TGIF!!! In this case, that means "THANK GOD IT'S FINISHED!!!"
I don't feel like I need a pat on the back for finishing these things, I feel like I need a ceremony, a 21-gun salute, and a medal. I feel like I am suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder from completing these things! It has been a struggle.
Feedback was asked for, so here goes:
First of all, I feel compelled to address some of the parting comments.
It really doesn't take that much time. My instant reaction to that was "You have got to be kidding!" I have been a slave to these 23 Things. It has taken a huge investment of time, energy, and effort to complete them. In the process of completing these Things, I have indeed gained valuable new knowledge to eventually help me save time, but right now, I need more time to perfect my skills in using these new tools. I need to investigate all of the features and practice using them. My nature demands it. I hate doing things halfway. The volume of work did not allow me to thoroughly investigate each thing as I would have liked.
You know you can do it. Yes I do, but I did it the hard way. Without any help. I was thrown into the water without knowing how to swim! Just because we learn from our struggles doesn't necessarily means that's the best way to learn. In my case, I sputtered, splashed, and desperately dogpaddled to the other side instead of sinking to the bottom of the river. How much better if I could have had someone show me the way. Rather than my ugly little dogpaddle, I would have been doing a beautiful breaststroke instead. Vygotsky's zone of proximal development doesn't just apply to kids. Yes, I'm a college student and an adult, and I don't expect someone to hold my hand and spoon feed me. But some guidance is in order. Let me benefit from your expertise! These Things are only easy to complete if you already know how to do them. Imagine, if you will, that we have a child who is struggling to learn adjectives. As a teacher, we don't just tell them, "Go figure it out for yourself or find somebody else to help you," or "Go read War and Peace, and get back to me if you still don't understand." We help them! So, I dislike the whole premise of how the program is designed. And I am going to have the audacity (me-a student-to you-a veteran professor) to tell you how to make it better. Surely, as the blogs are being read, (You are reading them, aren't you? Frankly, I know most of them-mine included-are as boring as....-I'm searching for a good analogy or idiom or metaphor here-...well, just boring. I can't imagine having to read this same stuff over and over, semester after semester!) some note is being taken, some data collected, about which Things students are having the most difficulty with. Take fifteen minutes of the hour and a half of our technology class and go over those areas of difficulty. Head the problems off at the pass! Help us!
It's fun to know and use these tools. I can't argue with you here. You've got me. Yes, after the pure misery of having to figure things out for yourself, it is fun.
We need to keep informed. I agree 100% with this statement. The 23 Things Exercise has truly impressed upon me the need to stay informed and current. However, there is one thing that I think we, as teachers, always need to keep in mind, and I am mangling here a quote from an educator that I read about at the very beginning of the activity: We should never allow good pedagogy to be replaced with bad pedagogy, and not all technology equates to good pedagogy. Everything we do with the technology tools should equate to good pedagogy. It's not necessarily WHAT we use to teach with, it's HOW we chose to use the technology. It should always, always enhance student learning.
Now on to the feedback questions...
My favorite discoveries were Del.icio.us and MyStickies because I found them to be the most useful right now. But I had the most fun with Animoto and Mindmeister.
This program has affected my lifelong learning goals by giving me insight into the need to stay current with changes in technology. I plan to put forth the effort to say current and informed henceforth.
Unexpected outcomes? Yep. That I'm inspired to stay current and informed.
How could we improve on the program? Hopefully, you've already read my rantings above.
What I have learned in this activity has influenced me consider how to best incorporate the use of technology into the classroom. It offers great ways to appeal to the multiple intelligences of students and not leave anyone behind. It also offers ways to use diversity in my teaching methods and keep students from being bored to death during class. Consider Farris Bueller's teacher "Anybody? Anybody?" I want to inspire students!
First I plan to thoroughly investigate each and every feature of the technology that I have learned about by completing the 23 Things, and then I plan to spend (at least ) 15 minutes a day, as suggested, to stay current with new developments in web 2.0. I like that idea. It's manageable, even for a college student taking other classes. I might even (GASP!) decide to complete all of the original 43 things on my own.
Resolution made to use the tools I now know, keep up with new tools, and apply them in my classroom and job. That's now in writing. But NOT to maintain my blog. I'll skip all suggestions related to the blog, thank you. The best reflections are truly reflective, searching, private ones. A mental checklist will do. I'm a private person. I've never liked airing my laundry in public.
And one last Last Thing: Congratulations, Professors. I looked at the four objectives on the "About" page at the beginning of the 23 Things activities. The activities forced this student to meet all four of those objectives. Your mission was accomplished!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Thing #23 Creative Commons
Here are a couple of examples of attribution that show the Learning 2.0-23 Things for Teachers blog was based on someone else's work and modified from the original:
Note: This project is loosely based upon the website 43Things (which allows you to set and track personal goals) and the Stephen Abram article titled 43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year (Information Outlook - Feb 2006).
Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers is based on Learning 2.0 - 23 Things. That program is based on the Learning 2.0 program that was designed by Helene Blowers, Technology Director at the Charlotte Mecklenburg County Public Library system, with the support and assitance of several staff. Helene's program was loosely based upon Stephen Abram's article, 43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year (Information Outlook - Feb 2006) and the website 43Things.
Now that I know about Creative Commons, I will use it in the future to determine if I can legally use something, exactly how much of the something that I can use, and in what manner it can legally be used. I will also make sure that I acknowledge copyrighted material. In addition, I will teach the ethical use of copyrighted material to my students. And one last thing-I might even use the cc licenses on original material that I create.
