Twitter #Futuretrends

Technology is always advancing and so there are people that get paid the big bucks to predict future trends to be sure the social networking sites give the consumer what they need in a way that will increase its marketability.  In fact, a futurist is an actual occupation.  Here are some ideas on the future of Twitter from futurists Ross Dawson and Gerd Leonhard discussing the future of Twitter as a news source:

I am not one of those well-paid analysts, though I do have a few ideas on what we might see in the future regarding social networking sites, including Twitter.  First off, I think it will be a premier source of news for people around the world.  I hope that it can become more of a source for local communities.  I would like to know more about what's happening in my town and the greater Buffalo area, such as upcoming events, traffic issues, even upcoming "big garbage days," local government issues, and so on.  Here are some other ideas, albeit on a larger scale, that we might see from Twitter and other social networking sites in the future.

1. As social networking becomes more commonplace in our daily lives, we will - for better or for worse- be more inclined to put more of our personal information online, including status updates, pictures, videos, and services that will show your location at a given time.
2. Exponentially greater amounts of information will be available online.  Search engines will need to provide more relevant/personal search results for each individual user - possibly by connecting with social media profiles.
3. More marketing using social networking sites:  see real-time reviews on restaurants and other businesses from friends.
4. Being increasingly connected to what your friends and family are doing:  knowing what they are doing before you call.
5. More jobs for marketing with social networks and analyzing users and ratings
6. Paying for the username you want - I hate when I have to add 5 digits in order to get the name I want in it!!

Twitter - #Education

At first glance, Twitter may not be thought of as a useful classroom tool because it is perceived as a way to keep up with your friends, and after all, how much information can be disseminated in 140 characters or less?  However, some believe that it is a valuable way to create a new personal learning community that involves a new way to gather information and resources and connect with other people in your pursuit of learning.  Here is one example of success using Twitter in the classroom:

One example of success using Twitter in the classroom

Education is slow to integrate anything!  Thus, I did a little bit of research to see how Twitter can be easily used in the classroom so you can get a head start on how to make it work in your classroom.

• Tom Barret and other teacher collaborators have created a Google Doc to share ideas on how to use Twitter in the classroom. 
•  Here are a few more ideas thanks to Samantha Miller of teachhub.com

There are a few challenges regarding Twitter in the classroom, however.  First, many school districts block social networking sites such as this so that students cannot access them on school computers.  Second, students may have different social norms for using social networking depending on the context.  For instance, students may be more inclined to misbehave online than in the real world, because they believe there are no real consequences for online behavior.  Third, the vast amount of information attainable on Twitter may not always be factually correct because it is free for anyone to post anything.  This is an important idea for students to understand so they can learn to decipher information they need from information that could mislead them.

Twitter - #today #inaNUTSHELL

Twitter is the 8th most visited site in the entire world!  It has over 500 million users and handles over 300 million tweets per day. Anyone can join, but you do not need an account to read other tweets.  So who's using it? It is popular among people of all ages, businesses, celebrities, athletes, and more.  Even the President of the United States has a Twitter account!  Check out the Infographic below to discover more about this popular social networking site (Note: the details below are from March, 2012 and may be somewhat dated.  Afterall, 4 months can seem like decades in terms of technological innovation):

Twitter is often used as a tool for civic engagement and has played a major role in organizing several social uprisings from around the world, including the revolts in Egypt and Iran, and the US Occupy movement.  Check out the video to learn more about spreading messages through Twitter:

Twitter has caused a major controversy surrounding the Olympics.  It centers around "Rule 40," which limits athletes from creating any tweets that name their sponsors that are not officially recognized by the Olympics. For instance, US marathoner Ryan Hall cannot tweet "Thanks Asics for helping to make my Olympic dreams come true," because Asics is not an official sponsor. On the surface, it appears the IOC is acting to protect the Olympic sponsors that paid lots of mulah to be able to put their label all over anything associated with the Olympics.  However, smaller sponsors are necessary for athletes to manage the costs and burdens of their elite training.  Without the smaller sponsors, there would be no Olympics.

Twitter - Connecting the World in 140 Characters or Less

What is it?

