All in all, this was an interesting experience. I'm not the kind of person that likes to sit in front of a computer screen for any amount of time, so at times I felt a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of things we were expected to do. I can't lie, having to sign up for so many accounts to complete many of the 23 Things annoyed me. It's hard enough to keep up with all the passwords you need for things like D2L, Livemail, Livetext, Onestop, etc without creating a dozen more accounts.
Okay, enough with the bellyaching. There were several of these 23 Things that I really enjoyed. Probably my favorite "thing" that I had never had any experience with was Animoto. I can see using this quite a lot in my personal life, but I can also imagine making video clips from pictures taken during class activities, field trips, etc. Being able to share them with the students, parents, and other teachers would be so fun!
It was great to see how to really make a lot of online tools work for you. I felt like learning to use the RSS feeds was really helpful. This is a great way to keep up with a lot of aspects of education - news, other teacher's blogs and experiences, etc. It's important to keep up on everything, since it seems things change so quickly!
I'll admit, I really doubt I will continue updating this blog. I have a personal blog and even with the best of intentions, it rarely gets updated. I do think, though, that once I have my own classroom I will create a blog that allows the parents to feel more connected.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Thing #23
Interestingly, when I began typing "Learning 2.0..." into the Google search engine, one of the top search results was for "23 Things". I followed a few of the links to find that these other "23 Things" were the same "23 Things" we've been doing all semester. The following link is one example of people other than APSU using this idea:
http://schoollibrarylearning2.csla.net/2007/02/23-things_27.html
The Creative Commons is a great way to share ideas with others while being able to maintain some ownership. This also allows others to use your work legally and respectfully by being able to cite the true owner. Creative Commons is a great way to share anything that someone may have created with others interested in that creation. Teachers can use this tool to find classroom activities, ideas, etc and be able to use them in their own classroom while being able to cite the rightful owner.
http://schoollibrarylearning2.csla.net/2007/02/23-things_27.html
The Creative Commons is a great way to share ideas with others while being able to maintain some ownership. This also allows others to use your work legally and respectfully by being able to cite the true owner. Creative Commons is a great way to share anything that someone may have created with others interested in that creation. Teachers can use this tool to find classroom activities, ideas, etc and be able to use them in their own classroom while being able to cite the rightful owner.
Thing #22
Honestly, my first impression was that LiveBinders is exactly the kind of thing I would never use. I'm sure once each binder is created they could be useful: however, creating each binder seems like a lot of work. In fact, it's hard to imagine as a busy professional that I would have time to log into LiveBinders and then take the time to create, modify, publish each binder.
Once I started creating the binders, it seemed easier, especially if you use the LiveBinder It option.I feel like it's mostly a website that organizes "bookmarks", which I can see wanting to use if you're a very organized kind of person. I'm not.
In my first binder, which I called "Projects", I cited a few websites that had classroom project ideas. My second binder, which I called "Assessment", I used several websites that listed standards and different assessment techniques. My third binder, which I called "Reading Activities", contains websites that list reading activities by grade level.
http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=371049
This is my "Reading Activities" LiveBinder.
Again, I can see how some people would find LiveBinders very useful, but I can't see myself using them in the classroom or in my personal life.
Once I started creating the binders, it seemed easier, especially if you use the LiveBinder It option.I feel like it's mostly a website that organizes "bookmarks", which I can see wanting to use if you're a very organized kind of person. I'm not.
In my first binder, which I called "Projects", I cited a few websites that had classroom project ideas. My second binder, which I called "Assessment", I used several websites that listed standards and different assessment techniques. My third binder, which I called "Reading Activities", contains websites that list reading activities by grade level.
http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=371049
This is my "Reading Activities" LiveBinder.
Again, I can see how some people would find LiveBinders very useful, but I can't see myself using them in the classroom or in my personal life.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Thing #21
My Animoto Video
Animoto is really cool. I got a little confused by the process and wanted to edit it, but accidentally created the video before I rearranged my photos. Otherwise, it was pretty simple and a lot of fun! I will definitely use Animoto again.
Animoto is really cool. I got a little confused by the process and wanted to edit it, but accidentally created the video before I rearranged my photos. Otherwise, it was pretty simple and a lot of fun! I will definitely use Animoto again.
Thing #20
I love YouTube! YouTube is like a one stop shop for any kind of videos you might want to see. My husband learned to play guitar by watching YouTube tutorials, we enjoy watching pet videos on YouTube, and my nephews are always sending me links to crazy stunt videos, scary videos, or just funny videos they think I should see. You can watch news videos, tutorials, movie clips, music videos, educational clips, etc.
