Short, Short Stories

Read the article below.

http://www.npr.org/2010/11/12/131276783/-hint-fiction-celebrates-the-extremely-short-story?sc=emaf

Once you're done reading, choose one of the "Short, Short Stories" that you like. I want you to use the "Story" as a first line for your own story. You will have about ten minutes to write a story that begins with the first line you've chosen.

The purpose is to write a concise, vivid, clear, and interesting story. After ten minutes I will tell you to post your response. I will assign you to read someone's story and then you will use the last line of their story to begin a new story. After about 7 minutes, I will call time and we will repeat this process.

I will try to participate as well if you can behave yourselves and work independently.

Week 9: Thing 23 - AKA The End!

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I liked learning more about RSS feeds and Image generators.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
I want to revisit how and when I use technology. I know there are a lot of times I think about it, but don't actually do it. I need to be more proactive in including technology and making it a part of what I do rather than something on top of what I already do with my students.

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
Really, my own exploring of new tools (Google Wave, Google Moderator, and sites.google.com) was what benefitted me the most. I looked at the instruction from this program and thought "surely there's a better way or a way that applies more to my classroom". This really got me thinking about practical tools that cater to my needs in my classroom.

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
Rather than finding "cool tools" like the flickr stuff, find practical tools like online polling software, advance methods for actually designing effective wikis and blogs, and useful research based search engines would be much more helpful than "fun" or "cool" activities. They need to remove things like "Youtube" which we all use and have become a part of our lives and continually replace the "things" with emerging technology (i.e. Google Wave).

5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate? If so, check out Discovering Assistive Technology.
I would if it was more geared to applicability to actual classroom activities to help us with work we're already doing. I don't need my kids to search for flickr pictures when they could be using the internet to help develop more useful and academic tools.

6. How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote Classroom Learning 2.0 learning activities?
Technology is always advancing, and we just have to find the right tool at the right time to help us with our current task realizing there will be a better, more accurate, more helpful tool soon to emerge if we only take the time to look for it and apply it.

Done!

Week 9: Thing 22

e-books. There's something that I just love about picking out a book based on its cover that keeps me at bay from Kindle's and the like. It will be a while before I can transition to using ebooks on the go. However, their application in the classroom is great. Any book, poem, or short story that I teach and is available in the public domain is linked to my website. This way students can read their nightly assignments from home without a textbook.

I've had this available since I started teaching, but I'm still not confident in the ability to go completely without textbooks. There is still information (historical background, terms, author background) that isn't consolidated in one place. Perhaps through the use of tools like wikipedia, I can design ways to bring this information into one place for students to access once we move toward a more paperless classroom. The major downfall of ebooks (as far as simply Read Only technology) is the ability to make notations in the book. However, tools like Kindle are allowing for such additions to create a more vitural reading and interactive experience.

One place that ebooks have been particularly helpful is in our reading of Huck Finn. loudlit.org has a chapter by chapter function that allows students to read the text on the screen while listening to an audio recording of the text. They can also download the audio to their ipods for listening anytime/anywhere. This is a great asset to students who struggle with reading and reading comprehension.

Project Gutenburg and Librivox are two great assets to this ebook community. They are allowing for web 2.0 sharing (librivox allows users to record public domain literature for sharing) and a comprehensive "go to" site for online books (i.e. Gutenburg). As ebook readers become more prevelant, it will allow users to access public domain books for free use on their portable devices. This means classics, long in print, can be accessed by anyone anywhere anytime for free.

Another great source of ebooks (if you're into them) are through the Memphis Public Library. It's been a while since I looked, but I believe they have many audio recordings (and possibly ebooks) for sale for about 5$ each. Of course sources like Amazon are quickly making non-print books easy to find, cheap, and accessible.

While I'm not ready to pick up an electronic device to replace flipping through a book, I do think that there is a lot that can be done with showing students where and how to find books online for class and personal use.

As a footnote: I looked at the "World Library Fair" website. It seems rather useless. Go to Gutenburg directly if you need something. Most of the links it sent me to were dead and it is a very difficult site to navigate. Learn to use your normal search engines to find things. For instance, type in "Tom Sawyer" + "Full Text" to get a full text version or add + "Audio" to get an audio recording. Otherwise, Gutenburg seems to be the most comprehensive site for locating full text materials.

Good sites:
loudlit.org
librivox.org
gutenburg.org

Week 9: Thing 21

Podcasts are a cool thing that I just don't have time for. I'm jealous of people who take the time to listen to the latest installment of shows on NPR or other audio media. After I watch my four sitcoms each week, grade papers, and cook dinner, there's just not time. Maybe if I had a longer commute than 5 minutes that would help too. I miss my hour long NYC commute all time time. Oh how many more books I would read and podcasts I could listen to. Even local radio shows like Drake and Zeke now post their shows online for later consumption.

Like Hulu, we now live in a world of "on demand". It allows us to not be tied down by particular show times. We can access information at our leisure and fast forward through it when we get bored. It's a great thing!

