Please share your responses to the readings here. What did you like about the article? How does it add to your learning? What ideas do you have from reading the article? How can you implement what you learned?
Be sure to tell me your first name so I can give you credit. Tell us which article you read as well.
Melissa Twice Connects Readers Across America via Two Way Videoconferencing. This article was able how Twice got started and how much it has grown through the years. I have heard about this through flyers and other collegues but never really understood how it worked. It is just amazing how technology has changed since I became a teacher 15 years ago. It’s one thing taking a class and learning lots of new things and then finding out you have to wait for the technology. What is great about videoconferencing is that I know we have the equipment and the people to schedule it. I can’t wait for a wonderful technology year in my classroom.
I agree, Melissa. Knowing that TWICE (and Janine) are tools for teachers to get connected with others interested in the same thing is quite a relief! I signed up for TWICE and accepted your request to be my friend.
Going Global brings to light that connecting with kids across the globe allows students to dispell the misconception that there will only be differences or similarities with people and places that are new to them. Students become aware that people solve problems much in the same way, no matter where they live. Likewise, students may see that they are not so different from those in other parts of the world. Finding similarities and differences seems to be one of the best educational strategies to help students make connections with new information. I’m excited about going global and giving my students the opportunity to problem-solve with students all over the world.
I agree, Shannon, it seems that “going global” promotes cultural awareness and toleration of other cultures and ways of life! Students might even learn that life in Southwest Michigan is not always as “bad” as what some of them make it out to be! After meeting students from other parts of the world, our students might realize that there are children their age who live in a home that has no running water, no computer, or no phone. Hopefully, our students can begin to appreciate (if they haven’t already) some of the “luxuries” that we sometimes take for granted.
In this very competitive world students need to understand that we all have opinions and that we need to be open to hear both sides to a problem. When we can do this in society we will be able to begin to solve the world issues possibly without the word weapons and war in the conversation. I feel that with something like videoconferencing our students can continue to learn how to communicate and articulate their ideas and thoughts with students all over the world. I think anytime students can continue to work on problem solving with other students it’s a win win situation.
Hope you have agreat experience and a great year Shannon.
“Videoconferencing in Education”
One important aspect of this article is that it mentions how videoconferencing becomes a way for teachers to connect their students to “experts” in a certain field, and they don’t even have to take a field trip outside of the school to do this! For example, students in White Plains, New York were able to talk with a diver who was exploring the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. How fun would it be for my students to take a virtual field trip to the Cleveland Museum of Art or to watch authentic flamenco dancers? This would be the perfect opportunity for my students to make a personal connection to the Spanish cultural history that we are focusing on.
Finally, this article discusses the importance of “promoting tolerance and global awareness.” A community or language exchange via videoconference would be a simple way to open up the eyes of my students to life outside of “Michiana.” For example, my students could take part in a language exchange with classrooms in Mexico or Costa Rica, and they would be able to practice the greetings, phrases, and other vocabulary that they have learned in their beginning Spanish class with native Spanish speakers!
Becky,
I agree with you that the great part about VCing is connecting our classes with experts. We are so fortunate to 1) have the equipment and resources in our districts/county to do VCs, and 2) have taken this class with Janine. It’s been fun!
Jamie
Promoting global awareness and tolerance through the videoconferencing experience would be awesome. Maybe we can share our videoconferencing experiences to know which ones were successful and share what we learned to improve.
I, too, read the “TWICE Connects Readers Across America Via Two-Way VideoConferencing” article and was impressed that our very own Janine (and Nancy from my school) started the TWICE involvement in Read Across America/Read Around the Planet. I’m always fascinated by how with one person’s little idea, a huge, sweeping movement can evolve. If in 2003 the program was in its sixth year, it must now be in its twelfth. I love to imagine how many students have participated and the memories they must have.
I hope to do several collaborative VCs next year—Literature Quest, Read Around the Planet, and possibly the Holocaust Lit Booktalks—of which would partner my students with other classes. And—they’re free!
Jamie
I don’t think most people in our area realize just how famous Janine is in the circle of vc experts nationwide. We are so lucky to have her here; she has connections to people and places that are far beyond the reach of the average RESA when it comes to vc’s. I love that she is a realist, she understands and appreciates the challenges of the classroom teacher, and she is practical in trying to address them. Janine, you rock!
“25 ways to teach with Twitter” by Sonja Cole
I’m really glad I picked up this article, as I am new to Twitter this week and am thinking it will be a great way to stay/get linked professionally in a more efficient way than the listserves that send multitudes of messages that you have to go through and delete individually. A social network format would actually be much more manageable.
