Technology
ONLINE TOOLS FOR 21ST CENTURY LEARNING
This is an overview of the primary online tools that schools, including Lancaster Mennonite, are using with students for collaboration and communication as part of 21st century learning. Students in grades 4–12 will be given individual accounts for the educational organizations listed below, which provide online tools for students unless the parent/caretaker requests otherwise.
What are “online tools”?
Web 1.0 (Read Only): When we first started using the Internet in schools, we used it to get information. It was complicated for average users to create a website to contribute their own information. The Internet was a passive experience. We refer to it as “Web 1.0.”
Web 2.0 (Read-Write-Publish): Since 1999, with changes in technology and the Internet, average users can now be active users and contributors of information to the Internet. Websites and slide shows can easily be created with user-friendly tools or programs (applications) from the Internet, most of them free! These Internet tools or applications are commonly referred to as “Web 2.0 Tools.” Those creations, along with thoughts, photos and videos, can then be placed or “published” online to share with others (“wikis,” “blogging”). Average users can easily communicate with others through discussions—asking questions and using text, audio, and video (“social networking,” “video conferencing”). They can also store their creations, photos, or dialogues online, to be accessible anytime/anywhere to view or to change. There is no risk of losing what has been created or discussed (“cloud computing”).
With some web 2.0 organizations, several users are able to work on the same document, project or website at the same time, allowing for easier collaboration and sharing of ideas. Many websites and tools have the capability to connect users with similar interests. They can also set up specific groups of people, creating “personal learning networks” for discussion/sharing/generating ideas and information.
You are probably using many Web 2.0 tools yourself already: Wikipedia for information, Facebook and Skype for connecting to friends and family, Blogger or WordPress to journal your vacation with friends and relatives, Flickr or Picasa to share photos of your family with others and create calendars, books, and cards, and Google Docs to write or share a document.
How do students access the tools?
As stated above, most Web 2.0 tools are free! A user need only to go to an organization’s website and download an application to the computer or register to create an “account” at the website. Registering with a website usually requires providing an email address. Users are also asked to come up with a username and password to get back into their personal account on the website to continue using that tool and to access anything that was already created by the user. With some tools, a teacher can register using his/her email address and then add a number of students to the teacher’s account without needing any student email addresses. In those cases where students must register individually, schools have students use email addresses which are not their personal email addresses. Educational companies like Gaggle.net and Google Apps for Education provide schools with the ability to create student email addresses that can be restricted as far as who the student can send email to or receive email from.
Why are we using these online tools in schools?
We all realize that our children are growing up in a far different world than the one we experienced as young people. In fact, they are called “digital natives” and most of us adults are called “digital immigrants.” The Internet and other technology provide such a vast opportunity for learning, beyond what is offered through the classroom. The Internet opens our students up to a world full of teachers and experts and others wanting to learn about the same things. However, it is our duty as teachers to prepare our students to live and learn in this digital age. We need to provide students with opportunities to use these tools, as well as guidance in navigating the Internet safely and in evaluating resources to find useful and factual information.
Students learn through collaboration and creating. Web 2.0 tools allow students to ask questions, discuss, work on a project with another student, and then share what they’ve learned or created with others—even working outside the classroom, with students and teachers from all over the world! In this way, others may benefit or provide feedback, which may generate even more discussion, research, and lifelong learning.
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), an accepted authority among schools, has developed a list of what students should be able to do through technology: http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students.aspx. These six National Education Technology Standards (NETS) for students include “creativity and innovation” and “communication and collaboration”:
Communication and Collaboration
- Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:
- Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others, employing a variety of digital environments and media.
- Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.
- Develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures.
- Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.”
