Reflections

I learned a lot about the different tools available to both teachers and students on the internet.  I think out of all of the things I did I had the most fun with altering pictures and making posters.  Something I think might make this program a bit better is possible finding sites that don't make you create a account.  Some people do not like having to create a lot of accounts and having their information out of the internet.  I can maybe see myself using a blog in my classroom in the future, but I think that i would make it a class blog not a personnel one for me as a teacher.

Thing #23

As a teacher I think I would use creative commons as a tool to teach my students about copy right and licensing.  The students could also go on to the site to find information for topics that they would be learning about, and even add to some of the projects that are already on the site.

Thing #22

I listened to a podcast on the advantages of having a interactive white board in the classroom.  I found this podcast using podcastdirectory.com, I found this site to be the easier one to use.  I may or may not use a podcast in the future, it just depends on weather or not id would work for the unit that I would be covering.  In my travels through the podcast directory I did not find one that I would want to subscribe to.  I'm sure there is one out there that I would find interesting and would want to subscribe to I just didn't find it today.

Thing #21

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com

I had a really good experience using this site.  It took me through making the video step by step and I had my video completed in no time.  This is a video of my dogs, enjoy!

Thing #20

I had a good experience using YouTube.  I have used YouTube before because lets face it there are some funny videos on this site.  I chose a video from school house rocks because they are oldies but goodies.  I think that YouTube could be a very good tool with in a library or classroom.  If the site had some sort of educational site or a built in filter so teachers could filter out the videos that they wouldn't want students to see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEJL2Uuv-oQ

Thing #16

I decided on a very basic start up page.  It has weather and news feeds along with a few other things, I like the set up and I think that I will keep it as my start up page.  An online calendar can be very useful if you check you check it in the morning along with your email.  A to-do list would be to much work for me personally.  It might be something very useful for other people I think that it just depends on the person.  The tool that I would find useful would be the PDF converter.  Some schools use Macs and students might have a PC at home so if you have them use this tool they will be able to open their work at home or school.  It would work for me to because I have a PC at home and more and more of the computers on campus are Macs, and I have some friends that run into the same problem so I would defiantly recommend this tool to them.

Thing #18

I think that it is important for teachers to know how social networks work because student's lives seem to revolve around their face book or my space page.I have a face book page my self and it is nice because it makes keeping in touch with family and friends a lot easier.  One of the other things that I like is that you can make your page and all of the information on it as private or public as you want.  I think that there could be some educational uses for a social network page.  A teacher could create a page for their classroom and they could post homework assignments and other announcements on it.  Also parents could post any question that they might have on there as well, because most parents have social pages as well.  At the end of the day there are both pros and cons to social networking sites.

Thing #13

So I can see how Zoho writer can be a useful tool both in and out of the classroom.  If you have a student who has a computer with internet but no word processing program this would be perfect for them to use.  As for in the classroom, you can have students create different projects or papers and have them publish their work on a web page or through a blog.  I think this is the kind of application that a teacher would be able to incorporate into a lesson they easily.

Thing #15

So I signed up for wiki and I tried using it but I could not figure it out.  However, I can see how it could be a useful tool for teachers to share information and material with each other.  You could also set one up for your class to allow the students to post pictures and information.

Thing #14

I would use flowchart.com and bubbl.us for mind maps and flowcharts.  I think that they had the best appearance out of the four.  I would defiantly use these in a classroom, because I know that I learned from flow charts and I think most student will as well.

Thing #4 (I know out of order, again)

By commenting on other peoples blog you in a sense having a conversation with not just that person but each person that has commented on that blog.  It creates a community because it can take people from all over the country and turn them into a online community interested in the same things.  I agree that comments should be meaningful and not just one or two words.  If you just post a few words the blogs author might not know how to respond to that and it will not help further the conversations going on between other people on the blog.  I also think that comments are important because it will keep the blogger going.

Thing #8 (I know I'm out of order)

http://bighugelabs.com/jigsaw.php

Using Flickr in the classroom would allow you to make fun images and posters to post in your room.  You could also use it to make puzzles for different lessons.  It would work very well for map lessons or art.  As for personnel use, it is just fun to make all sorts of different pictures and posters.

