RJ Stangherlin

Keystone Technology Integrator and STAR Discovery Educator

This site is for Mrs. Stangherlin's classes at Salisbury High School.

My Learning Network

Cross-posted on Learning Curve and Changing Connections

My educational mantra this year is professional learning networks.  Web 2.0, School 2.0, and learning and teaching in the 21st century is about creating an effective learning network.  The strength and quality of your life-long learning relates to the people in your network.  Here’s my learning network (okay, not the baby) and I am so proud to learn from them every day.  [You really want to click on the last link in this paragraph--he’s a fifth grade student keynoter and you want to hear his message.]

Special thanks to Brad Fountain for his TouchGraph photo on Facebook.  I’m so glad to be part of this learning community.

Brad Fountain
DEN
DEN TV
UstreamTV
Facebook
learning networks
Turbo Tagger

Digital Literacy and Web 2.0: Tech Tips

Back to school just isn’t what it used to be, and the tools we gather for the start of a new year change faster than the the speed of light. As a way to welcome you back, I put several of my favorites in Wordle, a new tool compliments of my learning curve with Randy Ziegenfuss.  What makes Wordle fun is its ease of use: so simple, so fast, and so (much) fun.  My goal is to send you some tech tips each week, a roundup of cool tools I’ve found through my PPLNs (Professional Personal Learning Networks).  I love what I learn from my Twitterverse, Plurk, and a host of social media that is quickly becoming a wonderful way to learn globally, instantly.  So, each week watch for my Tech Tips, and I’ll try to vary the way I deliver them.  I’ll even ask you to contribute and share your favorite finds as well.  So, until next time, feel free to add your Web 2.0 finds using the Comment option.  And WELCOME BACK.

Down the Rabbit Hole with Steve Dembo

A very special thank you to Jennifer Dorman on her cliotech blog for providing the following links:

Discovery
DiscoveryEducatorNetwork
DEN
DENLCInstitute2008
SteveDembo
Teach42
Turbo Tagger

So Much Learning, So Much Fun: The Perfect Day

So Much Learning, So Much Fun: The Perfect Day.  No other organization can pack so much learning and so much fun into one day.  Leave it to DEN STARS and leaders to create the perfect day.  It’s not only that we did some powerhouse learning, but it was HOW we learned.  For many of us, it was the first time we blogged live using CoverItLive.  During Hall Davidson’s keynote, 75 people joined Jen Dorman’s back channel as we input our comments and questions in real time.  DEN STARS are multi-taskers by definition, I think, but today added so many new Web 2.0 tools that simplied and aggregated efforts.  What I really appreciated was the collaborative nature of our endeavors; so many Web 2.0 tools embed social networking into their design, and then let you send your work into your PPLNs simultaneously.  Think Diigo which lets you aggregate your information, choosing and controlling your content and community.

Then there was that fantastic DEN Carnival that our DEN leaders created.  After working our brains on collective overload, we played played DENGO, Wii gaming, and some old-fashioned old-school games like break the ballon, get the tic-tac-toe balls in a straight line (without cheating), and drop coins down a slot, predicting which color you would aim for.  And what was the purpose of the carnival (beyond unadulterated fun)--raffle tickets to win some super prizes at the end of the evening.  Learn deeply, laugh hard, and thank your lucky stars ( pun intended) that you are a part of this Leadership Council Institute, because, quite honestly, I cannot imagine what could top this one.  From the cotton candy, spun live, and DEN leaders, also spun live, living and learning just does not get any better.

Geocaching with Bridget Belardi

Geocaching is the experience where you become the search engine.  Bridget used Glogster to create a geocaching image for her wiki.  GPS requires you to have the latitude and longitude coordinates in order to search for something somewhere in your world.  Garmin and Magellan are the most popular and you can download cache information/coordinates into the receiver if it is properly equipped.

Do all handheld machines have the GPS ability?  Yes, if you have the extra cable.  If you are not a fellow geocacher, you may not need/want a GPS.  You can use iPhone as your GPS navigator, or your Blackberry if you have web access.  Generally speaking, the GPS works by identifying 3 satellites to locate your exact position on earth.  If you lose connection with one of the three, you lose the option to continue, so atmospheric interference can impact the ability to search.The GPS receiver is only as good as what you paid for it.  The ability for the receiver to read the satellites increases with the ability of the equipment, but you still need some geocache sense.

The best place to build an account is http://www.geocaching.com.  Then, you can search by city, zip code, state, driving route….  Bridget usually searches by zip code, but you can also search by state or driving directions (great for a long ride or a vacation drive).  Record the latitude and longitude coordinates and save to your receiver.  You can also search by your address to see what is in your immediate area.

When you create a geocaching account, you need to pay attention to the difficulty rating (1—5) and the terrain.  Bridget has been geocaching, and she said the hardest one she encountered was a 3.  Clicking on the link you have found will tell you who hid the cache (it could be absolutely anything, small to large), when it was hidden, and the North and West coordinates.  Bridget prints the coordinates so she can add it to her receiver later.  Without the coordinates, you have no geocache.  Caches are often hidden in off-the-beaten paths, and often when you find the cache, you find something else that is interesting as well.  What Bridget likes best is the decryption key to decipher the code, but if you hit “decrypt,” the decoding will be done for you.  In adition, you will find a list of all the people who have searched and found (or not) the cache.  Bridget suggests that for the good of the sport, you go back to the site and log in your results.  If you were using this activity for students, you get a valuable writing activity after the fact.