There are a few that I've found that I've used from time to time. College lectures often make their way into usable podcasts which is nice. I wonder if there are academic websites forming that make usable search tools for such things? I'm sure if there's not a repository of the kind now, there will be as universities move more toward online courses and instruction.

I've not considered their creative use in class. Once again, this becomes a technological issue. Most students don't have access to microphones and equipment advanced enough to do recordings at home, and to record at school in a classroom setting could be chaos. I did a form of this last year when students had to do an audio recording of a poem that was spliced with a powerpoint. It worked, but it is a challenge to get everyone through the process.

Week 9: Thing 20

One way to know that the culture of the internet moves faster than an established digital program like this: when you read the heading "discover Youtube" as if it's something groundbreaking.

It was "discovered" about 2 years ago or more and it hasn't looked back. Youtube is a great source of everything from Old English readings of Beowulf to music videos, to college lectures on obscure topics.
Though youtube is the most comprehensive, don't forget to check out hulu.com, video.google.com, video.yahoo.com when you're trying to find that hard to find video.

Let me say that Hulu has revolutionized the way I watch TV. I hardly ever watch anything as it's on live anymore. Hulu offers TV mostly commercial free in high resolution the day after it airs. Goodbye live TV! Even my favorite concerts are now being streamed live on Hulu and then being archived in case I'm not around to watch them.

Unfortunately, youtube is blocked at school, so if I require kids to use videos, they have to find them at home and send in links. Also, at this point I can't require kids to watch them at home because they don't all have internet or connections fast enough to watch videos.

Here's one of my recent favorite "viral videos". I think it is the future of global networking, creativity, and peace. It's actually part of a series of videos all done by a network called "Playing for Change". If you've not seen it yet, check it out!

Week 8: Thing 19

I feel like a broken record, but I'm not going to register on yet another website for another tool that exists elsewhere. Ellen sent out a great tool a few years ago called Shelfari. It was really cool for about a week, but then I realized, "Okay, now I have a digital bookshelf just like my bookshelf at home... now what?" I can see where a tool like this would be great if you were really in a community to share books, or, like it suggests, for small libraries to catalog their books. However, for personal use it doesn't show much promise beyond a passing fad.

Additionally, there is a widget on Facebook that is almost identical to Shelfari. This allows me to share with an existing network (my facebook friends) and allows me to keep it all in one place with one website to visit, one password to remember, and one network to share it with. Once again, I played with it for a week and then never touched it again.

The one place that I'd eventually like to go with such a website is to create a community where I would have students write book reviews of books they're read and allow future students from year to year to select a book off of the "virtual shelf" when they're trying to decide on an outside reading book. Hopefully student reviews will help them recommend books to each other, help them get excited about certain books, and help me select books that they may be interested in reading.

I'm still investigating how to do this best and how to make the reviews required in such a way that it lends itself to a good meaningful task and not "one more thing to do". I'd also have to find a way to setup a classroom bookshelf that all students could access it with a common username/password, or some other form of group access. I've thought about setting it up as a "Google site" or wiki instead to allow for easier access and bookmarking. I'm not sure if it's better to use an existing network like shelfari or to establish something a little more tailor-made. I'm going to try and experiment with this likely in the 3rd and 4th quarters when they have to write book reviews. I'm excited about the potential for long term digital archiving of outside reading.

Week 8: Thing 18

Okay, so once again this program wants me to sprawl onto a new website with new links, new passwords, and new usernames. That's just silly. Even if this other software is better, I'm going to stick with Google Docs simply to simplify my life. I first encountered G-Docs when my high school class reunion was being planned a few weeks ago. I was sent the link and then was able to update my information on the spreadsheet that was being used to track attendance. It was a really brilliant idea and use of technology.

This seems like it could eliminate the need for students to have "my documents" folders that have been problematic to access from home. Now there is also no excuse for students who don't have Microsoft Office at home either. Goodbye Works! As far as Open Office, I've tried it and it is okay, but my family reported some compatibility issues and still switched to Word in the end.
With Google Docs, now students can write papers, homework or anything else online directly, save it from home, the library, or school and access it anywhere in the world. They can even share documents with me. However, this gets tricky because it makes it that much easier for them to share it with one another. This means that they could easily type a paper and then share it with someone or work collaboratively when they are supposed to be doing independent work. Not that they can't do that through other technology or simply handing a piece of paper to someone, but this cuts out the middle man. In the end, a brilliant tool for collaborative work, a scary one when you're asking students to do individual work.
One nice feature that this site has is spell check - google sites (for designing wikis and websites) doesn't currently have a spellcheck which is very frustrating. Firefox and Chrome have built in spell checkers, so that's okay, but if you're using IE (i.e. at school) then there is no spell check which can be problematic.
Overall, one of the more helpful tools we've encountered, and it has a lot of potential in the future.

