Chandell Asuncion » Web 2.0

Skitch.com for Mac Users

Chandell Asuncion — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:08:32 +0000

I have been having a lot of FUN with this new image sharing tool called Skitch. You create a free web account and download a desktop version of the software. There is a short 3 minute video that will introduce the product to you. This application will make sharing student work so EASY! Download the software, and try it out you will be AMAZED.

Users need to have a Skitch account (free) and will need to login with their email address and password when launching the desktop application. Students will be sharing their drawings with family and friends in minutes. Take a look at all the news ways you can share images using SKITCH.COM.

Here is an image that was created using Doozla (which is also from plasq.com) and saved to my computer. I dragged the image into skitch.com and quickly uploaded it. Then copied and pasted the HTML for “Full Size” image. The original full size image is too large for a blog post, so I appended the width=”500″ attribute to the code to constrain the image size. Pretty slick.

ENJOY!

Ideas to Inspire

Chandell Asuncion — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:56:49 +0000

In the 2007-08 school year Kamehameha Schools started to implement Blogs as a tool for educators. As the year progressed many teachers used their blogs as an extension of their classroom, some used it in place of a classroom website, and some used it to chart their professional development and communicate with others in their field. As a result ideas came flooding in… Many lessons were learned and most have begun to refine their blogs and their blogging techniques.

If you are an educator and are looking for some examples of how blogs are being used in the classroom perhaps you will find some inspiration or form a new friendship from this short list of educators:

High School:

Ka Hulinu`u — The Highest Mark – AP Literature - by Laura Tavares. (AP Literature) http://blogs.ksbe.edu/latavare
Write Here, Right Now! – 9th Grade Language Arts – by Laura Tavares http://blogs.ksbe.edu/latavare9
Grade 10 English -10th Grade Language Arts – by Kim Enanoria http://blogs.ksbe.edu/kienanor
Mr. Rose’s Math blog - AP Calculus – Mr. Kawika Rose http://blogs.ksbe.edu/karose
Chemistry in the Community - The chemistry of everyday life - by Ms. Correia http://blogs.ksbe.edu/micorrei
Wahi a kekahi! – Mauloa ka`ike pono o Hawai’i! – By Kumu Akina http://blogs.ksbe.edu/adakina
Richard Hamasaki -Two Courses: Honors English 10 Hawaiian, Pacific and World Literature & Reading Enrichment http://blogs.ksbe.edu/rihamasa

Middle School:

Ideas to Inspire- Ms. Cathy Ikeda (Grade 6, 7 and 8th) A journey through my education, literacy and technology life (Middle School Reading Resource Teacher) http://blogs.ksbe.edu/caikeda
In the Art Studio – Ms. Nahulu Kirsch (Grades: 6,7, and 8th) http://blogs.ksbe.edu/aukirsch
Technology Class- Mr. Kerry Kamisato (Grades: 6, 7, and 8th) http://blogs.ksbe.edu/kekamisa
Grade 6 Social Studies- Ms. Amy Kaawaloa (Grade 6) We read, we interpret, we post, we learn http://blogs.ksbe.edu/amkaawal
Grade 6 Language Arts- Ms. Kapua Helm (Grade 6) http://blogs.ksbe.edu/mahelm/
Vocational Technology and Applied Math – with Mr. Jay Chow (Grades: 6, 7 and 8th) http://blogs.ksbe.edu/jachow
Drama – By Leslie Ahuna (Grades: 6, 7 and 8th) http://blogs.ksbe.edu/leahuna
Grade 8 Social Studies – by Ms. Makanui-Yoshida http://blogs.ksbe.edu/jemakanu
Uncle N8’s Workshop - Mr. Nate Javellana (Grades: 6, 7, and 8th) http://blogs.ksbe.edu/najavell/
Curriculum Corner – Mr. Scott DeSa (Grades: 6,7, and 8th) http://blogs.ksbe.edu/scdesa/

Elementary School:

Gayla S. Traylor (2nd Grade) http://blogs.ksbe.edu/gatraylo
My Technology Journey – As a Learner and a Teacher (Technology K-5) http://kamanu.wordpress.com/
Technology Class - Kumu Laea-Honda (Technology K-5) http://blogs.ksbe.edu/lihonda
Keiki Scientists! by Heather Chang (K-5) http://blogs.ksbe.edu/hechang
Elementary Art - Ms. Tana Rosehill (Grades 3, 4, and 5) http://blogs.ksbe.edu/tarosehi/
School Library – by Kanani DeSa (K-5) http://blogs.ksbe.edu/shdesa
Wailele a me Wailani – Andy Chung (Grade 5) http://blogs.ksbe.edu/anchung

