IT For Dominica Project 2009

I switched blog URLs so if you are looking for my class blog it can be found here:

http://jendeyenberg.edublogs.org

My class each have individual blogs to write and create their own posts on.  They have received comments from all over the world after only three weeks.  They love to post and share their thoughts using a blog format.  Try it with your class!

Over the past two weeks I’ve had the tremendous privilege to teach and learn in Dominica. I think it went amazingly well. Walking into a new lab was certainly a surprise. They are installing new computers and labs with mounted projectors in a number of locations. A few places are even getting smartboards. I worked for the two weeks on convincing our ministry contact Luguay that they should be mounted low. so that the students can use them. They didn’t envision student using the boards, but after I demonstrated how they work and had a few of the children teachers brought with them up there using it, he was convinced ( I hope!).

IT for Dominica Trip Blog – http://deyenberg5.edublogs.org

Everyone in the course seemed to enjoy and work with the Web 2.0 materials we covered, but they didn’t see the value right away, and some never did. Many of the older teachers only wanted to learn Microsoft Word and Excel and were only worried about using the computers themselves, not how they would use them with the kids. I kept hearing – the IT teacher uses computers, I don’t need to, I only want to learn this so I can type and keep marks. It was frustrating for me to see the teachers not realize how important it is to use and integrate computers into teaching. Even with one machine, there is so much they can do. A focus next year would be how to use one or two machines effectively. They should look at how to use technology in all subjects, not just in IT class. The teachers were always focused on the entire class in a lab, instead of using the computer as a station, working together on a project, or having the students use the “teacher” machine at all. Perhaps it is the traditional nature of education on the island, but I know I convinced a few of the value of collaborating and connecting with the world, so hopefully it will spread. (my personal biases don’t show up at all!)

I did take time to show excel and help them set up mark spreadsheets, as this is a definite need. We also showed typing tutors, and more traditional researching on the internet, which are important uses of technology.

The best part of the two weeks was on Monday of the second week. I set up a Skype session with Rocky back in Canada to show the power of video conferencing to connect with classes and experts around the world. I used Skype to show a free medium that is commonly used. After Rocky told us about some of the ways he has seen video conferencing used, I connected with Zoe Branigan-Pipe. She’s a teacher in Hamilton who I skype with on a regular basis. We use skype as teachers to share ideas and resources, but our classes also skype together once a week to learn about other parts of Canada, collaborate on a wiki about Ancient Rome, reflect and video comment on blog posts we left each other, and judge crazy hair day styles. When Zoe and I talked about the things we had done, and shared just how easy it was, the teachers in Dominica were very excited. I’ve already got Dominica teachers on my Skype contact list – so I’m excited to have some Canada/Dominica connections this year.

Another huge hit was Google Earth when I showed how to navigate, create pinpoint tours, and record right within google earth. The teachers loved it and played with it whenever they got a chance. After we VC’d with Canada and I used Google Earth to show where in the world we connected with, and how far apart Lethbridge and Hamilton were they loved to see the two tools used together to learn more about the world.

With most of the time spent on Web 2.0, we covered many tools, especially in my higher class. To my class I showed, and gave time to use:

Blogs – Edublogs

Wikis – Wetpaint

Interactive Posters – Glogster

Talking Avatars – Voki

Movie, Poster, Painting – Kerpoof

Jigsaw Puzzles – National Geographic Map Puzzles Make Your Own Jigsaw

Art Websites – 8 Great Sites

Interactive Sticky Note Bulletin Board – Wallwisher

Word Cloud – Wordle

Math – The Math Worksheet Site

Typing Tutors – Bruce’s Typing Tutor BBC Dance Mat

Search/Crossword Puzzles – Puzzle Maker

Problem Solving Game – Factory Balls

Problem Solving Game – Factory Balls 2

Make Your Own Game – ClassTools

Language Arts – Grammar Ninja

Interactive Math – Math 5 Live

Language Arts and Reading – Read Write Think

Thinking Games – Brain Games

Photo Storage – Flickr

Photo Editing – Picnik

Photo Search – Tag Galaxy

Micro Blogging/Status Updating – Twitter

Math Manipulatives – Interactives

Turning Images into a Video – Animoto

Turning Text Into a Movie – XtraNormal

Online Comic Generator – Make Beliefs Comics Strip Generator

Mind Map – Bubble Us Mind Meister

3D Planet, Moon, Mars, Ocean, and Sky – Google Earth

Our time is rapidly coming to an end in Dominica! With a flight on Friday and the airport on the other side of the island, Friday would have been a very short morning of class. This would mean a long journey for students for only a half day of class. As a result tomorrow is all of a sudden our last day of class.

The big secret was revealed today – the laptops we are using and brought with us from Canada aren’t coming home with us, they are staying in Dominica. Paul’s grade nine class in Vulcan did all sorts of fund raising to be able to purchase the machines to be used by Dominica teachers and students. As a result, my computer is going home with one of the Dominica students tomorrow, and I won’t be able to update or contact Canada again until I’m home on Saturday night. Don’t be alarmed when I fall off the map for a few days, I’m just traveling. I’m going to be going without a computer for three whole days – the shakes are already starting! I’m going home with a darker tan, blonder hair, and a pile of souvenirs. But most importantly, I am going with warm memories of a beautiful island and more so of the people I’ve met. Dominican people are warm, inviting, and a pleasure to spend time with.

I’m really going to miss Dominica. Last year leaving I knew I would be coming back, so it was a farewell. The future is less certain this year, so it feels like more of a goodbye. This year I had a group of web savy, more advanced students (teachers!). They pushed me to keep coming up with new and advanced resources for them. I can’t believe how much I learned from teaching them, and I just hope they got as much out of it as I did.