Social networking and microblogging site using instant messaging or SMS (short message service).
Can be accessed anytime through internet, smart phone, or texting from a cell phone anywhere in the world using a given Twitter code.
These short messages have been coined "Tweets"

History

• Created March, 2006 by Jack Dorsey and released to public in July 2006. 
• Twitter was founded under the name of a small start-up company, Odeo, which was founded on a technology that took a message from a phone number, turned it into an MP3, and hosted it on the internet. The mission was to make it a podcasting platform.  However, Apple went public with iTunes before Odeo could get up and running.
• Odeo needed a new idea, and Jack Dorsey suggested a site based on status updates. Dorsey, Noah Glass of Odeo, and German programmer Florian Webber designed a system that took a text message from one number and sent it to all of your friends.  In its infancy it was called Twttr and Glass was asked to head the team.
• Dorsey came up with the original idea, but Noah Glass was the passion behind the project.
• At first, it was mostly Odeo employees making use of the program - racking up hundreds of dollars in texting charges.  Participation increased exponentially when an earthquake hit the area and news spread quickly using Twitter.
• Odeo's CEO, Evan Williams, proposed a buyout of the companies stock for the investors when the company's future was uncertain.  The investors jumped on it.  Williams bought the company and Twitter for $5 million.  It was worth $5 billion in April, 2011 and is now the 8th most popular site in the world.

Blog Post #8 - Tools for Schools

I spent a substantial amount of time exploring the resources offered through Cool Tools For Schools.  There were many that were similar to the audio, video, and collaborative documenting resources we explored throughout this course.  I stumbled upon Debategraph under the "Graphing Tools" section and thought it had great potential in a classroom.

Image found at http://debategraph.org/Images/DmrLogo1.gif

Debategraph is a social mapping tool that combines argument visualization with a collaborative wiki editing to present information on all sides of an argument.  Anyone can contribute to the debate by adding opinions, challenges, and improvements to the organizer.  The image below illustrates an example of an argument map:

Image found at http://blogsandwikisdaybook.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/debategraph-home.jpg

Each branch links to another set of related arguments/information.  It takes a little time to get used to navigating an argument, but the site does a good job at guiding you through the interface.  There is a multitude of topics explored through debategraphs relating to social, politcal, economic, environmental, and scientific issues and can be a great tool to study issues in nearly any subject, especially Social Studies, Government, Economics, and Science.  I would have students use it to understand a certain issue we were discussing in class and perhaps hold our own debate.  Check out the tutorial below for more information.

Video courtesy of Youtube

For my next tool, I was looking for something that could be used for my final project which consists of teaching a group of kids from ages 4-9.  As any teacher can tell you, there is a big difference in the capabilities between these ages.  I was having difficulty finding a tool on the suggested sites that could be for this age range in a science class so I started looking else where.  Then, I stumbled upon the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website and discovered their Citizen Science program, the goal of which is for people to collect data for scientists to analyze to reveal changes in the movements, distributions, and number of birds through time.  This program, emphasizing authentic, actionable science, is one of the reasons I want to become a science teacher.  

Image courtesy of http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/41800_4815312849_5009026_n.jpg

Out of the multiple Citizen Science Programs listed on the website, I chose to look into CamClickr (watch the tutorial on the website - could not find a way to put it on the blog) because it is truly an internet tool versus a place to submit data collected through citizen birdwatching and the like.  CamClickr involves sorting and tagging some of the 8 million still photos of nesting birds taken from the University NestCams for scientists to analyze.  It is a simple process in which the images are sorted and tagged depending on such categories as how many eggs are present, how many adults are in the next, are they feeding the hatchlings, etc.  It is easy to use and the website creators do a fantastic job at explaining the directions and offering help.  This tool can be used as a basic activity to develop observation skills for the lower grades and can be used during an ecology unit to discuss populations, animal behaviors, food webs, and more.

Here is a video explaining another Citizen Science program, Nest Watch, that can have potential as another action research activity in science class...

Video courtesy of Youtube

Blog Post #7: Google Tools

I am going to preface this post by stating that I love anything Google.  The company has great ingenuity and the programs and applications they produce are usually useful and free!  I have always used Gmail, I use Gchat to keep in touch with family, use Google as my go-to search engine, and use iGoogle as my homepage.  I have dabbled a bit in Google Labs as well in order to discover the new applications the company is developing.  
For this assignment I decided to explore two tools that I had never used before - Google Notebook and Google Groups.

