Just finished a great discussion with Steve Hargadon’s session on School 2.0 (don’t turn me out) — but it was about what we need to do to build a mass repository of best practices and resources. The answer… don’t build anything new but harness the power of something like delicious, etc.
Great discussion (see the notes.)
Summary
- We need a database for links and database for matching common curricular needs/ time frames.
- We need tagging standards by grade level and subject area (content level). See http://k12wiki.wikispaces.com/Tagging+to+help+Teachers
- We need a volunteer group to volunteer to tag resources in delicious. We will investigate the possibility of having a network and pull the RSS feeds for the standard tags from just that delicious network. (if it is possible)
- It needs to be simple and have video tutorials or other information to help people get up to speed.
tag: ebc07cr20, edubloggercon07, edubloggercon2007, NECC2007
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6 comments
Hi Vicky! My reflections on your conference notes here:
http://eltnotes.blogspot.com/2007/06/edubloggercon07.html
Tags are insufficient for this task. You need URI’s and ontologies.
Thanks Claudia — it helps others to reflect.
Tom-
What we’re talking about is more than just tags — it is a mechanism whereby educational volunteers would form a group on delicious and we would use tags to pull out hyperlinks to resources by subject area an grade level — it could then be aggregated on wikis or searchable by tag, however, we get rid of the sploggers — using delicious would let us have “reviews” from the descriptions but also would keep out the sploggers by having educators in the group and people removed who become a problem — so would that not accomplish what you are saying — through having a tagging standard we have the URL and the reviews and then it can be put into all sorts of resources.
Either ways — so many places are duplicating the same things and teachers have difficulty finding things — if we used the tag on youtube for example we could search by that, however, if we find a youtube video that isn’t tagged – we can delicious it and send it through those sources that are aggregating resources from the educational community. Perhaps that clarifies the discussion — you read a passage that I live blogged quickly, it may not have had enough explanation, however, if you looked at the wiki notes you’ll also see more detail.
Is there any discussion regarding security, intellectual property rights, or privacy of teachers and students. I hope that the volunteers really understand the possible ramifications of participating.
It is a very exciting concept. Just be careful.
We only had a 45 minute session, so no, we haven’t discussed that. I think the simple fact is that it is needed. For educators who like methodologies and standards, we haven’t done a good job of standardizing and organizing things for our industry so that teachers can share and find things.
It is only in the discussion stages, nothing has been done, that will have to wait until after NECC. Not sure how del.icio.us would have privacy issues, you can set up your account with no personal information in it. We aren’t putting lesson plans in there, just reviews, hyperlinks and information. Thanks for discussing and sharing.
This news was just released by CSTA:
CSTA Launches Nation’s Largest Online Database for Computer Science Teachers
Resources Help Teachers Stay Up to Date on Latest Innovations
Computer science teachers now have access to the largest collection of K-12 computer science teaching materials in the country, thanks to the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA). The organization today launched its Source web repository and is offering the resource free of charge to its members through its Web site at http://www.csta.acm.org.
CSTA’s Source web repository offers more than 75 resources in a searchable, downloadable collection, including lesson plans, learning modules, code segments, presentations, and even complete course descriptions. Educators can also access information about how to promote their computing courses.
“The Source repository will be a constantly evolving database of teaching materials, launched by CSTA to make it easier for computer science instructors to incorporate well-researched and up-to-date material into their lessons,” said Chris Stephenson, executive director of CSTA.
All of the materials in the searchable database have been classified in accordance with the ACM Model Curriculum for K-12 Computer Science so teachers can easily identify resources to use for specific courses and student learning levels. Users can also search on keyword, author, and submission date.
All of the materials included in the Source repository have been reviewed by a volunteer committee of educators from all education levels to make sure that they are classroom ready and classroom appropriate
Stephenson notes that CSTA is also encouraging teachers and vendors who have created good curriculum materials for computer science education to submit these items for inclusion in the Source. “The Source is completely vendor and software neutral and we encourage everyone to submit good materials to help improve teaching and learning,” said Stephenson.
The Source web repository and all of its resources are open to submission and viewing by anyone but free full-text downloads are restricted to CSTA members. Membership in CSTA, however, is free, and anyone can become a member by visiting the organization’s Web site at http://www.csta.org.
# # #
About CSTA
The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) is a membership organization that supports and promotes the teaching of computer science and the other computing disciplines by providing opportunities for K-12 teachers and students to better understand the computing disciplines and to more successfully prepare themselves to teach and to learn. http://csta.acm.org. CSTA provides its over 400 members with resources, research, and professional development opportunities.
About ACM
ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery http://www.acm.org, is an educational and scientific society uniting the world’s computing educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field’s challenges. ACM strengthens the profession’s collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development and professional networking opportunities.
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