Seriously One Last Thing

So Animoto was by far my favorite application I discovered through the completion of my 23 things. Animoto was alot of fun because I made a video of a Cowboy Party that my frat had this semester. The site was very easy to use and fun. All my friends loved the video. I really want to continue these types of exercises in class that I am either the student or the teacher. I would like to continue to learn more; on that note I would also like to share my knowledge. I wasn't really surprised by any aspects of project specifically. The overall enjoyment of the project was a pleasant surprise though. The concept of this program was overall very good. The time restraint of this course often times made this assignment stressful, but there is no way to fix the length of a semester. The information I gained from this project will help me to become more aware of technology as a teacher. I will continue to stay updated on web 2.0 tools through the use and application of the new tools that become available. Overall this was a very good learning experience and an opportunity to expand my technological knowledge.

Thing #23 Creative Commons

Due to extensive reading and learning about Creative Commons I now have a good grasp of the idea. But the basis of the idea is formed because traditional copyright license really restrict the use of a creation. Many artist, writers, and students wanted to have ownership of their creation, yet wanted to share it with the rest of the world. This was achieved with the newly formed licensing that Creative Commons offers. As a teacher I will use this if I create a new document or literary work that I want to share with other people. It is important to retain credit for my work but I would like to share it with other teachers if it would increase the educatoinal experience of their students.

Thing #22 Podcast

I found an Explanation of Othello to be a very interesting podcast. Often times Shakespeare's works are difficult to understand and require an additional explanation for first time students. This is an excellent aid for a teacher to use during class time. I really liked the Learn Out Loud directory and the Educational Podcast Directory, they seemed to be the easiest directories to navigate. I think these are excellent instructional aids although I am not totally sold on the idea of creating podcast. I am also not completely convinced on the idea of following podcast on the web.

Thing #21 Animoto

So I think this application is very cool and fun. I had a hard time finding interesting pictures but I think these work well. The music I found was very appropriate and fun with the pictures that I posted. I would encourage anyone and everyone to use this application. I actually posted the video on my facebook page. Yeah I thought it was that cool. It was time consuming though.

Thing # 20 YoUtUbE

I really like Youtube, I think that it is an excellent source for additional education opportunity as well as a great source of entertainment. I commonly get on Youtube to look up my favorite music videos and movie clips. But through this exercise I also realized that educational videos could be found. The video that I found to be most educational applicable to this blog is called 3 Phases to Educational Technology. This video provides an indepth explanation of the progression of technology within the classroom. The use of video aid to back up literary works or projects would be excellent for use within the library site.

Thing # 19 Other Social Networks

I haven't ever been a member of any social networking sites other than Myspace and Facebook unitl I became a member of the Ning Network, Teacher Pop. I think this is a great social network that easily allows you to navigate from page to page. The use of this site is endless for teachers to communicated and relay ideas. I really like the Ning College 2.0 social network as it included many college students. The networking and idea exchange of this social network could be a very valuable a college student. The gains could be both from a social context and a educational context. The network really reminded me of a low budget myspace as it offered the application of pictures, chats, and messaging. I could use this social network in the present to find college friends but this could lead to job opportunities. The relationships I form could be used later to help seek out a job or a career.

Thing #18 Mybook & Facespace

My facebook and myspace pages are the two webpages that I most often access. It is important for educators to understand social networking works because that is how all the students within as school make friends and become connected. I did not really gain any insights to these sites because I so frequently use them. I really like the music aspect of myspace, yet at the same time profiles often become cluttered with junk and applications. Facebook is more to the point and in all honesty my favorite. Facebook is very useful because of the instant message application. I don't really think there is a place for these sites within the classroom due to there casual nature. Social networking sites could cause a distraction within the classroom and they really lack the needs for formal communication.

Thing #17 Discoverlicious

I think that social book marking could be very useful within the classroom as it allows teachers to bookmark sites that can be accessed at any computer. Students could then go online and look at these specific websites and gain information. Delicious would allow a website exploration exercise to run much more smoothly for an entire classroom. An entire assignment could be based on the exploration that takes place. The bookmarks that a teacher creates can be accessed from anywhere this allows teachers to work on ideas from any computer. Teachers could definitely use the social aspect of this bookmarking application to gain further information and ideas.

