Thursday, July 10, 2008

So much to teach, where to start first?



Breaking News: July 28, 2008. I presented the HSTE Project to both our CT&E Director and High School Principal today and secured their approval to proceed with the project for this upcoming school year!

After reflecting on NECC 2008, Edubloggercon and NECC Unplugged and all of the great Web 2.0 ideas I got there, I am starting to plan for the fall semester for all of my classes and trying to figure out just where to start.


Wikispaces


I already have a final project in mind called the HSTE Project along with a pretty good Project Description, a Ning site for everyone in the project to communicate and I have a rough idea what our final "project" will be. Now the question is how to get there?

I ran across a great opening assignment by way of Vicki Davis' CoolCatTeacher Blog, called Wiki Wiki Teaching for starters. This "First Assignment" for all of my classes will be to accomplish a few small goals for starters:

1. Teach students how to collaborate in groups
2. Expose the students to editing a Wiki on our Wikispaces page
3. Expose my students to  Web 2.0 terminology and technology
4. Let the students create their first product, or "project"
5. Get the student working together and show them how we will work the entire semester or school year

Next I want to expose them to some great Web 2.0 Tools. One that I am really excited about teaching will be their own personal learning space using Netvibes. I have really enjoyed learning and using my own Netvibes PLE since I learned about it early this summer. I am planning on showing my students how to categorize their own tabs for their other classes as well as my Health Science Technology class. What a wonderful tool not only for teacher's professional development but to show them how to organize their online learning could be great.

After I feel that they have an understanding of what tools are available to them and they are starting to get comfortable with the various applications, then we will begin our study of the various Health Science Technology Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) which are basically the objectives the Texas Education agency sets forth for all classes in the State of Texas.

I am really hoping that I can pull this off, using technology, computers, Web 2.0 applications, etc., to teach my HSTE classes but I think I can do it. I am very excited at what my students will produce as finished projects. I can envision all sorts different outcomes with collaboration not only with each other, but when my students use our HSTE Ning Site to communicate with Health Care Professionals, initially in Hereford, Texas and then where ever the power of the  internet will lead us. One of the keys to making this a successful project in the end will be encouraging busy Doctors, Nurses, X-Ray Technicians, etc. to agree to share their knowledge and experiences with my students.

I have created The HSTE Project Blog to chronicle our project during this school year.

Now if anyone has any thoughts on this post or the HSTE Project, I would welcome any and all comments, suggestions and advice.

6 comments:

shegstrom said...

I think you have a great outline and seem very focused on what you want your student to learn. Your ideas are wonderful and I am sure your students will get a lot from collaborating. I will add two links you might like to use. The first is
Web 2.0 Teaching Tools. I would also like to suggest that you have your own students use twitter like you do. I found a new twitter created by Paul R. Allison which monitors posts, it is called Youth Twitter. Good luck with your project, I look forward to watching it progress.

John Peters said...

It is funny you should mention Web 2.0 Tools, I have spent this afternoon composing a Wikispace on just that: http://tinyurl.com/6kor5w I have not seen Youth Twitter before, but I am going to look at it.

Thanks for your wonderful comments, it is really appreciated. Best wishes: John

shegstrom said...

Odd question, how did you respond to my comment? I also use blogspot and have not found a way to comment back.

Thanks for the info it would be greatly appreciated. I'm glad you liked the links. I hope they help.

Sherry

Julie Lindsay said...

John, thanks for a great post about how you are setting up your new Web 2.0 project! I love your methodical approach. Thanks for sharing your great resources. I mentioned you in my blog post today as an example of how to get started with a flat classroom. Good luck! I hope you will share this more on our Flat Classrooms Ning!
http://123elearning.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-to-flattern-your-classroom-getting.html

John Peters said...

Julie:

Thanks so much. I am really excited about the upcoming school year. I will definitely share our progress on Flat Classroom Project during the year.

I just created a new blog The HSTE Project Blog to document our efforts during this school year and hopefully show others how to start their own project.

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