Week 4 - Mediating and Monitoring Facebook

So you have established your facebook site for your kids and you have added groups for them to join.  What is your role from here?  I have made it very clear to my students that I am the administrator of each group and I will be monitoring the online interactions that they make so that students will be responsible for the content that they post.  Cyber bullying and offensive posts will not be allowed and will be reported.

It is important that students learn how to interact with each other online in a respectful manner.  Some students find their way on sites like facebook and their parents do not understand what they are doing and posting.  By establishing my page for my students I have in turn become their friends and can see the activity that they are doing as long as it is posted.  I check through it to make sure that students are behaving online positively and this allows me to help them understand how to use a social networking site properly if it is not being reinforced at home.

Week 4 - Adding student groups

Starting groups on facebook is real easy and user friendly.  Under the home page you click on the icon and name "Groups" on the left side of the page under the user picture.  The group page will come up and at the top of the page there is a button that says "+ Create a Group" in the center of the toolbar.  If you click on that it will redirect you to a page that will allow you to enter the group name, description, group type, location and recent news.  You can enter all that applies to your group.  The group type that I entered for my groups were student groups and then musical groups.

Once you have established your group you can make it a public or private group where students will have to be confirmed to enter into the group.  You can also delegate others to be administrators of the site and restrict many different options to control the group.  The greatest part about private groups is that anything that is posted or discussed will only stay within the group of students.  This helps students feel more comfortable posting pictures and wall posts because the information will be restricted to just the people within the group.  This is great for teachers because they can address most of a class about important matters by posting a wall post for everyone to see.

Week 4 - Add Students to facebook

I recently changed the focus of my action research because of the changes that I wanted to establish in my classroom.  I have made a website for the students and parents so that they can stay better connected with everything my choral program has to offer.  The next step was to poll the students about their use on facebook.  I found that roughly 90% of my students used facebook and were familiar on how to navigate around the online social network.  With that many students involved on facebook I decided to create a facebook page that would be dedicated for my students.

I created the page and I found that it was very easy to find a lot of my students on facebook.  I added a few students and facebook automatically started sending me suggestions on other friends to consider which were mostly my students.  I was able to gather 110 students in just a week and a half.  The best part about using facebook with my class is that it allows me to send suggestion about websites and other material that is educational.  So far I have found it to be a very beneficial tool to enhance student learning and peer interaction outside of the classroom.

Week 3 - Level Audio in iMovie

Click here to watch how to level the audio files in iMovie.

Week 3 - Detach Audio in iMovie

Click here to see how to detach the audio in iMovie.

Week 3 - Cut Aways in iMovie

Click here to see the video on adding cut aways in iMovie.

BP10_Comment to Pam

Quizlet

Click on the following link to see my comments on Pam's blog.

BP9_Comment to Bruchetta

Sweet Search

Click on the following link to view my comments on Bruchetta Jones blog.

BP11_OMM Quizlet

Click here to see a commercial for Quizlet.com.

BP8_Xtranormal.com

Xtranormal.com

Xtranromal.com is a web 2.0 tool that allows you to create your own animated videos.  The most interesting thing is that you do not need to record your voice.  All you have to do is type out the script and an automated voice takes care of the rest.  You can add different gestures, looks, and settings to help customize your video.  I like that it is something different then the typical videos that I create on iMovie.  It is a great way to show my creativity in a relaxed animated environment.


I plan on using xtranormal.com to create videos that I can use in the classroom.  It can be a lot quicker then filming scenes because you can copy and paste text that you have already written and it will automatically speak it.  There will be no need for retakes and making sure that you say everything correctly at the time you film.

I plan on having students create their own promotional videos for choir.  This site will help them create great looking professional videos.  They will not have to worry about having video equipment and they can creatively express what they want to say with nothing more then an internet connection and a computer. 


I found that the site was fairly user friendly and once you get the hang of how to add extra features like looks and camera angles then the rest came very quickly.  Just like any new program you will have to spend a little time playing around with all the many features but once you do, you will be able to move faster through projects and they will start looking professional in no time!

BP7_OMM KaraokeParty

Click here to view the video

This video is a commercial for the web 2.0 tool called Karaoke Party.  It was created by Jason Reed and has Delonee Peoples acting.  This video was created for the ETC class that Jason is taking at Full Sail University.  Click on the video above and make sure you check out Karaoke Party


Karaoke Party is a web 2.0 tool that allows you practice your singing on an online interactive karaoke application.  This site allows you to sing your favorite songs and even challenge other people.  This site also offers video singing lessons and warm-ups so students can practice at home.  

