Web+Community+Camp

=Web Community Camp=

To be a great teacher, you have to be committed to a constant refining and retuning of what you know about being a learner. Update your understanding of modern learning tools! This three day session serves as an introduction for LPS teachers who want to be more aware of modern digital culture, how to be an active participant in it, and how they can utilize it in their classrooms and professional development. Topics will include read/write web strategies, practical online tools that can be used within LPS, tips for managing the river of information available on the internet, and a recommended "reading list" of books, blogs, and websites that will keep you "in the loop" going forward. Participants will discuss the culture of blogging and online interactions and be encouraged to reflect and react while using web based tools.

Brief Overview
In the summer of 2008, LPS hosted the first "Web Community Camp," a 3 day session covering web based tools that could be used professionally, and build connections between LPS teachers. Themes for the day were:


 * Day One:** Why?
 * Day Two:** How?
 * Day Three:** Make It Happen!


 * FOCUS:** Skills for SELF regarding online culture. All learning will be translatable to classrooms, but instructional use will not be the focus.


 * CAMP LOGO** (For Fun): [|http://docushare.lps.org:8080/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-335982/WebCampBrandLogo.jpg]

Post-Mortem
After the camp we noted a few things:
 * It was too long. Two days would be more popular, and more appropriate for the tools covered. Next summer we will eliminate some material and reduce to TWO days.
 * Not enough activities were planned. Too much overwhelming "firehose" of new information.
 * Would be much better off-site where people could get to know each other on a personal level in the evening.

Email Invitation Text
Ladies and Gentleman,

Based upon your previous participation in computing services events and/or our belief that you are interested in becoming part of a wider community of digital practitioners inside and outside of LPS, we are pleased to invite you to participate in the first ever "Web Community Camp" hosted by Computing Services.

Web Community Camp [SUMMER 2008] August 5th, 6th, and 7th, 2008 8:00am - 4:00pm LPSDO - W115B

To be a great teacher or administrator, you have to be committed to a constant refining and retuning of what you know about being a learner. Update your understanding of modern learning tools by participating in the Web Community Camp! This three day session serves as an introduction for LPS staff who want to be more aware of modern digital culture, how to be an active participant in it, and how they can utilize it in their classrooms and professional development. Topics will include read/write web strategies, practical online tools that can be used within LPS, tips for managing the river of information available on the internet, and a recommended "reading list" of books, blogs, and websites that will keep you "in the loop" going forward. Participants will discuss the culture of blogging and online interactions and be encouraged to reflect and react while using web based tools.

Please RSVP to Tim Hahn as soon as possible if you will be able to participate.

Resources Page:
Before your camp starts, choose a Delicious tag for the event. Delicious should be one of the first tools covered on day two. Share the Tag page with them during the Delicious training so they can see the page grow during the camp. Each time a resource is mentioned by you or by a participant, bookmark it in real time with that tag.

DAY ONE AGENDA:
(Details on most resources found below.)

1) SLIDES: 'Opening' 2) VIDEO: Comm. Christensen 3) REACTION: Questions - Reaction to video? - Where do '21st Cent. Tools' fit in your curriculum?

4) SLIDES: 'Day in the Life' 5) REACTION: Questions: - Do you see any of yourself in there? - Do you see any ideas?

6) SLIDES: 'Read Write Web' 7) REACTION: Questions: - Is this any different that the way writing is taught now? - Do the newer tools involved have the potential to make the process easier, or harder for teachers to manage?

8) SLIDES: 'Blogging' 9) REACTION: Questions: - Do YOU have the digital skills you need to teach students? - IF SO: Where did you come by them? - IF NOT: Is that a reason to not use digital tools? - Are you aware of the LPS Blogging policy for teacher or students? - (Trick question - there isn't one.) - SHOULD THERE BE?

