Thing # 4 Here a Comment, There a Comment

           Although I have never followed or commented on any blogs before this class, I can see value of leaving comments.  Commenting does create a sense of community and interaction because it allows people from all over the world to find others who share the same interests, hobbies, or concerns.  When people are linked to a community, they can feel like they are a part of something larger.  They feel like they belong and can identify with others who are like them.  Community interaction can lead to support, influence, and an appreciation for others. 

            I read through the attached resources on commenting and was struck by two particular points.  The first was from ‘The Coolcat Teacher Blog’.  Section 7 covered the topic of how to criticize in a kindly fashion.  I thought this was a very poignant point.  It seems like many people have lost touch with how to be tactful when responding to something they disagree with.  Everyone deserves to have an opinion and deserves to be heard.  There is, however, a proper way to respond when disagreements arise.  You can be polite and respectful when leaving a comment without condemning or belittling the person posting the message.  The second point that popped out was from ‘ProBlogger’.  The article mentions the significance of interacting with the comments that other people leave.  I never really thought about why leaving a response to a comment would be important.  As I read the point though, it does sound sensible.  Almost everyone wants to feel valued and feel that his/her opinions are heard.  Responding to a post provides the person with that feeling.  Relationships can grow from there, which in turn, creates the community that so many people are seeking.

            Since I have never posted a response to a blog post, I will do my best.  It is a bit intimidating, kind of like learning how to ride a bike or diving for the very first time. Just like anything in life, it will take practice to get better.  Below are the blogs that I chose to follow and why.

Scott – his technology skills seem on par with mine and his ‘can-do’ attitude in inspiring

Bing – she has an upbeat spirit and I feel her views are similar to mine

Emily – she seems very motivated to learn more

Christine – her tech skills are great and I am curious to see what neat things she will produce

Vanessa – she has some great insights and views about education and technology

Teachingwithtlc.com http://www.teachingwithtlc.com/ - it is filled with creative tips for teachers and parents

Busydadblog.com http://www.busydadblog.com/  - he has a funny take on parenting and offers up quirky advice

Thing # 12 Rummaging around Google

            Google Translate (http://translate.google.com/) is an amazing application!  I can see it being a useful tool when traveling around different countries.  It is certain easier than lugging around a translation dictionary. 

            I started out by testing the function with simple German sentences to see if it was accurate. 

“I must drive to the store to buy milk.” --- translated into, “Ich muss in den Laden fahren, um Milch zu kaufen.” (Perfect translation)

“My brother hit me with a soccer ball yesterday and it left a mark.” --- translated into, “Mein Bruder schlug mich mit einem Fuβball gestern und es links eine Markierung.” (Good translation, but a few mistakes)

I tried a few more lengthy and complicated sentences and the translations were fairly decent, but corrections needed to be made in order for it to be grammatically correct.  Many of the translation mistakes were due to literal interpretations of the words.  For example, using the sentence from above – left translated into links.  While this is technically correct, the German word that should be used here is different.  Even though there were minor errors, I can still see this being a great application to use.

I am happy though that it was not around when I was teaching German so many years ago.  I can easily see students using this function to cheat in order to help translate their work.  It could be very tempting to just copy and paste the homework assignment into the translation section and have it do the heavy lifting.  The student would just have to clean it up.  Modern language teachers will surely have to keep this in the back of their minds when correcting assignments.

The second Google application I tried was Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts?hl=en) .  My husband has this and it drives me crazy!  He has it set to his favorite sports teams and a few work related sites.  That “Ping” sounds is constantly going off.  And of course, no matter what is going on, he will check it.  It is not just him though.  I constantly see people checking their phones when it ‘pings’.  Google must have been channeling Ivan Pavlov when they invented this application.  This is a sore subject with me, so I will not digress anymore.  In all seriousness though, the application is a great tool to use because you can set up your own parameters.  You can narrow the updates down from ‘as it happens’ to ‘once as day’; you can have it filter from multiple sources or just a few specific ones; and it can send general or best results.  This would be especially good for teachers because they could treat it like RSS feeds and have class projects and assignments that center around current information that is happening around them.

Thing # 11 Feeding Time

            When I first read over this exercise, I thought that it would be simple, quick, and easy.  Boy, was I wrong.  I did not realize how difficult it would be to find feeds that interested me.  Wait, I can’t say that completely.  It was easy to find common and widely recognized professional feeds like, CNN, National Geographic, and National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).  It was much more difficult to find smaller niche feeds that I could find useful.  The two search tools, Topix and Technorati, were a little too confusing for me.  There was so much to read on each of the homepages, I didn’t know where to start.  Feeling frustrated, I switched to Google Blog Search.  I fared much better here.  The page was simple and easy to read, which was perfectly fine for my level.  I was able to locate the more popular feeds pretty quickly (the ones above), and even found some smaller ones that are related to meeting teachers direct needs (lesson plans, classroom management, etc.) 

