How to Use Symbaloo to Create Your Bloom's Digital Taxonomy Toolkit

Our District utilizes the Symbaloo App to create a Web 2.0 Toolbox of resources for our teachers. Each year, our Instructional Coaches review the latest in Web 2.0 applications and then categorize them into the various levels of Bloom's Digital Taxonomy. We have seen several charts and graphs that accomplish this, but what is nice about this application is that it allows us to create an interactive Symbaloo of Webmixes for each level of Bloom's. I have embedded the Webmix that we compiled for the "creating" level of Bloom's Digital Taxonomy. You will notice that the top row lists several "digital verbs" and under each verb is a list of applications that can be used to accomplish the task! Click on the icons to navigate to the applications. (Disclaimer: We try to list only the free applications, but some have enhancements that may have a cost associated with it.)

Larry Ferlazzo's Best Web 2.0 Apps for 2014

Our instructional technology group is always looking for new Web 2.0 Applications to share with our staff and students. Larry Ferlazzo, a high school teacher in Sacramento, CA, has reviewed and narrowed down his top picks and published the best comprehensive list for educators. I look for his posting at the end of each year and use his suggestions when developing our teaching toolkits for the district. Thanks Larry for helping educators spend less time on researching materials for their lessons and more time on instruction.

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2014/12/15/update-on-my-best-of-2014-lists/

Presenting with PiktoChart

PiktoChart is a great tool for displaying and presenting data in a graphical format for your audience. I have embed the infograph that I created when I gave an overview of our district Technology Plan. However, you can also present the infograph in presentation mode if you prefer presenting from slides. Here is a link to the presentation mode so that you can compare the two. The PiktoChart website http://piktochart.com/ provides a simple interface and is quick to learn no matter what your technology proficiency.

Education Trends: The Flipped Classroom | Piktochart Blog

Education Trends: The Flipped Classroom | Piktochart Blog
Here is a great Piktochart Explaining the Flipped Classroom

Using Skype and Vent as an Educational Tool

Skype is a  program that can be used for video conferencing and voice streaming to collaborate with people from different locations. Skype has the ability to stream video and voice along with instant messaging and screen sharing. The user needs a webcam, an Internet connection, a microphone, speakers, and the Skype software application. Skype is also free to anyone who has loaded the software onto their computer or mobile device. Up to 25 participants can connect at once for free if everyone is using the Skype application. However, there are additional features available if you pay the fees for the premium package. In addition, Skype has a support page which explains the needed bandwidth depending on the number of participants and what features you are using. Skype Support on Bandwidth: https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA1417/how-much-bandwidth-does-skype-need

I was unfamiliar with Vent, which I found out is short for Ventrilo.  When I asked around at work, one of the guys in our technology department told me that he used Vent when he played games on his computer so he could carry on a live chat with his gaming buddies. He went on to explain that his friend paid a monthly fee of $10.00 to rent and be the administrator of a Vent server. The server admin had permissions to issue logons to his gaming friends and could allow them to chat and help one another while collaborating or teaming together during the games. In order to participate, each gamer must load the Vent client to join in the voice stream which runs about 24-32 kbps for 10 to 15 users. In addition, the administrator can give specific rights or deny rights to each gamer in which a logon has been created. However, my colleague stated that he preferred to use Skype because there were latency issues with his Vent voice stream. And when playing in a gaming environment in which you depend on others to help you progress or survive in the game, latency could be detrimental to your online character.

What are the benefits to using these applications for education? What is lost? We use Skype in the libraries to bring real experts into the classroom which otherwise might not be able to visit our students.  We have Skyped with authors of the books in our libraries, community members, and famous characters. Our students are always engaged when they participate in a video conference with our Skype guests. Skype allows students to interact with people in real-time giving them the ability to ask questions and explore new experiences in which they might not be able to encounter without a free video conferencing application. With the implementation of so many iPads and other mobile devices in our schools, Skype is an inexpensive app that can be easily accessed and utilized on any level.

Yet, Skype or other programs similar to Skype such as Vent are not a replacement for the teacher. Instead, these programs can enrich any educational activity. For example, teachers can set up a Skype time in the evenings in which students with homework questions can interact with the teacher in order to get tutoring or other needed clarification. However, this approach might not work well with all learners. The teacher comfort of using the technology and the students’ learning styles should always be a consideration when discovering new methodologies of instructional strategies.

Summary of "The Demographics of Social Media Users--2012"

The article reveals the results of a national survey for the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project on the demographic use of social media which was conducted between November 14 and December 9, 2013 (Duggan and Brenner, 2013). Researchers polled 1,802 individuals who use the Internet about their social networking usage by both landlines and cell phones. The social media sites which were examined included: Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr. The report also includes the usage of Facebook; however, it was surveyed in a separate study in December of 2012. The results of both surveys indicated that the use of social media is more likely to transpire in the cohort of young adults ages 18-29. In addition, the results discovered that adults under 50, women, Latinos, African-Americans, and urban residents had specific social media sites in which they were particularly interested in utilizing. Overall 67 percent of the surveyed Internet users were interested in using any one of the social networking sites listed.

Out of the 67 percent of Internet users who use social media, the survey discovered that 62 percent were men and 71 percent were women. Other findings included that individuals with a household income less than $30,000 a year had the highest use of social media. Also, individuals with some college experience ranked highest in social media use followed by the cohort of high school graduates and less than high school graduates, and the least amount of use came from people with college plus experience. And finally, the highest use was in urban areas versus suburban and rural.