10) BLOGGING TOOL - Intro tool - Set up account - Make a Google Spreadsheet w/everyone's blog address

11) BLOG: What have you heard today that resonates with you? 12) REFLECT: Read/Comment on each other's posts

DAY TWO AGENDA:
1) Del.icio.us + Demo adding a page with Firefox plugin + Explore my account + Discuss utility of tag pages + Demo tag page for camp resources + Create account + Install Firefox plugin

2) Google Reader + VIDEO: CommonCraft on RSS + Set up account + Subscribe to each other's blogs + Explore for a while

3) Google Docs + VIDEO: Common Craft on Google Docs + Sharing/Publishing + Demo: Spreadsheet to form/survey + Templates

4) BLOG TIME

5) DocuShare + Blog as Homepage for classes + Notifications + Blog hooked to a Notification + Routing Slips + Email to DS + Scan to DS

6) Flickr/Picnik + Demo adding a photo + Albums (can be linked to) + Edit in picnik + Send to blog + Camera Phone to Flickr + Groups

9) Twitter + Builds community + Makes contacts "Human" + human filter of news

10) OPEN MIC: What tools do you use?

11) BLOG TIME

DAY THREE AGENDA:
1) SLIDES: Presentation strategies (Visual storytelling for communicating with modern kids)

2) Multimedia resources o Creative Commons (show their video) o LPS Media Services Tools?? (Ebsco, PowerMedia, Videos On Demand) o Videos: teacherTube, etc? (Miro) o digital cameras/scanners/whiteboards/etc... o power of simplicity (common craft) o Does not have to take much prep time, quality is not as important as change in medium

3) VIDEOS: TED Talks - Lessig on Copyright - Sir Ken on Creativity

4) Guide to Integrated Information Literacy (GIILS) - putting it all together for best instruction

5) Blog about it - respond to others

6) Plan for Change
 * Each teacher sketches out ways in which they intend to use emerging tools
 * Blog these intentions for personal recall and to give back to the "community"
 * How to translate what you have learned for audiences outside of this room

DAY ONE: Introductions

 * Download opening slides:** http://docushare.lps.org:8080/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-335983/OPENING.zip


 * Who are you? What do you hope to gain from this camp?
 * Discussion of this group being "early adopters"
 * Discussion of support issues - not much support on Web 2.0
 * Focusing on things you can do in LPS right now - no need for permisison
 * Building a cadre, a community you can lean on
 * Awareness of topics and tools
 * Empowerment to DO things. Be the role models.

DAY ONE: Why 21st Century Skills?
http://www.nde.state.ne.us/TECHCEN/ESU321stCentury1-18-08.mov
 * Watch Commissioner Christensen's 21st Century Skills intro video


 * The importance of information literacy
 * The importance of risk taking in digital culture

DAY ONE: A Day in the Life of a 'Digitally Savvy' LPS teacher:

 * Download Slides:** http://docushare.lps.org:8080/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-327360/DayinLife.zip


 * Note:** //This is clearly a fictional teacher living in a perfect world, working in a perfect school, on a perfect day. Your world will not be this neat, tidy, or elegant. However, every single thing illustrated here is completely possible and accessible to LPS teachers. Look for ideas that you could pick up as you are interested and/or have time.//

Wakes up in the morning. Over her coffee she...
 * Checks email
 * Checks Twitter
 * Scans a page like CNN or MSNBC to see what is happening in the world today

On the way to school
 * Sees the "Batman Car" on the back of a tow truck, takes a picture with camera phone and sends it to her Flickr account. She might use the picture in a class today.

In classroom, before students arrive...
 * opens email in a Firefox tab
 * opens Google Reader in another tab, scans news headlines
 * opens DocuShare in another tab [or more], posts daily assignments for classes in DocuShare, reviews student work that was due yesterday
 * Plugs laptop into the projector

During classes...
 * Has a student open a word processing tool "on-screen" while the class covers a new topic. Student types up the leading questions students have before covering this new topic. Student types up notes about what the class covers during the day.
 * Uses Google Earth to give geo-spatial relevance to topic they are covering, students see location of event, photos taken there, a map overlay, links to wikipedia, etc
 * Uses photo she took with camera phone before school to start discussion about 'Cost of ownership'
 * Uses videos she found in PowerMedia Plus to suport a topic
 * Opens web pages about the topic they are learning about, has students read content and respond to the author's viewpoint in their Student DocuShare blog
 * Hands a student in the class the digital camera and a hall pass. Gives them 10 minutes to go anywhere on campus and take a picture that supports their topic.
 * Receives a "breaking news" email on her cell phone during class. Shares the news with her students.
 * Invites students to walk up to the white board and write down any questions they have or draw illustrations of anything that becomes apparent to them about the topic during class. At the end of the period she uses a digital camera (or cell phone) to take a picture of the illustrations and notes written on the white board during class.

