Final Project: The Home Stretch

After final getting up off the couch (because why would I get sick during the school year like a normal person?), I finished the last of the Google Earth trainings this vacation, and with each one being helpful and informative, I would encourage everyone to take at least the last two.  The first one was interesting if you have never used Google Earth, but it definitely was on the beginner side of useful.  After envisioning what my final project would be, I realized that for a LitTrip to be successful it has to be more of a product and less of a resource.  For example for Holly's kids to have created that very interactive and informative LitTrip on the picture book was great!  They were connected too it, found the information and pictures and had fun with it!  It was not used in conjunction with the book, but rather created as a by-product of reading the book.  As a result I will be doing a HistoryTrip, focusing on the Civil Rights period of our country.  When finished I feel that this is a tool that can be used as a resource in the classroom along side handouts, discussions, and group projects.  A true HistoryTrip (in my vision and understanding of it anyways...) is going in incorporate images, tagged links, and resources throughout the web to allow for a faster finding of resources concerning a particular event, almost a mini encyclopedia entry based on the Civil Rights timeline.  A rather ambitious idea, but useful if it is successful.  We will see how it goes.

Wikis: The Great Collective Hope

      We have all frowned at that works cited list.  Everyone knows the one that I am referring to.  At the bottom of the page you see the dreaded "found at wikipedia.com".  You have the idea in your head that Wikipedia is dangerous territory for viable research and legitimate facts.  Anyone can add to it?  I can think of 10 kids in my class who would jump at the chance to add questionable material about a number of subjects to the Wiki world.  However, there is hope on the horizon and we just have to recognize it.  Will Richardson spends a solid 15 pages defending the infamous site, with his main point being there is a vast number of people who want to help the world and only a few who are looking to hurt the collective information.  After this past weekend, I had never bothered looking at the discussion tab intently before (thank you Nick!), but after investigating that information you really get the sense that there is a collective effort to get the best and most accurate information to the general populace.
      Now that the veil has been lifted from our eyes, Robertson walks us through the benefits of Wikis in a classroom environment.  Thinking a little more critically about the typical classroom setup, it really is not difficult to envision where a Wiki can fit in.  How many times are small group sessions used throughout a curriculum unit so people can collaborate and benefit from their group's collective ideas?  Frequently.  Wikis are simply extending this idea into the Web 2.0 classroom, where collaboration between not only students, but schools, states, and even countries is becoming more of a reality every passing day.  More importantly, Wikis are created for a very specific reason, to help people!  Whether it is students collaborating throughout the year to create the ultimate study guide for a final exam, or two schools are working together to create a contrasting study about their two cultures, Wikis are an incredible source of information that is meant to be shared by all.  How long before spiral bound notebooks are a thing of the past?  Handouts are no longer used in lieu of a organic website created by the students in the class.  Viva la revolucion!

Google Earth: Big Brother Done Right?

       My first step to creating my final project was re-discovering the wonder that is Google Earth. I know that we have all heard dozens of stories of people being caught at their worst on street view cams, and for one robust English town they completely blocked the street from my now infamous Google Street cars.  There have been numerous buildings removed from the street view as the privacy complaints have steadily increased since the creation of the exciting technology in 2007.  However, as Google Street View has become very recognizable, Google Earth continues to become a more and more refined tool, flying quietly under the radar.  With the recent updates to Google Earth 6, the additions of truly incredible filters makes Google Earth a tool that must be re-visited and explored again.
       Let's begin with the GPS tracking of ocean animals. I will repeat that...GPS tracking of actual ocean animals.  Not only can you see the location, but I took a swim with one of the Fin Whales that was tagged and was able to see the path along the ocean floor that the whale took.  Incredible.  Don't trust the weather channel?  No problem.  Use the tracking of clouds and radar to see the weather coming before the 6:00 news will even mention it in passing.  Taking a human rights perspective, I dare you to click on the Darfur filter under Global Awareness and not be moved as the vast database that is Google Earth will show you villages that have been damaged and destroyed.
       The technology that goes into this vast database is only more impressive as Google encourages the users to contribute their ideas, their pictures and their dreams.  Always wanted to climb Mt. Fuji?  Race to the top of the Eiffel Tower?  With the 3-D models and recorded tours ready to take you there, slip on the bathrobe, you are on your way.  I could not be more excited about starting the LitTrip, HistoryTrip, whatever I can think up.  I am only worried that I will let the power that is Google Earth down.  Now if you can excuse me, I am going to go investigate every shipwreck that has ever been tracked...yeah...it does that too.

Technology is a Team Effort

Throughout his book, Will Richardson brings a number of ideas to light for the education community as a whole. From Blogs to Wikis, back to RSS feeds and finishing up with Flickr he gives many excellent examples of where these once baffling technologies can fit in with everyday classroom use. However, the interesting idea that is not as visible as his others is the idea of the many different technologies working together. Like a good curriculum map Will Richardson begins with a large idea, and slowly finds tools to add to it throughout the book. A blog is a creative outlet that can be whatever you want it to be, and as a result can be as effective or ineffective as the content in it. Once you being to augment the blog with Flickr, get the students to follow you using an RSS feed, allow the class to create a Wiki regarding class material and link it to your blog, you are now not creating a blog but rather creating a mindset within your classroom. A more in depth review of his chapters and ideals are in the works, however this is just a quick thought regarding his book. After giving it a brief read it really hits you how tightly these different technologies can intertwine with each other. In an ideal world this would create a snowball effect where students and teachers alike would find new and exciting ways to introduce even more technology into the classroom. That is the dream.