What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
Quizlet, Wordle, Delicious!
How has this program affected your lifelong learning goals?
Made learning fun and introduced TONS of new tools to add my virtual toolbox.
Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
Where was Delicious when I was in college???
What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
Wouldn't change anything except maybe have a few orientations to hear aloud every one's experiences rather than sit and read 23 blogs.
If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
Yes! It was an enlightening experience.
How will what you have learned influence your practice as a teacher or school librarian?
My kiddos are GOING to learn some of these tools and use them to better understand technology, and employ that technology in their personal learning.
How do you plan to keep up with new developments in web 2.0? Recommend a way that you have found to be useful.
RSS feed or google alert to let me know of all new 2.0 developments and have it delivered to my desktop.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Thing #23
This is another wonderful site that this blogging experience has allowed me to become familiar with. The discussions in the forum on the classroom2.0 website were of great value. Are interactive whiteboards necessary was particularly beneficial. I was glad to hear that another educator found a comparable, if not better, way to utilize interactivity in their classroom while saving money, which is always a good thing for educators. I have a found a new way to engage my students with an experience they will never forget. That is priceless. I plan on using this new found knowledge of these sites on a regular basis to look for different ways to assist my students and coworkers. It is good to know that we have these resources available to us.
Another NING website I checked out was Teachers2.0. Through the forum I read about twitter. Students have cell phones and love to text in class. With twitter they can send instant updates via sms text messages. This can be used for classroom collaboration, and instant quizzes. It would also be great for brainstorming ideas and taking class surveys.
Another NING website I checked out was Teachers2.0. Through the forum I read about twitter. Students have cell phones and love to text in class. With twitter they can send instant updates via sms text messages. This can be used for classroom collaboration, and instant quizzes. It would also be great for brainstorming ideas and taking class surveys.
Thing #22
After reviewing both myspace and facebook, my social network of choice is myspace. I have had a myspace account for a few years now (though, I did create a new one for this exercise), and even though facebook may be more user friendly with just a basic layout, I like the many options that are provided to me through myspace. I think it is important that we know about the social networking sites to better understand the type of communications that my students use. When we better understand our students, it is easier to connect with them. In exploring these sites, I saw how many different types of people communicate through social networking. I think it is great that we can find such a diverse group of people in one place.
Of course, with so many in one place, there is bound to be some problems, and this is where I was most shocked. I noticed that on both sites there were children who had profiles. Myspace does not allow for children to have public profiles yet when I went to facebook, there was an 11-year-old with a public profile and I found her profile without even having an account. Her profile was on the home page. I am very concerned with that. Like most young girls, one of her friends was the Jonas Brothers. I clicked on their profile and found a discussion board of extreme mature nature.
For adults, I think myspace had the most useful features. Their search features are more detailed than that of facebook and their personalization of profiles allowed for more uniqueness. I don't think either of these websites had any educational benefit. Though I do believe if there was a more controlled networking site, it would be a great way to communicate with students.
Of course, with so many in one place, there is bound to be some problems, and this is where I was most shocked. I noticed that on both sites there were children who had profiles. Myspace does not allow for children to have public profiles yet when I went to facebook, there was an 11-year-old with a public profile and I found her profile without even having an account. Her profile was on the home page. I am very concerned with that. Like most young girls, one of her friends was the Jonas Brothers. I clicked on their profile and found a discussion board of extreme mature nature.
For adults, I think myspace had the most useful features. Their search features are more detailed than that of facebook and their personalization of profiles allowed for more uniqueness. I don't think either of these websites had any educational benefit. Though I do believe if there was a more controlled networking site, it would be a great way to communicate with students.
Thing #7c
Ads on a test???
For this assignment I turn to my rss feed from a national public radio broadcast (npr). These days, teachers need to find creative ways to have the supplies they need for their classrooms and this story is about a California teacher who really thought outside of the box to solve his supply problems. He proposed an ad campaign to business owners. He would put the ads on the classwork of his students in exchange for various items. It would be nice if we could all do something like this, but as educators, I thought we couldn't accept gifts in exchange for any service. Maybe Calfornia has different policies.
Thing #21
Google on steroids...
Google is amazing, so many tools. I've been meaning to get an educator liscense since I've seen first had how powerful it is compared to Adobe PhotoShop. Perhaps I will do whenI'm done with this course???
The two tools I chose were iGoogle and Calendar. iGoogle is very nice, visually appealing, and tailored just for me. I have the sweet dreams theme, added the virtual aquarium, sudoku games, and optical illusions. I like having the calendar handy, my email snapshot, the local headlines, weather, and cartoons at my disposal. Not sure how this one can be used educationally except that it keeps you somewhat organized and a nice little stress releaser.
The calendar is great to use as an everyday calendar. It only took two minutes to set it up, so easy to use. It's also easy to share via a link, or share with individuals. Repeating appointments are just like the ones in outlook and you can set your status to busy, free, etc. It also lets you to add details like times, places, and notes. Love it! It would be great to share a calendar with my kiddos AND their parents so EVERYONE always knows due dates and what we're learning.
Google is amazing, so many tools. I've been meaning to get an educator liscense since I've seen first had how powerful it is compared to Adobe PhotoShop. Perhaps I will do whenI'm done with this course???