Schools:

Hawaiian Culture & Curriculum Specialist - Mr. Kilohana Hirano (K-12) http://blogs.ksbe.edu/aahirano/
Technology in the Classroom- Ms. Chandell Asuncion (K-12) http://blogs.ksbe.edu/chasunci
Classified Ads: Internal blogs are used to share information within an institution and has been an extremely successful form of communication and a great resource.Shared at the Punahou Technology Summer Lab School.
Kamehameha Alumni Relations Office - Ms. Jodi Kimura http://blogs.ksbe.edu/hawaiialumni

K-12 School Libraries:

http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/links/index.php?title=School_libraries

Blog Spam

This blog post has been the victim of blog spam. As a result the comments for this post have been turned off. I will continue to develop this post as more of our teachers begin to utilize this powerful communication tool in their classrooms. Comments on this blog will be accepted via email. If you have a post like this one that contains more than 3 links, and your post is open for comments, you could be a target for Blog spam. The best solution is to turn off comments on post like these. Open the post, and uncheck “Allow Comments” and “Allow Pings” under ”Discussion”. However if the post is for a specific session and you need to interact with an audience consider opening the post for comments for a short period of time. Changing the name of the post using the “Post Slug” is a temporary solution.

SchoolTube – Moderated Collaboration

Chandell Asuncion — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:37:39 +0000

SchoolTube is for students, teachers, administrators, parents, school boards, IT managers, and school affiliates. SchoolTube is unique in that all the content that is uploaded is held in queue, until the moderator (teacher) has approved the work, at which time it can be made public. It’s very similar to moderating comments in your blog. I’m still reviewing the site myself but from what I can tell already this is a resource that answers many of the concerns educators have regarding “open sharing”.

To learn more about School Tube, visit the URL below:
Please visit http://www2.schooltube.com/AboutUS.aspx

View: Copyright Guidelines for SchoolTube -by MENC.org
“Because SchoolTube uses streaming technology, the videos you’ll be posting are considered “performances” rather than “recordings.” To determine if you need a performance license, first determine the type of musical work/performance.” (see guidelines for detailed information and links).

Internet Safety Guide for Parents

Chandell Asuncion — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:40:43 +0000

Students of the 21^st Century will need to acquire a strong set of ethics, values, communication, and collaboration skills that allow them to prosper in a global economy. For these students the Internet is an essential part of their lives that must be closely supervised.

The Cyber Safety and Ethics Initiative (CSEI) http://www.rrcsei.org/research.html reports that children have unsupervised access to a computer and the internet at home as early as age 5, and that by age 7, 15% report that someone was mean to them online, while 7% admit they have been mean to someone online. We are seeing the onset of cyber bullying beginning in the second grade and it’s not always the adult predator. Reports show that 45% of the cases are friends victimizing friends.

One in three children ages 9-12 report they have committed some type of online deception, abuse or crime. They have posted personal information about themselves online, which might include their first and last name, their age, photos of themselves, where they go to school, the names of their parents, teachers and friends, where they hang out, and what teams they play on. Furthermore 23.2% admit to lying about their age online.

Reports also show that 1 in 4 children between the ages 9-18 report that they have been victimized online by one or more forms of abuse within the past school year that was not reported to a grown up.

During the past school year has someone…

used your password without your knowledge………..………11.9%
embarrassed you online………………………………………..10.3%
bullied or threatened you online…………………………….…..6.9%
requested pictures of you without clothes…………………….1.0%
showed you pictures of themselves without clothes…………2.3%
asked private things about your body…………………….…….1.5%
told you private things about their body…………………..….…2.3%

Five rules to keep your children safe online

Don’t post personal information and photos of yourself
People may not be who they say they are
Don’t open attachments from strangers
Tell an adult you trust if something online makes you feel uncomfortable
Meeting online strangers alone is dangerous

Provide your children an opportunity to share their online experiences with you by discussing what they are doing online.

The Arts & Creativity

Chandell Asuncion — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:38:20 +0000

It’s not your mother’s refrigerator that’s for sure.

