I hope you enjoy the podcast.
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Friday, July 25, 2008
Embedded Blog: Highlights from ED693 Emerging Internet Technologies
Yeah! I found out how to embed my podcast within blogspot. That wasn't so hard...
I hope you enjoy the podcast.
Subscribe in a reader
I hope you enjoy the podcast.
Subscribe in a reader
Blog: Highlights from ED693 Emerging Internet Technologies
This URL should take you to my blog that highlights my experiences during ED693 Emerging Internet Technologies.
http://web.me.com/jpotsander/EmergingTechPodcast/Podcast/Podcast.html
or
http://jasonpotsander.podomatic.com/entry/2008-07-25T12_09_24-07_00
or
http://feeds.feedburner.com/PotsanderBlog
Here is a link my podcast through podomatic, but you will see I did find a way to embed the podcast within my blog in the next posting:
http://web.me.com/jpotsander/EmergingTechPodcast/Podcast/Podcast.html
or
http://jasonpotsander.podomatic.com/entry/2008-07-25T12_09_24-07_00
or
http://feeds.feedburner.com/PotsanderBlog
Here is a link my podcast through podomatic, but you will see I did find a way to embed the podcast within my blog in the next posting:
Thursday, July 24, 2008
My embeded Grazr Widget Creation
With some tinkering and experimentation I figured out how to successfully embed the html that Grazr used to create my widget. When I first tried to embed the code I would get the outline of my Grazr widget, but the reading lists lists said "file not found." I'm still not sure what exactly was not working, but I kept trying to go back to original source code provided by Grazr and would then retry embedding the code. So not it works, yeah!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Extra Credit Widget Creation
Patti,
Hopefully this URL address will lead you my Grazr widget creation so you can view it and grade it.
http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=grazr.com/jx/widget.pl?destEQ
GoogleIGQSTviewEQsAMPthemeEQgloss_blackAMPaddbarEQonAMPfileEQgrazr.com
/data/jason.potsander/Triathlon_and_Tour_de_France_Blogs_and_Podcasts_1
Hopefully this URL address will lead you my Grazr widget creation so you can view it and grade it.
http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=grazr.com/jx/widget.pl?destEQ
GoogleIGQSTviewEQsAMPthemeEQgloss_blackAMPaddbarEQonAMPfileEQgrazr.com
/data/jason.potsander/Triathlon_and_Tour_de_France_Blogs_and_Podcasts_1
Friday, July 18, 2008
Web Quest Survey: Security, Ethic and Privacy Concerns of Web 2.0 Media
1. Identify the security concerns that you personally feel need to be addressed before using a web resource or service
a. How do you ensure your students are safe when using Web 2.0 resources and meet district technology guidelines?
When thinking about security concerns that I feel need to be addressed I can categorize a list of questions that falls into three general categories: Web Site Questions, Student Experiences Questions, and Teacher/School Site Questions. The following is a list of questions in each category and my accompanying justification for each.
Web Site Questions:
Is the site reputable? Is the site published by an individual or larger organization? Can the site be trusted as virus/malware free and as a factual source? Does the site contain any bias? Is the site currently banned by a school filter and why?
Justification:
Web resources must be evaluated with the same concerns and rigor that other media are held up to when ascertaining their legitimacy/validity. In fact one could argue that since web resources are becoming so increasingly accessible over other types of media that we must hold them up to an even higher standard. A lot of information can be ascertained by looking at a web site’s domain name and knowing who/what entity is responsible for it’s posting. Knowing who or what group published the site can at times tell you more that the web site itself about how far one can trust the specific site. Also, knowing if the site is currently allowed by a school’s/district’s current filtering protocols can give you some indication as what types of web sites may pose a threat to school-wide networks. Although, schools must often times use broad filtering criteria that unfortunately also blocks many potential useful and legitimate sites in addition to suspect ones.
Student Experiences Questions:
What past experiences have my students had with using Web 2.0 resources? How familiar are my students with Web 2.0 resources and which ones have they used most often? Have any of my students engaged in unsafe Internet practices in the past at school or at home? Have my students acquired any Internet safety information from past teachers or their parents?
Justification:
In all areas of a student’s education they need to be taught how to think critically and technological issues are no different. The above student experience questions are critical if we are to scaffold a student’s technological learning from the known to the unknown. One must know a student’s past experiences and familiarity with Web 2.0 resources to effectively teach them further. Given the vastness of Web 2.0 resources it is helpful to know what holes may exist in a student’s knowledge base. Knowing a student’s past history regarding Web 2.0 resources also helps in giving them specific knowledge to keep them and others safe while online. It can also be helpful to know what specific Internet safety classes/information a student may have received from past teachers or parents as this can vary widely given various teaching and parenting styles.
Teacher/School Site Questions:
Have specific and well-developed Internet safety policies been written, taught, and enforced among the student population? What protection measures have been tried in the past and are currently being applied? What type of security issues have been encountered at the school in the past and how have they been dealt with? What is the current administration’s/district’s philosophy regarding the balance of needed security measures with the need for student/staff productivity and ease of use? Do teachers/administrators generally feel that the student population can be trusted to make safe and wise decisions? Do all school site computer require at least one log-in username and password required from each student/staff? Are the school computers set up in such a way as to be easily monitored and physically secured? Does all staff understand the need to actively monitor any students engaged in online learning?
Justification:
In my mind these teacher/school site questions are among the most important school network security questions primarily because the school staff can profoundly impact them based on individual and collective staff choices. Today’s teachers must understand and effectively work with Generation Y students and younger who have never known a time without a vast array of easily accessible Web 2.0 resources. As one unidentified risk manager in Cara Garretson’s article (Facing Generation Y Security Issues) relates, “flexibility must be accompanied by well-defined policies and layers of security technology.” He goes on to further state, “you need to specifically define parameters for what is and is not allowed in your policies, and spell out what will be the result of any violations.” Having a well-developed Internet safety policy that are proactively communicated, taught, and enforced is a key first step security measure. The specifics of such a policy may vary in an effort to provide the least restrictive and most productive policies to different age groups and school user groups. The current best course of action regarding Internet security policies will depend greatly on the school’s past experience/approach and that of current administration.
A parallel issue is how much school staff trust their students to make generally safe and wise decisions. Ultimately, security issues are blend of social and technological solutions that allow us all to work together efficiently. As Tim Bray, director of Web technologies at Sun Microsystems Inc., states, (Keeping Secrets in a WikiBlogTubeSpace World, by Mary Brandel, Computerworld, March 2007) “If employees can’t be trusted, technology is the least of your problems.” If one replaces the word “employees” with “students” I believe the same sentiment applies.
In addition to a sound and proactively taught Internet safety policy some automatic measures can be taken. At the very least I would agree with “The Lawyer’s Guide to Mobile Computer Security,” in that “All computers should
require at least one password for login. Individual documents containing sensitive information that are shared electronically should be individually password-protected.” Login requirements and specific password protected documents can do much to thwart opportunistic infringements. Also, enabling login requirements greatly helps when tracking down who potential culprits might be.
Login requirements are akin to prudent physical measures such as locking computer lab doors when not use and proactively monitoring learners while they are engaged in online activities. We must not forget or take for granted the simplest of measures before we brainstorm more advanced ones.
Ultimately, security will be best found when using a multifaceted approach that includes policy and technology. As Mary Brandel points out in “Keeping Secrets in a WikiBlogTubeSpace World,” “a combination of antivirus software, URL filtering, application controls, Web reputation services and “safe search” tools” in addition to sound policies all contribute in creating a “secure Web gateway.”
Additional Sources:
1. Bill Helling (http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue3_2/helling/) highlights the fact that many web-sites enable Cookies which “can store the collected information - usually unannounced - on the visitor's hard drive. In some cases, the server itself stores the data and gives the visitor a code instead. When the visitor returns later to the same site, the visitor's browser gives the cookie's information (or the code to access the information) back to the server, and the site can recognize the visitor, perhaps presenting a more personalized version of itself or specifically targeted advertisements.” While this can be helpful in many cases it also raises security and privacy issues especially when users operate on computers that are publicly accessed.
2. Furthermore, schools face legal implications for not having security measures in place. Schools and libraries in the state of Alaska must comply with (Children’s Internet Protection Act) CIPA requirements in order to receive funding for Internet access and connections. Examples of requirements include: blocking sites depicting child pornography or obscenity and providing a filtering mechanism. More information can be found at: http://www.library.state.ak.us/usf/cipa.cfm
2. Ethic concerns are subjective by the individual who uses the Internet.
a. After reviewing the provided articles, please discuss the ethic issues that concern you most when using this new media.
The issues that most concern me regarding ethics include confidentiality of sensitive information and copyright issues. Web 2.0 effectively opens the door for a plethora of opportunities that social networking sites provide ready access to. Issues of confidentiality and copyright are becoming increasingly more muddied. The old adage of “do no harm” commonly used in the health care arena now applies to that of technology (KnowledgeCenterSecurity).
Any business or educational institution needs to takes steps in order to protect consumers’ or students’ personal information, which is becoming increasingly more difficult. In the business world, both businesses and consumers hold responsibility for maintaining confidentiality. For example, a bank issues a debit card with a secure access code. It is the bank’s responsibility to take precautionary measures to protect access to the code, but it is also the consumer’s responsibility to keep both the card and the code in separate, secure locations. The same logic does not necessarily apply to educational institutions. School staff are responsible for the confidentiality of student information, from the teacher who neglects to log out of the computer at the end of the day to the janitor who looks at the computer screen with student information. Students are not expected to maintain their own confidential student records; it is the responsibility of school staff to do so.
In any school or business, it is becoming easy for information to be transmitted to parties not authorized to access information. All devices need protective measures taken to safeguard sensitive information, including iPods and thumb drives. Schools and companies need to develop security policies to cover all mobile devices, not simply limited to laptops and desktops. Treat a USB flash drive as one would an office key, keep it attached to keys and in a protected area. Protect documents so changes cannot be made by saving to PDF format. (Freedman, et al., 2007).