Note: This project is loosely based upon the website 43Things (which allows you to set and track personal goals) and the Stephen Abram article titled 43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year (Information Outlook - Feb 2006).
Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers is based on Learning 2.0 - 23 Things. That program is based on the Learning 2.0 program that was designed by Helene Blowers, Technology Director at the Charlotte Mecklenburg County Public Library system, with the support and assitance of several staff. Helene's program was loosely based upon Stephen Abram's article, 43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year (Information Outlook - Feb 2006) and the website 43Things.
Now that I know about Creative Commons, I will use it in the future to determine if I can legally use something, exactly how much of the something that I can use, and in what manner it can legally be used. I will also make sure that I acknowledge copyrighted material. In addition, I will teach the ethical use of copyrighted material to my students. And one last thing-I might even use the cc licenses on original material that I create.
Thing #22 Podcasts: No iPod Needed
Since I'm interested in language I listened to several podcasts related to language and literature. Some were good, and some were TERRIBLE. Here's a link to one that is terrible: http://www.learnoutloud.com/Catalog/Languages/Vocabulary-Building/Fifteen-Thousand-Useful-Phrases/34796 (Be advised that it seems to take this link Forever to load, but it does load.)
Just click on the "Listen to Podcast" underneath the title if you really want to hear it. I thought it was ironic that a podcast devoted specifically to using language would be so stuffed-shirt awful! (But I must say that the lady sure follows her own advice of articulating beautifully.)
In case you are wondering why I haven't linked to the podcasts I liked, it's because I'm having trouble finding them again, and I'm too lazy to spend the time to find them again. I listened to one on idioms that I really liked, which I thought would be good for older elementary students, and I listened to another podcast devoted specifically to just reading fables to children. I thought that site would have been a good one to play while children were doing a creative writing assignment. Kindergarten students could draw a picture and write a few words or a short sentence while listening to it. It would increase their vocabulary and build fluency in using language.
I thought it was a little confusing to navigate all of the directories. I was eventually able to figure out how to listen to podcasts on all of them except Podcastalley.com. After a bit of navigating on it, I discovered that it's apparently necessary to download different applications to listen to different things. Some of the comments about the downloads were often negative, so I just didn't want to deal with downloading them. It was just easier to use the other directories and not have to deal with that. I guess Learn Out Loud was probably the easiest directory to use.
This Thing hasn't inspired me to use podcasts with my students. Mrs. Castleberry's comments in class and my research for a podcast to use with my Livetext project were what initially gave me ideas for HOW podcasts could be used with students. This Thing has simply given me an additional resource for finding podcasts that could be used in class.
I didn't find a podcast that I might subscribe to or listen to regularly. I don't have time to listen to podcasts right now. But, I know there are podcasts that I might listen to in the future, and now I have a resource for easily finding them.
Just click on the "Listen to Podcast" underneath the title if you really want to hear it. I thought it was ironic that a podcast devoted specifically to using language would be so stuffed-shirt awful! (But I must say that the lady sure follows her own advice of articulating beautifully.)
In case you are wondering why I haven't linked to the podcasts I liked, it's because I'm having trouble finding them again, and I'm too lazy to spend the time to find them again. I listened to one on idioms that I really liked, which I thought would be good for older elementary students, and I listened to another podcast devoted specifically to just reading fables to children. I thought that site would have been a good one to play while children were doing a creative writing assignment. Kindergarten students could draw a picture and write a few words or a short sentence while listening to it. It would increase their vocabulary and build fluency in using language.
I thought it was a little confusing to navigate all of the directories. I was eventually able to figure out how to listen to podcasts on all of them except Podcastalley.com. After a bit of navigating on it, I discovered that it's apparently necessary to download different applications to listen to different things. Some of the comments about the downloads were often negative, so I just didn't want to deal with downloading them. It was just easier to use the other directories and not have to deal with that. I guess Learn Out Loud was probably the easiest directory to use.
This Thing hasn't inspired me to use podcasts with my students. Mrs. Castleberry's comments in class and my research for a podcast to use with my Livetext project were what initially gave me ideas for HOW podcasts could be used with students. This Thing has simply given me an additional resource for finding podcasts that could be used in class.
I didn't find a podcast that I might subscribe to or listen to regularly. I don't have time to listen to podcasts right now. But, I know there are podcasts that I might listen to in the future, and now I have a resource for easily finding them.
Thing #21 Animoto
Creating the Animoto video was easy and fun. I created an account. I chose the basic version or free account. I chose the earth background theme from among the choices given. I opted to select from among the photographs Animoto had to use and selected the travel theme. I selected from among the categories of music offered and selected a particular song and that was it. Animoto did all the work for me. It really was as easy as 1,2,3.
The photographs I chose are very similar to places my husband and I have been. However, he wouldn't let me use his photographs for the video. He is an excellent photographer, and his photographs are fabulous. He may sell them, which is why he wouldn't let me use them.
This would be such a neat tool to use in your classroom. Think of how much kids could learn by photographing their work and making a video to teach other kids! In addition, a teacher could put videos of the students' work on display for open house or parent/teacher conferences. I loved it!
The photographs I chose are very similar to places my husband and I have been. However, he wouldn't let me use his photographs for the video. He is an excellent photographer, and his photographs are fabulous. He may sell them, which is why he wouldn't let me use them.
This would be such a neat tool to use in your classroom. Think of how much kids could learn by photographing their work and making a video to teach other kids! In addition, a teacher could put videos of the students' work on display for open house or parent/teacher conferences. I loved it!
Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.