After locating some that would help me as a teacher, I tried to find some that I could use personally.  This was also more difficult because there are just so many blogs out there in the blogosphere.  For example, when I typed in the word ‘parenting’, a zillion options popped up.  Not only that, but then the majority of the names sounded strange or questionable.  Then my mind jumped to suspicious thoughts … “What if I click on it and I get some sort of malware (which I did when I tried the Mashup activity)?  What if I click on it and questionable material comes up on the screen and now I will be flagged by the Powers-That-Be who control the Internet and they report me to the authorities?”  Oh, the thoughts were endless.  It took a while to read through many of the topic blurbs, but I was finally able to find a few that were legitimate.  I recognized the names from some magazines, so I knew I would be save.  Is there a way to find out which ones are real and which ones are either hoaxes/virus senders?  I still have some much to learn. 

Thing # 10 Searching for the USS (oops) RSS Enterprise

            Before starting this class, I had little knowledge about RSS or news feeds.  I have heard of ‘the wire’ though (when newscasters frantically say, “This just came in over the wire” and it ends up being something traumatic), but I never really connected the two.  Well, now I know what they mean.  RSS and news feeds seem to be a great way to stay informed about what is going on in the world, and is applicable for your personal and professional life.  It is a simply way to get information without having to log on to all the websites you like to visit every day.  It saves time since you do not need to sludge through information you already know just to get to the new stuff.  It is uncomplicated and hassle-free. 

            In my personal life, I can see using RSS feeds for a variety of things.  Since I love to bake, I am always on the warpath for a new/different recipe to try.  Rather than having to thumb through my cookbooks, or search online on my favorite cooking website, I can just get a daily recipe ‘fed’ to me from the site.  I signed up for the Betty Crocker RSS feed and I am looking forward to seeing what they will send me.  Hopefully I can concoct some amazing baked goods!  Good for my kids, but bad for my waistline.

            RSS and news feeds sound like excellent media applications for teachers and schools.  The most obvious would be that teachers could stay current on the changes that are happening in their specific field of education.  They can get up-to-date information that can impact their profession.  On a more useable level, RSS feeds would be very useful for receiving inventive lesson plans, practical project ideas, and creative twists to teaching techniques.  Students can turn to RSS feeds for current information on particular projects they are working on.  It is a perfect way to increase their resources when they are doing research. 

I can also see teachers assigning students RSS feeds to watch every day and report to the class on what they read.  This keeps the students informed in what is going on around them outside of their own world.  Although the world is getting ‘smaller’ and more accessible, many kids are still unaware of most things that happen which do not affect them directly.  Reading about news from other countries, and being informed about what is affecting other people, can really help kids be more aware of affairs and situations in other areas.

… (While writing this, my husband mentioned that feeds would be perfect for daily mini-debate activities if there is extra time in class.  Students could read feeds from sources that have opposing views, and have mini-discussions about them.  It would be a spark to get students thinking.  Good idea husband!)

Ting # 9 Endless Images

       

 

        I looked through all of the generator options suggested and was really drawn to the ‘Image Chef’ Website.  It seemed to be the most useful to me as an elementary school teacher, as well as a mom.  I spent about 45 minutes just browsing around looking at all the different options that I could possibly use.  There are so many choices, it was very difficult for me to just pick a few to display on the blog.  I thoroughly enjoyed creating different images.  I narrowed it down to three that I could post up on the blog – one personal image and two education images.

        License Plate: Since I would love to live in Hawaii, I obviously had to manipulate the Hawaii State license plate.  I always crave warm weather and sun, and Hawaii is the ultimate setting for me.

        Post-it Note: I thought this image would be fitting to place into my students’ folders to remind them about specific upcoming tests.  It is a nice change from just a drab reminder.
        Elephant Teacher: I made this image as a possible poster to hang on the wall in the classroom.  It is a quirky way to get kids interested in learning.

