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.

Thing #17

I have actually used Delicious before while searching for sites that have information about my different interests in my everyday life, but I never thought to use it for the classroom!  I think that it could be a great tool for classes.  You could create an account for the class to have access to and link to sites that are part of the lesson plan and curriculum.  Students can search the tags to do further research of their own and find more information and sites to share with the class.  I think that teachers can definitely take advantage of social bookmarking to make searching for useful sites for the classroom much easier.

Thing #16

For my start page I chose Google and iGoogle because I already have a Google account.  I liked that you could customize what you wanted on the page, like weather and YouTube.  Online calendars are useful because you can keep up with tasks and events.  Online to do lists would just be too much work for me.  If I think of something that I need to do I would not take the time to go on the Internet and type it up on a to do list.  For me personally, it would be easier to write something down in a notebook or a piece of paper.  I would recommend any of these tools to anyone looking to increase productivity.  I would personally, probably not uses these tools in my daily life because I can be old fashioned, and I use a wall calendar and notebooks to keep track of things.  

Thing #15

Wikis are a really good idea.However, I think it only works if people use them correctly and professionally.  You can create a web page with any kind of information you want, and then you can have people or groups edit your ideas, or add more relevant information.  However, you want to make sure that people who are editing your data are doing so with the correct information, and that they are also not deleting your work and replacing it with something that has nothing to do with what you have previously created.  I think that a wiki could be used in the classroom with good results.  A class wiki can be made to further class discussion and students could add more information and their own ideas.

Thing #14

Flow charts and mind maps are really useful.  If you have a series of ideas that stem from one another, then this is a wonderful way to organize your thoughts.  I used MindMeister for my mind map and Flowchart.com for my flow chart.  It took me a while to get used to using each program, but I thought that they were interesting to use.  I chose MindMeister because I liked the way it was set up and I thought it was easier to use than Bubbl.us.  I chose Flowchart for the same reason.  Even though I had to wait for the email, it was easier than Gliffy, because with Gliffy, I could not figure out how to alter the template and I was just confused.  However, that is just my personal opinion.  These tools are great for those who are organized and want to keep track of their ideas. 

Thing #13

I though that Zoho Writer was interesting.  It was set up a lot like Microsoft Word and I thought that it was pretty simple to use.  You can share with other users or groups on the site or send it through email.  I did not like Google Docs as much as I did Zoho.  I do not like to use Google that often, I prefer other search engines, or its applications.  I thought that Zoho was more appealing, to me at least, because the way it was set up was similar to something that was familiar to me.  However, students could collaborate with Google Docs because if you set up a group, they can access the document and make changes and work together on projects or to continue class discussion outside of the classroom.

Thing #12

I love all the things that you can do with Google.  They are so useful and there are so many of them!  Google alerts is so neat, you can set up to be notified whenever there is news in the field that you are interested in, or just for anything in general.  Google calendars keeps you on schedule and lets you update what you are doing.  My Google calendar is not all set up yet, but I have started.  Many of these tools are helpful for the classroom.  You can create a calendar of what will be going on in the classroom and share them with your students and parents.  Alerts can be set up for news about new classroom methods, technology, etc.  Google is not just a search engine.  There is so much more to explore.

Thing #11

I thought that the Google blogs search engine was really easy to use.  You could just type in what you were looking for and find a number of blogs dedicated to that topic.  Technorati was also really interesting because you could find blogs or individual posts on a site/blog that matched what you were looking for.  Topix was a little confusing just because it started based on your location and the site looked too busy for me.  I found a few interesting feeds about elementary education, but not really anything better than the ones I have found previously (Cool Cat, etc.).  Of course, if you find a cool site on your own, you could just look for a RSS button on that site.

Thing #10

RSS Feeds and newsreaders are interesting and convienient, but I, personally, would rather check a site itself.  However, that is just me because I like to browse the internet and I am more likely to go to the website itself than log into my Google account.  But, I do see the value in them.  You can get updates from a variety of sites all in one place.  In the classroom, this could be helpful in getting up to date news about new classroom tech, methods, and more.  If you were in the classroom and were trying to show a variety of sites or blogs to your class, you could go to one place to get all the information you need.  You would not have to log in and out of a variety of sites or have to open a bunch of tabs and bookmarks.

Thing #9

I thought that the image generators were interesting. For my first image I used the Comic Strip Generator.  I browsed through the images that they had available until I found one I liked (Spider-man, I love comic books!), then added my own text.  It was really easy.

For my second photo I used Image Chef and their photo frame application.  I uploaded a photo (of myself and the kids that I babysit).  It was also an easy tool to use.

The image generators can be used many ways in the classroom.  They can be used to display images of you and your class.  The comic strip generator can be used to make a message for your class in a fun and exciting way.  Personally, you could use them just for fun and create fun and interesting photos.

Thing #8

The Flickr mashups were all really neat, but I liked Spell with flickr the best.  I think that it is really cool and I love all the different photos available for each letter.  These mashups could be used many different ways in the classroom.  They could be used for lessons on the alphabet and spelling (Spell), for geography (Mappr), time (Clockr), and colors (Flickr Color Pickr).  Sharing pictures online is great, but it needs to done safely.  With the use of privacy settings, you can share picutres with friends, family, colleagues, and the classroom and be at ease over who sees what.

Thing #7 (picture used: Precious Broadway)

Precious Broadway, a photo by Sprengben [why not get a friend] on Flickr.

