Monthly Archives: June 2004

Renata’s article on blogging as a research tool

A nice message came in from Renata Suzuki on our Yahoo ESL/EFL discussion group. Renata shared her article on the usefulness of blogs as a research tool. In an email to the group she wrote:

 

For those of you who are interested, my article on blogging as a research tool is up at the TESL-EJ site:

 

 

A giant thank you to the organizers of the blog course, without which this would never have been possible. Your kind introduction to blogging and its uses in education have been really helpful for me.

Thank you also everyone for visiting my blog, commenting and making the research possible, I hope you enjoy the article, too.

 

Renata Suzuki

 

The blog course she is referring to is the Weblogs in ESL/EFL Workshop that Sandy, Aaron, Joe and I led back in January-March. The title of her article is “Diaries as introspective research tools: From Ashton-Warner to Blogs”,  The study analysed the efficacy of using blogs as a research tool compared to diaries, using the example of research in teacher use of motivation strategies, and found that blogs offer various possible advantages in the domain of action research.

 

Renata kept a free retrospective, commentative diary entry written in the blog, Getting there. Based on research quoted by Renata, it is suggested that data-reliability is enhanced by collecting as soon as possible after the event. She included a review of the lesson with salient incidents. Further entries comprised thoughts, conversations and impressions, together with data of student feedback acquired from student tests and worksheets. This data provided the basis for analysis. The support and feedback feature of the online comments is discussed.

 

I find this so interesting. One of the things I wish I had more specific knowledge about is just what and how to most effectively record what is going on as we teach. Teachers are so busy. We never get to that and if we do, we have not been trained in the best way to do this type of recording. I think that is one of the things I like best about blogs- the recording of different educator’s thoughts about this whole learning process with blogs. And I like the different voices and the different ways we view learning and other issues. 

 

Renata acknowledges that some researchers may reject blog-based research, considering it time-consuming and lacking in objective stance. She goes on to say that the weaknesses might in fact be perceived as a strength and she focuses on the strengths of the blog ovservation system being the personalized environment, the instant publishing feature, and how the communicative collaborative blog features link the teacher to a global community. As to weaknesses she points to the time and energy required. Renata writes that the movivatin to write is fueled by the interactive community. She talks about a blog being an ongoing voice in the dialogue of education.

 

I have to sit down and reread this. I am so excited to see papers being published about this aspect of blogging. This topic is near and dear to many of us edu-blogggers. I can remember when we could find so very little published on the web!

 

Be sure to go read the article as I have only highlighted some of it.

 

Way to go, Renata! You have written an article that touches on the many things we have had ongoing discussions about in the world of educational blogs. It is wonderful to see something written that provides information for reading and reflecting. 

 

 

—–

Tapped In transcript from Bernie Dodge session

Here’s the transcript from the Tapped In sesson with Bernie Dodge. The session was a follow-up to the one he did last week at NECC. At first, the discussion centered around WebQuests and Bernie pointed out that the real learning takes place away from the computer screen when kids argue with each other or explain their thoughts or teach each other what they read. Then the discussion turned to weblogs and he pointed out the NECC blog. He gave a few other samples like he did at NECC and then referred the entire group to Will’s site to “lead you to other teacher-bloggers.”

An interesting aside was when someone named JeffC said he had been trying to get Tim Lauer to use Tapped In for a while… and Tim had been trying to get him to blog!! I have to definitely come in on Tim’s side. While I find these Tapped In sessions interesting from time to time, blogs are where it’s at. (in my humble opinion!) 

Then info was given about wikis and the value of group ownership. This quote from Bernie resonates with me:

“I’ve been in this field for almost 30 years and one thing I’ve noticed is the tendency for people like us to pounce on new technologies just because they’re cool. I’m as guilty of that as the next guy, and I’ve already seen conference presentations in which teacher report trying a blog or wiki with kids and having mixed results at best. Why mixed? Because they didn’t really think through what the pedagogical purpose was for using those new tools.” Hear, hear!

Bernie went on to say that he thinks the solution is embedding blogs and wikis in the WebQuest format and this will make it likelier that actual learning will take place. He goes on to give other resources.