Thing #20 You, Too, Can YouTube
What's not to like about YouTube? It's a huge source of entertainment and a way of keeping up with what's going on in the world. The site is also extremely easy to use to find any type of videos you may be interested in watching. I searched for education videos for children and I was just amazed at the quantity and variety of education videos that are available. After watching several educational videos, I chose the one below for several reasons. I like nature. I thought this video was interesting enough to hold a child's attention, but not so fast as to lose them. But I primarily chose this video because it has close-up shots showing the narrator pronouncing the alphabet. I've worked with children who are deaf and hearing-impaired, and I know how helpful this video would be in helping them learn the alphabet.
There are several things about YouTube that I found out from exploring the site which surprised me. It has only been around since 2005! YouTube videos can be viewed on your TV. You can set up a customized playlist and add an RSS feed. Lastly, there are many, many different options for customizing videos that you might decide to post on YouTube.
I am stumped by the question in the Discovery Exercise "can you see any features or components for the site that might be interesting if they were applied to your library website?" I think all of the educational videos would be great to add to a library website. I also think adding RSS feeds for educational videos would be advantageous. However, I don't think educators should rely too heavily on videos in their classrooms, but they can provide some diversity in instructional methods.
There are several things about YouTube that I found out from exploring the site which surprised me. It has only been around since 2005! YouTube videos can be viewed on your TV. You can set up a customized playlist and add an RSS feed. Lastly, there are many, many different options for customizing videos that you might decide to post on YouTube.
I am stumped by the question in the Discovery Exercise "can you see any features or components for the site that might be interesting if they were applied to your library website?" I think all of the educational videos would be great to add to a library website. I also think adding RSS feeds for educational videos would be advantageous. However, I don't think educators should rely too heavily on videos in their classrooms, but they can provide some diversity in instructional methods.
Thing #19 Beyond My Space: Other Social Networks
I signed up for TeacherPop and my membership is "pending approval". Wonder how long that will take? In the meantime, that means I can't meet some of the other requirements for this exercise. How frustrating!
I'm not currently a member of any other online communities. Currently, I prefer to be a lurker. I'm sure that when I begin working and finding resources that I will be using in my work as a teacher, I will find communities that will be useful, and that I will want to join. I do see the usefulness of these online communities. Right now, however, none of these social networks are appealing to me to join and participate in. I am too busy studying for my classes and completing projects to actively participate in any of them. I also spend so much time on a computer right now that I do not want to spend any precious free time chit-chatting with anyone about anything online.
I thought Dr. Wall's link to Educational Videos on TeacherPop was a good one. I'll remember that one for the future. Since I'm not really keen on using Facebook in the classroom, A Teacher's Guide to Using Facebook piqued my interest. I plan to look at it later. My mind could be changed. I also saw many educational videos on TeacherPop that I could use later. I also thought that the Classroom 2.0 Ning had some groups that could be helpful. In particular, the Classroom 2.0 Beginner Group would be helpful.
Yeah! My TeacherPop membership was approved. Here's my badge:
Visit TeacherPop
I'm not currently a member of any other online communities. Currently, I prefer to be a lurker. I'm sure that when I begin working and finding resources that I will be using in my work as a teacher, I will find communities that will be useful, and that I will want to join. I do see the usefulness of these online communities. Right now, however, none of these social networks are appealing to me to join and participate in. I am too busy studying for my classes and completing projects to actively participate in any of them. I also spend so much time on a computer right now that I do not want to spend any precious free time chit-chatting with anyone about anything online.
I thought Dr. Wall's link to Educational Videos on TeacherPop was a good one. I'll remember that one for the future. Since I'm not really keen on using Facebook in the classroom, A Teacher's Guide to Using Facebook piqued my interest. I plan to look at it later. My mind could be changed. I also saw many educational videos on TeacherPop that I could use later. I also thought that the Classroom 2.0 Ning had some groups that could be helpful. In particular, the Classroom 2.0 Beginner Group would be helpful.
Yeah! My TeacherPop membership was approved. Here's my badge:
Visit TeacherPop
Thing #18 Explore Social Networking
Here's the link to my profile. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001829582467
Almost everything is imaginary. I didn't put anything of value on the Facebook account that is required to be completed for this exercise. I "liked" APSU and searched for politicians to add as friends, because politicians need all the friends they can get. Unfortunately, all one can do is "like" most of them. I did find several people that I know to add as friends, but didn't request that they friend me because they don't know my online imaginary profile. I only asked one person to friend me in order to complete the exercise.
I didn't have a facebook account prior to this exercise, and I did not, nor do I now, want one. I value my privacy, and I do not want my personal information displayed publicly for just anyone to see. I understand that one can limit the information that is displayed and to whom it is displayed. I actually read all of the information on the site. However, I'll bet not one other person actually read the sites policies. Particularly the information that is collected about you and how it is used. It's actually just a giant database tracking your every move. If a stranger were actually compiling information like that about you, I'll bet it would creep you out. Well, it creeps me out that a business like Facebook compiles information about me. It's way to Big Brother for me.
I understand that other people feel differently, and it's the social norm now. I say to each his own.
It's important for educators to know how social networking works because it is the societal norm now, and it's necessary to know how it works. If an educator is going to relate to his/her (particularly older) students, this knowledge is essential.
I learned that Facebook posts a lot of information to convince you they are guarding your privacy (see their home page) while they are actively collecting detailed information about you (read their policies).
I didn't like anything about either site. If you are into this sort of thing, I guess Facebook is the lesser of the two evils. It has the most useful features. At least with this site one has more control over who had access to their information and can contact them.
It would be possible for teachers and students to communicate using Facebook or MySpace, but I think there are better options for communication. I really think an educator should keep all communications with parents and students open, strictly professional and above reproach. And be very careful. It's possible for the most innocent and above board written communications to be misconstrued.
