Presenting on Digital Storytelling in Second Life by Mickey Stellavato

When approached to give a presentation on Digital Storytelling in the immersive world of Second Life, my first reaction was “Uh, I’m not sure about that…” I, like many others I’m sure, had an uncomfortable first-response to the idea of “presenting” through an avatar on something I’m quite passionate about, rather than in the first-person. It was, however, a paying gig, and as a graduate student with children, that was a welcomed offering. And, besides, it was something new and I have a predisposition for trying new things at least once.

As directed, I downloaded the Second Life program to my laptop, and with the help of Alina Padilla-Miller—Project Direct techie academic extraordinaire—I created my first SL avatar, trying to shape the body as closely to my own as possible. For some reason I had this idea that by “presenting” myself in Second Life as close to my real self as possible, I would somehow be more “truthful” or “authentic” (both very contested terms in my fields of anthropology/folklore/communication). I realize now in hindsight, I should have chosen the golden robot and called it a day, as a few of the “attendees” to my presentation were wild and wacky versions of themselves. One “man,” (it could have been a woman in the “real” world) was wearing a top hat and tails, while s/he periodically sipped on a glass of champagne. One’s physical choices are, however, limited—in particular, I was uncomfortable with the required use of make-up in the female avatars. It was impossible to find one that did not have at least some make-up on its face and, needless-to-say, this blatant male programming “error” pushed my feminist buttons. Moreover, I ended up raiding the “male” closet for clothes that were more to my liking and personality, and eventually created a person I was at least somewhat comfortable.

As the 7:00 presentation drew closer, I watched people appear in the designated “classroom,” a large grass plateau on an island somewhere in the world of Second Life. People, mostly educators from around Oregon, sat on large stone circles and I stood in front of a large screen that would become the location for my PowerPoint presentation. As I began, I was surprised by how easy it was to talk to people I couldn’t see or hear, although they could hear me and I saw their responses through a chat window. In fact, I enjoyed the environment of open dialogue between myself and those attending. Rather than wait for me to finish completely, as is often the case in presentations, as issues or ideas came up, people “spoke” out, asking questions and making personal observations, thus creating an interactive discussion that was quite a bit like a conversation in the “real world.” With the help of Padilla-Miller, I was able to have them go to a particular website in order to view a digital story and then we would briefly discuss it back in our classroom. Functionally, this process is quite simple, although working out certain glitches, for example the embedding of video directly in a SL presentation, would keep everyone at the same pace. Otherwise, I was pleasantly surprised by the ease of the process itself. I have no doubt that anyone could learn to run all the technological aspects of an interactive presentation in very little time.

Most importantly, and perhaps more specifically, are the possibilities this process allows for educators, students, activists, and advocates. Having worked with youth who are trauma survivors, I have heard participants state that digital storytelling is a liberating process for them because they could say things in their stories “they couldn’t say face to face;” immersive environments potentially afford the same kinds of freedom from judgment. It also allows for people from all over the world to work together, using digital tools at the cost of an Internet connection. Although other programs such as Google Chat or Skype allow for a similar gathering, I find that being freed of the physical allows for more focus on the task at hand, in this case, sharing important information about the process of digital storytelling with youth in a time of unprecedented funding cuts and limited processes of personal expression. And who doesn’t like the idea of presenting to a global audience in your pajamas?

A Reflection of Project DIRECT by Rebecca Toews

My name is Rebecca Toews, and I am a “newbie.”

While this statement is true in many parts of my life, in this context, I recently had the opportunity to join two dozen rural educators while they were introduced or re-introduced to one another in a virtual world known as Second Life. The teachers who attended Project DIRECT’s weekend workshop in Medford last weekend prove daily that they are ready and able to use technology in their classrooms and in their own continuing education. #wearelivinginthefuture.

Most of the teachers in the room were not from large or wealthy districts; they came together from rural districts where resources and time to learn new techniques are often not supported by the bottom line. I grew up in one of those districts, in a small town in southeastern Minnesota-- and coming from a household of two teachers I heard the frustrations of the rural schoolteacher often. But this program effectively alleviates some of those concerns and is bringing teachers together virtually for support and learning.

As a graduate student in the Communication & Society program at the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon, I felt honored to be learning from, and with, these amazing people. Many of the teachers had been working together virtually through Second Life for the past year, many were coming to the virtual world as “newbies” but all seemed excited to be part of the program.

As I sat watching one duo at the workshop demonstrate how they use multimedia tools to help students create high-tech presentations and video projects, I realized how far we have come and how much farther we need to go. In their tech-friendly classrooms, these teachers harness the technology1 our “digital native” children already are interested in and many are already using. Another educator demonstrated how he uses an open-source course management program2 to engage students in their own online learning classes-- a fascinating way educators can connect to their students outside of the classroom as well as within it!

At the SOJC we train undergraduate students to be effective journalists and engaging storytellers. We do this not simply to introduce the newest bells and whistles that are available, but because these tools add to what the student is trying to convey to her or his audience. In the K-12 classroom the same is true. Students can create innovative projects that enhance their classrooms and reinforce the core curriculum.

Now as I contemplate pursuing my own future as an educator I am a little more confident that there are some people on the right path, a progressive one that involves technology instead of shrinking from it or being fearful of it. Classrooms these days are alive-- or at least they can be.

Project DIRECT workshop 2011

This small photo essay is a quick recap of what happened this weekend at Project DIRECT's workshop in Medford Oregon.  It was rich, welcoming and overall just a fantastic experience for all that came.  I will be writing and sharing more soon so please stay tuned.

Digital Storytelling with Machinima...

For nearly a year I've been actively producing machinima for Project DIRECT.  In this time I have come to view machinima as something greater than just a means to record what we are doing in Second Life for the project.  Rather, I see something quite unique about the process of production in this type of video.  Machinima, "the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production", offers nearly total control of an environment. As anyone in video and film production will attest to,  total control is not usually an option while working in this field.  One can expect a variety of unexpected issues, thus requiring a Macgyver quick fix at the drop of a hat.

My revelation for using this type of controlled environment for educational digital storytelling came by connecting the process of creating machinima with the new common core language arts standards.  The opportunity for students to have an environment that allows for the visual representation and role playing required in any performance combined with language art curriculum means great things for presentations of learned material.

