I just went rogue and decided to use Lore instead of Blackboard as my course management system. I’m loving it so far. Read to learn about what makes Lore so attractive and why we need to question every educational tool that comes our way!
7-11-12 Inspiration: The Listserve
The Listserve is an e-mail lottery. “One person a day wins a chance to write to
the growing list of subscribers. It could be you.” (Taken directly from The Listserve’s website). I just signed up and i’m crossing my fingers that I’ll get chosen to share my thoughts with a list of over 20,000 people!
Okay everyone – I’ll be taking a week or two off from EdGeeks so I’ll see you in August!
Thanks for reading and happy July.
-Marisa
Firstly, a big shout out to my dear friend Ari Joseph for always passing on inspiring projects! This is not a traditional educational post but I am completely intrigued by this project and wanted to share. It is called The Listserve and it is a really exciting idea!
Basically, it is an email lottery system with a growing number of subscribers. As of the last time I checked, the subscription list was up to 20,640. “Each day, one person is randomly selected to write one e-mail to the growing list. That’s the only e-mail allowed to be sent to The Listserve.” The essential question for this project is: If you could talk to one-million people, what would you say?
I signed up yesterday and received my first email from a student in Australia. His words were endearing and it was great to hear a voice from so far away. What a great way to bring people together and to make us question what is truly important! In the spirit of education, this could be a really inspiring project for ELA, Writing, Social Studies…even math with a growing list of subscribers. Thanks Ari, i’m inspired. Can’t wait for today’s Listserve email. Hope I get picked soon:)
Isn’t it odd how we are constantly teaching tweens and teens about peer pressure, yet in our adult years we sometimes find ourselves unable to resist it? I had my most recent experience with peer pressure while becoming an adjunct lecturer for the summer. I will be teaching a graduate course on Inclusion for Students with Disabilities In General Education. Teaching teachers is the most inspiring experience. You have the opportunity to model all of the things you hope they will go off and embody with their students: high engagement, rich resources, collaboration, student-centered learning and more!
The faculty at my college (and at many colleges) uses Blackboard for course management. Years ago when I was a student, I often felt frustrated with Blackboard so it came as no surprise when I began entering my course information and realized I had quite a few questions. Perhaps the most important question that came to mind was, “Why do we use Blackboard?” It’s sad to say that I think the reason most people use it is peer pressure. It becomes “Everyone uses it so it must be good. Now lets stop asking questions.” This year I left the classroom to begin a long journey filled with questions and pondering about teaching and learning and I didn’t feel that now was the time to stop.
After chatting with some colleagues and looking into my options, I decided to pilot Lore to manage my course. This may sound silly but I felt connected to the simple design of the site. It was reminiscent of turning in my Sony Vaio and buying a Mac years ago. Lore is so attractive and simple to use. With Blackboard, I relied mostly on one-pagers to walk me through the process of completing each task. Lore is pretty intuitive. It took me about ten minutes of play testing to figure out how to use the site. Lore’s videos helped me with the small things I couldn’t figure out myself.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been uploading information and resources that will support my students. I have filled in the calendar with dates for class times, assignments and exams – which are all color coded. I uploaded articles, links, and videos, and shared ISBN numbers for reading materials. Finally, I recently linked my Blackboard account to Lore (I know this sounds blasphemous) so my students could login and see what I’ve been up to. I invited students to set up their profiles. So far I have a few students who have gone through the full process of filling out their bios. I like the idea of the profiles on Lore. I am able to connect with students before our course begins. This will help me match faces to names and will give me background experience of each of my students.
The moral of the story: Now more than ever, in our current state of education, we need to be asking questions about EVERYTHING! I’ll keep you posted on how Lore goes.
You have probably noticed that I’ve slowed down a bit this summer. I’m beginning to teach grad school so I am focused on that but will continue to write as much as possible during the summer months, coming back in full swing in September. Thanks for reading.
-Marisa
7-2-12 Gadgets for EdGeeks: Wallwisher
I recently stumbled across Wallwisher and my brain was immediately flooded with ways to use this tool to support learning. Make sure to check out my first wall and contribute an idea or respond to someone else’s. Thanks!
I’ve been an avid edSurge reader for quite awhile now and I felt it was time to share out about the edSurge Instruct newsletter for teachers. If you aren’t signed up yet, you’re seriously missing out.
Awhile ago I mentioned EdSurge as a go-to site for technology in education. I have been receiving the regular edition of the EdSurge newsletter for some time now, but the more recent EdSurge Instruct newsletter for teachers is what I’d like to discuss today.
If you are a teacher, you NEED to be reading this newsletter weekly. To be honest, I’m not a “newsletter reader” in general, but this one catches my attention every week. I always make time on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to click through every link in the email.
As a teacher, it can be really difficult to stay on top of the latest in educational innovation. Often, if you need a tool and you “Google it,” you run the risk of finding something that is borderline academic at best. EdSurge does a great job of vetting resources so you can be sure that if it’s coming to you through the newsletter, it’s something worth taking a look at.
Our educational system is at a point of major struggle. We need to be asking more questions about the tools we use to support learning inside and out of the classroom. Many educational resources that come in shiny packages can look appealing, but we can’t afford to be judging books by their covers these days. EdSurge can help us figure out what we should be asking and can lead us in the right direction for tools that really do support learning.
In a recent edition of the EdSurge newsletter, I stumbled across Wallwisher. (By the way, if you don’t get EdSurge you’re seriously missing out!) Wallwisher’s elevator pitch: “We give you a nearly blank page (a wall). You put anything you want on it, anywhere. Simple, yet powerful!” EdSurge used Wallwisher as an invitation for ideas, which I’d love. I don’t think Wallwisher is the most beautiful tool in the world but it’s simple and it does the job.
There are quite a few different ways I could envision using Wallwisher but today I want to draw your attention to the obvious implications in teaching.
Have a SmartBoard or a projector? Try starting each day with a Wallwisher question:
Try starting every (ELA, math, science, etc.) lesson with a Wallwisher question:
Use Wallwisher to elicit responses in real time:
Here is my first Wallwisher and I really hope you’ll take a minute to add your thoughts. Question of the day Teachers and Parents: What kind of EdTech do you wish someone would make for your classroom or to use with your child at home?
Thanks!
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