Visit this site to see a Jing! cast of my Collaborative Project for ED483.

My Collaborative Project centers around my use of WikiSpaces in this course.

My PLN network is comprised of a few different elements.  Aside from sporadic Twitter communications and occasional attempts to use Google Docs with partners, I have been working on my  WikiSpace, Using these tools has somewhat broadened my PLN.  The WikiSpace especially has developed my PLN.  Not only have I been able to display information on WikiSpaces, but I have also been able to retrieve and gather it from my professor’s sites.  Branching the classroom out into the cyber-world through WikiSpaces has made my exchanges with professors and fellow classmates more frequent.  Additionally, I have built my PLN by blogging here, on Edublogs.  I have been able to discuss information and ideas with my fellowclassmates via Edublogs.  Edublogs has provided an outlet for additional exploration of topics discussed in class, and I have found my peers’ points-of-view to be interesting to read.

How has my PLN grown and changed?  Before taking a technology course at NMU, I had virtually no PLN.  I did not know what a WikiSpace was, I had never heard of Twitter or Google Docs… I didn’t even have a FaceBook account.

In my first few years of college, I had both a FaceBook and MySpace account.  I thought the programs had some interesting features, but ultimately decided they took too much time and energy away from other things I both needed and wanted to do.  Therefore, I closed my FaceBook account.  I still have a “private” MySpace account, but only check it every few months or so.

Now, I am a part of several PLN’s as previously described.  Undoubtedly, my PLN has grown.

The factors that have most significantly impacted this change are undoubtedly my participation in the education program at NMU, and my enrollment in the technology course it requires.  If it hadn’t been for the requirements of this course, I probably would have never explored any of the sites I am not part of.  I probably would have remained oblivious to their existence, and would have continued only to utilize the technologies with which I am already familiar.

The size and importance of my PLN are now ideas I need to consider.  How large do I really want my PLN to get?  How much energy would it be most efficient to put into the development and maintenance of my PLN?

Now that I have some knowledge of what is out there on the web in reference to PLNs, I have more knowledge and experience to go from as I answer these questions.

Read the article, and let me know what you think.  I am very curious to hear your responses.

Do you think this is an appropriate application of technological advances?

The site included an interview with Will Richardson.

Will Richardson on YouTube

The site talked about getting outside of the classroom with learning by connecting to others using PLNs.  According to Will Richardson, everyone’s PLN will look a bit different.  Everyone will have different interests and will guide their learning and interactions in a different direction.  He defines this type of learning as a “more independent function” as well as a more complex way to go about learning.  Students essentially learn through their interactions with others within the PLN.  Richardson draws to the forefront the fact that “kids are already engaged in…(PLNS)…”  He stresses that we, as educators,  must teach students how to properly use PLNs in an ethical and safe way.  Students should strive to communitcate with sincere, trustworthy, and knowledgable individuals and must learn to specific specific rules (i.e. copywrite laws).

Ways to develop personal learning networks may include subscribing as a class to a blog site, setting up a GoogleI Account, or signing up for Twitter.

For more information about this and 24 other (25 in all) “Random Things Innovative Educators Can Do To Enhance Teaching and Learning”, click here!

First and foremost, I thought it was interesting how Kevin Kelly referred to the technology as being The One. I also thought it was interesting how he referred to us (as people’s) as being The One. I felt like these comments were a bit prophetic, and they got my mind thinking about cups of wine and chants sung on the way to the alter. Though I do not think I would go so far as to use the level of abstraction as Kevin Kelly used in his speech – - he did make some valid points.

Technology is huge.

What more is there to say?

Kevin Kelly was right when he said that numbers can become so big that they don’t even matter anymore. I felt like the statistics he used in describing the growth of technology reflected this to a great degree. Technology has become so large, that its power is really beyond a “regular old human’s” ability to fathom.

At the beginning of the video, Kevin Kelly made a comment about how if he had been making the same speech about technology 10 years ago, and describing the new technologies we have today, we would have never believed his ideas possible. Several changes in technology have developed over a short span of time, and really revolutionized the way we go about our daily lives.

This draws some reminiscent thoughts to the forefront of my mind regarding science-fiction literature I have read and explored. Take, for instance, the futuristic tale of Feed, a novel written for young adults. In many futuristic science fiction, technology plays an intricate role in the societies described. Could it be that we will one day have chips in our heads like the characters in Feed? Could this “fictional” tale become reality? What sort of benefits does this pose for us as a society? What sort of difficulties does this pose for us as a society? What could we gain? What might we lose? These are important questions to discuss and consider.

I will be completely honest, considering technology often frightens me, but a great deal of it excites me as well.

What will happen next?
I suppose no one can really tell…

Larry Lessig’s video on TED Talks was interesting to watch.

First and foremost I must commend Larry on his ability to prepare a visually pleasing presentation. I thought the way Larry singled out specific words textually on the video screen as he spoke was very effective. It was a wonderful way to keep the audience’s attention focused on what he felt were “keywords” or points.

Larry Lessig had a lot to say about copyright issues. The point he made that resonated most with me is that extremism breeds extremism. He spoke about how extreme attempts to prevent people from breaking copyright laws, has caused them to revolt. The new generation, learning and growing amidst this new technology, has technological skills we have never dreamed possible. These youth are capable of producing many media elements, but not without the inevitable risk of “copying”. Lessig points out that any time one uses media from the web to create something, he or she is in turn “copying” another’s work. This generation’s computer users are revolting against copyright laws, viewing the government as a bully or enemy, one to be counteracted or ignored. This, as Lessig points, is dangerous. Similarly, these youth are being labeled as “pirates” and/or criminals. How can we expect criminals to behave…? What further repercussions could this have on society?

To write a summed-up, collective reflection – - I firmly believe a sense of balance need be established between availability of and access to technological media, as well as protection provided for the media’s creators.

Here are a few of my favorites – - WHAT FUN!

A few sites linked to in the article include the following:

Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing – This site talks about correct grammar, punctuation, uses, and spellings of words.  It promotes good digital commenting techniques as well.  I think the goal of this site is neat.  Many people’s writing and language skills are suffering because of computer use.  Many people use incorrect spellings and abbreviations for words and phrases.  This site advocates doing things the traditional way, and teaches children how to do so.

English Idioms and Slang: Cool Lessons for Learners of English - This site dispels some of the ambiguity and confusion that could so easily be associated with English idioms and slang.  For example, often times we use terms like “chicken” or “scairdy cat” to describe someone who is afraid.  An English language learner, however, may take such classifications as literal.  We use idioms and slang with native English-speaking students because such terms are easy for them to associate and understand.  However, they could make things very confusing for an non-native English-speaker.  This would be a great site to use with ESL or ELL students.

Tony Vincent also describes PodCasts in his article.  He defines a podcast as a “…news feed (known as RSS) that allows it to be podcast in various podcasting directories like iTunes and Podcast Pickle.”  Podcasts can be programmed to automatically download directly onto your computer.  There are 3 types of podcasts, Audio (mp3), Enhanced (images/audio), and video.

Tony Vincent also includes a link to iPod activities for educational use.  IPods are extremely popular, with several students owning their own iPods.  Upon clicking either the “iPod touch” or “iPod with wheeles” icon, lesson plans, audio, video, RSS feeds, quizzes, web-aps, and much more are presented.  Most students are eager to use technology already, so why not incorporate it into the classroom?  This is a great excuse to get students interested in doing other “productive” things with the “fun” tools they might already have at home.  Wouldn’t it be nice if, rather than banning iPods in schools, we made them a mandatory learning tool?

This was an interesting article that got me thinking about technology and education a bit more.