Thing #16 Organuctive

I chose the Google start page to become my homepage. I really liked this page because it was very user friendly and was in a familiar format. All the Google applications are very usable and are commonly used. I plan to make the Google start page my homepage as it has updates on all current news, weather, and sports. The online calendars are most useful because they serve as reminders of specific dates. Online calendars are also very easily changed and updated. To me the idea of the to-do list is very reasonable, yet it just turns into to much work. The calendar tool in all honesty would most benefit a busy teacher keep up with assignment due dates, meeting dates, and up coming events. I use the calendar application of Google more often than any other online feature.

Thing #15 Wikis

I really liked exploring the wikis that were available on the web. The specific wikis listed for exploration are more scholarly then many other forms of wikis are. The idea of wikis is an excellent source of ideas or opinions but is not always fact. This is a fun sight to collect information, but this information should not always be considered fact. The academic world does not encourage this type of website to be used as a source for a scholarly paper, yet I can definitely see myself using wikis to find ideas. The establishment of ideas is often based off of other individuals ideas. The ability to gain ideas makes wikis important websites for me as an English student.

Thing #14 Mind Flow

So I'll start by saying despite what people may say there is very little differentiation that can be distinguished between a flow chart and a mind map. It seems to me that a flow chart shows a sequence of events as they occurred, where as a mind map shows the sequence of thought steming from its orgins. I really enjoyed the the flow chart application of Gliffy the most. This website offered the most usable and friendly tools. I also tried Bubbl.us to create a mind map, this program was less detailed and harder to understand. These type of charts would be extremely helpful when doing a presentation or teaching a lesson

Thing #13 APPS

I really liked the word document application of Zoho. In all honesty I am very surprised that there is a web based word application that is that complex. As fair as I could tell it had all the basic ammenities that Microsoft word has. This type of application is most definitely the future of computer applications. It is this program and similar programs that will eventually put Microsoft Office out of business. The ability to save things online helps to fee up space on individual computers allowing computers to run faster. The use of this application can be used by students in the classroom and professionals in the office. I see no down fall to adopting this application.

Thing #12 GoOgLe

I enjoyed furthing my exploration and understanding of Google. As we all know by now I am a huge advocate of Google. As it offers many conviences that make the web as a whole more user friendly. I truly enjoyed iGoogle, http://www.google.com/ig?hl=en. I made my own home page and explored all the applications that were listed. The amount of information that shows up on the screen is unreal. There are links everywhere that allow the user to explore even more information such as: news, sports, weather, etc. I was signed up for Google Alert, http://www.google.com/alerts?hl=en, which is an awesome application that will send current information to your email as it becomes available on the web. I signed up to be informed about severe weather. I was not dissappointed by the additional tools I found that Google provides.

Thing # 11 Feeds

Google is by far the easiest search tool for finding feeds. Google has an unfair advantage over all the other sites, the advantage is familiarity. Almost everyone has used some application that Google has designed. The common use of Google makes it by far the most user friendly. Google also breaks down the feeds into categories more clearly than the other sites. Syndic8.com was the most confusing site, the lack of links to specific categories also made it an inferior search tool for feeds. The feed I found most interesting was title "My God Joe," which was basically a gossip site for current events. Alot of search engines will take you to news feeds if you just type in a specific subject. Many of the results of search engines end up being some type of news feed.

Thing # 10 RSS

I really like RSS and readers, it is an awesome way to retain alot of information very quickly. I chose to use Google Reader because it is extremely user friendly, plus most people are familiar with the Google format. I am glad that I now know how to use this application. This could be used in the classroom as a way to keep students informed of current events. Teachers can use this technology to stay informed as well, the convience of this application makes it especially helpful.

Thing #9 Signs

I really enjoyed creating images using the application on the internet. My personal favorite was the application that allowed me to create personalized signs. The possiblities are endless with these personalized photos. Students could use this application to harness there abilities with a computer while also enjoying the creative process. These photos could be printed and posted throughout school buildings to portray real messages. The signs could be used as screen savers on the computers in the library. Overall this application can be used personally as a source of enjoyment. The application I used can be found at http://center-lane.signgenerator.net.

