Thing 20 - Presentations 2.0

When I first looked at the science presentations on SlideShare I have to say I was very disappointed. Many seemed to be "books on slides". Just ugly Powerpoint slides with nothing but lots and lots of text. After seeing all of the other cool stuff on this 23Things project it really paled. My MTV brain couldn't focus on them.

After sifting through many of these bad ones I found the following presentation titled "Chemistry Living and Systems: 123.101 Lecture 1". Now the title itself is enough to drive anyone away screaming including myself - a chemistry teacher. And it had 93 slides. Ugh. I thought "This is going to be the worst presentation ever". And to validate my thoughts I had to click on it and see just how horrible it is.

But, I was wrong. This was a great slide show! It answers the too-often asked question "Why do we have to learn chemistry?" and it does it in a way that Powerpoints should be made - quick, visually stimulating, humorous, informative and creative.

Chemistry Living and Systems: 123.101 Lecture 1

View more presentations from Gareth Rowlands.

I think SlideShare can be a fine way to get a nice presentation, provided you can sift through the much of the sub par ones. But perhaps an even better idea is that when our students are to make a Powerpoint they can be required to post it to SlideShare. This would really push them to make a great one since the whole world can see it, not just the teacher.

Thing 19 - Podcasting

Podcasting is a great way for learning. At first you may think that just having auditory deprives you of the visual portion that we all need. But what it does is forces you to imagine and create a picture of what is going on. It actually increases your attention whereas with both sound and picture ones mind might more easily wander.

The podcast that really sparked my interest was one on Einstein's famous equation E=mc². The sight of this equation creates a strong magnetic pull for any science-o-phile. NOVA has 10 of the world's top physicists (including 2 Nobel Prize winners) describing the equation to the non-scientist type. You can listen to it here .

This definitely has inspired me to subscribe to podcasts. And I know as time goes on there will be more and more selections. These I can give to my classes to listen to with some questions or other assignment attached. Perhaps I or my students can make their own podcasts with activities that go along with it. There are lots of possibilities out there.

Thing 18 - Documentating Life using a Wiki

As mentioned in my last post, we of the troglodyte ilk have recorded our thoughts, visions, history, etc by painting on our abode's walls. Now wiki's have taken the place of cave paintings - or as Thag likes to say "Wiki's are the cave paintings of the 21st century".

For this exercise we get to contribute to history by writing on our own cave wall - ASH' Sandbox. I chose this easy version because I don't feel I have enough knowledge at the moment to contribute to any Wikipedia entry on ASH or any other topic. The process of writing to the any of the given options are easy but it's just the knowledge part that is difficult. And actually, coming up with 5 favorite TV shows was a tad challenging. There are so many to chose from.

In class I could have the students do something like "Welker's Wikinomics" but do it with a science topic. I could do an even simple one like the AP calculus wiki "Small Stones". This idea can be applied to any class. For example Chemistry can have students write the daily lesson on a wiki. And the really neat thing about wiki's is that we can invite students from around the world to contribute. Yes, things have come a long way since writing on walls.

Thing 17 - Reading History through Wikis

Where I come from, people share stories, information and history by painting on cave walls. Now most people use wikis. Wikis are an amazing tool that people from everywhere can contribute to a knowledge base.

What was life like before wikipedia? I often wonder about the impact of this wiki and how much people rely on it for information. The wikis I looked at spurred some ideas that, like all the other 23 Things, are going to take more time to marinate in my Neanderthal brain on how I will use it in class.

I use wikis all the time to gather information. I rely on them immensly, particulary Wikipedia. If I need to know some more about a chemical or other science topic I go right to Wikipedia. I couldn't imagine having to look some of this information up in a "book". The idea is so old school to me.

Вещь 16 - Холодные инструменты для вашего блога

Thanks to all of these cool widgets and gadgets I can now communicate with the millions of foreign language speakers who have been dying to read my "23 Things" blog. Once I put in my translation gadget a collective cheer rang out across the globe.

I already had a widget (a wildley successful poll) on my blog, but I went in search of another. Most all of the gadgets or widgets I saw were pretty fun. I first put in a "countdown until schools out" widget, but it looked a bit cheap so I left it out. The site I went to had some great ones but those that I really liked required a fee. I could see paying for them if I had a commercial website.

But I can see that many widgets are just distractions, even though they are pretty cool and fun. I almost got caught up in putting on a cat that followed your mouse, and a colorful game and a magic 8 ball, but they really don't serve a purpose for my blog. An important point in designing a web site is just because it is cool and can be done - doesn't mean it should be done. It has to be appropriate to the blog - like my translation tool. I now expect to be flooded with "thank you" emails from Moscow to Kyoto from those who can now read my blogging in their native language. You're welcome.

Thing 15 - Screencasting; Easier than Ever

Way back if you wanted to capture something you did on the computer, then you would get out your video camera and record it. But now things are much different. I know I am sounding like a broken record but I am continually amazed at how much easier tech things are now.

Screencasting is one of those things that have gotten so easy and inexpensive. I remember when Camtasia was really the only screencasting tool. And it cost a bundle and often times it didn't work. Now we have Screencast-o-matic along with others that make it an easily used tool that is cost effective. It's so easy you can almost just figure it out for yourself how to use it. And it's cost effective because its FREE!

[*Note - one problem I did experience was when I copied and pasted the "tiny" size embedded code into the html it wouldn't play. I had to change the code from np=1 to np=0.]

I can immediately see a use for this as a teacher. For example doing chemistry, physics or math problems for students that were absent, didn't get understand it the first time or just need a refresher. This then can be posted to the teachers website or they can be saved as an MP4, flash, or posted on YouTube whatever. They can even be put on the last "Thing" we did - "VoiceThread" so students can comment on it and ask questions.

Thing 14 - Voice coming in loud and clear

I have to say how wowed I am with VoiceThread. I think it is pretty awesome. It is yet another thing I have never heard of. And another thing that can be used in many aspects of life, let alone class. My head is spinning with all the possibilities. Some examples that I saw on VoiceThread were where a teacher created a lesson that students commented on. One where a student did a lesson where others commented on. I saw examples where people from across the globe came together.

It would be cool if we could do it on a smaller scale at ASH by participating in a lesson with other Sacred Heart Network Schools.

This is another tool I would love to use, but like with many of the previous tools I have been shown in this "23 Things" journey, I would need to really sit down and spend a good deal of time reviewing everything we did and then seeing what I can do with them.