Hmmm. Lots to think about. I think we are awhile away from combining the three because each piece requires learning and reflection time. I think lots can be done with the separate tools as well as combining them. WebQuests have always been my favorite technology to teach, until weblogs took over.

Thinking, thinking, thinking…. Gosh, I wonder where we will be with all of this a year from now. Just thinking back over the past year amazes me… These tools are great but we’ve seen too many start and stop. When I was collecting my links for my presentation, I had a folder called Start&Stop for the many weblogs that started off with a bang and just fizzled for one reason or another. That folder kept growing. I’m with Bernie in that I hope lots of educators think before they pounce! I think we could all help there so that may be where I try to focus next year. Even more to think about……

Here’s the link he gave for a summary of the whole NECC presentation. I have to say that every session I have attended by Bernie Dodge is top notch. I’m glad he pushes himself each year to share his learning! We all profit from it…..

Join Bernie in the ASO

I received the following information from Tapped In. I’m not sure I can rearrange something I have already scheduled for that time but I’m going to do my best. If you are a member of Tapped In, try to attend. You can sign up for membership at:

http://ti2.sri.com/tappedin/do/RegisterAction?state=promptAddRegister

 

If I don’t get to this event, I will post the transcript as soon as it becomes available!

 

Bernie’s session at NECC was excellent and we need to get in on this discussion.

 

 

Calendar Event Information

Title:

Blogs and Wikis as WebQuest Tasks

Event Type:

After School Online

Start Time:

Jun 28, 2004
4:00 PM Pacific Time* [GMT-08:00]

Duration:

1 hour

Leader:

Bernie Dodge

Room:

After School Online
After School Online events (publicized on the calendar) take place here.

Description:

The WebQuest model continues to evolve along with the web. This session will recap and build on Bernie Dodge’s presentation at the NECC conference showing how these new modes of collaboration and communication can be turned into exciting environments for learning. Join Bernie in the ASO on June 28.


—–

Closing Remarks about NECC

This was one great conference. Now, I have to really put my thinking cap on and think smart for future projects, weblogging focus, and other things I learned about at the conference.

In closing as I think back over NECC, be sure to go to the Weblog Workshop blog and note the participants introductions, and other good information like where to eat in New Orleans! The food was great! The sharing of knowledge was great! Everything was great!

Also, take note of the pictures on the left of the blog and go to www.flickr.com and see how easy it can be! It is a cool tool to use to post photos to blogs.

Don’t forget the Edweblogs.org: NECC 2004 where many of us posted! Bernie Dodge’s sessons were terrific and you can get lots of detailed notes there about many of the sessions.

And, I will point you to Weblogs: The Possibilities Are Limitless! It will lead you to more information than you may want to know about blogs. Let me know if you think I need to add something to the resource website. It is a work in progress. Also, enjoy the students’ ABC Blook on Blogs. That came directly from their blog postings throughout the year and their illustrations are wonderful.

I want to say a special thanks to TeacherHosting.com for providing the webhosting and support plus those great shirts…. I’m blogging this! Some very nice people run this company and you really should check it out!

All these resources should keep you busy and provide great information and learning. OK, I’m ready for NECC 2005 in my old stomping grounds, Philadelphia!


—–

Blogging in Illinois

Jennifer Kiddle, Kirsten Innes and Jenny Gibson had a poster display showing a project that shares information via weblogs, about the community in which they live. It’s called A World Apart…or Are We? Welcome to Grayslake, IL!  You can participate by checking out their web site and requesting a user name and password..
—–

Student Portfolios using Weblogs

I made it a point to get to Julie Lindsay’s poster session. Grade 9 students at the International School Dhaka have created digital portfolios using a weblog as a publishing medium and as a process journal for their project development. I wrote about Julie before but seeing all of her work on display was wonderful. Her weblog portal is here. This gives you a jumping point into the curriculum weblog and to other interesting parts of the project, including resources and access to student blogs and portfolio showcase.

The unit of work is delivered here and provides a discussion forum for interactive collaboration while the students are completing assignments and preparing their digital porfolios.

Julie is the educational technology coordinator at the  International School Dhaka, Bangladesh. What a great model Julie has provided for other educators!


