My Online Identity as a Professional Educator

EME5050 - Activity Reflection #3

This week in our graduate course on the fundamentals of technology for educators we explored how many of today’s educators are effectively using the Internet to host their educational web pages, blogs, wikis, and podcasts/vodcasts that they use with students in their classes.  We also completed an activity in which we created our own “online identity” as a professional educator.  I chose to create my profile with Google Profiles.  As usual, we started our week by reading our assigned readings and then we progressed to an exercise in which we used Google to do a “search” on our names to see if we would find anything of significance about ourselves on the Internet.  Needless to say, when the search for Ruth Paine (my name) resulted in 80,700 results I just knew I had hit the “jackpot.”  Then I realized they were all for the notorious Ruth Paine of Irving, Texas who is best known for being a friend of Lee Harvey Oswald’s mother.  As a matter of fact, Marina Oswald was living with Ruth Paine at the time of President Kennedy’s assassination. It was then and there that I decided I needed to establish an “online identity as a professional educator,” and that I needed to do it quickly!   Daniel J. Solove described this exact scenario in his book when he wrote, “the information that emerges in a Google search of a person’s name might not all relate to that person – it could pertain to other people with the same name” (Solove, 2007, p. 38).  The following is a short recap of my quest for an online identity that would be much more professional and a lot less notorious for the name Ruth Paine.  It is also reflection on our reading assignments for this week and how they related to me personally in my current job.

I’ve been using Blogger for my job related blog which is called the OneClay Virtual Blog, and I’ve always joked in the past that I was probably the only one who ever read it.  I’m happy now that I have a way to establish myself on the Internet and I hope that people will start reading my posts in this particular blog.  The audience for any of the blogs I plan to use will primarily be other educators so when I created my profile in Google I chose to keep my contact information strictly job related by using my work email, phone number and address.  In order to add a little bit of my personality I did add a few photographs to illustrate some of my “favorite” things.  In addition, I added links to two of my blogs, and I also added a link to my work website which is called OneClay Virtual.  I have my fingers crossed that this will do the trick and I’ll be able to establish a strong group of followers for my blogs and a very professional online identity.

This week our course text, Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom, provided us with some very useful ways in which teachers can use online tools such as teacher web pages, blogs, wikis, and podcasts/vodcasts to enhance the educational experiences of their students.  I can personally relate to this section of our text because I have actually trained teachers in my district on how to utilize all of these technologies, except for one, which is the wiki.  Now that I have read this particular section about wikis, I think I have an effective way to incorporate using a wiki in one of the podcasting courses that I teach.  I started teaching podcasting a little over three years ago when my district started offering a podcasting certification program for Clay County teacher.  This program has evolved over the years and now the participants may choose to become certified podcasters in one or all of the following areas:

• Podcasting in Blackboard
• Podcasting in Education – Audio Podcasts
• Podcasting in Education – Video Podcasts

Upon successful completion of a course, the teacher will earn a certificate and will be considered “certified” to create and post educational podcasts that correspond to the specific training that has been completed.  In addition, "certified podcasters" may not only create and post their own individual podcasts, they may facilitate their students to do so under their direction and supervision.  This is a great way to engage students and give them ownership of their own learning.

There is one more topic from our course text that we read this week that I would like to discuss.  It is called Camtasia Studio and it is “one example (there are many others) of new or recently updated software programs that allow you to easily and quickly create and distribute true digital instructional solutions to meet the needs of today’s digital generation” (Shelly, Gunter & Gunter, 2010).  Camtasia Studio allows teachers and students to produce a “screencast” which is a digital recording of a computer screen’s audio and video output. This program is produced by Tech Smith and it costs $299.99 retail for one copy.  The education cost for one copy is $199.99, but even at that, it is still very expensive.  Years ago when our district technology budget allowed it, we were able to purchase Camtasia Studio at a significantly reduced price per license.  This was because of something called “education volume licensing” that the company offered us if we purchased 500+ copies.  We ended up placing orders for almost every school in our district and with the special offer Tech Smith gave us we were able to acquire one copy of Camtasia Studio bundled with another piece of Tech Smith software called Snagit for an amazing price of $35 each. 

This week I feel that I took a step in the right direction when it comes to developing my own “footprint” out on the World Wide Web.  I purposely chose a “professional footprint,” but did allow some personal information to be shared.  As a Distance Learning Specialist for a K-12 public school district, it is part of my job to have a professional identity not only within the confines of my district, but also out in public.  What better way than by developing my own blogs, wikis, web pages, and podcasts/vodcasts that can reach an unlimited number of people out on the Internet and establish my online identity as a professional educator?

Resources:

Shelly, G., Gunter G., & Gunter, R. (2010). Creating web pages, blogs, wikis, and more.
     Integrating technology and digital media in the classroom (Sixth ed., pp. 184-200).
     Boston:  Cengage Learning.

