eLearning For Teachers: Di Goodman (Epoff)

Learning Technologies 2008 Conference

Friday 7th November

Sparking Up the Network: Tinkle, Bing, Boom

Karen Fainges’s workshop:

Karen talks about how we can get the most out of networks in the classroom.

She is witty and entertaining and provides a light-hearted approach to her topic, and tells us that Gen Y isnt the only ‘logged on’ generation. Grey nomads are some of the best users of the internet: they have the time to learn everything they can, they willingly share information, love belonging to communities and love new technology. They may struggle with the technical aspects but engage with and use the technology to its advantage.

Karen shows us how she has used an online learning management system to create a learning community of Business Studies students.

Her humour creates a nice window to shed some stress in relation to the serious nature of what we are trying to achieve here at the conference.

I have written this article in response to the Learning Technologies User Group’s online pre-conference forum of the same name. I am attending the LTUG Conference in QLD from 5th-7th November 2008.

This is specifically a response to Mark Bauerlein’s evidence that literacy standards are dropping in our schools, due to students’ increasing reliance and use of technology.

Before we take away their laptops….

Before we take away their laptops, perhaps we need to consider Mark Bauerlien’s discussion in the light of what we are really trying to provide for our students through education.

Gen Z, born from 1995 onwards, will live, work and participate largely in a technocentric culture, which I imagine will be radically different to ours. They will need new skills and new literacies to adapt to the complex social, cultural, environmental and technological issues they will surely face as they reach adulthood.

I have often thought the same things that Mark mentions – the drop in what we call student ‘literacies’ and ‘standards’. However some research has reminded me that the term literacy, like technology, has radically changed. It has, in fact, kept abreast of technology.

“… literacy is more than just being able to read and write; it is the ability to comprehend, interpret, analyze, respond, and interact with the growing variety of complex sources of information”. This definition was written by Roger Sensenbaugh in 1990! Since then we have witnessed a proliferation of literacies: computer literacy, scientific literacy, emerging literacy, visual literacy, conceptual literacy, cultural literacy, and many more.

A current definition is offered by the Centre for Literacy in Quebec: “Literacy is a complex set of abilities needed to understand and use the dominant symbol systems of a culture – alphabets, numbers, visual icons - for personal and community development. The nature of these abilities, and the demand for them, vary from one context to another.

In a technological society, literacy extends beyond the functional skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening to include multiple literacies such as visual, media and information literacy. These new literacies focus on an individual’s capacity to use and make critical judgements about the information they encounter on a daily basis.”

Are current education systems and institutions up-to-date with the real literacies being invented by new generations of students who have grown up with digital technology? I think not.

The students I teach today are so different to the students I taught only 5 years ago. I have had to completely adapt my own teaching practice to meet the learning demands of these students. These students don’t want to read and write to learn about things. They want to experiment, practice, play and experience how things work. They want to invent their own way to decipher and deliver information, and devise their own literacies in the process.

I am convinced that Gen Z will transform our idea of what literacy means and what ‘standards’ are important in education. In fact, these young people are already rewriting and inventing new literacies as we have this discussion. This happens for many of them on their computers at home – because – at school, they are still engaging with 19th century learning practices!

The “proficiency” of Gen Z is set to challenge us. They may not “create prose that is precise, engaging, and coherent,” and may not be able to “write well enough to meet the demands” of archaic institutions. But they may well be the generation to create the revolution in education we are discussing.

As educators, we have the power now, to stretch the parameters of our own thinking and engagement with technology, to help them create a sophisticated revolution: one where technology is used in meaningful, relevant and contextual ways to sustain a lifelong process of learning, as well as support life on this planet.

Lets not draw “deeply flawed conclusions” about how the literacies of younger generations match up against our own. Rather, let us find some sense of recognition and value in the native digital language of these students, help them identify, refine and utilize multiple literacies, to help equip them for the brave new world in which they will need to survive.

The revolution, the new paradigm of technology-supported education will only be achievable and sustainable when students and the literacies they need to live, work, play and survive in the 21st century, are placed at the centre of the learning process by educators.

