TheWizardofApps

= THIS IS NO LONGER USED FOR CATNIP...PLEASE SEE FALL CATALOG. = = Welcome to.........The Wizard of Apps =

__**Description**____:__ In this student-produced keynote, Joyce and the students of Springfield Township High School’s Theatre II class consider which apps are the most critical as they walk the road together. **__Presenter:__** Joyce Kasman Valenza, Rydal, PA, USA **__Length of Presentation:__** 51:39 **3** CATNIP HOURS __**URL:**__ http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=443

__**Steps for completing the class**__ > > > > > //If you have questions regarding entering information into this Wiki please contact Kim Thomas (kthomas@msd38.org).// > > > > > **Essential Questions** > Your Name: Melissa Coon > 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like? Information/Media fluency can mean something as simple as e-mail, typing a report, copying info. or can be more complex as powerpoints, slideshows or facebook. When you let students explore the web and what is available, the more fluent they will become with technology. Teaching Math, we don't use the web as much as I would like. I need to explore more myself so I can help my students.
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> 2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable? Like I said in my first answer, I need to explore myself. It's one thing to introduce tools or apps to the students, but if they are not given time to explore, it's useless. By giving students time to work together, they can learn a great deal from their peers. Using technology to communicate with other classrooms around the world would be a huge asset to the classroom. By talking and having discussions in the classroom, it can open up that world to explore.

> 3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap? By showing new things all the time, not just sporadically can really help the fluency of technology. Allowing that time for exploration, can really open the doors to using computers not just for games or e-mail, but for more meaningful experiences. Creating that safe environment with computers and computer programs, will help the confidence with students.

> 4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like? By talking to the students about being a good digital citizen, that will roll over into creating positive digital footprints. This is something that was new to me, I was not familiar with this term (or many others in this video for that matter) so this is something I'm going to look up on the 123people website or the pipl.com website. I've always been cautious about what I put on computers, so I know this will help me understand more and in turn help my students.

Summary: I had mixed feelings about the video. One, it may have been because I'm very unfamiliar with the terms and material that was being discussed. I felt it was a lot to comprehend, so I had to pause or go back. I was hoping to find out if there was a place that all those apps were written down somewhere or if I should try and write them down myself. I loved the theme of the video, I think the kids did a fabulous job. I really agree that learning helps by doing yourself and that the best app is sharing!

Your Name: Michelle Hebert 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like? We can define it by giving students the tools and apps to be use technology in an appropriate and resourceful way. Teaching and providing tools and apps that enrich and enhace education has become more critical than ever as our children leave a digital footprint. · 2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable? This keynote covered several apps that can be used and applied everyday in education in a variety of ways. Simply introducting the apps makes them just something else to remember, but if we engage students in creative ways that require them to apply their own impression and creativity, then hopefully powerful connections are made. Students can think of the vast possibilities that technology holds as exciting and not just another assignment.

· 3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap? As educators we can ensure equity by requiring students to participate in some form of digital technology as part of their education. Naturally students who have technology in their homes will be more drawn to it as an elective, but there is a whole group of students who are uncomfortable with technology because of their lack of exposure outside of school. Teaching students to use apps correctly and giving them the exposure and experience needed to be digitally responsible can take place in the classrooms.

· 4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like? It is important for students to use and become familiar with technology. As they learn to use various programs and apps their academic digital footprint will change over time. Students will become more comfortable using digital mediums as away to share reflection and expression, it will evolve to more closely resemble their own thoughts and ideas. Just as students are encouraged to express themselves in trough writing with the limits of what is acceptable and expected, the same should apply to digital creations. Students need to be explicitly taught how to be a good digital citizen that will reflect in a positive digital footprint. In addition, students should understand how to use creative commons and copyright information respectfully.

