I can hardly believe that I am through with all “23 Things”! It has been super fun and exciting to discover and rediscover some of the tools web 2.o has to offer.
One of my favorite “things” was “Thing 12″ mash-ups and image generators. I am still having tons of fun spelling with flickr. While working with this, I remembered the site Wordle. Wordle is a bit different than spelling with flickr. Wordle is a site where you may input words and the site will generate a word cloud for you. As I was reading the “FAQs” of Wordle, it stated “The images created by the Wordle application are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license.” Had I not learned about Creative Commons during this online experience, I wouldn’t have known what that meant or even have paid much attention to it. So if you get a chance, take a minute to discover Wordle.
I have also enjoyed building my blog and developing ideas for incorporating some of these “things” into my classes this coming school year. I definitely want to keep my blog going and may even post some lessons by podcast in order to alter the traditional way of introducing a new skill. I have also thought about using podcasts to present lessons while a substitute is in my room. I wouldn’t need to leave extensive sub plans and the students would be able to learn as if I was right there teaching the lesson.
My thinking about web 2.0 tools hasn’t changed much with completing the “23Things”. I am always excited about being introduced to new web 2.0 tools at trainings and conferences that I have attended. Unfortunately, I usually don’t make enough time to try them out or think about ways of implementing them into my classroom or my personal life. It seems such a shame not to use such valuable tools. I would love a follow up class to this. Many times I’m not sure which tools I should explore first, so I was nice to have a focus for my exploration. I would highly recommend this class to fellow teachers and I look forward to using the tools from this course both professionally and personally!
I found it very simple to create a wiki. The wiki I created is titled “Steele Test Wiki 4 Tech Tips“. I started this as a test wiki to practice with, but would love to implement a Tech Tips wiki for the teachers to use at school. There have been many times teachers have had tips that could have helped with the use of technology in the classroom and using a wiki would be a great way to share that information.
The difference between a blog and a wiki was rather hard for me to determine. Most blogs have only one author and readers can post their comments whereas a wiki can be authored and edited by the users of its users. Many wikis even allow anyone to edit them, not just those with user accounts. I think I finally understand the difference, but in seeking that understanding, I found this wiki which helps to decipher the difference and helps you to know when to use a blog or wiki. The wiki includes a chart to help tell the differences between blogs and wikis.
I had heard about wikis before, but never really understood how they were different from a blog or a webpage. After completing this “thing”, I do see how wikis are different. I think it is very cool that there are programs that allow for online collaboration. As I learned more about wikis, it sounded much like using Google Docs except that wikis are online, public, and open to anyone. I think using a wiki to collaborate between classrooms is a great idea. I could definitely see Social Studies creating a wiki and collaborating with another class from anywhere, to answer a common question. I can also see using a wiki for an online book discussion or to generate a “favorite” book list for a class or grade level. I think I would like to explore wikis more to see how I can incorporate them in my technology classes.
I found that embedding and downloading videos is extremely easy. I love the download feature. I wish I would have known about this when my district restricted the use of YouTube. I think it is much easier to conduct a lesson using a video that has been downloaded and saved to your desktop. By downloading the video you can eliminate the buffering that sometimes occurs and you don’t have to worry about the internet being slow or not working.
I could spend hours on YouTube! There are so many videos that are just plain fun and entertaining to watch. I find it interesting that YouTube isn’t used for entertainment purposes anymore! The mainstream news media is even airing YouTube video clips on-air. Just recently a couple posted a video of their wedding entrance down the church aisle and it received so much attention that Good Morning America did a segment with the couple. The couple never expected the video to receive so much attention or to receive so many responses to it. It is amazing what one video can do, and how many people from so many different places can view it and critique it! Talk about Web 2.0 being an online community… well there you have it!
My district just allowed YouTube to be accessed last year. Many teachers were requesting to be able to use it in lessons. There are many videos or video clips that can help students learn, review, or demonstrate a certain concept. I have used a few video clips in my instruction as either an introduction to a unit or a specific lesson.
I have found that having YouTube available to everyone has created another classroom management issue. There have been several times where students who are supposed to be researching, are listening to the latest music from a video posted on YouTube (which doesn’t always have the most appropriate language). I have also had students visit YouTube through a specific link and it doesn’t take long before someone gets off task and starts browsing YouTube for other videos they are interested in. However, when students are caught being off task, it does give me another opportunity to discuss with the class the importance of following the Internet Agreement policy that the student and their parent(s) signed at the beginning of the year. So even being off task can still be a learning experience.
One frustration I have – and it isn’t only with YouTube – is that we are trying to teach students that they should leave feedback in a precise and positive way. And, many times the comments you find on blogs or on YouTube are either off topic or are downright nasty. I wonder what the students think when they hear their teachers saying to leave positive comments or constructive criticism and the post just before theirs is doing just the opposite.
Slideshare and Voicethread are great sites. In this “thing” I know we were supposed to chose, but I couldn’t choose so I explored both.
I have had some previous training on Voicethread, but wanted to take some time to revisit and relearn. I think Voicethread would be great to use in the classroom. I can see teachers using “voicethreads” to create a class story book. Voicethread is also a wonderful way of creating a safe outlet for students to express ideas, opinions, feedback and for students to have an outlet for self-expression. I also really like that students can see the work of other students. There is nothing better than students learning from their peers and Voicethread allows for that to happen.
