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.