THE PRIMARY ONLINE TOOLS LMS STUDENTS WILL BE USING
GOOGLE APPS FOR EDUCATION: http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/k12.html
Description
Google Apps is a free online version of several applications including: Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Any work is stored online within the user’s account and can be downloaded to a computer or usb drive. Conversely, work can be uploaded from the computer or usb drive to the account. Work can be shared with others so that others can see it or edit it, even at the same time! It doesn’t matter if you have different versions of Word on your computer, or if your computer is a Mac or PC. Any already-saved document can be opened in Google App,s and it can save work in other formats, including pdf. Anyone can sign up for a Google Account and have access to these “apps,” which also includes Gmail and Google Calendar. The “education” version allows the school to choose which applications are available to students. Restrictions can and will be made to student email accounts so that students can only email to a teacher, and not between students. Exceptions will be made to allow email from any website where students need to use an email address to register in order to use the tool (See “Web 2.0 Tools” above.) All work is archived so that deletions and edits can be viewed and teachers can see who made the edit. This helps to hold students accountable for their work. Google Apps for Education also uses a service called Postini for security, privacy and filtering.
How teachers and students will use it
With Google Apps, students can work on their homework assignments online and store their work online in their individual accounts. This eliminates the need for usb drives and the problems that arise when students keep assignments on a usb drive or on paper and then forget or lose it. Students can be directed to “share” their work with the teacher, which allows the teacher to see the students’ progress from anywhere at anytime. Since you can insert pop-up comment boxes in Word, teachers can easily add comments or corrections to the students’ work, providing faster feedback. Files can be shared with other students for easy “peer editing” and collaborative work. The need to print is drastically reduced. Google Apps includes additional tools that are perfect for use in school. It has the ability to create forms that can be placed in a class website or wiki page for conducting surveys to gather data. The results go directly into an Excel spreadsheet in the account so students can use it to create a chart for analyzing the results. With the tool, Google MyMaps, students can find a location on a map and then add text, lines, place markers, images, audio, video and links to other web sites to map out a route or tell about a location. The customized map can be saved and placed on a class website or wiki to share with others.
GAGGLE .NET: https://www.gaggle.net/
Description
Gaggle was first widely used in schools as a way to provide a safe way for students to blog and use email. (See “blogging” below.) The attraction for schools has always been that teachers or the school have the ability to limit email and blogging to within a classroom, building, district, or to make it public. Email and blogging can also be turned off completely or limited so that students can only send out email, but not receive email. Gaggle holds students accountable because teachers have access to all email and student work. It uses strong content filtering so that any inappropriate content a student writes is blocked immediately and rerouted to the teacher. Gaggle, probably in an effort to compete with Google Apps, has recently added features such as the ability to upload, download and store student work in the student’s personal account online. Students also have the ability to enter into discussions in Gaggle “chat rooms.” The chat room feature can also be turned off or limited as far as who can participate.
How teachers and students will use it
In addition to providing a safe email address for students to register at a website for using certain Web 2.0 tools, and a safe way to allow students to communicate with each other, one of the main capabilities of Gaggle is “blogging.” This has become a popular tool in education. Blogging is usually thought of as a way to journal or record your thoughts. However, blogs often allow readers to respond to what was written, leading to discussions and sharing of ideas. Teachers can use a blog to present a question along with an image or link to a website, and students can then respond to the blog with their own ideas. As responses are read, continued dialogue can occur between the students or with the teacher. Students can also begin creative writing on their own blog and then have other students add an ending or ask questions. Students can act as a historical character and use the blog to write a journal from that person’s perspective. There are numerous uses for blogs in any subject area.
WIKISPACES.COM: http://www.wikispaces.com/content/for/teachers
Description
A “wiki” is a type of web page or web site that allows for online collaborative creation because the creator of the wiki can give permission to others to make changes and add things to it. “Wiki” is the Hawaiian word for “fast.” Users can add images, text, video, files, Google calendars, Google maps, and links to web sites or other pages within the wiki. Anyone can create a basic wiki for free.
How teachers and students will use it
Wikis are often used as a way for teachers to communicate to parents by posting monthly class newsletters, a calendar of events, vocabulary words, and homework assignments. Teachers can showcase what students have done by including photos, slide shows, and videos of classroom activities and student work. Some teachers use a wiki as a teaching tool with information, videos, images and links to websites about a topic. Wikis can also be used as class resource where students can find copies of worksheets, notes and assignments. Online quizzes made by the teacher can be inserted into a wiki page to be used for studying as a practice test.
