Final+Examination


 * __The Use of Web 2.0 Resources in My Grade 3 Classroom__**

Throughout the this particular university course, //The Read/Write Web//, we focused on many 2.0 web resources found in Will Richardson’s book, //Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Webtools for Classrooms//__.__ As the course progressed, I learned about many excellent resources that I found beneficial for my own classroom, as well as excellent resources that can be helpful between the teachers in our school. Throughout the essay, I will be focusing on the specific tools that will benefit my own Grade 3 classroom, as well as those that I believe can benefit my whole school community. I will be looking at the pros and cons of each tool mentioned.

The first tool I would to focus on is the weblog, aka blogs. By creating a classroom blog, I believe this resource would benefit both my students, as well as the parents of my students. As Will Richardson mentions, “Blogs engage readers with ideas and questions and links. They ask readers to think and to respond. They demand interaction.” (Richardson, 18). It would be a constant forum of interaction between myself and my students outside of the classroom environment. At my grade level, as well as a beginning blogger, I would like to start with something simple for my class. The use of the clog as a class portal would be the best fit for my class at the beginning. I would use it as a forum to share with my families what my students have been learning in the classroom in each subject area. Students and families are then able to share their feelings of what they have learned, as well as ask questions for clarification. It also provides a forum to add visual aid dealing with Math concepts and other content area that are difficult to explain verbally.

Also, students ‘ involvement is important. Sharing their work online is also a great way for them to share the accomplishments with their families. Richardson best describes it by saying that “a great entry point for weblog use is to build a class portal to communicate information about the class and to achieve course materials” (21). Also, “from a teaching stand point, having a place to publish course curriculum, syllabus, classroom rules, homework assignments, rubrics, handouts and presentations makes a weblog a powerful course management tool” (21). I will then be able to post up my contracts that I usually sent to parents at the beginning of the year, as well as post the Grade 3 brochure, that I usually hand out during Meet the Teacher Night at the beginning of the school year. It explains to parents the programming we do in Grade 3, as well as explains particular procedures that occur in the classroom. Parents tend to lose a lot of notes and information, or forget some of the school policies, therefore, having them posted on my blog also them the opportunity to refresh their information when need be.

The simplicity of my blog would also be less intimidating and overwhelming for those starting to use computers as a resource for the school year. However, it also opens up the communication between myself, peers and family member (as I mentioned earlier) which in turn strengthens the relationships between all parties involved (Richardson, 20). Many families find it hard to find the time to come and personally visit me with question and concerns during the school day, so my opening up the online resource it provides for constant and almost instant feedback.

Actually, at the end of out past school year, our administrators mentioned how they slowly want to incorporate the use of classroom blogs to improve out school website. We do have a school website already up and running, [], however, it is very basic and is not being used to its full potential. It is mostly used for locating our school, access to the monthly school newsletter and our school handbook. Not much is actually shared when it comes to classrooms’ individual accomplishments.

“Weblogs can be used as a building block for a school website” (Richardson, 25). By having classroom blogs, I can see out school website become more interesting and used more frequently. All forums can be shared, whether it involves sports events and cancellations, on one site. This past school year I remember the Gym teacher spending all her time during one of our morning Jump Club practice trying to get a hold of parent drivers to inform them that the softball games for that day were cancelled due to weather conditions. If that information were available on our school website, families would know to check the site when weather becomes an issue. That would also pertain to our patrol group during the winter months. If the temperature gets to cold the patrols do not have to go on post. However, they only find that out once they come to school early in the morning for their normal post time. Knowing in advance, from the comfort of their home, allows them the opportunity to stay home and just come to school during the regular time. All clubs would benefit too. Having information of cancellations or changes to clubs on the site would help elevate a lot of miscommunication and confusion.

Providing all those types of information on our school website via separate blogs or links would be extremely valuable to all those concerned. We say we want to find ways to strengthen the school community with the neighbourhood community even more so, and I believe that “there is no doubt that students, teachers, parents, and community members will all be better served by having up-to-date, relevant information at their fingertips throughout a weblog or website” (Richardson, 25).