Your Name: Jessica Boland 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? Information/media fluency can be defined as an ongoing fluent use of the various types of media currently in place and those coming in our future. It is using these media types beyond a technical way but as part of our daily lifestyle. What does it look like? It has many forms depending on the stage one is in. An individual might enjoy sending digital images of family and friend through email, but then goes to create a facebook account where he/she can allow more people to see the pictures at one time, but then might move in to creating a glogster account where the images can be seen discussed and there can be more interaction between individuals. > 2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable? Meaningful collaboration must start with us. I need to seek individuals and ways to incorporate many of these tools into my daily activities. Then create a professional learning community with others to delve in to gaining and giving support to find meaningful ways to incorporate many fo the applications exposed on the slideshow. Due to the varied of types of applications that have some of the same features, we would need to research through the computer and by discussing with individuals aroudn us which seem better than others. I think many things can be seen as sustainable if they are used. That is why it is so important to keep the learning and discussions going. It amazes me by the amount of applications and resources out there.

> 3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap? We can ensure equity by making it part of our daily learnings and expectations. We do need to show students that technology is not only about online games or school projects, but they are a way of life. Exposing our students to their many uses outside of a school system and by educating parents that might be intimidated by technology would allow for more access. We as teachers need to be proactive in narrowing the access gap. Because of the ongoing and constantly changing applications and systems in place, we need to monitor those changes and educate our students and parents how to as well. What might have been a great use before, may have changed or adapted into something better.

> 4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like? First and foremost, a student should have a digital footprint. If they do not, then we need to help them to create one. Most students trail probably includes email and internet use, at the least. We need to cotninue to adapt, modify and change their footprint to allow more accessibility and drive to expand their footprint beyond the basics. But as we do this, it is important to also expose them to the trail they leave. They need to be aware of the dangers and stories they leave in their present, but that can be dug up in their future too.

Summary: This presentation displayed the many applications out there. It communicated various applications for personal and professional uses for both children and adults. It displayed sources that could be used for researching and ways to present that information in a digital age. I am excited to be able to use my summer to learn more about some of the applications I learned and how I can integrate them into my teaching next year.

Your Name: Danielle Robb

1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like?

Information/media fluency can be defined as ones ability to use technology effectively in their everyday life. In the classroom, it is giving your students the tools that they need in order to use technology successfully. When technology is frustrating or confusing, students and teachers will be less likely to use it. It is important to create information/meadia fluency by using technology often and letting students explore all of the possibilities. 2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable? Like anything, in order to create a meaningful connection with students takes time and practice. You can't expect to show kids a website one day and think that they are able to make the connection. Instead, introducing a website, giving students time to explore the possibilities, and then apply those possibilities to their own life would be better. Kids can often times think of ways to use technology that we don't think of ourselves. Talking to our students is very important! Having a discussion could be one way of making sure everyone is on the same page and learning from each other. I usually judge if something is meaningful or not based on the students ability to apply their new knowledge to something else in their own life. 3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap? It is important to create a learning community in which students are comfortable with learning from one another. If someone has knowledge about a specific application of the computer, it is my hope that they feel comfortable sharing that knowledge with the entire class. Teachers need to create a safe learning enviornment for students so that they do feel comfortable sharing ideas with one another. We as teachers also need to make sure that we give the students time to explore new technologies at school. We can not expect that every student has computer and internet access at home. I do not want these students to be left behind because of what they have at home. 4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like? I think we can expect a student's academic digital footprint to look like what we teach them. If we educate our students on internet safetey and how information can be tracked back to them, I think that their digital footprints will be a lot "better" than if we do not educate our students. A students' academic digital footprint can also be determined by the amount of technology that the teacher uses in the classroom. If the teacher uses a blog for example, the students digital footprint would include anything that they had shared on that blog. Ultimately, it is our jobs (and the parents) to educate students on their digital footprint and what their digital footprint can do for them (good or bad).

Summary:

This video was very entertaining! I think my favorite part was listening to the parody of the songs. I also thought it was very important that they include the information on copyrighting and fair use policies. I think that a lot of people forget about the fair use and copyright policies and take things freely from the internet. I am excited to check on my digital footprint by searching myself in 123people.com or pipl.com. I think the biggest take away from this (along with the many applications that were introduced) is to be aware of my own digital footprint.

