SMART boards in the Classroom

In passing the other day, I mentioned to my son's 3rd grade teacher that James got to use a SMART board in my Instructional Technology class.  His comment, "Ah... another waste of money."  He was rather sarcastic about it and it kind of startled me.  And then I thought, "Hmmm... this is one of the reasons why my child gets nothing from his classes."  Seriously, what does he have to offer?  He doesn't use samples or do science experiments for his science class and apparently does not use any form of technology either. 

So, is a SMART board a waste of school funding? 

My first observations of SMART board was the actual application by my 9 year old son in my Instructional Technology class.  He did not have to be asked twice if he wanted to come up and participate in a High School biology quiz.  Note High School, he did not care the grade level - he was interested in the technology.  Much the same way a raccoon is to a shiny object.  So, is this wrong to dangle a 'shiny object' in front of a kid to get them motivated to participate in class?  Personally, I don't think so.  The article Interactive Whiteboards and Learning states:

They serve to raise the level of student engagement in a classroom, motivate students and promote enthusiasm for learning.

This is what I saw in my own son when I watched him try the SMART board activity out for us.  He was genuinely excited to participate.  My favorite feature is that Whiteboards bring the class together: 

Whole-class teaching – brings the entire class together, focuses their attention and provides structured, teacher-focused group interaction.

I've worked in schools that had MIMIO boards.  The kids were very much used to using MIMIO boards in class and it was part of the working structure.  I, myself, have not personally used the technology so it seemed a bit intimidating but with the proper instruction I would not hesitate to use one in my future Biology class. 

Honestly, I don't need to read statistics or surveys to know that this is the direction teaching and the classroom should be moving in.  Its not so much the cost at this point.  This is the next step into the future classroom.  Why?  Interactive boards are going to be the future in the business world.  We've seen it in Sci-fi movies for the several decades.  This is the direction our technology is taking us.  Why would we not have it in the classroom?  I would hate to think students would not have experience with a interactive board until their first day on the job.  Not to mention, as this technology is being developed it will become more accessible and the price will decrease.  This is the future. 

Rubric for my Critical Friend

Here is the link for the Rubric I created for my Critical Friend.

Google Earth WebQuest

Here is a link to my Google Earth WebQuest.

Interactive life cycle of a star

This link is for an interactive life cycle of a star.  I wanted to archive this site for future use.   Perhaps for classroom use.


Interactive Life Cycle of a Star

The Birth of the Moon

My Astronomy paper for my final will be based on this concept.  This is a topic that has always fascinated me.  I will not only delve into how the moon was created but the fact that Earth has an iron core that Mars is lacking.  And the fact that this collision made it so that Earth was large enough to allow her to stay hot enough to keep her atmosphere unlike Mars.  This makes me realize why I love Science so much. 

Goldilocks, Gliese 581 g

The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast released a podcast on November 2, 2010 with some details on our newest find -  the “Goldilocks” planet, Gliese 581g.  What is unique about Goldilocks?  It is a planet the size of Earth situated in about the same distance from its sun as we are to ours.  To us, our place in the solar system seems normal.  Our smaller planets are much closer to the sun and some of our bigger planets are positioned much farther off.  But this is not usual in most solar systems, because of gravitational pull, larger planets are usually much closer to their suns.  This has caused quite a bit of excitement in the Astronomy circuits.  First, could it have life?  Second, we are getting much better at detecting smaller planets in other galaxies - meaning we will probably find many more planets just like Earth in other solar systems.

However before we get too excited over whether Goldilocks could sustain life.  Unlike our beautiful large yellow sun, Goldilocks orbits a red dwarf sun.  Which is a small and relatively cool star.  Could life still develop?

The 2 Best and 2 Worst WebQuests

In the previous blog my group reviewed 5 WebQuests from different perspectives.  Today we are ranking the 2 best and 2 worst.  We've agreed the 2 best are the Shakespeare and Earthquake WebQuests with Waves and Sounds and Foreign Country being the worst.

#1  By far Shakespeare was the best.  We agreed that it was a well thought out WebQuest and it met the criteria for all 3 of our perspectives. 

• The Altitudinist - Higher order thinking.
• The Efficiency Expert - Time Management.
• The Affiliator - Collaboration.

