Ced0540: Week Five

This week had us looking at various data resources as well as Google Trends. What I have discovered, more than anything, is that I need A LOT more time to explore these sites. Whereas some websites pull me in and have me playing immediately, data websites take an enormous amount of time to figure them out. I think it would have helped greatly to actually have a purpose in exploring these sites. For example, the National Archives site might have been more of an attraction to me if I was actually searching for data on my relatives. As it is, I know very little about my ancestors so didn't even know where to begin. The CDC websites, on the other hand, were more interesting in that I was able to find some topics that caught my attention. I've also come to the conclusion that many of these data sites don't do enough in designing a website that is visually appealing and more user friendly. Perhaps these institutions assume that those looking for data are all number geeks who don't need pretty visuals. Clearly, I'm not one of those. This is one reason I did actually like the DPI's website which used large pencils to link to the reports.

The next assignment had us looking at Google Trends. The more we play with Google and its apps, the more I fall in love with this amazing application. Google Trends is an interesting app, but I'm not sure how best to use it with my students. I think taking a look at what people are Googling is interesting, but how does this help me in education? While researching Google Trends I did discover some interesting blogs that talked about Google Trend's usage. A couple struck me. For those who are interested in getting their blogs read, Google Trends gives bloggers the topics to incorporate into their postings to raise the liklihood of their blogs being searched. Another blog described how the hot topics in Google Trends could be used to raise interesting questions about any culture around the world. I'd like to find out more practicle ways like these to make use of this application.

Ced0540: Week Four Reflection

This week's tasks had us researching Bill Tancer and his Hitwise company of collecting and analyzing data from Internet users. I am always amazed at the inventors of the world, and I would easily put Tancer in that category. I wish I had that thing in my brain that enabled me to think creatively and use my talents to create a niche for others. I have always considered myself more mechanical and so generating new ideas is difficult for me. I'm great at "borrowing" the ideas of others and then tweaking them to my needs. Perhaps that's one reason of many why I'll never make my millions in the world.

Bill Tancer's company provides an excellent service for those industries who rely heavily on the Internet to generate revenue. What a great population to monitor, and as I've mentioned in our Week Four assignments, the data is already there. It just needs to be organized. I never before thought about how the search habits of consumers tell so much about them and how predictable they are based on their search habits. It's also a bit scary that our search habits are being that closely followed and monitored. Perhaps we all have to just get used to this notion. For example, whenever I run to Pick n Save and purchase something, I'm automatically given coupons based upon my purchases. On the one hand it's convenient, but on the other, it makes me wonder what kind of data is being collected on my Pick n Save card. I have those same feelings when it comes to my Internet usage. If enough data on me is collected, how will that effect me down the road? It sounds rather paranoid, but if the government someday started watching as well, what decisions might it make based upon this data? I hate to even think about that without drawing obvious comparisons to Huxley's 1932 novel, Brave New World .

Ced0540: Week 3 - Creating the Survey

Although I had heard of Survey Monkey before, it was very interesting actually getting into it and creating a survey. I have really never thought about the thought process that goes into creating a good survey. Doing so reminds me of other tasks that from the outside look like no-brainers but when actually done prove to be enexpectedly laborious. Even when Ann and I started thinking about our "problem" for the group project, creating questions that accurately reflected the problem was difficult. I found I had to ask myself "Why are we asking this question? What do we want to know as a result of this question?" The questions themselves might be really good, but often times I thought they didn't really reflect what we were searching for. In addition, once people took our survey, I found that the things we discovered revealed more than what our objective was. I am interested in conducting more surveys at school, but I wonder what kind of training "professionals" go through to qualify. Seems to me you can't just slap down a bunch of stuff, and as I have stated in previous blogs, it's easy to tell when a group is trying to get you to answer a certain way. As with countless other softwares we have learned in this program, I took Survey Monkey back to my 5th graders, and they are completely loving it as well. I created a school account, and I like the fact that Survey Monkey allows for unlimited surveys. Now I'm trying to talk to them about creating surveys so that we can collect info and analyze the data. Again, I'm always so amazed at how their enthusiasm soars whenever something technical is introduced. They can't wait to start creating questions, not only because doing so is fun, but they really love the idea of creating something "real" and having real people respond to them. So suddenly an activity that started as just a little classroom experiment is blossoming into a much larger project. I hope to have them get their surveys out to the St. Ann public, students and parents. This means they'll have to think more carefully about their questions.

Ced0540: Week Two Reflection

This week's material took a slight diversion from the mathematical end of statistics to software that makes it easier for individuals and companies to create surveys and compile data. At St. Ann's we have created a few surveys, for a variety of reasons. We have surveyed families to analyze their use of our website and how we might make it better. Ironically, we accomplished this through Surveymonkey with only a fraction of our families responding. We have also questioned families' interest in creating a dresscode and uniform policy. Currently, there are also several families interested in getting St. Ann's to consider extending their curriculum through 8th grade. One parent has asked about creating a survey for this as well. In each case, however, there hasn't been a huge need for a complicated software program with all the bells and whistles. The types of surveys we conduct I think are pretty straight forward and wouldn't require real in-depth analysis. This is why, although I found it interesting to examine all the different statistical software available, I didn't see a huge application to my professional life. For me, Surveymonkey is about as in-depth as I want to get with any kind of software and is the application I will teach my 5th and 6th graders when we talk about data collecting. I would like to see my students practice gathering and interpretting data themselves. As mentioned elsewhere, on their standardized tests taken this fall, data analysis was one of the weaker areas. I think Surveymonkey could help with this. I also really need to explore Inspirdata further as well. I vaguely remember examining this software when our school first purchased it four years ago, and now I'm sure that not only does it create surveys, but it also has some interesting ways of displaying the results - visuals that are designed for grades 7-12.

