Networking online

I joined a website called Diigo which is a site that allows for social networking to create, share, and collaborate on research and education, among other things (Diigo, 2013).  If you are interested in Diigo, you can read more about what it is here (Manolovitz, 2014). 
I have joined several groups on Diigo.  You can search for groups based on your interests.  I am already a member of Google_Earth_Ideas.  I'm a big fan of Google Earth (Google, 2014).  At Kent State University, I was the teaching assistant for Remote Sensing.  If you are unfamiliar with remote sensing, it is using some kind of data, typically satellite or aerial imagery, to do analysis.  My background is in GIS and Geography.  All three of these topics can use Google Earth, sometimes in complex ways.  Often they are used in much more simplistic ways for teaching, especially freshmen or sophomore level classes.  Google earth can be a great tool to give a feel for topography, to create basic maps, or for other activities.  This group pools together to share teaching ideas and other ways to use Google Earth.

I joined another group that I had to wait for approval from the moderator.  The group is called IB Geography Food and Health.  The group is a natural fit for me being a geographer who is now in Health Education looking at food, health, food access, and health/food myths.  Members pool together to share articles, both news and scholarly, that deal with the topics that we in the group are interested in.  I have found several interesting articles already.

A variety of sites like this exist, allowing people to get together and collaborate on whatever they happen to be passionate about.  This site, Flat Connections, allows educators to get together and share ideas (Lindsay, 2014).  Educators get together to learn new methods and new ways to teach to a variety of learning styles.  They can share methods, materials, and ideas all on a site that brings them together in a social collaboration.  This site is a list of several different educational networking sites (Tangient, 2014).  This site brings educators together who have an interest in introducing games into the classroom (GBL, 2013).  The site is interesting aside from the deplorable (and eye hurting) website design.

Many people, myself included, are members of social networking sites like Facebook or Linked-in.  MySpace used to be considerably more popular about a decade ago, but lost many members to Facebook (Common Craft, 2007; Facebook, 2014; LinkedIn, 2014; MySpace, 2014).  MySpace has been working to reinvent itself by incorporating music and entertainment, pushing as a site for those involved in music/entertainment/arts.  Facebook started off as a site for college networking.  It quickly expanded and became a popular site with the under 30 crowd.  Now people of all ages are drawn to it, including parents and grandparents, which is causing many teens to head to other sites.  Facebook's decline, especially among younger users has some articles speculating that Facebook is fate will be similar to MySpace.  Regardless of if this is true or not, it currently is still a nice way to connect with friends, family, former classmates, and colleagues. 

The drawbacks and the difficult part is keeping it professional, or it can hurt your chances of getting or keeping a job (Bond, 2013; Broderick, 2013; Huffington Post, 2011).  These sites can bring you together and help you find connections.  Just like networking in real life, social networking introduces you to people who can help you get where you want to be.  LinkedIn is the more professional site, where people do to share their education, what they do, and how they do it in hopes of meeting people who have they skills they want or are looking for the skills that they have (LinkedIn, 2014).  Of all of the sites, LinkedIn is the best way to network professionally, without some of the pitfalls of the other sites.  I have yet to see a picture of a drunken party on LinkedIn.  People tend to bring more of their office persona to this site, while Facebook and other similar sites are more like hanging out with friends.  Other sites that allow networking among specific groups, such as educators, are also helpful and tend to remain more professional.

As educators, we can network with other educators to find new ways of teaching.  We can find materials and methods.  Why reinvent the wheel?  Networking sites are something that many students use on a regular basis and their use comfort level is high.  Finding ways to incorporate what students already know into the classroom is beneficial.  Some teachers use Twitter to help students communicate in a large classroom (Twitter, 2014).  This is just a few of the ways that Twitter can be introduced in the classroom setting (Sardine, 2013).  Instead of working against social networking and smartphones, we are using them to help educate.  Other sites can be used similarly.

