Using Social Media in the classroom – What do you think?
CBC Alberta @ Noon’s Donna McElligott had University of Calgary professor Patrick Finn taking calls on the new way students are using social media and technology in the classroom. It was a great conversation. Callers had a wide range of opinions on the matter. Here is the podcast: calgwildrose.xml
If it doesn’t open for you, here is the direct link: http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/podcasts/calgwildrose_20110412_96303.mp3
What do you think?
We are all familiar with both Facebook and Twitter, which can lead to some pretty heated debates on their appropriateness in education. There are also social bookmarking applications such as Diigo and Delicious and social video websites such as Youtube and Vimeo. Even search engines such as Blekko that are using social networking strategies that allow users to share information and build their networks in different ways. Our politicians are using social networking to reach a larger audience which proved to be a particularly useful strategy in the recent Calgary election with Mayor Naheed Nenshi who used Twitter, Facebook and Youtube to get his platform out there. With the Canadian election campaigns in full swing, you can find all the candidates contributing to many of these networking platforms.
The following Rick Mercer rant sparked a huge movement with student voters across Canada who are now using social networking and social media to get their message out there. They are posting videos on Youtube and organizing themselves on Facebook and Twitter. The video posted on Youtube by University of Victoria students already has over 12,000 views and it was only posted on April 7th. Mount Royal University students in Calgary have taken a different approach by urging students ‘not to vote’. Read CBC article http://tinyurl.com/3mp4m7v
University of Victoria students voting strategy
University of
So what can education take away from this? I’d love to hear what you have to say.
Connective Learning
Connective Learning
We just recently presented at the District Learning Day in Lethbridge to an amazing group of educators. The presentation Connective Learning, (http://tinyurl.com/connecteet) touched on the theories of Stephen Downes, George Siemens, Will Richardson and Alec Couros who all write and teach about the idea of connective and networked learning. Read More
The Wonderful World of Web 2.0
This presentation ( http://portal.sliderocket.com/APUUV/teachweb2-0) was created by myself (Jackie Doherty) and Chris Aitken. We are both instructional designers from the Educational Enhancement Team at the Lethbridge College and were asked to present on Web 2.0 tools at the District Learning Days for Lethbridge School Disctrict No.51. The presentation is a compilation of our favorite Web 2.0 tools for education.
The presentation itself was created in Slide Rocket. The theme was inspired by Slide Rocket’s “Top Ten Slide Rocket Presentations” in their “Get Inspired Section which includes several professionally designed presentations.
As an extension of this, we have also created a Wiki on PB Works (http://educonnections.pbworks.com/w/page/37888319/FrontPage ). It is in its initial stages but we encourage anyone who has an interest in educational technology to contribute.
Iphone Mom Review
Pirates of S.I.
Written by The iPhone Mom
The Pirates of SI. turns your child into a puppeteer. Captain Snow is a monkey pirate who also happens to be the star of a puppet play. Your child can use their fingers on the screen to move Captain Snow around while tapping on other things in the play’s scenes. Their goal is to find an object for each letter of the alphabet but some will be trickier to find than others. The puppet scenes will change when certain objects are tapped and it’s up to your child to figure out what to move around. Each scene will reveal new objects from the alphabet. If your child finds themselves stuck trying to find an object then they can tap on one of the letters at the bottom of the screen. This will show them the object that begins with the letter, it’s what they should be looking for.
Fun piratey music adds to the experience and I enjoyed seeing the different scenes Captain Snow found himself in. I think my favorite was probably the underwater location. Overall this is a fun exploration app for children and the developer has included a guide that parents can use for additional learning activities. They’ll see suggestions for questions that working in counting, colors, spatial relations and relational concepts.
There are two separate versions of Pirates of Snow Island, one is for the iPhone/iPod Touch and the other is for the iPad. I tried out the iPhone app and I had a little bit of trouble with the alphabet letters, information and extra activities buttons. They were a smidge small and not always responsive right away when I tapped on them. I don’t think this would be an issue on the iPad screen.
The Pirates of Snow Island graphics are gorgeous, they really do have the look and feel of paper puppets and props. Captain Snow moves like a marionette with his arms and legs bending this way and that. The overall effect looks like fun for children and adults.
kids-apps.mobi Review
You are here to help Captain Snow find all the letters by touching the surrounding objects. But your hidden mission is to find the secret treasure too and that big X mark must mean something, right? If the treasure is in a chest, how do you open it without a key?
I think you should do your best and discover all the letters and my advice is to look under the water too – the ocean is a mysterious place and who knows what one might find there?
In the end, if you think you are prepared, go to the island and check that chest. What does it contain? I don’t know…
This app for iPad is making the learning process of the alphabet a funny and exciting experience. Once touched, each letter is pronounced and also the object that is associated with it. You can play a lot of educational games with your kid and the app is helping you do that by touching the top right icon. Explore its settings and you will get new ideas about using this app and help your kid with learning the letters.
And if you liked the app make sure you rate it. App creators need your feedback to improve their products and our kids’ life 