Copyright issues pose a concern as more information is becoming increasingly accessible online, both through legal and illegal means. In the area of education, this takes two main approaches. First, as educators, we need to do our part to attribute credit where it is due. The Creative Commons blog notes some measures such as resources that post a small icon or link to the credits. Displaying such information or taking a moment to acknowledge the artist or author provides a good role model for students. Educators also need to be aware of accessing information legally. According to the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA), works published prior to 1923 may be entered into public domain. Be aware of adaptations, make sure to use the original (Jassin, 2003) CopyLaw.com. The second approach is to teach students proper use of copyright as students use Internet resources for research and learning.
On the flip side, is the idea that educators have a legitimate right to use resources within the confines of education for “educational purposes only.” This point is argued by an anonymous blog entitled etc@bmc that can be found at: http://www.brynmawr.edu/etc/etcblog/2007/05/copy-protection-web-20-and-education.html. This site argues for educators to remind lawmakers of our legal right to use resources for education purposes, before this privilege is removed as well.
b. How do you teach your students to adhere to acceptable online ethics and copyright issues? This is a big one so please spend time discussing this.
Ultimately, protection of sensitive information and using copyright information ethically comes back to awareness and education. All the hardware and software precautions in the world such as firewalls, filters and anti-viruses cannot take the place of teaching students and others about their responsibility to use and distribute information in an ethical manner. This fact is highlighted by Rick Cook in an article entitled Protecting Yourself with Web 2.0 CRM (http://www.insidecrm.com/features/prtoecting-yourself-crm-031208/). In this article Rick states, “Although the details of some of threats, especially Web 2.0 attacks, can be extremely complex, the most important way to protect yourself, your company and your customers does not involve technology at all. It relies on good, old-fashioned awareness. Awareness and education are not substitutes for protective measures like firewalls and filters, but all firewalls, security software and gadgets are useless without them.”
We need to teach students responsible practices for use of resources found on the web. It used to be that we taught students not to copy more than 3 consecutive words from an encyclopedia while doing a report. The same set of rules, expanded to apply to online resources, needs to be explicitly taught to our current “cut and paste” generation of young persons. Information such as copyright laws that can be found at CopyLaw.com, need to be taught (Jassin, 2003) in order for educators to hold students accountable to them. Older students may understand the ethical dilemmas of students caught cheating on open-book tests which are described at: http://www.businesspundit.com/the-business-ethics-of-web-20-does-collaboration-and-open-source-blur-the-line-of-what-it-means-to-cheat/
Let students know that you will be checking up on them. Students tend to think they can access information via the Internet and tend to forget that teachers can too! Following a lecture on responsible use of Internet resources and copyright information, I would take any papers that did not sound like the student’s typical writing style and Google segments of their writing in looking for plagiarism. I then highlighted the plagiarized text and gave it back, letting them know this was a warning and they must redo their work. If I caught the same student plagiarizing a second time throughout the year I would assign them an automatic “F” for that assignment.
Cara Garretson writes in the article entitled “Facing Generation Y Security Issues” http://rhetorica.uaf.edu/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=69) that “If you make things too restrictive, younger employees may just pack up and go elsewhere.” This same principal may also apply to students who face too many restrictions. They may either ignore them entirely or refuse to complete the assignment. Need to balance rules with a reminder of why rules are in place, and keep rules simple.
Students need to have impressed to them that someday they will be responsible for the security of sensitive information with severe consequences applied for the distribution or security of such data. Resource for teaching students about intellectual property rights, aimed at teens, can be located at: http://www.mybytes.com/index.html
Under the “viewpoints” section, students may listen to artists’ opinions on Intellectual Property Rights and learn how and why adhering to such (word) is important. Listening to real-life artists may have a larger impact on their understanding than a lecture from their teacher.
Provide students with examples they can relate to. Teach students how commonly used applications use their personal information, for example MySpace, Flickr, Digg. As Wil Harris (http://www.bit-tech.net/columns/2006/06/03/web_2_privacy/1) suggests teens might find it interesting that these sites pour money into the sites, seemingly without making a profit. The profit comes from knowing information about you, based on your posts. Information that advertising agencies can target to you. Students need to be made aware of how their seemingly innocent actions may have longer-term consequence.
3. Privacy issues concern all users of the Internet from children sharing too much personal information and private information inappropriately used by others.
a. What controls would you put in place to safe guard your students?
I would advocate for the following safeguards and controls for students in my classroom and throughout my school.
1. A thorough Internet usage and Network policy that has been formulated by the school’s Technology team and is understood by all teaching staff. If necessary I would advocate for in-service time to educate teaching staff how to consistently implement the policies throughout the school.
2. I would advocate highly for a school’s administrators and Technology team to be forthright in impressing the importance of education as a means to prevent many potential student/staff infractions. The power of education also builds a common language and ethos in the building from which all students/staff can increasingly relate to as their technological experiences increase.
3. I would also remind staff that keeping our students safe online is everyone’s responsibility, much like we watch out for each other’s physical well being throughout the classrooms, halls, and recesses. This would include actively monitoring all student engaged in online learning. Keeping computer screens un-obscured and pointed towards common areas. Shutting doors and rooms when not in use and being mindful of suspicious activity.
4. I would advocate for personal log in requirements for each student/staff within the school. User access and privilege would then be set differently among different grade levels and user groups. For example, log-ins could be configured to allow K-3 students more elementary programs than their 4-6 grade counterparts.
5. I would advocate for a combination of antivirus software, URL filtering, application controls, Web reputation services and “safe search” tools.
6. I some known sites have proved to be particularly troublesome for some students I would advocate for blocking those sites entirely, to remove the temptation.
7. I would encourage teachers/students to use kid safe Internet search engines such as http://www.askkids.com/, http://kids.yahoo.com/, http://www.rcls.org/ksearch.htm, or http://www.ivyjoy.com/rayne/kidssearch.html.
8. With specific students or issues I might advocate for student computer contracts to be agreed upon and followed to insure greater accountability.
9. I would make sure that all wireless networks within the school are password protected to discourage unauthorized users from siphoning precious bandwidth or attempting access confidential school data.
10. I would advocate that all students receive some basic and appropriate Internet safety information that is taught in collaboration with a technology or media specialist within the school.
11. I would advocate that parent information be prepared for dissemination at a school event, in which parents were free to see and use some suggested Online resources along side a technology or media specialist within the school.
b. How do you control your personal information on the web?
I tend to be fairly brief and non-descript when describing my self on-line. I maintain a family blog site that open to the public however fairly hard to find in my opinion by the average search query. The URL is fairly obscure and I have not been able to find my own blog when doing elementary searches for it. The blog site contains little information about who exactly is maintaining the blog and where I am living. I do this intentionally as I primarily use the blog site to give updated news regarding our daughter to friends and family. I would prefer that only people I know view my blog site and periodically send invitations to view updates to friends and family.
I also recently began a Facebook.com profile in which I rather deliberately refrained from adding to much descriptive information until I grow more comfortable with the social networking concept. I like the idea that only my approved “friends” are able to access my full profile and am very judicious about who I approve as friends. If I have never met the person I refrain from adding them as friends as well and that includes friends of my friends.
I approach many of the free Web 2.0 registration and profile requests with some wariness because I know that this information is being mined and sorted in a myriad of ways in order to market and sell various products. According to Wil Harris in the article entitled Why Web 2.0 Will End Your Privacy (http://www.bit-tech.net/columns/2006/06/03/web_2_privacy/1) “Our social networks, searching habits, visual identifiers and personal preferences will be mercilessly sold to anyone who wants to get their hands on our particular demographic.” I would suppose that a digital native would view this personal data tracking/mining on the same level as other older forms of market data such as credit card statements or merchant’s that offer savings by becoming a member. I however, cannot help but be somewhat suspect that the wonderful Web 2.0 applications and toys are costing me more than their often “free” label suggests. In fact cannot help but wonder how access to my interests and consumer habits might at some point cost me something further along down the road.
4. Please critically evaluate how to utilize the Web 2.0 benefits over security, ethic and privacy concerns.
In many areas of life it is helpful to live by some basic ground rules and an overall sense of balance. This applies when using Web 2.0 technologies as well when thinking about security, ethics, and privacy concerns.
Although, the wide world of Web 2.0 technologies is ever increasing in the applications and entertainment it may provide us, we must ask ourselves if the benefits are worth the potential risks. Certainly, a list of standard ground rules would could be prudently applied to a variety of Web 2.0 resources. As Wired.com’s Parenting Online handout illustrates, many ground rules that apply in the physical world can be adapted to the virtual world as well. For example, “Don’t talk to or accept anything from strangers” can be adapted to include not trusting anyone online unless they have physically met them at some point. Another common rule such as “come straight home after school” could be translated to mean that unlimited and aimless time spent surfing online is not allowed. More examples of translatable ground rules can be found at the “Parenting Online Booklet” available at: http://www.wiredsafety.org/
An overall sense of balance is also needed when considering Web 2.0 benefits over security, ethic and privacy concerns. As Internet based scams, frauds, and even legitimate accumulation of user market data increase, a healthy dose of skepticism when dealing with some Web 2.0 resources does much in providing a safety net.
In a school setting we must consider the collective good over the interests/preferences of the individual. Since so many functions and person daily depend on a functioning school network, we must base our decisions on what allows the school to collectively provide the best learning environment possible. As networked environments increase our world becomes more connected to places and persons we would not otherwise be connected to. The questions of what it means to have private and public ethics blur as the world becomes increasingly networked. Suspect online practices such participating in peer to peer file sharing applications may be deemed safe by certain high risk users, but vehemently opposed by others such as network administrators. The NEEDS of all users must take precedent over the PREFERENCES of others if there is going to be a sustainable, safe, and protected network. In cases where user ethics seem to differ one must at times take what is recommended by field experts while continuing a dialogue if the issue remains important to students and staff.
