ACEC and Web2 Showcase – Blogging
ACEC (Australian Computers in Education Conference) Oct 2nd- 4th
Program Details Scroll to the bottom of page for my participation
Web 2.0 Showcase (23/08/2006) Scroll to the bottom of page for an outlineBlogging – A generic workshop by Al Upton (for a short ’snapshot’ – follow the arrows)
Blogs (web logs – great for online collaboration) are easy to establish and maintain.
More than that, they engage and motivate … they excite! Professional learning takes on a new meaning. Student learning becomes personally relevant with r-12 cross-curricula applicability. Bloggers record, publish and share their learning online. They read and contribute to other learners locally and globally. Connection, networking and reflection within learning are paramount in 21st Century online education. In a session of ‘just-in-time’ learning (for ‘tomorrows lesson’); witness examples, management tools and strategies that promise to respect existing commitments and limitations.
[Right-click links to open in a new window]
What’s a blog?
* A web-log (personal online writing space) … written in chronological order – most recent ’posts’ first. Others can add comments to the posts.
Used for as many interests as there are in the world.
Google it! http://blogsearch.google.com/
Now education is catching up. 
Blogs are often centred around a theme using the authors own voice
[do a quick demo and/or create your own blog now]
Basic Blog Creation in Pics
http://www.weblogg-ed.com/why-weblogs Why Weblogs? – a collation by Will Richardson of comments, thoughts and ideas.
Why Weblogs? …
* Personally empowering, engaging and motivating
Connection with people of like interests
Create communities of practice
* Active interactions - Web2 – it’s a read/write web now
Free, easy, shareable ICT integration
* Cater to teacher and student learning, PD and r-12 cross-curricula
* skills for 21st Century lifelong learning
A place to communicate and collaborate – model this
* Find your voice, link and connect to the voices of others
* You can make it what you want it to be …
AN EXAMPLE
http://theopenclassroom.blogspot.com/ Jo McLeay’s blog (Melbourne)
http://theopenclassroom.blogspot.com/2006/09/how-do-we-know-that-blogs-and-podcasts.html#links And this is a very relevant post. Click the link to see the comments.
* I paraphrase, ‘the writing was only slightly better but the learning was huge’
and ‘it’s only a tool, but a tool that supports a truly social constructive environment …
and that makes a difference’
MORE BLOGS – start to read, comment, follow your own interests http://australianedubloggers.pbwiki.com/
a starting point when checking out other Australian blogs
CLASS BLOGS
http://alupton.wordpress.com/ This is my class blog used for class learning (not just publishing), connecting with other online users …
http://alupton.wordpress.com/2006/05/30/leeroy-jenkins/ this is our favourite post
http://dylanb.wordpress.com/
Dylan’s blog (a student ‘travel blog’ example)
Some Pros …
* easy and safe
* low cost(free) with high viability
connect parents with schools
supports content creation, publishing, sharing
great for ePortfolios
* fun
* huge learning potential with minimal time investment
* project blogs
learning area blogs
class blogs
team blogs (eg middle years, eTeachers)
* develop learning networks and online collaborations
encourage personal connections
involve everyone
start early
Some Cons …
Access to computers? can use one computer
Professional Development?
* What if I only have one computer in my room?
http://upsroom18.wordpress.com/ I don’t know if Alina Carter and her class only have one computer but I recommend the initial strategy they have used. Pairs of students post about their learning each day.
* What if I want to add graphics, audio (podcasts) and videos? Go for it, it’s up to your own creativity, professional judgements and energy levels. It can be done.
http://rosaspodcast.blogspot.com/
* What if my school wanted to create a blog for the whole site? Wonderful, check out Lewis Elementary School http://lewiselementary.org/ in Portland. The principal is Tim Lauer. And a more local (WA) example, http://www.paraburdoo.det.wa.edu.au/
BLOGS FOR PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
http://ccclearning.edublogs.org/ I also have this blog for educational dialogue, linking the class blog to plugins not available in wordpress (Rockyou!), testing features …
http://gwegner.edublogs.org/
This is Graham Wegner’s blog. An exellent example used for professional learning, establishing networks …
and … http://heyjude.wordpress.com/ with Judy O’Connell’s Introduction to Blogging
Great Professional Learning Opportunities
* Experts on tap - meet people you never would otherwise
* Sharing of good, great and excellent practices – locally and globally
You have evidence to help claim your 37.5 PD hours!