The two tools I chose were iGoogle and Calendar. iGoogle is very nice, visually appealing, and tailored just for me. I have the sweet dreams theme, added the virtual aquarium, sudoku games, and optical illusions. I like having the calendar handy, my email snapshot, the local headlines, weather, and cartoons at my disposal. Not sure how this one can be used educationally except that it keeps you somewhat organized and a nice little stress releaser.
The calendar is great to use as an everyday calendar. It only took two minutes to set it up, so easy to use. It's also easy to share via a link, or share with individuals. Repeating appointments are just like the ones in outlook and you can set your status to busy, free, etc. It also lets you to add details like times, places, and notes. Love it! It would be great to share a calendar with my kiddos AND their parents so EVERYONE always knows due dates and what we're learning.
Thing #20
Google Docs (revisited)
I've actually already sat through a faculty roll-in session covering google docs AND a staff development covering it too! So maybe I'm thinking of turning Pro soon. :)
Google docs is cool, although it did take a while to get adjusted to after being spoiled with Office 2007 (well worth the $100). But given it's ease of use and availability it is a good candidate for high school students. They can keep their files online at all times without losing their media, don't have to worry about compatibility when printing, and no longer have an excuse for not getting their work done.
It's not as powerful as ofice, but the word editor is good. The presentation tool is also esy to use, format, add pics, etc. What I like best though is the spreadsheet being used as an online survey. It's instant gratification for burning questions! I also like how the documents can be shared, calendars can be shared, and websites can be created too!
Three good ideas for using google docs are listed here:
1. Writing science fair research papers. Students can easily switch between delicious and google doc windows to write their paper. They can share their papers with others for peer review/editing by allowing permissions and track changes ALWAYS!
2. Group work presentations can help the kids presesnt to the class what they've learned about a particular science topic. As a group they can all log on to the school computers and make real time changes as they work, then take it home and work on it individually still in real time.
3. I can use the spreadsheet ool to make surveys for the kids to fill out. Surveys such as what I can do to help them learn better, how do they think they are doing in class, what resources/special needs do they have.
I've actually already sat through a faculty roll-in session covering google docs AND a staff development covering it too! So maybe I'm thinking of turning Pro soon. :)
Google docs is cool, although it did take a while to get adjusted to after being spoiled with Office 2007 (well worth the $100). But given it's ease of use and availability it is a good candidate for high school students. They can keep their files online at all times without losing their media, don't have to worry about compatibility when printing, and no longer have an excuse for not getting their work done.
It's not as powerful as ofice, but the word editor is good. The presentation tool is also esy to use, format, add pics, etc. What I like best though is the spreadsheet being used as an online survey. It's instant gratification for burning questions! I also like how the documents can be shared, calendars can be shared, and websites can be created too!
Three good ideas for using google docs are listed here:
1. Writing science fair research papers. Students can easily switch between delicious and google doc windows to write their paper. They can share their papers with others for peer review/editing by allowing permissions and track changes ALWAYS!
2. Group work presentations can help the kids presesnt to the class what they've learned about a particular science topic. As a group they can all log on to the school computers and make real time changes as they work, then take it home and work on it individually still in real time.
3. I can use the spreadsheet ool to make surveys for the kids to fill out. Surveys such as what I can do to help them learn better, how do they think they are doing in class, what resources/special needs do they have.
Thing #15
http://delicious.com/rmart4
It's one thing to bookmark within your browser, Delicious is a whole other thing! Delicious puts a spin on bookmarking! I can remember writing research papers and making lots of bookmarks. Then forgetting what each bookmark was about as I went back to cite my sources. Where was delicious back in the day???
This site allows you to add EASILY add keywords and make notes, while bookmarking the page. How helpful is that? Just install, add some keywords, heck you can even just highlight some. Then login to your Delicious page and ta da...everything is nicely arranged for you. Had I thought of it, I'd probably be a little richer monetarily speaking. LOL I'm reccommending this site to my kiddos and my colleagues since many are in grad school. Not only is it helpful for citing sources, but it can be helpful for doing other research like large purchases (cars, high end electronics, houses).
I'm so glad to find an all new level of organization! When I teach classes that require science fair research, my kids will get a "how to" on this site so they can stay organized and not lost in clutter. I can easily get their links from their username and this can help me keep an eye on their progress in their research paper.
It's one thing to bookmark within your browser, Delicious is a whole other thing! Delicious puts a spin on bookmarking! I can remember writing research papers and making lots of bookmarks. Then forgetting what each bookmark was about as I went back to cite my sources. Where was delicious back in the day???
This site allows you to add EASILY add keywords and make notes, while bookmarking the page. How helpful is that? Just install, add some keywords, heck you can even just highlight some. Then login to your Delicious page and ta da...everything is nicely arranged for you. Had I thought of it, I'd probably be a little richer monetarily speaking. LOL I'm reccommending this site to my kiddos and my colleagues since many are in grad school. Not only is it helpful for citing sources, but it can be helpful for doing other research like large purchases (cars, high end electronics, houses).
I'm so glad to find an all new level of organization! When I teach classes that require science fair research, my kids will get a "how to" on this site so they can stay organized and not lost in clutter. I can easily get their links from their username and this can help me keep an eye on their progress in their research paper.
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