Image location http://www.google.com/educators/images/notebook_ex.gif

Google Notebook can be used as a way to save and organize information that you come across while browsing the internet to be accessed later for further investigation and sharing.  The following suggestions for educators was given by Google:

With Google Notebook, you'll be able to:

• save clippings from sites around the web so you can access them later
• annotate your clippings by adding your own thoughts or comments
• organize clippings into different notebooks or in sections within a single notebook
• search the full text of your own notebooks and any public notebooks
• invite specific collaborators to contribute to your notebook -- just click on the "sharing options" link in the top right-hand corner of your Google Notebook and enter the email addresses of the people you'd like to share it with
• share the information in your notebook with everyone -- once inside "sharing options," select "publish this notebook" to make your Notebook public

I could definitely see myself using Google Notebooks as an educator because I am constantly browsing the web for lesson ideas and resources to use in my classroom.  I usually write ideas on a piece of paper that I usually lose and bookmark sites that I really like but can get lost in the disorganization of my browsers Bookmark manager.

Video from Youtube

Image location http://www.liventerprise.com/phpthumb/cache/a/a8/a84/a84f/Google_Groups.jpg

Google Groups is another interesting application for classroom integration. It is a place where teachers and students can connect, collaborate, and communicate outside the classroom.  It can be used to post information, have an online discussion, and edit work in real-time.  It is also possible to set up different groups so you can have a space for your different classes.  This application has many of the communication/collaboration features that some of the LMS offer, without the option for grading, attendance, and other classroom management options.  So, if you are looking for solely a collaboration tool, this is a good option.  It could be a great resource in order for students to ask questions and seek homework help because both parties can access it anywhere.  It is as if the teacher is on call after school hours.  Talk about dedication!

Check out this video to see how a Physics teacher uses Google Groups in his classroom.

 Youtube

For a more detailed look at starting and using a Google Group, check out the video below.

Youtube

Blog Post #6 - LMS Comparison

https://sites.google.com/a/unisa.it/coffee-soft/

I was drawn to the LMS CoFFEE by its crafty description to "Plan, moderate and evaluate collaborative activities in a digital classroom using various tools, for brainstorming, mind mapping, voting and more."  It includes tools such as Categorized Discussions (similar to different links to a discussion board post) though it has a useful AIM layout where you can see the conversation without clicking on links.  Another tool that I thought was interesting was its Graphical Tool which illustrates the separate points supporting and arguing against a prompted discussion.  However, upon further investigation of this LMS, I think that it would be very difficult to master.  Take a look at this video to see if you can wrap your head around it...

CoFFEE has a very confusing interface, both on its webpage and the software, which turned me off immediately.  I also do not like that you have to download it to your computer either.  Call me progressive, but I'd rather type in a username and password than download software onto my computer.  This is not an LMS that I want to spend time learning because it can really only be used as a resource for discussion and I think that many LMS offer this tool in addition to many other useful applications.

Now on to bigger and better things!  

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxozSYe9CrSCWgD7eqHgPrpmF5J3iDBtfxKDEgJYWwUXdw5X-KjcDByj7wb5K2vXHvf1bs33MYW5ayLOtQJmjHYVC9lapsPMWtz5sqCkseABQaAK_IUDeSPZY9yeyG0wrQg4d55xl0dTM/s1600/Schoology+logo.jpg

Schoology is described as "a free web-based learning management system (LMS) built on a social network. Schoology leverages the familiarity of popular social media tools to improve communication and collaboration." Check out this site to see what this LMS has to offer.

It is designed much like the popular Facebook interface with the profile picture in the left hand corner, events (or assignments due) on the right hand side, and several tabs located on the left to navigate the sight.  This setup can be engaging for students because most of them are already so familiar with it.  Teachers and students can post on the class's wall anything from important announcements to sharing resources such as pictures and videos relevant to the class. There is a space for live discussions too.  Teachers can also use this LMS to log grades, keep attendance, create online assessments, and more!  The broad range of resources on Schoology makes it so much more useful than CoFFEE. I would use this LMS to keep students up-to-date on upcoming assignments, as a mode for discussion outside the classroom, as a different mode of assigning homework, and to use as a tool outside the classroom to further engage students in the class. There is even an iPhone App for this program! Check out this video to discover more about this LMS:

Youtube.com