Ready, Set, Go!

Getttin Started
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel.

Armed with my new friend, Will Richardson's new book, Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts, I begin writing about the daily technology in my life. You could call this, "Summer Madness: Working with New Technologies" but of course I am saving that title for the upcoming blockbuster movie.

I am sending this photo I took with my ancient WebCam (on my desktop computer) from Flickr to my blog. Flickr is a photo hosting Web tool which I have linked to my blog. After taking the photo, I uploaded it to Flickr and clicked on "Blog This!". That brings me to an area of Flickr where I could write a blog entry.

It worked! Flickr does allow a test posting, which I recommend as you can always delete postings later. I chose to finish this here since I can do more with my Blog using the Blogger interface. I would say that this is an emerging technology since it is an experience of using Web 2.0 tools. Students could take photos of in-class projects and post them to Fickr and write about them in a class blog.

Moving on, I continue an investigation of Google Notebook. Google Notebook is an online tool for clipping useful information from Web sites while you are working (in my case, researching) with Web sites. It would also be good for planning a vacation, shopping or for my hobby which is genealogy. First, you have to sign up for a free acount at Google, download an extension for your browser (as yet there is no Mac version), and read the directions for use. This is a definite emerging technology because it is very new (in beta) and has direct application for the classroom. I am using this with the Firefox browser which I just began using last month and like very much... it's faster and has a bookmark manager that is easier to organize.

My work day ends with reading Will's book, entering appointments into my Zire 72, doing some online shopping and answering emails. I have just enough time to work a bit on census records for my genealogy project. None of these tasks are emerging for me-just everyday things. I log into the MyLesley (Blackboard interface) to see if any new class members have checked in as yet. Laurie and I are the only one who have posted our introductory information.

On to June! It's 81 degrees here in Massachusettts. Yippee for summer.

Emerging Technologies

Starting this week, I will be taking my final graduate class in the Master's program at Lesley University. Since finishing my last semester, a month ago, I have been learning some new tools (like this blogging) in order to prepare myself for what comes after I get my degree.

During this first week, the assignment is to purposefully examine the technologies we use daily and decide which ones are to be considered emerging. In addition to the concept map requirement, I am going to keep a daily accounting of my technology work here in this blog to share my thoughts and ideas with anyone who reads this. Comments and ideas are welcome.

I will begin working on this on Wednesday, the day before class starts. In the meanwhile, you can check out my blog postings for this class hosted at Blog-City. The theme I chose is pretty scary!

Gravestone Groupies

In the last few years I have discovered that it is possible to locate and photograph gravestones of my ancestors (back to a certain point where people were buried without them). Don't laugh; it's a hobby and even more of an obsession than technology.

Today, I decided to learn how to use Flickr, which is a photosharing Web site owned by Yahoo. I have linked this blog to it in hope that I can show off some of my favorite photos on my blog.

My cousin, Fred Burdick, town historian for Stonington, CT is making and selling (to benefit family associations and historical societies) CD's of photos (with genealogical information) of the graveyards in that area. He's preserving history. I think this is a great idea, don't you?

It Takes a Village?

Who are the people driving the use of technology in the curriculum? With the push for all educators to become users of technology inside and outside the school walls, I take a moment to reflect about this on the day after Mother's Day with the idea that it takes more than parents to educate a child. It takes all of us.

In my teaching of workshops in the past, I have encountered many teachers, specialists, administrators, and library-media people who are proponents of the use of technology and curriculum. In one instance, one school was successful because they had a physical education teacher, who voluntarily helped the teachers learn about and practice new technologies and on her own time, I might add.

Who is responsible for students using technology appropriately and with purpose toward learning goals? Do you have to be a classroom teacher to do this? Are those who teach teachers gearing their lessons, blogs, Web pages and courses just to this select group of people, and if so, why are they doing that?

I invite comment on this.

Mayflower Maven

As is my habit, I picked up a free publication (Bookpage) at my local library, and discovered an article about an upcoming book to be published next Tuesday by a Massachusetts author, educated at Brown and Duke who lives on Nantucket. I am looking forward to reading (and probably listening to) this book because of my Mayflower ancestry.

Nathaniel Philbrick - Mayflower - A story of Courage, Community, and War

Alden Mudge, who lives in California, wrote the article for Bookpage and clearly doesn't know that current schoolchildren are being taught that the harvest was in September or October and about the part the Native American played in history. Hopefully, these children will teach their parents and grandparents about real history. (Will they be able to hear them over the roar of the football games?)

Many people don't know, that with standards-based learning, Massachusetts has placed the teaching of this history at third grade.

Having taught a workshop for teachers on the topic of "Thanksgiving", I can tell you first-hand about the controversial nature of what is taught the week of Thanksgiving in elementary schools. Since that day, I have spent many hours learning and writing about this time period and the part that my ancestors played in it. Visit my Step on the Rock page for some ideas!

May Day..At Last!

My father enjoyed learning to "recite" in elementary school and as a small child he had me memorize and recite the poems and passages he learned in school. Now that he's gone, every May 1, I recite a poem that, to me, means winter is finally over. I don't know who wrote it, or even if it is really a song, so if any of you out there know anything about it, I'd like to hear it.

'Tis springtime, 'tis springtime, Cold winter is past;
Warm breezes are blowing and May's here at last;
The birds are returning, Their songs fill the air;
And meadows are smiling with blossoms so fair.