During my very first classroom observation in a sixth grade science class, the teacher used YouTube to show clips about ecosystems. These particular videos were set to music. The kids loved them and would try to sing along. Using videos to help aid in teaching curriculum could make the information more amusing to the students and they may have an easier time remembering the information if they find it interesting.
Thing #19
The only community that I belong to of the ones mentioned for this "Thing" is TeacherPOP, which I joined for a previous "Thing". I do use IMDB a lot - but I'm not a member. (I have the IMDB app for my iPhone, which is probably use several times a week.) After reviewing the list of online communities, I decided to check out GoodReads and Fuzzster because I am an avid reader and because I have several pets.
I absolutely love GoodReads! I spent so much time using the site, rating books I've read, and looking through the suggestions the website made for me. What a wonderful website for a reader like me. I love to read and I'm always sad when I finish a book (in fact, I often read a book several times if I really like it) so the idea that this website will recommend books to me based on what I've read and liked is truly awesome!
Fuzzster was adorable. My husband and I don't have any kids, but we consider our pets our "fur babies" so I can relate to Fuzzster users who are obsessed with their pets! What a cute idea to be able to create a profile for your pet and be able to connect to other users with similar pets. My husband and I are Great Dane owners, so we love meeting and talking to other Great Dane owners. Fuzzster would be a great way to do that.
Overall, I really liked the suggestions on this "Thing". Social networking sites that are tailored to specific interests are great because it allows you to connect with other users with similar interests.
I absolutely love GoodReads! I spent so much time using the site, rating books I've read, and looking through the suggestions the website made for me. What a wonderful website for a reader like me. I love to read and I'm always sad when I finish a book (in fact, I often read a book several times if I really like it) so the idea that this website will recommend books to me based on what I've read and liked is truly awesome!
Fuzzster was adorable. My husband and I don't have any kids, but we consider our pets our "fur babies" so I can relate to Fuzzster users who are obsessed with their pets! What a cute idea to be able to create a profile for your pet and be able to connect to other users with similar pets. My husband and I are Great Dane owners, so we love meeting and talking to other Great Dane owners. Fuzzster would be a great way to do that.
Overall, I really liked the suggestions on this "Thing". Social networking sites that are tailored to specific interests are great because it allows you to connect with other users with similar interests.
Thing #18
I already have both a personal Twitter account and a personal Facebook account.
https://twitter.com/#!/abelizsm
http://www.facebook.com/abbyesmith
It's important for teachers to know how social networking works because so many of their colleagues, students, and parents will be using social networking sites. Teachers should understand how to use these sites so that they know what their students are talking about when they mention things like "I tagged you in a photo" or "Did you see that tweet?"
I didn't really learn anything new about either of these sites because I use them often. I have both a Facebook and Twitter app on my iPhone, so I can check each of them wherever I am. I enjoy using both, but I use Facebook more for keeping up with friends and I use Twitter to keep up with national news. With both of these social networking sites, you choose who you want to follow/friend and you can also choose who you want to be able to follow you. That does allow for some control over privacy and security, but teachers, students and parents must understand that some of your information may be visible to people you don't want it to be visible to and that you can't control what others, whom you're following, may post.
Classroom teachers may decide to create a Facebook group for their class. This allows students a chance to be able to reach each other and the teacher when not in class. Parents could also join since many parents are also members of Facebook. The drawback to this idea is that the teacher's personal information is available to students and vice versa. As I mentioned before, Facebook has very detailed and specific privacy and security settings, but the teacher would want to make sure that those settings were engaged in order to protect his or her information as well as the students. (The group should be private, not available to view by non group members, etc).
Twitter would be easier to use if a teacher wanted a classroom feed. The teacher could create a Twitter account for this exact purpose and wouldn't have to worry about any personal information beign compromised. Students and parents could follow the teacher's tweets, but the teacher would not have to follow the students. This may provide more privacy for the teacher, parents, and students.
https://twitter.com/#!/abelizsm
http://www.facebook.com/abbyesmith
It's important for teachers to know how social networking works because so many of their colleagues, students, and parents will be using social networking sites. Teachers should understand how to use these sites so that they know what their students are talking about when they mention things like "I tagged you in a photo" or "Did you see that tweet?"