Your Name: Adam Coon 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like? Information/Media fluency can mean a variety of things. There can be e-mail, videos, skype, facebook, etc. Teaching Social Studies, I've seen the students create some great projects on the computer. Some have used more details than others, but you can see the progress they make over the year. The more they are exposed to the diff. resources available, the more comfortable they will become.

2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable? After viewing the video, it's amazing all the resources and services that are available. By allowing the students to explore and work together, they will become more confident about what is available from the computer. I really enjoy having discussions in my classrooms. I know that by discussing issues whether Social Studies related, or computer related, the students are involved and learn not only from me, but from each other as well.

3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap? By teaching the students and their parents about technology and programs, the more everyone will be on the same page. One of the key points I see is for allowing the students to explore what is out there and monitor that process. Allowing students to work together and creating projects that will involve parents will help keep the flow of technology going.

4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like? What I understand digital footprints to look like would be what we use in the classroom or what they have been taught. They should be positive and safe for viewing. This is a new concept/term for me so it will be something I want to look into more closely.

Summary: I found this video to be entertaining. I really enjoyed the songs and the creativity of the students and teacher. My eyes have been opened to the variety of resources available on the web and I plan on incorporating more technology into my Social Studies lessons.

Your Name: Stephanie Embery 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like? I think that information/media fluency can be compared to reading fluency. The more that students read and practice reading skills, the more fluent they become. In this manner, the more often our students are exposed to new media applications for learning, creating, inventing, and sharing, the more fluent they will become in utilizing different information and media sources at home. It is our responsibility as teachers to remain as current as possible on the learning, creating, and sharing tools available. This can be as simple as email, Facebook, and using Wikipedia. It can be as complex as using Glogster to share ideas, digital storytelling to create, and Google Wonderwheel and news timeline for research. > 2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable? In order to create meaningful collaboration beyond our school walls, there are several ways to make these connections. In the movie, I thought they made an important point of notifying the parents first of the school's intent to use the internet in various ways to help students learn. That way the parents are informed, and will hopefully also be excited about their children learning and growing in this manner. I also think it is important to allow students time to investigate the new tools that we give them, so that they will be able to master them and apply them effectively. As a teacher, it is important for me to maintain professional learning communities to increase my knowledge of all the applications available, and also to have models of ways to use them in my classroom.

> 3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap? I think that we as teachers can help ensure equity and narrow the access gap by exposing students to the variety of applications that are available at school. This provides some equity for those students who do not have computer access at home. Also, by allowing students to see the internet as a research tool, creativity tool, and sharing tool, they can come to realize that the internet is not just for Facebook and online games. If necessary, we can refer to the Library Bill of Rights to provide rationale to parent and administrators for our use of technology in the classroom.

> 4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like? We should expect our students' academic digital footprints to reflect what we teach them in the classroom. If we stress being a good digital citizen, and safety on the internet, we can expect our students' digital footprints to reflect that. It will be interesting to check out my digital footprint on pipl.com. I was not familiar with this site before viewing this video.

Summary: This creative, web-based video was full of information about media fluency, learning, collaborating, creating, and sharing on the web. I found it to be quite interesting, but a bit overwhelming, as there were many new terms included in the presentation. I am excited to be able to implement some of the ideas shared in the video. Particularly those such as Wikis and Glogster, as I took Catnip classes on both earlier in the summer.

Your Name: Jennifer Damante 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like? We define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year as an awareness of the various applications available to produce powerful projects that can be shared or to simply know what resource to use to find the best explanation to a specific question. This requires the learner to always question whether he or she is using the right application for the desired outcome and if there may be another program that would complete the project more efficiently.

2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable? Collaboration needs to be practiced by the teacher and the students. There are many ways to do this. For the younger grades, the teacher needs to model what this looks like, for example sharing slides with other Kindergarten teachers around the world or skyping with other Kindergarten classes so the students can experience what a powerful collaboration tool it can be. Also, having the students collaborate as much as possible with each other to instill meaningful opportunities to learn from each other.

