Scriblink

Well, I have to admit it, I am not as psyched about the Scriblink as I was the Etherpad. Yes, Scriblink has some great features. As the site says, you can upload images, print, save, or email drawings and work, transfer files to others without using email, and they have a video-conferencing feature. They have recently added a another feature - math symbols and functions are now available. I am going to have to ask Julie if she noticed that when she visited the site. I think Scriblink may be useful to students when they have to use images and want to make drawings for presentations and class projects. I am thinking it might be more useful to me in Biology than Geochemistry, but I will have to do some thinking on that and discuss it with Mary.

Etherpad

I just visited Etherpad - what a cool "tool". Working together with colleagues in real time - like Googledocs - only better! This tool could be used very effectively for educational purposes when assigning group projects and collaborations between students. It seems like Etherpad would really streamline their effort and time. I love the "simultaneous edit" feature as well as the color-coded text feature for participants in a project. Etherpad would be great for brainstorming sessions, meetings, compilation of agendas for meetings (like Googledocs), drafting and editing of student team member work, as well as task assignment and sharing of ideas and decisions when students are working on a project. I went to the part of the website entitled "How Are You Using Etherpad?" where I got some of the above ideas or got confirmation that people were indeed using Etherpad in those ways. Also, eople are using Etherpad with Skype (how cool is that?), using it for feedback on presentations, as a virtual "Post-It" note, and instructors/teachers have even posted examples of how they use Etherpad as a collaborative tool in the classroom - some with elementary school students. I noticed several posts on the Etherpad site where people said they liked Etherpad even better than Googledocs because of unique features like the color-coding and simultaneous editing. I am definitely learning that these internet tools are not "stand-alone" (i.e., the Etherpad/Skype example).

Surviving the Screencast

The title is a little harsh, screencasting was pretty straight forward thanks to the tutelage of one Miss Emily. Save for an initial mic issue which Emily subsequently solved, the screencasts are going off without a hitch so far. I say "so far" because I have a whole series of them planned, eight total, and the students and I have finished three as of Friday, 12/11/09.

Here's what's going on... I teach a series of equations during second quarter in Geochemistry that have to do with Pascal's Principle (hydraulics) as well as the gas laws - Boyle's, Charles', and Gay-Lussac's Laws - which involve the behavior of gases during temperature, pressure, and volume changes. This year a number of students were absent during some of the instruction for these laws and equations. I found that either students were not coming in for extra help to catch up after school and I had to reteach the equations to students who did come in for help which takes quite a bit of time. Some students who were present during instruction also required one-on-one time with me to review the laws. So my idea for the webcast was to record with Smart Recorder myself and some of the seniors in Geochem (I got the idea from Jennifer - thanks!) solving these problems on Smart Notebook. The seniors were eager to make a webcast that allows them to be part of "virtual MHS" for a long time to come, so I really did not have a difficult time convincing them to participate. I put together four Pascal's Principle problems, two Boyle's Law problems, and one each of Charles' and Gay-Lussac's Laws problems. The students chose which problem they wanted to solve for the screencast. I prepared a general script for them to follow and they were given a copy of the problem to review. (Each student had already solved the problem they chose in past homework assignments.) Each screencast took about five minutes to "perform" and save to the district webcast folder. As it turns out, one student was ill and another out of town, so I had to step in to do two screencasts - and I am glad for the experience.

The screencasts can be found in the public folder - MHS - Science - Dierker or http://webcast.mariemontschools.org/. I have shared this experience with my some of my science department colleagues in case they would like to have their own students visit the webcasts or do something similar themselves.

I believe this series of screencasts will be an invaluable tool for students in the future for make-up. review, and study purposes.

Well, googledocs assignment down - and it wasn't that bad! I used a document to discuss an upcoming science department meeting which I shared with Mary and Emily. I definitely see the possibility of composing department agendas using googledocs as well as having actual meetings using googledocs. I know this is already being used by department chairs and by district administrators for their meetings. My question to Sandy Sommer at our inaugural class meeting was "what makes googledocs so great - why can't you just email everyone with an attachement?" Although Sandy provided an admirably enthusiastic pro-googledocs answer, I wasn't completely convinced until I watched the googledocs tutorial and saw for myself what a real mess Word documents attached to emails can be especially when sent to multiple people.

In the class googledocs sandbox someone had suggested that they can be used by pen pals - what a fabulous idea! I saw where Luke and Cheryl are using googledocs in their classes so students can edit one another's work. Bravo! There are endless possibilites to this application alone. Someone halfway across the globe could edit your work (and be your pen pal all at the same time!)

Erik and Mike said they were considering using googledocs for class group projects. Imagine being in school assigned to work on a project with someone and not even having to be the same building at the same time with them to do the project. No more meeting at the library on Tuesday at 6 pm (and one partner not showing up). Now there's no excuse not to participate in a group project. I wonder, is there a way to log how much time each person in a group puts into the project that a teacher can check? That would be invaluable, not to mention it would eliminate those arguments between group members about who did how much work on the project.

Surveys(Maggie)and quizzes(between cooperating teachers?) would also be a great use of googledocs. I believe some teachers are also using the calendar documents as well (good for members of a group trying to work on a project too).

Myself, I'm still mulling over how to use them in my courses. Any ideas from all of you out there are welcome!

Ah, the sweet smell of success! Emily and I finally got a copy of the Time Log to print last night. High-five, Emily! Also, I finally found my electronic copy of the time log on Googledocs which I am now filling out. (So much for figuring out how to print it!) So happy to see some of you have commented on my humble blog. Keep the comments coming. Maybe we can work this technology thing out together, huh?

I am now bashing and banging about ideas for the screencasting assignment due December 13. I am thinking about conversion factors/picket fence/factor label method of solving algebraic equations in Chemistry. Since I feel like I explain this a million times every year to my students, I might as well put it on a webcast and hit "play", right?

Mary, if you are out there reading this and mulling over ideas yourself, maybe a webcast on how to stain microscope slides properly, eh? (A little Canadian humor there, don't ya know.)

21st Century Skills course

This is a very intense experience. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed as you all probably are. Will anyone feel sorry for me if I suddenly burst into tears?? I do see wonderful possibilities in using this blog. I'm looking forward to Skype-ing some of you over winter break as well.