I have written this article in response to the Learning Technologies User Group’s online pre-conference forum of the same name. I am attending the LTUG Conference in QLD from 5th-7th November 2008.

Has technology Revolutionized Education?

Technology will revolutionize education when it is used as a wholesale instrument of pedagogy, rather than as a resource.

Technology on its own is of little benefit to many teachers: a data projector is a good substitute for an overhead projector, perhaps. Unfortunately I have observed this in many secondary and tertiary classrooms.

If real change is to take place, teachers need to learn how to effectively use technology as a tool for student learning, rather than use it merely to display resources or source information. In most Australian schools, a digital education revolution seems light years away!

Installing computers in any number of classrooms will not effect change until teachers change their way of teaching. This can be achieved through subtle shifts in pedagogies: posing questions that encourage students to use computers to discuss-collaborate-research-interact-analyze-answer problems-present solutions, rather than source information-find facts-copy-paste-print.

The key is to create a paradigm shift through pedagogy and teaching practice so that the way our students learn is revolutionized! The shift toward student-centred, problem-based learning environments will empower Gen Z and Y students to do what they do best: use technology as a primary language to learn everything they need to know, just-in-time. For these new generations of students, authentic learning is technology-centred and their chief native language is digital.

Educators can theorize the need for change and manufacturers can invent amazing whizz-bang technology, but the revolution will not even begin to take shape until teachers are assisted and supported in the process of creating new pedagogies to embrace ICT as a learning tool in their classrooms.

The real revolution must be facilitated by administrative bodies and governments, not merely through the installation of hardware, but more importantly, through the supply of ICT focused professional development opportunities and support for teachers.

The technology itself will not inspire revolution. However, the meaningful use of technology may revolutionize education. Such a revolution will be human-centred, driven not by the technology itself, but by the wisdom and insight of teachers, and the enthusiasm and engagement of their students.

Creating podcasts allows students to share learning experiences and contribute to new learning environments.

Whilst this requires some in-depth skills and knowledge, a good way to start to use podcasts is to access them as resources and information sites for your subjects and your students.

The iTunes store has lots of podcasts available, and is a good source of language podcasts. Some universities are now uploading lectures to iTunes.

Here are some interesting Podcast sites for you to check out:

edna

edna 2

iTunes

Douchy’s biology podcast

room 208

digital podcast directory

podkids australia

tech savvy girls

podcasting in education

australian podcast directory

the pod lounge

science and engineering podcast directory

nasacast

necc podcast

podcast 411

Here are some helpful links to online tutorials. Click on the links, find the one that works for you and work at your own pace through each topic.

1. Here is a link to a good basic tutorial on using Microsoft Outlook: Millpen College Using Microsoft Outlook

2. Here is another site that attempts to make learning fun! You may prefer its step-by-step instructions:

ACTEN Media Microsoft Outlook Tutorial

3. Plant Administrations Outlook Tutorials provide quite detailed step-by-step workshops on each topic. These are downloadable PDF files that you can print and use while offline.

4. Microsoft Outlook’s own Help website

Audacity provides a quick tutorial on the basic features in its Welcome Screen. if this has been disabled, you can find it under the Help menu. launch Audacity > go to Help menu > Show Welcome Message

Click on the blue links: Play Back; Record; Edit Sound; Export Sound & Burn to a CD to see whats possible. Follow the onscreen instructions

Audacity ^® is free open source software for recording and editing sound.

Features

Audacity is a fast multi-track audio editor and recorder for:

• Windows 98 and later
• Macintosh OS 9 (Audacity 1.0 only) and OS X
• Linux/Unix and other *.nix-based systems

Audacity supports several digital audio formats with support for 24 bit and 32 bit sample formats as well as 16 bit. Supported formats include:

• WAV
• AIFF
• OGG
• MP3

The Audacity Wiki (an online editable public resource and pages by multiple authors) contains tips, tricks and information about Audacity and digital audio. Anyone can edit pages to make them more useful or relevant. You can go there by clicking on this link:

Audacity online Wiki

Learn a bit more about Audacity by exploring links on this page: About Audacity

Where to get it

The Audacity program is available from the Audacity downloads page at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ .

Get your Music into Audacity

Option 1: Start with an audio file like an MP3 that you already have on your computer: import it by clicking Project > Import Audio. If the audio file is saved the wrong format, it will not import into Audacity. In iTunes, you can convert it through the Advanced menu. Select the file in the iTunes library > Advanced menu > Convert selection to AIFF > an AIFF version will appear in the library window. if you arent sure which one is which, go the View menu > View Options and check ‘Kind’ to display the kind of file first.

Option 2: You can also record music from records or cassettes (see Transferring tapes and records to computer or CD) or any audio that is playing on your computer. For example if you heard some music on internet radio that you thought would suit your purpose, you could (on Windows or Linux) record it into Audacity - see http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=recording&i=streaming . On a Mac, you’d use a tool like Audio Hijack to record sounds playing from an application such as your web browser to an .AIFF audio file.

Option 3: To import music from a CD into Audacity you need to extract the audio from the CD to a WAV or AIFF audio file by using a program such as iTunes and import that audio file into Audacity. see below for setting this up correctly.

CD–EX is a good free Windows program to extract CD audio.

Or you can use Windows Media Player if you are on Windows XP (click Rip > Format > WAV lossless, or iTunes (either on OS X or Windows). First set the “conversion format” in iTunes Preferences under Advanced > Importing > Import using AIFF (or WAV) encoder”. Click “Audio CD” on the “Source” pane on the left. Select the tracks you want to extract and right-click on them and click the option “convert selection to AIFF”.

On OS X, CD tracks should also appear as AIFF files in the Finder, so they can simply be dragged into Audacity or imported from the CD with Project > Import Audio.

[edit] Create your Voice Track

1. To create a voice track record it with your microphone on to a new track in your Audacity Project. As the voice recording will be on a different track from the music, it can after recording be edited entirely independently of the music (see “Editing and Effects” below).

To record with your microphone, you set the recording source to microphone in Audacity’s mixer toolbar input selector http://audacity.sourceforge.net/onlinehelp-1.2/toolbar_mixer.htm (or, if you are on OS X, you set the microphone as the default recording source in Apple Audio-Midi Setup). Then press the red Record button.

If you want to be really professional, why not do a level test of your voice before you record for real? Click on the downward pointing arrow in the right hand (red) recording level meters http://audacity.sourceforge.net/onlinehelp-1.2/toolbar_meter.htm and click “monitor input”. While speaking into your microphone as loud as you would for the loudest part of what you want to record, adjust the recording level slider (by the microphone symbol) on the Mixer Toolbar http://audacity.sourceforge.net/onlinehelp-1.2/toolbar_mixer.htm so the recording meters are almost reaching the far right-hand side (but not far enough to bring the red hold lights on). If the recording level meters are not visible, go to the Preferences and check “Enable Meter Toolbar” on the Interface tab.

2. To record your voice track while listening to your music track, check “Play other tracks while recording new one” in the Audio I/O tab of Audacity Preferences, and press the red Record button. The Preferences are under usually under the Edit Menu, but on OS X are under the Audacity menu. Note: obviously you must use tight fitting headphones to record while listening to a music track, to avoid your microphone picking up the music playback in your voice recording.

3. After you have finished recording, just press “play” in Audacity to hear the result – the music track and your voice track will be mixed together just as they will when you come to “export” the recording as a computer audio file.

[edit] Editing and Effects

The Edit menu allows you to do things like cut pieces out of the music where you don’t want it, and on the Effect menu to do things like fade the music in and out, and so on.

1. Select your track first, and dont apply effects whilst you are playing, recording or pausing the track. You can select all of a track by clicking on its Track Panel (where the mute/solo buttons are). You can select part of a track by clicking in the track and dragging to left or right with your mouse, or with the left or right arrow keys.

