Mister Mak's Learning 2.0

As I stated above, my digital life is becoming more and more dependent on the web and much of the work done by my students is performed and stored on the web. Having a small, inexpensive device that allows students to access their web 2.0 tools and to get their work done efficiently only makes sense, both productively and financially.

I'm excited to see many new devices that could make 1:1 a reality in many schools. What impact do you think small footprint devices will have on 1:1 and learning in general?

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

After a few minutes of tinkering and telling the kids not to watch on their own computers (think bandwidth), it ran pretty smoothly, at least on the technical end. It did take the kids a bit of time to get used to Mr. Mak talking to them virtually.

6th Grade Computer Class

The first class was my newbie 6th grade computer class. In a 9-week crash course, we cover internet safety, web literacy, research, google earth, and MS Office (although we're using it less and less in favor of Web 2.0 apps). This week, the kids work in groups of two to find two internet safety sites, evaluate them, post them to the wiki, and share their thoughts as to why (or why not) the site would be good for students, parents and teachers to learn more. The long term goal is to create a student-generated repository of information that is relevant both to them and to their audience.

So today, I fired up uStream and the sub connected. I decided to open the chat anonymously so they wouldn't have to create accounts. Next time we'll use our Moodle chat room where everyone logs in. Once some of the bugaboos were worked out, I was able to articulate instructions to the class, share my desktop through uStream using WebCam Max, and chat back and forth when they had questions. Because they were working on wiki pages, I could immediately call them up and they would show up on the projector from my end of the connection. The kids were naturally awestruck. Beyond that, being able to direct my classes while I was physical absent was incredibly empowering. Now, when I am forced to be away from class, I now have the option to dial in to my class and provide any necessary instruction that a sub might have difficulty with, especially for technical instruction.

Here is the stream for this class. Please note that this is very rough and has some dead spots. I wasn't always teaching something and it shows.

8th Grade Digital Media Class

I also streamed this class. They are working on a Google Earth project where they were embedding different media (Animoto, VoiceThread, bubbl.us) into placemarks. I blogged about that a couple posts back. Here is the stream - rough as it is.

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One thing really struck me on the way home. As much as I rely on my PLN (Twitter, RSS, Skype, etc.), I have come to the conclusion that there is no substitute for face-to-face interactions. Humans are naturally social creatures and face-to-face interactions are most intimate. Plus, if you're like me, it's really hard to balance day-to-day life with the demands that professional development can bring. Going to a conference allows me to immerse myself more into the climate and better connect with those I learn from. I will continue to depend on my PLN as it plays a crucial part of my learning. I just don't see an end of the face-to-face conference anytime soon and, at least for me, that's a good thing.

