If you want to cut to the chase, the beginning of my curation is at: https://storify.com/alizadok/connections-and-boundaries I chose storify because I like the idea of telling a story as part of the curation, it was easy to use, and works on all my devices. I also explored flipboard, which looks pretty in theory and had been highlighted in class. I couldn't get it working on my laptop, although I think it "might" be possible. I also looked at pearltrees, which does look interesting, but I think I am pretty happy with storify at this point. I may come to pearltrees again, and I actually enjoyed using it to look up other peoples curations.
What I haven't done yet, is actually create the story, I simply have a list of some sources I found when doing an initial google search with a short description. I initially thought I would later add more, but actually I think this is wrong. I think I need to do a private exploration of sources, write the story and then carefully link the most interesting/ thought provoking examples I can find for each point. I'm curious how others are doing with the process of culling and presenting information?
Looking at the sources I have, no I don't have things from individual teachers yet, they tend to be from large organizations. This may take more work to find the more personal examples. Starting out, I was just looking for any information that was pertinent to my interest. A large part of what I am looking for is how to do online publishing of children's work. I know other homeschoolers have done it, but they tend to come on and off as their needs change. If anyone has ideas of good teacher networks for that type of sharing, I would love to hear it.
I don't know anyone in my local network using any of these tools, if I really like something I will share it to my local community. What people have been doing is sharing to facebook or google interesting things they find, which can a be a form of curation. Some of this simply wastes time, and some is truly helpful. Beyond my local area, I know families will sometimes use family websites, but I am craving something more interactive. I don't actually know a family who is doing quite what I want to do.
A couple side notes. My husband (who is an IT guy) and I were discussing the issue of children sharing on the internet, while also staying safe, and he mentioned that scratch seems to have done a good job. Scratch has children share programming, not stories, but I think the issues are the same. We discussed what they do: use of avatars to protect privacy, clear rules on what is appropriate behavior, and involved moderators. The also don't technically have a pure chat area, although there is room for some discussion in the comments and forums. It is expected that the discussions will be fairly targeted though. My kids' experience with scratch has been very positive. They do still get trolls, but they are fairly mild trolls.
We also discussed digital footprint versus privacy concerns. Part of my concern about privacy for minors is not just safety, but the inappropriateness of data mining on youth too young to realize what is happening. We also discussed the consumerist mentality, the internet is a place where products are advertised and where people try to sell an image of themselves through blogs, etc. It can also be a wonderful resource for free exchange of ideas and information. It is an interesting world to learn how to navigate.
References
Fisher, Melissa. "Connections and Boundaries", retrieved from: https://storify.com/alizadok/connections-and-boundaries
Flipboard [home page], retrieved from: https://flipboard.com/
Pearltrees [home page], retrieved from: http://www.pearltrees.com/
Scratch [home page], retrieved from: scratch.mit.edu
Storify [home page], retrieved from: storify.com
Hi Melissa!
ReplyDeleteStorify is very interesting! This was a tool in which I have no experience with but I really liked your page. It seems like it is fairly easy to use and is really organized which are two characteristics I’m looking for when choosing a new tool! I like how you included that it works on all devices because is something that is becoming more and more important these days. With all the different gadgets out there, something that is accessible over all devices is important.
I agree that a lot of content is being shared through social networking sites. It seems like every post I see is some type of article, image or video that someone found interesting, funny or upsetting. I feel like social networking sites, especially Facebook, are becoming less about sharing individual specific things and more about sharing outside sources that invoke some type of emotion with the rest of the world. I think that would be a great platform, in addition to Twitter, to share your content.
I like your side notes! As a computer teacher, we talk about many of the topics you discussed here like privacy and digital footprints. I try to share with my students to think before they act but unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. Too many young kids are too trusting of other users or websites and agree to do things that could potentially hurt them in some way. I did check out your link (scratch). That is something new to me but seems really neat and I will have to forward along to my colleagues!
Thanks for sharing! ☺
Personally, I much prefer Facebook being a tool to share something substantial than not. I remember one of the first times I went on Facebook at the request of another mom. She was making posts about doing the dishes. It took me a couple years before I was willing to go on again. In this area, I feel forced to use Facebook, because that is the only way I will be notified of local events with one of the homeschool groups. I have seen some benefits to it, but also still sometimes feel it is a time waster. To be honest, I think I liked the old yahoo groups more because the led to longer conversations than the snippets of Facebook or Google Plus. That said, if I am stuck using it, I might as well make the most of it!
