YouTube Video Link About the Importance of Health Education

Here is a great video about the importance of health education. In the video health education is even considered a 21st century skill!




The video is by Taylor Mali.

responsible - Word cloud - WordItOut

responsible - Word cloud - WordItOut

Word cloud made with WordItOut

Thing 23

I'm really glad I was able to finish this on-line professional development experience. When I first started I didn't think I would be able to get it all done or figure it all out on my own. However, I continued to work at it and was able to solve most of the difficulties I encountered. One big change that I notice in myself is that I am not as intimidated. I feel I have adopted more of a "no-fear" approach to exploring the Internet and using web 2.0 tools. I know I am certainly not an expert, but I'm much more aware of what's out there, and how it can benefit my personal and professional life. I'm wiling to give try to use some of these things in school, especially Slideshare, and Screenr and social bookmarking. For students who need an individualized project for health, I'll try to set up a blog and ask them to respond to their assignments electronically. I'd love to give my wiki page activity a try, because I think it might prove to be a challenging and stimulating activity. I hope in the future to use google wave since it is a fabulous tool and we can so easily track student participation. A google wave or wiki activity also might be just the thing I need to use to try to set up an interdisciplinary activity. So as you can see I have big plans for the future. What I need now is the time to get them started and support when problems arise.

I'll continue to look for updates on web 2.0 tools. I am astounded buy the gotoweb20 web site. I clicked around and found something called hellohealth. This is a tool exactly like what I saw on the health careers web site that was depicted as health care in the future. So as the saying goes the future is now. Other things I clicked on were animation sites. Each one allows you to create animated movies within minutes (goanimate, meemovie). This would be a good option for me to use instead of role plays in class. Finally I clicked on schoology and twiducate. These two sites combine social networking, course management and grading. These are all free programs. If they work well, they could represent significant cost savings for districts.

This web 2.0 activity, Newington 23 Things, has left me in awe of what's out there and in awe of the future of teaching and learning. The best "thing" about it is that it is based on sharing. I hope that through sharing and socializing on the web, we as a society will focus more on the many other positive virtues of human nature, such as kindness and respect for others. Thanks Joan and Maureen for facilitating this program. I have learned so much!

Thing 22

For this thing I reviewed different wikis then created my own. See the link below if you want to check it out. I had a lot of trouble with the formatting, so it isn't finished yet, and I'm not really sure how it will work, but it's a start. Overall I'm glad I made one but I'm not comfortable yet. I'm hopeful that it will work well and that it will help kids to apply the skills they learned to some realistic situations that will be generated by same age peers form another class. I also have some questions. How do I give each student permission? Who gives them the password? I think I'll go back to Wiecker's Wicknomics, and review the rubric he used. I think something like that plus more directions would be beneficial to have up towards the front of the site.

Ahealthyexchangewiki

A wiki is different from a blog because a blog operates in a much more controlled way. When blogging, a person expresses their feelings and viewpoints about something, in response to a prompt, or in response to something that's on their mind that they want to share. People can respond to the blog by posting their comments. It seems that often times the comments are short, and supportive of the author. It's easy to see a chronological pattern of responses between the author of the blog and the people who post comments. A wiki invites more participation from a group of people. Wikis are intended to be interactive as the content can be changed or modified to meet the group's needs. The dialogues generated in a wiki can be much more random and spontaneous, depending on how they are set up. Wikis are designed to allow on-line conversation between groups of people, who are working on a particular task.

Thing 21

I was inspired by many of the wikis that I clicked on. Pathfinders looks to be a great place for kids to easily find research materials that they can use and they can do it from home. I liked Weiker's Wikinomics because he spelled out the rules, grading policies, had rubrics course guides textbooks... everything! At Westwood School's wiki I enjoyed seeing how one teacher set up the computer lab schedule and posted an online art album. I also took a look at the wiki created by Magie (the Digital Immigrant) for room 118. I thought this was excellent. She used some YouTube videos to teach some concepts and had some reference materials for kids to access for math etc. I am not sure I can do all this. I'd love to give it a try and have an idea but I am not sure where to start (although I did copy down the address to get started from the Common Craft video). Time to manage the wiki, and ideas on how to think ahead about potential problems and prevent them, would help overcome these hurdles. I searched the educational site for some examples of health education wikis. I found one site that had to do with health careers (HSTE Project). They had an amazing video using a Voki and some interactive software developed by MIT that gives a heads-up into what health care might look like in the future. (See the link if you are interested. Scroll down on the page until you get to the New Media Medicine Video on Vimeo). More PD time scheduled during the school year would also be invaluable to further create, share and modify any attempts I make this summer . Another thing that would be helpful is some sort of chart or something that can help a novice like me decide what web 2.0 tool would be best. A blog, a wave, a doc, or a wiki. They have some things in common. Maybe a chart would help me discriminate what might work best. Or maybe I need more time to sort it out and explore.

Thing 20

Thing 20 is about eBooks. I started with the Best Places to Get Free Books. This seems to be a great site to swap eBooks you have collected.

On google books I found a preview of "To Kill a Mockingbird". I want to read this book again this summer due to all the hoopla about its 50th anniversary. I was disappointed that all of the book wasn't there, although the preview was helpful, and it has enticed me to put the book in "My Library". I plan to purchase and read it later this summer, after I have finished reading the Millennium series, and after I have finished my course work.

One neat thing about eBooks is the interactive text ( as exemplified in the British Library Online Gallery site). (This is a fabulous site. I especially enjoyed the book about Mozart, Alice in Wonderland and Medieval times). You can look up a word, get description or hear music depending upon where the link takes you. Another advantage seems to be that you can easily page through them and find what you want. People can enjoy eBooks without spending a lot of money, and it certainly seems to be an environmentally friendly way to read. One disadvantage is that you have to have an electronic device of some kind to be able to enjoy them. Furthermore, computers or readers can fail. A real book won't do that. As long as you hold onto your copy real books can go any where with you.

The NHS site had a lot to offer students and staff. There are several things that I might be able to use with my students. One is the book "Drugs and Society". Students could use this eBook to find information about different drugs. Another helpful book (resource center), is "The Opposing Viewpoint". Last year eighth graders debated which drug is the worst, marijuana or alcohol. This site seems to have plenty of interesting information, and thanks to the summaries relevant ones are easy to identify. There is also a "Family Health Book" that kids could use to look up information about different things. Additionally there is a site called Marshall Cavendish which allows you to see and browse through illustrations, maps, drawings and diagrams and research tools I also noted two other helpful resources. One is World Book online, and the other provides information on alternative medicine (the Gale Virtual Reference Library). I also found a reference book on different cultures. In our building there are students from many different nationalities. I think this site will prove to be useful when we get a new student from a different country. If our password still works I can look it up and find out about where there from and what their cultural background might be like.

Thing 19

I used Screener to create a brief tutorial for students to use just before they log onto a web site we use in health. I asked my husband to type for me so that I only had to concentrate on what I wanted to say. We recorded this once and although it is far from perfect, the job is done and it was easy! The web site has a powerpoint tutorial that can be used with kids, but I think what we made is better because it is simple, and it includes the video of the cursor moving from one point to the other. Check it out!