On the other hand, privacy issues seem much more “cut and dry” and are often dictated by Federal, State, and School Board policy rather than individual choice.
a. How do you ensure your students are safe when using Web 2.0 resources and meet district technology guidelines?
When thinking about security concerns that I feel need to be addressed I can categorize a list of questions that falls into three general categories: Web Site Questions, Student Experiences Questions, and Teacher/School Site Questions. The following is a list of questions in each category and my accompanying justification for each.
Web Site Questions:
Is the site reputable? Is the site published by an individual or larger organization? Can the site be trusted as virus/malware free and as a factual source? Does the site contain any bias? Is the site currently banned by a school filter and why?
Justification:
Web resources must be evaluated with the same concerns and rigor that other media are held up to when ascertaining their legitimacy/validity. In fact one could argue that since web resources are becoming so increasingly accessible over other types of media that we must hold them up to an even higher standard. A lot of information can be ascertained by looking at a web site’s domain name and knowing who/what entity is responsible for it’s posting. Knowing who or what group published the site can at times tell you more that the web site itself about how far one can trust the specific site. Also, knowing if the site is currently allowed by a school’s/district’s current filtering protocols can give you some indication as what types of web sites may pose a threat to school-wide networks. Although, schools must often times use broad filtering criteria that unfortunately also blocks many potential useful and legitimate sites in addition to suspect ones.
Student Experiences Questions:
What past experiences have my students had with using Web 2.0 resources? How familiar are my students with Web 2.0 resources and which ones have they used most often? Have any of my students engaged in unsafe Internet practices in the past at school or at home? Have my students acquired any Internet safety information from past teachers or their parents?
Justification:
In all areas of a student’s education they need to be taught how to think critically and technological issues are no different. The above student experience questions are critical if we are to scaffold a student’s technological learning from the known to the unknown. One must know a student’s past experiences and familiarity with Web 2.0 resources to effectively teach them further. Given the vastness of Web 2.0 resources it is helpful to know what holes may exist in a student’s knowledge base. Knowing a student’s past history regarding Web 2.0 resources also helps in giving them specific knowledge to keep them and others safe while online. It can also be helpful to know what specific Internet safety classes/information a student may have received from past teachers or parents as this can vary widely given various teaching and parenting styles.
Teacher/School Site Questions:
Have specific and well-developed Internet safety policies been written, taught, and enforced among the student population? What protection measures have been tried in the past and are currently being applied? What type of security issues have been encountered at the school in the past and how have they been dealt with? What is the current administration’s/district’s philosophy regarding the balance of needed security measures with the need for student/staff productivity and ease of use? Do teachers/administrators generally feel that the student population can be trusted to make safe and wise decisions? Do all school site computer require at least one log-in username and password required from each student/staff? Are the school computers set up in such a way as to be easily monitored and physically secured? Does all staff understand the need to actively monitor any students engaged in online learning?
Justification:
In my mind these teacher/school site questions are among the most important school network security questions primarily because the school staff can profoundly impact them based on individual and collective staff choices. Today’s teachers must understand and effectively work with Generation Y students and younger who have never known a time without a vast array of easily accessible Web 2.0 resources. As one unidentified risk manager in Cara Garretson’s article (Facing Generation Y Security Issues) relates, “flexibility must be accompanied by well-defined policies and layers of security technology.” He goes on to further state, “you need to specifically define parameters for what is and is not allowed in your policies, and spell out what will be the result of any violations.” Having a well-developed Internet safety policy that are proactively communicated, taught, and enforced is a key first step security measure. The specifics of such a policy may vary in an effort to provide the least restrictive and most productive policies to different age groups and school user groups. The current best course of action regarding Internet security policies will depend greatly on the school’s past experience/approach and that of current administration.
A parallel issue is how much school staff trust their students to make generally safe and wise decisions. Ultimately, security issues are blend of social and technological solutions that allow us all to work together efficiently. As Tim Bray, director of Web technologies at Sun Microsystems Inc., states, (Keeping Secrets in a WikiBlogTubeSpace World, by Mary Brandel, Computerworld, March 2007) “If employees can’t be trusted, technology is the least of your problems.” If one replaces the word “employees” with “students” I believe the same sentiment applies.
In addition to a sound and proactively taught Internet safety policy some automatic measures can be taken. At the very least I would agree with “The Lawyer’s Guide to Mobile Computer Security,” in that “All computers should
require at least one password for login. Individual documents containing sensitive information that are shared electronically should be individually password-protected.” Login requirements and specific password protected documents can do much to thwart opportunistic infringements. Also, enabling login requirements greatly helps when tracking down who potential culprits might be.
Login requirements are akin to prudent physical measures such as locking computer lab doors when not use and proactively monitoring learners while they are engaged in online activities. We must not forget or take for granted the simplest of measures before we brainstorm more advanced ones.
Ultimately, security will be best found when using a multifaceted approach that includes policy and technology. As Mary Brandel points out in “Keeping Secrets in a WikiBlogTubeSpace World,” “a combination of antivirus software, URL filtering, application controls, Web reputation services and “safe search” tools” in addition to sound policies all contribute in creating a “secure Web gateway.”
Additional Sources:
1. Bill Helling (http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue3_2/helling/) highlights the fact that many web-sites enable Cookies which “can store the collected information - usually unannounced - on the visitor's hard drive. In some cases, the server itself stores the data and gives the visitor a code instead. When the visitor returns later to the same site, the visitor's browser gives the cookie's information (or the code to access the information) back to the server, and the site can recognize the visitor, perhaps presenting a more personalized version of itself or specifically targeted advertisements.” While this can be helpful in many cases it also raises security and privacy issues especially when users operate on computers that are publicly accessed.
2. Furthermore, schools face legal implications for not having security measures in place. Schools and libraries in the state of Alaska must comply with (Children’s Internet Protection Act) CIPA requirements in order to receive funding for Internet access and connections. Examples of requirements include: blocking sites depicting child pornography or obscenity and providing a filtering mechanism. More information can be found at: http://www.library.state.ak.us/usf/cipa.cfm
2. Ethic concerns are subjective by the individual who uses the Internet.
a. After reviewing the provided articles, please discuss the ethic issues that concern you most when using this new media.
The issues that most concern me regarding ethics include confidentiality of sensitive information and copyright issues. Web 2.0 effectively opens the door for a plethora of opportunities that social networking sites provide ready access to. Issues of confidentiality and copyright are becoming increasingly more muddied. The old adage of “do no harm” commonly used in the health care arena now applies to that of technology (KnowledgeCenterSecurity).
Any business or educational institution needs to takes steps in order to protect consumers’ or students’ personal information, which is becoming increasingly more difficult. In the business world, both businesses and consumers hold responsibility for maintaining confidentiality. For example, a bank issues a debit card with a secure access code. It is the bank’s responsibility to take precautionary measures to protect access to the code, but it is also the consumer’s responsibility to keep both the card and the code in separate, secure locations. The same logic does not necessarily apply to educational institutions. School staff are responsible for the confidentiality of student information, from the teacher who neglects to log out of the computer at the end of the day to the janitor who looks at the computer screen with student information. Students are not expected to maintain their own confidential student records; it is the responsibility of school staff to do so.
In any school or business, it is becoming easy for information to be transmitted to parties not authorized to access information. All devices need protective measures taken to safeguard sensitive information, including iPods and thumb drives. Schools and companies need to develop security policies to cover all mobile devices, not simply limited to laptops and desktops. Treat a USB flash drive as one would an office key, keep it attached to keys and in a protected area. Protect documents so changes cannot be made by saving to PDF format. (Freedman, et al., 2007).
Copyright issues pose a concern as more information is becoming increasingly accessible online, both through legal and illegal means. In the area of education, this takes two main approaches. First, as educators, we need to do our part to attribute credit where it is due. The Creative Commons blog notes some measures such as resources that post a small icon or link to the credits. Displaying such information or taking a moment to acknowledge the artist or author provides a good role model for students. Educators also need to be aware of accessing information legally. According to the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA), works published prior to 1923 may be entered into public domain. Be aware of adaptations, make sure to use the original (Jassin, 2003) CopyLaw.com. The second approach is to teach students proper use of copyright as students use Internet resources for research and learning.
On the flip side, is the idea that educators have a legitimate right to use resources within the confines of education for “educational purposes only.” This point is argued by an anonymous blog entitled etc@bmc that can be found at: http://www.brynmawr.edu/etc/etcblog/2007/05/copy-protection-web-20-and-education.html. This site argues for educators to remind lawmakers of our legal right to use resources for education purposes, before this privilege is removed as well.
b. How do you teach your students to adhere to acceptable online ethics and copyright issues? This is a big one so please spend time discussing this.
Ultimately, protection of sensitive information and using copyright information ethically comes back to awareness and education. All the hardware and software precautions in the world such as firewalls, filters and anti-viruses cannot take the place of teaching students and others about their responsibility to use and distribute information in an ethical manner. This fact is highlighted by Rick Cook in an article entitled Protecting Yourself with Web 2.0 CRM (http://www.insidecrm.com/features/prtoecting-yourself-crm-031208/). In this article Rick states, “Although the details of some of threats, especially Web 2.0 attacks, can be extremely complex, the most important way to protect yourself, your company and your customers does not involve technology at all. It relies on good, old-fashioned awareness. Awareness and education are not substitutes for protective measures like firewalls and filters, but all firewalls, security software and gadgets are useless without them.”
