Thing 23

I thoroughly enjoyed this class! I learned soo many fun things and I truly enjoyed applying them through the various tasks. I felt that the timeframes were manageable and that the tasks were helpful in applying what we learned each week. I am trying to narrow down what we learned and choose a a few of the tools to focus on with my peers. This is a difficult task in that many of the tools are so great! We will definitely be introducing Voicethread throughout our school, Classroom 2.0, CreativeCommons, and wikis. I think some would also enjoy exploring pageflakes as well. We will be having different learning sessions in which I share the value of these tools with my peers. As a media specialist, I host different grade level book clubs and I can’t wait to set up my own blog and wiki for students to comment on various books we are reading and explore other titles. I think they will love it!

Thing 22

I think Classroom2.0 is a real gem! I am really enjoying exploring this site. One group in particular that I find very helpful is the classroom2.0 for beginners. I am finding that they are answering many questions that I have encountered over the last couple of years. For example, we set up a 5th grade class blog as a kind of yearbook however, issues arose about monitoring commentary. Members of the beginners group have suggested other alternatives to help avoid these issues, such as Moodle. I have requested to join this group and am excited about the possibilities in learning from the other members of the group. Classroom2.0 was by far the ning that I enjoyed exploring the most. The others were interesting to see, especially seeing the international participation within the nings but for me, I think classroom2.0 might be the most useful at the moment.

I think it is so easy to get overwhelmed by the possibilities of how social networking can be used in the school setting. However, I think the biggest value is allowing other educators to share ideas and resources with each other. I found the article about using social networking in the classroom interesting as it brings up the various pros and cons of introducing it or using it with students in the class. However, there is no question that for teachers, using social networking as a way to gain new ideas is invaluable. Personally, I plan to share these type of social networking sites with my colleagues so that they feel they have an online community from which they can learn new ideas and get inspiration for their lessons.

Thing 19

I enjoyed sifting through YouTube.  I paid attention to which videos were viewed most often as well as the reviews to help me choose what I wanted to watch.  I found that with the right search times and narrowing the searches down helped pinpoint more of what I was looking to view.  I viewed two videos about education and technology.  One was great and one was very boring.  I also viewed a how to video about making a motherboard, which was interesting.  Lastly, I viewed a video in which a book that I just read was discussed by the author.  I only viewed part one of four but found it to be very interesting indeed, especially since I enjoyed the book so much.  As for TeacherTube, I too found the slow speed to be annoying.  However, having a YouTube site geared for classroom use is nice and useful.  I viewed a video about learning centers that wasn’t so good but in sifting through other videos that were available, I think it is a powerful tool.  I could see conducting a science experiment and posting it on TeacherTube to be a fun way for a class to blend science and technology and share their finished product with an audience.

Thing 18

I found my podcast making experience to be fairly simple.  The podcasts created by Shelley to explain each step in Jing helps immensely, actually.  I plugged in my microphone and read one of my favorite recipes.  I saved my audio file using the sound recording device on my PC and then converted it to an mp3 sound file, per the instructions.  From there, I went to GCast and uploaded my audio file and voila, my podcast was complete.  As a school, we participate in a year long professional development activity where each instructor is given assigned reading and then asked to post a response to a specific question about what they read to generate discussion and share ideas.  Some teachers have trouble getting started using the technology to complete this activity so creating a podcast that explains how to access the site, log in, input comments, and save them would be useful for our school.  All of these steps could be outlined in a podcast that anyone can view when needed.  The reason this would also be helpful is that people tend to access the site every few weeks and therefore, forget the steps in between each time they need to access it.  This “on demand” way of viewing the instructions would help refresh people’s memory about how to participate in the activity.