Solove, D. (2007). How the free flow of information liberates and constrains us.  The
     future of reputation (pp. 29-40). New Haven:  Yale University Press.

An "Excel" lent Grade Book Activity

EME5050 - Activity Reflection #2

This week in our graduate course on the fundamentals of technology for educators we have been examining various software applications and productivity tools that can be very useful in the classroom.  One of these specific tools is Microsoft Excel, and as we found in our Module 5 activity this week, it can be easily used as an online grade book.  In this post, I will share my reflections on my individual experience as I completed the activity and produced a customized Excel grade book.

First, our professor gave our class a spreadsheet containing data such as student first and last names, and also corresponding scores for their various homework assignments and tests.  We were then given a sheet of tasks to perform on this spreadsheet and we were allowed to use any program we wanted to open and modify the document as long as our final version was an Excel file.  We were also allowed to consult any tutorials or other resources we had to complete the tasks that comprised our activity. 

The list of tasks we were given consisted of eight required tasks along with a ninth one that was worth two extra credit percentage points if completed successfully.  The first two tasks were fairly easy in that we were first asked to format the contents of each column of scores in a different color, and then we were asked to add a new column in between two existing columns.  I didn’t find the next three tasks on the list overly difficult either, and that was due to the fact that I was able to utilize the MS Excel “insert function” feature to complete them.  It helped me create one column that would display each student’s homework average, and then I used it to create another column that would display each of their test averages.  The final column I created using the feature was a column that would display each student’s final grade, based on the average of all their grades in the grade book.  That covers the first five tasks on the list of nine, and now I will reflect on the final four.  The last three required tasks proved to require a little more thought on my part, but they were relatively easy to complete.   Number six required me to sort the students based on their final grades.  I chose to sort them from least to greatest and I determined that there were three out thirty who were “in danger” of earning a “D” or less based on the grading scale we were given.  The next task was very simple because it only required me to “boldface” the contents in the corresponding rows for the three “in danger” students.  The final required task was the only one I had to really think about.  After I consulted the built-in online “Help” section of Excel, I was able to make the student names appearing on the first worksheet in the spreadsheet dynamically appear on the other three worksheets.  This means that when a change is made to a name on one worksheet, it automatically appears on the other three.

As I stated, the last task on the list we were given was for extra credit and we could earn two extra credit percentage points if we completed it successfully.  The task was to determine if completing the homework assignment could have a positive effect on a student’s subsequent test score.  I can’t go into much more detail because it would give away my answer that I submitted to our professor, and it must be sequestered at this time in order for me to earn any extra credit.  Needless to say, this was the most challenging task we were given, but I was able to rely on Google to find a solution.  It was again another built-in Excel function to the rescue and I’m hopeful to earn the extra credit for my solution.

The MS Excel activity we completed for Module 5 of our course was a good exercise in how productivity tools can be effectively used in the classroom.  In this instance it was used to create a class grade book and it demonstrated how easy it is to use Excel to create and maintain these types of documents that are essential to today’s teachers.  Even though I found the activity fairly easy to complete, these types of productivity tools are usually user-friendly, and they have built-in “Help” sections if needed.  In addition, I found that when I wanted to complete the extra credit task, it was easy to find a solution by searching for it with Google.

A Proactive Approach is Always Good in Education

EME5050 - Reading Reaction #3
I am so excited that this week’s Reading Reaction speaks straight to my job and it is something about which I am very passionate.  We have been asked to react to the question, “Is it more unethical to allow threats to students/schools or to deny students/teachers access to instructionally-relevant Web-based tools and content?” As the Distance Learning Specialist for a K-12 school district, one of my responsibilities is to help educators and students in my district access and utilize instructionally-relevant tools and content out on the World Wide Web.  I can speak on this subject for days, and I'll try to keep it under control.

Where do I begin?  No doubt, I am all too aware of the threats that await our students and teachers out on the Internet.  That is one reason I believe it would be unethical not to train them how to effectively and safely use the phenomenal educational resources the World Wide Web has to offer.  There are so many legitimate educational tools and content that are “free” on the Internet, and all a person needs to access them is an Internet-ready device and an Internet connection.  Why wouldn’t educators take advantage of them?  This is especially poignant this week based on our governor’s budget that he proposed for the state of Florida.  I am so upset that public education is being treated with such disdain and literally “cut down” like an enemy right before my eyes.  (I told you I was passionate on this subject, but now you know there are other subjects that I have a passion for and my lifelong profession as a public educator tops them all!)  We are being asked to do more with less and we’re smart people (we’re educators) so we’re going to have to harness the power of the Internet and help our students do the same.  Teachers can model for their students how to ethically use technology and be good digital citizens not only within the confines of their face-to-face classrooms but also how it is done online. 

