematical ones that allowed you to use a mouse to arrange various shapes on the screen. There were no computers in the classroom and Internet use in schools was still many years away.
I remember distinctly seeing my first "multimedia" on a computer, probably in 1993, a 30-second clip of a cheetah running and thinking that was the most amazing thing ever. There was a special computer in the centre of the computer lab that only teachers and, I believe, Grade 6 students could use that had Windows installed and programs like Encarta. Still, despite a lot of talk about computers being increasingly important in the future, they felt "tacked on" to the school curriculum and we only spent one or two periods a week in the computer labs.
When I was in Grade Five, I got my first home computer, a 486, which was state of the art for the time and enabled me to begin typing up assignments on the computer, which was a blessed relief for a young man with distinctly poor handwriting. Not long afterwards, I became the only person I knew personally- not simply in my class, either. I received this computer and the Internet access through a fundraising effort in the belief that it would be beneficial for my disability, which was probably a correct assumption. As for computer use in the classroom, it was still restricted almost entirely to computer labs, which I actually accessed less often in Middle Years than in Early Years.
It wasn't until I was in high school that computers began to be seen in the classroom, though they were primarily used by teachers. There were Computer Science and Keyboarding classes, and I took one of the Computer Science classes and the Keyboarding class. The former was rather fun, though I remember wasting more time than I should have using Napster (it took the school another year or so to realize piracy was probably not a thing to allow on campus) and the latter, while horrifically boring and tedious, was a godsend as it finally taught me how to type with fluency and speed. Nonetheless, while I relied more and more on home computer use for schoolwork, the experience with technology in the classroom was still relatively minimal.
Now:
I started my student teaching at George Fitton School with my former Grade 2 teacher, though the placement itself was in Grade One. When I was in her class 21 years ago, there were no computers in the classroom and the establishment of a computer lab was a recent development. In her class today, there are four computers, all of which are vastly more powerful than anything that existed when I went to school, let alone had access to. There was also a smartboard, which was used frequently in the classroom, though observably less often than in some of the other classrooms I visited where they were used daily or more than once a day.
There are serious discussions about acquiring mobile technology en masse for students to use in class time, and discussing the principle of giving a device to every student in the school. Already, there are carts with large numbers of laptops that are used to give most of the upper-level students regular access to school computers. Students are using computers every day in virtually every classroom and they do it at a level of proficiency I likely didn't gain until I was in high school.
There is a very real chance that there is more computing power present in my former school, an inner-city school in one of the most economically deprived catchment areas in Brandon, than existed in MIT when I was in high school. The technological revolution is only beginning and if I want to be at all viable as a classroom teacher in this brave new world, then I have a lot to learn ...
Then:
When I went through the public school system, computers were making their presence felt in schools but only tentatively. My first contact with computers in a classroom environment would have been in the early 90s, on computers that did not even have Windows installed on them. The programs available were largely typing programs or simple mathematical ones that allowed you to use a mouse to arrange various shapes on the screen. There were no computers in the classroom and Internet use in schools was still many years away.
I remember distinctly seeing my first "multimedia" on a computer, probably in 1993, a 30-second clip of a cheetah running and thinking that was the most amazing thing ever. There was a special computer in the centre of the computer lab that only teachers and, I believe, Grade 6 students could use that had Windows installed and programs like Encarta. Still, despite a lot of talk about computers being increasingly important in the future, they felt "tacked on" to the school curriculum and we only spent one or two periods a week in the computer labs.
When I was in Grade Five, I got my first home computer, a 486, which was state of the art for the time and enabled me to begin typing up assignments on the computer, which was a blessed relief for a young man with distinctly poor handwriting. Not long afterwards, I became the only person I knew personally- not simply in my class, either. I received this computer and the Internet access through a fundraising effort in the belief that it would be beneficial for my disability, which was probably a correct assumption. As for computer use in the classroom, it was still restricted almost entirely to computer labs, which I actually accessed less often in Middle Years than in Early Years.
It wasn't until I was in high school that computers began to be seen in the classroom, though they were primarily used by teachers. There were Computer Science and Keyboarding classes, and I took one of the Computer Science classes and the Keyboarding class. The former was rather fun, though I remember wasting more time than I should have using Napster (it took the school another year or so to realize piracy was probably not a thing to allow on campus) and the latter, while horrifically boring and tedious, was a godsend as it finally taught me how to type with fluency and speed. Nonetheless, while I relied more and more on home computer use for schoolwork, the experience with technology in the classroom was still relatively minimal.
Now:
I started my student teaching at George Fitton School with my former Grade 2 teacher, though the placement itself was in Grade One. When I was in her class 21 years ago, there were no computers in the classroom and the establishment of a computer lab was a recent development. In her class today, there are four computers, all of which are vastly more powerful than anything that existed when I went to school, let alone had access to. There was also a smartboard, which was used frequently in the classroom, though observably less often than in some of the other classrooms I visited where they were used daily or more than once a day.
There are serious discussions about acquiring mobile technology en masse for students to use in class time, and discussing the principle of giving a device to every student in the school. Already, there are carts with large numbers of laptops that are used to give most of the upper-level students regular access to school computers. Students are using computers every day in virtually every classroom and they do it at a level of proficiency I likely didn't gain until I was in high school.
There is a very real chance that there is more computing power present in my former school, an inner-city school in one of the most economically deprived catchment areas in Brandon, than existed in MIT when I was in high school. The technological revolution is only beginning and if I want to be at all viable as a classroom teacher in this brave new world, then I have a lot to learn ...
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