I have been devising a plan on how to integrate this into the current discourse of the common core.   As luck would have it, I'm a proud parent of an elementary school aged student.  This means that I can invite my child into this idea and with a first hand account, really see what her reaction is to it.  Last night we completed her second educational machinima for a school project.  In this piece, she used the following steps to create it (with my help of course).

1.  Data gathering online.  
• To do this she accessed her teacher's class website that had a list of appropriate online resources to  use.
2.  Creating a digital notebook.  
• Using any text editing software, a digital notebook acts as a means for brainstorming and content collection.  By copying and pasting the content, as well as the URL, from the website to the new document, a comprehensive outline takes form.  In this step, it is really important to stress the need for copyright awareness and correct attribution for the content found online.
3. Writing the story.  
• After opening a new document and having it side by side to the digital notebook, she created three sections: "Introduction", "Body", and "Conclusion".  Using the content she collect in her digital notebook, she appropriately filled in each section of her new document using her own words.  We talked about the importance of using her own words and never writing a sentence or paragraph verbatim without giving credit, as this is plagiarism.
4. Recording and editing using Camtasia.  
• Camtasia is a great screen casting software that acts as both an editing tool and also recording device for what is happening on the screen and through the computer.  We used this to record her voice and the 3D immersive environment. This step is the most time intensive and will require a good understanding of both the immersive world in which is being used for the machinima as well as the screen casting software and how to use it most effectively.
5. Attention to the credits page.  
• At the end of the machinima story, the credits page and all the resources used were presented.  Only Creative Commons licensed images and music was used for this project.  Two great sources for finding these types of images and music can be found at Flickr:Creative Commons for images and Jamendo for music.

This project took nearly a week, as we worked on it in the evenings for an hour or two each night.  What I found to be so fantastic about this process, was the integration of technology into a class assignment that called for a final presentation.  Surely her presentation will be a big hit, but furthermore she really enjoyed this process and it gave me an opportunity to assess the best strategies for this new face of digital storytelling.

Project DIRECT goes to Wales

The idea of going to Wales was enough to create a sense of excitement that rivaled any 6 year old the day before Christmas. Add to this a conference full of international attendees that are equally interested in the notion of blurring boundaries in the mixed reality of ubiquitous computing and I could nearly contain myself.

If you follow this blog you’ve probably noticed that I write a number of the blog posts. I think now is a good time to quickly introduce myself and explain my fascination with 3D immersive environments and the amazing work that is being done with Project DIRECT.

For the last five years I have been academically driven to really look at the integration of virtual and physical reality. In other words, I’ve been looking at how we create and perform our identity in 3D immersive environments, specifically Second Life, and what affects this has on us.

When I came to Project DIRECT a year ago, I had no idea how much I would learn in regards to this focus. But mostly I was surprised to see how blurring boundaries with Second Life greatly factored into the success of this project. Because Project DIRECT was designed to use the virtual space of Second Life for 20 teachers from rural schools to meet, learn and share, the importance of space (both physical and virtual) was core. Therefore, the blurring of boundaries was beyond evident in this project.

On September 9th 2011 I presented Project DIRECT to an international group of academics and practitioners at the “Creating Second Lives 2011: Blurring Boundaries” conference in Wales. During the presentation, I played a few videos/machinima that showcased the project. As I stood up on the stage I was able to surveillance the room and really observed the audience’s reaction. Anyone who presents at a conference can probably attest to the many distractions one will have during a presentation. Often times you see people looking into mobile devices, slumping behind laptops and scanning the room. In this case, all eyes were on the screen that projected Project DIRECT. It was wonderful to see an entire room watching what we are doing here.

Project DIRECT is something quite remarkable and I’m excited to be a part of it. In November we will be holding our second annual workshop in Medford Oregon. As we are gearing up for another full year of revolutionary work with Project DIRECT, I again feel like a 6 year old the day before Christmas. Project DIRECT is moving and shaking the way we blur boundaries and ultimately creating an opportunity for rural school educators that would otherwise be limited due to physical boundaries.

A Reflection into the first year of Project DIRECT

Project DIRECT (Distance Innovations for Rural Educators using Communication Technologies), is a professional development project that uses the immersive quality in Second Life to provide a space for 20 teachers from rural schools to meet, learn and share. This project, funded by School Partnership II A, is designed to enhance the abilities of participating teachers to integrate technology into their practices and content areas.



Reflecting on the last year of this project, the take away is that it is proving to be wildly successful. From its launching in late November, educators continue to build a community with colleagues, share resources, attend workshops, explore and enjoy their virtual space.



According Peggy Marconi, associate director of Project DIRECT, the true success is in the comradery and community of this group and how their collegiality is performed through a virtual space. Marconi notes that Second Life offers a space for rural school educators that is accessible, interactive and visually exciting.

To better understand this process, we have been documenting and creating machinima throughout the year. In the following piece, "online learning" is the topic presented for discussion. The workshop leader introduces the topic and each teacher contributes to the discussion with personal narratives, suggestions and feedback. The ease and willingness to discuss a given topic can be attributed to both the comfort level in which the teachers have developed throughout the last year and to the nature of the 3D immersive space.



In addition to the workshops, we wanted teachers to explore the 3D immersive environment. To help guide them to good destinations we created the Project DIRECT’s travel guide. This travel guide offers suggestions on educational and entertaining destinations that could possibly benefit physical classrooms. For example, in this piece we introduce the NASA CoLab region, which might appeal to science and astronomy teachers.



It has been a wonderful experience to watch this group of educators use Second Life for a necessary and socially compelling purpose. We have a full year ahead of us and plan to learn more about the successful integration of 3D immersive environments into the professional development for educators.

Girls and Robotics

While scouting the "Playgrouds" at ISTE in June, I found these amazing girls working with robotics. It warms my heart to see this and encourages me that a narrowing of the gender gap within technology is still possible.

Learn, Share and Connect through a Tech Playground

While at the ISTE conference this year, attendees could take a break from their jam packed schedule and head to a "playground". The "playgrounds" were set up as interactive spaces where educators would show other educators how to use helpful technology in the classroom. It was a drop-in opportunity that proved to be a huge success and something not to miss!