One con to using weblogs is that it can be very time consuming at the beginning. It will take a lot of time, effort and collaboration to get a school website organized and on its feet at the starting point. However, in the long run the benefits will outweigh this con. Also, updating a class blog can also be time consuming at the end of the day. Some teachers may find it overwhelming at first. Yet, I believe one has the discretion of updating it as often as they want it. It is up to them on how intensive they want their blog to be. Plus, once they get the hang of it, it would not be as difficult as their initially thought it would be.

The second tool I will be discussing are wikis. Wikis are a great tool to foster and strengthen collaboration skills between your students. Richardson states that ,”…doing real collaboration is something that every students needs to learn…” (57). With the help of collaboration students learn to work better with others, as well as it takes the pressure off of individual responses and focuses on teamwork and cooperation. “Each entry is the group’s best effort, not any one person’s” (Richardson, 57).

There is the concern of trusting the information found on Wikipedia, due to the fact that it is an open site where anyone is able to edit it as well as authors tending to be anonymous. However, I find that this is a perfect lesson for ICT in our school. It is a great way to emphasize to students that just because you find information on the internet, does not mean it is 100% viable and truthful. Allowing students to use Wikipedia should be further explained and that using it “as a starting point for their work, but not as a sole resource” (Richardson, 60).

The best way I can think of to use Wikis is through the creating of class wikis on [|www.wikispace.com]. It would be a way to reinforce my curriculum by way of allowing my students to contribute to their learning (Richardson, 61). My inspiration came from our class wiki for this particular course, http://edu653-1.wikispaces.com/.

Previously to this class, one of my assignments was to create an informational wiki for my students. The focus was more for an outside resource. However, for this class’ wiki, we, the students, were able to contribute to the page and add our own information and resources to particular topics. By providing this option to my students, it allows me to strengthen their collaboration skills and group work in the classroom.

For instance, I can see myself creating a class wiki page on Mental Math strategies. Once learning a strategy, I can group my students and have them work on how they can explain working through the strategy, as though they were teaching it to someone else. They can even videotape themselves going through the steps. This would be great as a class resource. Students can fall back on it to refresh their knowledge. Also, parents can turn to it as a resource since with the new Math concepts being taught, many parents are at a loss when trying to assist their child with homework. With the use of wikis, students are “learning how to develop and use all sorts of collaborative skills, negotiating with others to agree on correctness, meaning, relevance and more. In essence, students being to teach each other” (Richardson, 61). Not only are they teaching each other, but other people as well.

One fall back is that it can be time consuming when it comes to first going through all the rules they should follow, as well as how to navigate around a class wiki. Therefore, you as the teacher, should take the time to fully familiarize yourself with the site before diving in. Another setback might be finding enough Computer lab time. Having enough computer access is very important. At the Grade 3 level, I need to take the time to teach my students the basics of computer skills, as a whole class, so I need to consider those as well.

RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, is the next tool I want to discuss. Richardson states that, “RSS is a technology that will change your life, if you let it” (73), which I agree with. I see this more of a positive tool for my colleagues and parents, than my students. My students are very limited with the use of computers at school and at home due to their age. The big introduction to more intense multimedia projects begin at my grade level, therefore, there is a lot of media instruction starting now. Many for the first time, therefore, I see RSS feeds to be too advance in their learning. I see it working more for them as they move into the higher grades where they feel more comfortable maneuvering around the computer and given more computer accessibility at home.

However, I can see RSS feeds to be beneficial for the parents. For instance, with the start of my classroom blog, as well as the beginning of the new Meadows West website, I can see RSS feeds to be a great notification service for the families with any site updates, especially when it comes to the school website. For instance, if there are any changes or updates to school games or cancellations of particular clubs, families will be aware before hand and react to it accordingly, rather than having the child find out once they reach the school premises.

RSS feeds also links perfectly with aggregators, such as Google Reader ([|www.google.com/reader])

“The aggregator checks the feeds you subscribe to…and it collects all he new content from those site you subscribe to” (Richardson, 72). If our parents are connected to one aggregator, then all they need to go is check one site instead of fiddling with multiple sites for updates. It saves them more time and energy to receive all their important information by checking one particular site.

The next tool I want to talk about, which also falls into the aggregator family, is social bookmarking. Our school has a bookmark page on our divisional intranet. The problem with that is that you do not have outside access to it. You can only connect to it when you are linked to it through any of our divisional computers. Therefore, all the great resources we have collected and contributed for the students, as well as for the teachers, cannot be accessed through our homes. Now, if we put our important sites and resources through a bookmarking site, such as Delicious ([|www.delicious.com]), students, teachers and parents would have access to it anywhere they like; which they can do via RSS feeds.