Overall, I think the work we did this week emphasizes, again, that with a little investigation, many easy to use and excellent web-based applications are available for free, and that although they may not contain all the glitz and glam of paid software, most of what schools need can be accomplished through the freebies.

Ced0540: Stats - Week One

This first week watching and rewatching and reading and re-reading notes on statistics reminds me of my days of taking econ in college. I was fine the first lecture or two when all we talked about was supply and demand but then was completely lost after that. Same with stats. I have been following along and thought I had everything covered until we got to the part on deviations and variances. Now I'm confused. I have to admit, however, that unlike econ, I'm at least curious about how stats work. I actually enjoyed the Youtube video on stats and found it really helped cover the basics for me. And watching the video brought to mind the things I do at school to use statistics that I hadn't thought about before, mainly in the library. Every month I'm supposed to run reports, documenting the books that have been checked out during that time. Quite honestly, I have never run the reports because I really didn't see the point. What do I care if "Lightning Thief" was checked out once or ten times in November? Except now I see the point. Part of my job is to order more books, as well as weed out those that aren't as popular. If I ran the reports, I could see what books are most popular and then base my decision on new purchases accordingly. For example, if it turns out that "Lightning Thief" if a popular check out, I could justify ordering similar novels. Likewise, if it turns out that our 100+ collection of "Goosebumps" books are no longer popular, I would have a reason to clear the shelf of them and stock different books. Like the video pointed out, it's the statistics that give credence to the claim. I could certainly claim that I never observe certain books being checked out, but that doesn't necessarily come across as objective, and how does anyone know if my observations are accurate or supported. What I now need to figure out is how variance and deviation fit into all of this.

Cedo535: Week Five

As this class comes to a close, there is so much that I'm thinking about and planning on taking back to my class. I thought Richards chapter 9 did an excellent job at summarizing all the things that I need to plan for as I update and lay out my curriculum this year. Actually, he seems to summarize all the things our classes have been emphasizing up to this point; that, as teachers, we need to be role models and collaborators in showing our students how to work with Web 2.0 tools and that we need to prepare them for all the various tools they will be utilizing in their lives. Obviously, the Internet is not going away anytime soon, so we have to stop delaying their progress. This is what frustrates me the most. I am so ready to switch things up in my classes and begin utlizing all sorts of Web 2.0 tools, such as video sites, blogs, Nings, Wikis, graphic programs, podcasts and screencasts, but how do I then justify my curriculum when the standards for my school were written almost nine years ago? There's where the real frustration lies, I think. Even if teachers are ready to move, the state is not. I'm glad the NETS are there, but I'm not sure I can model my curriculum solely off of them. Anyone have any advice?

Cedo535 Week Four Social Networks and Podcasts

Finally... A week where I feel like I actually might know what I'm talking about. This week's material was informative and a great review for me. As one who loves to "tinker" on the computer, the minute Louie introduced applications, such as Nings and Social Bookmarks, I was on it immediately. I am in the middle of creating my second Ning for the group that went to Rome. On the last night of our trip, everyone was talking about sharing emails and contacting each other. I couldn't resist and opened my big mouth to say, "Why try to email everyone to stay in touch? How about I create a Ning where we can all go and share pictures and chat and write our thoughts about our experience?" Of course no one had heard of Ning, but they were all immediately in love with the idea. So just the other day I created the Ning and sent the invites out. I would love for any of you to visit and offer suggestions. www.romepilgrims.ning.com. I purposely created an open site for anyone to join. Let me know if you think I should add or change something. As I have mentioned several times, I also created a Ning for my 5th and 6th graders. I'm happy with how it is evolving, but I do have to remind students to go there. They're not in the habit of automatically logging onto the Ning. After inviting a couple of other teachers to take a look, the language arts teacher is now wanting to use the Ning for her class, so now I am trying to "branch out," creating new pages for each class. So I am thrilled with how this Ning thing is catching on. I know had I just showed the teachers what a Ning is, they would have nodded, said, "cool," and never looked at it again. Actually creating one and inviting them has made all the difference. I did the same thing with Delicious. I created accounts for each grade level and then showed the students how to get there. The teachers didn't have to do anything and now the third grade teacher is adding to the class Delicious bookmarks. Yeah! I'm thinking of using the same approach to introduce podcasting. The more I do for them, the more likely they will use the application, and I constantly hear about all the fun and interesting projects that teachers are doing but that only end up in hard copy form. It would be cool to just have a whole gallery online of work and information.