Slideshare was new to me. I spent some time searching for a presentation that I could use in the classroom or library. I found that for some of the slide presentations it would helped to better understand the slideshow if the author’s speaking notes could have been included. I think it will be a great tool for archiving PowerPoints that I use on a regular basis. I also like the idea that I can open my saved PowerPoints wherever there is a computer with internet access. I love the idea that you can embed a slideshow or document into a blog or website. In the past, it has been very hard to include PowerPoints and documents on our teacher webpages, and this is a wonderful alternative. I don’t feel as though I have explored Slideshare enough to really realize all of the potential ways that it can benefit me professionally. I look forward to exploring it more.
I tried this online tool for the first time today and found it to be very user friendly. My first thought while trying it out was that this would be a great tool to use for Language Arts classes. Students could story map, idea map, map out a research paper, and the list could go on! I could also see this being used in a science class to map out the scientific method or to map classification. Social Studies classes could have students use a map to map out the five themes of geography and how they relate to a specific country or region. Oh the ideas are endless! I can’t wait to share this one with teachers!
I tried this tool out briefly. I like the idea of an online calendar that is easy to use, however I would still prefer to use Google Calendar over this one. But, this would be a good option for someone who needed a simple online calendar. I did like that it had the “to do” list built in, whereas Google Calendar doesn’t (or at least not that I have discovered yet!).
This one is a favorite among students…. they just can’t get enough. I taught my Library Club members about this and it was amazing how fast I had other students signing up for Library Club just to learn how to use this tool. It really is just way too much fun! I had students practice taking pictures with a digital camera and then uploading the pictures to use in blabberize. They had fun learning and doing!
I use this tool with my Google Calendar. I like it because you can create categories, color coded items, and it is very simple to use. If you use it with your Google Calendar, it adds a little check mark bar at the top of each day. Just click on it and you’ll have your “to do” list for the day or the week. For a minimal fee you can upgrade and have some advanced features! This tool is great as long as you get into a routine of checking it online everyday and updating it. Or, make sure you log into your Google Calendar to keep up-to-date on your “to do’s”.
Teaching copyright and fair use is and has been a major part of my job. It has also been something that I have struggled with each school year. Every year it is very challenging to ensure that all staff and students understand copyright, fair use, the reasons behind it and the consequences if something is misused.
I have seen the “cc” before but I never investigated the difference between the “C” and “cc”. I love the idea stated on the home page of Creative Commons site that the “cc” allows you to “share, reuse, and remix” the works of others. I also love the fact that when using FireFox, you can use the search box in the upper right corner and select Creative Commons as your search engine (to see an example, you can click here to watch a short screencast about this from Creative Commons). This feature makes it very easy to search for items licensed with Creative Commons.
I am already thinking of having students complete a scavenger hunt type activity where they find examples and/or evidence of different types of licensing. Most students are used to looking for the “C”, but the Creative Commons symbol will be probably be new to them. Hopefully this activity will help to make them aware of which things can be used freely and which things are restricted from use.
After looking at the podcast directories The Education Podcast Directory and Podcast Ally, I was able to sample many podcasts that could be used in the classroom. One that I found interesting was the Tech Tips Tuesday. I didn’t subscribe to the podcast but rather the blog. I subscribed to the blog using my bloglines account. The Tech Tips Tuesday blog also includes the mp3 podcast for that week. I thought that this would be a great idea for using in a technology class. I was thinking that it would be a great way to teach a new and easy skill to the students each week. Or, students could generate the tech tips and then the podcasts could be posted to a tech tips blog or emailed as a podcast to teachers.
While browsing the podcast directories, I found that Podcast Alley was much easier for me to navigate. The Education Podcast Directory layout seemed a bit busy and squished in the page making it hard for me to read and navigate. I love iTunes U because the podcasts are all educational and one doesn’t need to worry as much about the content students are browsing. It is just important to be sure students are listening to the correct subject matter and are at the correct grade level. I am very excited to see which podcasts can be incorporated into the library and technology classes this year. I am also very exited to introduce this to other staff members as I know it will be very beneficial to use in the classroom.
I have learned a lot about podcasting during this past school year, so nothing was really “new” to me. There are many podcasts out there and one could seemingly explore them for what seems like forever. There are many ways I feel that podcasting can add to learning. Using podcasts forces students to practice good listening skills. Podcasts are offered on various topics and can be used as supplemental material to reinforce topics covered in class. Students can also benefit from listening to student-made podcasts to hear peers around the world talk about the same subjects being learned. Podcasts can also help students with reading fluency and intonation. The possibilities for podcasting in the classroom seem endless.
One podcast I found particularly valuable for me professionally was “Booktalks Quick and Simple” by Nancy Keane. I am always booktalking to the classes that visit the library. I find that the books that “fly” off the shelves are the ones I have booktalked. Some of Nancy Keane’s booktalks are now podcasts which is great for me. I can booktalk books on my own with some podcasted booktalks from Nancy Keane, thus making my job easier. I can also use this site as a reference for students to use if they need help finding an interesting book to read.
Another podcasting site I enjoy personally can also be used in the classroom. I love listening to “StoryCorps” from NPR. StoryCorps is a nonprofit organization that has been traveling across the United States recording or “podcasting” peoples stories. If you would like more specifics on this nonprofit organization who mission is “to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening” please visit www.storycorps.org. Many of the podcasts found would be great to use in a high school journalism class. Some of the podcasts could be also used at the middle school level. I can see these podcasts being used as examples for a class project in which students practice interviewing skills to interview a person who has been a positive role model or has made a significant impact in the student’s life.
There are many ways to incorporate podcasts into student learning, personal learning, and professional learning.
