Time for Introductions!!!

Welcome again to EDC922 - ONLINE TEXTS IN THE 21ST CENTURY CLASSROOM

This is our class blog. It will serve as our discussion forum, connection to each other, and the main webpage you will be accessing. If this is your first visit, then please first read the entry below (titled, 'Practice Session') and follow the instructions there--- then return to this one.

I give detailed lessons on edublogs and their use in the classroom in my EDC921 course (which you are welcome to audit if you would like more information). The format and interface are similar to our class blog, but chances are you won't have too much time to spend there. The content here should keep you pretty busy--for now you only need to know a few things.

This blog can be viewed by anyone, but will only allow the participants of EDC922 to interact with it. When you would like to respond to someone or comment upon a session, just click on the 'comment' link below each of my postings (you should sign up for a Blogger account ASAP and choose a 'User Name' that is easily identifiable) until then choose the 'anonymous' button under 'choose an identity'; I sure some of you have already begun to practice a little.

In the left-hand margin you will see links to individual lessons (accessible every Wednesday).



If you need to contact me then please email me at DaveFontaine1@gmail.com.

This blog, in addition to its use as an interactive communication tool, will also be where you can access and download your weekly sessions. The presentation links to the left will be accessible on a week-to-week basis (Wed. afternoons). I've said it before, but it bears repeating---When attempting to download always choose 'save' rather than 'open.'

The syllabus is also linked to the left. Google has a free service that allows you to just upload any Word document and with one additional click it gets published online with its own URL. The course syllabus is an example of how easy it is to use, and we'll practice with this tool before next week.

One more aspect that will be unique about this course is that I support a completely collaborative teaching philosophy. Following that mindset, I will keep your assignments, comments, and reflections viewable and accessible to future participants of this course. The 'goal' of that is:

1. For future participants to gain from the collective knowledge of your experiences;
2. Use what you have done; and
3. Incorporate new ideas into their classroom.
   
   

The bonus for you, of course, is that this information will also always be accessible for you. This way, in the future (many semesters from now) you may revisit this site and benefit from the ideas of all participants. In this way---YOU will gain from all the 'learning speedbumps' of those that have come after you--even though they are not currently enrolled in this course.

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Some of the content for our sessions is also covered in 921. Where that is the case I'll also give you a link to the 'comments' of past participants about that topic.

Before we go any further I would like each of you to practice using this forum and introduce yourself. We will be spending the semester together, so it is important to learn as much about each other as possible. Click on the 'comment' link below this posting, then you may click the 'anonymous' button and write a few paragraphs about yourself. (If you are feeling bold you may sign up for a Blogger account now and use the 'user name' that you create when you 'comment' rather than choosing 'anonymous.')

Please include:
-your name
-email address (so that you may contact each other directly if needed),
-your educational background,
-teaching history,
-current teaching position with location, and lastly
-what you hope to come away with when this semester is over, along with any additional information about you that you wish to share, like your motivation for choosing this course...

After you have finished posting this profile, come back to this page and read the '922-Session 1' posting (below this one), then find the 'Session 1' link (along the left-hand margin), download it, and view it. When you are finished with the session please click on the 'comment' link again and add any comments, insights, or reflections you have for Session 1, under the Session 1 posting.

Sometimes it takes a little while to get the hang of using this forum. I have taken this into consideration by reducing the workload of the first session. (Of course, if you get distracted easily, then you could spend hours exploring.)

Its primary goal is to make sure everyone is on the same page and skill level before we sink our teeth into the meat of this course. However, if you run into any 'techno-speedbumps' then please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Everything here is protected by Creative Commons. This means that you have complete authority to download, save, share, and use all of the lessons in your classroom, but are prohibited from any commercial uses.

You will notice that each slide of the PowerPoint presentation has the narration transcribed in the 'notes section' of each slide. This is because each semester we have teachers from around the world taking this course. We've had teachers from China, Alaska, California, Phillipines, Sudan...taking my courses (And they may need help understanding my "Ro-diland" accent) but more importantly, the transcribed narration allows you to take these slides and use them in your own classroom. (or, if you find my voice putting you to sleep, you can just read the slides instead)

Good luck this semester! I look forward to working and collaborating with you.

Dave Fontaine

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STOP--DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER UNTIL YOU HAVE FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE.

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922-Session 1 "The World of Wikis!!!"

Welcome to Session 1

"The World of Wikis!"

This semester will take us onto a new path!

A path that leads to more collaboration--

more cooperative learning---

and more opportunities to create differentiated instruction and visual learning---all with the goal of helping foster literacy, and learning, for our students.

Don't worry if you have barely heard of the word, 'Wiki'. Here is a taste of the excitement that awaits you when you download our first session.

Good luck and take plenty of notes because I don't want to miss any of your ideas, excitement, and insights when you post your comments!

If you're eager to get started, but still have some apprehension then maybe some of the tutorials on the left might help.

You may also read past participants' comments here and here. Some people find reading them before the session helps with their perspective.

Have fun!

Dave

PS-If you have any trouble downloading any of these sessions from the link on the left, then I've got backups on Authorstream.com. Just visit the link and type in edc922 in the search box, then view the most recent session.