We liked the idea that research on specific topics had to be completed and then a Play derived from that information.  Students have to agree on how to create the play and then have to learn their lines.  Therefore a lot of thought and collaboration have to be put into this project.

#2  My group agreed that Earthquakes was the second best.  Not only did it met all three criteria but it also places the students in a real life situation where materials are limited but the consequences surrounding a bad design do have an impact on human kind.

#5  My group definitely felt that Waves and Sounds was the worst WebQuest.  It was rather anemic in that not a lot of thought was placed into creating it.  It was more of a treasure hunt in that the students just followed a list of websites to click on and then watch a picture.  Although I do have to say that the animated sine waves were neat to watch.  In the end we could not find any real clear goal to meet our perspectives.

#4 There was a consensus that Foreign Countries was the second worst.  We weren't sure if the competition would hurt or help the project since there was so much focus on it in the WebQuest.  We agreed it could go either way.  The Efficiency Expert felt that there was no clear time limit on the presentation making it run too long for other students to watch and cutting into their time slot. I think the worst trait is that there was no collaboration, in that it seemed to be an individual project.

The Altitudinist

 Macbeth by William Shakespeare

The Altitudinist: Higher level thinking is everything to you. There's too much emphasis on factual recall in schools today. The only justification for bringing technology into schools is if it opens up the possibility that students will have to analyze information, synthesize multiple perspectives, and take a stance on the merits of something. You also value sites that allow for some creative expression on the part of the learner.

Your Impressions

WebQuest - Listed with a number that I have used to rank each of the 5 webquests.                                         
#3  Gorillas
*Strengths - Saving the Gorillas poses the question "What should be done", which satisfies a higher level thinking.  The students are given the challenge that gorillas are endangered and basic info regarding their lifestyles.  In the end students are asked to:

It is time for you to make a decision. Think back on all you have found and decide how you would save the gorilla. What kind of activities are needed to guarantee that your grandchildren will still be able to see a wild gorilla?

I like the fact that students have to bounce ideas off each other to come up with an answer to save a species.  Its a huge topic and how 'we' handle the information 'we' know, such as the declining numbers of gorilla, combined with our future actions is going to determine extinction.  An important link or connection for secondary students to make since they are the next generation.  The students have to 'analyze information, synthesize multiple perspectives, and take a stance on the merits of something' to complete this activity.

*Weakness - The format that the information is given seems a bit juvenile to me for secondary students.  I am wondering how serious I would have taken this WebQuest as a secondary student.
#1  Shakespeare
*Strengths - I really, really liked this WebQuest the best.  I think Josh, Jeremy, and I agreed that it satisfied all of its requirements in making a good WebQuest.  As far as higher level thinking the students were posed the question "do you really have a good grasp of what life was like when he was alive?"  To find these answers they have to research:
     1. The actor - What it was like to act in Elizabethan England compared to Shakespearean acting during our own time period.
     2. Historian - Learn what life was like in Elizabethan England and the personal life of William Shakespeare.
     3. Director - The students have to research theatre practices of Elizabethan England and look at the things done at the Globe then and now, as well as at other theatres of Shakespeare's day.
     4. Linguist - The students will research the plays and poetry of William Shakespeare and the language he used.

After the students finish this research they have to follow a census guide to help them determine as a group what information needs to be included in the final product.  The students have to "analyze information".  The next step is to decide as a group how to synthesize the information in order to plan a creative presentation.   The last step includes creating a scrapbook of Shakespeare's time period and a final presentation with either a PowerPoint or Skit created completely by the group members.  I really like the conclusion of this project.  It truly is a PBL and forces the students to take all their knowledge to a creative level.

*Weakness - I don't see a flaw in the WebQuest

#2 Earthquake
*Strengths - Jeremy, Josh, and I definitely agreed that this was a rather intriguing project.  The students have to use prior knowledge about the different types of earthquake waves and building designs to create a building design that will withstand an earthquake.  Of course, the limited supplies to create a strong building is the biggest challenge.  If the students succeed their design should hold up to testing.  This all is part of higher level thinking.

*Weakness - I don't see a flaw in the higher level thinking of this WebQuest.