I suppose Facebook might be used to follow someone with connections to a unit of study. For example, scientists or journalists. However, I think following a blog set up for a specific purpose would be a better option.
Almost everything is imaginary. I didn't put anything of value on the Facebook account that is required to be completed for this exercise. I "liked" APSU and searched for politicians to add as friends, because politicians need all the friends they can get. Unfortunately, all one can do is "like" most of them. I did find several people that I know to add as friends, but didn't request that they friend me because they don't know my online imaginary profile. I only asked one person to friend me in order to complete the exercise.
I didn't have a facebook account prior to this exercise, and I did not, nor do I now, want one. I value my privacy, and I do not want my personal information displayed publicly for just anyone to see. I understand that one can limit the information that is displayed and to whom it is displayed. I actually read all of the information on the site. However, I'll bet not one other person actually read the sites policies. Particularly the information that is collected about you and how it is used. It's actually just a giant database tracking your every move. If a stranger were actually compiling information like that about you, I'll bet it would creep you out. Well, it creeps me out that a business like Facebook compiles information about me. It's way to Big Brother for me.
I understand that other people feel differently, and it's the social norm now. I say to each his own.
It's important for educators to know how social networking works because it is the societal norm now, and it's necessary to know how it works. If an educator is going to relate to his/her (particularly older) students, this knowledge is essential.
I learned that Facebook posts a lot of information to convince you they are guarding your privacy (see their home page) while they are actively collecting detailed information about you (read their policies).
I didn't like anything about either site. If you are into this sort of thing, I guess Facebook is the lesser of the two evils. It has the most useful features. At least with this site one has more control over who had access to their information and can contact them.
It would be possible for teachers and students to communicate using Facebook or MySpace, but I think there are better options for communication. I really think an educator should keep all communications with parents and students open, strictly professional and above reproach. And be very careful. It's possible for the most innocent and above board written communications to be misconstrued.
I suppose Facebook might be used to follow someone with connections to a unit of study. For example, scientists or journalists. However, I think following a blog set up for a specific purpose would be a better option.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Thing #17 Tagging & Social Bookmarking with Del.icio.us
I had some trouble viewing the links for this exercise. With Discovery Resource #1, when I clicked on the white arrow on the Social Bookmarking in Plain English I got a black screen with the message "This is a private video. If you have been sent this video, please make sure you accept the sender's friend request," the YouTube logo in the top left-hand corner and boxes at the bottom with Common Craft's other videos at the bottom. The first video at the bottom, which was Social Bookmarking in Plain English, would not work when it was clicked on. I tried four of the others and they worked fine. I ended up clicking on the link to the Common Craft guys above the original large video box, going to their website, scrolling to the bottom, clicking on "Browse Videos," and finding the Social Bookmarking Video there. Once I clicked on it there, I was able to watch it just fine.
Discovery Resource #2, the Del.icio.us podcast tutorial, when I downloaded the file, it wasn't the tutorial that downloaded. It was some guy talking about something else. So I ended up viewing the podcast video on a very small screen. I used command + to blow up my screen as much as possible, but I still couldn't see it well. I thought the information was excellent, I just wish that I could have viewed the information she presented better. Anybody out there know how to enlarge the screen on a Mac for a full screen view in this situation? Any help is appreciated.
With Discovery Resource #3, when I clicked Furl, I got a Diigo website not Furl. However, it had some great information on it. When I clicked on the link for Ma.gnolia I got Gnolia instead with a long message, the gist of which was "The details: Gnolia will go into read-only mode in a week on September 29, 2010. It will then remain available for bookmark exporting until at least November 30, 2010." I also saw that it was necessary to sign in. I skipped this one. Why even bother going through the site's sign in process or learning about this one when it isn't going to be operational for much longer.
Discovery Resource #4, the Furl tutorial was interesting and informative. F11 didn't work to enlarge my screen to full-screen view. Wonder if that's just for PC's? Anyway, the tutorial was great, really helped me understand how this social bookmarking works. One thing I can say is that I would NOT want anyone to add me as a subscriber to anything so that I would receive daily emails. I prefer to do any subscribing myself.
Discovery Resource #5 connected me with the same site and the same message that I got with Discovery Resource #3.
I checked out the apsu 23 things account in Del.icio.us and actually got into other accounts on the site that were not the 23 things. Navigating from one place to another was a little bit confusing for me and I got lost a few times and had to find my way back. I'm sure that I would get a lot more efficient with practice and learn to use the site to its best advantage.
I've got to say that this is a tool that I am really excited about. I definitely see its potential. When I don't have the rest of the 23 things to explore and blog about, I am definitely going to set up a Del.icio.us account and become proficient and efficient in its use. This will be so helpful to me when I am doing research. It will help me keep organized and quickly find the information that I have already discovered and that I need. As I have done research for my technology class, I've bookmarked dozens of games and resources that I've came across that I was not in immediate need of but which I knew would be helpful in the future. Those bookmarks are a mess. This is the exact tool I need to address that problem.
I absolutely see how this tool could be used in the classroom. It could do the same thing for students that it does for me-organization and quick access to information. It could also allow students to collaborate on research quickly and easily.
Teachers could share and "grow" their list of resources for classroom use by using sites such as Del.icio.us as well as also collaborate on research.
The fact that the bookmarks can be accessed from anywhere is very advantageous as well.
Discovery Resource #2, the Del.icio.us podcast tutorial, when I downloaded the file, it wasn't the tutorial that downloaded. It was some guy talking about something else. So I ended up viewing the podcast video on a very small screen. I used command + to blow up my screen as much as possible, but I still couldn't see it well. I thought the information was excellent, I just wish that I could have viewed the information she presented better. Anybody out there know how to enlarge the screen on a Mac for a full screen view in this situation? Any help is appreciated.