Most helpful for me were the explanation of abbreviations and the sample tweets. It’s kind of like learning a new language; you need someone to help translate at first.
Comments at the end were interesting, though not surprising. I can hear the voices of specific teachers I know as I read them!
I do understand the initial concern with “one more thing” to worry about, but what I think these people don’t see is that networks like this are integrated into your daily life via cell phones and quick computer checks, so they become the means through which you accomplish many of these things instead of an additional task. There is a learning curve, of course, but like I’ve been saying w/ all the other technology we have used, when you become comfortable enough that the tech is transparent, it really starts to feel like it’s working for you instead of against you.
I too was glad to be introduced to twitter this week. You keep hearing about it on the tv and I’ve been wondering about how it all works. I agree, initially teachers put on the brakes to new technology, but the more they are exposed to it and see it being used the more receptive they are to it.
Angie- I totally agree with hearing co-workers say, “I can’t handle adding one more thing to what I do.” It actually really bothers me because to me, the more we learn and try, the better prepared we are to teach. The students are motivated to learn when they see that we are excited to teach and be with them. Also, the more we learn about technology, the easier it is to manage our curriculum. If others would just give tech. a chance, they may see that they would like it and not feel so stressed! I am also new with the Twitter and would like to learn some of the common “tweets!
The article “Videoconferencing” presents many advantages to the students. I like the idea that they can improve their presentational skills just by the experience of watching themselves. They develop a new consciousness of dress, posture, speech, and general appearance just by the virtue of the experience. That to me seems powerful and effective and a skill that will serve them for a lifetime. The other benefits such as motivation and increased learning via the advanced preparation are key but I like the presentational skills since students don’t get many opportunities to see themselves.
I agree that videoconferencing is a way to present life long speaking skills for students. Students, especially the younger ones usually enjoy seeing themselves on camera and it would be valuable for them to see their actions and how they affect their presentations and learning opportunities for others.
So true! The vc gives immediate and real-world feedback on the effectiveness of our communication, and that’s so valuable. Kids don’t have the opportunity to really evaluate their ability to communicate w/ strangers very often, because most of their communication is with people they know and feel comfortable with. Really, kids in schools are pretty sheltered. I love that the vc gives them a taste of what it’s like when total strangers invite them to discourse.
Read: Learning From the Pros
I thought it was interesting to how the high school students are getting professional feedback for their career paths. It is a way to get people who are actually in the changing and challenging job market to critique their talents and help them to improve and fine tune their skills. I can see how this would give student the motivation to keep improving their skills to be the best that they can be. This is also a great opportunity for the students to have a professional who knows them and can guide them.
It would be interesting to see how many more fields other than the arts that are available to students for services.
I’m not sure that this would be something I could really implement in my classroom with my 5 year old students.
“Learning from a Distance Brings it Home”
It still amazes me at how far computers in education have come. I took my first videoconference course I think back in 1996 through GVSU at Van Buren ISD & it was so cool to be able to see the other sites, the professor at GVSU, and be able to interact with all of them. At the time, I felt so on top of the world of technology, even though the picture pixelled continuously and if the weather was bad…class over! Now most students have computers at home & can continually connect with their friends and others, check grades, assignments, etc. all online. The possibilities are becoming endless.
The idea of taking a “virtual” field trip seemed so bazaar when it first came out, now it seems second nature. There are so many opportunities for kids to link up with, and kids today are so “tuned” into technology through video games, tv, internet, etc., virtual field trips are right up their alley.
Even interactive videoconferences add so much to the students understanding of what they have been studying, reading, or learning about. As a culminating activity, or an activity before studying a subject, either way the value of the conference is something they will remember more than anything they will learn from a book.
One thing I am interested in getting started would be a collaborative project. The idea they gave about “epals” sounds really cool. I would really like to set something up with another classroom. There was just an article in the newspaper about two elderly ladies, one in the US one in England, that were given an assignment of being penpals in 4th grade & had stayed penpals all their lives. They had just gotten together a month ago & were able to meet for the first time. I would love to set something up like this to help students make connections with other kids.
Middle School Videoconferencing Fosters Global Citizenship
by Jody Howard-Kennedy
“Incorporating an awareness of global issues into the curriculum and developing innovative resources and strategies encourage an understanding of world issues and interdependence…” This is part of a statement by Mike Griffith, and I think this sums up the big idea behind videoconferencing. Human interaction is a basic need and introducing students world issues is a way to bring us back to what is important in life. Our world has so many forms of technology and it seems that sometimes it feels that it can take away from human interactions, and videoconferencing seems to be a way to give it back in a productive manner. VC offers the opportunity to prepare each student for a life of being a responsible, contributing citizen of this world.