#4 Foreign Country
*Strengths - I like the idea of making this project a contest.  Students do have to analyze their country for a variety of topics such as interesting places, pictures of the people, monuments, natural wonders, events, festivities, and/or anything else that can be found.  The students then have to use their information to create a PowerPoint presentation making sure to make the presentation as interesting as possible to win the contest.  So students might strive for 'unique' information.  I feel it satisfies a higher level of thinking.

*Weakness - I don't like the fact that there is no collaboration.  Without someone to bounce ideas off of or to help weed through nonsense I'm afraid it lacks some higher order thinking. 

#5 Waves & Sound
*Strengths - This project could have been an interesting topic had it been organized with more thought.  However...

*Weakness - This WebQuest seems to be more of a treasure hunt than a project.  Students merely click on sites but are not really given a clear goal.  This is not an impossible project.  The author however states as the conclusion:

Congratulations! You've just mastered a difficult concept of Physics. While it may not have been easy or clear, through the innovations of technology, we have helped you further your knowledge and give you key learning concepts.

What!?!  That just blew my mind.  To me this is a very incomplete WebQuest with not a lot of thought put in it. 

Hydrogen Gas Clouds

I was searching for an article on how our Sun was created from a Hydrogen gas cloud for my Astronomy test tomorrow when I found another interesting article on Hydrogen gas clouds.  Frankly, my textbook is horrible and I have found that I have to do extended research if I want the specifics on any sort of Astronomical function.  I don't mind doing research to further educate myself but I do mind sinking a $100 in a fairly useless textbook.  In any case, I came across this article Massive Gas Cloud Speeding Toward Collision With Milky Way written by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.  I found it rather interesting and I wanted to archive it in my Blogger for further reference.  I think its phenomenal that we know things are going on like this in our universe.  Furthermore that we understand it and it is activity like this that has helped us to understand the birth of our Sun and other stars like it that occurred millions of years before we were here.

The cloud, called Smith's Cloud, after the astronomer who discovered it in 1963, contains enough hydrogen to make a million stars like the Sun. Eleven thousand light-years long and 2,500 light-years wide, it is only 8,000 light-years from our Galaxy's disk. It is careening toward our Galaxy at more than 150 miles per second, aimed to strike the Milky Way's disk at an angle of about 45 degrees.


An excerpt from the article:

"This is most likely a gas cloud left over from the formation of the Milky Way or gas stripped from a neighbor galaxy. When it hits, it could set off a tremendous burst of star formation. Many of those stars will be very massive, rushing through their lives quickly and exploding as supernovae. Over a few million years, it'll look like a celestial New Year's celebration, with huge firecrackers going off in that region of the Galaxy," Lockman said.

How Many Solar Systems are in the Milky Way?

Excerpt from a letter to NASA

So far, astronomers have found about 70 solar systems and are discovering new ones every year. Given how many they have found in this neighborhood of the Milky Way galaxy, scientists estimate that there may be many billions of solar systems in our galaxy. Whether this estimate is correct, and how similar other solar systems are to ours, remain to be seen. It has only been a few years since the first solar system apart from ours was detected, so this whole subject is still in its infancy. By the time our friends who asked the questions are adults, we will know a great deal more. Perhaps someday you will help find the answers. And even if you don't, you may grow up in a time when humankind has a much clearer idea of how we and our home planet fit into the cosmos.



Thanks again for calling Dr. Marc at The Space Place.

The Top 10

I have to start with WOW! The work the kids put into their Wikis were so professional looking. I understand there are templates that can be used to make web pages aesthetically pleasing but the work still had to be put into it. Something at the end of the video caught my attention when the teacher stated that her kids learned more from doing the website work than being taught by the standard method and then be tested. My guess is that by doing this hands on activity and learning through it Fact vs. Opinion that all of these kids would indeed score higher on a standardized test in this area. I think its great. Not only did they learn Fact vs. Opinion (which I have found is a difficult subject for kids when I have had to teach it) but they learned job related skills by developing a website. Kudos to the teacher!  To check out a Wiki that elementary school kids created themselves click on The Top Ten.

Does this activity differ from much of the activities you engaged during your K-12 education? How? or How not? Give examples.