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David's Presentation

Wes Fryer's Notes

[13:29:03] <jmaklary> : Come on in, the water's fine!
[13:29:30] <jimohagan> : ahh, he is talking about my hometown!
[13:29:53] <jimohagan> : HAIGHT!
[13:29:55] <jmaklary> : well? 2400 fulton street
[13:30:07] <jmaklary> : lava lamps!
[13:30:23] <ryanbretag> : is that Jakes car?
[13:30:34] <jmaklary> : google photo car. I like it.
[13:32:14] <ryanbretag> : It is there for us but not in the way it needs to be; we're using it more as a add-on not as a driving agent of learning
[13:32:56] <jmaklary> : volume ok?
[13:33:08] <jimohagan> : lill tinny
[13:33:14] <ryanbretag> : great
[13:33:16] <jimohagan> : can you zoom in a touch closer?
[13:33:37] <jmaklary> : best I can do
[13:33:45] <jimohagan> : its that light on the left that is the only complaint i have
[13:33:49] <jmaklary> : i can control volume level
[13:34:26] <ryanbretag> : sounds like a diverse group -- should be great dialogue
[13:34:39] <jmaklary> : only about 30 in the room.
[13:34:59] <jmaklary> : added value = relative advantage
[13:35:10] <jimohagan> : and I don't have to pay for a trip to texas or a hotel
[13:35:22] <jmaklary> : If Dave runs into banwidth crunch I might have to shut down. Hope not!
[13:35:26] <jimohagan> : Buy a Jakes Thong at his CafePress store
[13:35:33] <jimohagan> : All his students have ;P
[13:35:35] <jmaklary> : Hey, this is a family show!
[13:35:47] <jimohagan> : U CAN BUY ONE! I SWEAR!
[13:36:29] <jimohagan> : Getting better
[13:36:35] <jmaklary> : woo hoo, found the zoom!
[13:36:38] <jimohagan> : focus is a bit off
[13:36:44] <jimohagan> : but it's getting there
[13:37:29] <jimohagan> : there!
[13:37:39] <jimohagan> : awesome
[13:37:45] <jmaklary> : here to serve baby!
[13:38:26] <ryanbretag> : I'm pondering how to introduce this to educators?
[13:38:52] <ryanbretag> : Obviously, literacy strand is the instructional connection.
[13:39:10] <jmaklary> : One really cool thing about v 4.2 is that you can embed stuff. Like Youtube, voicethread, animoto, slideshare. Great mashups now
[13:39:11] <ryanbretag> : <forgive>
[13:39:55] <jmaklary> : Same pedagogy as blogging, digital storytelling, just another tool to showcase meaning and learning
[13:42:14] <jimohagan> : he did a great job updating this presentation
[13:42:46] <ryanbretag> : Yeah, I'm thinking this would be ideal for a creation and innovation session or something surrounding student projects.
[13:43:34] <ryanbretag> : It would ease teachers into it by giving the students the controls but I'm sure teachers would find connections to many ideas for their own creation.
[13:44:20] <jimohagan> : but you have to work around the bandwidth and limits of your district BWG
[13:44:25] <jimohagan> : Box and Wires Guy
[13:44:43] <ryanbretag> : bandwidth shouldn't be a huge issue with Google Earth
[13:44:58] <jimohagan> : oh yeah it is
[13:45:01] <ryanbretag> : Best of luck Jakes!
[13:45:04] <jmaklary> : gotta shut down. Bandwidth issues! might be back. bye
[13:45:09] <jimohagan> : try 30 students
[13:45:09] <ryanbretag> : from the cheap seats
[13:45:11] <jimohagan> : l8r
[13:45:31] <mrsdurff> : pooh!
[13:45:34] <jimohagan> : good job at least we got some of it
[13:45:43] <jimohagan> : come see it at IETC in a few weeks
[13:45:45] <mrsdurff> : i got 5 sec!
[13:45:56] <jmaklary> : Just shows Gmaps and GEarth are bandwidth hogs
[13:45:56] <mrsdurff> : it's a set up!!
[13:46:17] <mrsdurff> : it's a conspiracy!!
[13:47:02] <jmaklary> : sorry all! It's been real and it's been fun. Keep Austin weird!
[13:49:25] <mrsdurff> : i have my own opinions....

</mrsdurff></jmaklary></mrsdurff></mrsdurff></jmaklary></mrsdurff></jimohagan></jimohagan></mrsdurff></jimohagan></ryanbretag></jimohagan></jmaklary></ryanbretag></jimohagan></ryanbretag></jimohagan></jimohagan></ryanbretag></ryanbretag></jimohagan></jmaklary></forgive></ryanbretag></jmaklary></ryanbretag></ryanbretag></jmaklary></jimohagan></jimohagan></jimohagan></jimohagan></jmaklary></jimohagan></jimohagan></jmaklary></jimohagan></jimohagan></jmaklary></jimohagan></jmaklary></jmaklary></ryanbretag></jmaklary></jimohagan></jmaklary></jimohagan></ryanbretag></jimohagan></jmaklary></ryanbretag></jmaklary></ryanbretag></jmaklary></jmaklary></jimohagan></jimohagan></jmaklary>