Today children are asking mom to put their “art work” online, in a blog designed to bring out the creativity within and receive feed back from family, friends and new acquaintances alike. Check out “Theblog Weemade” to see how budding artist of all ages are making use of social networks. http://theblog.weemade.com

If a picture is worth a thousand words, imagine the stories these images could tell us about the hearts and minds of their creators.

AuthorStream.com

Chandell Asuncion — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:52:40 +0000

Present and Share Your PowerPoint Presentations Over the Web

So much as happened in just a year. It seems like I went to sleep and when I woke up Web 2.0 was born. Here is another Web 2.0 application, called AuthorSTREAM, that will allow you to convert and share your PowerPoint Presenations. Take a look

Sign up for an account
Publish your PowerPoint Presentations to the web with audio, animations and transitions with this “free” Web 2.0 application. Author Stream even lets you convert your presentations into iPod, iPhone, or video format that can be sent to YouTube, TeacherTude, GoogleVideo, or Break.com or embedded in your blog or Network.

View Sample PowerPoint presentations that have been converted to flash using the free desktop utility called AuthorPOINT lite (PC users). Each of the samples are available in the Flash output and the AuthorSTREAM output.

“Sometimes the best way to appreciate a new technology is to see it in action.” ~ AuthorSTREAM

What is a “Digital Divide”?

Chandell Asuncion — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:27:56 +0000

Mr. William Sullivan is a 5th grade teacher at Kamehameha Schools Hawai`i, who is writing a paper for his masters course titled: “What is Kamehameha Schools doing to close up the gap in the Digital Divide?” This got me thinking about my son who has fantastic design ideas. Ideas that could add to the functionality of products making them better for consumers. My son who is 14 years old, has grown up with computers. He knows how to do research on the internet, can communicate using email, and is part of an online social network. Yet, his ideas are still in the wrong hands (his own). He has computer skills and is hedging towards 21st century skills; however he is not there yet. When his skills allow him to be a productive part of his community, participate in an international arena, and compete in a global economy then he will have acquired the 21st century skills he needs to prosper.

I can personally remember having ideas when I was a child, and wondering what to do with them… who do I call, where do I write, and who can I share this with? Not knowing who to contact, I wasn’t able to share my ideas with anyone. Many of us, at one time or another, has had an idea that others would benefit from, but had no one to tell the idea to. No one that is that could take that idea and put it into production. This is one of the areas that business are seeing as a gap between themselves and their community that can be “closed up” with the use of modern technology and 21st century skills.

We can take a look at our local news stations, or at a national news station like CNN, who ask the community to become on-the-spot reporters, photographers and videographers, capturing the news as it happens.

Encyclopedia Britannica is also looking at “closing the gap” on information literacy, by asking experts and individuals in the community to become a part of their knowledge base. In the School Library Journal released on June 11, 2008 Encyclopedia Britannica announced the launch of their new Britannica site which is about to go the Wikipedia route with personalized modifications that allow experts and the public to create, document and share knowledge on its site.

“The main thrust of this initiative is to promote greater participation by both our expert contributors and readers,” says Britannica. The hope is that the new Britannica site will create an online community that will engage thousands of scholars and experts, as well as regular users.¹

Hardware and Software companies have been piloting this model for years, as they roll out “beta” versions of their software and ask a select group of volunteers to use their product and provide feedback. They receive feedback on what is not working and what they would like to have in future versions. Beta testers are valuable to these developers because each of the users have different computer hardware, use different platforms and versions, and can offer a wide range of testing.

The internet has allowed for a myriad of social networks to form and collaborate. Today each of us are able to become a digital citizen, build meaningful mentor, student relationships, and provide a community service, at our convenience, using online productivity tools. We are able to become part of a community and improve the conditions of that community with our participation.

The “digital divide” comes into play if we don’t know how to participate. The same problems I experienced as a child, exist today for those who do not have 21st century skills. Many people are isolated and do not have access to computers, the internet, and proper training. What are schools doing? What are teachers doing? What are families doing? What are districts doing? What is our country doing? What are you doing to help close the gap that is being created by the “digital divide”?

Do you have 21st century skills? Are you are part of a social network? Do you contribute to the knowledge base of a community with your skills? Are you a mentor for someone who is new in your field? Are you a student who is looking to gain knowledge from a social network? Are you using the internet to collaborate world-wide? Are you using internet productivity tools to participate in or manage a project or a team? These are just a few of the skills we will need to close the gap on the digital divide in the 21st century.

