W4_Reading

The week #4 reading was focused more on the software that I’ll be using for my action research then the articles supporting the ideas of my AR project. Most of my reading this week has been instruction-based information on how to advance my skills in Google sketch up. The basic skills that I know only scratch the surface of this software. A positive move for me with my project but has pushed my literature review back a few days. This just reinforces how diligent I need to be with my time management and how I need to follow a strict timeline. This post is the end of the beginning. It has jump-started my research in the area of web 2.0 software and open source software. It has me looking at classroom instruction and how it can be modified to increase student engagement in their schoolwork. As I just stated this is only part "A" of the whole alphabet for me to explore. Please stop back as there is much more for me to share!

PE3_ SketchUp/LightUp

What I know . . .

What I've Learned . . .

W3_Reading

The reading that I've done this month to support my action research has made me look at my current curriculum differently. I am looking to make connections with open source design software and how it can improve student engagement in their schoolwork. My investigation started with the software Google sketch up from the Google Corporation. In the past year I had been exposed to this software and how it can be incorporated in the Technology Education curriculum.

So at this point most of the reading that I have done has been surrounded by this topic. As I dig deeper I find myself looking at open source software in education and the negatives and positives. Also the perception of administration on open source software and its adoption into the educational environment. Going even further into my research I find myself looking at Web 2.0 applications and how their impact on education has affected student learning in and out of the classroom.

There is evidence in all of these areas that connect directly to my action research. It is my charge to link these common threads to support my beliefs or questions. Will open source software improve student’s engagement in their schoolwork? The answers lie ahead of me as I conduct my action research as I analyze and assess my students during this process.

“I believe with Dewey, Montessori, and Piaget that children learn by doing and by thinking about what they do. And so fundamental ingredients of educational innovation must be better things to do and better ways to think about oneself doing these things (Papert 1980).” (Clements, D.H. 1997)

Clements, D. (1997). Effective Use of Computers with Young Children. Retrieved from ERIC database.

PE2_LightUp

The Google SketchUp plugin give users photo realistic power to this already amazing tool. I have just started understanding some of the things this plugin can do. Check out this intro to Light Up:



I really am learning about how to use Google SketchUp to produce prototypes of common everyday things but this plugin when I found it had to be included. It takes your cartoonish design to photo realistic designs. Once I get a better handle on this I will share some of my sample products. But for now chipping away at the many layers of the basic Google Sketchup program. More to come. . .

PE1_Google SketchUp

Goolge SketchUp is an open source design software for creating 2-D and 3-D graphics. I have used this software in the past and understand some of the basic principles of creating 2-D drawings. Recently I've been exploring the 3-D component of the software. As I'm interested in incorporating this into my curriculum I find that I need to invest more time in understanding this program. In the previous year I have developed a floor plan for a house in Google sketch up. Now I am taking those basic skills and applying them to create prototypes of common everyday items. This may seem as an easy transition but up to this point I have found nothing easy about this. So as I invest my time in learning more about this software and understanding how to utilize it to develop this type of product I will feel confident in sharing this with my students. As part of my action research project I want to look at open source design software and how it can engage students in their schoolwork. I am looking at putting a spin on an innovation unit I cover with my sixth grade students. The unit will allow the students to discover Google sketch up and how to analyze how today's products are constantly being improved. I have realized very quickly that this is a new arena for me and I really need to know more. So I've started with learning the basics about Google sketch up once again and exploring the more advanced features that this software has to offer. I have viewed several tutorials and instructional videos to increase my understanding.
Here is a video of whats new:

Over the next 10 days I plan to create some sample drawings for my lessons in this unit. During my research I have also been exposed to the world of Google sketchup plug-ins. These extensions allow Google sketchup to adventure into domains that I never knew existed. Between the basic videos of Google sketchup and tutorials in its plug-ins I feel I have a lot of ground to cover before I can present this to my class. I say this with complete confidence because I did a test with a small group of six graders in the past 30 days at the beginning of the school year. I introduced what I was planning on doing and how I was going to incorporate this into their lesson and allowed students to learn along with me as I explore the transition from simple 2-D floor plans into 3-D prototype designs. It was truly a learning experience for both parties. It has resulted in my quest for learning more about Google sketchup and how I can apply it to my curriculum. It has also helped me to develop my action research project. I have found that I can learn just as much from my students as I can from other sources. So stay tuned as I explore the world of Google sketch up and it's 3-D warehouse.

BP11_Angela Dixon

Angela stated - My goal is to educate parent about the importance of the after school technology youth center. She looked at Animoto as a tool that could help her communicate. Here is my comment on her post.

BP10_Anne Alsup

Anne Asked - Why does Symbaloo appeal to students as opposed to something like iGoogle?

This is a Personal Learning Environment for Students/Teachers and help them organize the web.

Here is my comment on this tool.

BP9_ Apture

The Internet allows us to access information almost instantaneous with today's search engines. We are able to view news reports, video, and almost anything else related to the search topic. Apture accesses all that same information with in-page search technology. What this software allows you to do is highlight any text on most websites and browse content from across the web on that topic. It turns every website into an interactive adventure of information. It allows readers to immediately find information with out leaving the webpage that they're currently looking at. Once a word is highlighted Aptures pop out window gives the reader instant access to Wikipedia, YouTube, and Fotopedia transforming WebPages into a truly new multimedia experience.