I didn't really learn anything new about either of these sites because I use them often. I have both a Facebook and Twitter app on my iPhone, so I can check each of them wherever I am. I enjoy using both, but I use Facebook more for keeping up with friends and I use Twitter to keep up with national news. With both of these social networking sites, you choose who you want to follow/friend and you can also choose who you want to be able to follow you. That does allow for some control over privacy and security, but teachers, students and parents must understand that some of your information may be visible to people you don't want it to be visible to and that you can't control what others, whom you're following, may post.
Classroom teachers may decide to create a Facebook group for their class. This allows students a chance to be able to reach each other and the teacher when not in class. Parents could also join since many parents are also members of Facebook. The drawback to this idea is that the teacher's personal information is available to students and vice versa. As I mentioned before, Facebook has very detailed and specific privacy and security settings, but the teacher would want to make sure that those settings were engaged in order to protect his or her information as well as the students. (The group should be private, not available to view by non group members, etc).
Twitter would be easier to use if a teacher wanted a classroom feed. The teacher could create a Twitter account for this exact purpose and wouldn't have to worry about any personal information beign compromised. Students and parents could follow the teacher's tweets, but the teacher would not have to follow the students. This may provide more privacy for the teacher, parents, and students.
Thing #17
After joining Delicious, I searched for posts relating to "educational technology". The top hits include: "TED: Ideas worth spreading" with over 30,000 saves; "HowStuffWorks with over 15,000 saves; and "Free Online Course Materials - MIT OpenCourseWare" with over 8,000 saves. Some of the tags that these three have in common are education, technology, and learning.
This tool would be useful if a student, parent or even a teacher was looking for opinions/ideas/experiences pertaining to a specific topic or event. I think something like Delicious is useful to anyone who uses the internet to search out other people's experiences, suggestions, information etc about anything of interest to the searcher. Students could use this for projects they're working on, teachers could use this to get ideas for curriculum or projects, and parents could use this to help them learn about topics their child is covering in order to better understand and be able to help their student with homework.
This tool would be useful if a student, parent or even a teacher was looking for opinions/ideas/experiences pertaining to a specific topic or event. I think something like Delicious is useful to anyone who uses the internet to search out other people's experiences, suggestions, information etc about anything of interest to the searcher. Students could use this for projects they're working on, teachers could use this to get ideas for curriculum or projects, and parents could use this to help them learn about topics their child is covering in order to better understand and be able to help their student with homework.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Thing #16
For my start page, I chose iGoogle. I've mentioned before how much I love Google - and since I have a personal account with Google as well as as my 23 Things account, it seemed like a good idea to use it for this.
Once I chose iGoogle, I began editing my start page. I deleted a few of the gadgets that were already there - like DoppleMe and YouTube. I have no use for an avatar and I don't watch YouTube very often, so I figured I would make room for some other gadgets. I decided to add a calendar gadget, the inspirational quotes and pictures gadget (I love quotes and photography), the Facts gadget (I also love knowing useless information), Facebook for iGoogle, NYTimes.com - Top Stories gadget, Daily Literary Quote (quotes again), and Anderson Cooper 360 gadget. Wow - there are a LOT of gadgets. I finally had to stop myself from adding more or I'd never get this thing done!
As far as calendars go, I chose to explore Kiko - but received a "Forbidden" page when I tried to access it. Since that didn't pan out, I decided to explore the calendar offered by Backpack. However, once I made it to that page, it said I could sign up for a 30 day trial. I didn't want to create another account - I already have so many! I know I can utilize the calendar available through iGoogle, though. Online calendars are useful because they can be shared. As a teacher, I could create a calendar with important dates - homework due dates, tests, field trips, conferences, etc and share with parents.
To Do lists could be great tools for someone who would use them - but I am not the kind of person who would. I am quite the procrastinator, and therefore not a planner. Making a to do list actually sounds like a form of torture to me!
I feel like the most useful tool I discovered during this exercise was iGoogle. I love all the gadgets that are optional - I like that it has the calendar option, even a to do list option, weather, email, news, etc. There are a lot of options for personalizing the start page, not to mention all the extras that can be added. I'm not much of a planner, so the fact that all of this could be included in my homepage and would be accessible every time I launched the internet would be convenient - which I like!
