Wiki Blog
Has your opinion of Wikipedia changed at all this week?
I have to admit that as a result of this week’s activities, my thoughts on wikis have changed. I came to this material having experienced a great deal of the downside of Wikipedia. For example, students citing it as the greatest purveyor of truth out there and/or giving me Works Cited pages that were nothing but a long list of entries from Wikipedia, and so forth.
What the activities have shown me is that while this is by far the more prevalent side of wikis for educators, and will likely be for the near future, there are numerous other applications as a pedagogic tool. Chief among these is having students construct their own wiki. I am really sold on this idea, if for nothing else that it will likely teach them to use other wikis critically. This amounts to critical thinking, which is one of the main attributes I hope to hone in my classroom.
Jim Mc Intyre
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Questions and Concerns on Flickr
Flickr Questions and Concerns
I have to admit I have some real questions and concerns about this application.
I wonder how it can be useful in a college survey class. Most weeks I see my students for 50 minute bursts. We cover large quantities of material in 15 weeks at a commuter campus. I see myself as fairly creative and willing to take chances with new technology and approaches to teaching. All the same, this seems like an application that is better geared to a situation in which the teacher is with the same students for an entire academic year and has more interaction with them than three times a week. Perhaps I am limiting myself out of using this application, but I honestly do not see a way in which it can be used effectively in my context. Any thoughts would be welcome.
My second point is a concern, as alluded to in the title. The book and many of the resources seem to gloss over the possible legal ramifications of using images and posting images of students on the web. It seems that we really would benefit from a discussion on this topic for those who teach at the primary and secondary level.
In the end, the ideas that you post may also influence my thoughts on using it in my classes, especially the legal aspect, as I do have to abide by FERPA (Federal Education rights Privacy Act). Suppose I use Flickr in a lesson, and as part of it we post a class picture with credits. Jimmy is not in class that day, and his father sees this on the class site which he may monitor without Jimmy’s consent. They then enter into a dispute and I am the cause. At the same time, I have actually violated the law, as I am not allowed to discuss the education of my students with anyone but them or a duly designated representative.
Certainly, FERPA is open to interpretation, however, I have been informed that at my institution at least, the standard interpretation is very broad. I must have the student’s permission to discuss their academic progress with a parent or guardian. Even then, the preference is that the student be in the room if at all possible. I have also heard of occasions in which the dean of my subdivision sat in on these conferences. Clearly, this seemingly innocent act could lead to a major confrontation. I wonder if there is the same possibility for others in the class at their institutions?
Again, please post any facts or opinions.
Jim Mc Intyre
I have to admit I have some real questions and concerns about this application.
I wonder how it can be useful in a college survey class. Most weeks I see my students for 50 minute bursts. We cover large quantities of material in 15 weeks at a commuter campus. I see myself as fairly creative and willing to take chances with new technology and approaches to teaching. All the same, this seems like an application that is better geared to a situation in which the teacher is with the same students for an entire academic year and has more interaction with them than three times a week. Perhaps I am limiting myself out of using this application, but I honestly do not see a way in which it can be used effectively in my context. Any thoughts would be welcome.
My second point is a concern, as alluded to in the title. The book and many of the resources seem to gloss over the possible legal ramifications of using images and posting images of students on the web. It seems that we really would benefit from a discussion on this topic for those who teach at the primary and secondary level.
In the end, the ideas that you post may also influence my thoughts on using it in my classes, especially the legal aspect, as I do have to abide by FERPA (Federal Education rights Privacy Act). Suppose I use Flickr in a lesson, and as part of it we post a class picture with credits. Jimmy is not in class that day, and his father sees this on the class site which he may monitor without Jimmy’s consent. They then enter into a dispute and I am the cause. At the same time, I have actually violated the law, as I am not allowed to discuss the education of my students with anyone but them or a duly designated representative.
Certainly, FERPA is open to interpretation, however, I have been informed that at my institution at least, the standard interpretation is very broad. I must have the student’s permission to discuss their academic progress with a parent or guardian. Even then, the preference is that the student be in the room if at all possible. I have also heard of occasions in which the dean of my subdivision sat in on these conferences. Clearly, this seemingly innocent act could lead to a major confrontation. I wonder if there is the same possibility for others in the class at their institutions?
Again, please post any facts or opinions.
Jim Mc Intyre
Flickr in my Classroom
I have to admit that I do not have many ideas as to how to use this application in my classroom. I pulled down the following:
Paris Exposition: main entrance gate by M. Binet, Paris, France, 1900. Main entrance gate by M. Binet. [Place de la Concorde. Main entrance gate by architect Binet.] Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection (S03_06_01_015 image 2004). Retrieved June 29, 2010 from, http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooklyn_museum/2486856102/
I like this image because it is not one of the standard ones attributed to Paris. It is not the Eiffel Tower or the Arch d’Triumph. This way, students will have to do some searching in order to discover what it is, which could lead them to some new ideas for class discussion all their own.
My idea here would be to have my history classes figure out what this was a picture of, where it was, and so forth. Then, they could take pictures of their own and possibly look for some architecturally similar buildings in the Chicago area that we could then post back to Flickr ourselves. I do not know how well this assignment would go over in a college history survey however.
If anyone has any suggestions, I would be more than happy to hear them.