No School Today!

It was declared a National holiday in Dominica because of the One Day International West Indies vs. Bangladesh cricket match. It was also cruise ship day. This meant the market was overrun with cruise ship tourist types, and everything else on the entire island was shut down. They know how to take a holiday in Dominica, none of this everything is still open stuff we have in Canada, everyone actually takes the day off! Something for us to work on in Canada.

We climbed up Morne Bruce to take in some of the cricket action, wandered around the empty streets of Roseau, and hung out by the pool, reading. Tough day!

Yes, skype has officially become a verb! Skype is a free VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) video/voice classing service. You can call from computer to computer, using video for free. This is perfect for teachers in Dominica to connect with each other and connect their classes to the rest of the world.

Today we dialed in wtih Rocky Wilson at Palliser Central Office. He told us about how Palliser Regional Schools uses video conferencing to connect with a live knee surgery, the Canadian Space Agency, and even the International Space Station – cool! Then we made a second call to Zoe Brannigan-Pipe, a teacher from Hamilton, Ontario. Zoe and I have been connecting via Skype with our classes for the past several months, learning more about different regions of Canada. We shared how we have used Skype to connect students together to learn from each other.

The class in Dominica loved the idea, and even though they don’t all have the technology to use it yet, when it gets there I wanted them to see the possibilities. We were so busy connecting we didn’t take any photos, but we did create a Wallwisher of our impressions.

Today we also covered Twitter (microblogging), Flickr (photo storage and sharing), Picnik (online photo editing), and Tag Galaxy (visual photo search of Flickr).

This week is going to be busy with more Web 2.0 tools! We are going to look at Twitter, Skype, Read Write Think, review blogging, wikis, and glogster! The time is going by very quickly, and I don’t want to leave Dominica. I’m loving the warm temperatures, sunshine, warm people, and beautiful scenery.

If you can’t see the youtube video, or want to download smaller chunks – the video is in six parts linked below:

Victoria Falls

Jen Not Telling Her Mom What She Just Did

Insane Rocks

Rainforest

White River

Emerald Pool

Saturday was absolutely fantastic. We decided to visit the south east portion of the island, a place where neither Paul or I had been. We drove through Grand Bay, Bagatelle, Petite Savanne, La Plaine, and many more lovely little villages. We hiked up to Victoria Falls , a fairly short but intense walk. You cross the white river 3 times, which meant a lot of shoes on and shoes off. Towards the top the trail is the river and you have to climb over, around, through, and even under huge boulders. It was scary, and really quite difficult. We had a guide, Dixon, who stopped me from slipping to some sure broken bones many times. We definitely wouldn’t have made it without him. The view at the top was amazing, check out the photos and video.

The second stop of the day was the Emerald Pool, which is an earthcache. An earthcache is a geocache with no container, you have to take a photo of yourself and email the cache owner the answer to a question. They are in geologically sensitive or significant locations. This one is in Morne Trois Piton National Park, a Unesco World Heritage Site.

	Emerald Pool
	Victoria Falls
	Jen at the Falls!
	Looking back to the Caribbean Sea

Teaching today went well. I was trying to show Prezi – but experienced a major fail when nothing would load, even though I had tested it the day before. Oh well, I moved to plan B, Delicious! The class really enjoyed it, especially being able to connect to my bookmark list and to be able to share bookmarks with other teachers in Dominica. The spent the day mining my bookmarks for content that applied to their classroom.

After school, Paul and I jumped on a bus to go to Champagne beach to go snorkeling. I sent three times last year, and just love the place. There are underwater volcanic events that release warm bubbles of gas, making the water seem like you are swimming in Champagne! The sounds of the gases under pressure and the warm tingle of the bubbles bursting around you is fantastic.

Not so fantastic was the jellyfish sting on my shoulder! Last year there were tiny jelly fish the size of your thumb, this year they were the size of my head, and almost transparent, so you really had to watch. The reason I wasn’t watching and got stung was that there was a sea turtle!!!! Second year in a row, but this one was much smaller. I also saw all sorts of colourful fish, sea urchins, coral, and even two marlin when cruising by. Unbelievable! When I got back to the beach there was an iguana waiting to greet me, his picture is below.

Click to watch a short video introduction of Champagne Beach:

Champagne Beach

Time flies when you are busy teaching, preparing, and soaking in the local culture, I can’t believe its already Thursday. My class has been great – willing to try new things, and being able to quickly dig into new programs without any major problems. We have been working on blogs – edublogs, wikis – wetpaint, online posters – glogster, and other websites such as voki, puzzlemaker, and national geographic puzzles.

Each day we pause for a snack and we come together as a group to play a game, this brings some face time, instead of always just starting at computer screens. I recorded a short clip of pulse – a game I taught. The idea of the game is when you flip the coin and it lands on tails a squeeze goes down the line, and the last person grabs for the ball. This clip shows some controversy, but all in the name of fun. Pulse Video Clip I brought my flip camera with me to get some video this trip.

Roseau from Morne Bruce

Paul and I hiked up Morne Bruce, a small hill overlooking Roseau. The link above is a video showing all the sights as seen from Morne Bruce.

After teaching today I was relaxing by the pool reading a book (did I mention the infinity pool overlooking the Caribbean…) and the entire Bangladesh cricket team arrived for a pool training workout – my goodness! I think the place has just gotten a whole lot livelier for the next bit. I’m wondering where the West Indes team is staying, it may be here at the Fort Young as well. I’m currently listening to a steel drum Calypso band playing and pondering a quiet spot to read – might be impossible! When in Rome…