Creative Commons Rocks

Photo Attribution: Original Image "Web 2.0" by Dion Hinchcliffe

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/92/234525331_855ad80469_o.png

Released under an Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

I located the above Web 2.0 diagram searching in the Creative Commons Website. I think it explains very well the difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0; I would definitely use it as a visual resource for my tech-workshops so teachers and students can understand the concept better.

Next you will find one of my photos of Lake Michigan that I took on my last visit. It was very beautiful summer day of 2007!

Photo Attribution: Original Image "Lake Michigan" by Angelica Rocha

http://picasaweb.google.com/109287106652226162877/Places#5531708805294695234

Released under an Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

To the beat of my learning style

I've recently encountered this quote on a blog post:

“In times of change the learners will inherit the earth, while the knowers will find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” – Eric Hoffer

So I most certainly want to be a learner, and a good one for that matter! In order to achieve this, I have to ask myself: what is my learning style? Knowing and understanding the answer is the first step to becoming a better learner.

There are many ways to define one’s learning style. If you look at it from a physical perspective, I can choose from visual, auditory and kinesthetic. This was difficult to choose, since I know I’ve used all of them at some point. After some minutes of reflection I believe I’m mostly a visual learner. It’s very easy for me to remember something I have seen and if you show me a video or an animation I can understand concepts much more easily.

Searching on the Web, I found a free Learning Styles Questionnare by Dr. Richard Felder of NC State University.

If your scores are between 1-3, it means that you are fairly well balanced on the two dimensions of that scale. So in my case when it comes to being active or reflective, it really doesn't matter, because I can learn well with both styles. The same goes for being sensing or intuitive.

If your scores are between 5-7, you have a moderate preference for one dimension of the scale and will learn more easily in a teaching environment which favors that dimension. From the results, I can clearly see that I'm a visual and global learner.

I didn't get any scores between 9-11, but if I did, it would mean that I had a very strong preference for one dimension of the scale. And I may have real difficulty learning in an environment which does not support that preference.

How does knowing this help?

Now I know that in some aspects I'm really quite balanced, and it won't be difficult for me to adjust to different teaching methods. I can also let my teachers know that I have a moderate preference for visual and global styles of instruction. If I don’t understand something, I can ask for help with a diagram or chart that shows me the big picture.

We can't teach each lesson focusing on every learning style that we have in the classroom. What should be our focus instead?

I think most students have balanced or moderate learning style preferences. As teachers we should try to know our students as best we can and plan classes that favor different learning styles. If a student is having a strong difficulty with our class, we should try to identify the dominant learning preference of that student, and plan a specific activity for that learning style. We can’t plan all of our class around one student, but we can create working groups and teams that complement each other. We should also let our students know and understand their learning style. By doing this, they become aware and responsible for their own learning. Now they can seek out resources that will help them learn more efficiently.

RSS Reader Reflections - 2nd Movement

After having my Google Reader account for about three weeks and checking it almost every day, I can honestly say that it has helped me keeping up with new tools and issues regarding educational technology. I have now added two new feeds by CILC, both regarding content and professional development providers using VC technology.

Before adding any more feeds, I am now analyzing if they will be really helpful. I don’t want to have so much content, that it will be overwhelming and I’ll never get to read it all. The amount of new items has been declining from since I first added my feeds. So I will surely add some more if I find them to be good resources.Some of the new tools that I’ve learned about and I’m excited to try are:
http://www.blabberize.com
http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo
http://www.makebeliefscomix.com 

As I mentioned in my previous post, I think the Google team should improve their sharing methods for their RSS reader. What they have now is ok, but they could do better. In the meantime I will keep checking my reader frequently and sharing interesting posts on Buzz.

The PC Maintenance and Security Blues

If you ask anybody in the technology department, the least fun job for us is keeping track of the maintenance and security of all the PCs in the school. Installing and trying out new software and hardware is exciting! Scanning lots of PCs for viruses and spyware, not so much... I believe that all of us would benefit if everyone in our staff would follow some simple precaution rules. The videos for me were a great tool for getting ideas on how I can explain to others the different methods for keeping the PCs running smoothly.

This is my review of some of the videos that I saw at the Atomic Learning PC Maintenance and Security section:

Which tutorial did I choose?

• Understanding how malware spreads
• Showing the results of bad security and careless computing
• Using Windows Cleanup!
• Following a PC maintenance checklist

What was one thing I learned that I will definitely be sharing with others?

I chose the videos that I thought would be most useful if I wanted to talk to teachers and students about PC maintenance and security. I didn’t know about the software Windows Cleanup! I think it’s great, saves you a lot of time if you wanted to do all those tasks manually and one at a time. The PC maintenance checklist is very good; I think I will print a version of it for my office. I’ll make time to see all of the videos in the coming days. It’s part of my responsibility to be informed about these things. I should be a good example, it wouldn’t be too good if the technology coordinator is careless and has a messy PC.