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David's Presentation

[08:49:18] <jmaklary> : Please let me know if you can't hear!
[08:52:48] <jmaklary> : Hey Durff, can you hear or see?
[08:57:12] <jmaklary> : Hi folks!
[08:57:22] <lizbdavis-1> : I'm in two rooms at once
[08:57:23] <jmaklary> : Do you want to see the screen or the speakers
[08:57:24] <lizbdavis-1> : Hi
[08:57:33] <lizbdavis-1> : The screen
[08:57:58] <lizbdavis-1> : Thanks
[08:58:09] <jmaklary> : Tell your friends to join us
[08:58:31] <lizbdavis-1> : What is the title of this presentation
[08:58:34] <mkforbus> : Just twittered it.
[08:58:45] <jmaklary> : Web 2.0 Best practices
[08:59:22] <jmaklary> : Can you hear David OK?
[08:59:47] <mkforbus> : It's okay, but not great for me
[08:59:52] <lizbdavis-1> : me too
[09:00:03] <mkforbus> : better
[09:00:04] <lizbdavis-1> : That is better
[09:00:06] <jmaklary> : cranked it a bit
[09:00:30] <jmaklary> : if it starts to sound overloaded lemme know
[09:01:39] <swansong> : Did I miss Jakes?
[09:01:57] <mkforbus> : On now
[09:02:15] <swansong> : If that's Jakes, he took helium.
[09:02:26] <swansong> : Also, Deer Park != Downers Grove.
[09:02:26] <jmaklary> : Kari Rhame from Deer Park. It's tag team approach
[09:02:32] <swansong> : OH. ok. thanks :)
[09:03:04] <mkforbus> : Helium:)
[09:03:16] <swansong> : That's Dave alright. :P
[09:03:38] <jmaklary> : Guy from Eanes (west of Austin) on the panel too.
[09:03:42] <swansong> : I didn't realize he wanted us to put our location in our response twitters. Duh. *sigh*
[09:05:07] <swansong> : thanks for streaming the, maklary
[09:05:12] <swansong> : this*
[09:06:02] <jmaklary> : No problem! It's a first for me. Trivia question. Where did I get the title for my uStream channel?
[09:06:13] <jmaklary> : at least the first part?
[09:06:37] <mkforbus> : Blues Brothers
[09:07:00] <jmaklary> : OK, OK, tooooo easy!
[09:07:06] <jimohagan> : they play both kinds of music here... country and western
[09:07:12] <jmaklary> : Yee haw!
[09:07:18] <jmaklary> : Love that line, best one of the movie
[09:07:50] <jimohagan> : I drive by the Dixie Mall on a regular basis. Still standing... barely.
[09:07:54] <mediasnackers> : hey guys - what have i missed ;)
[09:07:56] <jimohagan> : totally OT I know
[09:08:07] <swansong> : Dixie Mall, sigh.
[09:08:29] <swansong> : Any of you Illinoisans here going to IETC in 2 weeks?
[09:08:30] <jimohagan> : It is 1/4 ripped down. Only took 30 years to get to that point
[09:08:34] <jimohagan> : YEP!
[09:08:44] <swansong> : sweeeet. Hope to meet you there!
[09:08:53] <jimohagan> : Karaoke at the Pizza Machine in downtown Springfield Wednesday Night!~
[09:08:57] <mkforbus> : Not much DK. Just started really
[09:09:10] <jimohagan> : They have a 40" pizza that if you eat it with another person, you get $500 dollars
[09:09:13] <swansong> : ooh, I'll see if I can get us there in time, Jim. We're driving down from Aurora after classes since we have astudent with us.
[09:09:19] <jmaklary> : Wow, lot's of bloggers in Deer Park
[09:09:45] <mediasnackers> : eeeks ustream is hogging my bandwidth - currently uploading my monthly vodcast
[09:09:58] <mkforbus> : How many bloggers did they say for the district?
[09:09:58] <mediasnackers> : so will leave you guys to it - have a great day wherever you are ;)
[09:10:18] <jmaklary> : thought about trying to stream this and look at Miguel's too but afraid it'll choke
[09:11:08] <lizbdavis-1> : I have both gonig
[09:11:19] <lizbdavis-1> : I lost sound on Miguel's
[09:12:07] <swansong> : "How do you get 1000 teachers to use Web 2.0 tools?" EXTORTION.
[09:12:07] <jmaklary> : My stream totally rules then! I am the Iron Streamer
[09:12:33] <jmaklary> : make it part of their review process (?)
[09:12:35] <swansong> : jmaklary in... BATTLE AUSTIN
[09:13:39] <mrsdurff> : gotta go...record it!
[09:13:52] <jmaklary> : Just don't give me a tough ingredient, like differentiated instruction
[09:14:15] <jmaklary> : Hi Ryan, glad you're here!
[09:14:39] <ryanbretag> : Hi All! Was able to sneak out of my phd sessions for a bit