The technology is available for the producer and the consumer of content. The Apture code allows you to embed the technology into your website or blog. When visitors highlight text on a websites the Apture technology connects the reader with information on the search topic. The adoption of this technology is available on some of today's largest producers of news and information on the web. The consumers of information, which happens to be the majority of people on the Internet have the option of installing an Internet browser extension. Apture Highlight allows users to access any website and highlight keywords that you would like to learn more about. An in-page window gives the reader opportunity to learn more about their search topic while staying on the website. This technology opens up doors that we could never imagine before when visiting a website or blog. It is literally changing the way information is connected on the Internet. This will change the way we interact with the information on the Internet. With a straightforward and clean interface the user friendly Apture technology will transform our current understanding of how we access the web.

W2_Reading

Infusion of Mathematics

Burghardt, M., & Hacker, M. (2003). THE ABC’S OF CREATING INFORMED DESIGN ACTIVITIES.Http://www.hofstra.edu/pdf/Academics/Colleges/SOEAHS/ctl/ctl_informeddesign_001.pdf. Retrieved October 07, 2010, from http://www.hofstra.edu/pdf/Academics/Colleges/SOEAHS/ctl/ctl_informeddesign_001.pdf

Exemplary Bedroom Design Unit - Center for Technological Literacy - Hofstra University. (n.d.). Retrieved October 07, 2010, from http://www.hofstra.edu/Academics/Colleges/SOEAHS/CTL/ITEA/index.html#Bedroom%20Design%20Curriculum

BP7_Veronica Santos

Veronica reviewed: Twiducate - a blog for the classroom. Check out this Web 2.0 product and my comments on this tool.

BP6_ Drew Clausing

Drew stated: Teachers can also use Google Wave as a tool to collaborate amongst themselves.
Check out my comment on this statement.

BP5_Google Wave

What is this Google Wave thing anyway? Google wave is a real-time collaborative editing web application. So what is a Wave? Internet communication with the power to share and modify collaborative documents much like a wikis. The key features of Google wave are the merge of email, I.M., wikis, Social Networking, all in real –time. Okay so it does everything but then the old saying goes a jack-of-all-trades a master of none. This is the great thing about the wave is made up of gadgets that are masters in document editing. Each one of these gadgets like video embedding is designed by third-party developers who utilize the Google open source code to enhance the wave. Being the end-user and having control of how the final product interacts with the participants that I have invited into a wave is one of its key features. The simultaneous interaction and collaboration with an unlimited number of participants is what has everyone interested in this technology.

Using Google wave and maneuvering through it has been simplified with a playback options as every keystroke to the wave is being recorded. You can rewind and see what other participants have done while you were away. This can allow both participants to review and make revisions very quickly. The interface is broken up into four main panels one for basic information inbox folders/ archives, then a contacts panel, a third panel listing all un-archived waves that you've been invited to participate in, and the wave panel where the work gets done in real-time. I currently have been using Google wave for the past six months but only an active user for the past three. Professionally it has been a very useful tool and I have been able to complete a technology integration group study with 10 participants last spring. More recently I've used it as I enrolled in Full Sail University education media design and technology EMDT Master of Science Graduate program. 100% online program this tool has allowed me to stay connected to my teammates, communicate thoughts and ideas, and collaborate on team projects. With its unlimited gadgets enhancing the actual wave I've been able to post all of my FSO assignments and receive feedback instantly. The results have been positive and I would rate the program a 4/5 stars. Why not five stars? The creators of Google Wave have decided to drop the project and put it in a box for the world. So the rise and fall of great things do hold some truth in history. Look to today’s forward thinkers as the “wave” meets augmented reality or the AR Wave. Society creates the pace of technology, now that the technology is known it will rise once again were society places it. 

Wave with your Team!

Google SketchUp Teacher Guide | Diigo

Teacher Guide | Diigo

BP4_Soundation

Discovering Web 2.0 tools assignments led me to a place that I was looking for the past three weeks. Sent on this mission I was to find a tool that I could use in my professional environment. While I was searching I remembered a discussion with one of my colleagues on creating digital music for student PSA's. The tool is called Soundation, a web-based loop sequencer with real-time effects and virtual instruments. My first part of the journey was to learn Soundation. To get a better understanding of the program I reviewed the how to... section of the Soundation website. Once I understood the layout of the program and what a Sound set is and what an Audio locker was I launched Soundation Studio. Evaluating this software I quickly recognize many of the features resemble other audio editing and looping software in the current market. The dashboard is not too cluttered and the overall workspace is a close mirror image to the name brand competitors. Where the sequencer application stands out the most is its benefit of being a web application. Eliminating the install process of software, USB dongles for authorization, and immediately using Soundation studio directly by launching a webpage on your Internet browser. This one key component allows teachers and students to use the software on cross platform operating systems at school and at home. This product is exactly what my colleague and I were looking for and I'm glad to be able to share with all my blog followers.


Saving the best for last is the final product that was produced. Which can be shared in many different ways. You can save it to the local machine as a wave file, post it to your Facebook or embed it into your blog.

Here is mine:

W1 Reading

Hacker, M., & Burghardt, D. (2008). Hofstra bedroomdesign packet. Hofstra bedroomdesign packet. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from http://www.hofstra.edu/pdf/Academics/Colleges/SOEAHS/ctl/ctl_informeddesign_004.pdf