Perpetual Learning

“Knowledge is not a commodity to be traded between expert and novice. Rather, it is a construction of ideas negotiated by the learner in a social setting.”

Web 2.0: Fad or Fabulous?

April 23rd, 2007 by · 5 Comments · Uncategorized

Much attention has been given to the “Web 2.0 tools” lately.  It seems everybody who is anybody has a blog these days.  And everyone seems to be debating and updating Wikipedia .  But are they really changing education?

This seems to be a hot debate topic among important educational bloggers – and one I think we should ask ourselves as we embark upon learning about these tools.  So, adapting an essential question from a recent Christopher Sessums post on educational technology and teacher preparation – how would YOU answer the following?

Given the needs of today’s learners, as well as the current context of technology in most districts, what do you as a teacher want to be able to do with technology? What do you want your students to be able to do?

Be sure to not only post your comments but to read and respond to what others write!! Perhaps even on your own blog!!

Spring Cleaning!

April 9th, 2007 by · 7 Comments · blogs writing

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It never ceases to amaze me the amount of work I do during vacations.  Granted – unlike most of my teaching colleagues I will be working this week so that I can vacation next week.  But today is a holiday in my household – Dyngus Day!! So before I put my polka shoes on, I thought I would share some updates to what we have been doing!!

 First – I continue to be amazed by Mrs. Sager and her students!! They started the Sager’s Sensations blog after our first training and certainly hit the ground running!! It looks like they’ll be launching into the world of similes soon – I can’t wait to see what they do!!

Next – I’ve updated the Keep On Learning! wiki that contains some how-to’s and links to Web 2.0 tools.  I’ve thought a lot about the feedback the teachers have given me on the site and what I could do to improve it and hope that this is a start!! Again – I encourage any new bloggers and wiki adventurers in my trainings to let me know if they would like to contribute to the site and I’ll send them a password.  After all – a wiki is only a wiki with collaboration!!

Last – I’ve been mulling quite a bit about how to use these tools to build virtual communities.  It seems that some folks are ready for the community but not the technology.  Or they get the technology but aren’t ready for the open sharing.  I’d like to work more as a group – so if you have specific feedback on how we can make this happen – let me know!!!

Have a safe and restful break!!

Jumping Roadblocks!!

March 8th, 2007 by · 1 Comment · rss

We discovered in the middle of our work this week that the district is blocking Bloglines.  Now I confess – I am a Bloglines junkie.  When I need some inspiration (or sanity) in the middle of the day, I check my Bloglines feeds to see what other educators are thinking.  It re-charges my engines!!

If I were a teacher who was using blogs with her students, I would use it to track what my students are thinking.  Sure is easier (and prettier and more accessible) than having to check my email.  But alas – it is blocked!!

 So I set out to find a way to help the teachers – and stumbled upon PageFlakes!! I’ve attached the directions for creating your own pages and keep your fingers crossed – it’s not blocked!! PageFlakes

 It’s actually a pretty easy site to use (and yes, it’s free!) with drag and drop options.  I created a second page to keep track of a few of my favorite blogs, mostly the ones that I want to post comments to.  Here’s a peek at my PageFlake.

Reading and More Reading

March 7th, 2007 by · 1 Comment · blogs, rss

As you enter the Web 2.0 world, it is important to keep up on your reading!! Almost like using mentor texts to help develop student writing, reading the blogs of others helps the blog author to determine their voice and some of the “best practices” in blog writing.

But keeping up with your reading can be a bit cumbersome – unless you use a feature like Bloglines!! We’re going to use Bloglines to track your favorite blogs and put them all into one place so that you can go there for a stolen moment of blog reading.  (Warning! Those moments can easily turn into hours!!)

Creating an account is easy – you only need to provide an email address and create a password.  Once you verify you want to start an account – you’ll be on your way!! As you read your favorite blogs, be sure to add them to your account to check on a regular basis!!  Even better – you can categorize your blogs now into categories: News, Education, Just for Fun! are some of my categories.

Hello world!

February 23rd, 2007 by · 3 Comments · blogs, writing

Welcome to Perpetual Learning! I’ve created this blog (my fourth!) for the teachers of our region to begin to explore the use of Web 2.0 tools.

 When I first heard about blogs and wikis from my colleagues last summer, I felt a bit like a deer standing in front of the car careening at us in the header above.  I was in a different workshop session (which was incredible!) and they were going on and on and on about the technology they were using.  Not wanting to be out of the loop and intrigued by what they were learning – I read Will Richardson’s book and stuck my neck out.  I was hooked!!

 For starters – those of you who have found this site have probably been directed here because you have signed up for a workshop we have coming up on March 7th.  But even if you won’t be attending the workshop - don’t go away!! If you are new to the Web 2.0 tools and want a place to share your success, get feedback, and gripe about the things that didn’t work – this is the place for you!!

 For those who will be at the workshop, let’s begin by exploring the world of web-logs or blogs.  Will Richardson has a great “Why Weblogs” piece that you should read to get some perspective.  Then – start to read other bloggers by selecting from the BlogRoll on this site.

 What works for you? What about the blog makes you want to read  more? Conversely – what doesn’t work for you?  Finally – what do you have to blog about?  Be sure to post your comments below so that we can begin our conversations.

 Happy blogging!