We need to teach students responsible practices for use of resources found on the web. It used to be that we taught students not to copy more than 3 consecutive words from an encyclopedia while doing a report. The same set of rules, expanded to apply to online resources, needs to be explicitly taught to our current “cut and paste” generation of young persons. Information such as copyright laws that can be found at CopyLaw.com, need to be taught (Jassin, 2003) in order for educators to hold students accountable to them. Older students may understand the ethical dilemmas of students caught cheating on open-book tests which are described at: http://www.businesspundit.com/the-business-ethics-of-web-20-does-collaboration-and-open-source-blur-the-line-of-what-it-means-to-cheat/
Let students know that you will be checking up on them. Students tend to think they can access information via the Internet and tend to forget that teachers can too! Following a lecture on responsible use of Internet resources and copyright information, I would take any papers that did not sound like the student’s typical writing style and Google segments of their writing in looking for plagiarism. I then highlighted the plagiarized text and gave it back, letting them know this was a warning and they must redo their work. If I caught the same student plagiarizing a second time throughout the year I would assign them an automatic “F” for that assignment.
Cara Garretson writes in the article entitled “Facing Generation Y Security Issues” http://rhetorica.uaf.edu/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=69) that “If you make things too restrictive, younger employees may just pack up and go elsewhere.” This same principal may also apply to students who face too many restrictions. They may either ignore them entirely or refuse to complete the assignment. Need to balance rules with a reminder of why rules are in place, and keep rules simple.
Students need to have impressed to them that someday they will be responsible for the security of sensitive information with severe consequences applied for the distribution or security of such data. Resource for teaching students about intellectual property rights, aimed at teens, can be located at: http://www.mybytes.com/index.html
Under the “viewpoints” section, students may listen to artists’ opinions on Intellectual Property Rights and learn how and why adhering to such (word) is important. Listening to real-life artists may have a larger impact on their understanding than a lecture from their teacher.
Provide students with examples they can relate to. Teach students how commonly used applications use their personal information, for example MySpace, Flickr, Digg. As Wil Harris (http://www.bit-tech.net/columns/2006/06/03/web_2_privacy/1) suggests teens might find it interesting that these sites pour money into the sites, seemingly without making a profit. The profit comes from knowing information about you, based on your posts. Information that advertising agencies can target to you. Students need to be made aware of how their seemingly innocent actions may have longer-term consequence.
3. Privacy issues concern all users of the Internet from children sharing too much personal information and private information inappropriately used by others.
a. What controls would you put in place to safe guard your students?
I would advocate for the following safeguards and controls for students in my classroom and throughout my school.
1. A thorough Internet usage and Network policy that has been formulated by the school’s Technology team and is understood by all teaching staff. If necessary I would advocate for in-service time to educate teaching staff how to consistently implement the policies throughout the school.
2. I would advocate highly for a school’s administrators and Technology team to be forthright in impressing the importance of education as a means to prevent many potential student/staff infractions. The power of education also builds a common language and ethos in the building from which all students/staff can increasingly relate to as their technological experiences increase.
3. I would also remind staff that keeping our students safe online is everyone’s responsibility, much like we watch out for each other’s physical well being throughout the classrooms, halls, and recesses. This would include actively monitoring all student engaged in online learning. Keeping computer screens un-obscured and pointed towards common areas. Shutting doors and rooms when not in use and being mindful of suspicious activity.
4. I would advocate for personal log in requirements for each student/staff within the school. User access and privilege would then be set differently among different grade levels and user groups. For example, log-ins could be configured to allow K-3 students more elementary programs than their 4-6 grade counterparts.
5. I would advocate for a combination of antivirus software, URL filtering, application controls, Web reputation services and “safe search” tools.
6. I some known sites have proved to be particularly troublesome for some students I would advocate for blocking those sites entirely, to remove the temptation.
7. I would encourage teachers/students to use kid safe Internet search engines such as http://www.askkids.com/, http://kids.yahoo.com/, http://www.rcls.org/ksearch.htm, or http://www.ivyjoy.com/rayne/kidssearch.html.
8. With specific students or issues I might advocate for student computer contracts to be agreed upon and followed to insure greater accountability.
9. I would make sure that all wireless networks within the school are password protected to discourage unauthorized users from siphoning precious bandwidth or attempting access confidential school data.
10. I would advocate that all students receive some basic and appropriate Internet safety information that is taught in collaboration with a technology or media specialist within the school.
11. I would advocate that parent information be prepared for dissemination at a school event, in which parents were free to see and use some suggested Online resources along side a technology or media specialist within the school.
b. How do you control your personal information on the web?
I tend to be fairly brief and non-descript when describing my self on-line. I maintain a family blog site that open to the public however fairly hard to find in my opinion by the average search query. The URL is fairly obscure and I have not been able to find my own blog when doing elementary searches for it. The blog site contains little information about who exactly is maintaining the blog and where I am living. I do this intentionally as I primarily use the blog site to give updated news regarding our daughter to friends and family. I would prefer that only people I know view my blog site and periodically send invitations to view updates to friends and family.
I also recently began a Facebook.com profile in which I rather deliberately refrained from adding to much descriptive information until I grow more comfortable with the social networking concept. I like the idea that only my approved “friends” are able to access my full profile and am very judicious about who I approve as friends. If I have never met the person I refrain from adding them as friends as well and that includes friends of my friends.
I approach many of the free Web 2.0 registration and profile requests with some wariness because I know that this information is being mined and sorted in a myriad of ways in order to market and sell various products. According to Wil Harris in the article entitled Why Web 2.0 Will End Your Privacy (http://www.bit-tech.net/columns/2006/06/03/web_2_privacy/1) “Our social networks, searching habits, visual identifiers and personal preferences will be mercilessly sold to anyone who wants to get their hands on our particular demographic.” I would suppose that a digital native would view this personal data tracking/mining on the same level as other older forms of market data such as credit card statements or merchant’s that offer savings by becoming a member. I however, cannot help but be somewhat suspect that the wonderful Web 2.0 applications and toys are costing me more than their often “free” label suggests. In fact cannot help but wonder how access to my interests and consumer habits might at some point cost me something further along down the road.
4. Please critically evaluate how to utilize the Web 2.0 benefits over security, ethic and privacy concerns.
In many areas of life it is helpful to live by some basic ground rules and an overall sense of balance. This applies when using Web 2.0 technologies as well when thinking about security, ethics, and privacy concerns.
Although, the wide world of Web 2.0 technologies is ever increasing in the applications and entertainment it may provide us, we must ask ourselves if the benefits are worth the potential risks. Certainly, a list of standard ground rules would could be prudently applied to a variety of Web 2.0 resources. As Wired.com’s Parenting Online handout illustrates, many ground rules that apply in the physical world can be adapted to the virtual world as well. For example, “Don’t talk to or accept anything from strangers” can be adapted to include not trusting anyone online unless they have physically met them at some point. Another common rule such as “come straight home after school” could be translated to mean that unlimited and aimless time spent surfing online is not allowed. More examples of translatable ground rules can be found at the “Parenting Online Booklet” available at: http://www.wiredsafety.org/
An overall sense of balance is also needed when considering Web 2.0 benefits over security, ethic and privacy concerns. As Internet based scams, frauds, and even legitimate accumulation of user market data increase, a healthy dose of skepticism when dealing with some Web 2.0 resources does much in providing a safety net.
In a school setting we must consider the collective good over the interests/preferences of the individual. Since so many functions and person daily depend on a functioning school network, we must base our decisions on what allows the school to collectively provide the best learning environment possible. As networked environments increase our world becomes more connected to places and persons we would not otherwise be connected to. The questions of what it means to have private and public ethics blur as the world becomes increasingly networked. Suspect online practices such participating in peer to peer file sharing applications may be deemed safe by certain high risk users, but vehemently opposed by others such as network administrators. The NEEDS of all users must take precedent over the PREFERENCES of others if there is going to be a sustainable, safe, and protected network. In cases where user ethics seem to differ one must at times take what is recommended by field experts while continuing a dialogue if the issue remains important to students and staff.
On the other hand, privacy issues seem much more “cut and dry” and are often dictated by Federal, State, and School Board policy rather than individual choice.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Widget Creation: Bonus Points
http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=grazr.com/jx/widget.pl?destEQ
GoogleIGQSTviewEQsAMPthemeEQgloss_blackAMPaddbarEQonAMPfileEQgrazr.com
/data/jason.potsander/Triathlon_and_Tour_de_France_Blogs_and_Podcasts_1
I created my own “Triathlon and Tour de France Blogs and Podcast” widget using a site called http://grazr.com . I added the following feeds into my widget which can be seen on grazr.com site at the following address: http://grazr.com/config?view=o&file=http://grazr.com/data/jason.potsander/Triathlon_and_Tour_de_France_Blogs_and_Podcasts_1
http://www.velonews.com/lennard-zinn
http://podcast.tri-talk.com/feed.aspx?feedId=371
http://www2.trainingbible.com/joesblog/blog.html
http://www.martindugard.com/
http://community.active.com/blogs/frankie
http://community.active.com/blogs/tourdefrance/
I found the process of creating a widget relatively easy after clicking on the “Tour” tab and following the directions indicated on how to create and publish your widget. The “Tour” tab page can be viewed at: http://grazr.com/info/tour
Basically, my widget acts as a feed reader and Podcast collector for a few sites that I have been using to stay abreast of Triathlon and Tour de France news. My widget is relatively simple in that it deals with one subject, however one could create multiple folders each dedicated to different subjects and amass quite a collection of centralized information.
My widget creation can be viewed and published to your site at:
http://grazr.com/config?view=o&file=http://grazr.com/data/jason.potsander/Triathlon_and_Tour_de_France_Blogs_and_Podcasts_1
The sophistication that Grazr is capable of is illustrated in the “MennoWidget” that a friend of mine created. The purpose of this widget is to collect news, links, audio and video related to the Mennonite faith. It includes folders that categorize feeds into “links, news, podcasts, and video.” Since I am an alumni of the Mennonite College, Goshen College, I particularly enjoy hearing podcasts of weekly chapels and convocations that currently take place there.
The “MennoWidget” can be viewed at the Grazr site: http://grazr.com/config?theme=sateen_green&fontsize=9pt&file=http://grazr.com/data/MennoWidget/bc6cb10
Once my I entered my desired feeds into my Grazr widget I published the widget to my iGoogle page using the convenient publishing options listed on Grazr’s home page. Options to publish to many other popular services were also automatically available, such as blogspot, facebook, iPhone, twitter, and netvibes.
