CyberCamp 08

Wow…December already?  We decided that November or December would be a great check-in time to bring everyone up to date with our projects.  I know that everyone has been slammed since school started.  Hopefully you will all be able to take a few moments and give us an update on your Cybercamp project.  It has only taken me a month to post since Bud’s reminder in November.  There were such incredible ideas and products born during Cybercamp — I’d love to hear what worked, what didn’t work, and all about the great things you are doing.

I am pleased with the progress and results of the Google Apps Education implementation for the Wired classes.  There has been a lot of lessons learned on the scope of use in the classroom — and time for reflection, changes, and improvements will come after semester ends.  Four classes were set up on the Google Apps domain, with student email addresses and access to Google Docs, Google Sites, and all the Wired resources on the Virtual Campus site.  You are welcome to view the final product on the Wired Classroom site.  Just send an email for the password: MyraG (at) shsfalcons (dot) com.

Students have been using Google Docs for reflections, sharing work with project teams, and sharing work with their teacher.  They have produced presentations for career exploration projects and group/individual Google sites for their exploration of Digital Citizenship topics.  I’ll share a sampling of those projects at the end of the semester.  The final project will be to pull all their work together on an eFolio — they will use a Google Site to feature their work from Wired, and other classes in 2008-09, on the online document.  Their reflections for the semester, career presentation, and a link to their Digital Citizenship project will be linked or embedded in their eFolio.  They will be able to personalize their site (hopefully using all the tools they learned in their digital safety research) to make it their own and, optimally, use as a repository for their best work during high school.

Google Apps Education was piloted with the 9th-grade Wired classes, but we are planning on opening up the framework to any teacher wishing to use the collaborative environment.  But, oh, there is still so much to learn and all kinds of applications yet to be discovered.  Anyone have any time to loan?

I look forward to CyberCamp 2009 (is that on the calendar?).  The time to work, network and learn with other CyberCampers, and the mentoring from Bud and Jerry was so valuable.