I've been meaning to catch up here and write about my experiences trying edmoto in my documentary film class. . . I had just come back from last month's MILI meeting where we talked about Twitter and played a little with Today's Meet and edmoto. Although I was really skeptical about all the multitasking and whether it would be all that useful or just another technology distraction for the kids, I decided to give it a try. I had just introduced a writing assignment to my students - a personal essay based on the "This I Believe" essays which I discovered on Minnesota Public Radio. It seemed like the on line group chat might be a fun way to help students generate and share personal beliefs to get them rolling for their essays. I tried Today's Meet but couldn't get the thing to even set up meeting for me, so I switched to edmoto which was really simple to use. 

When the students got to class we talked a little bit about the activity and they jumped right in. I had them REALLY multitasking for this little experiment of mine. First, they had to access a brainstorming assignment on our class wiki. Then they had to start a list of their own ideas on paper. When they were ready, they were to start posting some of their best ideas from the written list onto the group chat. They started tentatively - with pretty shallow comments - but as they got going, the comments really did become more thoughtful, and I could tell students were learning from each other. They not only contributed their own  ideas, they also read and responded to the postings of their classmates, and I could tell new ideas were generated because of the interaction that was talking place. 

Students sat at their desks working on laptops and I had the edmoto screen projected at the front of the room. After the first few minutes of trouble shooting and getting everyone logged on, I was able to observe and participate in the brainstorming session myself. It was completely silent in the room for the whole hour, except for the click of computer keys and the occasional brief outburst of laughter. Everyone was on task and they really enjoyed it. At one point, the dean walked by my classroom, did a double take and came back to say, "This is what it looks like when people are in the FLOW!" When the bell rang at the end of class, no one got up to leave. When they finally did start putting away the laptops, several students commented on their own ideas for ways we could use edmoto again. 

I think I really tested the kids by asking them to juggle reading directions on one web window, writing on paper, and keeping track of the group activity happening in another window. They seemed able to manage it all and it appeared to be a meaningful experience. I later picked out some of the best comments and put them in my "locker" on edmoto. The next day, we went through them and tried another activity in which I read a series of inspirational quotes out loud, and the students listened and commented on each quote. Again, they  were completely focused and generated some great ideas. Kids who often sit shyly in class discussions added some very personal comments and were able to have their voices heard for once. 

I can think of many ways to use this tool in my classes. I wouldn't want to overdo it, but it seemed to be a good way to get the students to focus, "listen" to each other's ideas, and generate ideas together. 

Thing #6

Thing # 6

I'm writing about this one today because I am trying to plan a new unit in my media studies English class in which students will collaborate on a BIG project about corporations and their social responsibility/irresponsibility. The idea is to have them work in small groups to create an educational wiki meant to inform and educate about a specific corporation. This is going to involve a LOT of research, evaluation of various websites, and then production skills. I was thinking I'd have them create a WEBSITE for the information, but I got scared and settled on a wiki. That alone will be a new concept in organizational thinking for them - it was for me at first when I set up my wikis this year.

So, how to get them to collaborate on all the parts and pieces I will expect them to produce as a group. . . I will have to teach them to use google docs for sure. Should I have them set up the wiki as a work space and just put stuff straight in there - since it's a place they can invite only themselves and me - and they can all edit all of it, I can comment and give feedback. . . this will be an interesting experiment. I am a bit concerned that it might overwhelm several of them who are still not completely clear on how and why we use the wiki I created for the class yet - it's December and we use it EVERY DAY almost!!! YIKES! Many of them don't seem to be clear on the fact that they cannot cite google as a source! (Although, many of them are starting to really get the hang of all the web 2.0 tools we are bombarding them with this year. I am seeing lightbulbs come on!)

I need to do more work with the stuff we talked about at November's meeting - the "Hidden Web" and "Think Like a Librarian". . . NetTrekker . . . I better get started.

Grading blogs

So far this year, I am having a pretty good experience introducing and using blogs with my students. They all have their own blogs and are completing many of the shorter response type assignments I used to make them write on paper for homework on their blog. The only glitch with all this has been trying to organize a way to grade all this stuff efficiently. I believe in giving kids written feedback on everything they write, an I have found it to be rather time consuming to 1. enter each individualy blog, 2. search for and read the correct posting,, 3. write my comments, 4. enter the squiggly word code thing they want for EVERYTHING!, 5. click OK a number of times so my comment is allowed to post.. . .then back out of this blog and go to the next one.

One thing that has helped learning about and setting up my google reader. It was easy to import all the students' blogs and now I at least get an update when they post an assignment and I can easily access the blog to read and comment on it. I'm glad I learned that little tip right away in MILI!

There are still some bugs to work out with using blogs as an integral part of my media studies classes, but I am committed to working them out! I found it interesting (and a little scary) to listen to what the kids said in the Youtube video (top 10 reasons to use a blog in the classroom). This is definitely a way to engage many of our students today!

Obama Yes We Can - but Can I?

I used this video in my media studies class today to introduce propaganda. The students were really engaged in the presentation. It's so interesting to me to watch them change their behavior, body language, increase their focus - during a multimedia presentation. It is how THEY learn. I get it. But I also think we need to be careful - so many young people have a hard time taking notes, fully focusing on what is being said in a classroom by a plain old boring teacher. They need that skill too. Sorry if there aren't technicolor flames shooting out my. . . head all day long! Accompanied by a motivational soundtrack! Sometimes I just need to TELL you something, and you just need to listen. Fully listen. Put down the cell phone, pull out the headphones, put down the pen, eat the skittles later. . . Am I a control freak??

How to get started

I am hoping that this blog will be accessible from the mediastudies wiki so that all the students in the class will be able to use ONE simple portal to access their blogs. And so that I will be able to find their blogs and read them all. Oh, I get a headache just thinking about all that reading, and searching, and clicking . . .

I am sort of surprised by how many students asked me today in class (the second day of the year) what a blog is. I expected them to have questions about what a wiki is. But I guess I thought more of them have blogged or at least visited a blog written by someone else maybe.

Well, we all have a lot to learn this year, and I can't wait to get them started and see if they like all this technology or not!