Thing 17

I think podcasting is going to continue to cause education to evolve.  For example, I received my master’s degree through a distance learning program that required you to be present at a specific time so that you were logged in “live” with the instructor.  With podcasting, students can log in whenever they want and instructors can record their lessons for their students whenever they choose.  The “on demand” idea allows greater flexibility in education and therefore, gives students (and teachers) more options in how they manage their time.  I previewed a podcast about education and technology entitled Brainwave.  I am not crazy about it as it is more philosophical than instructional.  I found it in the Education Podcast Network.  I have really enjoyed Lee LeFevre’s podcasts throughout the course though and plan to share some of those with my colleaques.  They are informative and interesting. 

Thing 7c

I found a great article about interesting activities and helpful hints to inspire in the classroom.  From time to time, we find that YouTube is blocked when we want to use it in the classroom. This article talks about a way in which you can “chop” a section from a YouTube video and share it.  There is also a great paper dinosaur creating activity for a dinosaur unit.  It mentions a kid version of a website similar to How Stuff Works.  Great for curious kids and parents to explore together.  Also, we have a strong special needs program at our school and this article directs readers to a website that discusses activities geared to special needs students.  I enjoy reading articles like this that motivate and inspire new ideas.

Thing 21

Pageflakes is a fun way to do “one stop viewing”.  I like Pageflakes because you can use so many different tools in one spot and direct viewers to the one page to get information on one topic or many depending on how you decide to organize your page.  It is fairly simple to use and also allows for some creativity on the part of the pageflake creator without being too overwhelming.  For professional development in technology, you could send out a different pageflake each week that has information that focuses on one topic of interest in the technology category.  Viewers can view podcasts, read RSS feeds, search specific sites, etc. for information on blogging, for example.  This way, they can get creative ideas for how to integrate blogging into the classroom.  I think Pageflakes is ideal for exploring all different web 2.0 topics as well as different subject matters by grade level.  As a media specialist, I can also create a pageflake that focuses on super reading resources for K-5th grade for example. 

Thing 20

I think Google Docs is a great invention!  The best part is that it not only allows you to collaborate but it allows you to access your documents from anywhere, which is so convenient.  I find it very easy to use.  One way to use Google Docs is for teachers who have scheduling needs to “share” a calendar that they can access anywhere from Google Docs.  For example, scheduling time in the computer lab or in the media center can easily be done through Google Doc’s.  In addition, when we learn about PowerPoint in the computer lab, students are told to bring in their flash drives.  However, exploring PowerPoint using Google Docs allows them to be able to access their work at home and show off their projects.  Another great way to use Google Doc’s is for teams within schools who assign each team member a certain responsibility can use Google Doc’s as a checks and balances system.  For example, if one person is responsible for a science unit each week and another person is responsible for recycling for their grade level each week, a spreadsheet can be used for the individual to check off when they have completed their task and the group and can see who still needs assistance completing their part.  It is a good checks and balances system and an easy way to keep track of who is accomplishing what.  Like many other Web 2.0 tools, it is only a matter of time before Google Doc’s catches on and it becomes more widely used both personally and professionally.

Thing 16

LibraryThing is dangerous for me.  I could spend hours and hours on this site.  I am involved in a few book clubs and I hope to integrate LibraryThing into one of them, especially for the speedy readers who are looking for books to read similar to the choice we have read for that month (in case they liked it a lot).  We keep a blog so I hope to link LibraryThing to the blog.  I think classroom teachers can use LibraryThing to share books they have used for specific units and I think that media specialists can use LibraryThing to share books they have used in their schools for specific lessons by tagging the books accordingly.  Here is the link to my LibraryThing account.  (I only included what I am reading so far this summer so as not to get too overwhelmed.)

Thing 15

I am enjoying the exploration of delicious because I like being able to see what peers find relevant.  For example, it is helpful to see what the people who we are learning from explore to help them stay on top of web 2.0.  I also like the ability to organize my “favorites” in a way that is more advanced and in a way that allows me to take the sites with me wherever I go, regardless of my location.  I also find the tagging useful because as mentioned in the Common Craft video, I can easily locate something two months later that I found to be useful.  I look forward to sharing this resource with my peers as we learn about web 2.0 in the year ahead.  I think it will help those that I work with feel like they have a ”traveling system” for organizing sites.  My delicious links