brianjdixon.com Building an online community
It is important to first establish what the term "new media" refers to. In 2010, "new media" refers to anything web-based. There is no way to call an overhead projector "new" anymore. New media refers to user-contributed content and mobile access to that content. There are lots of ways to make use of that in the classroom. For example, a geography teacher in a ninth grade classroom might be going over the 5 different types of maps. "New media" in the form of GPS units could be used to bring this lesson to life. Have some donated to the class. Invite parents in to show student how they are used, both on the job and in everyday situations.
Don't try to be the only technology expert in your room. Let the students show you what they know. When I received a SMART board for my classroom a few years ago, I invited interested students to help me learn how to use it. They stayed after school for several days, learning different Smart Board tips and techniques. Every once in a while, they would teach me what they had just figured out. I provide popcorn and soda, and they offered some informal professional development. Later in the year, when I had a problem with the SMART Board, I was able to just turn around and ask one of my experts, "What do you think is going on?" More often than not, they were ready with an answer.
Skype
There are plenty of free tools out there that educators can utilize in their classrooms. If, for example, they want to bring in a parent expert on a topic relating to the content, or they want to build a relationship with a sister classroom overseas, they can use something like Skype, which is used to conduct the Teacherblast sessions. Skype offers a free service which allows people around the world to communicate with each other. All that is required is an email address, a computer, a webcam, and a microphone. Skype, and services like it, can really bring the world into the classroom and allow the students to collaborate with any number of people.
There is this whole world of people online that are creating videos. As a teacher how can I use that world of people to help me teach my content?" I came up with a few scenarios. In one, the class is trying to come up with a theme song. I could post a video asking for help from the YouTube community, saying "Hey, I'm a teacher and we're doing this thing. Would you mind trying to take this poem that we wrote as a class, and put it to music?" At least two or three people are going to respond. The result is a really fun collaboration between the students and someone who saw them on YouTube and wanted to work with them. It's a really fun, interactive way to leverage new media. It is essentially the crowd-sourcing model at work.
Using video
Use your computer to record a video message for parents and students regarding homework and post the video on Ning, your webpage, or even YouTube. The advantage of the video over the recording is that the parents get used to seeing the teacher. They feel more comfortable, and that can be a great help during parent/teacher conferences. That increased familiarity will really help smooth over a lot of the rough spots. After a few weeks, or even months, once everyone has gotten used to seeing the teacher on camera, students could get involved too. It can be a really interesting experience to have them recording the homework assignment for the day and sharing an inspirational quote or a fun fact: "Hi, this is Dominic and the homework assignment for today is..." Both the students and their parents could really enjoy seeing themselves online. It would be a great way of keeping them engaged outside of the classroom.
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Steve Terry on Web 2.0 Tools for Teaching and Learning - MSU Libraries Emerging Technologies Summitby msulib99 views
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