TheWizardofAppsFALL2010

=CATNIP FALL 2010= =__ The Wizard of Apps __=

__**Description**____:__ In this student-produced keynote, Joyce and the students of Springfield Township High School’s Theatre II class consider which apps are the most critical as they walk the road together. **__Presenter:__** Joyce Kasman Valenza, Rydal, PA, USA **__Length of Presentation:__** 51:39 **3** CATNIP HOURS __**URL:**__ []

__**Steps for completing the class**__ //If you have questions regarding entering information into this Wiki please contact Kim Thomas (kthomas@msd38.org).//
 * 1) **Register for the class in True North Logic**
 * 2) **Write down the Essential Questions located below. You will want to refer to these as you are watching the video.**
 * 3) **Watch video presentation at URL listed above.**
 * 4) **Return to this wiki page to answer the Essential Questions and write a Summary**
 * 5) **Adding to this wiki**
 * 6) **Click on the Edit button located on the right - note that an Editor toolbar will appear**
 * 7) **Scroll down to the next empty spot**
 * 8) **Type in your name**
 * 9) **Write a brief answer for each question**
 * 10) **Write a brief summary as to how you might use this new information in your classroom**
 * 11) **When you are done click on Save in the Editor toolbar**
 * Essential Questions:**

Your Name:Bonnie McCarthy 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like? Information/media fluency is being able to use the applications that are available to research, create, collaborate, and communicate. In doing this students are to be aware of their own digital footprint and follow current practices for research, creations, and presentations. Information/media fluency looks like students going beyond Google to research, questioning sources, attributing material found on the internet to proper sources, creating presentations, and sharing products with a global and local audience.

2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable? Meaningful collaboration can be at the local and global level. Students can find information from around the world using the internet. The students must learn to make sense of the applications that are available and evaluate their legitimacy. Students must ask questions of the sources they are using and understand fair use of materials. Strategies that work include using applications to discover and create wikis, blogs, digital storytelling, slideshare, skype, powerpoint, etc. to pinpoint and share information. These strategies seem to be sustainable because students can gather so much more information from searches that go beyond Google as well as create presentations to showcase the research they have discovered.

3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap? Some school districts and parents limit access to internet and internet searches. Schools can be proactive by both teaching proper use of the internet as well as sending home parent education and permission form letters. By increasing the knowledge for both parents and students, the access gap can be narrowed.

4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like? A student's academic digital footprint should be positive and take into consideration fair use of materials as well as use of appropriate search engines. Students need to bbe aware that what they publish and post can often be viewed by others. They need to take steps to ensure privacy of materials as well as only post items they want people to see.

Summary (How might you use this new information in your classroom?): This information is invaluable in the classroom. I didn't realize there are so many different types of search engines beyond Google. I want to check out websites to create and innovate materials for the classroom. I love the idea of bringing authors into the classroom through skype an author network. Kindergarten students would find this interesting after reading a series of author's books.

Your Name: Jamie Jay 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like? Information/media fluency is knowing what is out there and being able to pick and choose what we want to be able to use things. It's not knowing exactly where information is (because that would be beyond anyones ability) but knowing how to effectivly get to the information so that we can use it to meet our individual and particular needs. It looks like teachers and students creating dataases that are always growing and adding on from useful and meaningful sources.

2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable? I think the first step in meaningful collaboration is to find places where meaningful collaboration can happen. Then, we need to decide how we are goind to collaborate and set an agenda to collaborate. Are we sharing and building a creative work, or a datatbase of information? Stratigies that work are 1. linking ourselves into the information network so that we become a part of the community. Something I've learned with my professional blog is that because I have not hooked myself into that particular network I get no hits on the blog beyond the indulgent visits of my loved ones. 2. We need to find a good platform for our work. If it is creative collaboration we are looking for then we need to be looking for a platform (flickr, etc) that promotes that type of collaboration. 3. Our work needs to be more than one-shot deals. If we expect collaboration to work then we need to be willing to work hard to make them happen. We cannot 'collaborate' once and then let it slide again. Collaboration needs to be an end goal, not a means to that end. All of these are sustainable, though they are difficult and all take time. I loved this presentation, but I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. I need to take some more time to take about five hours to go through the presentation and explore the sources that were thrown at.

3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap? I'm glad this question asks about 'equity' not 'equality'. I don't think there will ever be equality when it comes to the access gap. However, one way that I can ensure equity is to make sure my students know ways they can access digital information outside of my classroom. This includes times when they can access before and after school, as well as times within my classroom. I need to help parents to be aware of these opportunities so that they can help their students access meaningful information.