This article by Dawley (2000) discusses some of the ways that changing technologies are shaping our classrooms.  This impacts both our physical and our distance learning classrooms.  I teach several distance learning classes at the University of Toledo.  While most of my students are locally based, many live thousands of miles away.  Some schools are facing a student population that is dispersed not only around the country, but the globe.  One unique way of bringing the students together is using Second Life to allow the students to walk the stage digitally at graduation (Bryant & Stratton College, 2010).

Regardless of if you choose to integrate technologies like Facebook or Twitter into your classroom to facilitate discussions or if you help your students make professional LinkedIn accounts, as educators we can network and learn from the experiences of our peers. 


Works Cited:

Bond, L. (2013). "J99 Social Media Strategies." J99 Social Media Strategies. Web. 15 Feb. 2014. <http://drakejournalism.com/socialclass/2013/10/03/keeping-it-professional-on-social-media/>.

Broderick, R. (2013). "10 people who learned social media can get you fired." CNN. Cable News Network, 1 Jan. 1970. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/06/living/buzzfeed-social-media-fired/>.

Bryant & Stratton College. (2010). "Graduates Start a New Life via Second Life." Bryant & Stratton College Online: Accredited Online Degree Programs. Web. 15 Feb. 2014. <http://online.bryantstratton.edu/slgraduation/>.

Common Craft. (2007) "Social Networking in Plain English ." YouTube. YouTube, Web. 14 Feb. 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6a_KF7TYKVc>.

Lisa Dawley, (2009) "Social network knowledge construction: emerging virtual world pedagogy", On the Horizon, Vol. 17 Iss: 2, pp.109 - 121

Diigo. (2013). "Diigo - Better reading and research with annotation, highlighter, sticky notes, archiving, bookmarking & more" Diigo - Better reading and research with annotation, highlighter, sticky notes, archiving, bookmarking & more. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://www.diigo.com/>.

Facebook. (2014). "Connect with friends and theworld around you on Facebook.." Facebook. Web. 15 Feb. 2014. <http://www.facebook.com>.

GBL. (2013) "Games Based Learning MOOC." Getting Started. Web. 15 Feb. 2014. <http://gamesmooc.shivtr.com/pages/gettingstarted>.

Google. (2014). "Google Earth." Google. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. <http://www.google.com/earth/learn/>.

Huffington Post. (2011). "Lost Job Because of Facebook." Huffington Post. Web. 15 Feb. 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/lost-job-because-of-facebook/>.

Lindsay, J. (2014). "Flat Connections Global Project." - Building bridges for the future through collaborative projects. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. <http://flatconnectionsglobalproject.net/>.

LinkedIn. (2014). "World's Largest Professional Network | LinkedIn." World's Largest Professional Network | LinkedIn. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2014. <https://www.linkedin.com/>.

Manolovitz, T. (2014). "Diigo: Highlight and share the web." Digital Research Tools. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <https://digitalresearchtools.pbworks.com/f/Diigo+Description.pdf>.

MySpace. (2014) "Featured Content." MySpace. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://www.myspace.com>.

Sardine, C. (2013). "60 Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom by Category." Fluency21 Committed Sardine Blog. N.p., 18 June 2013. Web. 15 Feb. 2014. <http://fluency21.com/blog/2013/06/18/60-ways-to-use-twitter-in-the-classroom-by-category/>.

Tangient. (2014). "Table of Contents." Educational Networking. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. <http://www.educationalnetworking.com/List+of+Networks>.

Twitter. (2014). "Twitter." Twitter. Twitter, Web. 15 Feb. 2014. <https://twitter.com/>.

Gaming

What is the place of game in the classroom?  In my opinion, gaming is something that can enhance the learning experience.  It can take a lesson from being something that a student sits through, hopefully retaining, to something that is interactive and engaging.  There are many different sites that provide gaming, simulations, or virtual realities.  Below is just a small sample of some of the games, simulations, realities, and technologies that need to be integrated into our classrooms. 

