Technology Time-Out

The holiday season gives time to consider what is important.  Technology is a great way to keep in touch.  However, I much prefer to keep in touch and visit in person.  Perhaps I should consider a technology time-out or as the article below suggests, a digital detox.  I definitely need to consider that "too much of a good thing is not good" and moderation is the answer.  So I'll be placing limits on my tech use and making sure it does not consume me in 2013. 

http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/12/23/2562167/this-is-a-detox-hand-over-your.html

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Editing Practice--An Important Skill for all Students!

CMIIW, but I think texting has created a whole new alphabet!  Didn't get that first word?  It's "Correct me if I'm wrong!"

Even though digital shorthand is used everywhere, properly edited and word processed  writing still has its place.  Once only found in middle and high schools, word processing skills are taught to students as young as five.  It's important that our students become familiar with word processing tools and available to produce work that is effective and understandable. 

We've put together four word processing activities complete with student instructions for editing each. This set also includes a detailed lesson plan that ties in both ISTE and Common Core areas, ideas for questions, academic feedback and informal and formal assessment.

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Being Relevant in an Information Overload Age

Every day in the news there is an article highlight a new technology gadget or website, technology changes happening, and considerations to remember when using technology.  The national news stations’ websites (www.msn.com,  www.usatoday.com,  etc) are fountains of technology news.   

I’m currently in the gathering phase where I bookmark these tech articles.   I then copy and paste the article to a Microsoft Word document.  Of course, my citation at the bottom includes the website source and date.  Websites change and keeping my own copy prevents me from losing the information.  I simply post these articles outside the computer lab.  It’s interesting to see folks (even parents and teachers) stop, read, and sometimes comment!

Down the road as I have more articles, students will receive copies for class assignments.  It’s important to share these articles with students and allow them to digest the information and come to their own conclusions.  If the news was important enough to report on a national forum, then there is relevance for my students to know.

Here are some tech-in-the-news articles:

·    Plagiarism    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12613617

·    Encyclopedia Britannicas Stops Being Printed   http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/books/story/2012-03-08/encyclopaedia-britannica-print/53516812/1?loc=interstitialskip

·    Employers looking at Facebook Profiles  http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/story/2012-03-14/facebook-twitter-work-hiring/53515600/1

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Make an Avatar

The National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) are standards for learning, teaching, and leading in the digital age.  Standard 2 includes “interacting, collaborating, and publishing with peers, experts or others employing a variety of digital environments and media and communicating information and ideas  effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats”

One way to collaborate and communicate is to use one of the many web 2.0 tools (ex:  Voicethread) available.  Students can create their own avatar, a character that represents the online user, to express their ideas.  This is favored over displaying students’ actual photographs.   Below are two free websites you can use to create an avatar and even save the image for later use.  Neither requires an account or login. 

Have fun!

 1.       Build Your Wild Self   http://buildyourwildself.com

Choose options (gender, skin tone, eyes, etc) à I’m done à  Get a Wild Desktop (If you choose Send to a Friend, you can email or print [facts below picture]) à  Right click on picture à save picture as (.bmp file) à (choose location and file name)

 2.       Clay Yourself      http://www.clayyourself.com      

Wait for movie clapper (timer) to count up to 99 and then says “Get Started” à  start à choose options:  (gender, skin tone, eyes, etc ) à when done, click Finished sign à Skip Naming Avatar à (image appears)  à Download now à  right click on picture à  à save picture as (.bmp file) à (choose location and file name)

Resources:

International Society for Technology in Education. “NETS
          Standards”  2 December 2012  
          http://www.iste.org/standards/

.

"Clay Yourself!." Clay Yourself!. Hotels.com, n.d. Web. 2 Dec.
          2012. http://www.clayyourself.com.

"BuiLD YouR WiLD SeLF." BuiLD YouR WiLD SeLF. New York Zoos
          and Aquarium, n.d. Web. 2 Dec.
          2012. <http://buildyourwildself.com/>.

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