Absolutely! I come from a totally different time frame. Some of my classes had one computer but they were the old OLD Apples. The kind that only have a flashing prompt when you turned it on. You then had to slide a disk into it to play games or practice typing. There was no Internet, at least not the kind accessible by the public.  I do have to give props to my 10th grade computer programming teacher who taught us how to use DOS by having us create pixelated cartoons that moved.  That was quite cool.  But I gave away the kind of technology there was at the time by same "DOS".  The advancements that have been made since then are phenomenal.

Is your learning style addressed in this activity? How? Give me an example.

Yes.  The kinesthetic or tactile portion of this project being hands on is definitely appealing to me as a student.  The fact that the students were taking part in gathering data to determine Fact vs. Opinion is much more appealing to me than listening to a teacher give me examples.  Also there is definite visual appeal.  Its not that I learn better when something is visually appealing, its that I want to take part in something that is visually appealing.  Before I started this class, my favorite part of blogging was positioning pictures just so around text to help make my point or build my story.  It may be just a personal preference I have but it is something that drives me. 

This project was implemented without the use of textbooks. Are you surprised? Are you interested in teaching in a similar way when you become a teacher?

No, I'm not surprised at all.  There aren't many subjects that need a textbook to guide a lesson.  Its a lazy cop-out if you ask me.  And sometimes I wander if its not because a teacher is not comfortable with the subject he or she is teaching.

I think science is better taught without a textbook.  For example: "What is a mineral?"  For a child to understand what a mineral is they need to see it, touch it, and for Halite - taste it.  If a child has never seen a mineral, how does reading from a textbook help them to understand what a mineral is.  My child is in 3rd grade learning science from a textbook.  Not experiments or first hand experience.  But purely from a textbook.  What is he learning?  Nothing.  At least not from class.  The fact his mom is enthusiastic about science and has the time to sit with him and show him different minerals makes him lucky.  What about the other kids?  What are they learning?  And we wonder why kids form a bad opinion about science at an early age. 

What are your concerns and what do you anticipate as being barriers?

Actually, what bothered me about the video was in the introduction.  I could not believe how much that school had when it came to technology.  Its not that I don't think they should have it.  The kids deserve it.  But what about the school my kids attend?  I've been in a couple of schools in Marion county and we don't have near the amount of technology that one school had.  The first thought that went through my head was, "That's not fair!"  So how do struggling schools and counties compete?  How much difficulty would a struggling school have in carrying out such a neat project, especially if their computer systems were outdated and slow.

Blogging and Sharing

1. What do you like or dislike about keeping a blog for this course?


I've had a Blogger since 2007.  I can see its value and I personally like keeping a blog.  I think it helps develop thought and writing skills.  Basically the old adage "If you don't use it, you lose it" applies in this situation.  I think blogging is an excellent way to practice writing skills.  Over time, I have seen significant improvement in my own writings from the beginning to now. 
 
2. How can keeping a blog make you a more effective teacher?


I agree with the video, Sharing: The Moral Imperative, in which a comment was made or inferred that blogging can be used as a way to reflect.  I think my teaching skills could grow, just as my writing skills have grown.  This could be useful for several reasons.  I could use my blog to go back and reflect on my early thinkings because we tend to forget what are train of thought was while creating anything.  I could also use it to critique my thought processes.  Often if we write something down and come back in a few months to a year we can see it from a second point of view.  Almost like we are critiquing someone else's work.  This would enable me to improve lessons from year to year. 

3. Will you consider continuing to post to your blog after this course is over? Why?


I most certainly will.  I posted before the class started and I want to continue to use this valuable tool after.  In fact, I have a trip to Nanjemoy, MD I'm dying to share on Blogger.  My family and I kayaked old wooden WWI shipwrecks.  We took beautiful pictures of ourselves standing on those ancient ships and the ecological benefit these massive wooden giants have created.  We also took pictures of 3 nesting bald eagles.  It truly was an amazing trip.  One I want to share with the rest of the blogging community.  I completely agreed with the video's message of using blogs to share teaching methods. 
 
4 Keeping a blog helps you develop four new media literacies:
Appropriation - The ability to meaningfully sample and remix media content.
Collective Intelligence - The ability to share and pool knowledge and compare notes with each other toward a common goal.
Transmedia Navigation.- The ability to follow the flow of information and stories across multiple modalities.
Networking - The ability to search for synthesizes and disseminate information.