            These types of generator websites are a great way to convey a message without being overbearing or nagging.  They are a simple way to get a point across in a fun and uplifting way.  It is one of those things that just make you smile when you see it.  I can see using these in the classroom.  Since these images are personalized, they can draw the students’ attention quickly.  They are brief, to the point, and easy to read.  This is perfect because you do not want the importance of the message to get ‘lost’ in a bunch of boring stuff.  Kids (mine at least) tend not to remember important things, so capturing their attention with a quick visual is great.  Images like these can also spruce up parent newsletters and highlight the more important information in the letter.  There is an infinite amount of school notes and letters come home, and it is very easy to just skim through what is written on them.  Generated images can make a parent stop skimming and concentrate on what pops out from the page.  I am certainly looking forward to using these applications.

            So check out this fantastic website at www.imagechef.com.  It will be well worth it.

Thing # 8 Mashup or Mashpotatos???

         I had a great time exploring Mashups. I got lost in all the different ways I could manipulate information to make exactly what I wanted. A mashup is undoubtedly a unique way to present material. Some of the more in-depth mashup methods were a little intimidating, but I did poke around a bit to see what they were about. Having audio, video, graphics, and text all in one place is pretty snazzy. Interactive is surely the wave of the future. I, however, got my feet wet combining Flickr and Mosaic Maker to make a collage of photographs. Yes, I realize it is not as intricate as most mashups, but it seemed like something I could handle with the confidence that I currently have.

         Looking at all the possibilities of mashups, all I can say is, “Where was this when I did my 8^th grade Social Studies poster-presentation on Germany? Using Germany as an example, I could create an interactive mashup to bring my sad one-dimensional presentation to the next level. I could display a map of Germany on the Smart Board. Pushpins could be on the map to highlight the areas on which I would concentrate. I could click on the points to bring up pictures of that particular location, have video clips on the surrounding culture, and even audio selections of the inhabitants speaking in their native tongue. In one fell swoop, I could take the class on an unbelievable journey.

         Mashups are definitely applications that I will put in my arsenal of education tools (well, at least I will when I become more proficient). Mashups can be fantastic alternatives to one or two-dimensional education. They can help make a subject more interesting, captivate students’ attention, and stimulate deeper thinking.

         I can see so many student and teacher projects being produced using mashups. It enriches the topic being studied and allows for greater creativity. Teachers can use mashups to introduce all of the elements they will be covering in an upcoming unit; they can use mashups to study one specific issue at a more in-depth level; they can even use mashups to create review games for upcoming tests. Students can also take advantage of using mashups. They can be used for project presentations, for multi-level assignments, and for comprehensive portfolios to show off the work done throughout the year.

         Although mashups are a great way to enhance education, caution is definitely necessary. In order for it to be effective, teachers need to be proficient enough in using this technology to create meaningful lessons. It is one thing to jumble a bunch of technology together and show it to the class, but it is quite another to connect it in a significant way to generate a quality piece of teaching from which students can truly learn.

Credit to Flickr entries:

1. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/iborrego/5511196792/">Wailua Falls - Kauai, Hawaii</a>, 2. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/grantzprice/5000431161/">Hawaii 2010</a>, 3. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jblackpixs/5501206420/">Hawaii Orchid</a>, 4. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/62610543@N03/8188158990/">Hawaii --- Sea turtle (Oahu Island)</a>, 5. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobgcampbell/472710455/">Flowing Lava 1</a>, 6. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jglennmontano3/2980007567/">Dead End.    Lava flow over the road.</a>, 7. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterbug_girl/533111351/">Hula Dancer 9</a>, 8. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/davegolden/4903841728/">Hula</a>, 9. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/konaboy/266752014/">Nene</a>

Thing # 5 ... There was a Web 1.0???

          … Okay so maybe I have more to learn about technology than I had originally thought (and I already thought that was lot!).  Sine I completely missed Web 1.0, I really need to become familiar with Web 2.0.  After reading through all of the linked resources to familiarize myself with the subject, Web 2.0/School 2.0 sounds very amazing and beneficial to teachers, students, and education in general … but I also have some concerns about it it as well.

            School 2.0 is a fantastic way to present teaching.  If done properly, it can revolutionize education.  It is changing the face of teaching and learning.  This new idea of education is breaking the traditional boundaries that most of us have grown up with.  As I look back on my schooling, I remember lots of heavy textbooks, endless hours of notetaking, straight rows of desks, lecture-style teaching, card catalogs, and confining classrooms.  All this is now changing.  Web 2.0 is bringing education to life: it is giving teaching and learning new legs, and those legs are taking us to places we never thought possible.  With such ground-breaking technology, students can scrutinized the painting of the Mona Lisa, take a virtual field trip to the Louvre in Paris where it is now on display, research Florence Italy where Leonardo da Vinci first started painting it, and Skype with a professional artist in Frances who can provide them with substantial background information about it … all in 1 hours’ time!  That, to me, is simply amazing.  This type of education is pushing the envelope and creating some exciting new dynamics.  Students can video conference with other classrooms around the globe, participate in discussions and projects with groups who are not even in the same room, and integrate emerging ideas at the touch of a button.  Technology has certainly enriched education and is changing the description of what education should entail.