Jim Mc Intyre
I have to admit that I do not have many ideas as to how to use this application in my classroom. I pulled down the following:
Paris Exposition: main entrance gate by M. Binet, Paris, France, 1900. Main entrance gate by M. Binet. [Place de la Concorde. Main entrance gate by architect Binet.] Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection (S03_06_01_015 image 2004). Retrieved June 29, 2010 from, http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooklyn_museum/2486856102/
I like this image because it is not one of the standard ones attributed to Paris. It is not the Eiffel Tower or the Arch d’Triumph. This way, students will have to do some searching in order to discover what it is, which could lead them to some new ideas for class discussion all their own.
My idea here would be to have my history classes figure out what this was a picture of, where it was, and so forth. Then, they could take pictures of their own and possibly look for some architecturally similar buildings in the Chicago area that we could then post back to Flickr ourselves. I do not know how well this assignment would go over in a college history survey however.
If anyone has any suggestions, I would be more than happy to hear them.
Jim Mc Intyre
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Bookmarking and Me
Bookmarking and Me
My first step with this application will be to use it for my own personal professional development. This is in keeping with my professional style in that I have to try things for myself before I ask students to try it. I approach things in this way for several reasons.
First of all, I like to have some experienced with new technologies before I ask my students to work with them in case there should be any technical problems. If I have some experience beforehand, then I may have some experience with them and be able to troubleshoot.
Second, I truly do adhere the possibility that I do not ask my students to do anything I would not do first myself.
Third, I like to think through how I will utilize things in the classroom, real or virtual, thoroughly before implementation. I have seen what can happen when an instructor simply jumps on a new idea before they have really thought through how they could use it properly in the classroom.
The above conditions being laid out, I do have some ideas as to how I could use this approach in my upper level military history class. Here, it could certainly become a massive research archive, which present and future students could build and add to as they research, which could help with developing topics for their papers. Still, part of the assignment is to develop a plan for using social bookmarking as part of my own professional dev elopement.
As for my plan for social book marking as tool for professional development, I see myself using it to connect to various content sites on the web. This I will use both for research purposes and for teaching.
In the research realm, I tend to write a great deal on military topics. The social bookmarking will allow me to keep up with emerging stories such as the controversial remarks of General Stanley Mc Chrystal (a feed I have already highlighted on my Pageflakes page). I plan to use the pages to develop a major archive, and as I do so, to develop various sub-categories, such as World War II, Vietnam, and so forth.
It should be evident that I pan to use this tool to explore on my own first what I hope to then apply in my classes. Still, that fits with my approach to teaching as described above.
Jim Mc Intyre
My first step with this application will be to use it for my own personal professional development. This is in keeping with my professional style in that I have to try things for myself before I ask students to try it. I approach things in this way for several reasons.
First of all, I like to have some experienced with new technologies before I ask my students to work with them in case there should be any technical problems. If I have some experience beforehand, then I may have some experience with them and be able to troubleshoot.
Second, I truly do adhere the possibility that I do not ask my students to do anything I would not do first myself.
Third, I like to think through how I will utilize things in the classroom, real or virtual, thoroughly before implementation. I have seen what can happen when an instructor simply jumps on a new idea before they have really thought through how they could use it properly in the classroom.
The above conditions being laid out, I do have some ideas as to how I could use this approach in my upper level military history class. Here, it could certainly become a massive research archive, which present and future students could build and add to as they research, which could help with developing topics for their papers. Still, part of the assignment is to develop a plan for using social bookmarking as part of my own professional dev elopement.
As for my plan for social book marking as tool for professional development, I see myself using it to connect to various content sites on the web. This I will use both for research purposes and for teaching.
In the research realm, I tend to write a great deal on military topics. The social bookmarking will allow me to keep up with emerging stories such as the controversial remarks of General Stanley Mc Chrystal (a feed I have already highlighted on my Pageflakes page). I plan to use the pages to develop a major archive, and as I do so, to develop various sub-categories, such as World War II, Vietnam, and so forth.
It should be evident that I pan to use this tool to explore on my own first what I hope to then apply in my classes. Still, that fits with my approach to teaching as described above.
Jim Mc Intyre
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
RSS Really a Useful Tool
RSS Really useful in the Classroom?
I have to be honest here. I am not exactly sure of the utility of RSS feeds in the classroom. Yes, they process a great deal of information. I do not necessarily see them as very good editing devices, so I get a pile of information on a topic. What is the utility of that?
To me, this begs the question of whether it is really something we should do. Just because the potential is there, do we have to use it? I think technology has this allure that we feel we have to be cutting edge, whether or not that really makes for best teaching practice, we assume it does because it is something new. I am not in agreement with this attitude and therefore reserve my final judgment on the utility of RSS.
Please send me you comments.
Jim Mc Intyre
I have to be honest here. I am not exactly sure of the utility of RSS feeds in the classroom. Yes, they process a great deal of information. I do not necessarily see them as very good editing devices, so I get a pile of information on a topic. What is the utility of that?
To me, this begs the question of whether it is really something we should do. Just because the potential is there, do we have to use it? I think technology has this allure that we feel we have to be cutting edge, whether or not that really makes for best teaching practice, we assume it does because it is something new. I am not in agreement with this attitude and therefore reserve my final judgment on the utility of RSS.
Please send me you comments.
Jim Mc Intyre
Thursday, June 17, 2010
First post
I see this as a first step in being able to engage one group of sudents in a more far-ranging dialogue of the topics coverfed in my class. While if will hopefully form a repository of resources connected to the topic of AmericanMilitary History, my goal is that it also serve as a conversation concerning the reosources available on the web.
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