Give me a concrete example of how blogging in this class is evidence of your abilities to do one of these four new media literacies.

Collective Intelligence for the simple fact that I have been following classmates blogs since the first blog list was posted.  I like to see what everyone else is thinking.  I fear that sometimes I make a topic too complicated.  I put too much thought into things that really need to be brought to a point.  I like reading how my classmates do this, since we are all using the same topics.  It also gave me an opportunity to peek into their thoughts and even see how much importance and thought they put into the class and their assignments.

The VARK Questionnaire Results

The VARK Questionnaire Results

Your scores were:

Visual: 4

Aural: 7

Read/Write: 7

Kinesthetic: 7

You have a multimodal (ARK) learning preference.

I am a little surprised about the Aural results.  I prefer visual with hands on.  I do like a step by step written instruction added to the visual.  I don't usually like to receive any instructions verbally.  I tend to space out after the first few moments no matter how hard I concentrate.  For this reason, I do not like to give instructions verbally without demonstrating and I tend to trip on verbal ONLY instructions.  I find I'm just as bad at given them as I am receiving them. Therefore, I tend to stick with what I know.  I feel more comfortable giving a hands on instruction followed up with a written instruction.

Other than my score on aural, I think its pretty accurate.  Then maybe again I'm a bit more aural than I thought.

I made my Picasso with no ears because I don't think listening to directions is my strong point.  But she does have big eyes to watch demonstrations and a really big mouth because I tend to ask lots of questions when I'm learning.

The Limitations of Twitter and Texting

hw mch thort cn B cr8d n rel8ed n 140 chars or less?

This is a challenge... for me anyway.  I think its obvious when I'm trying to relate what I'm thinking I use a lot of room.  But what goes through the mind of the person reading it?  One of two things; first, depending on what the topic is about -  I'm thorough.  I believe my Intro to Special Education teacher referred to my last paper as "Wow!! very thorough and comprehensive."  It's probably because I have to sit and validate everything I write by backing my theories with examples.  OCD on my behalf, I suppose.  And then there is the second thought that could be going through their head - "OMG, she turned a 2 page paper into a 5 page paper."  And YES - I did.  Not everyone wants to spend all their free time reading my thoughts.  Especially when they have 30 more papers to read.  Sometimes keeping it simple and getting directly to the point is worth its weight in gold.  Wish I could take my own advice.  I wouldn't drive myself so nearly insane writing a simple paper.

 

Needless to say, I don't like hyphening my thoughts down to 140 characters.  Trying to find meaning and making sure my reader understands that meaning - is frustrating for me.  At the same time, I can see the advantages of pinpointing, well... your point.  In other words, cutting all the bull out and stating your thoughts directly.  Which at this point in this blog you've already figured out that I do indeed lack the ability to get to the point.  

 

So... yes indeed - I did alter what I was going to say to fit my ideas in 140 characters or less.  In fact, I used the texting translator just so I could shorten each word and add a bit more.  The movie Why Schools Kill Creativity was really good.  I don't think I added my opinion to Twitter in a justified manner.  Its such a big topic and the ideas in it very innovative.  How do you shorten a response to 140 characters or less and not add several replies just so you can finish your thoughts?  But that would have been breaking the rules and I had to find a way to shorten my thoughts, so I did.   I'm still not happy with my reply but you'll have that.  

 

At this point, I think its safe to say that Twitter and texting do have an impact on what I have to say on more thought prevoking topics.  I have to abbreviate or hyphen my thoughts into a cute compact package.  Although I do have to say, I don't think it slaughters my thoughts completely.  I see it as a challenge to come up with a way to say what I'm thinking without adding superfluous information.   

Advice from Mommy

dnt sit 2 clse 2 d tv. yr Iyz wl cross!

uv 2 giv respect 2 gt respect

An apple a dy keeps d dr awy

\_/ lots of OJ

dnt T2 strangers

"Beware of the Man of One Book." ~ Anonymous

"That night I dream of a woman in a white sari holding a baby in her arms. The wind howls behind her, making her hair fly across her face, obscuring it. She places the baby in a laundry bin and leaves."~ Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup page 65

This is where I am in my current book.  Reading, is that little gift I give myself 15-20 minutes each night before I shut my eyes for the evening.  I also rescue old books from flea markets and junk shops.  My current prize is a book revised and written in 1855 - Shakespeare's Works with Memoirs.  I got it for a mere $3.00.  I'm pretty sure the 18 year old that sold it to me had no idea what it was.  Perhaps it was from some one's book collection who had just passed on and there it sat in a junk shop discarded by relatives who didn't see its worth or importance. 