Week 7: Thing 17

700 views: 0 replies
This seems to be the gist of this exercise. I'm not exactly sure what this "thing" is touting, but the best I can guess is "nothing". At best it seems like a wiki adaptation of a blog. However, this "blog" is not searchable or organized like most blogs. It's simply a listing of things on a wiki which is not what wiki's are used for. One of the links (no, make that two now) is dead and one of them led me to a page with 700 views and 0 replies further developing the idea that people (like us) are looking, but no one is responding because you can't force conversation about things that aren't directly related to your life, classroom, or needs at a given time. Of all of the "things" so far, this seems to be the least clearly explained, the least useful, and the least organized. If one had to be dropped (and there are at least 2 or 3 others in the running) this one would be tops.

Week 7: Thing 16

Of all of the web 2.0 "things" out there, wikis are clearly the most helpful. While many are still arguing that wikipedia isn't a legit source, it is quickly becoming one of the most reputable sources out there. Far more reliable than blogs, it is closely monitored by editors who are often professionals in the related field. Not only that, but as the document is becoming more complete (and it is - one Time article stated that the number of new entries is slowing rapidly) it is easier to monitor what is happening to each entry and verify it for validity. Unlike blogs and other personalized websites, wikipedia is actually realiable by comparison.

Wikis are also the most helpful technology in class. It really allows students to collaborate on one project together to produce some completed outcome. Currently, I am using a wiki to collaborate on a writing project with a friend in Minneapolis. This would formerly have taken numerous emails and other means of collaboration, but now we can both work on one site and both alter the document in real time for the other to review and edit. This can be incredibly helpful on any number of projects in a classroom. I'm considering some type of either creative or research wiki for my students as part of my tech grant tech project next semester. I'm hoping they will see the benefits of collaboration. It is fun, purposeful, and useful!

Week 6: Thing 15

For starters, this "Disney" video on copyright (and therefore plagiarism) is very funny and could be used in class easily. It's a little annoying after a while, but it gets the idea across to the viewer that copyright is a tricky subject that people dabble in all the time. It could work as a great tool in dealing with "borrowing" ideas from other students and the web.
It asks for a way this program has been modified, and that can clearly be seen with our current approach. CBHS has adapted this course, designed our own website, and is implementing it in such a way as to benefit us and our needs. I think this is a great thing (done with permission) in this world of web 2.0.
As far as how this will change our world... based on some of the articles here and a few others I've read recently, it's becoming clear that the world of ebooks and other PDA devices will change the way we consume "books". There will be a new world of non-printed print media, printed books on demand to reduce waste and overstock, and a debate over the copyrighting of online work. One place this will be problematic is the production of fiction. Will authors still write and get paid to publish? Will people still buy books? or will people follow authors and writing genre's online through the purchase of (or free sharing of) online literature? How will newspaper (I use the term "paper" loosely) journalists get paid? There is already a problem with journalists (again using the term loosely) who get their stories from real journalists (employed by the NYT for example) who then read them and turn them into secondary sources of news without compensating the original reporters (who are often risking life and limb for a story). These are all problems that are going to change the way libraries stock information, the way people write, publish, and produce work. Finally, it will change the way they get paid (or don't get paid) for what they do. The question was posed in one article I read today, will fiction writers get paid again for their work, or will they simply write and share it for free on the web. Perhaps a better question is, is this a good thing, bad thing, or just a thing all together?

Week 6: Thing 14

I'm not sure exactly what the goal of technorati is, but it doesn't seem overly helpful in a classroom setting. My feel for it is that it is a way for blogs to be present on search engines, but to me, this seems to further perpetuate the idea that blogs are reliable sources of information in a scholastic setting. If I had a blog about fixing cars and I wanted to be able to find or have others find related blogs, this could be very helpful. However, this would not prove to be a beneficial exercise in a classroom. Personally, I find blogs to be good tools to share your life with those with whom you want to share it. It's not something I want for the world to see in most cases.

Week 6: Thing 13

My basic instinct on programs like delicious is that the majority of my use of the internet is 1) sites I go to all the time making features like RSS helpful or 2) I need to look something up so I search for it, find it, read it, and am done with it. Rarely are there sites that I need "sporatically". However, there are some sites I use from year to year with a particular reading assignment and I save those to my favorites. However, with the fluid movement of the web, I often find that things I bookmark are gone, changed, or irrelevant by the time I need them again a year later. I can see where this could be a good way to share information; however, I think the rollyo (if it actually worked) is a better concept for use in the classroom. I did find some really interesting articles on the library website that I enjoyed reading, but beyond that, there wasn't much functionality here that I could use in a classroom. As far as personal use, I see RSS as a much more promising feature. Rather than teaching websites like this that will come and go, our real goal should be to teach students how to do searches online. Very few of them know how to look anything up. Teaching them about keywords, realiable websites, and good search techniques will prove much more useful in the real world than taking them to the "digital waters" to drink from. If we do all of the searching and organizing for them, they won't know how to do it themselves.

One last thought: I was reading the "effective habits of delicious users" and one of the suggestions was to add sites to your RSS. In essence then, isn't this just one "middle man" step in the process to RSS?