QR Codes, Part Two

so, the kids were pretty rapt with the qr code; even my juniors, when they saw it, wanted to scan it and see what it did as well. i was thrilled to have them so interested in something going on in an english classroom. however, it wasn't without its bumps.

firstly, if the kids didn't have an android phone, they didn't have an app store (or, at least, not an icon labelled "app store" or "app market"). however, most of them had downloaded apps in the past, and knew how to get about it, and then we shared bluetoothing the links to each other so everyone could participate. i explained to them how when i chose my app, i used my laptop to see others' reviews of each app before i decided on which one i would d/l for myself, and encouraged them to do the same.

then came the next problem. most kids don't have plans. they spend their $10-$20/month on a text-only top up. that means that while they could d/l the app, they couldn't actually go to the site and use the flashcards on their mobiles, which was the intention ("class in their pockets"). one boy announced that in the course of d/ling the app (at home) he had burned through his whole month's top up - bound to be a telecom phone, that one!

so...if the kids can scan qr codes, but can't actually visit the site it leads to, how helpful is the qr code in engaging them? something more to ponder.

in related news, i found a whole bunch of qr codes on car mags my husband had brought home from the states last month, and our local paper had one last week in an ad, and so did the cinema! they are certainly getting everywhere.

what did you do last week?

uLearn11

another great conference behind us, and the best thing is that after 3 very long terms, and virtually no break these holidays, i am totally stoked to get back to school next week!

there's nothing better than getting out there with like minded peers and sharing ideas. not being much of a creative thinker myself, spending time talking with and listening to others is an important facet of my own learning and teaching.

as i said to the delegates in my own session: take away ONE thing you're going to give a go. i'm practising what i preach, and my one thing this ulearn is QR codes.

@dakinane gave the session i attended, and he said we would be surprised at how easy it is. boy, was i! i've already prepared my "mission" (traditional word: homework) for this week, with a QR code for my level 1 students. the link is to the online flashcards i created last week. i'm hoping that the non-traditional delivery

of homework will lead to further engagement with the material, as they have really struggled with language features. (nb: flashcards designed specifically for my class, and often refer to things we've discussed, just fyi).

No Teacher Left Behind – Shepherding Secondary Teachers into the 21st Century

My presentation is this afternoon. This is my first time using Prezi, and I'm a little nervous!

List of resources in Diigo for teachers in the presentation.

Teachers, remember, you only need to take ONE thing away with you to start integrating technology into your life. Whether you read a blog or start a blog, play a game or create a game, you are getting started!

Keep up your involvement. You are always very welcome to email me if you have any questions.

Kelly

Are YOU Going to uLearn11?

are you a secondary teacher? are you in an ICT cluster? then you are likely going to ulearn11 in rotorua next month, and boy, are you lucky! ulearn is a fantastic conference, with a wide variety of workshops to choose from and wonderful things to hide your credit card from in the vendors' room. (go ahead, get something. i have to be frugal because i just got new toys.)

ulearn is great in that it will recharge your batteries, give you a great helping of motivation, and turn you on to some of the things you can do to help engage your students with your subject. however, there's a caveat. secondary teachers quite often have the opportunity to attend a conference and experience some elearning, and then...get back to the craziness that is high school and ncea and it all goes to waste.

this year, however, you have a better opportunity. that closed door that is "no term 4" is now a window - an opportunity for you to practice your new skills and perhaps implement one or two things into your planning for next year, while you have some quieter time with the seniors gone.

the trick is this: don't try to do everything. go to the conference, experience all of the amazing, happy-to-share-everything teachers there, have a good play with all the tools, and then focus on, say, ONE thing you think you could add in starting at the beginning of the year. this thing could be as simple as changing your planning from pen & paper to a google doc you can share with your students & parents. or a wiki or website where you can share resources with your students. the secret is not to make it some earth-shattering, "i am going to be the #1 eteacher!" change in your teaching. adding in e's is like weaving, bringing in a thread of red here, a tad of green there. it is not throwing out the whole cloth and buying a plastic poncho. remember, IT is a tool for you to put into your repertoire, not the whole toolbox. look, i started out with just a mrs faulkner bebo page where i posted quizzes and study links for students (remember when bebo was all the rage?). it grows from there.

and please, make yourself known to other secondary teachers. i have created a group for secondary support on the community site so that we can help each other and support each other in our struggle to keep up with our primary brethren. i know there are several other secondary teachers who are experienced eleaders who will be happy to meet you and help you on your way.

have a fantastic time - i can't wait!

kelly

Doodle4Google Competition - Update

These are the Year 9 doodles. I may post the commentaries later, but I'm feeling the pressure of NCEA exams. Numbers 9 and 22 were chosen by the class via a Google Forms vote to be submitted. I may use both of my "teacher's choice" votes in this class as well! I hope you enjoy them.

Doodle4Google 2011

View more presentations from Kelly Faulkner

Tips for the NZ Doodle4Google Competition

http://www.google.com/intl/en_nz/doodle4google/index.html

yesterday, carl lidstone posted that google is offering the doodle comp to nz school children again this year. i am so excited about this! my year 9 students entered the competition back in 2009, the last time it was offered in nz, and my students last year competed amongst themselves with the north american "football" themed doodle, as they were so disappointed that they weren't eligible to enter.


carl asked if i'd offer some tips and pitfalls to look out for, so here they are. i've had more time to think about it since yesterday, so i have a little more to say than what i tweeted. if you're looking for those, you'll find them in the #DUedchat hashtag.

Pre-tip: enroll your school asap. the deadline for registration is 19 August 2011.

