Final Results with Google Earth

My final push with Google Earth was pretty successful.  The Placemarks became very customized and an assortment of links helped the History Trip become a reference for the students that I originally envisioned.  The one aspect of the trip that changed was the "trip" aspect of it.  Experimenting three different ways of creating a tour, I did not feel that it was the best way to present the information.

1) Creating a path that the tour can follow is a great idea for a localized area.  However, as my Civil Rights trip took place all over the country, actually creating a path throughout the whole country was very time consuming, with the end result being difficult to navigate.

2) Recording the tour and manually going through the different Placemarks that I had created.  This was a good option if you were looking to just show landmarks, but as I had taken the time to integrate a number of links I did not want their to be a time limit on how much the students could stay at one location.  On top of that, I could not anticipate how quickly the students could read the text, another drawback of limiting the time at each location.

3) The final option is the simple self guided tour, which although is the most simple, really made the most sense for what I was looking to achieve.  I simply organized my Placemarks by dates, then changed each marker in ascending order through the alphabet to make it easier to recognize the order of the events.  This allows the students to go through each location at their own pace, or skip to a desired landmark if they need information on that particular event.

Additionally I began to experiment with embedding HTML buttons to the bottom of the posts in order to link my Placemarks that way.  However, I could not solve an issue that I was having with Google Earth, where each Placemark was not assigned a unique ID, a critical part of the HTML code.  Still looking for solutions on that one, and by the time I use this in class I am hoping to have that problem fixed.  All in all, turned into something pretty fun!

Final Thoughts on the Web 2.0 Dream

       I began reading Will Richardson’s book with skepticism.  I picked his particular brand of Web 2.0 tricks because I anticipated his book giving me the most practical ideas that I could use in the classroom.  I was looking for less an explanation of how things worked and more of where and when they worked.  I was not disappointed.  From his incredibly innovative uses for RSS feeds to the sheer number of ways that he has collected that you can use Blogs in the classroom, Richardson is thorough and has a very simple way of explaining how to get the best results.  It might have been his one man crusade for Wikipedia and social networks that finally won me over, but Will Richardson has a very unique way of presenting situations that gets you excited and makes you want to tackle everything he suggests.

       Referring back to a previous post, I still feel that the most important aspect of all of Richardson’s tricks is having them work together.  Blogs can easily be augmented by RSS readers and Wikis can be a collaboration of not only documents, but even podcasts.  I commented on Nick’s blog regarding the end of the book and how the epilogue was important for tying the ideas together.  The epilogue puts us in the shoes of English teacher Tom McHale, who is not spending hours at his computer, his eyes red and unfocused from staring at the monitor.  Tom has integrated technology not only throughout this classroom, but throughout his life.  He is able to incorporate his daily RSS readings, keeping up with his personal blog, checks in to his student’s blogs, evaluates the newest entries to his research feeds, organizes some assignments, and then as the students stumble into class less than an hour later, he starts his day.

       Tom McHale is the future.  Admittedly, setting up your technological world can be time consuming at first, but once you have it to the level of customization where you can fit your entire digital life into an hour before class, there is nothing stopping you from fully integrating it into your classes.  With all of the new technology and software that is being created every year, it is not a matter of learning every new piece of technology, but picking a few key ones and getting comfortable enough to make it work.  A lot of the latest and greatest is not made with education in mind, and it is up to teachers to adapt it for classroom use.  With a little technology and creativity, we are able to stimulate students and bring them into the future with us. 

History Trip: Eyes Bigger Than My Stomach

      

      A familiar expression that we have all heard from one time to another.  Whether it is concerning your second plate at an all you can eat buffet or a project that you hadn't fully realized the work involved, the expression rings true.  A Google LitTrip, and the historical equivalent of a HistoryTrip are tremendous resources, and I am truly glad that I decided to tackle one for my final project.  However, my lofty goals required quite a bit more work than I had originally anticipated.
     The image on my left is not a screenshot of my HistoryTrip, but is just an example of how carried away you can get when trying to explain an entire historical movement, in my case the Civil Rights Movement.  The dream was to create a resource for students, who using the Google Earth layer that I created could understand how the Civil Rights movement evolved and how important events, and reactions to those events were.  For example, Brown vs. The Board of Education was a seminal event that nearly everyone is familiar with, however as demonstrated by the riots concerning the integration of the University of Mississippi, this one event was not the end of racism in schools.  It is important for students to make these connections, and I still feel that it is easier when Google Earth is flying you around the United States showing you in all of its 3-D glory the famous historical sites.
       The beginning trouble came with initial research, as I was trying to make the HistoryTrip something usable by early middle school, I needed to explain the events as they effected the movement in simple terms.  Having settled on 20 key moments in the Civil Rights movement, this was an undertaking but again...sometimes you just get wrapped up in it.  When the research was done I had to learn how to create my own place marks, which I was woefully unprepared for.  Perhaps it was my own lack of research or understanding, or I could blame it on ignorance, but I didn't realize the the place marks were not like blog setups, they are all written in HTML code.  Good thing we had the web page design last meeting so I could remember how to do it, otherwise I would have been really lost.  Although it wasn't difficult to do, it was just extra time that I didn't realize I would have to spend.  Instead of dragging pictures in to my HistoryTrip like I can with Blogger, I now had to find the source code for each picture or movie and throw that in instead.  I am a fast typer but <img src="http://www.google.com" width="300"> just does not roll off the fingertips.
         Ultimately this was a great experience, and I found some great projects that people have done that I very well might suggest to our teaching staff.  It is something that was challenging and was glad that I was able to achieve what I did.  Although the product did not match up with my vision exactly, there was something satisfying after writing a paragraph of code, and having everything look exactly how I wanted it.  If this is something you are remotely interested in, I would encourage you to check out the Google LitTrip page, and towards the bottom on the right hand side there are videos that lay out in excruciating detail how to create the perfect LitTrip (or HistoryTrip).  They were an invaluable resource, and although each one took about 30-45 minutes, they were well worth it.
       Now that all of my data has been entered and images and media embedded like they should be, my final step is making the tour that will automate the flying around the United States.  If it is like anything else in Google Earth, I am sure there will be unexpected hurdles down the road.  Regardless, with the end result being something unique and helpful for students, I would pick this final project again.  Maybe budgeting formatting time a bit better, maybe not using as much media, but I would certainly tackle this again.