            I am also a bit hesitant about it too though.  All of this technology seems to be coming at us at such a fast rate of speed.  I am worried that it will eventually cause an overload and become so overwhelming that real education might be lost.  Technology is certainly glitzy and captivating, but it is also addicting to the point where some cannot function well without it.  Technology is becoming so embedded in education, and we are relying on it more and more now.  Can we be just as creative without having to use it?  Are we depending on it too much to teach or learn?  Are we forgoing personal interaction in favor of artificiality?  These are some of the questions that I am starting to think about now that I know more about School 2.0/Web 2.0.  But perhaps it is my inexperience at this point, as to why I have all these questions.  Whatever the case though, it will be interesting to see how this will change education in the long run.

Thing # 6 Who's a Tool?

          While browsing around the Web 2.0 award sites, I immediately noticed one called Kidopo (http://www.kidopo.com/).  Since I have kids of my own, I thought this would be worth checking out.  It was so worth it!  I even bookmarked it (well, to be honest, my husband had to show me how to do it first … but, then I really did do it myself).  Upon opening the site, I was immediately greeted with a rainbow of vibrant colors and kid-friendly icons.  I clicked on the ‘About Us’ link at the bottom of the page and found out that Kidopo is a small start-up company that is “aiming to improve children’s basic skills of reading, drawing, math, crafts and computers – preparing them for tomorrow’s world.”  Not too shabby; I’m all for helping kids succeed.

The website is very easy to read and quite user-friendly.  The main icons are at the top of the pages and consist of Games, Coloring Pages, Printables, Videos, and Crafts.  Within each major topic icon are smaller specialized icons from which kids can choose.  For example, on the Games page there are a number of games ranging from silly to more serious – The Dating Show, Math Man 2, Test My History, 50 Optical Illusions, etc.  The Coloring page has categories like – Animals, Food, Holidays, Learning, Seasons, etc. The Printables page is full of designs for Awards, Bookmarks, Mazes, Writing Paper, etc.  The Crafts page is stuffed with ideas for Cooking, Holidays, Science, Origami, etc.  The last icon, Videos, has popular cartoon shows like – Hello Kitty, Sonic X, Woody Woodpecker, Super Mario Brothers, etc.

I am so psyched about this website!  It can definitely be used in schools and libraries.  It is so thorough.  It does a terrific job taking the popular things that attract kids and blending it with education.  Although I liked it, I had to try it out on my own kids just to be sure.  Since they rarely get to use the internet, they were so excited to “test it out for mommy and assess if it is appropriate” (they love being the test subjects for my classes).

Check it out here: http://www.kidopo.com/

 

Thing # 3 Finally Registering

I can see many advantages to using a Blog in education.  I would have to say that a blog can be very helpful for teachers, as well as students.

I would certainly use a blog to pose topics and issues that I am trying to tackle in my teaching.  Simply writing something down can help shed light on a situation or matter that I did not see before.  Thinking about it is one thing, but actually seeing it in writing is something totally different.  Often times the act of writing can provide self-clarification.  Blogging can also get your topic/issue out to other teachers.  More experienced teachers can provide valuable feedback and give suggestions.  They might have certain techniques or materials that could help strengthen my lessons and make it more understandable to the students.

            Although I will be teaching at the elementary level, I can see a blog being very useful for younger children too.  It would be a great learning activity to set up a classroom blog to let parents, students, and administrators know what we are doing.  It can help them stay abreast of our day-to-day endeavors.  Since most adults have instant access to the internet, it would be very easy to log on and see what is going on in the class.  Depending on the lesson, students (with the guidance of an aide) can do anything from post information, to voice opinions, or simply express their creativity.  Although students could only add information during school time, they can log on to the Blog at home to see what they have created and read what others have posted.  It will certainly be a good feeling to see something that they have done pop up on the computer screen!

Thing # 2 ... Blogging it

Creating this blog was very frustrating for me.  Since I am fairly new to creating things using technology, I was certainly confused.  I sat down around 7 pm and finally finished at 10 pm!  I could not believe it took me 3 hours to generate one piece of creative technology.  Needless to say, I have quite a bit of practice to do in order for this to become more of a fluid and easy experience.  Thankfully, my children were not around while I was doing this since I did say 1 or 2 (or 3 …) words that young ears should not hear.  The things that were most confusing were the individual steps needed to make the blog.  I thought it would be ‘spelled out’ on Blogspot in very specific steps similar to a recipe.  I quickly found out that this is not the case.  After all was said and done though, I was pretty pleased with my accomplishment.  Since this was my first time doing it, I think I did well. 