In geocaching, you always get a Google map, and you can use your GPS to try to find it.  When you click on the map, however, you will find if there are any other caches closeby.  Tomorrow Bridget will host a geocaching event so we have more hands-on search time.  Sometimes you have to answer questions, “The Original,” to prove you had been there, done it.  You can email the owner of the cache and s/he will tell you if you were correct.  Sometimes you get fake coordinates and you find the cache, which gives you new coordinates to get to the real cache.

How do we know that the people who plant the cache replenish the cache?  That’s where responding on the site where you got the coordinates becomes really important.  Searchers need to input data so that future geocachers will find the site viable.  You can flag any potential problems you encounter online, so that owners can replenish/fix the site or remove the cache (just in case a tree was cut down and your cache was a part of that tree).

So after you choose the cache, then what?  After inserting the coordinates into the GPS, you need to follow the compass until it gets to a within 10 feet.  Then, you use your geosense to see if something “isn’t right.” Where could something be hidden within a 15 foot range.  But it is always helpful to know what you might be looking for.  Some examples are a container (they are always labeled; tin, plastic, glass), something waterproof.  Ammo cans often have trade able items, trinkets, toys, stuffed animals, something that could/not have a value.

So, rule of thumb: if you find something, leave something. Leave something of equal or greater value, and that is the first rule of geocaching etiquette.  Sometimes containers are so camouflaged that find the cache is difficult.  The nanocaches are often magnetic and are “evil” because they are nanosized, making them really (almost) impossible to locate.  The space to write your name and date are often microscopic, so there is definitely a challenge to geocaching.  (I finally know what Michael Chicocki was prepping for one day when he Twittered...)

Here’s the good part.  You go through the pain and suffering of finding the cache, trade the items (find something, leave something).  Travel bugs and Geocoins are valuable.  Travel bugs are often attached to a dogtag with a track able number.  That number allows you to track it online.  What makes it interesting is that you can repurpose the cache by adding directions.  A cache can actually travel a path across the United States and the world (very popular in Germany).

You can buy geocaching coins online ("Queen of Caching").  You can even marathon geocache within a contest to find the most caches and collectibles within a time period.  Trillions of designs exist online, and geocache coins make a great trade for the find.  Responsible etiquette asks that you leave a message when you find the object of your search, both on site and online.  You need to re-camouflage the cache if you are asked to leave the cache after you find it.  Jeep even does geocaching, so if you find the Jeep coin, you get to enter into a lottery to win a Jeep.

Geocaching Lingo:

Muggles: those who are not geocachers
TFTC: Thanks for the Cache
TFTF: Thanks for the Find
TNLN: Took Nothing Left Nothing.

Educaching: (a great book about lesson plans and geocaching; has black masters, handouts; $32)

Educational Benefits:
Reading latitude and longitude
Map skills
Using a compass
Can add research to the caching
Cross-curricular connections
Letterboxing Hybrid: done with a compass not a GPS.

Resources:
Geocaching ListServ (check the link on Bridget’s wikispaces)

Check out Bridget’s resources (and other STAR DEN presenters) here.
http://www.podcacher.com (a family that podcasts geocaching)

Second Life: The Adventures of Lost Teacher, Haystack, and the DEN Second Life Group

Creating Your Personal Professional Learning Network: Jennifer Dorman

Steve Dembo: Blogging 101 and the DEN Blog

Hall Davidson - Live at the LC National Institute

Ethan Vokes: Versatile Winner of Young Artists’ Exhibit

Cross-posted on Changing Connections

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Ethan Volkes is a young man of many talents.  He led his IP team to a very successful stage presentation as team leader, and with another team member, Matt Croft, built a rotating combination desk and bar for their stage presentation, “What If the Constitution Had Not Been Ratified?  How Much Can One Document Change the Future?  Any graduate of the IP process will tell you that IP becomes your life, so Ethan’s accomplishment at the Banana Factory, happening at the same time that IP kicks into high gear, makes his accomplishment even greater.

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Ethan captured Honorable Mention for one of his two art works competing at the Third Annual Banana Factory Young Artists’ Annual Exhibit. The opening of the exhibit, which runs through August, was a “First Friday” in June, and it was a really exciting evening with an impressive attendance.  Strategically positioned in direct line with the entrance, the exhibit literally draws you into the Banana Factory.

Ethan’s prize-winning art was a two-dimensional metal work, and the photos simply do not maximize the intricacy of his work.  I asked Ethan how his work came to be exhibited at a juried show, and he said that his art teacher, Mr. Scott Atiyeh, who has a studio at the Banana Factory, selected his work.  Ethan discusses the creative process in depth in his podcast, so you might want to check it out.  That his work was exhibited and one piece received Honorable Mention, Ethan was nonetheless disappointed that his metal work did not fare better in the judging.  If you know Ethan, then you understand his work ethic--he has one--and he never settles for less than his best.  He strives for perfection, and is understandably always hoping for that first place prize.  Nonetheless, he is pleased with his accomplishment and credits his talent to his home environment, growing up with art, and assuming responsibility for continuing to work in a variety of artistic media.

His second entry serves to demonstrate his versatility.  His painting has a dimensional effect, seeming to reach outside the canvas with a life of its own.  From the nuts and bolts of set design and construction to the refinement of studio art, Ethan does it all, and very well.  After viewing the exhibit, we went outside in search of a quiet space to create a podcast to mark the event.