With Discovery Resource #3, when I clicked Furl, I got a Diigo website not Furl. However, it had some great information on it. When I clicked on the link for Ma.gnolia I got Gnolia instead with a long message, the gist of which was "The details: Gnolia will go into read-only mode in a week on September 29, 2010. It will then remain available for bookmark exporting until at least November 30, 2010." I also saw that it was necessary to sign in. I skipped this one. Why even bother going through the site's sign in process or learning about this one when it isn't going to be operational for much longer.
Discovery Resource #4, the Furl tutorial was interesting and informative. F11 didn't work to enlarge my screen to full-screen view. Wonder if that's just for PC's? Anyway, the tutorial was great, really helped me understand how this social bookmarking works. One thing I can say is that I would NOT want anyone to add me as a subscriber to anything so that I would receive daily emails. I prefer to do any subscribing myself.
Discovery Resource #5 connected me with the same site and the same message that I got with Discovery Resource #3.
I checked out the apsu 23 things account in Del.icio.us and actually got into other accounts on the site that were not the 23 things. Navigating from one place to another was a little bit confusing for me and I got lost a few times and had to find my way back. I'm sure that I would get a lot more efficient with practice and learn to use the site to its best advantage.
I've got to say that this is a tool that I am really excited about. I definitely see its potential. When I don't have the rest of the 23 things to explore and blog about, I am definitely going to set up a Del.icio.us account and become proficient and efficient in its use. This will be so helpful to me when I am doing research. It will help me keep organized and quickly find the information that I have already discovered and that I need. As I have done research for my technology class, I've bookmarked dozens of games and resources that I've came across that I was not in immediate need of but which I knew would be helpful in the future. Those bookmarks are a mess. This is the exact tool I need to address that problem.
I absolutely see how this tool could be used in the classroom. It could do the same thing for students that it does for me-organization and quick access to information. It could also allow students to collaborate on research quickly and easily.
Teachers could share and "grow" their list of resources for classroom use by using sites such as Del.icio.us as well as also collaborate on research.
The fact that the bookmarks can be accessed from anywhere is very advantageous as well.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Thing #16 Get Organized with Web 2.0 Tools
I choose iGoogle for my customized start page. I like google because anything they offer for service is usually fairly easy to figure out and I feel assured that I will not have to worry about getting any viruses if I download any of their applications. The start page already had many of the features that I use quite often on it. It had the weather, YouTube, google images and directions, and my gmail account. I liked that I could change the background to many different inspirational images with just a click, and it had an amazing array of gadgets that could be added. So many good ones that I would probably end up wasting way too much time reading quotes and so forth if I added all of the ones that I like. Yes, I will make this my home page.
I love Google Calendar. It's easy to use. It's usefulness is the same as for any other calendar: it helps to keep track of events and stay organized. Since I currently spend half of my life on the computer these days, it's helpful to keep track of things. I don't care to share my personal calendar online nor do I care anything about syncing the calendar with my phone. And I certainly don't want any email reminders. I already get enough email. I do see see a use for the online calendar in the classroom to post the class schedule and help parents stay informed. However, even though most people now have access to computers, it's important to remember that many people don't. Those people should not be left out of the information loop.
I investigated and signed up for MyStickies. I love it! You can create sticky notes when viewing a web page and incorporate the text you are interested in on the sticky note. This will be really useful when doing research, and I plan to use it with my research which is just around the corner. I can't count the number of times that I've looked at literally dozens of web pages, bookmarked them, and then tried to find the information I needed later-only to have a really hard time finding it. This eliminates that problem!
I liked all of the organization tools that I've looked at for this exercise. I would recommend all of them to others. Especially the MyStickies. When I start teaching, I will set up another customized iGoogle page just for school functions, as well as use the one I currently have. I like keeping work functions and home/family functions separate.
I love Google Calendar. It's easy to use. It's usefulness is the same as for any other calendar: it helps to keep track of events and stay organized. Since I currently spend half of my life on the computer these days, it's helpful to keep track of things. I don't care to share my personal calendar online nor do I care anything about syncing the calendar with my phone. And I certainly don't want any email reminders. I already get enough email. I do see see a use for the online calendar in the classroom to post the class schedule and help parents stay informed. However, even though most people now have access to computers, it's important to remember that many people don't. Those people should not be left out of the information loop.
I investigated and signed up for MyStickies. I love it! You can create sticky notes when viewing a web page and incorporate the text you are interested in on the sticky note. This will be really useful when doing research, and I plan to use it with my research which is just around the corner. I can't count the number of times that I've looked at literally dozens of web pages, bookmarked them, and then tried to find the information I needed later-only to have a really hard time finding it. This eliminates that problem!
I liked all of the organization tools that I've looked at for this exercise. I would recommend all of them to others. Especially the MyStickies. When I start teaching, I will set up another customized iGoogle page just for school functions, as well as use the one I currently have. I like keeping work functions and home/family functions separate.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Thing #15 What in the World is a Wiki?