ISTE 2011 Young Educator of the Year: Adam Bellow and Edutecher.net

This year at the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) conference, Adam Bellow was honored as the young educator of the year. Adam is the founder of the well known teacher-to-teacher resource known as Edutecher.net. Watch the interview to hear what he has to say about this fantastic resource.

What are QR codes and how can I use them in the classroom?

(originally posted in ISTEconnects)

You see it in magazines, on business cards, the back of t-shirts and now in the classroom. QR (quick response) codes are quite possibly the hottest upcoming trend in mobile media and education.

According to Chris O’Neal, a teacher who uses QR codes for classroom activities dealing with math and meteorology, the goal is to not have technology get in the way of a classroom activity, but rather have it speed up the minutia of the activity. This video offers a glimpse into the usability of QR codes and mobile media in the classroom and the effective ways to use them.

OWP and Project DIRECT on Wordle

I Love Digital Storytelling!

(Originally published on ISTE connects)
The adventure of teaching digital storytelling to an elementary classroom has officially concluded. It was a wonderful experience and I walked away from this knowing that children are not only eager to learn how to use digital tools, but also natural leaders in working with them and teaching each other.  Please watch my digital story of bringing digital storytelling into the elementary classroom.

Using GarageBand for Digital Storytelling

For the last several months I have been teaching a 2^nd/3^rd grade class how to write and produce digital stories. According to Dr. Bernard Robin from the University of Huston, digital storytelling can help students “learn to conduct research, synthesize large amounts of content and gain expertise in the use of digital communication and authoring tools” (The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling).

The process we used for digital storytelling has had each student write a story, rewrite it into a script format and learn a new software program called GarageBand.  Within GarageBand, the students have learned how import pictures, record their voices, add music and sound effects and make edits.  I must stress that the students have done this process entirely on their own with some peer-to-peer teaching and a bit of my facilitation.   

This video tutorial offers a breakdown for using GarageBand's enhanced podcasting feature for digital storytelling.

CATE's Project DIRECT gets exposure at ISTE 2011...

From June 26th-29th, the International Society for Technology is hosting their annual conference this year in Philadelphia. It has been estimated that nearly 20,000 people from 60 countries attend five days of professional learning and collaboration at the conference and exposition.  According to ISTE's conference page, "the conference program is selected from more than 2,000 peer reviewed submissions and is comprised of 700 immersive, interactive sessions, 145 special topic workshops, three inspiring keynotes, and numerous informal networking lounges and cafés." 

Ok, so this is obviously pretty exciting stuff, but it get's better!  This year, ISTE is hosting Machinima Fest 2011.  As noted on the ISTE SIGVE wikipage,  "in the tradition of Sundance and Cannes, ISTE SIGVE is hosting Machinima Fest 2011 featuring examples of the BEST Machinima in the educational realm. Machinima, video created using 3D virtual worlds or games, is a new form of media showing incredible potential for learning and communicating."


This is where Project DIRECT factors in.  I received word over the weekend that our submission was accepted and is considered for a spotlight feature at the celebration.  This is great news.  Take a look at some of the other submissions in our category.  Clearly we are on board with some of the best work being done out there right now using this technique.  Keep your fingers crossed that we get a spotlight!!

Active Response to Current Events

On May 11th 2011, Joe Harwood presented on "Active Response to Current Events" to the Project DIRECT group. In this presentation we learned about active/passive voice, summary leads, 5Ws and an H, "hooking a reader" and power verbs. Take a look at the video below for a recap.

BuddyPress – A Social Network You Can Build!

If you need a an easy digital way to create a social network for your school, your company, or your colleagues and you enjoy the ease of sites like Facebook, you will be delighted in designing your own social network platform through BuddyPress, which is designed to bring people together and enable people to communicate.   Unlike Facebook, which is very global, BuddyPress is built on your own webiste and target very particular niche networks. If you are familiar with WordPress, you will find BuddyPress  (developed in 2007) easy and uncomplicated to set up as it is based on all the power and flexibility of WordPress.  BuddyPress is open source and completely free to use.  You and your group can stay in complete control of how it is managed and how you customize the site to meet the particular needs of your group.

The Center for Applied Second Language Studies at the University of Oregon, plans to introduce BuddyPress at their summer institute (GLEN) for foreign language teachers starting 2011, to help build a learning community and mentor based relationships as professional development training occurs.

Here are some of the exciting features:

·      WordPress Blogging – You and your colleagues can start your own blogs and track new post and comments across your site.

·      Discussion Forums – Full powered discussion forums are built directly into groups to allow for more in-depth conversations.

·      Activity Streams – Global, personal and group activity streams include threaded commenting, direct posting, favoriting and @mentions.   All of this with full RSS feed and email notification support.

·      Private Messaging – can allow you and your colleagues to talk to each other directly and in private.  Your colleagues can send messages to multiple recipients.

·      Profile creation – Profiles are fully editable and fields can be customized to suite your audience.

·      Need something special for your site?  BuddyPress is a WordPress plug in so there is an infinite number of ways you can extend the capabilities.

·      BuddyPress can become a very easy teacher website, as well.

If you have ever created a blog in WordPress, creating a BuddyPress social networking platform will only take you a few minutes.

Here’s how in three easy steps:

Step One:  Download and setup WordPress with its quick install.

Step Two:  Go to “Plugins, Add New” menu and automatically install

                      BuddyPress.

Step Three:  Choose any of several bundled themes, or any other BuddyPress

                      Compatible WordPress themes.  

If you would like to see some very inspiring BuddyPress designs, go to:

http://www.bpinspire.com/

If you would like to see a more in-depth video discussing BuddyPreess in depth please take a few minutes to view this video:

http://wordpress.tv/2010/07/10/sabin-wilson-buddypress-boulder10/

Written by Deborah Heal, Instructional Design and Online Course Specialist, Research Assistant for the Center for Advanced Technology and Education and the Center for Applied Second Language Studies at the University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403.  She may be contacted at:  ddheal@gmail.com.

23 Things

Introduction

23 Things is a collection of assignments or small exercises to explore and expand your knowledge of the Internet, Web 2.0 and 21st Century Learning.

Why 23?

23 Things was modified from the PLCMC Learning 2.0 Program which got the idea for the program from 43 Things. The 43 Things website is a social networking site where users create accounts and then share lists of goals and hopes. Sort of a "bucket list", if you will.

