2005_08_01_archive

OPML in the Classroom

RSS, XML, Blogs, Wikis, Moodle, social bookmarking and now OPML.

Actually opml has been around since the 1960s. Dave Winer and a

community of developers are working on a neat new tool for blogging.

The OPML Editor has some really neat ideas. I have been thinking about

how it might work in my classroom. The part that I like the most so

far, is the way it enables the sharing of links and other resources.

One use I am thinking about is when students create a concept map

using Inspiration, they could upload the document's opml to a "chapter

3, section 1" folder. This would help in the creation of a student

e-portfolio. We currently host folders on our server for students to

save their work, but this does not work from their home. With OPML and

a student blog, students could access their folders 24-7. This is good

and bad. Students like to store things like mp3s and rock star photos,

and stuff that is not relevant to atomic structure or quadratic

equations. Social software has a few issues as it relates to classroom

use. There are also some advantages too. Thus, it is the role of the

educator to enlighten the learner as to the valid uses of the

technology in the school environment.

Posted by J. Blake at 3:24 PM 0 comments Links to this post

20 basic technology skills for educators?

Just a few weeks before week start back to work, and I ran across this

interesting article by Laura Turner, in the Journal. From reading Alan

Levines's CogDogBlog, he "barks" about the inclusion of Zip disks and

lack of "social networking tools, the personal creation tools, the

information consumption skills that are to me much more important." As

I scan this list, I think back to all the teachers that have asked me

to help the fix their computer and all that was wrong with it was the

janitor had unplugged it during the summer so he could move the cart

it was on to sweep the spider webs from under the cart and buff the

floor before school started.

My concern is more how these skills on this list can help teachers do

their job. The list is annotated. To the classroom teacher, time is

money. KISS--keep it simple stupid works for me. Now, if my fellow

educators can find the time to read this list and reflect on how they

can use technology to enhance the positive behavior of all their

problem children and kids that come to school hungery, not for

knowledge, but for anything but.

Here are 20 basic technology skills that all educators should now

have:

Word Processing Skills

Spreadsheets Skills

Database Skills

Electronic Presentation Skills

Web Navigation Skills

Web Site Design Skills

E-Mail Management Skills

Digital Cameras

Computer Network Knowledge Applicable to your School System

File Management; Windows Explorer Skills

Downloading Software From the Web (Knowledge including eBooks)

Installing Computer Software onto a Computer System

WebCT or Blackboard Teaching Skills

Videoconferencing skills

Computer-Related Storage Devices (Knowledge: disks, CDs, USB

drives, zip disks, DVDs, etc.)

Scanner Knowledge

Knowledge of PDAs