Karen's+Notes

David Warlick Workshop - Notes May 11, 2007 Look on the LINKS page for links mentioned by David.


 * Nature of Information has changed:** Definition of literacy must change. We have to expand our notion of what it means to be a reader – includes someone who can go on the Internet and read and find what they are looking for – and whether that information is true or biased.

1. Info is increasingly networked – more and more info is coming from someplace else in the world. In the next 10 years will be exclusively networked. 2. Information is increasingly digitized. Have to teach kids how to process images and audio. This has to be part of basic skills for the 21st c. 3. Information is increasingly overwhelming. “Too much information.” How do I get my message through that storm of information – how do you get that important thing you want to teach through that storm of info??? We have to continue to teach writing, but that is not enough – the only info we read is what competes for our attention. 4. Information now flows //outside of containers// – it used to be in the covers of books – now it is not contained – it resists containment. Wikipedia has 4.5 million articles and nothing that keeps it from getting bigger and bigger. The challenge from a literacy point of view is that we are no longer gatekeepers – walls and fences are gone and info is flowing. It is an ethical imperative to teach kids to be their own gatekeepers – it is now a personal skill for everyone. Can you expose the truth in information??? Arithmetic – can you employ info into a goal. Writing – can you take an idea and express that in a compelling way?
 * Information has changed 4 ways:**

Other changes happening in the past few years that are causing the nature of information to change even more quickly.

“Second Life” you get an account there. – it is free.

Lifelong learning in 21st century is learning from each other – it’s collaborative (wikis) – password to David’s wiki is ‘teacher’.

PodcasterCon. – it was an ‘unconference’.
 * New Conversations:**

We were taught how to be taught. In a world of lifelong learning where we can’t describe the future workplace, thus, we must teach students how to teach themselves. This is a lifelong learning technique.

1. //Information has changed in that is now more conversation// – blogs –there is a new layer of content – utube is more entertaining then regular tv. Content is coming from us, from our conversations. 2. //Information is reader controlled// – you have the ability to control the information that you want to put out there. We have control over content 3. //People connecting with other people// – because of ideas, not because of where they live.
 * As a result of new changes in past 3 years:**


 * WEB 2.0 –** Google started this. The web has become something you participate with – you can contribute and reshape content.


 * 2 cents worth – David’s blog**. – his mission to retool education. With blogging, the technology has gotten out of the way, easy to learn, just publish. Students are not just writing for their teacher, they are writing for their classmates and others, they are engaged in that. Blogging is motivating them //to write to be read.//

Most blogs are on creative commons - a new type of copyright, you license your content, but you give people permission to use your content in these ways…. You can read and you can use it, but you can’t alter it, or you can’t say you can alter it. Creative commons. That has 2 c’s with a circle around it. You go there and you create it.

Blogmeister. Epals, gaggle, imbee.com is good.

Gcast.com Podomatic.com Slapcast.com – cost money.

Idea for a lesson: Wikipedia find your info: now prove that it is correct! Good assignment! We have to teach kids to decide which is the right source. (I love this as an information literacy lesson!)

RSS – Aggregator is a program that can be web-based. Google.com/reader. Bloglines.com is another. Newsreader is shareware $19. you can also use itunes. NY Times has a rss feed too. Do a search on google – news – sort by date- rss feed – **news finds us.**

Del.icio.us – online bookmarks – shows how many people have also bookmarked and who they are.


 * PODCASTING**

RADIO WILLOW WEB http://www.mpsomaha.org/willow/radio/ Bob Sprankle Room 208 – giving students voice to what they are learning. Motivating kids, making connections to home and community. Podcasts come in audio and video. Doesn’t recommend video podcasts – it is much more time consuming, much more technology involved. The audio is exciting enough for the kids. David’s podcasts are on connect learning. You can use an ipod to record your podcasts- if you add an italk ($30), plugs into top of ipod. Geeked – two art teachers and two tech teachers podcast once a week about what’s going on in technology in their school district.

How to Podcast. Audacity – It’s free, it works on both platforms, it’s very good. Switch – sound file converter. Converting to mp3 makes it universal. Open up audacity, Import file. Editing – use the zoom to zero in on what you want to hear.


 * Kids think of info as raw material – what they can do with it, what they can build around it.**

Freeplaymusic.com for music clips. Davidwarlick.com

Audacity – import audio, will open in another track. Can play both tracks at once.

Time shift tool, and grab your track and shift it over to the right.

Envelope tool use it to crimp the soundtrack to lower the volume. Amplify effect, every 10 doubles the sound volume. Podcast safe music Sound effects – partners in rhyme.com – go to free sound effects. www.partnersinrhyme.com www.findsounds.com – finds telephone sounds

can grab tracks and shrink them up.

Generate silece— Watch out for soundtracks – effects are to enhance, not distract. Tell students: I want you to produce a podcast that is going to communicate this goal. That will be the hardest thing. Keep the kids focused on communication.