Delicious is a free site, so there are not worries of any fees. I am able to sort my bookmarks into stacks for better organization, which would be easier for my students to locate sites depending on the subject. As of now, my Delicious account consists of educational links geared to my students, therefore they have educational games and resources at their fingertips, especially when at home.

Another positive point is that it would be very handy for my colleagues. Being able to link to each others accounts would give us a plethora of resources that we might not have been aware of before. As Richardson states, “with more than 10 billion pages of info on the web already and millions more added each year, it’s no wonder people are starting to feel overwhelmed by the internet” (89). Therefore, by using Delicious, we have the convenience to go into a colleagues page and see which sites work best for them. Is it not better to try out sites that have been referred to you?

I cannot see any cons about using social bookmarking. One set back that I can think about would be to get permission from families to allow the students to create individual accounts. They again, a child and his/her parent can set up an account together under the parent’s name. I can see that working even better because the parents and child can collaborate and work together, giving them quality time together in improving and strengthening their knowledge base.

Another setback I can see would be that some educators, that are not familiar too comfortable with computers, to find this overwhelming and intimidating. Some teachers might want to have the time to set it up and have it up and running before the students start with, so I can see it as a work in progress for them. So rather than having it ready right away, it might take them some time before having it ready for their students. Some, however, might want to use it as work in progress. They can ask the students to contribute into creating an even stronger bookmarking page. Who better to ask about some online educational sites that they personally use and enjoy, but the kids. Of course, you must check the site out personally before adding it into you bookmarks to make sure the content is appropriate.

Next on the list of tools are online photo galleries. One highly recommended site that I have heard of, even before taking this course, is Flickr ([|www.flickr.com]). Digital photography is surfacing with a vengeance in the school atmosphere. The amount of activities that you can create with simple photography is endless! Bringing in photography to support current activities you have in the classroom can enhance it even more so, which the students will find more engaging and memorable. There is so much that I can do with the assistance of Flickr. “The easiest place for teachers and students to begin experimenting with creating and publishing content other than text is with digital photography, a technology that is becoming more and more accessible every day” (Richardson, 101).

One positive aspect is that I can store our yearly pictures into this site and not worry about it running our of memory space. For example, my class last year did a Bullying slideshow using MS Moviemaker. This was the first time I have done this project with my students. We were having so many issues with our computers this year where there was not enough memory space on our hard drives. We moved onto USB drives, but someone stole 3 of the drives. If we saved onto Flickr, we probably would have eliminated those problems. Also, students were so engaged with their projects that they wanted to work in their groups at home. Well, the could not because they had no access. At least with the online site, the students could access it anywhere that they could find a computer.

Having the photos online also allows for families, students and colleagues to share and access the photos at their fingertips. Students can visually share with their parents what interesting activities they have done instantly. Richardson best describes it when it says, “from a classroom stand point, think about the ability to capture daily events or highlights and easily share those with parents, community and colleagues” (102). I have a habit of taking a lot of photos, while students are working, working on projects and special events. I usually burn a CD of those pictures at the end of the year as their end-of-the-year gift. What better than uploading them online and allowing the students to share with their families on the day or so that the event occurred? Is that not more memorable? They would be able to share more information with their parents about the picture when they can see it soon after it has occurred.

It is also a way to connect with people around the world (Richardson, 105). Students can share pictures with family members across the globe. You can also connect with other classroom in other countries. It is a perfect link to my //Exploring the World Unit// in Social Studies. Comparing classrooms in another country brings more of a connection than reading it just in a book. Showing the lives of a child their age in another country also puts their lives in a different perspective.

Some cons about Flickr is that “no one can guarantee with absolute certainty the quality or appropriateness of the content on Flickr” (Richardson, 102). Therefore, you must familiarize yourself with the site before allowing your students on it. Just like other internet/computer resources, a bit of teaching needs to be done with your students. What type of behaviour is expected from them, what is considered appropriate and inappropriate behaviour should be addressed. Also, what they should do if something inappropriate does occur.