GoogleIGQSTviewEQsAMPthemeEQgloss_blackAMPaddbarEQonAMPfileEQgrazr.com
/data/jason.potsander/Triathlon_and_Tour_de_France_Blogs_and_Podcasts_1
I created my own “Triathlon and Tour de France Blogs and Podcast” widget using a site called http://grazr.com . I added the following feeds into my widget which can be seen on grazr.com site at the following address: http://grazr.com/config?view=o&file=http://grazr.com/data/jason.potsander/Triathlon_and_Tour_de_France_Blogs_and_Podcasts_1
http://www.velonews.com/lennard-zinn
http://podcast.tri-talk.com/feed.aspx?feedId=371
http://www2.trainingbible.com/joesblog/blog.html
http://www.martindugard.com/
http://community.active.com/blogs/frankie
http://community.active.com/blogs/tourdefrance/
I found the process of creating a widget relatively easy after clicking on the “Tour” tab and following the directions indicated on how to create and publish your widget. The “Tour” tab page can be viewed at: http://grazr.com/info/tour
Basically, my widget acts as a feed reader and Podcast collector for a few sites that I have been using to stay abreast of Triathlon and Tour de France news. My widget is relatively simple in that it deals with one subject, however one could create multiple folders each dedicated to different subjects and amass quite a collection of centralized information.
My widget creation can be viewed and published to your site at:
http://grazr.com/config?view=o&file=http://grazr.com/data/jason.potsander/Triathlon_and_Tour_de_France_Blogs_and_Podcasts_1
The sophistication that Grazr is capable of is illustrated in the “MennoWidget” that a friend of mine created. The purpose of this widget is to collect news, links, audio and video related to the Mennonite faith. It includes folders that categorize feeds into “links, news, podcasts, and video.” Since I am an alumni of the Mennonite College, Goshen College, I particularly enjoy hearing podcasts of weekly chapels and convocations that currently take place there.
The “MennoWidget” can be viewed at the Grazr site: http://grazr.com/config?theme=sateen_green&fontsize=9pt&file=http://grazr.com/data/MennoWidget/bc6cb10
Once my I entered my desired feeds into my Grazr widget I published the widget to my iGoogle page using the convenient publishing options listed on Grazr’s home page. Options to publish to many other popular services were also automatically available, such as blogspot, facebook, iPhone, twitter, and netvibes.
Integrate Web Application--Assignment
"The Fifty Nifty United States"
I found several online resources to teach the US states and capitals to fifth grade ESL students. I have taught this unit in the past and have been disappointed that the district currently blocks many of the interactive websites I have found on this subject.
I found several websites to aid in the learning of states and capitals through multi-sensory methods such as singing songs and interactive games.
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm
This site contains a number of education games for engaging drill practice (reword), allowing students to progress as they learn more state capitals. For bilingual students, the task of not only learning the capitals of each state but learning the spelling and the pronunciation prove difficult. The capital activity level one restricts students to 5-6 states at a time. Students must match the capital to one of the states shown on the map. The capital is read aloud and the student sees the printed name as well as the physical location on the map, employing a variety of multi-sensory modes of learning. Games progress to matching all capitals and states without limiting the number of states. In this way the student’s learning is scaffolding from the known to the unknown.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQBvyqxeO70
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=7f16f32e7933e174c719
Both the YouTube and TeacherTube have videos along with the song “Fifty Nifty United States”, a song with the 50 states in alphabetical order.
The YouTube video is the one I would prefer, however I understand if the district would not want to allow access to YouTube, in which case the TeacherTube video would be acceptable. The YouTube video has the song with corresponding slides of each state’s stamp. The stamp briefly depicts a bit about each state, for example the type of geography, major crops, and tourism and sporting information.
I would use both resources to supplement my lesson on the 50 states. I would first model the site for students to review as a class, then as a follow-up tool for students to review the states and capitals on an individual basis, following a traditional lesson on the 50 states. Using this resource as an independent review frees up teaching time spent on review and allows me to work more individually with students while the others take a turn on the computer. It also provides a more engaging review format than the traditional paper map to try and memorize information. This would be a great resource for students to use in the general education classroom as well. Video and audio files are a way for students to engage in hands-on learning and engage students.
As a teacher, I can only do so much with paper-and-pencil drills especially for students who require a lot of repetition to learn the material. ESL students typically read below grade-level. The memorization and location of each state and capital is overwhelming enough, let alone the pronunciation and spelling of each. Both resources allow students to hear and see the name of the state capitals. The online game involves kinesthetic learning as they drag the mouse to the correct location. The use of games, songs, and movement also creates a more authentic learning experience in which the learner can be more highly motivated.
Both the game and song web sites offer a unique framework from which students can construct their learning.
I particularly appreciate how the 50 States games (located at: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm) gives the students a visual-spatial framework from which to reference the states in relation to each other and not in isolation.
I particularly appreciate how the songs (located at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQBvyqxeO70 and http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=7f16f32e7933e174c719) gives the students an alphabetical framework from which to recall the names of each state.
The YouTube video provides additional learning that I have not had time to address in the past through the use of each state’s postage stamp. I would first view the song a few times with my students, pausing the video to ask students to describe what they saw on the stamp and locating the state on the map. I believe it would help reinforce different attributes of our country. For example, seeing a picture of a skier on a snowy mountain in Colorado postage stamp and then locating Colorado on a US map can reinforce the fact Colorado is a state in which many people enjoy snow, mountains, and skiing.
All the resources I listed are currently blocked on the Anchorage School District’s (ASD) websites. I would like to request that the ASD IT department find a way to allow the specific resources I mentioned above with the following justification:
Justification:
Research in best practices demonstrate that students (especially language learners or ESL) learn best with a multi-sensory approach that is provided by these resources through the us of interactive games and catchy songs. Using these sites students are able to see, hear, respond, and manipulate information which will lead to greater motivation and learning.
Research in best practices demonstrates that all learners, and (especially language learners or ESL), need many exposures to specific words and concepts before they will be internalized. The use of the resources above will greatly help my student gain exposure in learning the names of the 50 States and their geographic location in a supported and meaningful context.
I found several online resources to teach the US states and capitals to fifth grade ESL students. I have taught this unit in the past and have been disappointed that the district currently blocks many of the interactive websites I have found on this subject.
I found several websites to aid in the learning of states and capitals through multi-sensory methods such as singing songs and interactive games.
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm
This site contains a number of education games for engaging drill practice (reword), allowing students to progress as they learn more state capitals. For bilingual students, the task of not only learning the capitals of each state but learning the spelling and the pronunciation prove difficult. The capital activity level one restricts students to 5-6 states at a time. Students must match the capital to one of the states shown on the map. The capital is read aloud and the student sees the printed name as well as the physical location on the map, employing a variety of multi-sensory modes of learning. Games progress to matching all capitals and states without limiting the number of states. In this way the student’s learning is scaffolding from the known to the unknown.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQBvyqxeO70
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=7f16f32e7933e174c719
Both the YouTube and TeacherTube have videos along with the song “Fifty Nifty United States”, a song with the 50 states in alphabetical order.
The YouTube video is the one I would prefer, however I understand if the district would not want to allow access to YouTube, in which case the TeacherTube video would be acceptable. The YouTube video has the song with corresponding slides of each state’s stamp. The stamp briefly depicts a bit about each state, for example the type of geography, major crops, and tourism and sporting information.
I would use both resources to supplement my lesson on the 50 states. I would first model the site for students to review as a class, then as a follow-up tool for students to review the states and capitals on an individual basis, following a traditional lesson on the 50 states. Using this resource as an independent review frees up teaching time spent on review and allows me to work more individually with students while the others take a turn on the computer. It also provides a more engaging review format than the traditional paper map to try and memorize information. This would be a great resource for students to use in the general education classroom as well. Video and audio files are a way for students to engage in hands-on learning and engage students.
As a teacher, I can only do so much with paper-and-pencil drills especially for students who require a lot of repetition to learn the material. ESL students typically read below grade-level. The memorization and location of each state and capital is overwhelming enough, let alone the pronunciation and spelling of each. Both resources allow students to hear and see the name of the state capitals. The online game involves kinesthetic learning as they drag the mouse to the correct location. The use of games, songs, and movement also creates a more authentic learning experience in which the learner can be more highly motivated.
Both the game and song web sites offer a unique framework from which students can construct their learning.
I particularly appreciate how the 50 States games (located at: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm) gives the students a visual-spatial framework from which to reference the states in relation to each other and not in isolation.
I particularly appreciate how the songs (located at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQBvyqxeO70 and http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=7f16f32e7933e174c719) gives the students an alphabetical framework from which to recall the names of each state.
The YouTube video provides additional learning that I have not had time to address in the past through the use of each state’s postage stamp. I would first view the song a few times with my students, pausing the video to ask students to describe what they saw on the stamp and locating the state on the map. I believe it would help reinforce different attributes of our country. For example, seeing a picture of a skier on a snowy mountain in Colorado postage stamp and then locating Colorado on a US map can reinforce the fact Colorado is a state in which many people enjoy snow, mountains, and skiing.
All the resources I listed are currently blocked on the Anchorage School District’s (ASD) websites. I would like to request that the ASD IT department find a way to allow the specific resources I mentioned above with the following justification:
Justification:
Research in best practices demonstrate that students (especially language learners or ESL) learn best with a multi-sensory approach that is provided by these resources through the us of interactive games and catchy songs. Using these sites students are able to see, hear, respond, and manipulate information which will lead to greater motivation and learning.