—–

To be a teacher is to be a constant student

Craig Barrett, Intel’s CEO, in the closing part of his slideshow, stated that “To be a teacher is to be a constant student.” How true. I think the learning is even more fun through connections made via weblogging. Craig Barrett talked about transforming education and opened with the comment that he was sort of a Benedict Arnold CEO. If that’s so, I want more Benedict Arnolds! I really liked all he said. He talked about innovation, collaboration and replication being the cornerstone of transforming education. He pointed out the similarities between his business with products and ours with students. We both have a total turnover each year. He discussed our being in a world of change and having unprecedented competition. He addressed teacher preparation, professional development, tools & resources, leadership support and recognition of excellence.

Will and his students were recognized and the video was superb! Will has posted it here. (a whopping 27 meg) Every bit of it is excellent!

A project from an elementary school called “Save Mother Earth” was highlighted. These students were getting their point across in a very special way.

Mr. Barrett pointed out how technology is the cornerstone for transforming education in the classroom and said we need to heve students what they need to pass the test of life. We need to get the students excited and allow them the use of tools to do exciting things.

Then he recognized a Georgia educator – Dr. Michael Hall. He has done innovative things with schools and the technology is truly embedded in the curriculum. He is the Deputy Superintendnt for the State of Georgia. He was responsible for the vision, strategy and implementation in Houston County, GA. Now he has moved on to drive these type of initiatives for the entire state of Georgia. Hooray for Georgia!

This session started Tuesday off with a bang! Be sure to view the above video.  It is top quality! This keynote was the best!


—–

Back online…

Wouldn’t you know it? Something happened to the anvil server on Wednesday and I just now got it up and going following the remote directions Tim gave me. Prior to this moment, it just would not work. Those are the things I want to learn! The calendar is a little strange and pictures are not working right but that, hopefully, can be fixed later. Alright! Back online, hooray! Isn’t it insane how disconnected you feel when you can’t get to your blog? I’m not going to think too long about what that means. :-)

NECC was absolutely great this year and weblogging is in the spotlight! Between a workshop, a presentation, and trying to attend as many sessions as possible I had a tough time blogging. By the time I could get to it, something exciting would come up and I’d have to put it off. I didn’t want to miss anything so now I’m plowing through my notes and will make some belated posts very soon. The best part, for me, was getting to talk to the folks in our weblog workshop and then talking to others as I was out and about.

Then Will’s segment on the Intel keynote was the best! Craig Barrett is really something. He’s a CEO to remember. Intel does such good things for education…. check out the Intel Innovation in Education site. I loved what he had to say. I have to find my notes from that session.

The interest in weblogs is high and I think we are going to see lots of weblogs forming. I’m hopeful that students will be in that mix. I know it’s going to be an exciting year as new voices enter the weblogging world.


—–

Hard Lesson to Learn

I always tell my kids that it’s OK to make a mistake. The important thing is to learn from it. I am personally learning just how hard that is. My presentation “Weblogs in Education: The Possibilities Are Limitless!” included visual and verbal portions. The visual portion, the projection, was blurry and unreadable because my fonts were too small. Then as I surfed to different weblogs, they too were unreadable. Will told me afterwards that he always makes screen shots. I never thought to do that. OK that’s Lesson 1.

Then on my video clips, my sound was not loud enough, even though I had it at top volume. I guess I just assumed everything would be set up since I was in a session that was going to be filmed. Lesson 2 – Never assume. Cover all bases. I didn’t.

So I just tried to carry on and tell the good story of weblogs. Lesson 2 is that even if I know what I’m talking about, if my visuals aren’t top notch, it really doesn’t matter. I do apologize to my co-presenter.

I was disappointed because I felt I had let  my educational blogging cohorts down. After a night’s sleep I decided to try to practice what I preach to the students. Get over it. Learn from your mistakes. Today I’m jumping back in!  

That said, I’m picking myself back up and will keep on trying. Weblogs won’t be hurt by one presentation. If any of the session participants happen to read this, I do want to direct you to the informational website. It is a terrific informational source for those wishing to learn about weblogs.

 


—–