Thing #3: Skype

Skype extends the classroom. Students can talk to other classrooms, professionals, fellow students, experts, professors, other teachers, etc using this type of internet communication method. The possibilities are endless and encouraging. Teachers can also communicate with other teachers for planning or observation purposes.

Thing #2: Wordle, Wordsift, Glogster, Animoto, Bookr

Wordle: This is a great way to introduce biology topics. Students can create a wordle picture for a book or notebook cover using terms from their textbook table of contents. They can also create wordles as a way to review key terms in the the topics that we cover.

Wordsift: This also can be used as a review tool. I copied and pasted the list of topics that I entered into Wordle to create a basic biology wordsift. I like how the student can use this tool as a way to explore images and videos instantly for each different term in the wordsift image. Reivewing mages and videos are very helpful in studying biology and reinforcing vocabulary.

Voki: This is a cute way to personalize internet communication with students.

Get a Voki now!

Glogster: Students can use this site to create posters that illustrate a topic. This is a neat way to differentiate instruction and engage very creative and artistic learners.

Animoto: Students can create interesting visual displays set to music to review a topic. For example, students could present information on a topic and use this as an opening attention getter or as a close to a presentation. Or, students might find images for a biology review song and present that to the class. For example, Dr. Art creates fun biology review songs for a variety of life science topics. They could download and use some of his songs for this project.

Bookr: Students might use this site as a different way to review vocabulary pr review for a quiz. Or the students might create a children's book to explain a difficult biology topic such as cell respiration. However, the fact that all photos are from the flikr commons means that my students will have a difficult time finding the pictures or diagrams that they need. I tried searching for "cell" for example and found no appropriate pictures.

Thing #1: Using Connectivism as a means of Differentiation in the Classroom

Many students today are familiar with the latest and greatest technology gadgets, websites, and social networking capabilities. The student from the video is empowered in the sense that he gains the ability to learn course material using technology such as videoconferencing, podcasts, google scholar, bookmarking, etc. In general, this sets up students to be life-long learners. They become empowered when they learn to use networking and other technology tools as a means of learning information and/or strengthening their understanding of concepts that they need to know for a class or for their personal life.

Technology has also added a number of new ways for a teacher to teach in the classroom and it is exciting. Learning can occur through reading online journals and listening to podcasts and video conferencing. These are excellent ways to facilitate learning. The teacher is also empowered. The teacher may now use technology and networking as a means of differentiating in the classroom.

Can a Librarian play the role depicted in the video? It is possible for a librarian to facilitate learning in certain subjects, but I still believe that specific content knowledge is one of the key attributes of a teacher. A librarian is able to direct students to find information and answers to their questions. However, without content knowledge of a subject, a librarian might not be able to ask the right questions in leading a discussion on a topic, or answer questions about a topic. Also, for science courses, classroom science experiments are essential to learning and understanding certain concepts. Yes, there are virtual labs, but it is not the same hands-on experience with real equipment and variables. I understand the student from the video went to class a few days a week. The student in the video was not taking a science course, but if he was, would a librarian feel comfortable leading classroom experiments, discussion and other methods of hands-on learning, and answering questions as they arise in the classroom if they lack adequate content knowledge in certain subjects?