What do I have to do? Do I have to be a super techie?

The exercises and assignments range from watching a video to creating a wiki. All 23 Things are provided with detailed instructions and examples. 23 Things does not require eating any gross foods or competing in any ridiculous challenges. And you do not need a high level of tech skills. If you need help there are many people around to assist and working with colleagues is highly encouraged.



Things #1 - Get acquainted with Moodle

Moodle is an open source e-learning platform. It is used to teach many different types of classes. Moodle is most known as an Open Source LMS (Learning Management System - similar to Blackboard and WebCT). Many schools are using it to either offer online or hybrid courses or as a digital space for face to face classes where Moodle can be used as a secure site to submit homework, view online resources, or have online conversations with classmates. Moodle also has modules that allow students to take quizzes, surveys, or participate in a classroom wiki. All of these activities can be monitored for progress, grading and appropriateness.


Things #2 - Introduction: Living, Teaching, and Learning in the 21st Century

If you have read the book The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman you are tuned in to how our world is changing. What will be required by our students when they finally leave our classrooms? How have our schools changed, our workforce changed, our world changed since you graduated high school?


Things #3: Information Literacy

The American Library Association defines information literacy as a set of abilities requiring individuals to "recognize when information is needed, and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information."
There is literally a ton of inaccurate information on the web, masquerading as expert reference. Our goal is to teach our students how to separate the grain from the chaff.
Activities will focus on using OSLIS (including the Gale databases and Citation Maker) and Wikipedia in research.
For those not yet familiar with OSLIS, this is the Oregon School Library Information System, a gateway for the internet that is designed to assist Oregon students and teachers find appropriate and accurate information for student research projects.


Things #4: Digital Citizenship

Cyberbullying...digital etiquette...plagiarism...these are just a few of the topics included under the umbrella title of "digital citizenship." Technology has provided society with a plethora of means to communicate, collaborate and participate, but along with these tools come great responsibility. Digital citizenship, in its most basic form, refers to the concept of appropriate use of technology. However, it is a much more complex set of ideas than that phrase suggests.
Our goal with this "thing" is to introduce the idea, and to kick-start the process of creating responsible digital citizens.


Things #5: Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is a term that summarizes numerous tools presented on websites that are used daily in the technology world of the 21st century. Some familiar examples are YouTube, iTunes, Facebook, Delicious, Edublog, Ning, Skype, and Google Docs. These applications on the Internet allow for interactive collaboration and creativity between the teacher and the students.

The term Web 2.0 was coined by O'Reilly Media in 2004, and refers to a perceived second-generation of Web-based services, such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users (Wikipedia)

Thing #5 will get us better acquainted with Web 2.0 and help us understand how the web has changed from a one way communication tool to a two-way communication tool that promotes collaboration and communication.


 Things #6 - Blogs

Wikipedia defines a blog as follows: "A weblog (usually shortened to blog, but occasionally spelled web log or weblog) is a web-based publication consisting primarily of periodic articles, most often in reverse chronological order." For the most part blogs look very much like regular web pages. The difference being that a blog allows readers to respond.

Classroom 2.0 defines the act of blogging as "the posting of journal-like pages to a website. While these pages can contain photos or media, they are primarily focused on the easy ability to post written thoughts to a website." In a school setting blogs are about communicating. Teachers and students can write about their experiences and then other people can respond with thoughts and ideas from their own perspective.

Teachers can use blogs in many different ways, within many different subject areas. Probably the most common way to use a blog is to improve writing. However this is not the only possibility. Blogs can be used to collaborate on projects, to reflect on work completed, to dialogue with students, and much more...


Things #7: An Introduction to Wikis

A wiki is a true Web 2.0 tool that encourages collaboration and sharing of ideas. Groups of people can work on a common document and edit the content simultaneously. Most websites are one way (read only) but a wiki is two-way (read and write). Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, is the world's largest wiki.


Things #8: RSS - Real Simple Syndication

RSS stands for real simple syndication. RSS is probably one of the coolest Web 2.0 tools out there. With so much information out on the web it is almost impossible to keep current on the newest information from your favorite websites and blogs - unless of course you use RSS.

If you follow several different blogs, without RSS you would have to visit each of them to see if there was new information posted. This would take too much time (boo!). But by subscribing to a site’s RSS feed, the information is brought to you at a central website location (yea!). This way you can keep up on news, blog posts, sports stories, weather, and even email. It saves you time and allows you to keep tabs on a huge amount of information from all types of sources.


Things #9: Social Bookmarking

Social Bookmarking is a method for Internet users to share, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web resources. Unlike file sharing, the resources themselves aren't shared, merely bookmarks that reference them. Once you set up your free account and begin saving web bookmarks, you'll be able to access them from any internet-connected computer or mobile device.

Picture This… You are a 4th grade teacher and on your computer you have a huge collection of internet sites bookmarked. You have them categorized and organized into different folders within your Favorites for easy access and reference. You are so proud of yourself for being so efficient. That is until you find yourself at home or at a conference and you want to get to those websites. Where are they? They are on your school computer – darn!!! If only you could access them! Well with delicious (del.icio.us) or diigo you can, because all your bookmarks are saved out on the delicious site not on your computer. No matter where you are you can access your sites!

Delicious and diigo also allows users to organize sites in a much more comprehensive way. Using delicious, websites can be "tagged" with different descriptive words for various categories or topics that the website might cover. For example, there might be a useful site about dinosaurs. With delicious that website can be saved and “tagged” with the words dinosaurs, science, fossil, Jurassic, etc.

There's more. With delicious other people's sites can be explored. This is the social aspect of delicious. Users can add people to their network and then view what these people are saving. Users can also send websites to the people in their network. Imagine if teaching teams or schools used delicious. They could share their sites and access each other’s site. The same holds true for kids. Teachers can use delicious to compile websites for kids to access. And as students find useful sites they can add them to their teacher’s network.


Things #10: Cloud Computing

Simply put, "cloud computing" refers to services/storage which can be accessed from the internet via virtually any computer or mobile device, regardless of where the user is. Popular examples of cloud computing include Google docs/apps, Microsoft Outlook Live, Apple's MobileMe, Dropbox and many more.

