Power Points, RSS and Wiki's

Although I did finally get through all the tutorials on power points, I feel it will take doing one to actually know what to do. I did have some trouble keeping up with Dan's podcast, as I played around with the tools of the PP, but eventually found all the items he mentioned. It was hard to take notes, while doing this on the print out of the power point! I am likely one of the few in my course that has never learned how to use PP and now I am anxious to get my project started to ensure that I will have enough time to work through this new technology. My eleven year old laughs at me and says they are sooo easy...we'll see!

I enjoyed reading the chapter in Richardson on RSS feeds. He is an excellent writer with the way he inspires you to try using these new web 2.0 tools. The RSS feed should be helpful for me in organizing the growing quantity of information that I need to keep up with and will save me the time of looking for updated posts and articles. I plan to add more to my google reader account in the coming weeks.

I found myself contemplating the article "Wiki Woman: How a Web Tool Saved My Career" by Grace Rubenstien as I rode my bike through miles of country roads today. I like how she stated that she wanted to challenge the students to find answers on their own. This is an important skill, that will help them not only for the science class they are currently working in, but for their future learning endeavors as well. Students had the chance to share what they know in this wiki and to collaborate and learn from their classmates. Teaching and learning in wiki's can be a more creative, authentic learning experience, that students enjoy! I continue to think I should try creating a wiki for my bike group as a way to practice using one for future educational purposes. I could create a calendar of upcoming rides with links to starting locations, the routes, photo's, road safety, youtube videos on bicycle maintenance, bike shops, touring groups, my bike blog, etc. I would also have a discussion board, where the group could talk about ideas for future rides, problems encountered on rides, carpool connections, upcoming birthdays or special events-the possibilities are endless!

So, going back to this article, I read the comments that followed and was struck by one that I thought made an excellent point in response to a post about how wiki's for the classroom will not work because some students do not have home computers. The responding commentator related this excuse to not giving a student, in the past, an assignment because they might not have an encyclopedia at home. That would not happen, as the student would be expected to use a library where encyclopedias are available. The same can be done today with regard to access to computers. So, no more excuses-web 2.0 technologies can be used in most schools today, especially if a library is within a reasonable distance.