Furthermore, within our division we must receive parental consent on allowing their children to be photographed and whether they allow their child’s picture to be published and posted online. Therefore, if a child was not given consent, you must make sure not to include them in the shot, which is often difficult when you tend to take pictures within the spur of the moment. Plus, sometimes the child is disappointed when you have to explain their them why there are not any pictures with them in it.

Now I will move onto audio/video casting. Now, there are a number of resources that fall into this category. I will be touching base on specifically podcasting, screencasting and live-streaming. With the advancement of technology, this type of multimedia is easy to do. People do not need expensive equipment in order to create videos. Regular point-and-shoot cameras come with high quality resolution, whether it is picture or video, at a good price. You often do not even need a separate video camera. As I mentioned earlier, a lot of cameras come with high quality video options with it. Richardson states that “the explosion in the last few years of multimedia publishing on the web is going to continue, and that more and more of what we consume online is going to be self-produced, home-made entertainment” (p.111).

Podcasting is great tool for classrooms. One great project that came to mind came from Richardson’s textbook on page 116. Starting a classroom radio station is a wonderful idea! Allowing the students to hear themselves being broadcasted gives them a great sense of accomplishment. Also, the amount of work and effort put into this project, and being able to hear the end result is greatly satisfying. I am sure many of my students would find this activity educating, as well as memorable. Especially since you can link it to multiple subject areas. The vision that popped into my head is to use it to support my Poetry Unit. Allowing students to publish and record themselves narrating their poetry is a simple, yet interesting concept. Parents can listen to their work from home via RSS feeds if I link it to the class blog.

Another great idea, also found in Richardson’s textbook, is the concept of “world language teachers record(ing) and publish(ing) daily practice lessons that students (could) listen to at home…” (117). This is an idea I would like to share with the French teacher at our school. She does not have her own classroom and must travel from class to class. Therefore, providing podcasts, which she could link to our school website would be an excellent resource for her students.

Furthermore, the point that “all teachers could record important parts of what they do in the classroom that can be archived to the class weblog and used by students who may have missed the class or just want a refresher on what happened” (Richardson, 117) is a valid idea. A number of my students hate missing class because of the information that they might have missed for that day. Having the podcast available on the classroom blog would allow them to know what they have missed and prep themselves when they do come back. It is especially helpful for the junior high classes as well.

Screencasting is another type of video casting that can be use in the classroom. I find it to be very intensive and complex for my Grade 3 students create. A lot of time and effort would need to be put into this project, such as planning and the recording stage. a great number of computer lab time would be essential and that would be difficult to obtain. I can see it working more for the older grades.

However, I do find it beneficial for my students when it comes to me creating a screencast to teach them basic skills on the computer. For one of my university classes I did create a screencast to show students some basic functions in MS Word, a program we constantly use in my class ([]). media type="custom" key="20552666" align="center"

Not only can my class watch and go through it step-by-step, in school, say during a computer class, but they can also watch it in the comfort of their home. It fives them more practice and review time. I can see myself creating a number of screencasts to help my students with many computer skill and programs. As Richardson states that “from a teaching stand point, you can create screencasts as support materials with teaching complex skills on the computer” (123).

The next form of videocasting is live-stream video. I see the potential in having this in our school. Nowadays, many parents cannot make it to concerts or special events due to a number of them being on shift work. What I look back to when I was a child, my mom missed many of my concerts and recitals because she worked the late shift as a nurse’s-aid, in order to be home for us during the day. So being able to live-stream a special event would be wonderful for those families unable to attend, or for family members that do not live in the city (Richardson, 126).

Another great usage is to Skype with special presenters. If a presenter or special guest cannot make it to your classroom in person, let us say due to distance and schedule conflicts, then being able to Skype with them would be a great asset, more specifically if that person lives in another continent. Being able to speak to other students in other countries around the world would be wonderful but giving them a totally new and different experience in their learning. You are not limited to just to confines of your classroom walls. What a wonderful way to travel the world without having to leave your class. There is the option of using Instant Messenger too, but most IMs are blocked from school access. So Skye seems like the best alternative.

Last but not least, I am going to talk about social networking, specifically Twitter, Facebook and Ning. Social networking is a huge part of our society. The majority of the society is connected through Twitter and Facebook. The new generation of kids growing up are exposed and immersed in this society. As Richardson states, kids are using social networks to “‘explore interests and find info that goes beyond what they have access to at school or in their local community’ (Ito et al. 208)” (131). So why not use their interests in the classroom.

