What is ThingLink?

Have you ever heard of ThingLink? No, it’s not a Dr. Seuss character (remember Thing One and Thing Two?) Although, a student could use ThingLink to do a report about Dr. Seuss. Or just about anything else for that matter.

ThingLink Logo

ThingLink is a free, web based tool and has mobile apps for iPad and Android. Simply upload an image to ThingLink, then click on the image itself to insert text, links, videos, music, and more. The image or photo, once static, becomes interactive. When using this in the classroom, it enables a student to show what they know and have learned about a topic by creating content to go with the image.

ThingLink was a topic for the ICE (Illinois Computing Educators) Wednesday Webinar series; it was moderated by Nicole Zumpano, Dominican professor, and presented by Sue Gorman, professor at the  University of Wisconsin – Parkside.

The many examples in the webinar included using ThingLink for book reports – students can insert text to demonstrate their knowledge of characters and the plot, link to a website to provide more information discovered about the topic, and embed a video to show a visual representation of a topic.

One such book report was done by a student named Gavin, on the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio, that was tweeted out by ThingLink.

Image from @ThingLink_edu on Twitter

http://t.co/JiNelh9K12

During the webinar, Sue provided an energetic presentation on the benefits of using ThingLink. It can provide (digitized) differentiated learning, increase collaboration, and ultimately increase learner engagement. Any technology tool, when it’s the right tool for the task, can help students amplify their thinking in this digital age. 

SAMR model developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura

Sue demonstrated how using ThingLink in the classroom fits with the SAMR Model, and allows for teaching “above the line”. The SAMR Model (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition), developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, offers a method of seeing how computer technology might impact teaching and learning.

More about Sue – she is a Google Certified Teacher and an Apple Distinguished Educator and a kind friend you definitely want to get to know for your Personal Learning Network (PLN). She introduced several members of her own PLN and shared many real world examples of how these talented professionals are using technology effectively in the classroom. To follow Sue on Twitter, you can find her at: @sjgorman. 

Be sure to visit www.ThingLink.com/featured to see some imaginative ideas. You may even want to sign up and get started yourself.

As far as webinar learning goes, I like the format. Since it's recorded, I will likely go back and refer to it in the future since it is loaded with information relevant to what I'm learning at Dominican. 

I'll be fine. Really.

No surprise that one of the assignments for my blog is to actually write about how I use technology myself personally or professionally. Exactly where am I on the technology adoption continuum?

To frame this question, our class took a look at a study Apple did back in the 1980’s that identified what teachers went through when faced with new technology. That was the “beginning of time” as we know technology today. 

Apple experimented and placed computers in classrooms to teachers and students who volunteered for this cruel joke. Researchers wanted to "see what would happen.” Teachers kept journals, that provided some interesting results. Among what was suitable to be published from those journals was that there are five stages of adoption:
1. Entry. “Oh, look. There’s a computer on my desk. I’ll work around it.”
2. Adoption. “Ok, I’ll use it for a couple of tasks. It’s not THAT bad, but keep the students away from it!”
3. Adaptation. “I’ll use more technology, and I’ll even let the students try it too. Why the heck did I sign up for this? It’s so frustrating!”
4. Appropriation – or the use technology to excess. “This is all so cool! I must have it all.” 
5. Innovation. “I’m so over wanting it all. I’ll just select and use what works for the curriculum.”

I wonder if they planned in advance that four of the five stages begin with A as in Apple, and one starts with “i” as in iPod, iPhone, iAnything you own will be Apple. (OK, credit where credit is due, the study was funded by the National Science Foundation, not Apple). 

My personal experience with using technology has been more akin to the grief process:  denial, anger, bargaining, sadness, and finally, acceptance.  I think “frustration” should be one of the stages. That along with panic, begging and broke (both emotionally and financially).

Right now, I am in denial that my four-plus year old laptop with Office 2003 and Microsoft XP is running (crawling) on borrowed time. One day soon, it will not work, I will go into a panic, bargain with my tech guy to find a way to keep it working, sadly write out a check for him to tell me what I already know: “Get a new device with Windows 8. Or a Mac.”

Once I do know how to use a new technology, I love it. It’s the learning part that I dread. This class is forcing me out of my comfort zone. One new cool tool we’re’ using is Prezi. Think of it as a modern day PowerPoint. I got past my fear and registered for the free Prezi tool. I watched the tutorial and got started building my own Prezi. Naturally, they now own my email address and my privacy. My inbox is full of “welcome” emails from Prezi. Do I want it for my mobile? Upgrade now for even better productivity? You still haven't completed your download of Prezi, do it now!

No! Not now. Leave me alone. I really don’t want to add PTSD as one of the stages to using technology. As Nicole Zumpato, our awesome instructor, assured us about herself on day one of class: “I’m not a novice and I’m not an expert.” 

Yep, that goes for me too.

www.in8.uk.com/7-11 Breathing

What's on the horizon for technology in the classroom ...

