PE9_Moodle_Quizzes

Moodle Quiz feature absolutely rocks! This dynamic feature will allow me to create and modify quizzes at the push of a button (well a couple of them but you get the idea). And the best feature is that I can create tests that I can read the question to the students in another language and they can see it in English. What an awesome tool to be able to check understanding in all students!

PE8_Moodle_Databases

How fun is this!
The Database function of Moodle is a wonderful tool to give students a teacher-controlled research tool. Instructors can upload images, create web links, text, etc... to focus students on a particular topic. For example, right now my students are creating a total marketing package for a fictitious band. I could start a database for them that has some really neat cd packages, web links to further explain marketing principles. The sky is the limit!

PE7_Choice_Activity_Moodle

To further my understanding of Moodle I wanted to look at what they call "Choice Activity".
A Choice Activity is really a poll. The "poll" can be answered anonymously or with the student name. I can see myself using the Choice Activity in a couple of ways:
1. Choice: Anonymous. I want to find things the students are interested in to create a new assignment that would have meaning to them.
2. Choice: Non-anonymous. I want to find out how well the student is comprehending a complex design issue.
I'm really liking Moodle more and more. I can really see the Long Distance aspect in those students that are border line drop outs. If they can get the same instruction on line when they can access it that would be amazing!

PE6

Let's Chat Moodle Style!
Perhaps one of my favorite features of Moodle is the Chat capability. You can set up a constant day and time or you can just hang out in cyber-space. It would be akin to having a virtual tutorial time. However, for my students, this would be a huge benefit.

It allows me the opportunity to connect with my students in a way that can possible be the key to either keeping them in school or bringing them back in.

PE5

Another aspect of Moodle that I enjoy is the ease of posting assignments. Moodle allows for various uploading of files and it gives the option of creating on-line text vs an offline activity.

PE4_Moodle

Getting My Moodle On!
My next PE assignments will focus on the various aspects of Moodle.
PE4 is a look at the News Forum section of Moodle. The News Forum is an area kind of like Facebook. Once in the forum arena, teachers can post their professional profile, contact information, post discussion forums for other educators in their district, create and maintain a blog, give students notes, see individual student activity, and assign roles to various areas. Roles that can be assigned are: non-editing teacher, student, and guest.
The non-editing teacher can teach and can grade but can not alter activities. It would be like a co-teacher or if you wanted to cross-discipline teach.
Students are just that, students. They can do assignments and post where/when required but cannot alter activities.
Guests have minimal privileges. They can view activities but that's about it.

BP12_Moodle

BP11

Way to go Megan! Finding a 2.0 that we can use for the rest of this year! Really guys, you've got to check this out.

BP10_

You have to check out Nancy's Web 2.0 tool!
What a fun way to get your students interactive juices flowing!

BP9_Web2.0_Moodle

www.moodle.org

While doodling on Web 2.0 tools, I ran across Moodle and it smacked me right on the noodle! I decided right away that I could doodle on Moodle and come up with a boodle of on-line actvities for my students that would boogle their noodle and not only keep them engaged in class but, they can access my virtual classroom anywhere!

www.moodle.org

Ok let's get serious for a moment. You may be wondering what exactly is Moodle? Well, Moodle is an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment.

WHAT???? In other words, Moodle is a groovy-cool tool that has been around awhile that will keep your students actively engaged in your class.

www.moodle.org

But it's even more than that! It's a distance learning tool that students can access from home to keep up with classes when they're down but not out or you can add some fun stuff that peak student interest which, in turn, keeps them engaged in school, which in turn, motivates them to stay in school!

So, now you're full of questions, such as: 

1. How much does Moodle cost? Ladies and Gentlemen, this powerful tool is FREE!

2.  Do you need multiple site licenses? Moodle's features allow for very small licenses to 1,000's!

3. How does it work? Moodle has to be installed on a web server somewhere. If you talk your Administration into using Moodle, the IT people can install it on the school server. If you can't talk them into it, you can use one of your own computers as a server or use a web host.

Now that I have your attention on this fantastic new tool for your classroom toolbox, you'll need to follow my Moodle thread to get the full idea of what Moodle could mean for you, your school, or your district.

PE3_iMovie

For my PE3_iMovie, I chose to concentrate on how to make a video more appealing by adding special effects to parts, or all, of your video. In the above clip, my goal was to show video footage of what it was like when I went to school. Maybe some of you remember the "old school" way. You know the times when the teacher stood in front of the class a lectured the whole period. You sat, you took notes, you regurgitated for a quiz/test. I couldn't go to a vintage store and outfit myself and my students in pre-multi intelligences era clothing so, I simply added the old film look in special effects. Next time you're creating an iMovie and you're trying to achieve a look or feel to the video give the special effects inspector a go.

PE2_iMovie

What a fun way to turn your still pictures into a "video"! I didn't realize that was an option until I jumped on Lynda.com. I've already contacted boy scout and girl scout troops I've guided to ask for pictures to add to a promotional piece for my web site I'm working on. How fun will that be!!!!!

PE1_iMovie

One of the topics that I wanted to find out more about regarding creating the "perfect" iMovie is how to add voice overs and drop out background noise. I have been working on a personal project for my outdoor rock climbing/rapelling guiding business. I am in need of a really professional web site. One of the pieces that I want to build in to my site is kind of video biography of why I do what I do and where. So this weekend I took my video camera along for my trip with 15 Wiblo scouts and their dads. I took a little time to shoot some filler video and when I got it home I didn't like the audio on the original video so I needed to find out how to drop that out and add new. This is my experiment. Let me know what you think.