The title of my Blog, TW’s 23 Technology Journey, and the domain name, twsfinalfrontier, really reflect what this class means to me.  This is truly a new experience for me.  It is a journey that I never thought I would take, as well as, a frontier that I never thought I would have to enter.  I am Captain Kirk, or Jean Luc Picard, on my own personal voyage into the unknown.  It is scary, and I do not know what I will encounter, but I am sure it will be a roller coaster of adventure.

Although creating an avatar (I have never heard of an avatar) was a bit of a struggle in the beginning, I was able to get into it and have fun.  At first, I thought I would make a simple version of me, but then I thought that this is the time to be a bit different … so I crafted a Japanese version of myself.  My husband is Japanese, so I thought it would be funny.  The final product looked quite strange and a bit frightening, so I scrapped that idea and started over.  I got to thinking about what I like and enjoy doing.  I love the outdoors, the warm weather, and being active.  After a click here and there, I produced, what I think, is an accurate visual representation of my favorite things.  I even dream about living in Hawaii (although it is hard to justify spending $600K on 1,000 sq. ft.) and spending all my time outdoors enjoying the tropical wonders of the island!

Thing # 7 Exploring Flickr ... from Space

 Credit goes to:  mrks_sree

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4137/4922403453_c8976bc155_q.jpg

    I had a great time exploring Flickr.  I got so caught up looking at all the different images, I forgot to put the kids to bed at 8:30 pm.  My daughter came down around 9 pm and asked if it was alright to go to bed.  Yikes.  Now I can see how easy it can be to get sucked into technology.  The pictures were amazing and it opened my eyes to other perspectives and what other people find fascinating.  There is so much to see and explore on the web.  It can be extremely fun and helpful, but also a little scary.  It is just so vast and seemingly never-ending.
    This is precisely one of the reasons why I choose an image of the Earth from space.  Space is completely boundless and overwhelming.  There doesn’t seem to be an end or, for that matter, a beginning.  It is just there ... everywhere ... all around us.  Whenever I think about our place in space, the Earth just seems like it is such a minuscule part of something so colossal that it is hard to wrap my head around the idea.  As we move around in our daily lives, concerning ourselves with work, school, children, etc., it is easy to forget that there so much out there that we don’t know and are completely unaware of.  Only when we step back and think about it, we realize that the limits might really just be limitless.
    This can definitely be juxtaposed to the web.  There is so much to see and learn.  The internet is certainly infinite; one click will lead to another, to another, to another, and the next thing you know you are in a completely different place from where you started.  It just goes on forever.  In taking this Web 2.0 class, I hope to explore this limitless area and discover new things that I can integrate into my lessons to help my students succeed.

Thing # 1 - This is my Frontier

As I looked over the 7 ½ habits of Lifelong Learners, I became uneasy when Habit #6 - Use Technology To Your Advantage - popped up on the screen.  When I went to school, computers were not prevalent, cell phones were just beginning to emerge in the form of large brick-like structures, and windows on cars still had to be rolled down with a crank handle.  … Oh how far we have come.  My parents never were interested in the latest technology, so as a result, neither were my brother and I.  We grew up turning pages of books and playing outside from dawn to dusk.  I have to admit, I am nervous about really learning about technology.  Don’t take me wrong, I use a cell phone albeit an old one that can just make calls, and I know my way around a computer.  Anything more than that though is so foreign to me.  Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, etc. seem completely alien.  I know that I have to face “my last frontier”.  In order for me to become the best teacher that I can be, I have to embrace the technology that is around me, learn how to incorporate into my everyday life, and use that knowledge to help my students develop to the best of their ability.

But, alas, when Habit #7 ½ popped up – Play – I felt much better.  Now this is something that is right up my alley.  I have always been good at playing and having fun.  As I said earlier, when we were younger, my brother and I would spend all day outside running around and playing.  At dinnertime, my mother would open the front door and yell “Kids, Dinner”, and we would come running.  Then right after dinner, we would build a fort, construct Lego cities, and play board games.  As I got older, I kept that same spirit and have passed that disposition down to my children.  We are constantly on the go.  Whether it is exploring a different hiking trail, inventing a new game, or running around in the backyard, we are having fun just playing.  Playing has been such an integral part in my life that it has helped shape who I am today.  This is something that definitely benefit me in the classroom.