4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like? Every students digital footprint should be few things. One, it should be positive. We need to teach our students that just because they are online, not everything goes. There are still rules and a moral code for their actions. Next, it should be their own. The internet has given us a way to add our own individualism to the collection of information on the intener, but if we post only what has already been posted then their contribution is not of much use. Last, it should contribute to the information online. It needs to be something more than is already avalible. This can be achieved by the work being primary (using apps like godaddy), a new collection of information (using a blog, wiki or personal webpage), or even a new viewpoint.

Summary (How might you use this new information in your classroom?): Once I get my personal teacher website set up, I want to flip back through this account and begin setting up wigits for my students. If I can find search engines (like the google search she found that was more directed and edited out the noise) that I trust, I'll be able to allow my students more freedom on the intenet when it comes to finding information, and give them a portal to make their digital footprints without creating a dangerous situation for themselves from online predators. My students are amazing artists and writers. They enjoy sharing their information and dislike it when we have to stop in our own classroom for the sake of time. If I can get them sharing online, they will be able to be sharing their work all the time.

Your Name: Teresa Belnap 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like? Information/media fluency is students being aware of how to safely use the many resources that are available to them, and knowing what to do when they run into a problem. It is using search tools to locate information that is useful to the student and sifting out the items that do not relate. It is students knowing what falls under fair use, and when and how to cite their sources.

2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable? Working with each other within the classroom and others outside the classroom. Searching through so many resources to research their own ideas and creating their presentations while using their own creativity makes it more meaningful to the students and makes it sustainable.

3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap? All students have and always will have different levels of access to technology outside the classroom, but all students in a classroom have the same access to learning what resources are available, how to use them, and how to stay safe. All classrooms are different, which makes for different levels of knowledge across classrooms, schools, states, etc. As teachers we can work together and discuss what needs to be done to create equity across grade levels and from grade to grade within a school or district.

4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like? The main idea from the presentation, that I remember, regarding digital footprints, is that they should be positive. Students need to learn as much as possible about safely navigating the internet and how to collaborate safely on it.

Summary (How might you use this new information in your classroom?): I'm looking forward to the Learning with Blogs and Wikis CATNIP class so I can learn more about them and how to incorporate them into my classroom. I want to have my students choose a topic that they are interested in and be able to safely research their topic and create some form of presentation to share what they have learned with others. There was so much information presented that I plan to review it again.

Your Name: Julie Bradford 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like? Information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year is to be open and willing to utilize all of the valuable resources media and the internet has to offer for education. There are so many tools available to both teachers and students such as wikis, blogs, slideshow sharing, and even Twitter. Additionally, it is important to discern which resources are valuable and which resources are not. By doing so, an individual can save his time and his sanity.

2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable? Collaboration is much easier with the internet. Websites like wikis, Googledocs, Doodle, and Glogster all allow collaboration. As the narrator said on the video, Googledocs allowed teachers and students alike in the video to work on the presentation simultaneously even in the late hours of the night. It is important to teach students thoroughly the process of these collaborative websites in order to make them most effective for all parties. I remember using these websites at ASU and found it difficult to utilize them at first. However, after more experience, I was able to utilize these collaborative websites to their full potential.

3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap? There will always be students who do not have access to certain types of technology. However, we can ensure that in a classroom setting teachers and educators are properly utilizing the technological resources available to them. This is why technology education for teachers is so important. Also, teachers should collaborate with parents and offer them information about technology they may have not been aware of.

4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like? A student’s academic digital footprint should be a positive one. We can encourage this by educating our students with websites such as Pipl, 123people, and Thatsnotcool. The narrator pointed out that she uses these websites to educate her senior students about what college recruiters can access about them. I cannot count how many times our college professors warned us about putting personal information on the web. It is important to make students aware of how easy it is to access personal information and the negative affect it may have on a student’s future.

Summary (How might you use this new information in your classroom?): When preparing for a future lesson, I can access some of these websites the narrator mentioned. I am looking forward to using the new search engines she mentioned to see if they are really more useful than Google.

Your Name: 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like? **Media fluency pertains to one's ability to not only access the basic of operating a computer but also taking that knowledge to the next level. For example, being media fluent in this day and age pertains to a fluency of all social networks, online forums, and formative websites.**

2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable?

Video chatting with classes from different states OR creating wikis where people can dialogue and/or contribute on their own time. Plus, it is a great way to document.

