Digial Footprint

While at taking part in the Google for Educators NECC Remote session See earlier post), an interesting question came up in my mind: How concerned are instructors with their "Digital Footprint" (a digital footprint consists of the accumulating body of work that a user leaves behind while online, such as Facebook entries/comments, Twitter posts, blogs, wikis, YouTube/TeacherTube, etc.)?

I advanced-searched for images on Google that were tagged with variations of my name, then my family, then some of the presenters at TIE, and NECC. Some personalities had images attached to their full name online, which was disconcerting to me since identity theft continues to grow exponentially each year. Aren't these people positioning themselves to be targeted with so much identifiable information online?

Next thought: If students begin using online tools in elementary school, it would seem to me that teachers need to be even more aware of what content/quality of content is going out to the world so that their future is not accidentally affected. Tech-savy businesses are already scrutinizing an individual's online presence as part of their hiring procedures, so something not published as carefully as it could've been during class could make a difference in the long run.

Plinky Prompts

Social networks like Facebook, and MySpace demand ever-changing, entertaining content and earlier this year I stumbled across a website that can help beginning Bloggers like myself stay motivated to post content online.

Plinky is a free site that you can join to have thought-provoking, idea-inspiring writing prompts sent directly to your e-mail address. These ideas can then be either answered via Plinky for other users to read, or posted on your particular website for your readers to enjoy.

Themes to respond to range from ecological issues to what-if situations and are displayed in a list format. The list can then be sorted by either newest posted prompt or oldest.

I suppose that Plinky could also be used as a polling question engine (with some tweaking) for those of us who use Poll Everywhere on our wiki/blog locations or use the polling tool offered with Cover It Live during live blog sessions.

I personally would rather read a response to "There's never enough time, is there? What would you do with an extra three hours today?," compared to a one-lined "we're out of cereal again; headed to the store. AARRRGGG" update.

Good Morning!

Hello! I am a computerized human voice reading what Mr. R. has typed in his blog.

Some people might think that my voice is too difficult to understand, but for people who are visually impaired (in other words their eyesight is poor or their computer screen is too small), this tool is another way to receive information. Now there will be less squinting at blurry letters or Mr. R. worrying about what font is the easiest to read. The message or stories that Mr. R. would like to share with the world will stay pretty much the same, whether you read the text or listen to me read it to you.

You, dear listener, have the choice to use me. Mr. R. would love to have your feedback on this new type of text-to-speech technology. If you have a free Blogger account, please leave your comments below.

On a more personal note: I would also love to have a name. Can you send your ideas to Mr. R. either through your wiki or posted comments? Thank you.

Blogging Power

A few weeks ago we started live blogging!

Last year's class also blogged, but it seemed to be mostly as an extension of literacy (what does line two, stanza two mean to you, what is the theme of this poem and why, etc.). The login went quickly since all the students had to do was go to this blog and begin. The only problem was that I was always mindful (maybe overly mindful) as the moderator for student safety since we were using a site that was more publicly accessible. As a result, many responses were not posted due to an overly cautious teacher, not to irrelevant/repetitive replies.

This year we have started earlier since there have been a few student who were trying to use the wiki as a blogging tool (my apologies to the space members who received wikimail messages that said (I'm on everyone. Is anyone there?"). We set our expectations (be respectful, be safe, be as accurate as possible with conventions, and be patient while Mr. R. reads all of the messages). We talked about what a moderator is and also how to respond to polling questions that I would post.

Result: Complete student engagement and some student frustration at not always having each response posted immediately.

I will share this tool with Science Council and anyone else who will listen!