Web 2.0 and Education

  Wow.  I just found this sight that shows so many uses for using Web 2.0 in the education field.  Discovery Education has a link where it gives you a variety of Web 2.0 applications to use for education.  REALLY guys, you need to look at this and watch the video presentations on the different uses. 
  I've always wanted to try to figure out some way to get cell phones involved in education.  Check out Poll Everywhere.  This tool allows the teacher to give the students a question, and then they can text their response and have it sent to a place to be recorded.  You can also poll an audience or ask multiple choice questions.   It has a variety of uses.  And if a student doesn't have a cell, they can respond from a computer the same way. 
  Dicovery Education has brought an assortment of web 2.0 applications to our fingertips.  By adding the video clips and actually showing how the applications can be used definately helps.  There are so many great web tools out there waiting to be used, but we just don't know how to apply them.  Well, it done here.
  Collaboration appears to be the key point Discovery is trying to make when showing these tools.  Also the idea that these tools are readily accessible, easy to use, and ready for us to get started.  It was very motivating for me. The idea of everyone working together in the same medium, on the same project sounds great..

CoBoCards using Jing

Wow!  Time flies when your trying to get all your information out in five minutes.  I thought Jing was a pretty good program.  Even the free version had enough to offer that you could do something. 
As far a the presentation went, I found that I had a hard time trying to point things out and talk at the same time.  I'm a NooB at this.  It was my first one.  Definately need to do it a few times to get the hang of it.  Unless I was REALLY good at something, I would want to create some flash cards and point out some cues to move from one point to another.  Trial and error.  Its free, so it's okay. 
  I chose CoboCards because I like using flashcards to study with.  And the idea of being able to do it with somebody online was really great.  Launching the program was a bit slow, but after you got in, it was easy.

Three other programs:

Storybird - Lets people share art and pictures for creating your own story.  This would be great for elementary and middle school.  Its like an electric flipcart/storyboard that can also be posted to links.

Online-Convert - How many times have we had a good audio or video we want to play, but its in the wrong format.  This takes care of it.  Plus you can d_load URLs and convert to the format you want.  Much like ZAMZAR

Google News Timeline - Want current events for a history project, Check out Google News Timeline.  It organizes things in a calendar format.  Bad thing is that it only goes back to 2005.     

Cloud Computing and/or Web2.0

Is there a difference between the two?  From what I can tell there is no major difference.  In the video, Peter O’Rielly interchanged the two phases many times in his comments.

The way I see Cloud Computing is a means by which people can exchange information with one another.  When I say information, I am talking all aspects of information.  From exchanging comments in a chat to exchanging, sharing and using other peoples applications to run a computer.

Dave McClure explained it as “A city in the sky”(8:03).  Cloud Computing would be this big city where all the computers go to obtain data and deposit data for everyone to use. 

I found some other videos that helped clear things up.  They are embedded below.  These videos more or less explain not only the what of cloud computing, but the function of cloud computing.  I hope you have time to check them out.

Oh, I have to let you guys know this one.   The videos were REALLY BIG.  When I pasted them into the blog, I went back to the “edit HTML” and changed the size of the videos so they would look better.  Just a little info for those who might want to know.

Animoto vs PhotoStory___Harding

Well, it took a while, but I finally figured ouy what I was doing wrong in Animoto.  It was changing the type of format at the very beginning.  What a knuclehead.  Anyway, I liked Animoto's style with the picture transitions and all, but PhotoStory was much easier for me.  I also liked the way I could make changes as I go with PhotoStory.  Animoto might have been easier to just throw photos in, but for doing anything else, PhotoStory was easier to use.
  I also liked the ability to zoom in and out of specific areas.  Transitions seemed to be smoother for my instructional video. 
The one thing I did have problems with was getting voice in with the music.  Never worked for me.  I could use Audacity to mix, but that would have made it harder than it should be. 
Overall, PhotoStory was a good tool and something I would use in the future for instructional purpose.  I would go with Animoto if I were putting some pics together for family, friends, or fun....

PODCAST e2020__Harding2nd try

OK.  Just finished the Podcast..  Actually Audacity wasn't as bad as I had remembered.  It would be nice if you could export to easier.  My podcast is an intro into the e2020 credit recovery program.  I created this podcast with the idea that either 1) I might not be there if they need the info, and 2) maybe we will be allowed to go remote with our credit recovery program, and this would be a good clip to throw in my webpage for the students to refer to. 

Background music provided by Royalty Free Music.

Copyright__Harding

  There is a lot to say about copyright and copyright infringement.  After reading the twelve pages on copyright from the government copyright office, I still have some questions to ask.  First it list a number of ways in which a copy is recorded.  On page 3 of the document it states ““Copies” are material objects from which a work can be read or visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film, videotape, or microfilm.”  Not once did I read in the document that or a piece of work secured through data storage was legitimate or not.  I know that it can be secured by the means, but with the use of technology, and the way artists use it, you would think that this article would be amended to specifically read that securing through data storage is accepted.  Microfilm is listed, and how much is that used today?

  Another question that pops up when defining the laws of copyright is what is considered “Fair Use”.  Wikipedia, which is not considered a reliable source, but best states who does and does not fall under the “Fair Use” policy.  “Examples of fair use include commentary, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching, library archiving and scholarship.”  What about people, instructors, who teach others that are not “licensed” teachers?  Do they fall under the same category as a teacher?   Here’s an example; you have a nurse that is in charge of instruction at the hospital she/he works at.  They want some instruction on the latest procedure on removing cancer in a localized area.  The nurse researches the procedure and finds material from other hospitals and surgeons on the internet.  They use pictures and videos to describe the procedure.  The nurse uses the material in his/her PowerPoint for the instruction.  She cites the work and all that.  Does she fall under the teaching guidelines of “Fair Use”?  All the places I looked states “teaching” not instructor or for instructional use.

  Copyright is a law that protects work that is created by a person or a group of people from being copied unfairly by someone else.  A person cannot copy, distribute, or display another person’s work with giving that person credit for it.  Work would be defined as a video, audio, or written expression.  Work could also include architectural design.  The current law states that a person’s work is protected for the life of the creator plus 70 years.

  Fair Use is one exception to the copyright law.  Fair Use allows the public to use portions of a person/s work under certain stipulations.  Commentaries, news reporting, research, teaching, and library archiving and scholarship allows for the limited use of another person’s or people’s work. 

  Public Use is granted to material that is openly used by the public for any reason.  Usually these are works created before 1923.  They also include works in which the copyright law has expired and not been renewed.

 

Creative Commons copyright allows the creator to obtain a copyright license for their work, but the work is freely allowed to be copied, in part or in whole, and used by others without obtaining permission.

There are a number of videos that I viewed concerning copyright and the law.  Here are a few.  Most of the ones I chose would help a classroom teacher explain copyright to their students.  Also I would like to reference Kim’s blog for more really good information.

·         A "Cut and Paste" Guide to Copyright in School

·         Copyright and Fair Use

·         How To Copyright An Idea

·         What is copyright law?