Students can be involved in adding to a wiki if they have created accounts and the teacher adds the students as members to the wiki. Students can create their own wikis or use one created by a teacher as an alternative to a “report” or PowerPoint. Each page on a wiki has a discussion feature, which can be used for responding to a question or for discussion among students. Collaborative work is easy with a wiki. Students can work together, creating a project from home, since the wiki is online. Coaches and parents can add to a “team wiki” for easy sharing of information.
Wikispaces is the organization most often used by schools when using wikis with students. Teachers can create wikis that do not have advertising and which can be made “private” or “protected.” Private wikis cannot be seen by anyone who has not been made a “member” of that wiki. Protected wikis can be seen by anyone. In both types, only members can add to the wiki. Teachers can also create student accounts for their wikis without needing student email addresses. With Wikispaces, the pages are archived, showing a history of anything that was added or deleted and who did it. This makes each student accountable for what is added to the wiki. Teachers can see what each student contributed to the project. Teachers can lock pages so that no one can change them, and also remove members from their wikis.
When students become members of a wiki or have a Wikispace account, they are given an email address. Teachers cannot turn off that email, however; users can only email other wiki members, and the teacher can see whatever is written in the emails. Users also have the ability to create a “profile page” where they can include information about themselves. The profile page cannot be turned off, but teachers have access to the profile pages and can see whatever students write, which can be a deterrent for misconduct. Teachers should make it clear to their students whether or not they may use the email or set up a profile page. If students misuse the wiki, they may lose the privilege of working on the wiki and may experience other appropriate consequences.
MY BIG CAMPUS: http://www.mybigcampus.com/
Description
My Big Campus is a tool recently developed by Lightspeed Systems, the company we use to filter our Internet for inappropriate content and manage Internet use. It is primarily a way for schools to use “blogging” and “social networking” or “the ability to connect to others to discuss online” for educational purposes. This tool will be used mainly with high school students. Teachers sign into My Big Campus and then create a “site” for each class. Only the teacher and the students in the class have access to the site. The site looks and acts somewhat like Facebook, with a “wall” where students and the teacher can post messages to each other and an “activity feed” area where students can see a list of all of the class discussion groups in which they are participating. The “members” (teacher and students) can also add and share content—including video, images, links, and documents—to the class site. Separate areas or pages can be created for different topics or groups, including areas for students and the teacher to create blogs. Students can also email each other within the site. All content accessed through the site is filtered, including any YouTube video searches, blocking anything inappropriate. Inappropriate content created by students is “flagged” and sent to the teacher. Students benefit from the learning that takes place using social networking, yet they are using it within a controlled, monitored, secure environment.
How teachers and students will use it
We will begin using My Big Campus in the high school for group discussions and blogging, as part of instruction and learning. Teachers can add worksheets and web site links or videos to the class site for students to access and discuss. Even as students access Internet sites from home, when they do so through My Big Campus, the content will be filtered. Teachers and students are not limited to a 40-minute class period to discuss topics. Students can discuss in groups from home and the teacher can provide feedback and evaluate the discussions at any time. This allows for more frequent discussion times. There is rarely time for each student to contribute to discussions during class time. With a social networking tool, every student can participate. Participating online is also easier for some students, providing time for them to think through what they want to say before contributing to the group.
STUDENT EXPECTATIONS FOR ACCEPTABLE USE
Students are expected to abide by the same guidelines for responsible, ethical and appropriate use of technology and the Internet, which have been established by Lancaster Mennonite School when using any online tool. Teachers are expected to review expectations and guidelines with students frequently when using these tools with students.
These guidelines prohibit:
- Illegal activities, commercial activities, unauthorized advertising
- Hate mail, discriminating remarks, profanity, inappropriate language and offensive communications
- Bullying, Cyberbullying and harassment
- Access to, distribution or creation of inappropriate, obscene, or offensive content
- Any attempt to modify or delete work or passwords belonging to other users
- Any attempt to misrepresent or impersonate other users
- Illegal use of copyrighted materials or files
Students should report any problems or violations to the teacher or school administration.
Students are expected to keep passwords confidential.
Even with a content filter and other technology protection measures in place, the LMS System cannot guarantee the filter to be 100% effective.