Tidertechie

Inspiration Software has been around for several years, but have you been inspired to check it out?  For this week’s Techie Tuesday we will look at Inspiration and how it can be used in the classroom.

According to their company website, Inspiration is an essential tool to visualize, think, organize, and learn.  What makes this software special?  With the explosion of web 2.0 sites, there are numerous free online graphic organizers such as bubbl.us and Mindmeister.

If you simply want to create semantic maps/webs, one of the free online organizers would probable fit your need.  If you want more, keep reading for highlights on Inspiration Software.

One nice component of Inspiration is how you can create a graphic organizer and with one click it can be changed into a formal outline.  Students can create a web with shapes and/or clip art filled with information.  Then it is transformed into an outline using the hierarchy of the web.  These graphic organizers include concept maps, webs, and idea maps.  The outline can be built upon using other components such as a dictionary.

Other key components include the following:

• Video and sound integration
• Templates
• Curriculum Packets

To get a varieties of class integration possibilities, I asked my fellow teachers for ways to integrate Inspiration in their classroom.  Of course bribing them with a free copy of Inspiration always helps them respond quickly:)  Here is a list of ideas to integrate Inspiration into your classroom:

• Draft and Revise writing assignments
• Research
• Visually explain math concepts and problems
• Planning (project, web site,etc)
• Semantic web of a Country
• Transform the semantic web to an outline
• Use the audio part for students to review
• Concept mapping
• Brainstorming
• Story maps
• Character analysis
• Book reports
• Creating storyboards for PowerPoint presentations
• Defining new terms
• Assist teachers in planning lessons or units
• Plot Summaries
• Historical Cause and Effect
• Cycles (recycle, weather, etc.)
• Developing a course or workshop
• Lab Procedures
• Show relationships
• In foreign language classes create an organizer that shows the English word on one side and the foreign language word equivalent on the other side with pictures as hints.
• When studying a poem, in the center concept list the name of the poem and the connecting lines contain phrases from the poem. The sub-concept explains the words in the phrase and the literary technique used such as personification.
• Faculty/district – responsibilities of committees

So are your Inspired?  What other software or sites for graphic organization are your favorite?

This week’s Techie Tuesday focuses on a new online assessment tool provided for Louisiana teachers.

Louisiana, the Pelican state, has created an EAGLE:  Enhanced Assessment Grade Level Expectations.  This program provides immediate feedback to teachers of their student’s knowledge of designated GLE’s.

Don’t worry, we are still the Pelican state!

Basically a teacher logs into the Eagle system, creates a test, and distributes it to his/her students.  All test items are aligned to GLE’s and teachers can use the Eagles pre-made tests or create one using the item bank.

Creating your own test from scratch takes four easy steps.  After you fill out a test overview:  select the area of content (ELA or Math), grade level, and test name, you select “assemble test”.

• Select your Content Standard, Comprehensive Curriculum, or Passages (ELA only).
• Pick a standard/unit, GLE, and items that correspond.
• Click “add to test”.
• Repeat this process to add additional items.

So, you don’t have time to create a test from scratch?  EAGLE has you covered.  Just go to the “Edit Test” tab and click “pre-made.”  Select the subject area and grade level and this opens a list of pre-made tests including one for each Comprehensive Curriculum unit.

Tests can be pre scheduled giving teachers the option to set class and individual goals, time limits, and calculator options.  Scores are immediate for multiple choice, short constructive response, and interactive items.

You can analyze your student’s performance using any of the six progress reports.

• Content Standard
• GLE’s
• Test and Content Standard
• Test and Question Type
• Test Questions
• Instructional Need by GLE

Are you ready to get started?  Each Louisiana Parish has trained personnel.  Contact your Region TLTC or parish school board office.

If you aren’t from Louisiana, do you have a similar program you would like to share?

Most teachers and students have heard of Wikipedia, some in controversial circles.  But have you actually taken a look at wikis from an educational perspective?