Once I chose iGoogle, I began editing my start page. I deleted a few of the gadgets that were already there - like DoppleMe and YouTube. I have no use for an avatar and I don't watch YouTube very often, so I figured I would make room for some other gadgets. I decided to add a calendar gadget, the inspirational quotes and pictures gadget (I love quotes and photography), the Facts gadget (I also love knowing useless information), Facebook for iGoogle, NYTimes.com - Top Stories gadget, Daily Literary Quote (quotes again), and Anderson Cooper 360 gadget. Wow - there are a LOT of gadgets. I finally had to stop myself from adding more or I'd never get this thing done!
As far as calendars go, I chose to explore Kiko - but received a "Forbidden" page when I tried to access it. Since that didn't pan out, I decided to explore the calendar offered by Backpack. However, once I made it to that page, it said I could sign up for a 30 day trial. I didn't want to create another account - I already have so many! I know I can utilize the calendar available through iGoogle, though. Online calendars are useful because they can be shared. As a teacher, I could create a calendar with important dates - homework due dates, tests, field trips, conferences, etc and share with parents.
To Do lists could be great tools for someone who would use them - but I am not the kind of person who would. I am quite the procrastinator, and therefore not a planner. Making a to do list actually sounds like a form of torture to me!
I feel like the most useful tool I discovered during this exercise was iGoogle. I love all the gadgets that are optional - I like that it has the calendar option, even a to do list option, weather, email, news, etc. There are a lot of options for personalizing the start page, not to mention all the extras that can be added. I'm not much of a planner, so the fact that all of this could be included in my homepage and would be accessible every time I launched the internet would be convenient - which I like!
Thing #15
I skipped over this "Thing" because when I first attempted to complete it, I felt a little overwhelmed and confused. When I went back to finish it today, I didn't feel much better. Wikis are cool, but they are a little crazy - especially the APSU 23 Things Sandbox. I was really unsure what I was doing, but decided I had to finish this, so I attempted to edit it. I think I did it properly. I'm not sure why I feel confused by this "Thing", I guess because there were several steps to take before even being able to edit the page. I got through it, though!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Thing #14
I decided to explore Gliffy and bubbl.us because they appeared to be the most kid-friendly at first glance. Because my standard is second grade reading, I didn't want to choose the other two selections because the example flowchart and mindmap looked a little too advanced for seven year old kids.
I looked at the "Lady Gaga Adoption" example at the Gliffy website. It seemed pretty easy to add new bubbles or boxes and to add text to those boxes. I liked that the two examples on Gliffy were very different styles. The first example was more structured and formal, while the Lady Gaga example was a bit more casual.
I liked bubbl.us because it was easy to use - the directions for creating the mindmap were directly on the page! I also liked that it was colorful and easy to understand. I think second grade students would be able to read and understand a mindmap that was created with bubbl.us.
I looked at the "Lady Gaga Adoption" example at the Gliffy website. It seemed pretty easy to add new bubbles or boxes and to add text to those boxes. I liked that the two examples on Gliffy were very different styles. The first example was more structured and formal, while the Lady Gaga example was a bit more casual.
I liked bubbl.us because it was easy to use - the directions for creating the mindmap were directly on the page! I also liked that it was colorful and easy to understand. I think second grade students would be able to read and understand a mindmap that was created with bubbl.us.
Thing #13
At first, I was not at all pleased with exploring Zoho. I didn't see the point of yet another word processing program. I did like that it was set up similarly to Microsoft Word, which I am already familiar with. After reading about Zoho writer, I understood why - being able to keep your documents on and offline and having the ability to access documents from any location would be wonderful. Even as a college student, I've had moments of panic when I think I've made a mistake on a paper that I am getting ready to turn in and don't have time to go back home and correct the mistake. This would be the kind of issues professionals would encounter as well. Being able to access the documents from any computer would be fantastic!
Google docs seems just as useful as any word processing program I've ever used. At first glance it seems like a streamlined program. It's easy to see options for your document and to see how to edit and create a document. I'm a big fan of Google. I have a personal Gmail account, I love using Google for search tools, and I love that Google allows you to connect your smartphone to your computer and can keep all of your information, pictures, documents, emails, etc. in one place and easy to access.
Google docs seems just as useful as any word processing program I've ever used. At first glance it seems like a streamlined program. It's easy to see options for your document and to see how to edit and create a document. I'm a big fan of Google. I have a personal Gmail account, I love using Google for search tools, and I love that Google allows you to connect your smartphone to your computer and can keep all of your information, pictures, documents, emails, etc. in one place and easy to access.
I created the image above with Google docs drawing. Google docs is easy to use and easy to access. Overall, I liked both options but would probably use Google docs before I would use Zoho because I already have an account with Google.
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