Games can be a wonderful way to learn.  Some games are for enjoyment only.  Some games teach skills.  Some games take the gamer on a immerse trip through history.  The game depends on the class and the students.  Choose something that fits your lesson plan. This game, called 3rd World Farmer challenges the player to take on the role of a farmer in a developing nation (Hermund, 2006).  Although the game can't simulate the real life challenges that these farmers face, you have little money and few resources on your family run farm.  Your farm is subject to civil war, corrupt officials, drought, famine, crop disease, the death of family members, the pull of the city on family members, and exploitation.  You choose your crop, say corn, the cheapest crop to plant.  Do you put all the money into that?  If you do, what if the corn crop fails?  You finally seem to be doing well, buy a shed and a well, get some chickens and a civil war wipes your farm out.  Back to the beginning.  In some small way, a player can feel the frustration of the farmer who has their lives set back again and again.  The student may understand some of the challenges that the individuals face instead of thinking that they live in poverty because they are lazy, don't try hard, lack knowledge, or any other wrong impression of rural farmers in developing nations.  It is an educational opportunity that means more than a few sentences in a textbook.  It gives a little bit of experience in those rural farmer's shoes.

Games come in all levels.  This game is about bike safety for younger children (HMH School Publishers, N.D.).  It is very simple, allowing the child to click on different safety hand signals.  Games are for almost every topic.  This video talks about how students can learn without risk (Edutopia, 2010).  Risk keeps us from taking chances.  In the video, simulations allow the learner to diagnose and practice surgeries.  These life saving tasks are best practiced in a setting where there is no human life at risk.  The video goes on to detail how many schools shy away from new technology and games.  Civilization is a fun game that engages the student in a world of history, geography, and technological development through the ages (Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., 2013).  The video briefly touches on how it is being used in some classroom settings.  So topics from safety to technology to medical treatments to geography are just some of the ways that games/simulations/realities can be used in the classroom.  These games can engage learners or all ages. 

Games are for education, like some of the ones discussed above, but games are also for therapy.  This simulation looks very similar to a video game, but it is controlled by a therapist helping veterans.  That same technology can be adapted to help children and adults learn (New Yorker Video, 2008).  This video discusses augmented reality in books - what the video calls "the biggest thing to happen to book since the printing press" (CM Merlin, 2007).  The book comes to life and engages the reader in a way that is not possible with text.  This also could work to help reduce barriers such as low literacy levels in some populations.  Living books could be an instant way to engage learners by immersing them into an environment or by directly showing them the images (Metaio AR, 2011).  The reality of Darwin discovering his finches could be so much more meaningful when watching Darwin work.  Plate tectonics goes from being a concept to something clear as you watch the earths crust change.  Living books allow this to easily illustrate convergent and divergent boundaries, something many students have difficulty grasping (Metaio AR, 2011).  Talking about dinosaurs or other creatures are not anywhere as engaging as interacting or watching them walk or move like in this video (AvatarStupiddGuy, 2011). 

The potential to revolutionize education exists in these technologies.  These can help learners of all ages experience the world in ways never before possible.  These technologies go beyond travel, allowing for travel throughout time and in space, all during fourth period class or Freshmen ancient history.  Some of the benefits are discussed in the 2010 Horizon Report: the K12 Edition, such adding virtual information when students visit a historical site (Johnson et al., 2010).  The 2011 Horizon Report states that "[a]ugmented reality is an active, not a passive technology; students can use it to construct new understanding based on interactions with virtual objects that bring underlying data to life (Johnson et al., 2011 p. 17)






References: 

AvatarStupiddGuy. (2011). Live augmented reality - National Geographic. YouTube. Retrieved February 7, 2014, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=D0ojxzS1fCw

CM Merlin. (2007). Augmented Reality by Hitlab . YouTube. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZKw_Mp5YkaE

Edutopia. (2010). Schools use games for learning and assessment. YouTube. Retrieved February 8, 2014, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U-GVEANUEVo

Hermund, F. (2006). 3rd World Farmer. : A simulation to make you think.. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://www.3rdworldfarmer.com/

HMH School Publishers. (n.d.). Welcome to bike safe!. Bike Safe. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/bikesafe/bikesafe1.htm