The fourth standard of ISTE’s NETS-T is “Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility” and it is a standard for 21^st century teachers for a reason.  Today’s students may not have total access to the Internet during the course of the school day, but as soon as the bell rings and they are dismissed, many of them “plug in” and then stay plugged in until bedtime.  As educators we need to therefore consciously train and model for students how to safely utilize the resources of the World Wide Web so they can independently make wise choices for themselves.  Facebook, MySpace and other social networking services have taken off in popularity and usage, but not everyone who uses them realizes their innate power.  Apparently in the 21^st century there is a need for personal expression, and the founders of Facebook have tapped into it.  Unfortunately there have been documented cases in which predators have taken advantage of innocent users who aren’t aware of the pitfalls of making “too much information” public.  That is why in my district we are taking a proactive stance because we know a lot of our students are using the Internet, and we want them to be safe while they partake in all the treasures it has to offer.  I’d like to share some of the things we are doing in my school district that we hope will help teachers and students tap into some of the instructionally-relevant tools and content on the World Wide Web.

Our K-12 school district uses Blackboard which is an LMS (Learning Management System) and we first started using it just for professional development.  Now we have opened Blackboard up for teachers who use it to post their class websites, and also for those who want their students to log on to an online learning space that compliments their traditional face-to-face classrooms.  Blackboard has started offering their own Web 2.0 type tools by offering Blackboard-specific blogs and wikis in the different courses and organizations that our teachers use.  I call these “Blackboard-specific” because they are only accessible when a person is logged on to our Blackboard server with a unique username and password. There is even a social bookmarking tool called “Blackboard Scholar” that is available now, but it hasn’t taken off as of yet.  What Blackboard needs to do is utilize RSS (Really Simple Syndication) with these different Web 2.0 tools they are adding and this would cause their usage to ramp up a notch or two.  As I conducted further research on this topic, I found a quote that specifically touched on the lack of social connectivity in the learning management systems that are currently being used.  The statement that hit home with me is, “students today demand more autonomy, connectivity, interaction and socio-experiential learning opportunities in their learning contexts” (Mazman & Usluel, 2010).  I believe this is so true, and we as educators need to be proactive by modeling and training how to safely and effectively use some of the online tools such as Blogger, Wikispaces, and Delicious that students come across every day on the Internet.  In my district those three specific websites I mentioned are not blocked for teachers, but they are not accessible to students on our network.

This brings me to another topic which is whether there are certain websites or apps blocked in my district. We do have a very conscientious IT Department that takes every precaution available to protect the integrity of our network while also protecting our students when they’re surfing the web.  I found the post on the Classroom 2.0 forum very interesting because it is from the perspective of a private school educator, their network appears to be “wide open,” and the sore point is that usage by their students is “killing their bandwidth.” Oh yes, I can’t forget that most of the high school students in this particular school have their own laptops. As I mentioned earlier, we have a proactive group of educators in my district and this has been demonstrated on more than one occasion over the past two years.  It started with a few changes in leadership and this was when all involved decided we needed a complete audit to determine the least and most effective ways our district was using technology.  As a result we have had a few more leadership changes and now there is a stronger partnership that has developed between our Information Services (IT) Department and our Instructional Department.  Things are not perfect, and let’s be real, they never will be.  The point is, things are a lot better and we are working together as a team instead of being polar opposites. In the past, our network was “locked down” and neither teachers nor students were able to access a lot of very valuable educational online resources.  Now our network has been set to allow teacher and administrator accounts to access websites that are only available to them and not students.  As a matter of fact, the three online tools I referenced before (Blogger, Wikispaces, and Delicious) are not blocked for teachers, but they are not accessible to students on our network.  The changes in our district have opened us up to a lot of great educationally sound resources on the Internet. We still don’t have as much bandwidth as we need, but that’s a topic for another post.

I’m sorry that I was so “long winded,” but as I said at the beginning, this is close to my heart because this is my job. I am glad that my district is open to using online educational tools such as Blackboard, and I am also glad that our particular technology leaders are always looking for ways to offer students educational alternatives to some of the online resources they “just happen to come across” every day.  It would definitely be unethical if we allowed threats toward our students, but it would also be unethical if we didn’t train them how to safely and effectively utilize the World Wide Web as the educational resource it can be.  I believe a proactive approach is always best, and besides, if I wanted to always be “putting out fires,” I would have become a fireman instead of a teacher.

References:

Kitch, Derwin.  (2008, May 9).  "What sites/apps does your school block?"  Classroom 2.0.Retrieved February 8, 2011, from http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topics649749
Topic:140090#_blank

Mazman, S. G., & Usluel, Y. K.  (2010).  Modeling educational usage of facebook.  Computers
& Education, 55.  Retrieved from http://mabrito.net/csw/instructor_readings/educational_uses_
facebook.pdf doi:  10.1016/j.compedu.2010.02.008

Reading Reaction #2 - This Isn't the Time for a Loose Connection!