Twitter, where each post is limited to 140 characters, is a popular social networking site that has doubled its membership since November 2010. Sixteen percent of all Internet users participate in the Twitterspere. Of those Internet users, 17 percent were men and 15 percent were women. The Black, Non-Hispanic ethnicity group ranked the highest use with 26 percent while the Hispanic group followed with 19 percent, and the White, Non-Hispanic group was last with 14 percent. However, opposite the highest cohort in the overall use of social networking sites, individuals with a household income of $75,000 or more were the highest users of Twitter.

Pinterest, which is a place to visually share images through the use of online pinning boards, has captured 15 percent of the Internet users that were surveyed.  Twenty-five percent of all women Internet users indicated they use Pinterest verses just 5 percent of men.  Individuals, who are the most interested in Pinterest, range from 18 to 49 years old thus giving this social media site the largest span in ages.  The highly educated and those with a high income are more likely to use Pinterest. And different from the category of all users who utilize social media, more individuals in rural areas have joined Pinterest.  

Thirteen percent of the Internet users surveyed utilize Instagram. Instagram is a social networking site that allows users to post photos and share them with others. Women are more likely to use Instagram than men, and whites are less likely to use it than the Black, Non-Hispanic and Hispanic ethnicity groups. And consistent with all Internet users surveyed, individuals living in urban areas and earning less than $30,000 a year are most likely to use Instagram.

Tumblr, which is not as prevalent as other social networking sites, only has 6 percent of the Internet users utilizing its services to blog. The significant difference about Tumblr is that the largest percent of bloggers fall into the youngest cohort group. All other demographics align with all Internet users and their social networking habits.

Facebook, the most popular of the social networking sites, had the largest participation of all Internet users. Facebook allows for users to create a profile, share pictures and videos, add comments, and connect with friends and family members. Young adults ages 18-29 are the most likely to use Facebook, but individuals between the ages of 30 and 49 have a high participation rate of 73 percent. Women are more inclined to use Facebook than men, and wealthier people are more likely to use Facebook than people in lower categories of household income.

In order to identify Internet users, the Princeton Survey Research Associates International surveyed 2,261 adults and found that 81 percent of them use the Internet occasionally. This was a drastic change from the December 2002 information which identified that only 57 percent of adults use the Internet occasionally and that 43 percent did not use the Internet. The survey included weighting balances to ensure accuracy such as matching the parameters of the national population in the categories of sex, age, education, race, Hispanic origin, region, population density, and telephone usage.

In conclusion, 67 percent of all Internet users are likely to use a social networking site. The use of social media is more probable in the cohort of young adults ages 18-29. In addition, wealthier individuals were more likely to use Twitter as well as African Americans and urban residents. Women are more likely to use Pinterest than men along with people living in rural areas. Instagram is more likely to be utilized by ethnic groups such as African Americans and Latinos. Tumblr is not as popular a social networking site; however, young adults are the largest cohort to use the blog. Facebook is the most popular social media and women, young adults, and wealthier people tend to use the site more than others surveyed.

Personally, I use Twitter more than any other social networking site. The microblogging application is a great resource for following other professionals in your field or collaborating with them by joining in a scheduled chat.  I can understand why it is popular with wealthier professionals, so I am surprised that older adults had such a low participation rate in the survey. It was expected that Facebook would be the most popular. Our district has a Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter account in which our parents and students can follow, and our district Facebook constantly receives comments and questions from our community while Twitter and Instagram receive fewer visits on our monthly analytics reports. However, our teachers are constantly and consistently using our school Twitter hashtags which are embedded on our school websites to share events and student activities. In addition, at work, I once asked all of my coworkers to create a pin board using Pinterest for our department with ideas for a project. The men in the group replied, “Pinterest is not manly and is too girly for them to use.” I found their response amusing; however, they still had to find a way to submit ideas for the project! And contrary to belief, one of the men found some very masculine items to pin. So, perhaps that is one reason why Pinterest is more appealing to women than men. And I can definitely agree that the overall use of social media is more popular with young adults. Our students are always trying to find ways to circumvent our school filtering system in order to gain access to their social media accounts.  

References

Duggan, M., & Brenner, J. (2013). The demographics of social media users, 2012 (Vol. 14). Washington, DC: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project.

http://www.lateledipenelope.it/public/513cbff2daf54.pdf 

 

 

Why do people share their personal information on their Facebook and blogs?

If people value their privacy, why do they share personal information on their Facebook pages and in their blogs?

After considering this question, I opened my Facebook account and reviewed my privacy settings. There are always updates to the privacy settings that are sent to my e-mail account, and many times I simply click the “agree” button because I am too busy at the time to review the policy changes. So, I took the time to see exactly what I was sharing. And I made several changes to my settings after reviewing that I was sharing some items with public, and that people could find my profile using my e-mail address or my phone number. From this observation, I think that many people simply post personal information without really knowing “what” they are sharing with the public. They may be thinking that they are simply sharing information with family or friends, but the reality might be that their information is searchable by anyone using a browser. The privacy settings are somewhat difficult to find as you must go into settings to make changes, and they aren’t accessed from the pages you visit most often like your profile or timeline.

In addition, I don’t think that a high percentage of people have had something “bad” happen to them because they were choosing to share photos, locations, or other identifying information. You hear of cases where information published on Facebook has led to a crime; however, the numbers of people who have been affected are few. So, people are likely to post personal information because their circle of family and friends has not been affected in a negative way for doing so.  

I use Blogger for my blog postings, and I know that by default all my blogs are searchable and viewable by public. So, I think that some of the same premises for Facebook can be applied to why people share private information on their blogs. However, I also think that people use blogs to promote their professional knowledge and are more likely to want to share their information and knowledge with other Internet users. People can establish a business by blogging their expertise in a particular subject if they have an advertising agreement and a large group of followers.