Of course, my fear that books will slowly be discarded and turn to dust in some junk shop comes from all the miscellaneous statistics that state over and over again that people are turning away from reading.  That maybe it was becoming a lost art in a world that moves at a fast pace.  However, the article Reading on the Rise states that:

"There were 16.6 million new adult readers of literature in 2008."

That is a remarkable find.  The total number of adult readers was 112.8 million or 50.2%.  Which correlates with the Wikipedia total population of the U.S. which was 310, 585,000.  Its a direction, a good direction for adults to take in my opinion.  In this high paced, stress induced society a few moments to kick back and open one's mind to a whole new world is what we need. 

ThinkAloud

Presentation1 dog island

View more presentations from Jaime Ford.

Teaching Two Literacies

Describe an activity that we have done this semester that has prepared you to teach "two literacies".

Edmodo by far was an excellent example of teaching 'two literacies'.  The collaborative part of the story process allowed the Middle School students to expand their stories by building on another's ideas.  I find this concept extremely fascinating.  Most companies become successful because employees are able to work together to create innovative projects.  Collaborating in school helps prepare an individual to accept outside ideas and continue to build on them.  I would like to see our society value more collaboration efforts over individual achievements.  Its an old idea that is worth revisiting but I digress.  In other words, I think collaborative storytelling helped to create excitement in an otherwise not so exciting subject area for students.  As our graphs and Denise's survey's proved, students were more up to the challenge of story writing when it came to collaborating with another individual.  


Likewise, concluding the collaborative story by morphing it into a digital story was an excellent example of 21st Century writing.  It literally lifted the story from 2D print to 3D action.  All at the same time developing computer literacy skills.


I would most certainly use these two ideas in my class sessions. They both developed an interest in the subject and met fundamental computer literacy skills. 

Name an National Education Technology Standard for Teachers that this activity meets.

I believe Edmodo met the entire first standard under the ISTE/NETS for the exact reasons I listed above.  Edmodo developed an interest in the subject and it helped build computer literacy skills.  In addition, I believe it helped creativity.  Building on another's ideas and selecting pictures and videos for a digital story requires a bit of imagination.  I definitely saw these attributes in several of the creations the Middle School students stories. 

The First Standard under the ISTE/NETS is as follows:
1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

              Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments. Teachers:
a. promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness.

b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.

c. promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes.

d. model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.

Validating Doggie Island

I chose Dog Island Free Forever to evaluate.  My first thought... this has to be a product of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and one of their money grabbing scams.  So to say it grabbed my attention... absolutely!  First of all, dogs running free on an island brings horrid pictures to my mind.  Maybe its my experience in the Veterinary field, I don't know, but when I picture dogs running free I see packs of dogs turning on each other during mating season and literally ripping the hide off of each other.  It is really not a pretty sight and not the picture most people want in their mind when they think of dogs but it happens.  The other thoughts that stream through my mind are:  Are these animals vaccinated at some point during their stay?  How are these animals fed?  What are the limitations to the island? Are all breeds allowed?  Many breeds do not mix well.  Is there some sort of doggie debriefing, to make sure the dog will not run around killing other dogs?  Do dogs have to be neutered first?  Neutering would control a lot of issues that could occur.  And so on...

Webpage evaluation check list

Name of page: Dog Island Free Forever
Address/URL: http://www.thedogisland.com/
Date Accessed:  2010 October 24
How did you find the page? Link recommended by Professor for Evaluation

DOMAIN

What is the domain of the page? .com or commercial
Do you feel that the domain type helps add to or lessen the page’s credibility? I think it lessens the credibility.  Commercial tells me that I'm being sold something.  It may not be credible.  I'm not completely sure I'd be sold on it if it were an organization.  Possibly if it were the ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) but I'm positive they would not sell something like this.  If they did, there'd be strict guidelines.  The first thing I notice when I look at this page is the advertisements for pet insurance, flea meds and heartguard tablets, dog anxiety meds and so forth.