Close to the same time Web 2.0 was coined, Wikipedia was blossoming into the current 2.5 million articles.  What made this encyclopedia different than any other?  The ability for everyone to collaborate in building it!

How could you use a wiki in your classroom?  Let’s start from the beginning.  What is a Wiki? Basically a wiki is a website that uses wiki software.  This software allows you to edit pages in real time.  Wikis are used in a variety of collaborative tools.  For this post we will focus on uses in a classroom.

You can limit wiki membership, so only your students are allowed to add and edit information.  You can also open membership to other classrooms for collaboration.  Wiki’s are for the geeky and challenged techie alike.  If you can type in Word, you can have a wiki.

There are so many uses of wikis in the classroom.  What better place to cover wiki information than the collaborative education queen, Vicki Davis aka @coolcatteacher (see below).

One of my favorite ways to use a wiki in the classroom in as a collaborative “binder”.  Previously I referred to this as a notebook, but it is so much more.  Each student has an account and instead of keeping a notebook, they are required to add to the class wiki on a weekly bases.  Each unit has a page, but today they started asking to add additional information such as “Welcome to the Classroom” to help students that enter after school starts, email directions, etc.

It will be interesting to see the changes over the next few weeks.

Here are a few more ideas for wikis in the classroom:

• Class Website
• Writer’s Corner
• Research Paper
• Student (or teacher) portfolios
• Project

What is your favorite classroom wiki idea?

Anyone up to a challenge?  How about two?

I’ve been slowly working my way through the original 31 Day Challenge by Darren Rowse. It is hard to believe there are only 7 more challenges remaining.  As you read in my last post, my class and I joined another challenge – 2009 Blogging Challenge.  This post is actually a reflection on my 31 Day Challenge, but if you are looking for some blogging fun or maybe you would like to just improve your skills, there is still time to join both challenges. 

My last post actually summarizes and reflects on my reader survey for day 20. Throughout this challenge Ive been discussion various things with my PLN. Some of those are readers. The 31 day challenge has been a great kick start to getting readers:) For day 20,  I revisited a survey I conducted awhile back on web 2.0 and wrote a post on the results last week. I will definitely come back to this at a later date and run more surveys. I used poll daddy and it was very quick and easy.  Day 21’s challenge asked us to make someone famous, like I have that ability lol.  I did include @ccroad in my last post and asked readers to add her to their twitter.  

I really enjoyed day 22’s challenge to make readers aware of my blog basics.  There were several topic to choose from and I basically choose to cover the creation of my blog and it’s purpose.  This is a great reflection to do regularly!  I am actually still working on day 23 in which we were suppose to go on a dead links hunt. I used the one Sue suggested, W3C link checker. I am still checking links. It did find categories that I had made when creating the blog, but didn’t actually use.  This is a great resource.  After I finish the blog, I will be checking out our school website for deadlinks!

So are you ready for a challenge?  If so, here are two for you to consider:

1)  31 Day Challenge  

wiki:  http://31daychallenge.wikispaces.com
contact:  Mrs. D  tidertechie@gmail.com

2)  2009 Challenge

blog:   http://wyatt67.edublogs.org/2009-all-the-challenges-in-one-spot/
contact: Miss Wyatt  tasteach56@gmail.com

Towards the end of January, I wrote an All Aboard? post asking for opinions on helping other teachers “see the power” of learning more about web 2.0 and creating their own PLN.  This post included a Poll Daddy survey of the following:

• Where would you suggest a teacher get involved first?
• What is your favorite PLN or Web 2.0 website for newcomers?
• What web 2.0 tools should a teacher not be without?
• List an activity you would include in a workshop for teachers.

Are you ready for the results?

Some interesting facts about this survey include the fact that all of the respondents took a little over 6 minutes to complete the survey and represented at least 5-8 countries.  The exact number of countries can’t be determined because three respondents were listed as an unknown location.

Here is the breakdown of the results:

• Where would you suggest a teacher get involved first?
  • Workshop x 3
  • Twitter x3
  • Other x 4
  • Blog
  • Forum
• What is your favorite PLN or Web 2.0 website for newcomers?
  • Del.icio.us
  • Classroom 2.0 x 3
  • Wordle
  • Sue Waters PLN sites x 5 Edublogger Personal Blog PLN Wiki Mobile Technology in TAFE
  • Don’t have one- difference for different participants
  • Michele Martin
  • Tech4Learning Connect
• What web 2.0 tools should a teacher not be without?
  • Del.icio.us
  • Diigo
  • Twitter
  • Digital Camera
  • Blogs:  example – Edublogs
  • Google:  igoogle, google docs, google earth, etc.
  • Voice Thread
  • Skype
  • Virtual Classroom:  example – DiscoverE
  • Wikis:  example – wikispaces
  • Forums
  • ask500people
  • Audacity
  • Notaland
  • Prezi
  • Photo storing and sharing:  example – flickr, animoto, bubblr
  • Podcasting:  example – audacity, podomatic
  • Wordpress
  • PBwiki
  • Screencasts
  • Ning
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • RSS reader:  example- google reader
  • Zoho
• List an activity you would include in a workshop for teachers. For these responses, I copied their ideas below.
  • Activity 1:  Pass out or take out your digital camera. Ask participants to form into small groups and give them a simple photography assignment. Give them fifteen minutes to go take the photos and then report back. I’ve done this, you can’t get them back in the room! They laugh, they have fun, they run all over (we took over the hotel lobby where I was doing the workshop!) and they learn how energizing, interactive and useful it can be to use digital photography and visual literacy in the classroom.
  • Activity 2:  Voicethread…learn how to develop one and try it out with students. Share it with parents.
  • Activity 3:  Create and add to a collaborative wiki. (suggested by two survey participants)
  • Activity 4:  I have never done this, but I just think it is the greatest idea.  I can’t remember where I learned it from- giving out your twitter name and mobilenumber and getting delegates to text your twitter account with instant feedback throughout the day.
  • Activity 5:  Start a blog with a local topic flavour.  Get them to begin posting and commenting before they leave. Then show them examples of educational blogs that are in use.
  • Activity 6:  Live interaction with others worldwide – eg through Twitter, Skype or virtual room
  • Activity 7:  Use blogs and wikis for teaching
  • Activity 8:  I would literally walk participants through setting up a blog and writing a post so that they could see how easy it is.
  • Activity 9:  Voicethread – find up to 3 images (use creative commons search if that doesn’t make it too difficult) and use it to describe a belief that you have about how students learn. Include text and voice recording. Invite someone in the room to make a comment on your voicethread. (Or, a small group could create a joint Voicethread of their main beliefs.)
  • Activity 10:  Form small ‘creative clusters’ so that people join with a friend or two to practice something new like Delicious or Google Docs. The biggest impact activity we have done recently is to Skype in another educator to join the chat.
  • Activity 11:  Just Tweet:)
  
  
  What does this tell me?
  First, I want to visit some of these sites that I haven’t incorporated.  I have checked out a few, and they were blocked by our Smartfilter:( Second, I should have found a way to incorporate “other” with a place to type the “other”.  I wonder if those three people in question on were referring to the same great place, and I just missed out on it.
  I’m really glad that “workshop” was one of the desired methods to lure other teachers.  We have one this summer and I hope it is met with a great response. I’m trying to get a few twitters out of the faculty before school lets out.  We have one so far, @ccroad.  She hasn’t had time to see it’s full potential yet, so drop her a line or two, and a follow.
  
  
  Lastly, I am extremely thrilled with the fact that the results show that I am on the right track with web 2.0 integration!  To think, this journey really just started in November.  The activity ideas are great, and will be implemented in same fashion.
  Was anyone surprised by del.icio.us ranking as one of the favorite web 2.0 site, but Diigo didn’t?  I am a Diigo user, so I would like to know if I’m missing something by not using del.icio.us.