I really enjoyed learning how to use Flickr. It was really cool to see different people's pictures. Even though I am not a great photographer, I do love photography. The use of tags on Flickr also makes it so easy to find any photo that is relevant to your interests. The photo that I chose to share of Broadway in New York. I am a huge musical theatre fan. It has been a passion of mine for quite some time now. It is a dream of mine to go to New York to see a live show.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sprengben/5438672701/

Thing #6

http://www.pandora.com/

The site that I chose to explore was Pandora.  I actually already have a Pandora account because I have the app on my iPod.  I love Pandora.  You can type in any artist, song, or genre and it creates a radio station with music by the artist you chose and similar artists as well or music of the specific genre you want.  You can save these stations if you have an account with Pandora, and it is free to do so.  You can access these radio stations anywhere that you have internet access.  You can also either use the website itself, or if you have a phone or iPod that can use apps, it is a free app, or at least it is in the iTunes store.  It is amazing.  I think that Pandora could definitely be used in the classroom.  If you were doing a history lesson, you could provide examples of the music of the time period.  Or, if you were to have a lesson on influential individuals in music you could use Pandora to find examples of their music.  Pandora is just really neat and I think that it is a great web application.   

Thing #5

School 2.0, to me, means that the environment of learning is changing.  With so much new technology, and with how quickly new technology is developed, there are so many ways for students and teachers to find and use different resources.  These resources can be accessed virtually anywhere.  Learning is not confined to the classroom.  In the future, technology will be even more groundbreaking and there will be even more resources for students and teachers.  One of the perspectives I read on Web 2.0 was from the Guide for Educators.  It talked about how the Internet is now second nature to kids.  Many children today have easy access to a computer and the Internet and can pick up how to use its many features much quicker than most adults can.  If educators use concepts that are already familiar to students, then they will stay tuned in to a lesson and be excited to learn.

Thing #4

Commenting creates a sense of community and interaction because it allows for an exchange of ideas. Through commenting on someone else's blog you can let someone know that you agree or disagree with their ideas in a thoughtful manner, if you are using proper commenting etiquette.  Commenting also lets a person know that their ideas are being heard and that they have a voice.  In the posts about commenting, one of the things that I thought was important was the idea that comments should be meaningful and if that you do not care, do not comment.  The blogs of my classmates that I have chosen to follow and comment on are Tammie Smith, Morgan Garton, Natasha Pentecost, Olivia Rhodes, and Derek Carroll.  I have chosen these at random so that I could learn about my classmates.     

The two outside blogs that I chose to follow are The Pioneer Woman and ZooBorns, and I have chosen to follow them by using the RSS Feed. 

On the outside blogs, I commented on ZooBorns on the post about the Pygmy Hippo http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2012/03/south-africa-welcomes-prince-harry-a-brand-new-pygmy-hippo.html#comment-6a010535647bf3970b0168ea6600ed970c. 
and on the Pioneer Woman, I commented on a recipe http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/04/oatmeal-whoopie-pies/comment-page-2/#comments

On my classmates blogs, I just commented on some of their posts, making agreements with many of the things that they have posted.

Thing #3

I think that a blog can be used in many ways.  In the teacher education program, it could be used to track your progress and to post about your experiences.  It could also be used to follow your peers and communicate about your similar interests and what they are experiencing during their time in the program.

I believe that in my future classroom, I could use a blog to communicate with parents about what is going on in the classroom.  I could write about what the students are learning and about upcoming lessons.  I also agree with many of things that Anne Davis posted on Edublog Insights.  I think that it is a very interesting idea to use a blog to showcase student artwork and short stories.  I also like her idea of using a blog as a class newsletter with student generated content.

Thing #2

I had fun setting up my blog and creating my avatar.  As I stated in my previous post, I have been wanting to start a personal blog.  Now that I know how to create one it gives more incentive to do that for myself.  I think that a blog could also be an effective tool in the classroom because you could use it as a way to communicate with parents about what goes on while their children are at school.  The name I chose for my blog does not reflect much about me personally, it just states what it is for, which I think gets straight to the point.  I tried to reflect my personality more with the template and my avatar.  I chose a pretty, pink template, because I like to think that I have a bright, bubbly personality most of the time. My avatar looks as much like me as I could get it to look.  I wanted to present myself as accurately as possible, and I believe that I created my avatar with that in mind.  It may not be a perfect representation, but I feel that I did the best I could.  It was a neat experience to set up this blog.  I think that future assignments with it are going to be very interesting.  

Thing #1

I think that the easiest of the 7 1/2 Lifelong Learning  Habits, for me, is Habit 1, which was begin with the end in mind.  I always try to start an assignment with the idea of completing the task on time and knowing that once I complete the assignment I will be finished.  Habit 6, which is using technology to my advantage, is also something that I can do fairly easily.  Once I figure out how to do something with a new piece of technology, I can usually use it to help me with different sorts of tasks.  It may take me a while to learn how to use it, but once I do, I can use these new skills to learn even more.    The hardest of the habits for me is having confidence in myself as a competent learner.  I am always second guessing myself, and this is a habit I am very much so trying to break.  The other habits I also have a pretty easy time with, but they do not affect me as much as the ones I have previously mentioned. 

As for setting up this blog, I thought that it was quite easy.  I have been thinking of starting a personal blog for myself for some time now but thought that it would have been too hard.  Now that I know how to set it up, I think that may be something I want to accomplish.  I want to learn how to use Web 2.0 tools to my advantage.  I think that I am proficient enough with technology and the Internet, but I know that I could learn more, especially to find ways that I can use this technology in the classroom.