AUTHOR/AUTHORITY

Is the author of the page identified?  Not on the main page.  After clicking on Company Information and Contact Dog Island - I found that the Presidents were Xiao Min and Han Fei.  They came together with Linda Reyes "a succesful and interesting woman from Manhattan".  I don't even know where to go with that quote. "Succesful" (note: spelled wrong) and "interesting" tells me absolutely nothing.  I'm guessing this information means that they are the author of the page but I'm not sure because they speak of themselves in third person if they are.

           Is the author of the page an individual?  The authors are two individuals who created the Dog Island company together. 

Something about this who thing is bugging me.  Phrases I read in the website do not make sense to me.  So, I decided to research the two names in question.  I tried to Google their names (individually and together) and came up with nothing other than links that directly took me back to their site.  So, I googled "Is Dog Island Free Forever Real".  A few links came up like http://floridanabob.hypermart.net/DOG%20ISLAND.htm.  This site states:

 "What makes DOG ISLAND weird is it is the subject of one of the silliest urban myths created by some guys who wanted a web site called “DOG ISLAND: FREE FOREVER” at http://www.thedogisland.com/. The entire web site is dedicated to the idea that Dog Island is a paradise retreat where dogs can vacation or live – running on the beach, chasing the local wildlife, and being a dog.... Alas, my dog, it is a myth.  But you have to love the fact that thousands of people actually thought there was a dog refuge island in Florida."

Of course, this site might be a complete fraud as well without further investigation.  So, I checked out Snope.com the urban myth busters themselves.  They backed up the last website and added a bit more:

"The Dog Island site is a hoax playing on western revulsion of Asian dog-eating practices, and its creators deliberately used names identical to those of persons and companies in China who process dogs for human consumption (for example, the "Dawn Fine Bred Dog Center" of which Dog Island is supposedly a subsidiary, the city of Pexian, and the name "Han Fei" are all references to the Dawn Fine Bred Meat Dog Center, a commercial operation in China where dogs are raised for meat), similar to a stunt once pulled by notorious prankster Joey Skaggs."

Amazing!  My worries in the beginning were completely unfounded because Dog Island does not even exist.  The names of the authors are a complete hoax as well.  I wonder how many people took this site for its face value.  Snope went on to say that after they posted their page on Dog Island being "false", the Dog Island authors deleted some of their reference.  Hmmm.... interesting.

There were some tips on the website itself that left me unsettled.  Under the "RATES" section I noticed this:

"Vacation Island, on the other hand, is very very expensive. It is only for rich people who have that kind of money to spend. This is the only way to visit the island with a dog and still come back with your dog."

Come back with your dog?  UGH?  What is that suppose to mean?  Not too mention, it sounds completely juvenile. Who says "Its only for rich people" in anything that is remotely professional.  Especially, if it is for a product that is being sold.  And then I read:

"Dogs never want to leave the island once they experience it, so you will not be able to have your dog again. You can come to the public visiting days, they are three times a year. Sometimes, someone sees their dog again."

At this point, I thought to myself, "What is the catch?  If you may or may not see your dog again... how can you be sure they aren't put in a dog fight ring?"  Seeing Snopes break down of Dog Island makes a lot of sense as to what I read - it is not a professional website and there was a reason why there were so many holes.  The only thing I don't understand is why someone would go to the bother of creating a really nice look website that is a hoax?

In any case, at this point there is nothing left to evaluate.  The site is a fraud.

Reflections in Writing Before and After Edmodo

Before the middle school students tackled using Edmodo and collaborating with FSU students, there opinions on writing was mostly divided.  A third liked writing, while a third didn't.  The remaining third were on the fence or felt that it was a bit boring.

 
After using Edmodo and collaborating with FSU students, the same middle schoolers overwhelmingly agreed that they liked writing much more.  This is rather significant.  I believe when something is enjoyable much more effort is placed in the process of creating.  If Edmodo can encourage middle schoolers to write more, then the benefit would be substantial.  More writing would mean more practice, more practice would mean better writing.  From this exercise, I can conclude that Edmodo was quite beneficial in promoting writing and creativity.