3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap? We ensure equity by teaching that everyone has something to offer, a piece of knowledge that can be shared. The more that is shared, the greater the wealth of knowledge that will be learned and applied. Providing opportunities for learning and knowing that all can succeed is how the access gap will be narrowed.

4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like? We should expect a student’s academic digital footprint to be a reflection of the tools and resources an educator provides. Starting during the early academic years, teaching, modeling, applying these tools with the students will only build their confidence and success in using them for many years to come. Summary: I enjoyed the creativity of the video. I thought there were many awesome resources provided and examples of the different ways to incorporate them in your classroom. I am excited to apply some creativity apps and collaboration apps in my Kindergarten classroom.

Your Name: Jamie Kozimor 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like? Information/media fluency fluency could be defined as the ability to interact with web-based tools easily and efficiently. I am not sure what it looks like, although I have seen classrooms and teachers that seem to be fluent in technology.( My inspirations!) The students are in routines that make use of technology in their daily routine.

> 2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable? > Exploration, modeling, and peer partnering may help in meaningful collaboration. I think that starting small is the best way, as with any teaching practice. Online support, as the apps which were introduced in the video will help teachers help fellow teachers, and ground students in best practices for media literacy and research.

> 3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap? > Both of these questions are complex, involving both teacher education and funding. Daily use and expectations are a large part of it. Educators are each responsible for their classroom practices and environment.

> 4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like? > Academic digital footprints should begin in kindergarten and continue to grow in complexity as the students grows.

Summary: I think I need some ruby slippers...twitter and wikis and blogs...oh, my! What an entertaining way to present the many apps now available for support in research, communication, and collaboration. I will definitely go the Joyce Valenza's wiki to see if a list of applications she presented can be downloaded. I did learn about the concept of ethical citizenship and the Code of Best Practices for Fair Use in Media Literacy Education, an area I had little idea of. This video truly inspired me to dig deeper, try new things, and take responsibility for my own learning!

Your Name: Amy Bondeson 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like?

Information and media fluency in 2009 and 2010 is an endless amount of possibilities that can be used to help students learn life schools and better themselves for their future. Developing a positive web image for the future is very important these days. Research apps and tools like voicethread and pipl.com are new to me and exciting online options. > 2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable? I think that as a teacher if you promote an idea or web tool to students in an exciting way and are excited about the concept that will make students excited as well. This year my students and i started experimenting with voice thread and it was a very powerful review tool towards the end of the school year. I think giving students time to explore and making sure they know the right ways to use technology makes it more meaningful for them. Encouraging students to use these new tools to get ahead in life rather than for negative attention is also an important message for students.

> 3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap? I think it is very difficult to ensure equity outside of the classroom. Providing students with time in the classroom, libraries, and opportunities before and after school to use computers are small steps to narrowing the gaps. Although it is a lot more difficult for some students to obtain access to computers and technology creating an excitement in the classroom will make students a bit more likely to seek out opportunities to use technology outside of the classroom.

> 4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like? I think it is amazing how far things on the internet follow people in this time. I have definitely heard of googling a person but I found it interesting how many sites you can look someone up on. A students footprint will follow them for years and hopefully show the new and exciting things they have learned throughout their schooling.

Summary:

I am very excited to continue using voice thread this year. Things from the video I would like to look into more are Alpha Math, the NY Times Widget for social studies, and I believe it was called Noodle Tools, the notecard and outlining system. I feel as though I will need more time to look at these sites since they were just briefly introduced but I am excited to bring at least one of these sites into my classroom.

Your Name: 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like? > 2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable?

> 3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap?

> 4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like?

Summary:

Your Name: 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like? > 2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable?

> 3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap?

> 4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like?

Summary:

Your Name: 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like? > 2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable?

> 3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap?

> 4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like?

Summary:

Your Name: 1. How do we define information/media fluency for the 2009/2010 school year? What does it look like? > 2. Introducing new tools is one thing, making powerful connections beyond the walls of our schools is another. How can we scale meaningful collaboration? What strategies work? Are sustainable?

> 3. How do we ensure equity? How can we narrow the access gap?

> 4. What should we expect a student’s academic digital footprint to look like?

Summary: