Extreme Makeover SL edition/Boogie Wonderland

I promise I won't always write about SL (Second Life). Those of you who tune in regularly know that I try to write about ways to go beyond podcasting in the classroom and other ways to integrate emerging technologies in the classroom.

But - today is not one of those days. A lot happened yesterday, and like a giddy teenager with her (or his) first crush, I have to tell you all of the details!

First, last night was Extreme Makeover Ahna edition. I was sick of the hair that I had - it looked like I was bald and had a large rodent stuck on me (apologies potentially to BlueSkunk Johnson - I can't remember if you're bald, but the rat on your shoulder looks really good on you!). So I went to Paris - New Paris that is, the SL version - because - well? Where else do you go for fashion? Meet the new Ahna. I rather think she is cute. :)

Then I went walking around. I met Curious Raymaker because she saved me from a strange young man who felt the need to hit on me. I was hoping to avoid that in Eduisland, but I suppose it could happen anywhere. We ended up in front of Meg Writer's house, which she had just finished remodeling. She asked us in for our opinions - and a great talk on pop culture/educational technology. She showed us her brand new stereo system - which led us to our next topic - the 80's dance party.

That's right - we got jiggy with it.

I can't help but wonder, though, how many possibilities exist for educational uses of SL. Sure, it is bound to be misused by some, but what isn't? I'm still not comfortable bringing a student into SL, as it is still far too creepy for them (see Ahna, hit-on-by-creepy-guy, above), but if we can un-creepify the situation a bit, how useful is this for them? They could build their own classroom environment, building projects where they could LIVE the material, not just learn it. How very cool. It makes me so excited, I have to dance!

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Beyond Podcasting, Second Life, Education

WAY beyond podcasting...

I know the name of my blog. I know that I'm supposed to be writing about the wonderful world of iPods and podcasting, but here's the thing. I'm an addict.

Hello. My name is Susan. And I'm a Second Life-aholic.

Hi Susan.

I have been wondering for awhile now if I could bring SL into my classroom. It sounds perfect. I add a chateau, and then my students can choose a room to create their projects in, etc. I was so excited.

I personally don't think that we are ready to do that at the secondary level just yet. SL is still pretty "wild, wild west" in that anything goes. That being said, I was not prepared for what I did find out.

It is crazy good for PD.

In the two (three? I've lost count...) days that I've been inworld, I have had conversations with Kathy Schrock, Doug Johnson, and David Warlick. I have had conversations with others, too, who want to discuss topics in education. I have just been floored with the opportuntities. There is even an inworld conference on Friday (I almost took a personal day, but I just can't this close to the end of the year). It is so much fun, I almost missed my weekly dose of Desperate Housewives (don't judge).

My point is that good quality PD is going to be available to anyone with an internet connection (albeit a broadband one - SL sucks memory and bandwith). How incredible is that?

If you are interested, I am always on SL looking for conversations. Please come and find me. I'm usually on Eduisland, either at the C.A.V.E., SLolar, ISTE, or DEN. (Yay for acronyms!) My name is Ahna Rossini. See you there!

Technorati Tags:

Beyond Podcasting, Second Life, Education of the Future, Random

idk, my bff jill?

I wasn't going to post today. I wanted to wait until someone commented on my last post. I know that there are people out there reading it (creepy, huh? I can see you...j/k), and I really do want to give you content that is actually something you might want to read/know about.

Besides, I'm human. I like the occasional pat-on-the-back, too.

But anyway, please do comment on the last post, and I am still taking requests for PD for the next school year, so please email.

The reason I decided to blog was a post I read by Will Richardson. He was giving a presentation, when a teacher said that this technology stuff "is the devil" (yes, for real), and there was major agreement amongst conference-goers.

I began writing him a comment, and then decided that I ought to share it with you first. So, read his entry here, and then come back and read this:

I'm a young enough educator to remember the "calculator wars" - you know, the ones we're still having 20 years later? Anyway, I remember teachers saying that students shouldn't be given calculators, because how will we ever know how to do long division when there is no calculator present?

You know what? They gave us calculators in the 4th grade. I don't know how to do long division. Some people might see this as a problem. My question is - when will I EVER be without a calculator? I have one on my cell phone which is always on my person. In order to use a calculator, you do have to understand the concepts of math. While I couldn't tell you how to do long division without a calculator, I can still get you the answer.

I guess that's my feelings on this whole technology thing. We are teaching students as if they will never have the internet at their disposal 24/7, which is just impractical and, well, stupid. Most of what I learned of technology, I taught myself. Most of my students are that way, too. How cool would it be if they were able to learn about technologies (or at least, how to apply them to education) from teachers? I had no idea that the Civil War MUD (yes, I'm a geek - shut up) that I played in high school taught me about organization, management, military strategies, e-mail communication and delegation as well as history. I figured it out one day when someone my own age asked me how I figured out all of this technology stuff. Would you like to know how I got interested in such a game? My teacher - the most un-tech-savvy-person-known-to-mankind - sparked an interest in the Civil War. I found the game through surfing the internet (before Google was popular - so ACTUAL surfing) and told him about it. He didn't understand a single word about the technology, but he encouraged me and asked every day how my troops were doing (again, shut up).

My point - though I take a while to make it - is that just because you don't understand the technology, don't discourage kids from using it in ways they are passionate about. Your kid can't spell? Who cares? (Neither can I, for that matter) As long as they know how to use spell check - that is to say, can interpret the results of spell check - they will be fine. Maybe in the future, we will all talk and write like that commercial: "idk, my bff Jill? tisnf!" We don't really know what the future is going to bring, but we can be sure that technology is here to stay.

Someone else who commented on the post quoted Ghandi: "First, they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." What a wonderful (and true) statement that is. Sounds like we are at the "fighting" stage - so fight on, fellow techno-geeks.

Technorati Tags:
Beyond Podcasting, Education of the Future, Random

Help - I need somebody - Not just anybody -

As many of you already know (or could probably guess) if you've seen one of my presentations, I am a member of MACUL (Michigan Association of Computer Users in Learning). I just got my Spring Journal today, and was surprised to find an article by a colleague of mine on Google Searches.

I never would normally read an article on Google Searches, because, you know, it's Google - I get it already. But as I was reading the article, it hit me that people - and probably quite a few of them, at that - would find this to be a very useful article. It is very well written, and answers quite a few questions that I'm sure were floating around out there.

Which leads me to this blog entry. I tend to think that I am out of ideas on what to post in this blog, because I understand what I am doing. I take for granted that people already know how to podcast and are already using it in your classrooms (and maybe you are - good for you!). I really am in need of some ideas for future posts. If you have a question - no matter how small you think it might be - please comment/email me and ask it. I am writing this blog for all of you that read it out there, and I want to make sure that you are all getting something out of it.

Also, I am starting to put together my presentation schedule for the 2007-2008 (doesn't it look weird to write that - 2008!!!) school year. If you are interested in having me present at your next PD day, staff meeting, or conference, please email me here. I would be more than happy to present on any variety of topics - Podcasting, Constructivist Education/Future of Education, Web 2.0, Blogging, Website Creation/Moodle, my top 10 sites, etc. If you don't think that you can "afford" me - trust me, you probably can. Ask - and I will probably say yes if I can fit it into my schedule. My passion is teacher education, so I'm just thrilled to have an opportunity to help other teachers.

Thanks in advance for your comments. I'm so excited to answer any/all questions you might have. :)

Technorati Tags:
Beyond Podcasting, Education of the Future, Future Technology, Random

Summer, summer, summer t-i-ee-mme (Enter Will Smith)

Before you say what I know you are thinking, yes, I am aware that we are already 11 days into May and my last post was nearly a month ago. No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth, but thanks for asking! Between graduation, a production I've been in (*gasp* A life outside of school?!?!?!?), and general family health issues, I haven't had time to breathe, let alone research handhelds/iPods/etc.

But, nonetheless, I will post, er you think I'm dead or some such nonsense.

So, I'm posting.

I guess I should tell you all that I am back to the grant-drawingboards, as it were. I was turned down for a grant because I didn't meet their criteria. However, I had countless grant-writers look it over, and I did indeed fit all the criteria.

Want to bet that it was due to the fact that I was asking for iPods?

I still say that iPods would be invaluable for a classroom. I still want them for mine. And I am still grant writing. Because iPods are no more "toys" than paper is. Yes, paper can be used for things other than school work. And yes, it is hard to make sure kids are taking notes not writing them. And yes, you may have problems policing students to make sure they are on task with their iPods. But no more problem than you have making sure that they are actually taking notes with the paper. Will students be off-task sometimes? Yes. Will they listen to their own music sometimes? Yes. Is there much you can do about it? Well, if you only have two or three students, yes. But if you have a classroom full? No, probably not. Are students more likely to remain on task? Yes. Will they get more out of the iPod than they would with just a worksheet? You bet.

Is it worth it for me to keep trying and proving to people that this technology could have a huge impact on the educational system as we know it?

I sure hope so, because I bet my career on it.

Technorati Tags:
Beyond Podcasting, Education of the Future, Random

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a cave-man and a cave-woman. His name was "Ugh", and her name was "Oogh". There actually were many cave-people in that small cave-town, but our story centers around Ugh and Oogh. Oogh was a teacher at the cave-school, and Ugh was the principal and primary financial backer of the school (in other words, he caught lunch every day and cooked it for the students).

One day, Oogh found that if she took several leaves and bound them together with a stem, she could have a fun resource for the classroom. Her students gave her that idea, as it was the newest and coolest thing among the teen-cave-folk. She approached Ugh. Their dialogue went something like this:

Oogh: Ungha oog. Umble unga ooga? (Look at this. Isn't it cool?)

Ugh: Nunga. Yunga booga icka ooga. Chunga unga. (No. It's a teenager's booga. Yuck.)

Oogh: Dunga, booga icka ooga rungi chunga do Oogh. (No, I made the book. I think we could use it in the classroom to enhance instruction.

Ugh: Nunga. (No, that's ridiculous. Kids today don't need these fancy booga's, they need to be taught how to hunt and gather. That's how we survive. That's the education we need.)

Oogh: Ungha ooga booga. (Come now, don't you see? The world is changing. Soon, we will all live in a world with books, where knowledge is king. Don't you want our students at the forefront of that?)

Ugh: hahahahahaha! Ungha nunga booga. (Laughter. That will NEVER happen. Things will never change, they will always stay the same.)

And with that, Oogh gave up her dream of teaching with booga's as part of the curriculum. She did, however, keep some booga's in her room, and she would teach with them whenever Ugh was out hunting. The end.

Okay, so that story wasn't true, but isn't that similar to a lot of conversations going on right now? Whenever I tell people that I teach with iPods, I encounter at least one person that will sound an awful lot like Ugh. I am told that iPods are toys, and that there is no way that students would ever use them for an educational reason. Why change the text books? Books are sacred and always will be.

Think about that for a minute. Think about how many books are written each day, and the rising costs of things like electricity, paper and ink. Do you really see a world where the printed word will be king forever? Me neither.

So, which will you choose to be? Will you be a person who embraces change and implements it daily in your classroom? Or will you be a nay-sayer who believes the future will never change? Will you be Ugh or Oogh?

Ooghs of the world - unite!

Spring Break?

I hate bugs. I mean, I hate them. I had just set out to make some yummy white-chocolate-covered-strawberries last night, when I discovered that some tiny little gnat-like things had beat me to my bar of baking chocolate. And then I discovered the rest of them. Needless to say, my husband and I spent the rest of the evening and well into the night cleaning out our entire pantry. Fun.

I say this not because I never want you to eat at my house, or so that you think that I live in a pigsty, but instead to prove a point. The bugs were not there a week ago. Trust me - I would have seen them. Yet the near-infestation that occurred sometime in the past week really got me thinking - isn't the internet like that?

Take Karl Fisch for example. I have linked to Karl at least five times now, and if you have yet to check out his page, what are you waiting for? Anyway, last August, his school asked him to speak at a PD. He created this little powerpoint called "Did You Know?" Some of his coworkers wanted to show it to spouses, so he posted it on his blog. They told people, who told other people, who posted it on youtube and in email messages. Short version of the story? "Did You Know?" has gone viral, to the point that many of the presentations (including the one that I like to show) hardly resemble the original post! Estimates show that over 2 MILLION people have viewed a version of his modest powerpoint.

2 MILLION.

SINCE AUGUST 2006.

The internet is already having a more powerful impact on our world than was ever thought possible. In less than 8 months, Karl's life has forever changed. I have heard people who have said that education doesn't need to change any to reflect this "internet thing". Are you kidding? If one man and his modest powerpoint can reach over 2 million people in less than 7 months, how can we assume that education doesn't need to change? The way that our students get information right now is so totally different from how we obtain info. Think about it - how many of you still get a paper newspaper? How many of your students get papers? If they get the news, they probably get it from TV/internet.

Anyway, sorry about the mini-rant, but if we don't mull over these ideas, how are we going to answer our students' questions? Thoughts?

Technorati Tags:
Beyond Podcasting, Education of the Future, Random