Research in best practices demonstrates that all learners, and (especially language learners or ESL), need many exposures to specific words and concepts before they will be internalized. The use of the resources above will greatly help my student gain exposure in learning the names of the 50 States and their geographic location in a supported and meaningful context.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Mashups
I chose to review the following mashups:
1. http://www.daylightmap.com/
2. http://keirclarke.googlepages.com/sky.htm
3. http://wiki.worldflicks.org/mexico.html
According to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashup_(web_application_hybrid) a mashup “is a web application that combines data from more than one source into a single integrated tool.” I interpret this to mean that a mashup is able to take data from multiple third party web sites and integrate it together in ways that allow users to analyze the data in new and meaningful ways. This is unique because the mashup creates a way to interpret and interact with data that was never intended by the original data collectors with their independent web sites.
This is different from a web application in that a mashup is taking data from other independent web sites and a web application is simply a web based program that uses information given to it by the user or within it’s own data banks to achieve to produce its desired function.
All three mashups I chose use Google maps information to create three distinct mashups.
The purpose of http://www.daylightmap.com/ is to graphically show the pattern of daylight around the globe at any given moment. One can select to see the daylight pattern on a globe using Google map’s choices of “map, Terrain, Satelitte, or Hybrid.” I believe this mashup could easily be used with Elementary students as they learn about many aspects related to Earth science and geography. Concepts of time zones, geography, astronomy and continents are just some of the many aspects that could be enriched using this site. This site very simply and effectively shows a graphic representation of how the sun’s light falls across the earth at any given moment and season. It would be interesting to use this site with a class throughout the year from Fall to Spring and watch and notice the daylight pattern subtly shifting with the seasons. Advanced math students may also be intrigued by the parabolic nature of the sunlight pattern as it falls around the globe.
I anticipate using and recommending this mashup because of how it simply and effectively illustrates how the sun’s light falls around the world and how easily this concept touches so many other related concepts that Elementary students learn about.
The mashup found at: http://keirclarke.googlepages.com/sky.htm is star viewer designed to simulate the images you might see from many different high tech space telescopes when looking at various subjects in the universe. I can easily envision using this resource with upper elementary students as apart of an astronomy unit. This site seems easy to navigate by selecting different subjects in the universe to navigate from the menu on the left side of the screen. One can also notice square boxes highlighting that more embedded information or video is available within the actual map view. With this site one can almost sense the feeling of being behind the controls of a state-of-the-art telescope at some renounced space observatory or research center. A teacher could easily set up such a simulation like experience or assignment in which students need to view and report on various objects.
I envision using and recommending this site because of how easily and effectively it shows many objects in the universe and can easily relate to an Elementary astronomy curriculum.
The mashup found at: http://wiki.worldflicks.org/mexico.html is designed to show photos from different geographic locations all around the world. This site could easily be used with Elementary students for a variety of reasons. Students could locate pictures from pen-pals they may have around the nation or world. It could also be used to enhance student reports on various states or countries. This site also helps give students a geographic sense of how the world is made up of states, countries, continents, and oceans. The interactivity of this site could help to motivate students who might not be motivated to learn about geography otherwise.
I found it particularly interesting that when one views “Mexico”, for example, the site gives a short encyclopedia like description of Mexico complete with descriptions of it’s economy, visual points of interest, nearest places of interest, and the most popular places.
I anticipate using and recommending this site in the future because it is simple to navigate and easily shows many photographs from points of interest from all around the world. For example, I could envision using this site when studying Mayan culture or native Americans as a nice photo of a Mayan structure near Merida can easily be located on the Mexican Yucatan peninsula.
1. http://www.daylightmap.com/
2. http://keirclarke.googlepages.com/sky.htm
3. http://wiki.worldflicks.org/mexico.html
According to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashup_(web_application_hybrid) a mashup “is a web application that combines data from more than one source into a single integrated tool.” I interpret this to mean that a mashup is able to take data from multiple third party web sites and integrate it together in ways that allow users to analyze the data in new and meaningful ways. This is unique because the mashup creates a way to interpret and interact with data that was never intended by the original data collectors with their independent web sites.
This is different from a web application in that a mashup is taking data from other independent web sites and a web application is simply a web based program that uses information given to it by the user or within it’s own data banks to achieve to produce its desired function.
All three mashups I chose use Google maps information to create three distinct mashups.
The purpose of http://www.daylightmap.com/ is to graphically show the pattern of daylight around the globe at any given moment. One can select to see the daylight pattern on a globe using Google map’s choices of “map, Terrain, Satelitte, or Hybrid.” I believe this mashup could easily be used with Elementary students as they learn about many aspects related to Earth science and geography. Concepts of time zones, geography, astronomy and continents are just some of the many aspects that could be enriched using this site. This site very simply and effectively shows a graphic representation of how the sun’s light falls across the earth at any given moment and season. It would be interesting to use this site with a class throughout the year from Fall to Spring and watch and notice the daylight pattern subtly shifting with the seasons. Advanced math students may also be intrigued by the parabolic nature of the sunlight pattern as it falls around the globe.
I anticipate using and recommending this mashup because of how it simply and effectively illustrates how the sun’s light falls around the world and how easily this concept touches so many other related concepts that Elementary students learn about.
The mashup found at: http://keirclarke.googlepages.com/sky.htm is star viewer designed to simulate the images you might see from many different high tech space telescopes when looking at various subjects in the universe. I can easily envision using this resource with upper elementary students as apart of an astronomy unit. This site seems easy to navigate by selecting different subjects in the universe to navigate from the menu on the left side of the screen. One can also notice square boxes highlighting that more embedded information or video is available within the actual map view. With this site one can almost sense the feeling of being behind the controls of a state-of-the-art telescope at some renounced space observatory or research center. A teacher could easily set up such a simulation like experience or assignment in which students need to view and report on various objects.
I envision using and recommending this site because of how easily and effectively it shows many objects in the universe and can easily relate to an Elementary astronomy curriculum.
The mashup found at: http://wiki.worldflicks.org/mexico.html is designed to show photos from different geographic locations all around the world. This site could easily be used with Elementary students for a variety of reasons. Students could locate pictures from pen-pals they may have around the nation or world. It could also be used to enhance student reports on various states or countries. This site also helps give students a geographic sense of how the world is made up of states, countries, continents, and oceans. The interactivity of this site could help to motivate students who might not be motivated to learn about geography otherwise.
I found it particularly interesting that when one views “Mexico”, for example, the site gives a short encyclopedia like description of Mexico complete with descriptions of it’s economy, visual points of interest, nearest places of interest, and the most popular places.
I anticipate using and recommending this site in the future because it is simple to navigate and easily shows many photographs from points of interest from all around the world. For example, I could envision using this site when studying Mayan culture or native Americans as a nice photo of a Mayan structure near Merida can easily be located on the Mexican Yucatan peninsula.
Widgets/Gadgets
I installed the following 5 widgets/gadgets:
1. Live Weather Gadget
http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=www.labpixies.com/campaigns/weather/weather.xml&source=imag
2. Weather
http://www.google.com/ig/adde?spid=1:113115786110322176896:106512534632999922029&moduleurl=www.google.com/ig/modules/builtin_weather.xml
3. Flight Tracker
http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=www.flights.com/flight_tracker_gadget.xml&source=imag
4. flight Status – flightstats.com
http://www.google.com/ig/directory?q=flight+tracker&url=www.flightstats.com/go/FlightStatus/AddGoogleHomePageFlightStatus.module
5. Word of the Day
http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=www.thefreedictionary.com/_/WoD/wod-module.xml&source=imag
I selected these gadgets because they all display on my iGoogle homepage and they conveniently tell me information that I find interesting or frequently look up such as the weather and flight status updates. Having useful and frequently used sites automatically load onto my iGoogle page is very convenient for me as I often start at this page to access my Gmail account or RSS reader.
The first two weather widgets are to provide me with weather information. I chose to have two related widgets for several reasons. Since weather forecasts for the Anchorage area often seem hard to predict I can compare two Anchorage forecasts to see how similar they may be. I also like the added feature of the “Weather” gadget in that it allows me to simultaneously track other cites that I have friends and family in. I found both weather widgets effective in the simple task of providing me with a basic and easy to find weather forecast for cities I care about I will continue using these widgets as long as I keep accessing my iGoogle page.
I chose the flight tracker widget because it seems I periodically need to pick up friends and relatives from the airport or I have interests in seeing how their flying itinerary goes. The purpose of this widget is to provide flight status updates on flights. I found this widget to be reasonably effective. It can easily give you flight status information on an initial query, however when checking the same flight over the course of a day or hours the iGoogle widget is not able to simply upload or refresh using updated information. If one wants an updated status after the initial query one must retype the airline code and flight number. In this regard I found it easier to just go to the official flighttracker.com web site and hit refresh or simply type the airline and flight number into a Google search window. I do not anticipate to continue this widget because is seems easier to go directly to flightstatus.com or enter the airline and flight number into a basic Google search. Both of these options offer the ability to refresh the page with automatically updated flight information.
I also tested a related flightstatus.com widget. I did not particularly like this widget because it seemed to only serve as a bookmark to the original flightstatus.com web site. Any flight search within this widget takes one directly to the flight status.com web site rather than working and viewing the information with my iGoogle page. I find it easier to look up the direct web site myself or use a web browser bookmark function rather than take up competing space on my iGoogle home page.
The “Word of the Day” widget was chosen as a entertaining diversion on my iGoogle page that is also educational. I find it interesting to learn new words and see them used in context. It’s purpose is to provide new and interesting words, that I might increase my vocabulary. I find it is very effective in this simple and entertaining purpose. I will look forward to reading the new word of the day every time I log into my iGoogle page.
1. Live Weather Gadget
http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=www.labpixies.com/campaigns/weather/weather.xml&source=imag
2. Weather
http://www.google.com/ig/adde?spid=1:113115786110322176896:106512534632999922029&moduleurl=www.google.com/ig/modules/builtin_weather.xml
3. Flight Tracker
http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=www.flights.com/flight_tracker_gadget.xml&source=imag
4. flight Status – flightstats.com
http://www.google.com/ig/directory?q=flight+tracker&url=www.flightstats.com/go/FlightStatus/AddGoogleHomePageFlightStatus.module
5. Word of the Day
http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=www.thefreedictionary.com/_/WoD/wod-module.xml&source=imag
I selected these gadgets because they all display on my iGoogle homepage and they conveniently tell me information that I find interesting or frequently look up such as the weather and flight status updates. Having useful and frequently used sites automatically load onto my iGoogle page is very convenient for me as I often start at this page to access my Gmail account or RSS reader.