One of the more popular cloud computing examples is Google docs. The Commoncraft video below explains it very clearly, but in short it’s an online word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing, and survey/form-creation tool. It is very much like a wiki in that documents and projects can be shared and edited by several different people.

So why would you use cloud computing instead of the software on your own machine? A few reasons:

# You can create a file on any computer, and access it from anywhere you have an internet connection, on any device...desktop computer, mobile devices, etc.
# Many are cross-platform, meaning they can be used on PC's, Macs or other operating systems.
# In the case of Google Docs, it looks and feels like tools we are used to – Word, Excel, Powerpoint - and if you use Microsoft's Skydrive, that's exactly what you get.
# Cost: software such as Microsoft Office is expensive! Using the online web app versions costs nothing for students and staff of districts that are signed up to use them.
# Many schools in Oregon are using either Google Apps or Microsoft Outlook Live.
# Students without computers at home can still access their files by going to a friend's, grandma's, or a public computer.


Things #11: Rubistar

The next tool to explore is Rubistar .

Rubistar is a one stop rubric search engine and rubric creator. At Rubistar, teachers can create a rubric for just about anything or search for rubrics that have already been created.


Things #12: Educational Images

Pics4Learning: Tired of trying to find a site for students to use to locate pictures? Flickr, Google and Bing images are great places to find pictures, but many school districts block access to them by students. Even if students can get there, inappropriate images can sometimes sneak through. One alternative is Pics4Learning. This site might not have as many pictures as the others but it is a safe destination for students. And in the true Web 2.0 form you are able to contribute pictures to the site (remember collaboration and sharing is the name of the game).

Search Creative Commons: This is a licensing agency, not a search engine, but teachers and students can use the search page within Creative Commons as a launch-pad to find images that are labeled for reuse. Through this page, teachers and students can access Google Images, Flickr, Wikimedia Commons, etc. Through this site, Google Images allows you to filter your results by license in the left column, which is very handy.


Things #13: Google Earth

Google Earth is a wonderful resource and fun tool for all.

It has uses in many content areas: social studies, language arts, science, math, foreign studies, and more.

Some possible uses include:

* locating positions and places on maps
* geocaching (like a navigational hide-and-seek or scavenger hunt)
* practicing measuring skills
* writing of descriptions of places, logging new search criteria, adding comments to a "guest book"
* developing new ideas for field trips or walks around the school
* practice using a GPS device

And for all of its power, the amazing part is, it's free...


Things #14: Demonstration of Learning/Presentation Tools

The presentation phase of learning is vital. It cements understanding for students and provides an opportunity to celebrate the processes of research and creation. There is no shortage of technology tools to help in presenting learning projects, the most common of which is Microsoft PowerPoint. Below are several web 2.0 tools which echo, extend, or reimagine the functionality of PowerPoint.

A unique benefit of each of these tools is the ability to embed your presentations into your blog or wiki. (You can, of course, simply link to the online version of the presentation.) When you create a PowerPoint for a lesson, upload it to one of the following tools and put it on your website to share with students, parents, and colleagues. Students can even add comments to your presentation. Another helpful component of publishing presentations online is that you sidestep the issue of computer operating systems or software versions.

Slideshare, SlideRocket and AuthorStream are online PowerPoint-style tools which allow you to upload and publish existing presentations and slideshows. You can upload your PowerPoint, OpenOffice, Keynote or PDF files, tag them, embed them into your blog or website, browse others' presentations, and comment on individual slides. What's more, you can create content tags for your presentations which will be indexed by internet search engines and show up in search results. They’re a great way to share your ideas with others, or to learn from other people. And they’re completely free.

Voicethread is a very exciting tool for telling stories, interacting, and collaborating. It is like a blog, podcast and photo show all rolled into one. VoiceThread allows you to upload images, video, and audio into a sequence of pages or slides. Viewers are able to post comments - either as text or audio - in response to the content of your VoiceThread presentation. It can be very useful in collaborating with other classes or your PLN. If you sign up for an account using your school email address, you can set up a more feature-rich "pro" account as an educator for free.

Prezi offers a significant departure from the presentation tools we've looked at so far. It has a much more non-linear interface and incorporates zooming, rotations, and other moves to transition from element to element. Students will love the kinetic quality, and teachers will appreciate how easy it is to modify "slides" and sequences. Again, finished Prezis can be embedded in websites and shared with others.

Glogster combines multimedia creation with online digital posters which students can create and use in presentations. The graphic elements offer a wide range of customization and expression for students to match the medium to the content. As with the other tools, Glogster creations can be embedded in websites, wikis, and blogs.

Scrapblog offers a variety of digital media products, from online scrapbooking to cards, calendars and photo books. It's probably more under the category of "digital storytelling", but can be used as a presentation tool as well..


Things #15: Photo Sharing

Photo sharing is another tool that will allow teachers and students to be creative. These sites will allow you to upload photos, edit photos, create slide shows, and share your slide shows with students and parents. These creations can then be embedded within blogs, wikis, websites, and of course Moodles. Some of these sites are totally free and others charge for certain features. There are multiple uses for both teachers and students with these Web 2.0 programs, imagination is key!

Things #16: File Converters

File converters allow you to change the formats of files. For example, Youtube videos, which are in flash format, can be downloaded and saved to use at a later time.
Options:
Zamzar
Convert Files
Switch

Watch this Zamzar Voicethread to see how you can convert Youtube videos at home and bring them to school to support teaching and learning.

If you want to skip this Voicethread then just visit Zamzar's faq page to learn about what it can do.

And don't forget to bookmark Zamzar or add it to your del.icio.us favorites. It is one of the coolest and most useful tools out there.

Click on the big triangle in the middle of the screen to play a sample Zamzar Voicethread


Things #17: Digital Media 1 - Locating/Viewing/Using

Using digital media in the classroom is just one way to bring a subject to life, but how do you know what sources are reliable and acceptable and easiest to use by both educators and students? This topic delves into the rich world of media available to educators online today. By the time you finish this topic, you will feel much more comfortable searching for and using digital media in your classroom.

Discovery Educator Network - The DEN

When most people hear the words Discovery Education they probably think of United Streaming (now called Discovery Education Streaming). DE Streaming allows teachers to download video clips, create and view lesson plans and quizzes, and build and share writing prompts. It is an awesome resource for the classroom. But Discovery Education offers much more that DE Streaming. It also offers the Discovery Educator Network (DEN).

