January 27, 2007 by jmmblake.

I have been using Moodle and video or audio clips in my science classroom for some time now.  I found a perfect example at Dr. Scott McLeod’s blog Dangerously Irrelevant. His 7-step (60-90 minute) “unit” got my attention. It utilizes Re-useable Learning Objects.  In Moodle, it is important to create lessons that save time anywhere you can.  

He combines .pdf files, a slideshow from the Fischbowl, an original slideshow, a podcast, and a viral video. He can re-use these materials in future contexts, but more importantly, he posts them to the web and invites others to use them. That is the power of re-usable learning objects of the digital kind.

What could we blend as resources for a lesson on cell mitosis or math or geography?

Dangerously Irrelevant: 100% proficiency on old skills?

100% proficiency on old skills? Here’s something if you have a 60- to 90-minute block of time with educators… 100% Proficiency on Old Skills? A Candid Conversation About the Demands of NCLB and Preparing Students for the New Economy

• Step 1 - download the handout (jot a few notes)
• Step 2 - watch Did You Know? (6:05) (become a little overwhelmed)
• Step 3 - see the slides and listen to the podcast (not available on our schools network because all .mp3 files are filtered and blocked- #$%& it (34:20)
• Step 4 - watch (YouTube.com) The Human Network (1:32) (remain hopeful)
• Step 5 - start discussing
• Step 6 - hand out either the short version or the long version as a take-away
• Step 7 - share widely! P.S. This presentation is better than the one I did last week.

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January 24, 2007 by jmmblake.

My question - Will this impact the use of Moodle in schools? 

Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)

S.49
Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act (Introduced in Senate)  It is BACK….

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September 28, 2006 by jmmblake.

I know it is not cool to post stuff from other online sources, but Digication is really interesting to me.  Hopefully, I will be able to try this in my school.  I have been using Moodle in my classroom for awhile, and will continue to use it.  Our school uses eChalk that can be used by teachers to facilitate threaded discussions.  EChalk has a course calendar, and many other features.  However, some teachers think eChalk is not easy to use.  I disagree, but understand the reason teachers do not like to use it.  It is just something else for teachers to have to find time in their busy day to manage.  From listening to the a podcast about Digication hosted by Leo Laporte, Jeff Yan described many of the features below that teachers can use with their Digication.

Free Online Digital Portfolio Empowers Students, Educators and
Academic Communities to Easily Publish Information to the Web with a
Professional Look and Feel

Providence, RI, - September 12, 2006 - Digication™, an
entirely new concept in educational software that is simple by design,
today announced the availability of Digication Spotlight. Available for
free, Digication Spotlight is an online digital portfolio and safe
social network for school communities and alumni across the nation.
Unlike other social networking communities where certain online
behaviors have led to the development of a negative digital identity
and restricted access at schools, Digication is offering something
completely different.

Digication Spotlight targets the academic community, and presents an
opportunity to showcase their work, expertise and personality to
employers, colleges, grad schools, teachers and other students.
Digication Spotlight is an academic network for K-12 and higher
education where teachers, students and alumni can create “Spots” to
post their original writing, art work, photos, movies, music, important
papers, upcoming events and interesting ideas.

“Social networking has tremendous potential to facilitate the
exchange of thoughts and ideas, but its current evolution focuses
greatly on communicating one’s personal life and has received tough
criticism due to the flood of questionable content and inappropriate
interactions taking place in these communities,” said Jeffrey Yan, CEO
and co-founder of Digication. “Digication Spotlight is an academic
network of high quality users, who post high quality content. While
many people have damaged their digital identity by posting suspect
information to social networking communities, Digication aims to
produce the opposite effect. Building a Spot is an opportunity to
construct a positive digital identity by showcasing academic
achievement in a setting fit for potential employers, parents and
peers.”

Stepping into the Spotlight

Digication Spotlight provides an
outlet to showcase academic projects and events with a professional
look that is flexible and customizable. Simple by design, users can
access the intuitive Web-based publisher by visiting www.digication.com
and immediately have access to all the tools necessary for creating and
managing their personal or group-based Website or Web portfolio.
Creating a Spot is an opportunity to stand out and attract attention to
academic achievement and performance, and receive praise and
acknowledgment for hard work and success.

Digication Spotlight provides an easy to use and professional looking
means to publish Spots containing information to be spotted by friends
and colleagues such as:

• Community Acknowledgement - Spotlight showcases student creativity and success in a manner perfect for the entire academic community to share.
• Accreditation - Spotlight provides a platform for
  archiving and publishing student work for accreditation purposes
  aligned to defined standards.
• Student and Teacher Organizations/Clubs - Spotlight empowers users to build an organization’s Website to display information about notices and upcoming events.
• Academic/Professional Advancement - Spotlight allows you to showcase the results of a research project or grant for colleagues to review.
• Career Advancement - Spotlight is an opportunity to
  show employers real experiences and academic achievements in support of
  a potential job opportunity.