That is a valid point, however, since I teach Grade 3, I do not find it usable for my students. First, there is an age limit when it comes to creating a Facebook account, even though a huge number of under-age kids are already on this network. Facebook and Twitter is also blocked from our internet access in school. How I do use Facebook in my class is when it comes to my Health Unit when it comes to internet safety. We cannot keep kids away from it, therefore, we need to educate them about the safety of being online. Richardson states, “there is no question that there are all sorts of opportunities for our kids to do stupid things…”(133). You hear about cases of child luring in the cyber world, therefore it is our duty to help make them aware of the hidden dangers. Kids believe that they are invincible and that nothing bad can happen to them. Yet, they might be giving out information that they believe is innocent enough, however, in reality they are willingly providing information that predators can use against them. A great example is this story that deals with a student unknowingly providing enough information to an online “friend” that this person was able to follow and find out where she lives. This story was provided to my classmates and I in our //Advanced Technology// class. It was provided as a Word document, however I found it online to provide to you as a link, []. It is a nerve-wracking story about innocence and being unaware of “personal” information that can be easily gleaned from children. I started reading this article to my students this past school year. I believe it is an important story to share and that teachers in high grades should revisit it every year.

Instead of Facebook, I could use its alternative, Edmodo ([|www.edmodo.com]). It has a similar interface, but more private. I could make a more private group in Facebook for my students, but that would mean all my students would need to create their own accounts. I am not sure how the parents would receive that since many of them do not allow their children to be part of that social network due to their age. Sorry to say, but I would agree with them since my students are still very young. I am actually surprised to hear how many have been given permission to start an account at their age, but then again, I am also not surprised because of the popularity of it.

I do agree with Richardson when he states that “the key to…these sites for educators is to move beyond the friendship-based connection and really explore the potentials of the networked, interest-based learning that is possible within these frames” (132). I see Ning.com being a better resource for me. It is more user-friendly, especially for the fact that it is more contained. “(A)ll of that sharing and posting happens under one roof, and it can be totally private to those who you want to participate” (140). The privacy issue is a big factor and I like th fact that I can set it so only my students have access to it. With our classroom blog it would be a more public domain, where Ning can be more private to only my students, therefore I feel as though I can post more of their pictures with a bit more ease. One problem is that Ning is also age restricted, therefore, I do not think I would be able to use it in my class. It seems as though the class blog would be the only and best choice.

The last social networking resource I want to touch on is Twitter, however, it is another social networking source that I would not be able to use. First, there is an age limit. Second, Twitter works better as an application on cell phones. I have a Twitter account, but because I do not have a Smart phone I am truly not connected in real time. I only have access on my PC, so I end up missing a lot of recent feeds because of the amount of time I am not connected. My students do no have a cell phone access, unless it is through their parents, therefore, it would not be the most viable resource for my students.

However, I can see it more useful for parents and teachers. If we had valid followers, teachers and parents can stay connected through updated tweets based on school events, issues and current notification or changes.

This concludes my paper on the Web 2.0 resources available to me through Will Richardson. I learned a vast amount of information about tools that I cannot wait to put into use in my classroom. What I found most helpful is all the information that I can share with my fellow teachers and administration. I will be able to contribute in hopefully further evolving our school into a more technically savy environment, and that by doing so we can strengthen, even more so, our relationship between the school community with the neighbourhood community.

1. Richardson, Will. //Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Webtools for Classrooms//. California: Corwin, 2011. Print 2. “Meadow West Website screenshot”. Photo.MeadowsWest.com. Retrieved August 8, 2012, from [] 3. “ReadWriteWeb website screenshot”. Photo. Wikispace.com. Retrieved August 8, 2012, from http://edu653-1.wikispaces.com/ 4. “Google Reader screenshot”. Photo. Google.com. Retrieved August 8, 2012, from [] 5. “Delicious screenshot”. Photo. Delicious.com. Retrieved August 8, 2012, from [] 6. “Flickr screenshot”. Photo. Flickr.com. Retrieved August 8, 2012, from [] 7. Roshel1102. “//Screencast_Computer Practice Lines2.avi”.// 27 January 2012. YouTube. 8 August 2012. 8. “Something to Think About”. []
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