Thing #8 "JODY"

I think that Flickr could be an awesome online learning tool that would help students become more acquainted with the internet, computers, and web 2.0 tools. Spell with Flickr is a fun and interactive way that students could express themselves. This would be a great ice breaker for students at the beginning of each semester. I think that sharing photos online is a great way to spread awesome scenes and allow individuals to indirectly interact. The interaction that occurs helps to bring people together from all over the world, it also allows images to be seen by many. The many images that can be observed online may other wise remain unseen by many

Thing #7 Flickr is a "Silly Cow"

I really enjoyed exploring Flickr, it was an awesome learning experience that allowed me to better understand the website. I found a picture that I thought was really awesome. I picked a photo tagged as cow, or "silly cow" as it appeared on my screen. I searched this tag because I own several of my own cows. I thought this photo was hilarious! Flickr is a very useful website that offers many options for the user to utilize. On this website photos can be organized, uploaded, shared, and albums can be created.

Thing #6 Web 2.0 Cools

I really liked Team Snap, this is an excellent web tool for a dedicated teacher who would also like to be a coach. I liked Team Snap because it was very user friendly and had a free application. You could also pay a low monthly fee for a few extra options. This site had many useful features which include: the ability to manage the team’s active roster, keep track of game records, and also includes a calendar that informs you of all the team’s events. This Web 2.0 tool could definitely be used in an educational setting by teachers who are also coaches. The use of this tool would allow teachers to remain more focused on the academic part of their job, thus better educating the students.

Thing #5 Thoughts of School 2.0

According to Sir John Daniel, of Minds on Fire, for the Universities of the world to keep up with the increase in population qualified to attend college a university will have to be created each day. This shows the dire need for education to expand into the homes of this vast population. The expansion of education opportunity can efficiently grow through the use of Web 2.0 tools. The use of Web 2.0 tools introduces a completely new and unique form of education, commonly referred to as School 2.0. School 2.0 is online interactive form of education that allows teachers and students to share information globally. According to New Literacies, information literacy is the most disregarded element of the current school system. There is an immense amount of information available and many students don’t know how to navigate to find much needed information. As Web 2.0 tools are more readily available, schools are going to have to teach how the hone these skills in preparation for School 2.0.

Thing #4 Commenting Community

Commenting is the only way an individual can extract the human element from a blog. Alot can be read, but interaction makes the difference. Do not always expect a response to your blog comments and if a reponse is to long it is proper to create a new post. Both ideas contain a certain amount of understanding and etiquette which is necessary when using a blog. Brandy Seagraves Thing #2: I commented on this blog because Brandy is my friend and sits next to me. I also respect her views on the field of education. Heather Colson’s Thing #6: I commented on this blog because of the interesting website she discovered. Courtney Pack’s Thing #3: I commented on this blog because I agreed entirely with her idea of blogging as a healthy form of self expression. Carrie Smith’s Thing #2: I commented on this blog simply because of our shared interest of the beach. Joan Ryan Thing#4: I commented on this blog because I also thought it was odd to find so much information in the blog format. The Ill Man: I commented on this blog because it possessed funny, yet interesting historical photos. Mapstew: I commented on this blog because it had many music videos of songs from the past, of which many people would comment their opinions.

Thing #3 Classroom Blogging

A blog can be used in the classroom many ways. The class can interact with discussions about specific subjects or readings. Students could also interact with other parts of the country or world to broaden ideas on topics. Teachers can take part in blogging to discuss topics with students or to bounce ideas back and forth with other teachers. Homework can very easily become a class discussion from the comfort of the students homes.

Thing #2 My Avatar Posts on my Blog

I decided to name my blog "Dorris Educate's America" because through the tools applied and learned in this course my ability to educate can stretch far beyond the confinement of any single classroom in America. When I name postings I simply try to come up with a "witty" version of the thing's original name. The blog was extremely easy to set up due to my experience and the details contained in the 23 things list. I attempted to create my avatar to look how I appear in class or on campus. My avatar is a tangible representation of myself, I think it is important for bloggers to see who originated the blog.

Thing #1 Learning Habituation

All of the lifelong learning habits were very good ideas, altough "play" is often the hardest habit for me to practice. I have often said that 90% of time is spent doing things that you do not particularly want to d0, the other 10% is left for fun. The easiest of the habits for me to practice is to "view problems as challenges". I have honed this practice due to many problems that occur in daily life. I have experience using many web tools, I hope that this class will advance my knowledge of web tools and broaden my grasp internet use within the classroom. The blog was very easy to set up, and should produce some interesting activity. I feel that this activity will not only be interactive, but fun for the whole class.