Was there any information that surprised me?

I wasn’t really surprised, but I was happy to learn about new tools and tips that I can use.

RSS Reader Reflections

I've known about RSS feed for a while, but never really used them as a personal tool. You might say I was more interested on how they worked and how I could incorporate them on a webpage. It's now been a couple of weeks since I have my Google Reader account, and it's showed me how practical having a tool like this can be. I’m currently managing 11 RSS feeds, and to be honest I wouldn’t add many more. The amount of updates that I receive is just enough to provide me with new information every day.

I chose Google Reader because I can use my same Google account. And I can also share the things I like in Google Buzz, that way my friends can comment on them. I’m not very convinced about having to make bundles, but hey nothing is perfect, ha!

The feeds that I added to the original list were:

1. Computer Science Teacher Association and CSTA Alerts Feeds: I’m really happy with both of these additions. I visited the webpage quite often, but now the updates come to me. I don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner…

2. The Eduteka Feed: This is probably the best resource in Latin America when it comes to technology integrations. I was very fortunate to meet two of the people in charge of this project. They have been part of my PLN from the start.

3. The Savy Technologist and Dangerously Irrelevant Blog Feeds. I just discovered these two blogs and I’ve enjoyed reading their posts. The articles make me reflect on the use of technology in education.

Getting Things Done Rap

The title of this topic “Getting Things Done” seems to me like a good Rap Song. GTD is good for me, follow the steps and just feel free. No more stress or sleepless nights, with GTD I do alright!

I’ve always been a very busy person. There are times when I have so many different tasks to do. So when I read this phrase: “It is possible for a person to have an overwhelming number of things to do and still function productively with a clear head and a positive sense of relaxed control”. I got excited...

How did you organize your process? I stopped relying on my memory or head a long time ago. I now mostly rely on my Google Apps. I have my email and calendar synchronized to my BlackBerry. Almost everything is on my calendar or inbox. I also use the labeling system a lot, that way I know what is new, important, from which person or school, subject, department, etc. My labels would be similar to having different inboxes. I’m thinking of adding some other labels to improve my collection of things to do. I think I wasn’t that lost regarding the second step or process part, I guess I’ve already had some training on that, ha! I really liked the third step, I’m still meditating on which would be the best tool for organizing my 5 buckets… I think that I need to improve my review process, it’s were I need most improvement. When it comes to “doing” I had never thought of the three types and how there should be a balance. Now that I know, I’m paying more attention to what I usually do.

What was it like for you going through the process the first time? Do you think that this process will help you? Why or why not? It definitely made me think of my daily habits. I’m happy that I wasn’t doing that bad. But there are still many things that I can improve. Now that I started studying again, I’m sure this will help me with the extra tasks in my life.

Do you think you will continue this process? I really liked the process, it’s simple and practical. I will keep the GDT technique in mind from now on.

Hear the Social Network Movement

I must confess that it took me a while to open my Facebook account. At first I just didn't see much use in it. I've always considered myself to be a very busy person, constantly planning and developing new projects. Spending my time browsing photos and comments just wasn’t my thing. Then something happened, a very close friend of mine went on a long trip across Europe and decided to upload all his photos on FB. Wanting to see the places he was visiting, I opened my account and in a few hours my list of friends had grown considerably. My life has never been the same after that. I now check my Facebook account twice a day! What started to be just a social tool has become a part of my work and studies.

I’ve had some good experiences this year with using social networks at school. The first one came as a surprise. A few months ago when the Pacaya volcano went very active and everything was covered with ashes and later hurricane Agatha hit Guatemala, this resulted in such chaos for the country that classes had to be suspended for about two weeks. Many of the teachers were able to use Facebook and Twitter to communicate with almost all of our students and advance in their classes. It turned out to be a great tool in case of and emergency, thanks to the popularity of FB and Twitter among middle and high school students! My second good experience with social networks came to be by creating my very first NING network for the Math Department. In this network teachers and students that like Math come together. What started to be something local, then turned into something bigger when we decided to invite other students from Guatemala that like Math into our first virtual Math challenge. I was so excited to see all the students chatting, and posting math problems and solutions in the forums and blogs. I think there are still so many things that you can try with social networks. What makes them so appealing is that you can learn and work by sharing and connecting with others.

One of my plans for the future is to make a social network for all the parents of the seven schools where I work. Sometimes parents are the ones who are more skeptical or have a negative approach about social networking. I wish they could see all the advantages that they could have, and not only be a waste of time like I used to think. As educators we need to set a good example of how to use these tools productively, and also have fun playing Farmville from time to time! I’m sure we will create at the schools many other social networks for different causes. We’ve been doing that without technology for a long time, only now it is easier and you can reach more people without having to worry about the distance or time zone.