The first two weather widgets are to provide me with weather information. I chose to have two related widgets for several reasons. Since weather forecasts for the Anchorage area often seem hard to predict I can compare two Anchorage forecasts to see how similar they may be. I also like the added feature of the “Weather” gadget in that it allows me to simultaneously track other cites that I have friends and family in. I found both weather widgets effective in the simple task of providing me with a basic and easy to find weather forecast for cities I care about I will continue using these widgets as long as I keep accessing my iGoogle page.
I chose the flight tracker widget because it seems I periodically need to pick up friends and relatives from the airport or I have interests in seeing how their flying itinerary goes. The purpose of this widget is to provide flight status updates on flights. I found this widget to be reasonably effective. It can easily give you flight status information on an initial query, however when checking the same flight over the course of a day or hours the iGoogle widget is not able to simply upload or refresh using updated information. If one wants an updated status after the initial query one must retype the airline code and flight number. In this regard I found it easier to just go to the official flighttracker.com web site and hit refresh or simply type the airline and flight number into a Google search window. I do not anticipate to continue this widget because is seems easier to go directly to flightstatus.com or enter the airline and flight number into a basic Google search. Both of these options offer the ability to refresh the page with automatically updated flight information.
I also tested a related flightstatus.com widget. I did not particularly like this widget because it seemed to only serve as a bookmark to the original flightstatus.com web site. Any flight search within this widget takes one directly to the flight status.com web site rather than working and viewing the information with my iGoogle page. I find it easier to look up the direct web site myself or use a web browser bookmark function rather than take up competing space on my iGoogle home page.
The “Word of the Day” widget was chosen as a entertaining diversion on my iGoogle page that is also educational. I find it interesting to learn new words and see them used in context. It’s purpose is to provide new and interesting words, that I might increase my vocabulary. I find it is very effective in this simple and entertaining purpose. I will look forward to reading the new word of the day every time I log into my iGoogle page.
Adobe Air Applications
I chose to evaluate an Adobe Air application called clDesktop. This program creates an enhanced graphic interface with the popular Criaglist.com sites which list many goods and services for sale locally in cities around the country. After first installing the Adobe Air plug-in and the clCraigslist program I found it easy to get started. I often use Craigslist when looking for good used merchandise that is locally available. I particularly liked the enhanced user interface which allowed me to see the pictures and full descriptions of multiple listings on one screen versus having to individually click and open separate links in the original web based Craigslist site. This site allows me to quickly look up items using various search queries and all necessary information to spot a good deal on one preloaded page with as many as 50 items per page. The ability to save searches also comes in handy when you are patiently waiting for a deal to emerge in a specific product category over the course of many weeks or months. The program performed as stated in enhancing my Craiglist experience and I will continue to use and recommend it for it’s speed and utility when wanting to quickly and efficiently scour Craigslist items.
Web Applications Assignment
The following are the 4 professional and 2 personal web applications that I chose to review.
My 4 Professional Choices:
1. http://www.easybib.com/
2. http://disposablewebpage.com/
3. http://www.flowchart.com/
4. http://www.nvu.com/
My 2 Personal Choices:
1. http://www.google.com/calendar/render —sharing, weather
2. http://picasa.google.com/web/mac_tools.html
My 4 Professional Choices
When finding my professional web applications I chose to focus on sources that I could envision using with Elementary classes or small groups. Generally, my criteria consisted of being easy to use and navigate for Elementary students to use. I believe my first two choices really shine in this regard. Easybib.com and Disposablewebpage.com seem very directed and concrete in the steps needed to format a bibliography source or make a temporary web page. I can envision 3-6 grade Elementary students easily navigating this site with initial assistance and independently in subsequent attempts. Since it functions as an interactive web page there are no issues of installing or running software directly on your computer. The user interface for both programs seems very direct and intuitive with high lighted open text boxes and “click here for…” messages linked to further information. Both programs performed as stated, I could see how to easily format and cut past bibliography resources from Easybib.com and I also created a sample disposable web page at: http://disposablewebpage.com/turn?page=XObKEwrlC5
I could see using Easybib.com with Elementary students who are doing a basic report with a few resources or who are simply learning about APA and MLA styles for documenting sources appropriately. Traditional thought would pose that a teacher first give the order or formula for the bibliography style and let the students manually find the information and plug in the information. This program still necessitates that the students find and plug in the information in the appropriate field, however it basically takes care of formatting the various components. I do not view the automatic formatting as a negative trait as many activities could be done with students to decipher how Easybib.com formatted various sources. For example students could be required to use Easybib.com to cut and paste their sources into their report while also labeling each component such as author’s name, title, publisher, page numbers, volume, and etc… I believe I will use and recommend this resource to other teachers in the future, because of how it so easily formats a variety of sources into MLA and APA formats. I would suspect that no person has the format for every source memorized, and this site emphasizes the important fact that knowing where to look to find information can often be easier than knowing all necessary facets of the required information.
I could also envision using Disposablewebpage.com in requiring Elementary students to publish a final report or creative writing piece. This would seem to be an easy and painless way to publish a student’s writing on a broader scale that would allow friends and family members from across the world to validate an Elementary student. The novelty of publishing a temporary web page may provide the essential motivation for a student to bring out his/her best writing and encourage greater parent support/involvement. I believe I will use and recommend this as a resource to other teachers in the future because it provides an easy to use, fast, and painless way to create temporary web pages.
http://www.flowchart.com/ was much harder and advanced to use in comparison to the previous two web pages mentioned, however I can envision using this with upper Elementary students with guidance, however it does offer some logistical challenges in that one must register with a valid email address before being allowed to access the flowchart’s features. I suppose a teacher might be able to bypass this logistic if flowchart.com would all student users to log in using the teacher’s user name and password. This site was not chosen for it’s ease of access, but for it’s potential to help upper elementary students to outline and categorize their thoughts and writings into understandable flow charts.
I did not feel that the interface was intuitive enough for most upper Elementary students to navigate independently. However, with direct guidance and teacher modeling I believe that an upper Elementary student could successfully make an independent flowchart on a topic of his/her choosing. After logging into the site one is offered choices on what type or style of flowchart is desired. Once these choices are made one can begin to play with rearranging the graphics and text of many of the models to choose from. However, I did find that manipulating and changing the graphic boxes and text within the models proved to be a bit tedious and frustrating. Often the mount of text I experimented with overflowed out of the small graphic shapes that were meant to contain it. It could take a lot of effort for Elementary students to think of succinct text titles that accurately describe their ideas while also fitting into the flow chart graphic boxes. I do not believe this site would be the easiest to lead a group of upper Elementary students, however with considerable practice I believe it or a similar site could prove to be very helpful in demonstrating a student’s critical thinking and analysis skills. The program does perform as stated, but not without much time and tinkering. I don’t envision using this site with many students or recommending it to colleagues until I either gain more confidence with it or find another similar site that is more easily navigated. However, I do see great potential with this site in being able to help students visually demonstrate their thought/analyzation process in a flow chart form.
The fourth program I chose to review is a web authoring program called Nvu (http://www.nvu.com/). Unlike the other web based programs I reviewed, this program must be downloaded and installed and is currently available for Linux, Windows, and Macintosh platforms. My reasons for choosing Nvu were primarily based on my personal and professional interests in gaining knowledge on how to create web pages. My primary interest in using Nvu would be in creating personalized web pages for specific lessons I plan to teach, however advanced upper Elementary students may benefit from a basic use of Nvu. Nvu is a “What You See is What you Get” or WYSIG web authoring program that aims to greatly simplify the process of web creation. That said, I still believe it would take considerable time to gain the experience needed to create and post a well created web page. This could be used with student to introduce them to the concepts of web authoring, however I would envision a polished web site would take considerable time and much motivation for the average Elementary student to complete. An accompanying logistical issue would also be to determine how/where to post created web pages to the Internet. Nvu simply helps create the html files necessary for a web page, but does nothing to provide an Internet host, although it “Publish” button which prompts you to provide the necessary independent hosting information needed to upload the pages to your host provider.
I found Nvu to be generally be intuitive and similar to formatting and working with Microsoft Word. While I have yet to test Nvu’s limits I found it to generally meet any potential professional or personal interest I may have to create a web page. I would like to continue to become familiar with Nvu and gain confidence with using this program so that I might become a resource to others seeking web page authoring assistance. The fact that Nvu is an open source and easy to use web authoring program that is available for Linux, Windows, and Macintosh makes it a tempting alternative to commercial web authoring tools.
My 2 Personal Choices
My two personal web application choices included enhancing my Google calendar page with weather, Olympic Trails TV schedules, phases of the moon, and Tour de France schedules. I also downloaded a photo sharing application plug-in from Picasa.
I selected these two applications because I wanted to find some web applications that would be useful, meaningful, and easy to use. Since I am all ready familiar with and use Google for many web searches, Gmail, and RSS reader…I decided to expand my Google usage further by developing my Google calendar. Once logged into my Google calendar page I found it very easy to search for and apply new calendar options into my personal calendar that may interest me. The Google calendar interface is very intuitive, I can add or search for new events simply by clicking on “Add” and typing in a query or selecting from many suggested choices. The Calendar does perform as stated and makes it convenient to make your calendar public to others or add other public calendars to yours. It also does a great job at offering a huge variety of suggested calendars that you might want to add to your calendar. I was disappointed however that more information could not be given with some of the Google calendar entries. For example, when I applied the “2008 Olympic TV Trail Schedule” I was expecting to find information leading me to what TV channel I might find the programming on, but I could not find this information there. Likewise when I added the “”Tour de France” schedule I would have liked to see links to resources that tell more about each days stage or what is expected for future days and routes.