Here is the official definition of the DEN:
"The Discovery Educator Network (DEN) is a global community of educators passionate about teaching with digital media, sharing resources, collaborating, and networking. With over 25,000 members providing professional development to over 250,000 educators worldwide, the DEN connects teachers both on-line and in-person. Discovery Educators have exclusive access to a wide range of resources, professional development activities, networking opportunities, exclusive Discovery Educator events and more!"

Like DE Streaming, the Discovery Educator Network is a tremendous resource that connects teachers from around the world so they can share and collaborate.

Learn360 is a digital media streaming site that has over 58,000 media resources, for all grade levels, available in these formats: videos, shorter video clips, images, speeches, newsreels and audio files, as well as 25,000 articles from the concise Britannica Encyclopedia. In seconds you can download an example of nearly anything you have been discussing with your students.

You can access a generic Learn360 account by signing in with this:

Login: o2student

Password: Student360

WatchKnow is an index of over 15,000 online educational videos drawn from other online video services such as YouTube, TeacherTube, Hulu and others, crafted into a directory of over 3,000 categories. The videos are available without any registration or fees to teachers in the classroom and to students at home 24/7. You can us the intuitive directory or search by subject and age level. Video titles, descriptions, age level information, and ratings are all edited for usefulness. The site is maintained as wiki system, guided by teachers.

TeacherTube and SchoolTube are online communities for sharing instructional videos. Its goal is to provide an educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home learners. TeacherTube includes content-focused video to provide background or additional information on learning concepts and skills, as well as professional development videos aimed at teachers.

YouTube is a brilliant video-sharing site that allows educators access to the world's largest warehouse of videos on the web. A teacher can search the site for a topic of interest and find anything from home videos to television programs or even full length movies. Of course, many of the videos are not school appropriate, so previewing is a must. Another point for consideration is that movies are usually broken into short clips, which can be inconvenient, but is not a deal breaker.


Things #18: Digital Media 2 - Video Resources

Just watch a little of this video - it's classic!


This lesson will help us identify some video resources that we can use to assist in our daily instruction and to expand our own personal learning. Below, you will find a list of websites that provide videos. They include resources for both personal and professional use. Three very popular sites are Discovery Education, TED, and TeacherTube.


Things #19: Digital media 3 - Authoring/sharing

Intro: Digital audio and video are powerful means of communication. Teachers can create video and audio using tools that are ubiquitous in our culture. Personal devices like cell phones, digital cameras, and iPods make it easy to capture digital or audio. Sharing these media is nearly as easy. We'll explore these in the following activities.


Things #20: Online Survey

ToolsOnline surveys are a unique way to gather information from a group quickly and easily. There are a variety of websites out there that can be used to create and host the survey. Teachers can use these tools in many ways- with students and/or colleagues. Students can use these tools to gather information for projects. Administrators can use these same tools to coordinate and collaborate with staff and other administrators. Survey results can not only be collected via a computer, but using SMS/text messaging as well. Something like using a clicker-based response system, but with a tool that most teachers and students have with them most of the time: a cell phone.


Things #21: Social Networking: Twitter and Facebook

What is it? An Online Social Network is, in its most basic sense, simply an online collection of the people with whom you communicate. Friends, family, professional colleagues...they're the individuals you stay connected with and seek for interaction, advice or ideas. Twitter and Facebook are two of the most popular and highly used social networking tools.

Twitter is a microblogging application that allows users to tell others in their network what they are doing.

Say what? Microblogging? I don’t even macro-blog! Well, don’t get hung up on the concept of blogging because it is more than that. It is kind of like blogging, kind of like emailing, kind of like instant messaging, and kind of like a bunch of other things.

What Twitter is really about is creating your own PLN – Personal Learning Network. Think about who is currently in your PLN? Your network probably includes the teacher next door, the people in your grade level or subject area, a couple teachers from another school and maybe a few people out of the area - all the people you interact with on a professional or personal level.

Twitter takes that network and expands it so it becomes global! So instead of just being a network of teachers that are geographically close you can now network with teachers around the world. Twitter provides teachers with a global resource for help, advice and feedback (and sometimes venting).

Consider the following…what if you were a 4th grade teacher and you followed other 4th grade teachers around the globe using Twitter? Wouldn’t it be cool to read about the things they were doing and to have them available for help, advice, and feedback? Twitter makes this happen.

Facebook is part of the digital fabric of American society today, which is why we as educators should not only be aware of it, but also be familiar with it and perhaps even use it. Thus, we will be able to help our students successfully traverse the mine field of social networking sites. Put simply, Facebook allows friends and acquaintances to keep abreast of current events (down to the minute, at times!), view pictures and even blog through the "notes" section. Some users also enjoy the games and quizzes that are available through the site as well.

Using Facebook as an educator is controversial, but following specific guidelines can help. "Friending" students is generally frowned upon by most districts, and should be avoided. However, becoming "friends" with students who have graduated is fine and both parties are usually happy to be able to stay in touch. Pitfalls can be avoided by making sure that pictures and posts are all school appropriate and are above reproach. Realize that it's quite difficult to retract something posted online in a moment of poor judgment. Note: please be aware of ALL district policies regarding personal conduct outside of school hours.

Another alternative aimed strictly at the education market is Edmodo. It's very similar to Facebook, but its primary objective is to connect teachers, students and parents.


Things #22: Mobile Computing

A student walks into the classroom carrying her cell phone. She scans a bar code on the calendar and receives instructions for an assignment she missed the day before. She then sends a bulk text message to her student work group to get caught up on her group's project and gets an email from one of her group members containing notes she needs. She then responds to an online survey from her teacher about which book she wants to read next, and then sits down at her desk for ten minutes of silent sustained reading in her e-book!

Cell phones in school can be a distraction and a safety hazard, but in the scenario above, the student has had six interactions with students, teachers and classroom materials in the time it takes most students to sit down and get a book out. Schools have tried banning cell phones and limiting cell phone usage, but the fact remains that cell phones are here to stay and can provide vast opportunities for collaboration and interactive learning in the classroom.