Thing #12

I thought already thought that Google had a lot to offer and that was before I drove further into to.  The alert option I think is great, because it can save you from having to look at 40 different news site to find an article on your subject, by using the alert feature Google does the work for you and delivers it straight to you email.  I chose to make an iGoogle page and I thin it's kind of a cool thing.  I was able to customize it so it displays information about the things that I am interested in.  Both of these features would work great you educators.  Teachers could use the alert feature to have current articles sent to them on new teaching strategies, their content area, or anything that they feel would benefit them.  The iGoogle page is great because a teacher could create one and post news links, you tube videos, and anything else that they feel would assist their students in learning.  So in closing thank you Google I look forward to the day that you can clean my house for me.

My iGoogle Page

Thing #11

I felt that the Google blog search was the easiest site to use to find blogs.  You don't have to click on 28 different things just to get to the search option.  I did not like Syndic8, just seeing how it looked when the page first came up it looked like it would not be that easy to use.  I found some special education related feeds that I think will have some useful things on them that will help me over the coming years, I also added some news feeds because I like to read the news.  Of course there were the usual random feeds that people post that really have nothing to do with anything.

Thing #10

I think that RSS and newsreaders are great for personnel use as well as use at school.  This is a good way for you to get updates from your favorite news sites and blogs.  You could also have your students setup an account and have them receive updates from sites that you give them in order to keep them up to date with current events.

Thing #9

http://monolpoly.game.cards.txt2png.com/

I had fun going through all of the different image creators.  When I saw the monopoly link I thought it would be cool to create a get out of homework card.  I think that image creators can be useful both inside and outside of school.  It would allow teachers to make fun signs and items for their classroom, and it is just fun to make funny signs at home.

Thing #7

I had fun using Flickr I spent almost a hour just searching different pictures and exploring the site.  I liked the different tags that the site had as well as the different groups.  I think this site could be useful for teachers, they could upload picture relevant to their content so students could look at them at home.  One of the pictures that I liked the most was one that combined two things that I have enjoyed watching since I was a kid, Star Wars and The Simpson's.  The picture just made me laugh.

The photo was posted on the site by simpsonh78(there was no real name given).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26756995@N08/2840760263/

Thing #6

The tool that I chose from the list was the web site that has something for everyone, you guessed it, www.youtube.com.    Yes most people do not visit this site for educational reasons, but in some ways it can help educators.  Teachers could post videos that can assist students in studying content.  Also students can search for videos on the content being covered in their class.  I like that you can find a video for almost anything, if there was something on 60 minutes that will help you with a research paper all you have to do is type 60 minutes into the search bar.  For all of the entertainment value you tube has it also has just as much educational value.

Thing #5

After reading one of the articles and watching one of the videos I think that it is a good thing that educators are starting to use some of the technology that students are already familiar with in their classrooms.  To me school 2.0 means that some students might be able to learn and retain information better if they are able to use technology to do class work or study.  I think it is good that education is starting to use more and more technology because the world as a hole is becoming more and more technology driven.

Thing #3

I think blogs can be really useful in education programs because it allows you to be able to communicate with people in your class or in other selections of the same class so you can share information and ideas.  Blogs can also be useful in the classroom because you can post information for the students and it would also allow the student to share information about the content being covered in class.

Thing #2

I guess I'm not that original when it comes to coming up with names for my blog.  I didn't have that much trouble creating the blog I just followed the steps.  Again with my avatar my originality came out and I just created one that looks like me.  My wife thinks it looks cute, so that's a plus. 

Thing #1

Out of the 7 1/2 learning habits number 2 and 6 are the easiest for me.  I have always accepted that it is my responsibility to make such that I get the most out of every learning opportunity.  I also enjoy looking into all of the new technology that is available to help me further understand the content that I am studying.  Sometimes I struggle with habit 5, with all of the available tools out there I sometimes have trouble deciding which ones will help me the most.  Using Web 2.0 and setting up my blog was really easy and I had an overall good experience with them.