[09:14:48] <jmaklary> : I feel sooooo connected. No substitute for F2F.
[09:16:02] <ryanbretag> : How is the crowd John?
[09:16:10] <jmaklary> : getting bloggers started.. start with the pioneers, tackle admins next, devise a plan for the rest. Why do some admins put tech training on the back burner?
[09:16:19] <jmaklary> : Look for yourself
[09:17:18] <ryanbretag> : Nice!
[09:17:37] <jmaklary> : Any questions you want me to try to ask?
[09:17:48] <jmaklary> : Dave is asking about how important admin buyin is
[09:18:17] <swansong> : Why did I think you were *at* the panel, Ryan....
[09:18:17] <mkforbus> : Adm support is a must, but they must be educated about the tech. too.
[09:18:20] <jmaklary> : I think they have to be consumers first before they step into creation. Ryan touches on that
[09:18:30] <mkforbus> : ABSOLUTELY
[09:18:37] <ryanbretag> : I was at last week's
[09:18:43] <jutecht> : Admin buy in is huge which is why I'm here in KL presenting to them. :)
[09:18:44] <ryanbretag> : Right on Jakes! It starts with Admin!
[09:19:07] <jmaklary> : Hey jeff, glad PRC's letting you in!
[09:19:33] <jmaklary> : Hello Joel from Austin!
[09:19:36] <ryanbretag> : They have to model the participatory state of mind
[09:19:56] <jmaklary> : Top down works!
[09:20:03] <jmaklary> : OK back to the screen.
[09:20:13] <mkforbus> : Trying to pitch 2.0 to my district's admins.
[09:20:21] <jmaklary> : WAS a blogger???
[09:20:31] <jmaklary> : tumblr
[09:20:41] <jmaklary> : jadkins.tumblr.com
[09:20:42] <ryanbretag> : Start with communication and time management mkforbus
[09:20:45] <jmaklary> : go now
[09:21:14] <ryanbretag> : This will touch on the state of mind needed sustain the use of web 2.0
[09:21:18] <mkforbus> : Starting small...blogging:)
[09:21:31] <jmaklary> : uh oh, tumblr being flakey
[09:21:34] <ryanbretag> : But approach it from communication not blogging
[09:21:56] <jmaklary> : treat blogging as a tool to support more important ideas and communication
[09:22:05] <mkforbus> : Thanks. Will need all the advice I can get.
[09:22:11] <ryanbretag> : exactly
[09:22:26] <jmaklary> : god I hate that XP navigation clicking!
[09:22:31] <ryanbretag> : if not, they'll see this as "another tool that I'll soon forget"
[09:22:36] <jmaklary> : Excuse me - god = God
[09:22:41] <jutecht> : exactly!
[09:23:01] <jmaklary> : Not blogging for blogging's sake.
[09:23:17] <jmaklary> : talking about Ning
[09:24:19] <ryanbretag> : Kudos to Ning for stepping up for education
[09:24:41] <jmaklary> : I'm going to really like the ad-free version. I may give it another look.
[09:25:15] <jmaklary> : How many times have you heard about this great tool, go sign up for it and then realize you signed up 3 months ago?
[09:25:33] <ryanbretag> : Nings are excellent hub for research projects -- centralize location, easy to involve all in-house parties (librarians, technologists, etc.), and great for global connections
[09:25:51] <budtheteacher> : Good morning, room.
[09:26:02] <budtheteacher> : how's the presentation?
[09:26:07] <ryanbretag> : hahahahaha -- how many times have you done that with a bookmark for delicious :-)
[09:26:14] <swansong> : I didn't really notice the ads before
[09:26:24] <swansong> : but Julie had a very very good reason to be concerned
[09:26:31] <jmaklary> : too many times!
[09:27:36] <jutecht> : why does McAfee keep blocking my postings here.
[09:28:04] <jutecht> : sure now it works
[09:28:24] <budtheteacher> : You're viral, Jeff.
[09:28:24] <jutecht> : LOL
[09:28:25] <jutecht> : How are you bud?
[09:28:30] <budtheteacher> : I'm well, thanks. You?
[09:28:31] <jmaklary> : McAfee is a front for a pro-communist organization
[09:29:17] <ryanbretag> : @swansong I think it is more about the perception of others. Some that are hesistant with technology are turned away from things like the ads
[09:29:19] <swansong> : huh? McAfee doesn't support FLOSS actively :P
[09:29:24] <swansong> : Ryan, agreed.
[09:29:51] <swansong> : BTW -- no I haven't forgotten -- I WILL be contacting you Real Soon Now about the IETC panel... honest...