BP6_Comments to Jeremy

Follow this link to read my comments on Jeremys page.

Writeboard

BP5_Comments to Taylor

Follow this link to read my comments on Taylors page.

Bubbl.us

BP4_KaraokeParty

Karaoke Party

http://www.karaokeparty.com 

Karaoke Party is a web 2.0 tool that allows you practice your singing on an online interactive karaoke application.  This site allows you to sing your favorite songs and even challenge other people.  This site also offers video singing lessons and warm-ups so students can practice at home.

This site is free to sign up for a username and password.  There are many songs that are available with a free subscription.  The star membership requires a small monthly fee and unlocks all the features.  My action research is to analyze and assess students singing by using individualized video taped voice testing.  This will help students become more responsible for learning their parts and it will force them to prove that they have been paying attention and working in class.  

Karaoke party can help my students vocalize while they are at home.  They are graded on their performance, which is similar to the individualized video taped voice tests that we do in class and they can compete against each other in a video game environment.

The analysis of the performance is done by using a pitch find and when you sing you can visually see if your pitch is to high or low.  Finding and hearing the correct pitches is one of the most important skills a singer can learn and this site helps facilitate the ear training process.  I love how it visually shows them their accuracy so that they can see what they need to do to score and sound better.  Put your singing skills to the test and check out Karaoke Party!

BP3_Diigo Group

Diigo.com

My ETC class has done it again!  I found a new piece of technology that I am going to start using and it is called Diigo.  I had never heard of Diigo before I started taking the ECT class at Full Sail University but now that I have found it I will use it all the time.  Diigo is like the mac mobile me in that it stores information in a digital cloud so that you can access that same information from any computer anywhere.  What makes Diigo special is that it is a social bookmarking website and it allows you to bookmark or tag websites.  This means that you can highlight parts of websites and save them or take snapshot of them as well.  


I set up my account the other night and I was amazed how easy and user friendly it is.  I downloaded the android app for my Droid phone and I instantly started uploading files and pictures to my account.  Diigo is a great way to sync your information together between your computer and your phone and it allows you to easily collaborate on projects with others.  I have only spent a few days working with it but I have already uploaded a group for my action research project and I am looking forward to finding other ways that I can incorporate Diigo into my life.  If you have never checked out Diigo before please feel free to click on any of the Diigo links to get started with an account.

BP2_iGoogle Screen Shots

This is a screen shot of my iGoogle Home Page

Here is a screen shot of my iGoogle FSO Page

This is a screen shot of my iGoogle Action Research Page

Here is a screen shot of my iGoogle ECT Page

BP1_Google Reader

Google Reader

Check out the RSS feeds that I am currently following…

The Apple RSS feed posts about 2.8 new posts per a week and has over 55,000 subscribers.  It keeps me up to date about all the new technologies that Apple is releasing and what’s hot in the Apple world.  I have recently converted to MAC both at my school and at home, and I couldn’t be happier.  I love using my iPod, iMac, and my MacBook Pro.  With this site I will always be informed about any Apple news right away.

      The LDS.org RSS feed posts about 0.7 posts per a week and has 7,420 subscribers.  It helps me stay connected to all the global stories and news about the Church of Jesus Christ.  There are many great videos and information that are posted regularly which can be used to help facilitate church discussions and activities.  I love that I always have the most current information from the LDS website and the RSS feed always notifies me when a new posts are updated.

      The Magic & Illusion RSS feed posts about 3 posts per a week and has over 2,200 subscribers.  This feed keeps me up to date with the most current news and information in the magic world.  It can be hard to keep up with what is going on with other performers but this feed delivers great videos and news articles that are both informative and entertaining.

     
      The Choral Net RSS feed posts about 118 posts per a week and has only 46 subscribers.  It is interesting that there are more posts on this feed then any other feed that I follow yet it has one of the smallest amounts of subscribers!  The information from this site is very beneficial for me and it helps me with my teaching.  I am consistently informed about new methods and techniques that I can use in my classroom.  Great educators never stop learning and adapting their teaching and Choral Net helps choir directors achieve their goals with lesson plans and many other helpful posts.

There are many RSS feeds that I am currently following and I love how Google Reader is like a one stop shop for the information that I want to know.  Information is easily organized and updated with Google Reader, which saves you time and effort.  If you are not currently using Google Reader you should check it out and you will be glad that you did.