So... we are supposed to blog about our experience in playing in the APSU 23 things sandbox wiki. My experience was MADDENING!!! If I were playing in an actual sandbox, I would be kicking sand in all directions! First of all, I read everything, I watched the video, and I looked at every single one of the links to how schools and libraries are using wikis. Seemed very simple to add an entry to the wiki, but au contraire. I clicked on the link and saw that I needed to create an account to join the workspace. No problem I thought. I clicked on the link, gave the required information and was promptly sent an email asking me to click on the link in the email to confirm my request. And that's when the trouble started. I clicked on the link and was linked to another page asking me to give another email address, verify my previously given password, and change my password to a new password. The trouble was that when I gave another password, carefully typing it exactly the same way twice, it would not be accepted. After typing in the password very carefully at least a dozen times and it not being accepted, in pure frustration I typed in a naughty word in the password boxes, twice. The word was instantly accepted, and now my password is a naughty word. Then I logged in and went to add an entry by clicking on the Edit button. Simple, right? Au contraire! All I got was a blank page and the message "
In spite of my horrific experience posting,I like the idea that anyone can add content to a wiki. If the contributors are adding great content, the wiki will be a good one. However, wikis have their limits. Has anyone ever heard that a camel is just a horse that was designed by a committee? What I mean is that the main thing to keep in mind about using a wiki is that the wiki is only as good as the input of the contributors. In other words, garbage in = garbage out.
I think a wiki could best be used in the classroom when students are collaborating on a project or brainstorming ideas. If students are working and no social slacking is going on, a good product can be produced by the collaborative effort of the group. Each student can add his or her ideas, and it's easy to see what others added, when they added it, and what is still needed. One student's ideas might spark a new idea with another student. The work can move along quickly and efficiently, regardless of whether the students are in the classroom (I'm thinking older students here) or not.
I liked the idea of setting up a book review page using a wiki. I could use this idea to set up a wiki in the classroom with access restricted only to students and only during classroom time (I'm thinking young students here and this would be for their safety). This is a way that kids in class can see what their classmates are reading and possibly be motivated to read more books or experiment with reading books that they would not normally choose.
Warning: This page is 64KB. We recommend splitting pages larger than 50KB up into several smaller pages for easier readability and best performance." popped up. I followed that link. I spent hours reading everything on the site trying to solve the problem. I spent hours trying to figure out how to change the settings on my computer. I tried different computers. All to no avail. Frankly, I really didn't care for "easier readability and best performance" at this point. I would have settled for "I can read it with a magnifying glass and any type of performance at all." In the meantime, I'm going back and forth on different pages, trying to figure things out and spotting all these posts about how everybody posting anything is "just have so much FUN" and how it is "SO EASY." This is like rubbing salt in a wound to me. I'm NOT having fun and this is not so easy. I'm just trying to post an entry to a wiki. Not become a computer expert. Finally I just start clicking the Edit button on different pages and trying to find any page that will open to anything but a blank page and let me add an entry. The photo and images page finally opens and I'm able to successfully post an entry. That was my experience in posting to the sandbox wiki.
In spite of my horrific experience posting,I like the idea that anyone can add content to a wiki. If the contributors are adding great content, the wiki will be a good one. However, wikis have their limits. Has anyone ever heard that a camel is just a horse that was designed by a committee? What I mean is that the main thing to keep in mind about using a wiki is that the wiki is only as good as the input of the contributors. In other words, garbage in = garbage out.
I think a wiki could best be used in the classroom when students are collaborating on a project or brainstorming ideas. If students are working and no social slacking is going on, a good product can be produced by the collaborative effort of the group. Each student can add his or her ideas, and it's easy to see what others added, when they added it, and what is still needed. One student's ideas might spark a new idea with another student. The work can move along quickly and efficiently, regardless of whether the students are in the classroom (I'm thinking older students here) or not.
I liked the idea of setting up a book review page using a wiki. I could use this idea to set up a wiki in the classroom with access restricted only to students and only during classroom time (I'm thinking young students here and this would be for their safety). This is a way that kids in class can see what their classmates are reading and possibly be motivated to read more books or experiment with reading books that they would not normally choose.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Thing #14 Go with the Flow
The very first image is an image that I created using Flowchart.com. I chose this site because I was interested in how a flowchart could be used to guide students in the process of learning new material or reminding them to review the rules before turning in assignments. I tried to create a basic flowchart that a student might use before turning in a written assignment. This is obviously not a very good one, but I was more interested in the process of creating the chart at this time than creating a perfect product. I found this site cumbersome to use. Although the site had many different templates, none of them were suitable for my purpose, so I created my own. From there I just used the toolbar and selected the shapes, arrows, colors, and borders that I was interested in. I can see how using a flowchart would be beneficial in the classroom. Flowcharts could be used for any number of things. The process of creating an essay, adding fractions, dividing fraction, multiplication with one, two, or three digit numbers. You get the idea.
The second image above is a mind map of my dream vacation that I created using mindmeister. (Too bad I can't take it right now...sigh...) I actually had a lot of fun creating this. I chose this tool simply because it looked like fun and had a lot of options. It's possible to link documents, URLs, icons, and images to the mindmeister, and I liked that. I struggled with adding this to my blog, but finally figured it out. I exported it as an image and then had to save it in downloads. I clicked on the add an image icon in my blog and then just went through the process of downloading it from my computer-or should I say uploading it to my blog? I have never uploaded anything from the downloads file, folder, place-whatever it's supposed to be called-of my computer so that was a new process.
I see a place for using this in the classroom by having students brainstorm ideas for writing a story or working on a project together. Students often have difficulty writing and organizing ideas, so this would be a useful tool to help them.
The main difference that I see between the mind maps and flowcharts is that flowcharts are more process oriented than mind maps. Mind maps would be more useful for brainstorming ideas.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Thing #13 Web-based Applications
I took a look at Zoho Writer's features. I clicked on every single button and checked them all out to see what they would do. I'm still just learning to use some of the features in Microsoft Word and figuring out the differences between my ancient PC and my new Mac, so there are a lot of things in Zoho Writer that I don't even know what they mean. I do, however, understand the concept behind some of the things that Zoho Writer can do, and I think that it can be a very useful tool. I would most likely have to take a class to understand how to use all of the features that Zoho has. While trying to check out all the features, I got lost on their website and could not figure out how to get back to the Writer part of the site. I had to sign out and then sign back in to locate it.