The Death of Subtlety: Thanks Technology

       I have an experiment for you.  Go into the bathroom, turn on the bright lights, the ones over the mirror where you brush your teeth...yup, those are the ones.  Now look into your own eyes, really stare at them, now open your eyelids just a little bit, just enough to make it look like your eyes are trying to free themselves from your sockets. Incredible huh?  Body language is something that we pick up as babies and never stop refining.  Where you once stood looking back at yourself, you see a crazed lunatic.  Try smiling, it only makes it creepier.  You are sending thousands of signals every single day, whether you are intending to or not.  At first this might seem like an inconvenience, but in reality it is the very thing that makes the human experience worth living every single day.  We have a variety to our language that is beautiful, complicated, difficult and ultimately amazing.

       Recently a group of my eighth graders held a forum on progress, specifically focusing on whether technology is indeed benefiting our society.  On the face it seems like a fairly straightforward question, particularly where we arm them with an article on Egypt and how Twitter and Facebook overthrew a corrupt regime.  Of course technology is amazing, and saving countless lives only sweetens that pot.  What do governments fear more than anything?  Technology.  From Egypt recently turning off their internet to the great Golden Shield that China has implemented successfully for years, governments fear that which they can not control.  This is not Orwell's future, nor am I looking out for Big Brother, but governments require stability, and nothing is a more dangerous tool to stability than a limitless platform for anyone's opinion...and I do mean anyone.
       I can continue on to the medical advantages that technology has given us, and the incredible leaps in artificial limbs that has put dreams firmly back in the hands of many individuals.  Finally, seeing how we are in a class for technology let's not forget the progression education has made with the internet and all of the new Web 2.0 tools for the classroom.  Technology is great...on its face.

       Let's re-examine the body language argument.  Try to comfort someone in person, then on the phone, then through Twitter.  Good luck.  Hugging just doesn't translate, no matter how cute emoticons are.  The human experience is based on interaction, and there are entire sciences dedicated to this fact.  I will save you some time Googling so you can just focus on the sheer volume of articles and books based on body language.  What are we missing with constant updates?  Why do I care that you are making waffles?  I worry for the future.  When you find it difficult to call someone and resort to Facebook, it might be time to re-examine your social health.  Leave the Flikr behind and go to the nearby coffee house and people watch.  Hike to take those desktop wallpapers you love so much.  Turn off tech for a day and see what happens, you never know, and the outcome may surprise you.

The Joys of WebQuesting

Amazingly enough, I had never heard of WebQuests before the cohort, and that makes me just a little sad.  Even with that statement I feel a little out of the loop, but I think that just goes to show how little they are used.  The WebQuest idea is timeless, with students having research papers and projects assigned to them for years before technology was so firmly integrated into the classroom.  This is still the case today, with the traditional classroom opting for the standard poster board presentation or a 3-5 page research paper complete with works sited page *yawn*.  Do not misunderstand me, there is a time and place for research papers, and it is an invaluable skill that will serve students well throughout the rest of their life.  However, for those students who are not fascinated with the perfect 5 paragraph essay, or who are not struck with fits of glee when doing a proper MLA citation, we owe it to offer them something else.

            Okay, enough about the students.  We do so much to help them as is, between extra help, opportunities for extra credit, different teaching styles, they are going to be fine.  WebQuests allow teachers to hop out of their well honed rut too, and perhaps discover something they love that they never knew existed.  I have come up with numerous topics and questions for students, complete from test questions to speech topics, but ultimately it is a lot of the same kind of thinking.  When I was able to be creative, it was a game changer.  Let me design a website, create graphics, organize the layout, and in general explore the possibilities. 

“What made a successful factory during the industrial revolution?”  Stimulating yes?  No.  Although it might extract the information I am looking for it is boring, and something students will forget the minute they finish the test.  Now look at the WebQuest where they are expected to put on the hat of an engineer, accountant, factory manager or land surveyor.  They need to tell me where they are going to build my factory, and it had better be an amazing presentation, because I only have enough money to build one factory and their classmates all have their own ideas too.  Foster the competition and creativity, let students role-play and develop their own unique ideas on history.  Test questions can try to do this, but they will ultimately fail.  WebQuests allow for the immersion that can truly impact a student’s learning.  Give a student a white piece of paper with your questions, and then give them an interactive website scenario and ask them for an honest answer.  More often then not, the students will make the decision for you.