And cell phones aren't the only form of mobile computing. Tablets like the iPad, smartphones such as Droids, iPhones and Blackberries, and eReaders like the Kindle and Nook all fall under this umbrella, too.

Things #23: A Plethora of Things

# Thinkfinity: Enhance learning with free educational resources, lesson plans, and interactive activities.
# Wordle : Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.
# Tagxedo : Tagxedo turns words -- famous speeches, news articles, slogans and themes, even your love letters -- into a visually stunning tag cloud, words individually sized appropriately to highlight the frequencies of occurrence within the body of text.
# Dropbox : Dropbox is a Web-based file hosting service that uses cloud computing to enable users to store and share files and folders using file synchronization across a variety of desktop and mobile operating systems.
# Only2Clicks : Only2Clicks allows you to have your entire bookmark collection in one place. Access it from your home desktop, office laptop, airport lounge or using the optimized iPhone interface. Access your links anywhere, anytime. Only2Clicks allows you to organize your frequently visited web sites in tabs.
# LiveBinders : LiveBinders is your 3-ring binder for the web. Collect your resources, organize them neatly and easily,present them with pride. This is another free service.
# Springpad : Springpad is a free service that gives you a place to save anything you want to remember—on the web and on your phone. A desktop app is coming soon.
# Evernote : Evernote is a collection of software and services that allows users to collect, sort, tag and annotate notes and other miscellaneous information. It's available on the web, as a desktop application for Mac and PC, and as a mobile app on many devices, including iOS, Blackberry and Android.

Teaching Digital Storytelling in the Elementary Classroom: A Personal journey in the Step-by-Step Process

(originally posted in ISTE Connects)

It’s a record hot summer day, my daughter is patiently sitting in the back seat of the car with her face pressed against the window, “when will we be in San Francisco” she asks. I assure her it won’t be much longer. Shortly after, we cross over the Golden Gate Bridge and I begin to hear Scott McKenzie’s song in my head, making me wish we wearing flowers in our hair. Over the next couple days we gather as many memories as possible all the while clicking away on the camera to capture the essence of our sun kissed vacation. Months later we revisit our photos from the trip and begin telling stories of what we remember from each snapshot. It is at this moment I have a “teaching digital storytelling in the elementary classroom” epiphany.

For the last five years I have been teaching and producing digital storytelling as well as working on grants that deal with technology and education at the University of Oregon. From these experiences I have honed my skills on the magical process of creating digital stories, the important role of the storyteller and the educational uses of digital storytelling.

The way I see it, children are not only a target demographic for consuming stories, but as anyone who spend more than five minutes with one can tell you, they are also some of the most brilliant storytellers on this planet. Digital storytelling appears to be an ideal platform for children to exercise their seemingly innate storytelling ability while learning to use the ever-evolving technological tools. For educators, the process of creating digital stories provides a number of valuable educational uses that span across disciplines. According to Dr. Bernard Robin from the University of Huston, digital storytelling can help students “learn to conduct research, synthesize large amounts of content and gain expertise in the use of digital communication and authoring tools” (The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling).

With this in mind, I decided to combine my knowledge of digital storytelling and education with my parental role and teach digital storytelling strategies, including production skills and software, to my 8-year-old daughter. Granted the child of a pianist will probably know a thing or two about a piano, hence my daughter knows a thing or two about media, but she took to digital storytelling like a fish takes to water. It was incredible to watch her work through the process of production and create something quite remarkable. This is when my little experiment turned into something bigger.

I approached my daughter’s teacher and proposed the idea of teaching digital storytelling to the entire class. With full support and a time slot right before lunch on Fridays, I began teaching digital storytelling to a 2nd/3rd grade class of 17 students two months ago. This process is still ongoing and as a guest author to this blog, I would like to document my experience and share with you all that I have learned. To do this, I will break the process into 3 phases and conclude with my own digital story designed to capture the process I have gone through of teaching digital storytelling in an elementary classroom.

For now, I would like to ask that you think of digital storytelling as the contemporary expression of the ancient art of storytelling and as Leslie Rule from the Center for Digital Storytelling
notes, “digital stories derive their power by weaving images, music, narrative and voice together, thereby giving deep dimension and vivid color to characters, situations, experiences and insights. Tell your story now digitally”.

Kodu for Coding: Game making isn’t just for coders anymore

With all the buzz of educational gaming it feels like everyone is on this bandwagon. While I’m excited to see this, I can’t help but feel insecure about my own game making skills. Truth is I’ve never made a game. I’ve witnessed two college level game developing classes as an observer but I didn’t get to practice the curriculum being taught. I walked away from these experiences feeling like the office assistant who couldn’t figure out how to use the copy machine. Boo for that. But, wait. I recently came across an interesting article talking about Kodu. Kodu is a Microsoft baby that was released on June 30th 2009 for game development (for PCs and Xbox 360) that uses the concepts of game design and visual programming language. Did I mention that Kodu is a free programming language for children? Well, it's not only free but it has a community on Planet Kodu to help support users of Kodu by providing tutorials, challenges, sample games and much more. This community not only provides an opportunity for you to connect but to also contribute.

While I don't expect Kodu to be the solution for the coding challenged, it is a nice alternative to start including more people in the gaming development world, children and late gaming bloomers alike.

P.S. While I continue to search for more examples of this type of programming language, I will include my findings below.

Here are the first two:
* LittleBigPlanet
* Game Maker

Project DIRECT Travel Guide- Part Two: NASA CoLab region

On Friday March 11th 2011, Peggy and I attended and presented at the Virtual World Symposium in Portland.  We were  excited to learn about a few new destinations for our Project DIRECT travel guide.  For example, during our panel "Virtual Universe Geekfest MMXI", we observed a presentation about the Neil A. Armstrong Library & Archives located on NASA's CoLab region in Second Life.  This space is sure to impress and engage people of all ages.  Take a look at what we highlight in this week's Project DIRECT travel guide. To teleport to this location click here.

