Is It The End or Only The Beginning?

I thought that keeping up this blog and doing the discovery exercises was a really interesting and successful way to learn how to navigate the internet appropriately as a future teacher.  Without these 23 things, I probably would have been clueless as to the amount of tools available to me.  I thought that I was at least somewhat knowledgeable about the web before, but now I feel that I have accomplished so much more that I thought that I would.  And, some of these things, such as the Animoto video and the YouTube search, were really fun as well, and it shows that learning can tie into media and popular culture. 

I will try to keep up and maintain this blog, however it may slip my mind a lot to do so, even though it would be something that I would love to try to keep doing.  I will also subscribe to the Learning 2.1 RSS Feed.

This blog was such a fun way to discover new tools that will definitely be helpful in the future.

Thing #23

When I searched the Internet, I discovered that many different schools and programs also use the 23 things format.  I also found a link to the original Learning 2.0 program-http://plcmcl2-about.blogspot.com/.  This site also linked to other blogs and things that used the 23 Things, which I thought was really neat, and it mentioned that there are over 200 libraries that have launched the program. 

Knowing about Creative Commons licensing and copyright is very important for teachers.  This way, you will know exactly what pictures, songs, etc. are available for use in the classroom for projects and what can be published with and without acknowledgement to the original artist.  With the Creative Commons licensing, you know exactly how the artist will let you use their work.

Thing #22

Education Resources

The titles of my Livebinders are Education Resources, Useful Sites, and More Resources.

Livebinder is interesting, but I don't know exactly how I feel about it.  The set up is not aesthetically pleasing to me, but that is just my personal opinion.  It could be used in the classroom by letting students create resource binder for research projects that they are doing, or to create a classroom Livebinder that allows students to add links and resources that go with a certain lesson in the classroom. 

Thing #21

Make your own slideshow with music at Animoto.

I loved Animoto.  I think that it is a great way to present photos of whatever it is that you are wanting to remember.  My video is of me and the kids that I babysit.  I think that Animoto is a great tool and could have applications in the classroom, as well as in your personal life.  I thought that it was simple to use, however I was a little sad to see that to create longer videos you had to pay.  However, I still loved using it.

Thing #20

I love YouTube.  I think that it is absolutely fabulous.  You can find videos about almost anything.  I chose a video called The History of Technology in Education.  It was a cute little animated clip of a timeline showing advances in technology from the time of cavemen to today.  I think that YouTube could be a great tool to use as research or to find more information on a topic.  Many of the videos act as a sort of "How-to" guide for a variety of topics. 

Thing #19

I am not a member of any online communities, unless Facebook counts.  I have requested to join the Ning site, TeacherPop.  These other social networking sites are interesting because they are for a specific group of people with specific interests.  I think that they could be useful to connect with others who are going through the same processes as you and are learning just as you are.  I think that social networks such as these are great for those who have questions and what to create relationships with those who are in the same field or have the same interests.

For the discovery exercise, I added the TeacherPop badge to my blog and uploaded a photo to the Ning.   

Thing #18

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000778632646&ref=tn_tnmn

I have a Facebook account, but I have not done much with it in the past few months.  It is important for educators to know about social networking sites because of their popularity and how much students know about technology through using sites such as these.  I did not really gain any new insights about the site, I know that it is a good way to stay connected to different organizations, including the College of Education.  I don't like to use Facebook that much, if only because I never do anything productive on the site.  I don't have a Twitter account that I actively use.  I do not like Twitter that much because of the word limitation and I just do not think that it is that useful.  I am not a big fan of social networking, but I do see it's importance.  I think that there could be classroom applications for each.  You could create a class Facebook page for students and parents, or maybe even a Twitter.