Johnson, L., Smith, R., Levine, A., & Haywood, K. (2010). 2010 Horizon Report: the K12 edition. 2010 Horizon Report the K12 edition. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://wp.nmc.org/horizon-k12-2010/chapters/augmented-reality/

Johnson, L., Smith, R., Willis, H., Levine, A., & Haywood, K. (2011). The 2011 Horizon Report. The New Media Consortium. Retrieved February 7, 2014, from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/hr2011.pdf

Metaio AR. (2011). The future is wild - living book. YouTube. Retrieved February 7, 2014, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx3NtPzd51M

New Yorker Video. (2008). Not a Game: Inside Virtual Iraq . YouTube. Retrieved February 6, 2014, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=R6kl2BuhKmM

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (2013). Sid Meier's Civilization. Sid Meier's Civilization. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://www.civilization.com/

Controversial and ethical issues related to using the Internet in the classroom

When thinking about the ethical issues related to internet use in the classroom, a variety of potential issues comes to mind - many of which may be considered controversial.

When using content from the internet, who actually owns the material?  Is it owned at all?  If it is owned, how is it allowed to be used?  What is considered fair usage?  Many people never think of these kinds of issues.  Whoever owns it must be who put it out there.  However there have been a variety of court cases on just this topic.  Writers, artists, and other individuals want to protect their work.

Often if it is for educational purposes, the rules are a bit more lax than if it was for a business that was profiting off the information.  However, if I purchase a book and scan it and post portions or the entire thing online for educational purpose, I am stealing money from the author because people are accessing the work for free without purchasing the book.  In classes, there are course sites that allow the teacher/instructor to put materials online.  These are often locked and restricted only to use within the classroom.  It's similar to giving a photocopy handout in class. 

There are resources out there that help to navigate the sticky and often confusing world of legal/ethical issues regarding material use.  This website includes information about various sites that offer free materials including college materials (make sure to scroll past the large ad at the top of the page asking you to find a school online) and you can end up on a site like this that has free lectures and other information.  While this is something that is being given in a college classroom, this material - like most other needs to be fact checked.  There is an assumption of correctness and truth, but there is really no way to ensure that this is high quality and accurate information.  Other sites like Google Books categorizes books.  Some are free, like those here and others give you links to places that you can purchase the book.  One great thing about Google Books is the ability to search within a book.  For example this random book about teaching.  In the picture (below) the red arrow points to where you can search.  Pick whatever keyword you are interested in.  The right shows where the keyword was found and the text right around it.  Sometimes you can view the whole page.  It's really helpful to weed out books that come up in a keyword search but have little to do with your topic.  On the left you can purchase the book and if an e-book was available, there would be a link.

The takeaway point of this is that you need to be careful.  You need to be careful that you do not get into legal trouble for using something and violating copyright law.  You need to be careful that you are not taking something from the author and distributing it, which is stealing money from that individual who worked hard to produce that work.  You need to be careful that you make your students aware of what is free use and what isn't so that they don't run into the same moral/legal/ethical issues that could impact them in the future. 

Some work is out there for free.  Be careful of the country you are pulling from too.  Different countries have different copyright laws.  Just because it is fair usage and free to use in say Canada or Russia doesn't mean that it has been long enough for the US copyright to expire.  The best way to protect yourself is to go through large name sites, such as Google Books or Creative Commons if you aren't sure.  Be careful about what you post online or to a class webpage - if it is an open page, other people can have access and you are mass distributing the materials.  Use resources such as Open Library where the usage has already been determined.  The worst thing that someone can do is lack an understanding of copyright or fair use and then to distribute materials in the name of education.  There are legal/ethical avenues to the materials.  As educators, we are ethically responsible for ensuring that our lessons are accurate, timely, valid, and consists of legally collected materials. 

This website is from the US copyright offices states regarding fair use for educational purposes that it is a fine line.  "The distinction between what is fair use and what is infringement in a particular case will not always be clear or easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission."  This is good advice to keep in mind.  Always use free first.  If you are using copyrighted materials - use caution and common sense.  Consider contacting the owner of the materials - such as the publisher, author, journal, or studio to ask permission for your specific use.