Project DIRECT on Online Learning

Project DIRECT Travel Guide- Part One

Both locations can be found at:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Willow%20Walk/123/131/22/

http://secondlife.com/destination/saint-francis-church-and-monastery

Evoke-The First Mission

Today I accepted my first Evoke mission. The goal was to learn about social innovation and to take direct action by tackling one of our toughest problems. Upon reading Exhibit A in the objective of this mission, I realized how many regional tough problems my community faces. From unemployment, homelessness to a struggling educational system, my options for tough problems, unfortunately, are great. I chose to look at both unemployment and homelessness, since they often seem to be tied together. In fact, in 2009 Oregon’s unemployment reached 12.2 percent, which is the second highest in the nation and Oregon is leading the nation in the percent of the population experiencing homelessness (US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Community Planning and Development, The 2008 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, July 2009, page 12). In 2008, this saddening statistic has lead to a 10- year plan to end homelessness by the Oregon Ending Homelessness Advisory Council (EHAC). So far, not much has changed.

In Exhibit A of the Learn1 Evoke mission, Ethan Zuckerman posted seven strategies for “innovating from constraint”, which is more than appropriate when trying to tackle social innovation for unemployment and homelessness. Innovation that comes from constraint forces creative ideas in using and reusing many resources. Oregon is a green state, in more ways than one, and can easily adopt the notion of reusing, as it is part of our cultural tapestry. Being a five-year resident of Oregon, I can tell you there is a notable Oregon culture that boarders on cliché and stereotyping (at least on the west side of I-5). Tree hugging has never had as much meaning as it has while living here. Coop gardens, environmental awareness, vegan-fueled bike riders and locally owned biofuel gas stations are part of my visuals in a daily commute to and from work. Of course not everyone who resides in Oregon shares interest in these innovative ideas for sustainable living, but there is a strong enough presence of those that do.

So, my first objective is to “find out what it REALLY means to be a social innovator”. My answer, a social innovator is the Oregon resident that takes a step in sustainable living, no matter how small, for the purpose of longevity of our planet and selves. I believe that the Oregon resident, who cares for our environment, has the capability to care for our neighbor, homeless or not. I would like to explore how to call all compassionate Oregon residents to help address our community issues of unemployment and homelessness, but before I can do that, I suspect that Evoke has a plan for me and this will come out in time.

Next Gen Learner and the Epic Win

The Next Gen Learner might be a term you’ve been hearing a lot of lately, but did you know that the NGL includes most of us? It’s true. In fact, the NGL has grown up playing some form of digital game with learning value since the 1980s. For example, those born in the age of pastel colors, jelly bracelets and crimped hair can probably recall playing variations of Number-Muncher and Oregon Trail throughout their adolescents. I can personally remember sitting down for the first time to a green-screened Apple computer with brilliantly orange text. I was in digital heaven as I moved my monster from number to number, working hard for the “epic win” of successfully leveling up. The multiple streams of information, inductive reasoning and fine-tuned visual literacy skills hasn’t weaned for the present NGL, in fact these traits continue to evolve for every generation growing up immersed in the digital world. Because of this, digital gaming has steadily been taking precedence in educational discourse and with that comes the need for more awareness on what we can do to make digital games continually educational and engaging.

One suggestion for making digital games more educational and engaging comes from the enticement of an “epic win”. According to McGonigal, an “epic win” is an outcome so extraordinarily positive, you had no idea it was possible until you achieve it. She uses the World of Warcraft (WoW) as an example to show how a collaborative problem-solving environment will facilitate the “epic win” goal. WoW is an online game designed for collaboration with fellow players in search of a mission. This game has been so successful with the enticement of an “epic win” that some criticize it as being addictive, which leads to a concern over the amount of time children spend in digital gaming.

McGonigal has stated in various media outlets that we currently invest 3 billion hours weekly playing online games, but she would like to see that number climb to 21 billion hours weekly. Her reason, in order to solve the worlds problems like hunger, poverty, obesity, we need to play online games that have real world impact and play it as much as possible, resulting in the deep focus often exhibited in gamers. A recent statistic release from Carnegie Mellon University, noted that the average American by age of 21 has spent 10,000 hours of gaming. Coincidently, American children will spend 10,080 hours from 5th grade to high school graduation with perfect attendance (McGonigal, 2010, TED Talks). What does this mean? Well, according to McGonigal, this means that young people are learning as much about gaming as they are about everything else.

So, my fellow NGL, let’s take a look at Evoke once again with our “epic win” mentality and follow Malcom Gladwell’s 10,000-Hour Rule. So far I’m on hour 3 and have a bit to go, but I will update as milestones are made in this game for real world change.

Being “gameful” in the development and use of educational games:

Playing games to learn is not a new concept, yet in January of 2011, the first “Gamification Summit” in San Francisco met where they discussed the use of games for turbo-charging project, using levels and rewards to drive behavior and turning real world activities into games.  Jane McGonigal, a gaming developer, has honed in on the “real world activities” and using gaming as a means to solve real world problems.  In the February 2011 Smithsonian issue, McGonigal was interview about computer-game development.  McGonigal discussed her coined term “gameful”, stating, “when you’re gameful, your creativity is sparked, your curiosity is sparked and you’re more likely to collaborate with others.  Your more likely to stick with a tough problem, even if you fail at first.” 

Here at OWP/Project DIRECT, we thought we would try out a “gameful” game that was designed to teach people social entrepreneurship.  Evoke, a game McGonigal developed, was designed to be an interactive graphic novel focused on missions and quests rather than assignments and test.  Here is what we found.

After learning about the mission, we headed to the “how to play” tab.  Here we found a serious of video tutorials that gave a basic overview to the structure of the game.  After watching all of the videos, we signed up for a free membership.  Next we began by viewing the “Episode 001”.  True to comic nature, the illustrations and text bubbles provide a playful and engaging means for content delivery but with real world issues that have occurred in the past and/or are threatening the future of civilization.  As we move through the comic we realize this is an investment of time and not anywhere near mindless entertainment. 

More investigation to continue, but in the mean time why don’t you take a look for yourself: http://www.urgentevoke.com/

Project DIRECT

On November 5th 2010, twenty rural school teachers from southern Oregon embarked on a virtual journey that has forever changed the way they socialize, share ideas and learn.  In Ashlan Oregon, the group came together to hear about Project DIRECT and how this would revolutionize their relationship with technology and education and also the way in which they could network with fellow teachers.  The workshop moved to Medford Oregon the next day and it was here that the teacher began their journey into the 3D immersive environment known as Second Life.