Practice Session

Welcome to EDC922---"Online Texts in the 21st Century Classroom."

Throughout these 9 weeks we will be covering a vast amount of information.

New sessions will be posted once a week (by the end of business on Wednesday, but this week only,  the first session won't up until Thursday night to allow everyone to try this practice session). 

Please keep in mind that there are new developments and trends in online information every day, therefore we may have to be flexible when interpreting the syllabus. This may mean some modifications, changes and condensing of information.

To ensure that we are covering the most current skills, I will be assimilating and collating information right up until the moment I post a session. This means that each session's link (over in the left-hand margin) will not be accessible until its respective Wednesday. Even so, there may be times when a cited link is dead. If that is the case, I will try to keep saved copies of all the information. Just email me (davefontaine1@gmail.com) and I will forward the data to you.

During the first few sessions we will be covering foundational skills. This is to ensure that we all have the basic essentials ‘down pat’. Once this is covered, we will pick up the pace and begin to delve into the mechanics, nuances, and meat of our course.

To ensure continuous accessibility to the information within these presentations I suggest you immediately download, and save the sessions, to your computer. I cannot emphasize this enough. Along the left-hand margin, there will be a link for each session. When you click on this link you may be prompted to 'save' or 'open' the session.

Always ‘save’ it to your desktop. Previous participants have found it easiest to organize if they create a folder and store all the sessions in one place. Another option would be to right-click on the link and choose, 'save target as.'

‘Saving’ the sessions will decrease problems relating to your bandwidth. Also, although it may take a while for a presentation to download (up to 10 min. or more depending upon the speed of your connection) it will be much easier to toggle between a PowerPoint and the Internet if you have it saved to your hard drive. Weekly sessions will also become portable if you save them to a thumb drive.

Additionally, you will need to have access to a computer that has PowerPoint version ’97 or above to view the presentations. (As a last resort I will also upload a copy each week to an online service where you can stream it live. You will find that link at the bottom of each weekly posting.) If you cannot hear the sound on them it is possible that the “wave” element of your volume is either on ‘mute’ or not turned up enough.

Please remember that we are all educators, and that this is a collaborative course. So, as you post your reflections and comments we will all be responding to you. Therefore, timely responses are imperative. After you have posted your weekly assignment, make an effort to return again later to read and comment about other participants’ assignments.

Once again remember that we are all perpetual learners; constantly growing. I hope to learn as much from you---as you will from me.

Now I would like you to try a practice download. Thursday evening I will update this page with information about our first session. Along the left-hand margin you will see the words "PRACTICE SESSION." Please try to download this session to your computer, strictlyfollowing the directions above.

Once you have been successful with this process, please also download the syllabus. There is only one required, purchasable text: ISBN 1-4129-5972-8  Don't worry if it takes a week to arrive.

You may order it from most online book sellers. Until then you may want to read it online (not ideal and you usually can't access the entire text), but here is the link: Wikis, Blogs, and Podcasts

You could also check your local library here.

If you run into problems, please review the directions again. It is not uncommon for participants to 'stumble' a little getting used to this forum.

If you run into any trouble after that, then please feel free to email me or call.

You'll hear from me again on Wednesday.

Thank you,

Dave Fontaine
Internet Librarian and Information Specialist, NBCT
DaveFontaine1@gmail.com
401-835-3782

Curriki.org----Your World for 'Educational Resources'

This week we will focus on a great, free, online resource called, Curriki. A fantastic database of high-quality lesson plans, full-courses, textbooks, and interactive resources. We have been focusing just upon textbooks because it is easier to contribute to these "knowledge banks" if we narrow our focus, but there are many more resources out there to avail yourself of. To gain a solid 'knowledge foundation' about Curriki's mission and purpose let's start with a Guided Tour of their resources.








Next, let's review some answers to the most commonly asked questions here.









Now, let's read a few articles:

1. "Curriki and the Open Educational Resources Movement: Please Pass the Curriculum!"



2. "Web 2.0, Curriki and You"



3. And watch this video on Curriki from the Tech Awards

Excited? Inspired? Ready for more?



Curriki's website is divided into three categories:

1. FIND-Which is where you will go to collect lesson plans, teaching activities, student worksheets...


2. CONTRIBUTE-Where you will be uploading your Final Project wikichapters, and


3. CONNECT-Where you may collaborate with teachers from your school, or educators from around the world.

Let's start with FIND:

After viewing each one of these tutorials I'd like you to go to Curriki's site and try to mimic the steps. I'd also like you to practice using the Curriki 'comment' option after you watch each video. Post your comments about that particular video's tool on the site itself.

Introduction

How to use Curriki

Search and Browse for Resources

Now that I've sparked your interest sign up for an account here.

Now CONTRIBUTE we'll get to a little later, but here's an introduction to that component.

We could spend 'hours more,' but I think that after you spend some time playing around with this resource you'll find that 3 hours disappears in no time. So we'll pick up where we left off next week.

While you visit there this week, please also jot down your notes and add your thoughts under the 'comments' section of our blog.

As always feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions.

Dave