During an open period...
 * Logs into an Instant Messenger client with her professional address (students know her professional IM address so they can ping her with quick questions anytime she is logged on)
 * Puts the notes a student typed in class into Student DocuShare for all students to access.
 * Uploads the picture(s) of the white board to Flickr, and/or DocuShare so that both she and students can reference them.
 * Opens email, Acknowledges a document routed to her from DocuShare
 * Looks at tomorrow's lessons, searches Creative Commons for a photo to use in a lesson, finds one in the Library of Congress archive on Flickr, looks in LPS Media Services' 'PowerMedia Plus' subscription and 'Videos On Demand' for a video to support another lesson, Bookmarks relevant websites using Del.icio.us. Tags the bookmarks as she goes with course & topic so that they are automatically neatly arranged on course and topic specific web pages that students can access
 * Reads and responds to students work in DocuShare

After school...
 * Scans headlines in Google Reader, opens a few interesting posts and reads them, leaves a comment or two
 * Takes stack of handed in work to any Xerox MFD in the building and "scans to DocuShare" where a PDF file of the assignments will be automatically added to her personal Collection.
 * Takes laptop to staff meeting, Opens a Google Doc and invites a couple of colleagues as contributors. Takes notes collaboratively. After meeting she adds a URL linking to that notes page to the Staff Meetings folder of the school folder in DocuShare
 * Responds to a couple of student emails that have come in.
 * Opens a Google Spreadsheet, Throws together a short "pre-test" of 5 multiple choice questions and one open ended text box for a new unit they will start covering next week by typing questions into the spreadsheet, Publishes it as a survey. Posts a URL to the pretest in Student DocuShare, in the summary she asks students to help her gauge understanding in/interest of the topic by answering the questions anonymously before Friday (building anticipation for new unit and offers valuable feedback to teacher)
 * Takes laptop home

On her evening walk she thinks of something she forgot to cover in class today...
 * opens cell phone, speed dials #5 on her keyboard
 * phone dials 'Jott' and leaves herself a message
 * Message gets transcribed into text and emailed to her

In the evening, after the kids go to bed...
 * Logs into Skype client with her personal address to be available for a conversation with friends, family
 * Logs into an Instant Messenger client with her professional address to be available for students for an hour or so in the evening
 * Checks twitter
 * Opens her email, Sees an email from the Discovery Educator Network that says they will be holding a workshop in Second life from 8-9pm EST., Sees a large attachment that was sent to her by someone - forwards the message and attachment to her DocuShare Personal Collection
 * On the drive home she thought about a problem she is having in her classroom. Posts to her blog about strategies she has used and asks if anyone has other ideas. Responds to comments others have left on her blog
 * Answers a student question via IM (Why is this dangerous??)
 * Uses Miro to find a few videos on YouTube that may be useful in class tomorrow, downloads them to her computer so the filter does not block them.
 * Video chats with cousin in Montana via Skype
 * Scans headlines in Google Reader, opens a few interesting posts and reads them, leaves a comment or two
 * Watches a few minutes of tutorials in Atomic Learning that shows her how to build something in Google Sketchup because she is considering having a class use that tool next month
 * Scans a page like Alltop or Popurls to see what is happening on the Internet today
 * Checks email & twitter again, logs out of IM, goes to bed.