“The design of Digication Spotlight allowed me to develop a
professional looking, easy-to-navigate Spot to organize and showcase
student work (http://spotlight.digication.com/artmonkey),”
said Tiffany Doran, an art teacher at Smithfield High School in Rhode
Island. “The main areas I have focused on with the Spot are class
assignments for the different courses we offer, and senior portfolios.
I have found the students love to see their work online and can’t wait
to show their friends and families. Digication Spotlight has generated
a tremendous amount of positive publicity and feedback for the Art
Department, and we have even received commendation from college
admissions counselors.”

Digication Spotlight is part of the Digication Suite of products. The
Digication Suite opens the lines of communications by combining
elements of social networking and learning management systems to create
a secure, private community that can learn and grow both inside and
outside the classroom. Also available as part of the suite, Digication
Campus provides educators with a Web-based classroom that facilitates a
collaborative educational experience, that like Spotlight is simple by
design.

Pricing and Availability

Digication Spotlight is available
for free to the first 1,000 users at any U.S. accredited institution,
and can be signed up for as an individual or as part of an institution
by visiting www.digication.com. Digication Spotlight is a result of years of development and testing within educational institutions across the country.

About Digication

Digication represents an entirely new concept in educational software
that is simple by design. Easier to master and simpler to use,
Digication provides all the connectivity, file sharing and e-portfolio
tools educators and students want. Designed by educators to serve the
core needs of educators, the Digication Suite opens the lines of
communication by combining elements of social networking and learning
management systems to create a secure, private community that can learn
and grow both inside and outside the classroom. Current product
offerings include Digication Campus, a Web-based Learning Management System (LMS) designed for classrooms and internal school communities, and Digication Spotlight,
an online digital portfolio and safe social network for school
communities and alumni across the nation. Digication is headquartered
in Providence, Rhode Island. For more information, visit www.digication.com.

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September 27, 2006 by jmmblake.

The Southeast Education Alliance for Professional Development sponsored a wonderful presentation today in Wilimington, NC.  The title of the presentation was “Practical Strategies for Closing the Achievement Gap,” with Larry I. Bell, National Education Consultant. 

I was simply blown away by his energy and really practical strategies.  After about the first hour, my mind began to focus on how I was going to use one of his main tools in my classroom.  I have been using Moodle in my classroom for almost two years now.  My students like Moodle activities like Hot Potatoes J Matching but they get tired of it.  I have struggled with creating reading activities that engage my students.  Mr. Bell has a reading strategy he calls “UNRAAVEL”. 

Let me try to outline how I plan to initially implement this in a Moodle lesson.  I am not sure how it will work, but I will be blogging about it soon.  The first step is to find an appropriate reading passage.  This could be a challenge.  Let’s say for now that I have an original story about a science concept.  More than likely, I will use materials from Wikipedia, or our textbook, it I can acquire permission from the textbook publishers.  Since I am not opening the class outside my classroom, I  am banking on traditional fair-use protection of copyrights.  Our Moodle site, WCS WebCampus

is password protected.  Anyway,  Moodle has a module called a lesson.  In the first part of the , students will first see the reading passage.  Next, they will have to complete a series of edits to the reading passage.  Finally, they will answer a multiple choice question about that passage. 

I am just in the initial thinking stage about this process, but I think it will work.

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August 16, 2006 by jmmblake.

Moodle is three years old!

by Martin Dougiamas.

Moodle 1.0 was released three years ago today on August 20th - looking back we’ve come a long way in that time, and the future still looks good. So,

Happy birthday to Moodle!

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October 7, 2005 by jmmblake.

After my students got on the bus this afternoon, I started thinking about the weekend.
However, this idea came to me while reading the recent article in Edutopia:
Synching Up With iKids, Oct. issue of Edutopia Josh McHugh read a post by one of my students on our old TikiWiki webpage last spring. He called me and asked if it was written by my student and if he could quote us in an upcoming article he was writing. I told Josh that my student had asked why I was so against video games. My student had heard about how some students actually learned more from playing video games than the did in school. Well, I challenged this student to research the idea that are really learning to think and manage complex situations and bennefit from gaming. I told her about a book that David Warlick had emailed me about by Steven Johnson She read several article that she ‘Googled’ and created her own post. My principal asked me if she really wrote it or did she have some help. That was the funny part. Yes, it is amazing that students really can read and analyze what they read from digital materials and form an opinion on issues that seem advanced. Her post is a great example of digital literacy.

My students are synching up…they are the real iKids.

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