So I finally got around to actually creating a document. I could choose a background color for my document and give it a watermark. Those were neat things. Especially the watermark. In the past, I have sometimes created many versions of a paper before finally turning it in, and this would have been a handy feature to have. The page format also had an interesting feature of being able to write from right to left. I have read that some Arab countries read from right to left, so if one were creating a document for sharing in those countries, that would be a handy feature.
The format toolbar had some interesting features. I liked the strikethrough feature, the superscript and subscript, the various styles of quotations and parenthesis, and the border options. It also had some unique spacing options and sorting options. Some things that I didn't understand how to use were the Aa button-why would you use that?-remove all text styles button, and the sort by string option. I don't know what a string is.
The insert tab also had some things that I understand and some things that I don't. Loved the special characters, equations options, and comment options. I have no idea what an anchor or a style sheet are, how to use an auto field, or why one would want to use the horizontal rule.
I understood and knew how to use all of the review features. How handy to have all of these features in one place!
The share tab had some wonderful options. It's possible to share a document with individuals or groups, publish it online, share only certain details with certain people, and collect digital signatures.
The views tab was pretty run of the mill. Except for the HTML Code View option. I have never seen that before.
The mailings were mail merge options, and I'm pretty sure I could figure that all out, eventually.
The import feature seemed simple enough. The export feature had things that I have no idea what they are: odt, sxw,rtf, and latex. The file tab had a couple of neat features that I liked: save as a template, and properties. Also had some I would need to figure out: print using pdf being one and the export option the other.
The toolbar at the top right of Zoho Writer had some amazing options. They were too many to list, and it would definitely take me a while to learn all of them. The help option really did seem to be helpful and easy to use though.
I'm glad I know about this online application. It has many features that I have not encountered elsewhere and that would be very useful. I plan to return to it in the future and learn how to use all of the features. Who knows...I may write a book some day, and this free application will have everything I need to do it.
So I finally got around to actually creating a document. I could choose a background color for my document and give it a watermark. Those were neat things. Especially the watermark. In the past, I have sometimes created many versions of a paper before finally turning it in, and this would have been a handy feature to have. The page format also had an interesting feature of being able to write from right to left. I have read that some Arab countries read from right to left, so if one were creating a document for sharing in those countries, that would be a handy feature.
The format toolbar had some interesting features. I liked the strikethrough feature, the superscript and subscript, the various styles of quotations and parenthesis, and the border options. It also had some unique spacing options and sorting options. Some things that I didn't understand how to use were the Aa button-why would you use that?-remove all text styles button, and the sort by string option. I don't know what a string is.
The insert tab also had some things that I understand and some things that I don't. Loved the special characters, equations options, and comment options. I have no idea what an anchor or a style sheet are, how to use an auto field, or why one would want to use the horizontal rule.
I understood and knew how to use all of the review features. How handy to have all of these features in one place!
The share tab had some wonderful options. It's possible to share a document with individuals or groups, publish it online, share only certain details with certain people, and collect digital signatures.
The views tab was pretty run of the mill. Except for the HTML Code View option. I have never seen that before.
The mailings were mail merge options, and I'm pretty sure I could figure that all out, eventually.
The import feature seemed simple enough. The export feature had things that I have no idea what they are: odt, sxw,rtf, and latex. The file tab had a couple of neat features that I liked: save as a template, and properties. Also had some I would need to figure out: print using pdf being one and the export option the other.
The toolbar at the top right of Zoho Writer had some amazing options. They were too many to list, and it would definitely take me a while to learn all of them. The help option really did seem to be helpful and easy to use though.
I'm glad I know about this online application. It has many features that I have not encountered elsewhere and that would be very useful. I plan to return to it in the future and learn how to use all of the features. Who knows...I may write a book some day, and this free application will have everything I need to do it.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Thing #12 Using Google Applications
I looked at all of the Google applications. The two that I think I would be most likely to use in the classroom are Google Translate and Google Alerts.
The Google Translate is almost self-explanatory. It translates one language into another. I typed "Hello, It's very nice to meet you" into the text box and had it translated from English into Spanish. I then pressed the listen button and heard the phrase spoken out loud. This would be very helpful with students or parents where language was a barrier to communication. This site also has the ability to translate web pages, documents, and communications in e-mail. These functions would be very helpful if the class were researching a subject and ran into a language barrier. It would also be helpful if a class were communicating with students from around the world on a project. In addition, there is another translation application which can be uploaded to a mobile phone. This might come in really handy on a field trip or contacting non-English speaking parents during an emergency.
The other Google application that I liked was Google Alerts. It is an RSS feed, but instead of just giving a feed from one site it monitors the different venues you select and sends developing news from all of them. You can select how often you want to be notified, the length of the emails, and if you want to be notified in your email account or via a feed. I opted to have a feed sent via my Google Reader and it was very easy. I just typed in the search terms, selected the different options via the drop boxes, and clicked on the create alert button. It was that simple. I see a use for this in the classroom when researching science subjects. It could also be used to monitor threatening weather. Living in a military community, where many of my future students' parents will be serving in foreign countries, I would likely use it to monitor developing news regarding our troops. It would give me a heads up on situations that would impact the lives of my students.