Another useful tool is the Time Shift Tool <–-> top left of the Audacity screen (hit F5 to select it). With this you can move your music and vocal tracks back and forth so you get the music in the right place underneath your words.

2. Make the tracks as loud as they can be without distorting. To do this hit Edit > Select > All and Effect > Amplify and click OK. Then go the Track Panel of each track and slide the -…+ gain slider on each track to left by the same amount to reduce their volume. This is necessary because you have amplified both tracks so when played together they will otherwise distort. Now hit the green Play button to play the music and voice track together and watch the green playback VU meter next to the red recording meter. If the red hold lights at the right come on, move both gain sliders further back by the same amount.

[edit] Export and Publish your MP3

Once you have edited your recording in Audacity, you need to export it as an MP3 which is a universal compressed audio format that will play on iPods and other portable devices (and will also be suitable for others who may just want to listen to it on their computer) and which will also be small enough to distribute via the web.

1. To export your Project to an MP3, install the Lame MP3 encoder to Audacity - its an “optional extra”. Follow the instructions at Lame Installation to download and install Lame.

2. Click File > Export as MP3 which will mix your voice and music tracks to an MP3 file. A dialogue box will pop up asking you to edit the ID3 tags. These are tags which most audio players can read which give information such as the Title and Genre of the track. There is a short podcast tutorial here explaining about tagging MP3s in Audacity: http://www.creativecow.net/articles/mcmahon_frank/pod1/pod1.html .

Uploading to a website (podcasting)

Option 1: Once your MP3 is exported to your hard drive, you can upload it to your website and create a link for it. You can create a simple download link which is just the web address of the file e.g. http://www.mypodcast.com/podcast.mp3 .

However, if you give a plain text link like this, what happens when the user clicks on the link depends on their setup i.e. whether this downloads the file to their drive or launches their default MP3 player.

If you instruct your user to right-click the link, this will always enable them to download the file to their drive.

Option 2: If you embed your MP3 in your webpage using “embed tags” you can choose if your MP3 plays in the background or if the browser’s media plugin appears in the webpage, which will give the user an on and off button to play the file in the browser. You can also choose whether to autoplay the file on page load or not, and so on. This page shows you how to use embed tags: http://www.webreference.com/js/column20/embed.html .

If you want to make a plain text link from which users can stream your MP3 into their default MP3 player, you can just create a text file with .m3u (or .pls) extension and paste into it the full web address of the MP3, then upload the .m3u file to your webpage.

Many podcasts are distributed with what are known as RSS feeds, instead of (or as well as) offering downloading or streaming of the podcast content. When read with a feed reader program, these feeds offer a summary link to (or direct downloads of) recently updated podcast content. You can read about creating .RSS feeds for podcasts here .

If you do not have your own server or access to a website, there are other ways to put your podcast on the internet. Online services like BlogMatrix, AudioBlog, Liberated Syndication, PodBus and Podblaze offer space to upload and store your podcast. Some of these services offer free hosting while others will charge a small fee for different storage limits. Please refer to the different web sites for more information. To use a hosting service, simply sign up for an account and upload your MP3 files.

Finally, don’t forget to promote your podcast on the major podcast directories and search engines, such as iTunes and Podcast Alley .

Gickr is a partner Web 2.0 application to Flickr

Gickr.com lets you create online animated slideshows and share them online

Gickr is actually easier than Flickr to use. In minutes you can quickly upload images and create an animated slideshow that you can email to friends or link to a blog

Like Flickr, there are privacy options but the site warns you that once an option is set, it cant be undone

In the future you will be able to upload a Flickr set to Gickr, but for now its not functional. You will need to access images from your computer.

Wikis in plain English: this TeacherTube movie systematically shows you what a Wiki is!

A Wiki is a piece of web-based software that allows users to create and edit Web page content using a Web browser.

Wikis were first used in the 1990s by scientists to create dynamic knowledge bases.

Wikis are based on ‘open editing’ which means, anyone can create and edit content and pages.

This makes Wikis democratic and accessible by non-technical users.