ReplyDeleteHi Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about your comments on Facebook. At this point, I use Facebook to say happy birthday to my friends. It is also a great place to find funny and unusual videos. Where I go for information is Twitter.
Depending on who you follow you can find a wide variety of information. Just so you know, I use Twitter for me; it is not a site I share with students. I do follow people and organizations that give me information on what I am interested in. Twitter gives me a blurb of information, just enough to see if I want to click on the link to get more details.
Twitter may work for you to help expand your network. There is a good search feature on the site that will allow you to find people to follow who have similar interests as you do. (This comment is turning out to be a commercial for Twitter.) I just find Twitter a good go-to place for information. One added bonus with Twitter. You don’t have to tweet if you don’t want to. You can just use it as a curation site.
Thank you for the information Ruth! I haven't looked at twitter yet, looks like I have another frontier to explore. -Melissa
ReplyDeleteMelissa,
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of telling something in a story. It is the way that I teach. I am constantly telling a story about one thing or another. Sometimes this comes with acting out and bad accents, but there is always a story. We learn through stories. We are attracted to stories. Clearly you already know this which is why you are choosing to curate through story. I will be interested to see what it looks like in the end.
I do worry about digital footprints for my children. They are exposed in a way that we were not as children. There are bad people out there that I do not understand. I have had my bank card replaced twice this year because bad people have done bad things and the bank needs to protect all the bank card users. So if companies are having trouble protecting online information, how do I protect my own family?
Good topic.
Chris,
DeleteI love stories, as do my children. Hopefully I can turn this assignment into a "real" story by the end.
Unfortunately, I understand bad people (and mentally ill) more than I would like. My children's martial arts teacher was arrested a few years ago for drugging a student, doing things and then posting it online (as well as other child porn which was found on his work computer). I have known people dealing with stalkers, and with psychopaths, and think about what they could do with online information. Not that our lives should be lived in fear, put in a similar way I have to think how easy it is in a city for someone to grab my wallet, I need to think about it means to be safe online. I am still trying to figure it out!
Hi Melissa,
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing about your experience with Storify; it’s one of the tools that I have not tried and I appreciate reading your approach to the project. It will be neat to see how your story unfolds throughout the rest of our class.
I am testing Flipboard, it works well on my laptop with Chrome and I recommend downloading the Chrome Bookmarklet to pull content from websites. Pulling content from different sources is easy with Flipboard, next I must work on organizing and adding my “story” comments to personalize the project. I think going through the content and analyzing the materials will take time because there’s a huge amount of information on instructional design and elearning. I want to try to narrow my search parameters to see if a narrower focus pulls better results.
The International Society for TEchnology in Education Includes digital citizenship for students in every set of their standards. Here’s their link: http://www.iste.org. They have information to help teach students to be safe online which is one side of the equation. I don’t have any advice to help you protect your children’s privacy and safety online. I know it requires constant vigilance and strict rules for accessing and working on the internet.
I agree with you, the internet is a wonderful place to learn and learning the best to navigate it is a challenge. Our children are today’s explorers - exploring and connecting information - very exciting adventures ahead.
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI think I panicked and gave up on flipboard too soon! Thank you for the work around. I also think that I don't have the patience for the flipping feature. I find it a bit annoying by the second or third flip, although I acknowledge it looks nice. Personally, I would rather hit a button to see another page. I wonder what people's attention spans are and what the most effective way is to get information to them? I suspect that many are going to be focused on the beginning of a piece, no matter what the format, and only continue if really hooked.
Thank you for the itse.org reference, I'll have to go through it.!
-Melissa
I wasn't able to make flipboard work on my computer either but I think it is because I use a Mac. I always worry about my kids posting on the web and putting personal information. We have had many discussions about never putting information about siblings, where they live, what school they are at, etc but you are right, sometimes they are too young to recognize when someone might be trying to dig for more information.
ReplyDeleteMelissa,
ReplyDeleteI like your topic and commentary on your sources. I can honestly say I appreciate your thoughtfulness and ability to express it briefly. Brevity is not my gift. Although if I have a tombstone it will say, Gone...
Storify has not won me over but your approach with it has. I teach Visual Arts and I love to write. Most of time now, the writing is going on in my head, visuals, music,etc. It is busy in there. It is not always organized either. I felt Storify was like Pinterest until I saw your way of using it.
I am looking forward to seeing more on your topic in your voice no matter what platform you choose. I thank you for your coverage of connections and safety. These are issues and answers I want to provide guidance and clarity for my kids.
Valerie
Thank you for your kind comments Valerie!
ReplyDelete