BP8_Tizmos_Rules!

I know! I can't say enough about Tizmos. It's a wonderful way to organize yourself, your students, create a study group, organize your substitute(s). And it's FREE. Yes, 100% free! Simply go to www.tizmos.com. Create your account and start organizing!

BP7_MikeParish'sBlog

Embrace the technology!

When I checked out Mike's blog link, I was  pleasantly   surprised to find a tool that I had been pondering using in my classroom. Thanks Mike for giving me yet one more reason to not procrastinate embracing the "digital natives".

BP6_Megan's blog

Megan's really fantastic way to use Wikipedia!
Megan's blog link for her idea regarding a unique approach to Wikipedia is very refreshing. In the past, I have always viewed Wikipedia with skepticism at best. But, the idea of creating your own wiki to post lessons on is really neat!
Thanks for yet another unique way to teach an old dog new tricks.

BP5_Web2.0_Tizmos

Tizmos. Funny name! But very user friendly.
Tizmos is yet another personalized, organize-and-share-your-favorite-websites tool. But what makes Tizmo different than the others? 1. It's ease of use. All you have to do to add a site is click on the "Add a Site" hyperlink, add the title, add the url and done. 2. Tizmos is very easy to share your favorite sites with your students or colleagues. I simply place my personal Tizmos url in the assignment or correspondence and they have my topic-specific urls.
I see me using Tizmos in a number of ways with my students, parents, and colleagues. Let say that I have a substitute teacher for the day. We all know that most students are not going to stay on task that day. So, I give the sub the following assignment for the students. They have to go to my Tizmos page and select one of the Adobe Creative Suites tutorials I have posted on my Tizmos page and choose one to complete by end-of-class that day. The tutorials I have chosen are fun and engaging. It's a win-win situation. My students have a fun assignment of their choosing. The sub doesn't have discipline problems. And I get a room full of kiddos that now have a new tool in their "toolbox".

BP2 Google Screen Shots

A recipe for an organized grad student.
First we add a shot of "Home"

Then a touch of FSO tab

Spice with a little CBR

Then I finish the recipe with a dash of ETC tab

And that my friends is how to organize a disorganized grad student.

Bon apetite.

BP4- Education 2.0: Glogster by Edmodo

This assignment proved to be more of a challenge than I first anticipated. I'm to discover a new  technology to bring in to my classroom that would further engage my students. Hmmmmm, how does a digital immigrant show a digital native something new? So, I start thinking about my students. Recently, I have started posting their finished pieces in some unusual places. On my ceiling tiles. Each student has their own ceiling tile. They are doing some pretty complex pen drawings using Adobe Creative Suites 5: Illustrator of themselves. But in a very unique fashion. If you have seen Andy Warhol's rendition of Marilyn Monroe you will get a gist of what they are doing. Anyway, I haven't been able to get everyone's up yet and I'll have students ask me about theirs. Even my high level autistic student has asked if he get's a ceiling tile! So, flash forward to this assignment. I realized how much my students, all of them, love seeing their work displayed. It's like my classroom and lab have become one giant refrigerator door. (Remember when you were a child and your mom would put your work on the fridge?) Then it hit me, now that we are in this digital age why not take it a bit further.

Instead of blogging, my students are going to start GLOGGING. I teach graphic design, and what better why to showcase my student's work but through glogging. Glogging is a graphical blog. Kind of like an interactive poster. Check this site out. It's a Education 2.0 tool by Edmodo and scroll down to the section on glogging. (While you're there you've got to check out the three videos on the glog on the left. All I can say is WOW I got goosebumps listening to these powerful words of our future! <this is called slam poetry, I will apologize in advance if this upsets anyone>)
So what the heck is glogging? Glad you asked. It's an innovative way to keep students engaged that is a safe platform monitored by their teacher. With Glogster edu, instructors can integrate cross discipline instruction and gives you a unique way to assess student understanding. While giving students a fun way to showcase either their individual work or group collaboration. Talk about a fun way to hit all the multi-intellegences!
At Glogster edu they have an edu premium subscription or an edu basic. Right now with the FREE edu basic you can register 100 students. But I think that number is going to 50 in November. (Doesn't that sound like a hurry now sales pitch.)

I'm so excited about glogging that I'm going to go to the webmaster at our school tomorrow and find out what I need to do to start an interactive web site for just my classroom where I can not only showcase my student's work through a digital portfolio but, give it a personal touch with their own interactive glogs.

What will she need to know in 2028?

My first yaya baby girl was born 27 July 2010. As I think about my journey as an educator, I can't help but wonder what will she need to know when she gets ready to graduate high school. What careers will be in demand? What new careers will be out there? Will there be a revolution in education that looks at the individual and not the standard? I hope I will still be in education when she gets to that stage in her life. What will I need to know to keep pace? The technology I grew up with is archaic at best. I learned about computers on a TI99. Our space program, at that time was running on something like 167kb. Our most basic cell phone now runs on at least 2gb. Working on my masters I now have new verbs: googling, twittering, iming, texting. 

I'm really glad one of my life's mottos is to learn something new everyday. Hmmmm, is that archaic as well, should it be that I need to learn multiple new things everyday just to keep up with my yaya baby and the group of students she represents?