3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap? **Equity for all is something that is essential if we want to create a society of learners and persons who are prepared to be find a job in this competitive and highly technology-driven society. More opportunities need to be proved to families to access the internet if they are not fiscally able. Beyond the library where are there places that people can have up to day computer/internet access?**

4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like? **When I think about a student's digital footprint I think that they should take ownership over the control they possess with the internet. Today, too often, students are unaware of how much control/access they have at their fingertips. Unfortunately, much of this control is misused. I would hope that they can leave a //positive// digital footprint that is representation of continued learning and much potential.**

Summary (How might you use this new information in your classroom?): **Something that I am very interested in incorporating into my classroom is BLOGS. I think it would be fantastic to set up a classroom blog that students could access at school or at home. I envision this being a forum of learning where we could chat about specific units of study that take place in the classroom's curriculum.**

Your Name: Claudia Riggle 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like? One of the important ways to for students to demonstrate their media/info fluency is their ability to navigate through databases for research. Students should be able to navigate through media with ease and safety. They should be learning how to map out their ideas to explain their rational. Students’ understanding that there are a myriad of search engines and research tools that can be used besides Google. To be fluent with media also means that you have developed a comprehensive filter for determining whether something is a waste of time or valuable information. 2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable? It is important that we first of all understand how to properly publish work and share with other colleagues without violating fair use guidelines. I think that once a teacher understands how to repurpose and add value to the material then they can really assist their students with making meaningful connections. One of the ways is having students use blogs to reflect on work they’ve read. Using Glogster is another creative way to allow students to share their ideas with others. 3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap? Providing students the tools they need is going to be a key part in narrowing the access gap. Giving students the exposure they need to these new technologies available is also very important in order to narrow the access gap. 4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like? Teaching students that what they do/say/display on the internet is like writing something in pen not pencil. Students need to be aware that you can’t take something back very easily once it’s been put on the internet. Students should be aware of taking safe steps such as instead of just googling themselves; using more detailed websites like pipl or 123people. Teachers should be addressing privacy issues, proper citation use, and fair use guidelines with students so they are giving credit to those who deserve it. Students should be able to identify trustworthy search engines and be able to distinguish between valid, dependable information and useless junk.

Summary (How might you use this new information in your classroom?): I think I will use the widgets next semester for my 4th grade students researching written assignments. I would like to use the Google wonder wheel for my students. I like how you can sort of bookmark one of your searches on EPSCO so students can easily refer back to it. I’d like to look into digital storytelling. Another idea I would like to try is using polls/surveys to gather data, analyze, and present it using the proper graph.

Your Name: 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like?

2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable?

3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap?

4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like?

Summary (How might you use this new information in your classroom?):

Jenny Davey: 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like?

Students will use the web as a resource to enhance their learning. If students are to do this in a safe, ethical, and informed way, they need to develop fluency in the following areas: Critical Thinking – understanding how to evaluate digital media through triangulation (developing a filter for “garbage” based on titles, URLs, and brief descriptions) Searching – Google (using it powerfully – Wonderwheel, News Timeline, Squared, Custom Search), Boolify, Pathfinders, Widgets (teachers can add to PageFlakes to allow “safer” searching) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">PLN – developing their own Personal Learning Network <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Primary Sources – the nature of primary sources have changed in the information age. Students need to be able to evaluate the validity of information being shared by primary sources in the digital age. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Original Research – google forums, pole forum, survey monkey <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Learners need to be trained how to ask “What’s missing in the information I’m reading? From whose lens am I viewing situation/event?”**


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable? **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">We can develop meaningful collaboration by teaching our students how to utilize some of the following tools: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Wikis **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Skype (Skype an Author Network) **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Nings (Classroom 2.0) **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Google Docs (storyboarding templates) **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Digo (social bookmarking) **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Doodle **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Paperback Swap **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Lit Circles using Wikis and Nings **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Glogster (ex: student book review archive) **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Not having used the resources in my classroom yet, I cannot speak to the question of what strategies work and which are sustainable. **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap? **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Access to information is an issue of intellectual freedom, especially for students without resources to continue their studies outside the school day. As educators, we can make an argument in favor of granting access to apps which might be blocked within our district based on the Library Bill of Rights. **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like? **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I would expect it to be different for students based on their age and technological savvy (or that of their families). Younger students would likely have a small or non-existent digital footprint – perhaps limited to pictures or videos posted on the web by their families. As students move toward middle school and high school, I would expect their activities on the web to include blogs, wikis (Lit Circles, research activities), Digo, Google Docs and the like. **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Summary (How might you use this new information in your classroom?): **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I have started a blog for my classroom, and am planning to have students help me add an entry at the end of each day to summarize what they learned. It would also be fun to have students share their book reports or other writing through the blog, and allow the reader to ask questions to help them develop their skill as writers. The idea of using Skype to bring in authors or other visitors also really appeals to me. **

Your Name: Katie Newton 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like? Information/media fluency is the ability to navigate, search, use, and contribute to technology in an efficient, purposeful, ethical and educated way. Information/media fluency becomes "fluent" when students/individuals use technology automatically as a resource, or as an "answer" to their problem. Technology and media must be integrated into daily life and education as much as electricity or anything else we use/depend on to "survive" on a daily basis. The more students become educated on the ways in which information and technology can facilitate and enhance their education in an everlasting way, the more students will become inspired to use technology, and through educated use and consistency, students will acquire information/media fluency.