My Reading Reaction #2 is ready for review.  Please check it out!

:) Ruth

This Isn't the Time for a Loose Connection!

EME5050 - Reading Reaction #2

The following is my reaction to how information presented in Chapter 2 of the textbook on fundamentals of technology for educators relates to the message Wendy Drexler presented in her video called The Networked Student.  The  title of Chapter 2 is “Communications, Networks, the Internet, and the World Wide Web," and the main relationship I see is that one cannot exist without the other.  In other words, if there isn’t a connection and there are no communications, networks, the Internet, or the World Wide Web, then there won’t be any “networked students.” In Drexler’s video, the 21^st century high school student was portrayed as always being connected, and the scenario was summed up as an example of connected learning.  The following is my take on the idea of the “networked student” and whether in the future it will refer to all students, or just a select few.

This would be a great time for you to see The Networked Student video for yourself.  Please take time to view it before you continue reading my post.

What did you think of the video?  You'll find out later in this paragraph what I thought.  As a person who has had experience working as a network specialist in several different public junior high schools, I can attest to the fact that the 21^st Century is not the time for a “loose connection.”  It actually wasn’t the time years ago either, but today it is especially crucial that our school systems provide students with a strong connection to the Internet and all the educational resources that the World Wide Web has to offer.  My question in the current state of the education budget is, “Will we have the money and the resources in order to provide 21^st century students with the skills they deserve and need for the future?”  I also have to question if this will be the norm?  In no way am I downplaying the message of the video, and as a true “techie” who happens to be an educator, I was inspired and excited by the thoughts that I could be a “connectivist teacher” one day.  It also made me think that being a high school student again might not be so bad.

I brought up the question of money earlier when I mentioned the current budget constraints in education.  Fortunately for us, many of the educational leaders of today “get the big picture” when it comes to what education should look like in the future.  For example, in the school district where I work, my boss is over the Instructional Resources Department and she has always looked for online resources that were managed by experts instead of asking district personnel to try and “re-invent the wheel” with a “home grown” version of the same thing.  She also chairs our District Technology Committee and as a group we work with outside consultants and other districts across the state as we develop the goals of our District Technology Plan.  So far, this has proven to be a wise usage of time, resources, and education dollars for our district. In addition several of our committee members belong to different state and national technology organizations such as FCITL (Florida Council of Instructional Technology Leaders) and ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education).  As a matter of fact, I just attended the FCITL meeting this week in Orlando, and the budget was discussed, but the main focus was on ways to equip Florida schools with the networks and technology tools we need to provide our students with a collaborative and “connected” 21^st century education.  Our two-day session consisted of small group discussions and large group presentations from various entities that ranged from representatives of CoSN (Consortium of School Networking) to one of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s vice president.  The most remarkable statement he made was that within three years his company will be offering totally digital content as an alternative to only printed materials. The meeting agenda was online and projected for the audience, and the data gathered from the meeting participants who engaged in collaboration, was obtained via student response systems and submitted via Google Docs which is a participatory Web resource or Web 2.0 alternative to paper and pencil.  We weren’t just talking the talk of “connected education” we were also walking the walk!

This should make you hopeful as an educator that there are leaders today who are focused on the future and they are working hard to steady education on a strong foundation that is built around communications and networks.  They see the power of the Internet and the value of the World Wide Web as an educational tool.  They also see how the Web 2.0 resources of today will soon give way to the Web 3.0 generation that will take utilization of web content to an even higher level.   I also hope that as an educator you see how you are still an integral part of the education puzzle.  Your role as a teacher will definitely change when it comes to “connected learning,” but your importance will not be diminished.  In order for a student to be truly connected with a PLN (Personal Learning Network) he must first have a teacher like the one depicted in The Networked Student, who is a:

• Learning Architect
• Modeler
• Learning Concierge
• Connected Learning Incubator
• Network Sherpa
• Synthesizer
• Change Agent
• Manager

As a classroom teacher I always said that I felt like I “wore many hats,” and I guess that holds true today.  The list above is actually a list of 21^st Century Skills that every student needs not only today but also in the future.  We therefore don’t need a “loose connection” when it comes to connecting our students with the educational resources that are “out there for the taking.”  Below is a photograph that illustrates how being a connected learner makes all the resources the world has to offer us "in the palm of our hands."

 

                                          Microsoft Clip Gallery.  Retrieved February 2, 2011, from
                                          http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images

References:

Shelly, G., Gunter, G., & Gunter, R.  (2010).  Chapter 2.  Integrating technology digital media in
the classroom (Sixth ed., pp. 59 - 109).  Boston:  Cengage Learning.

Drexler, W. (2008). The Networked Student.  Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=XwM4ieFOotA