Thing #23

I was very impressed with the educational Networks because of the wealth of knowledge that is being put out on the Web.  I had no idea there were so many social networks.  You can really find some great information on these sites from educational ideas to hobbies.  This is exactly what I was looking for.  I was really overwhelmed by it all, because there were so many.  I was going in all different directions and I had to start focusing on one topic.

There were several social networks that I want to become a member of, such as NextGen Teachers. I enjoy learning about new ways to use technology in the classroom and there are so many sites dealing with that topic.  There was a social network called GlobalClassroom where you could take a free online technology courses. I thought that was a great idea.

It would be great to have a social network maybe just for the students, it would have to be organized and managed appropriately.  But, this would be another way to get students involved in life-long learning.  This would show them that there are endless ways to learn and become involved in things or ideas that you enjoy.  Just another way to catch their attention in school and make learning fun, as well as learning how to interact with peers through networking.

Thing #22

We need to know how are students are learning and what gets their attention.  The world is changing all the time, as well as our students.  We need to keep up with the technology that is changing around us and learn how to embrace it and use it as an advantage to teach.  A lot of the time our students are more advanced in the realm of technology than we are. 

I created a MySpace account about a year ago because I wanted to find old friends. I learned that there are a lot more people on MySpace than I ever figured there would be.  I looked for old college classmates, and it was real easy to narrow the search down.  I did find some educational groups, I would have to investigate them further to see if I was interested in being a part of that group. 

I disliked that children can use this type of networking in a negative way.  Some of the pictures that are posted are not appropriate.   I think that children need to be monitored by their parents when using these sites.  

I do like that you can have a group of friends that you can keep in touch with and contact without having to repeat your search.  I enjoy the pictures from my friends sites the most, I can keep up with my friends families and their adventures.  I also enjoy all of the image generators that can be used in MySpace. There are endless ones which makes each site unique.   MySpace also allows you to block people, or keep your site private which is a plus when your students want to make you a friend. 

I rarely use MySpace, but the page features are really awesome.  If I had time, I would love to explore more of the image generators that MySpace allows.  

I would not be comfortable using these sites for education (classroom use).  I can see teachers using it to talk to other teachers  or to become part of an educational group.  

Thing #7b

I read a very interesting blog from my Google Reader. It was called "Is It Okay to be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?" I really enjoyed this blog, because I think about this quite often. I am a tech facilitator and I have teachers that have no interest at all to learn new technology or to even use it for teaching. They will give every excuse in the book to not come to the computer lab. I try to give them ideas on things that they can do in the computer lab, which makes me excited for the students. Those ideas are often shot down. I know that what they really need is just a little training to get them comfortable. The only way to get comfortable is to actively participate. They can't deny that students are more engaged when technology is being used. Why not learn new ideas for the classroom to better engage the students? We have the resources in Mesquite to do that, so their really is no excuse.

Great Blog!!

Thing #21

I started using Google Notebook, because I think this would be a great way to research your family history and then allow your family to view and edit as you find new information. My grandfather was also in WWII and I often research his division and I ask him questions as I go along. The Google Notebook would be very useful in this way as well. I can see using Google Notebook to do research with a group of people. The group can read and edit what others have written or researched. This allows many people to collaborate together on one page instead of on ten different pieces of paper.

I was also researching the Battle of Franklin on Google Notebook, because I am reading "The Widow of the South". This fictional book is based on true stories. So I was checking out the factual information as I read the book. As I was researching, I found that Google Earth has the Battle of Franklin mapped out for you. It shows battles, famous plantations, deaths of Generals, and many important details to the battle. Google Earth would be great to use to show important areas of the World. You can take a virtual tour of many locations of interests.

Thing 20

My initial thoughts about Google Docs was that you could download files from your computer to share.  I didn't realize that you could actually create them in Google Docs.  I am a little confused on one thing though.  Do all people involved have to have a google account?

I am always sending out URLs on different resources for teachers to use in their classroom.  I could create a web page of these URLs and keep adding to it or change it from year to year.  The teachers could add to it as well.  I enjoy feedback from them as well, and Google Docs would allow me to do that in many ways, by a shared document or by using a form.  Google Docs can also be used for proofreading.  I often have my friends proofread my documents before they are sent out, this would be very helpful in that aspect.  

I really like the idea that there are not a huge amount of copied documents, there is only one document shared among many people.  I can see how this tool would be very helpful.  All we need now is Google to be unblocked.

Thing #19

Voicethread would be great to use to discover what students already know and have learned about a topic.  You could have a pre and post assessment, what they already know at the beginning and what they have learned at the end. For example, if the universe is the next topic in Science.  The teacher could create a voicethread asking students to respond on what they already know about the universe.  Then at the end of the lesson(s) the students can reflect on what new things they have learned.  

In my personal life, I would love to send old pictures to my family on voicethread and have them respond on what was going on that day, etc.  Just like the voicethread introduction.  That would be a lot of fun to hear their comments.  Especially my grandparents photos.

I liked this voicethread that talked about blogging, it was a tutorial for a biology class.  

Thing #18

I wanted to find videos that explains some of the things that we learned in Web 2.0.  This would be for teachers who are not able to take the class and are interested in some of the applications that we have discussed.

I wanted to find a video explaining Wikis and describing instructions on how to set one up, etc.  I found exactly that on teachertube.  I searched for Wikis and got pbwiki which gave me basic instructions on creating a wiki page.  There were also multiple sights on pbwiki that gave detail instructions on how to set up your site. These videos would be very helpful for teachers starting a wiki page.

Then I looked up different applications that I was not so familiar with, such as iMovie.  I found multiple sights that walked me through the whole process of adding text, add and trim audio, and adding transitions in iMovie. This was amazing.  It seems endless on the information that can be viewed on Teachertube.