Wikis have been described as:

- A composition system

- A mail system

- A repository

- A tool for collaboration

- A discussion medium

- An e-portfolio

Users have both author and editor privileges.

The organisation of a wiki can be edited, as well as content.

Wikis can incorporate movies, sounds, and images.

Want to know more? Check out Macquarie University’s Centre for Flexible Learning website, or the How Stuff Works website.

Keeping students cybersafe!

This wordpress blog explains successful policies and procedures employed by Hawksdale College in Victoria, to ensure that their students work safely in cyberspace. Some great tips for teachers formulating policies.

In 2005, Tim O’Reilly, considered the idea of “The Web As a Platform”, and stated that

“Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform”.

“Like many important concepts, Web 2.0 doesn’t have a hard boundary, but rather, a gravitational core. You can visualize Web 2.0 as a set of principles and practices that tie together a veritable solar system of sites that demonstrate some or all of those principles, at a varying distance from that core.”

You can probably already identify some common Web 2.0 applications, such as Flickr, My Space, YouTube etc, but there are many, many more!

Click on the go2web2.0 screenshot (above) to see some of the enormous range of Web 2.0 applications available on the internet

Click on a range of the hundreds of site thumbnails to explore the diverse ways in which Web 2.0 is used: try the Visible Body site

So, now that you’ve looked at some Web 2.0 applications, just what is Web 2.0?

Andy Budd is an innovative web designer who has produced an interesting slideshow that explains the various dimensions of web 2.0 technology and its implications for the future. Visit his presentation here

The blog: open 24 hours. This site is worth the read for educators!
Click on the above link to go to a great blog entry written by Lucie deLaBruere on the Infinite Thinking Blogsite, in response to a presentation by Ed-tech expert Ed Barrys, who addressed some Vermont educators about the many issues associated with students creating and contributing to educational blog sites.

deLaBruere poses questions for us to answer if we are to develop a sound policy for the use of Web 2.0 tools in our classrooms, and beyond. Some of these include:

• How do we teach kids to cross a busy street?
• How can we support an institution with desires to seek innovation in teaching, learning and research; willingness to innovate & a growing culture of sharing?
• How can schools ensure that they are fulfilling their duty of care to ensure safe environments for their students?
• How do we promote a culture of social responsibility?
• Must we reach beyond Acceptable Use Policies?
• How do schools make and enforce rules when students are not on school ground or acting as part of a school function?

A key link on her site takes you to many related articles, posts and comments on the subject that may help us find the answers we need:

Acceptable Use Policies in School 2.0 Culture

Use Blogger (a free Web 2.0 application) to create your own blog, step-by-step.

You dont have to download anything, but you do need an internet connection and a web browser such as internet Explorer or Firefox.

The best way to learn about something is through ACTION!

So, click on this Blogger tour and make your own Blog in minutes:

Blogger online tour

What is a blog? Well this site is a Blog! Consider a blog to be:

- A personal diary

- A collaborative space

- A political/social soapbox

- A breaking-news outlet

- A collection of links

- Your own private thoughts

- Memos to the world.

Your blog can be whatever you want it to be. Blogs are custom-made, and there are no real rules.

In simple terms, a blog is a web site where you write or comment, on an ongoing basis.

The latest blog entries are stacked on top, so your visitors can read what’s new. Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Or choose just to read. Visitors can link your Blog to their own to make that process easier.

Blogger was launched in 1999, and since then blogs have reshaped the web, impacted politics, shaken up journalism, and enabled millions of people to have a voice and connect with others.

Click on this Slideshare Presentation: Blogs and Wikis for Beginners. It provides some information that might get you thinking about the issues associated with students using Blogs in the classroom.

The aim of this blog is to diarise my research and exploration of Web 2.0 applications. Each day, new ones appear on the net, and we read about them in articles and journals. If the growth continues at this pace, it will require enormous amounts of time to test and evaluate the effectiveness of such applications as possible learning tools for our students.

What appeals to me most about this new technology is its:

* accessibility

* affordability

* immediacy

* interactivity

* creativity

* and the way in which it challenges us to keep up with our students!

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