The technology I currently see in my high school special education world is what you might expect: iPads, mobile phones, augmentative communication devices, email, YouTube, PowerPoint, smart boards, and Chromebooks in a pilot phase.

With technology coming at us fast and furious in every aspect of life, it was interesting to read about the adoption timeline of new technologies into K-12 education globally. The “NMC Horizon Report: 2013 K-12 Edition” is a collaboration between the New Media Consortium, the Consortium for School Networking, and the International Society for Technology in Education. And with the generous support of HP. The NMC Horizon Report identified six technologies that will likely have a large impact over the coming five years.

Click to get the report.

 

Near Term - the Next 12 Months

 

No surprise that the two near-term technologies are cloud computing and mobile learning. Mobile devices are already widespread, and it often makes economic sense to use cloud computing from a technology infrastructure viewpoint. 

Even though these may not be widely or exclusively used today, they are certainly here to stay. The Horizon report states cloud computing improves productivity and expands collaboration in education and is financially advantageous. For example, the state of Oregon is in the process of rolling out Google Apps for Education. This means potentially all students will use Google Chromebooks, Google Apps, Google Drive and Google Web Toolkit. That’s a LOT of Google. But what if you aren’t a Google fan?  Clarksville-Montgomery County School System in Tennessee is launching Microsoft Office 365 for Education, county-wide. For them, it will be a LOT of Microsoft!

Weldon, David (March 2013) THE Journal, Cloud Computing Digital Edition, Microsoft Office 365 or Google Apps for Education: Which Way Do You Go? Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/articles/2013/04/03/microsoft-365-or-google-apps-for-education-which-way-do-you-go.aspx?=THECL#7H7GF6MBHd9RcYzy.99

As David Weldon points out in his article, there are challenges with implementing both. Not necessarily with the technology itself, but with the culture of the organization, gaining teacher buy-in, and long-term training to both teachers and students. 

 

 Two to Five Years

 

The other technologies are open content and learning analytics to come in the next two to three years. Open content makes sense, because it’s free. Although we all know nothing is ever really free, there is a cost somewhere along the way. Learning analytics is to education what “big data” is to business, which means analyzing your spending trends to predict your consumer behavior. If you’re still confused about what this is, you see it every time you get a pop-up ad for an item similar to one you just searched for. I have a vision of kids getting pop-ups for a random math problem or spelling activity they may be struggling with.

Image: tumblr_lt4x0kOJcH1r3sv6ko1_500_thumb.jpg

Finally, in the far-term of four to five years (which doesn’t seem too far away to me) come 3D printing and virtual/remote laboratories. This really surprised me, because I’ve always thought of these technologies anywhere but in a K-12 environment. Perhaps these two technologies of the six will have the largest hands-on impact on how students learn. This does not mean it will benefit the largest number of students, as it lends itself to science, technology and math in upper grades.  

The hot pink shoe? It was printed from a 3D printer! If you're curious about how this work, click on the video below.

     

                                                                                                         Source: i.materialize.com

What impact will all this technology have on the teacher and student in the classroom? It will be fascinating to see and be part of what unfolds.

All about me ...

Me with Ginger

Hello – my name is Mary Valenta and always considered myself a reluctant social media person, at least for my personal life. As everyone seemed to be obsessed with it, I would try it and then completely lose track of time with nothing to show for it. And now I’m starting a blog!?

This blog is for one of my courses as a graduate student at Dominican University on my way to becoming a teacher. Ironically, the course is "Integrating Technology into the Curriculum." I'm changing careers from the business world.  My passion for teaching finally won out – somewhat stubbornly.

I’ve been surrounded by teachers all my life. First as a student myself. Then as a parent of two girls. My oldest was born with Chromosome 18q – Syndrome. That meant early intervention (and teachers) when she was only 14 months old. Yikes! Less than two months after that, my second daughter was born. Yikes again!! It was like having twins.

My daughters - personal photo

It’s been quite a ride, with all the highs, lows, and unexpected turns of a roller coaster. Now, the roller coaster is pretty much on auto pilot as hey are both mastering independence. Who knew? I could have never predicted this outcome.

I have five siblings. My two sisters are both in education – one started teaching art and the other special education. Guess who I leaned on the most? Yep, the “Special Ed” sister for many years. In fact, I wore out my welcome – she had to practice some tough love on me. She actually fired me! How does that happen? Well, it was one of the best things she ever did … I had to hear the words “you don’t need me for all this Mary, you have the answers yourself. At this point, you know this stuff better than I do.”

It turns out she was right. Now I see that I actually do know more than I ever gave myself credit for, at least in this one small niche of parenting and special ed that I’ve been living in.

I still have an interest in the world of sales and marketing that I worked in for so many years. I will always use my creative thinking and selling skills in one way or another. Believe it or not, it was those very skills that helped my parenting. After all, who is our toughest customer if not our own children?