Tip #1: This is an opportunity for authentic audience, so rev them up with this fact: a national audience (and even international)! make contact with your local newspaper and have someone come out and take of photo of your kids and their doodles (don't forget permission slips) for a local story. Put it on your blog/class website/school newsletter.

Tip #2:  google offers a lesson plan. don't remake the wheel. it's supposed to be fun, not a chore.

Tip #3:  the contest will be judged by the "original doodler" Dennis Hwang. use the info page and short stop-motion video of him to generate interest.

Tip #4:  include a pre-task co-construction of the meaning behind symbols or metaphors for their own heritage, then link to creating same for the doodle theme.

Tip #5:  however tempting, don't use computer generated, unless you have some fancy, arty programme. most of the winners appear to be hand drawn, so i believe those are preferred (though i imagine some of this depends on the age bracket as well - check the info for schools).

Tip #6:  do use the opportunity to engage with other parts of the curriculum. kids can write/orally present their choices (based on static image features: colour, symbol, placement, background, etc). good opportunity for a podcast if you're  doing that. create a slideshow of finished images. play it at your open night/put it on your class blog.

Pitfall #1:  time.  don't allow too much time for the final project. Two/three 1-hour periods is enough for secondary kids. Really arty kids doing an exceptional job can finish at home or during another time you find suitable. The other kids don't need it and their finished images don't benefit from having any longer.  

Upside to pitfall 1:  A short time keeps them focused.

Pitfall #2:  be mindful of the deadline: 23 September 2011. you need to have had an in-school comp (if there is more than one class doing it), and select the ones you're going to enter. Remember you'll want to scan all the images before they have to be posted, and fill in all the paperwork!  

Upside to pitfall 2:  student involvement.  in my class, we laid out the images without any names, just numbers, and the whole class voted for their top 8. i tallied all the votes and the 8 with the most votes were the ones we entered - you could do this interactively as homework as well, or even involve the community if you are more organised than i am! and it'll get the scanning out of the way. helps if you have a super-duper copier that will take all of them and scan them at once. not as much fun if you're doing it one at a time!

above all else, have a good time with it and enjoy what the kids bring to their drawings. 


cheers,
kelly

Why I Choose Google+

NB:  this is not an education-related post. you are forewarned!

so, to no surprise, my family is reluctant to leave their facebook cocoon and make the move to google+. so i thought i'd take a moment and describe why i was so willing to make the leap as soon as i scored myself an invite (thanks @teachernz!).

it's not news:  i've never liked facebook. nope, not ever. it's clunky, hard to manage, and downright not aesthetically pleasing. i really hate that they take ownership of anything i post, and it's full of malware that gets spread from unsuspecting users who think anything on facebook is safe or real, despite how many sophos articles i post. as facebook is blocked at work, it's hard for me to communicate with my usa friends and family who have dropped email for fb's messaging system, and the stupid live chat crashes my browser (any one).

otoh, google is clean, sparse, and above all, easy. grandmothers can use it. and are!

"what about privacy issues?" they ask.  (yes, inside my head i'm thinking: are you kidding? do you know anything about facebook?) well, instead of saying, "thanks for your data. we own it now," google said, "here's your data. what do YOU want to do with it?" my choice. it's called data liberation. check it out.  that's right, no three-level privacy settings, application settings, hey, no applications! that's right - no games! no horoscopes! no quizzes!

sharing on google is much quicker. because all my services are integrated, it's no-effort to share photos, video, or just myself via video chat. and sharing is far superior. instead of sharing blatantly to "all," or messing around trying to remember who not to share with (and missing one), or doing all the right things and fb screws it up anyhow (which they are notorious for; just google "facebook privacy settings don't work" and see how many articles there are), with google, you pick who gets what, every time. couldn't be simpler. and there's no duplicate posting. if i share to my twitter friends, and include nz educators and usa educators, people on both lists only get 1 message.

moving to google took about...10 minutes.i didn't have to export photos, because i keep them in picasa anyhow, but i did it as a sample and it was painless.  i exported all my contacts and imported them to google w/no fuss using yahoo as an intermediary.

but the most important reason of all?  sharing.  fb says they're all about connecting. but what they mean is it's all about connecting your data with their advertisers.  you are NOT fb's customer. their advertisers (and zynga) are their customers.

and when it comes to connecting, fb has been a real disappointment. why? nobody actually communicates. i sit here and watch old high school friends log in and play games, friends periodically posts status updates that hardly anyone comments on or back when commented on, family sometimes posts links or photos that no one comments on/back, and no one talks with me on chat (well, it works so sporadically, who can blame them?). the biggest true communicator on my friends list is the lovely owner of dark delicasies bookshop, del howison, who posts several links to interesting topics every day, and then actually talks to people about them. second to him are my gamer friends (yes, i game. blame the kids.)  i have spent more time chatting/commenting with women from all over the world who game, in the last 8 months, than i have with all my friends and family, combined, ever since i joined fb!

since i've joined google+, i have had some of the most intense, full, rich conversations about education since grad school. i've video-chatted with other educators from around the world. and i have live chatted with old high school friends. that's what i thought fb was going to be all about. but it isn't.

why do i want my family to join google+?  because i miss them. i live 12 thousand miles away from anyone, other than my husband or child, who loves me, and it's lonely! i want to be part of their lives, and i want them to be closer to us. if i could experience the same rich communication with them as i do colleagues, living so far away wouldn't be so hard. and frankly, it upsets me that they don't communicate in all the ways we could be communicating.  this is exactly what technology is for!

to summarise, after all that whinging:

• facebook = bad
• google+ = good
• family = get on it! for god's sake, it's free and has none of the irritating crap you complain about on fb! what more could you ask for?