[09:29:58] <ryanbretag> : hahaha :-)
[09:30:21] <budtheteacher> : I'm mid conversation - but I'm familiar with the tech - and if you're talking about Ning - I'm concerned about the ads.
[09:30:39] <swansong> : ;-) *16-ton weight falls out of the sky in Aurora and crushes Scott*
[09:31:03] <ryanbretag> : That is what we are discussing Bud
[09:31:04] <swansong> : Bud, have you not heard? The ning ads have been temporarily suspended for K-12
[09:31:13] <mkforbus> : Ning just ublocked in my district this week.
[09:31:19] <swansong> : check out Julie Lindsay or Hargadon's blogs for details
[09:31:20] <mkforbus> : What's the ad issue?
[09:31:22] <jmaklary> : But why is slideshare sooooo slow sometimes
[09:31:26] <ryanbretag> : Giving Kudos for Ning pulling the ads
[09:31:31] <swansong> : boss calls, later all.
[09:31:43] <ryanbretag> : See you soon!
[09:31:52] <jutecht> : teachertube is really slow in Asia right now...how about in US?
[09:32:05] <jmaklary> : web2.0 = level playing field
[09:32:18] <mkforbus> : I'll go check teacher tube. Be right back
[09:32:30] <ryanbretag> : it "can" level the playing field
[09:32:42] <ryanbretag> : we need to remember many still don't have the access they need
[09:32:43] <jmaklary> : can you still see and hear OK folks?
[09:32:55] <jutecht> : can...if it's unblocked in our schools
[09:33:10] <jutecht> : great feed on the video end
[09:33:12] <jmaklary> : Agreed
[09:34:00] <mkforbus> : Yes, Jeff. Teacher Tube SLOOOOOOOOOOOW to load.
[09:34:02] <jmaklary> : this $50 logitech webcam does a decent job
[09:34:02] <budtheteacher> : Sorry - firefox locked up
[09:34:17] <budtheteacher> : I was aware of Ning ad changes - but I hope it exends to teacher-only networks, too.
[09:34:18] <jutecht> : thanks mkforbus glad it's not just us.
[09:35:19] <mkforbus> : Hey Jeff, what time is it for you?
[09:37:26] <mkforbus> : Yeah Twitter!
[09:37:45] <jmaklary> : Hey I'm famous, I'm up on the screen!
[09:38:19] <mkforbus> : Wish Jakes followed me...:( I sent a tweet!
[09:39:47] <jmaklary> : send him a direct message
[09:40:02] <budtheteacher> : @ryan: Why are your tweets private?
[09:40:09] <jutecht> : OK..jakes mentions my twit in Texas as I watch live in KL...so strange!
[09:40:11] <jmaklary> : Looking at Darren's Calculus blog. Great stuff
[09:40:31] <jmaklary> : jeff, you are soooo VIRAL!
[09:40:53] <ryanbretag> : It is a way for me to toggle back and forth with teachers to show them that you can make your Tweets private.
[09:41:03] <ryanbretag> : It changes all the time :-0
[09:41:19] <jutecht> : LOL
[09:41:25] <budtheteacher> : Ah.
[09:41:33] <mkforbus> : Direct message...Now why didn't I think of that?
[09:41:45] <mkforbus> : Aaahh. The power of the network.
[09:42:00] <jmaklary> : WriteToMyBlog tool... cool
[09:42:13] <ryanbretag> : Back to class -- great job John; I'll catch the rest later.
[09:42:19] <ryanbretag> : Don't Mess with Jakes!
[09:43:16] <jmaklary> : David Jakes - THE Cult of Personality
[09:44:23] <budtheteacher> : Does David know he's being recorded/broadcast?
[09:44:46] <jmaklary> : Yep, he knows
[09:45:37] <budtheteacher> : Was he asked? I'm trying to grok the idea of the private/public space of conferences.
[09:45:51] <jmaklary> : Darren's calculus blog is a great example of web 2.0 best practice. bookmark it
[09:46:22] <budtheteacher> : Everything Darren does is a good exemplar.
[09:46:55] <jmaklary> : Scribe posting - Genius idea! From the student's perspective. Wow, Wow!
[09:47:06] <jmaklary> : I'm getting all giddy and such!
[09:47:25] <jmaklary> : Annotating flickr images. another great idea!
[09:49:27] <jmaklary> : Me thinks I'm hogging the bandwidth.... sorry!
[09:50:02] <budtheteacher> : Thanks for hosting - have a great day.
[09:50:25] <jmaklary> : We'll have more later today. Jakes and his Google Earth preso will be streamed...
[09:50:50] <mkforbus> : Thanks for including us!
[09:50:54] <jmaklary> : 2:10 CST Digital Cartographers

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