DAY ONE: Read/Write Web Orientation

 * Download slides:** http://docushare.lps.org:8080/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-329285/ReadWriteSlides.zip

Definition(?)
 * Not a "system" or defined set of rules. It is a concept born from the following facts and ideas:
 * Web 1.0= Read only Publishing web pages can be prohibitively difficult
 * Web 2.0= Read/Write Just as easy to create and publish content as it is to consume it
 * Writing is a cyclical process that never begins with writing. It always begins with reading.
 * In a read/write web strategy, students are learning from their network (each other/their teacher/the world).

Benefits > + > Authentic AUDIENCE - Engages learners with an actual audience instead of a theoretical one > = > Authentic LEARNING > Self-selecting How do we find the best _? How do we connect to _? > Self-editing They write/edit/publish in one moment. > Self-organizing Social bookmarking/tagging systems. > Self-reflecting Develop the ability to reflect upon and assess their own work. "Metacognitive". > Self-publishing Understand that sharing the work they produce increases connections and conversations that can lead to further learning. > Self-connecting To leverage the potentials of personal learning networks > Self-defense Students make personal connections online without opening themselves up to unwanted contact offline.
 * Learning becomes deeply personalized and therefore deeply personal & passionate.
 * Authentic VOICE - Good writing comes from a place of interest/passion/belief/expression
 * Students are learning skills that will benefit them for the rest of their digital lives, for example:

Drawbacks > Read/write web strategies often "bleed" outside of the standard contact hours of a class. In many regards that is outstanding! However, you need to be very careful that you are not creating a situation of inequity. You can control the technology in your classroom, you can't control the technology in the student's homes. Be sure that you are not placing a student in a situation where their grade will suffer because of this. > With 1) a perceived buffer from regular consequences and 2) a real buffer from traditional social cues, people will say and do things through technology that they would not do face-to-face. (The scientific term for this is "disinhibition.") REFERENCE > By its' social nature, the internet encourages connections between people. Students must be TAUGHT self-defense skills for the web that allow them to make personal connections without opening themselves up to unwanted contact. > > Anyone can claim to be anyone > > Never offer specific details of your life, only generalities. For example: > OK: "I volunteered at the senior center tonight." > NOT OK: "Just like every Tuesday night, I volunteered at the Mayflower Senior Center until about 9pm." > > OK:I just went for an hour long run. Felt great! > NOT OK: I'm going to try to run for an hour tonight. I think I'll do a few laps around the lake in City Park, but not until after the soccer games there end tonight. Not fighting the crowds!
 * Access to technology
 * Potential for inappropriate behavior
 * Potential for "Predators"
 * The potential legal ramifications of online instruction are largely unexplored.
 * Students learn most from their mistakes. Harder to make mistakes in private. Mistakes made online become part of a student's "public record".
 * Standardized tests still emphasize knowledge of content, and intelligence is still defined by standardized test scores.

DAY ONE: Blogging (Professional & Personal)

 * DOWNLOAD SLIDES:** http://docushare.lps.org:8080/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-335980/blogging.zip

Norms for appropriate commenting, acceptable online behavior

Commenting is just as important as posting
 * View examples of Education blogs (Professional and Classroom)
 * Start an LPS blog

QUOTE: "Our student bloggers and digital writers of all backgrounds are part of a journaling culture which America has not seen since the great age of diarists during the Transcendental movement, when Thoreau and Emerson recorded their daily lives for eventual public consumption." -Justin Reich in 'Turn teen texting toward better writing', The Christian Science Monitor, May 13, 2008

QUOTE: SHAWN BLANC: Do you have any advice for writers who are struggling to find their voice? JOHN GRUBER: I honestly don’t know what works for others. The act of writing, like any art, defies description. Some of the best advice I’ve seen regarding how to write essays is from Paul Graham. He says writing is thinking, and, insightfully, that writing forces you to think better. He wrote, “Just as inviting people over forces you to clean up your apartment, writing something that other people will read forces you to think well.”

http://shawnblanc.net/2008/interview-john-gruber/

DAY THREE: Presentation strategies
Visual storytelling for communicating with modern kids


 * Download Slides:** http://docushare.lps.org:8080/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-335981/Presentation.zip