In short though, I am happy with the simple performance of Google calendar and it’s ability to share and aggregate a variety of calendars. I would like to become more comfort in using Google calendars and slowly wean myself from using my current standard which is Macintosh’s iCalendar. I believe the primary feature benefit of Google calendar is the ability to share my calendar with others and add their calendar information to mine. I will continue to use Google calendars to supplement my iCalendar and I will try to gain more experience in sharing my calendar with other friends.
My second personal choice web application was to install a photo sharing application for Macintosh called Picasa which can be found at: http://picasa.google.com/web/mac_tools.html . I decided to try Picasa because I have heard good reports from many of my friends who have already started using it successfully. Being a Mac user I was happy to find that they offer a Mac compatible version so now I really had no excuse for not dabbling with this photo sharing software. Once I downloaded and installed the Picasa for Mac plug in I found that it easily and very discreetly integrated with iPhoto, in which I currently have all my pictures stored and managed on my computer. In a matter of a few clicks I found I could easily upload pictures directly from my iPhoto program into Picasa. This seamless and discreet integration increased my opinion of Picasa from the start. Had I known more about Picasa about 12 months ago I may have forgone paying for a .Mac account which affords some of the same seamless uploading from iPhoto to an internet site. I will continue to experiment with Picasa primarily because I love it’s seamless integration into iPhoto. A free photo sharing site that enhances a product I already know and am familiar with (iPhoto) is hard to beat. I also see that Picasa offers options to upload to one’s blogspot account. Surely as I increase my familiarity with a these programs these options will only spur me on in higher levels of use.
My 4 Professional Choices:
1. http://www.easybib.com/
2. http://disposablewebpage.com/
3. http://www.flowchart.com/
4. http://www.nvu.com/
My 2 Personal Choices:
1. http://www.google.com/calendar/render —sharing, weather
2. http://picasa.google.com/web/mac_tools.html
My 4 Professional Choices
When finding my professional web applications I chose to focus on sources that I could envision using with Elementary classes or small groups. Generally, my criteria consisted of being easy to use and navigate for Elementary students to use. I believe my first two choices really shine in this regard. Easybib.com and Disposablewebpage.com seem very directed and concrete in the steps needed to format a bibliography source or make a temporary web page. I can envision 3-6 grade Elementary students easily navigating this site with initial assistance and independently in subsequent attempts. Since it functions as an interactive web page there are no issues of installing or running software directly on your computer. The user interface for both programs seems very direct and intuitive with high lighted open text boxes and “click here for…” messages linked to further information. Both programs performed as stated, I could see how to easily format and cut past bibliography resources from Easybib.com and I also created a sample disposable web page at: http://disposablewebpage.com/turn?page=XObKEwrlC5
I could see using Easybib.com with Elementary students who are doing a basic report with a few resources or who are simply learning about APA and MLA styles for documenting sources appropriately. Traditional thought would pose that a teacher first give the order or formula for the bibliography style and let the students manually find the information and plug in the information. This program still necessitates that the students find and plug in the information in the appropriate field, however it basically takes care of formatting the various components. I do not view the automatic formatting as a negative trait as many activities could be done with students to decipher how Easybib.com formatted various sources. For example students could be required to use Easybib.com to cut and paste their sources into their report while also labeling each component such as author’s name, title, publisher, page numbers, volume, and etc… I believe I will use and recommend this resource to other teachers in the future, because of how it so easily formats a variety of sources into MLA and APA formats. I would suspect that no person has the format for every source memorized, and this site emphasizes the important fact that knowing where to look to find information can often be easier than knowing all necessary facets of the required information.
I could also envision using Disposablewebpage.com in requiring Elementary students to publish a final report or creative writing piece. This would seem to be an easy and painless way to publish a student’s writing on a broader scale that would allow friends and family members from across the world to validate an Elementary student. The novelty of publishing a temporary web page may provide the essential motivation for a student to bring out his/her best writing and encourage greater parent support/involvement. I believe I will use and recommend this as a resource to other teachers in the future because it provides an easy to use, fast, and painless way to create temporary web pages.
http://www.flowchart.com/ was much harder and advanced to use in comparison to the previous two web pages mentioned, however I can envision using this with upper Elementary students with guidance, however it does offer some logistical challenges in that one must register with a valid email address before being allowed to access the flowchart’s features. I suppose a teacher might be able to bypass this logistic if flowchart.com would all student users to log in using the teacher’s user name and password. This site was not chosen for it’s ease of access, but for it’s potential to help upper elementary students to outline and categorize their thoughts and writings into understandable flow charts.
I did not feel that the interface was intuitive enough for most upper Elementary students to navigate independently. However, with direct guidance and teacher modeling I believe that an upper Elementary student could successfully make an independent flowchart on a topic of his/her choosing. After logging into the site one is offered choices on what type or style of flowchart is desired. Once these choices are made one can begin to play with rearranging the graphics and text of many of the models to choose from. However, I did find that manipulating and changing the graphic boxes and text within the models proved to be a bit tedious and frustrating. Often the mount of text I experimented with overflowed out of the small graphic shapes that were meant to contain it. It could take a lot of effort for Elementary students to think of succinct text titles that accurately describe their ideas while also fitting into the flow chart graphic boxes. I do not believe this site would be the easiest to lead a group of upper Elementary students, however with considerable practice I believe it or a similar site could prove to be very helpful in demonstrating a student’s critical thinking and analysis skills. The program does perform as stated, but not without much time and tinkering. I don’t envision using this site with many students or recommending it to colleagues until I either gain more confidence with it or find another similar site that is more easily navigated. However, I do see great potential with this site in being able to help students visually demonstrate their thought/analyzation process in a flow chart form.
The fourth program I chose to review is a web authoring program called Nvu (http://www.nvu.com/). Unlike the other web based programs I reviewed, this program must be downloaded and installed and is currently available for Linux, Windows, and Macintosh platforms. My reasons for choosing Nvu were primarily based on my personal and professional interests in gaining knowledge on how to create web pages. My primary interest in using Nvu would be in creating personalized web pages for specific lessons I plan to teach, however advanced upper Elementary students may benefit from a basic use of Nvu. Nvu is a “What You See is What you Get” or WYSIG web authoring program that aims to greatly simplify the process of web creation. That said, I still believe it would take considerable time to gain the experience needed to create and post a well created web page. This could be used with student to introduce them to the concepts of web authoring, however I would envision a polished web site would take considerable time and much motivation for the average Elementary student to complete. An accompanying logistical issue would also be to determine how/where to post created web pages to the Internet. Nvu simply helps create the html files necessary for a web page, but does nothing to provide an Internet host, although it “Publish” button which prompts you to provide the necessary independent hosting information needed to upload the pages to your host provider.
I found Nvu to be generally be intuitive and similar to formatting and working with Microsoft Word. While I have yet to test Nvu’s limits I found it to generally meet any potential professional or personal interest I may have to create a web page. I would like to continue to become familiar with Nvu and gain confidence with using this program so that I might become a resource to others seeking web page authoring assistance. The fact that Nvu is an open source and easy to use web authoring program that is available for Linux, Windows, and Macintosh makes it a tempting alternative to commercial web authoring tools.
My 2 Personal Choices
My two personal web application choices included enhancing my Google calendar page with weather, Olympic Trails TV schedules, phases of the moon, and Tour de France schedules. I also downloaded a photo sharing application plug-in from Picasa.
I selected these two applications because I wanted to find some web applications that would be useful, meaningful, and easy to use. Since I am all ready familiar with and use Google for many web searches, Gmail, and RSS reader…I decided to expand my Google usage further by developing my Google calendar. Once logged into my Google calendar page I found it very easy to search for and apply new calendar options into my personal calendar that may interest me. The Google calendar interface is very intuitive, I can add or search for new events simply by clicking on “Add” and typing in a query or selecting from many suggested choices. The Calendar does perform as stated and makes it convenient to make your calendar public to others or add other public calendars to yours. It also does a great job at offering a huge variety of suggested calendars that you might want to add to your calendar. I was disappointed however that more information could not be given with some of the Google calendar entries. For example, when I applied the “2008 Olympic TV Trail Schedule” I was expecting to find information leading me to what TV channel I might find the programming on, but I could not find this information there. Likewise when I added the “”Tour de France” schedule I would have liked to see links to resources that tell more about each days stage or what is expected for future days and routes.
In short though, I am happy with the simple performance of Google calendar and it’s ability to share and aggregate a variety of calendars. I would like to become more comfort in using Google calendars and slowly wean myself from using my current standard which is Macintosh’s iCalendar. I believe the primary feature benefit of Google calendar is the ability to share my calendar with others and add their calendar information to mine. I will continue to use Google calendars to supplement my iCalendar and I will try to gain more experience in sharing my calendar with other friends.
My second personal choice web application was to install a photo sharing application for Macintosh called Picasa which can be found at: http://picasa.google.com/web/mac_tools.html . I decided to try Picasa because I have heard good reports from many of my friends who have already started using it successfully. Being a Mac user I was happy to find that they offer a Mac compatible version so now I really had no excuse for not dabbling with this photo sharing software. Once I downloaded and installed the Picasa for Mac plug in I found that it easily and very discreetly integrated with iPhoto, in which I currently have all my pictures stored and managed on my computer. In a matter of a few clicks I found I could easily upload pictures directly from my iPhoto program into Picasa. This seamless and discreet integration increased my opinion of Picasa from the start. Had I known more about Picasa about 12 months ago I may have forgone paying for a .Mac account which affords some of the same seamless uploading from iPhoto to an internet site. I will continue to experiment with Picasa primarily because I love it’s seamless integration into iPhoto. A free photo sharing site that enhances a product I already know and am familiar with (iPhoto) is hard to beat. I also see that Picasa offers options to upload to one’s blogspot account. Surely as I increase my familiarity with a these programs these options will only spur me on in higher levels of use.
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