2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable? Applications that allow for meaningful collaboration are critical in order to maintain and create powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools. Skype, google docs, creating a wiki/blog to archive new tools, widgets, research 2.0 information, etc. would be one way to ensure permanency of new information which would be easy to share and to keep open for continued collaboration by others.

3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap? I think students should all have some kind of classroom-based tutorial on internet resources/access information. Perhaps grade level teachers could collaborate in order to compile information they feel would be most important for students to learn prior to truly delving into the world of the web. Then, students would all be getting the same access to the critical information necessary to explore the internet for educational information. Students who don't have the access to the internet, technology, or an educated adult to help guide their digital citizenship would have it at school if each grade level made a commitment to some sort of baseline internet safety and information course.

4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like? Students need to have a wealth of experiences in order to create a comprehensive digital footprint, and like anything else, there will be some experiences which stand out more than others. I do think students' experiences should be guided by educators in order to provide students with the safety information they need in order to access the wealth of information on the internet. Students need to be systematically exposed to resources like privacy settings, intellectual property, creative commons, validity of websites, etc in order to be able to genuinely explore and make use of the information on the internet. Students should be required to take some internet informational courses in order to provide all students with the same information prior to class use. If teachers set up a tutorial before students were encouraged to routinely use the web, students would have the information necessary to ensure their digital footprint is a positive, safe, meaningful one. Students should be able to explore the web for rich educational tools related to each of the core academic areas, and by being exposed and encouraged to explore the web for a variety of authentic purposes, students will then carry that information with them as they move forward in their academic careers.

Summary (How might you use this new information in your classroom?): I use a blog for my classroom, where I can communicate with families and which children can contribute to. We can also use the blog as a source of interactive writing. I also hold mini "information" sessions for my students about how to navigate the computer/internet in a safe and appropriate way. This is taught on a very small scale in Kindergarten, but it provides students the foundational information necessary to begin to acquire media/information fluency for their educational careers. I also like the idea of using survey tools for research. I might use this as a basis of creating surveys for my parents, which has been something on my mind for quite some time and this online course gave me the tools and information necessary to do it!

Your Name: Victoria Coughlin 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like? Information/media fluency includes (but is not limited to) being able to do the basics on a computer (turn on, log on, use items like Word & Scholastic Keys, access the internet and be able to go to a specific url, knowing how to type in addresses or search safely for the accurate information, and then using this information for reports or projects. It also includes being able to connect with others using email or other services. 2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable?  I think this depends on your students (age, abilities). Making connections could be as simple as having pen pals (email buddies) in a different class or school and discussing things we have learned. Working with parents is another powerful way to have meaningful collaborations, maybe working with a parent’s company to learn more about something the class is learning. It could look like an interview using Skype with an author the students are studying… Teachers need to resources, student interest, and follow through to make these powerful connections. 3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap? This is a bit tough….many students do not have access to computers at home and may not be able to use the library or other public computers very often. I believe utilizing the school’s computer lab on a regular basis is a great start. Also, using classroom computers more for students who cannot complete a project at home. Teachers may also opt to open the classroom early or stay late for students who want more time/access. 4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like? Hopefully positive but definitely large. Students are starting out so young that they will have much more digital information out there than many adults. Many students will create and share school projects and most will communicate digitally more than any other way. Depending on age and access students may have social networking sites, several email accounts, blogs, wikis and twitter accounts. Summary (How might you use this new information in your classroom?): I would love to possibly start a classroom blog. I use the district webpage as my main communication tool with parents but love the idea that parents and students could make comments to my posts and each other’s posts. I began a show and tell wiki this year which has yet to be used. I think I will use it for me and my class to post what we have been doing and what they want to share rather than what I originally intended (just a place for students to share anything). I also want to figure out how to use digital storytelling in a meanigful way with my students. :)

Your Name: 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like?

2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable?

3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap?

4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like?

Summary (How might you use this new information in your classroom?):

Your Name: 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like?

2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable?

3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap?

4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like?

Summary (How might you use this new information in your classroom?):