The Google Translate is almost self-explanatory. It translates one language into another. I typed "Hello, It's very nice to meet you" into the text box and had it translated from English into Spanish. I then pressed the listen button and heard the phrase spoken out loud. This would be very helpful with students or parents where language was a barrier to communication. This site also has the ability to translate web pages, documents, and communications in e-mail. These functions would be very helpful if the class were researching a subject and ran into a language barrier. It would also be helpful if a class were communicating with students from around the world on a project. In addition, there is another translation application which can be uploaded to a mobile phone. This might come in really handy on a field trip or contacting non-English speaking parents during an emergency.
The other Google application that I liked was Google Alerts. It is an RSS feed, but instead of just giving a feed from one site it monitors the different venues you select and sends developing news from all of them. You can select how often you want to be notified, the length of the emails, and if you want to be notified in your email account or via a feed. I opted to have a feed sent via my Google Reader and it was very easy. I just typed in the search terms, selected the different options via the drop boxes, and clicked on the create alert button. It was that simple. I see a use for this in the classroom when researching science subjects. It could also be used to monitor threatening weather. Living in a military community, where many of my future students' parents will be serving in foreign countries, I would likely use it to monitor developing news regarding our troops. It would give me a heads up on situations that would impact the lives of my students.
Thing #11 Finding Good Feeds
Before I started checking out the different ways to find good RSS feeds, I did read the Cool Cat Teacher blog on How to Create Your Circle of the Wise. I thought that she gave some very sage advice. In my short time checking out the new technology the web has to offer, I have already encountered enough verbal garbage to fill a new landfill. I don't need any more of that, so I liked her advice.
The Edublogs' award winners site had some sites that I will keep in mind for future use. Of particular interest to me were sites that were intercultural, that librarians use, and the science blogs. I like that this site had a list of categories of winners and the categories were by year. A good resource to have. No problem subscribing with this site. The RSS feed button is in the navigation bar. However, some of the links required that you log in as a member which I did not want to do.
I decided to search for the same thing on all the sites. I wanted current science news from either of the poles that could be used in a science class. Google Blog Search was extremely easy to use. I just used the search blogs button and the first link was a great link to a ton of information-all current blogs from some of the most amazing places. I didn't feel like the search the web button was as good. Topix.nex was easy, too. I just typed my key words into the search window. This site was news article feeds and although a lot of the most up-to-date information was easy to find, I really disliked all of the pop-up ads! Syndic8.com totally confused me. It had a lot of choices, wasn't easy to use, I never could get to the information I wanted. I finally just gave up and moved on. One of the most unusual feeds was one I saw on this site: "Will Code for Food." I didn't go to it but had to wonder what that was all about. It sure aroused my curiosity. Technorati was also not as easy to use to find feeds. I also absolutely hated the annoying, audible pop-up ads. I had to alter my search terms twice, and I did not think the information that I ultimately obtained was as useful as the information that I obtained with Google Blog Search. However, I did see something interesting during my search on Technorati. I watched a video on what happens when you combine potassium chlorate with gummy bears, and let me just say it's violent. I'm not sure exactly what potassium chlorate is, but I sure wouldn't want to have any of it in my mouth if I'm eating a gummy bear!!!! I found the video so interesting that I had to watch a second one and then read the ensuing discussion among viewers. The discussion was not scientific, more nonsensical, but very hilarious.
I didn't subscribe to any more of the feeds because I had just done that in thing #10, and I didn't want to subscribe to any more right now. I did learn a bit about finding good feeds. I definitely think that I will use Google Blog Search in the future, particularly if I am looking for good, current science blogs. It was the easiest to use and connected me immediately with the type of information that I was looking for.
The Edublogs' award winners site had some sites that I will keep in mind for future use. Of particular interest to me were sites that were intercultural, that librarians use, and the science blogs. I like that this site had a list of categories of winners and the categories were by year. A good resource to have. No problem subscribing with this site. The RSS feed button is in the navigation bar. However, some of the links required that you log in as a member which I did not want to do.
I decided to search for the same thing on all the sites. I wanted current science news from either of the poles that could be used in a science class. Google Blog Search was extremely easy to use. I just used the search blogs button and the first link was a great link to a ton of information-all current blogs from some of the most amazing places. I didn't feel like the search the web button was as good. Topix.nex was easy, too. I just typed my key words into the search window. This site was news article feeds and although a lot of the most up-to-date information was easy to find, I really disliked all of the pop-up ads! Syndic8.com totally confused me. It had a lot of choices, wasn't easy to use, I never could get to the information I wanted. I finally just gave up and moved on. One of the most unusual feeds was one I saw on this site: "Will Code for Food." I didn't go to it but had to wonder what that was all about. It sure aroused my curiosity. Technorati was also not as easy to use to find feeds. I also absolutely hated the annoying, audible pop-up ads. I had to alter my search terms twice, and I did not think the information that I ultimately obtained was as useful as the information that I obtained with Google Blog Search. However, I did see something interesting during my search on Technorati. I watched a video on what happens when you combine potassium chlorate with gummy bears, and let me just say it's violent. I'm not sure exactly what potassium chlorate is, but I sure wouldn't want to have any of it in my mouth if I'm eating a gummy bear!!!! I found the video so interesting that I had to watch a second one and then read the ensuing discussion among viewers. The discussion was not scientific, more nonsensical, but very hilarious.
I didn't subscribe to any more of the feeds because I had just done that in thing #10, and I didn't want to subscribe to any more right now. I did learn a bit about finding good feeds. I definitely think that I will use Google Blog Search in the future, particularly if I am looking for good, current science blogs. It was the easiest to use and connected me immediately with the type of information that I was looking for.
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