For the first time in our history, big cities and small rural communities are on level playing fields. Will the United States be the for-runners of the global economy a year from now?

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Footnotes:

By Debra Lau Whelan — School Library Journal, 6/11/2008 2:00:00 PM http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6569492 (062708)

A library of Technology & Learning eBooks for Educators

Chandell Asuncion — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:27:29 +0000

If you are not already receiving Technology and Learning Magazine and Online Newsletter Subscription, you can get a preview of what they have to offer at their website. See their comprehensive eBook Library.

Here is just a sample of some of the titles you will find:

Web 2.0: from Curious to Competent
Do Our Students Measure Up? How to Define and Assess Student Technology Proficiency
Taking One-to-One Computing to the Next Level– Laptop Learning Lightens Up Simple Storage Solutions
Professional Development Through Just-in-Time Learning
New students, new tools, new possibilities — Creating digital learning environments
Guide to Classroom Presentations — Harnessing the Potential of Interactive Technologies, Media Savvy for Today’s Students and Teachers
The Why and How of Interactive Whiteboards — Making a Difference, Tips and Tutorials for Purchase and Use
Keeping Students Safe Online — Securing the Learning Environment, Addressing the Challenges of Internet-Assisted Learning
PC Management in the Classroom: Kids, Computers, and Control
1:1 Computing Guidebook
Digital Media in the Classroom — The Art of Digital Storytelling

And Much more…..

Large Scale Discussions Using Wikis

Chandell Asuncion — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:30:11 +0000

Point of Reference
Photographers often need a flexible zoom lens when photographing special events. Sometimes they want to capture a wide angle shot (macro view) that gives you a sense of what is happening, what things look like, how the area is decorated, how many people are involved, and what the theme is. Then there are moments when the photographer wants to zoom in tight (micro view) and eliminate as much as possible from the picture to capture a moment that may not be seen in a wide angle shot. In education, we are facing the same opportunities and the same challenges as the photographer.

Zoom In and Out
Consider a learning environment that focuses in and out on a subject and extends beyond the group of students you have in one period or in a one teacher classroom (macro view) yet, still meets in manageable classroom size groups (micro view). Christina Lambard, a middle school teacher at Broward County Schools in Parkland, Florida, is doing just that.

Lambard uses a team wiki where more than 110 students contribute to a large scale discussion about literature, including chapter summaries, character descriptions and elements of symbolism. “Most students I’ve encountered use online resources, such as SparkNotes or PinkMonkey, to ‘supplement’ their reading,” describes Lambard. “My motivation behind the wiki was for them to create their own online resource, which would hopefully encourage them to read more of the book themselves.” ¹

What are the benefits?
Using wikis, students share their learning with real audiences, affect change, take positions, naturally engage in debates and persuasive arguments, practice social ethics and respect the opinions of others.
In addition, students become productive citizens and partners when paired in groups, when they can access their group content from any computer with internet access.

This combination of blogs, wikis and a class Web page has been tremendously rewarding for Lambard, her students and their parents. “The overall benefit [of using Web 2.0] is two-fold: it engages the students more than traditional ‘paper/pencil’ work,” explains Lambard, “plus it also provides the students and parents with a greater connectivity to the teacher and school.” ¹

Get a Wiki Account for Your Classroom
If you are a Kamehameha Schools Hawaii educator and are interested in using Wikis in your classroom, call or email me, so that I can establish a KS wiki account for you and your students.

In the meantime here are some resources:

Ebook: Web 2.0: From Curious to Competent
Tutorial: Atomic Learning: http://movies.atomiclearning/k12/pbwiki
YOU: Add comments, ideas, request, or additional exemplars for us to peruse.

____________________________________________________________________________________
Footnotes:

E book: Web 2.0: From Curious to Competent, Tech & Learning, June 12, 2008. Tech & Learning and Atomic Learning (06/22/08). Download this eBook from Technology and Learning:

“Web 2.0 tools play an increasingly important role in everyday life. Not only are people more connected, but they have more opportunities to find information, share ideas and be creative than ever before. Most educators who use some of the new, free, online tools to accomplish tasks find rich rewards. Yet many others are curious about how the tools work, and even more, what exactly they can do with them in the classroom to help their students learn. This eBook is designed to explore the reasons for using the most popular Web 2.0 tools and guide you as you explore the read/write Web on your own.”

Note: Document description provided by Technology and Learning – Unedited