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.
Friday, October 22, 2010
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)