* A strategy – read blogs, follow your interests,
add a comment, create and link to your own blog
* Blog about your own interests, work, projects, ideas – others will appreciate it
great for reflection and evaluation
mix your own personal opinion and summaries of others, what responses do you get?
Control and create your own self-directed learning network
Expect serendipity and the unexpected
CREATE A BLOG
http://www.edublogs.org/ Create your own blog. edublogs is the world’s biggest education blogging service/community. It uses wordpress.org – seperate installation on a server. Screencast on using edublogs.org
http://www.wordpress.com/ WordPress blogs can be created at DECS schools/preschools. They are maintained online. Like edublogs, WordPress blogs are free. There are many other services most of which are filtered in SA
VIEWING BLOGS IN ONE PLACE - aggregation
http://www.bloglines.com/ Bloglines, it’s fast, free and like a one stop shop.
In the left hand menu, under ‘My Feeds’ click ‘add’ – copy and paste in the blog url (address) you want to add. Next time you visit your bloglines, any new posts on those blogs will be ready for you to read.
You can also share your bloglines eg
http://www.bloglines.com/public/alupton
http://bloglines.com/public/wrichard Will Richardson’s bloglines
FURTHER INFO
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogging
Use the ‘worlds most famous wiki’ to learn more about blogs.
http://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary.html
Via ‘Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators’ – magazine: Autumn 06 Issue
http://downloads.smarttech.com/media/education/pdf/ieAutumn06.pdf
…a educational technology publication with this issue highlighting the emerging
technologies and practices in schools. Great section on blogging.
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/e-learning_20.php e-Learning 2.0 – how web technologies are shaping education – by Steve O’Hear
http://www.shambles.net/web2/comingofage/Coming_of_age_v1-2.pdf Coming of Age – a collation of Web2 articles. Many authors address the use of blogs in education but is comprehensive in it’s coverage of Web2 applications.
A FEW SPRINGBOARDS
- click different blogs in the blogroll, follow your interests
http://www.weblogg-ed.com/ the read/write web in the classroom – Will Richardson
http://bloglines.com/public/wrichard Will’s bloglines are full of more ’springboards’ and fascinating reading – read, add a comment or two, link back to your own blog
http://webloggedlinks.pbwiki.com/ Web2 resources (Will Richardson)
NB you might need to click the + sign under ‘Feeds’, ‘Weblogs and Ed.’
http://www.downes.ca/news/OLDaily.htm Stephen Downes – ‘updates the latest updates’ – you can also subscribe to have emails arrive daily (or weekly)
http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/website/subscribe.cgi
Web2 Showcase – Follow up Blogging Workshops Term 4, 2006 South Australia
If you are interested in establishing a personal, class, project or school blog (or a learning network using them) feel free to contact me al.upton@glenlegsr7.sa.edu.au SA
Web 2.0 Showcase (23/08/2006)
All you wanted to know but were too afraid to ask! An introduction to some of the collaborative Web2 resources that are quick, easy, intuitive, free, personal, collaborative, connected and empowering for kids and teachers. • Wikis – Graham Wegner • Blogging – Al Upton • Podcasts, Flickr & Mashups – Mike Seyfang • Social Bookmarking – Yvonne Murtagh • Personal start pages – Graham Wegner • Where to from here? – Deanne BullenACEC (Australian Computers in Education Conference)
Collaborative Web Spaces: Create Your Own Blog
Blogs, wikis, podcasts, social technologies, Web 2.0, all feature in this workshop which has both primary and secondary relevance.
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Definitions and understandings are shared, trends are explored, and the changing role of technology in education is examined. With an awareness that the very nature of learning is being questioned what is the relevance of all this to us as educators now? How can we utilise and develop our early understandings of these emerging technologies in a way that doesn’t intrude on existing commitments?
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In the hands-on component of this workshop participants will create and develop a blog (a collaborative webspace) that will encourage students to connect with their learning in a new way. This session provides ‘just-in time’ learning and self developed resources for ‘tomorrows lesson’ as well as an experience of what soon will be.
Participants are encouraged to bring class lists, a memory stick plus some pictures and urls (web addresses) they are happy to share. Make them relevant and fun – it’s more relevant and fun that way!
