Thing 23

I signed up for 23 Things because I wanted to become more familiar with Web 2.0 tools that I was already using and learn how to use the ones that I wasn't using. I can say that I have been able to reach those goals.

I do plan to continue to use this blog to go back and refresh my memory in the tools that I have been using this summer. My hope is to incorporate a few tools at a time into my classroom. I do plan on sharing these ideas with other teachers and hope that they will learn to use them with their students. My thoughts now are to work with some of the newer teachers to get them started with one or two tools and then branch out from there. I will also be using the same tools with my elementary students, 4th and 5th graders mostly, while the HS teachers are working with their students and I collaborate with them. I don't want to overwhelm them with all of these ideas and have them not use any. We'll focus on the ones that will benefit them most.

The ones that I see my teachers understanding and being willing to use most will be blogging, RSS feeds, and Google Docs. All can be used very easily and academically. From there, we might enter the world of wikis for collaboration between teachers and students or just student/student. Baby steps for now. I do see podcasting becoming a great way for students to enhance their learning both in listening to them and in making them. I have recorded podcasts before and feel pretty comfortable in showing students how to do it. It's getting the teachers to want to explore that as an option. The good thing is that we are all looking for ways in which to differentiate our instruction and what better way that with Web 2.0 tools!

CR

Thing 22

Here is my latest creation, my wiki. I am hoping to keep it up, but with so many new tools, I am going to have to choose which ones to use the most and which ones others will find helpful.

In general, I like to blog or use Facebook better than use the wiki. However, I can see the many possibilities with a wiki. I hesitate to use a wiki with high schoolers, even though they would love it. There is the chance that they will erase what others write just out of spite or like I said in my earlier post, to be "funny." For my elementary kids, I could find it quite useful, but I would need to make sure they all could remember the password, etc for editing purposes. Keeping parents involved is of course essential, as with all technology.

With my blog, I am the one writing and editing. With a wiki, anyone that is invited to share, may edit it. That's OK as long as the use is not lost in the writing. It would be more appropriate to use a wiki when collaborating on a project. It is better to use a blog when just wanting a discussion situation. I prefer for students to use the blog because they can't edit what someone else has said. The wiki would work well for projects as long as students were using it in a positive way. Students, in general, will like both using a blog and a wiki. It's using technology in the classroom and they are all for that.

CR

Thing 21

Wiki is a term that I first heard during graduate school. I remember joining a pbwiki site through a class, but never really getting the hang of it. I found it to be confusing. I'm not sure if that was me, the professor, or pbwiki.

In looking at the examples, these are some very comprehensive wiki sites. I was impressed with them all, really. Many people have spent quite a bit of time working on them. The one that I like the best was the educational wiki site. I was able to dig through some and this is a wiki that I could recommend to other teachers to use as a reference when trying to figure out the wiki world.

Some hurdles that I can think of off hand would be access to students. If I were to create a wiki for my students to add to and work on, I would need to trust them. Also, there would be the chance that others who shouldn't have access, would gain access from students. It would need to be monitored very closely. There is also the fact that many wiki sites are blocked at school and that is a hurdle that I may not be able to jump. I would need to prove its necessity and I don't know that I could justify a wiki over another tool.

There is also the problem of students posting inappropriate things on a wiki, more monitoring. It just seems very time constraining. Absolutely, guide lines would be set up, but there are always those kids who like to be "funny."

Under the best of situations, this could work, but I'm not sure that the hassles are worth the fight when there are other tools to use.

CR

Thing 20

Education Podcast Network and Podcast Alley are very good tools to be using to look up podcasts. In iTunes, I have really enjoyed Lit2Go put together by the University of South Florida in iTunesU. There are so many podcasts of fables, short stories, full classic novels, plays, etc, all by grade level. It is such a great resource for teachers to use. I do think that so many teachers are under the impression that they cannot get podcasts without an iPod. That will need to be made clear to them so that they can get going on this. Kids love a change and one way to do that is to introduce them to podcasting, etc. I am hoping to have more and more students creating podcasts not just listening to them.

I subscribe to several things from iTunes, but Car Talk and Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPR are my favorites. I just signed up for The Onion, a little change of pace. We'll see how that goes. I couldn't listen to too much today with little ears present. Plus, I downloaded all tracks for Kindergarten and Grade 1 from Lit2Go for my daughter. She is in a generation that will be using these tools more and more. The more I know, the more I can teach her as well as my students.

I prefer to use iTunes because I have practice using it. The other tools require me to create yet another log in to subscribe to them. I'm not very interested in creating yet another log in. However, I do see how useful these tools are and I may subscribe to some at school or have teachers subscribe. One that I really found interesting was at EPN under Social Studies. Each podcast gives clues for the students to find where in the world the author is. Very good geography/history lesson.

The down side could be in the downloading. Our restrictions at school for downloading can be pretty tight and I'm not sure if teachers will be able to download. Teachers will just have to plan ahead and download at home and save to their files.

CR

Thing 19

A few years ago when one of my professors in graduate school told us about podcasting, I did not like them at all. I had a printed copy of the article that he wanted us to listen to. I could read faster than the article was read to me and I was frustrated. Then I got an iPod. I know podcasts can work with any mp3 player, but this was my first chance to actually download a podcast using iTunes. I then saw how cool it was.

Though this lesson, I was able to revisit some podcasts that I had forgotten about. I really like Grammar Girl. If I were still in the regular classroom, I would absolutely have my students listening to her. I would also be using the other English lesson podcasts, like English Idioms and Slang or the Vocab Minute. The book talk podcasts are very helpful for me to use in the future. I can use them to gather ideas on how better to do book talks with the elementary kids. It's always good to get more ideas for that.

CR

Thing 18

Here is a very cute slide show from Slideshare with funny cats. It must be my mood, but I was really in the mood for funny, non-educational.

Funny Cats

View more presentations from Andreas Freiman.

I hope you enjoyed Funny Cats. I did. I think I'm destined to be the cat lady in my old age.

Anyway, this could really be a valuable tool for students. They could search for presentations that they might need information about. Or they could post their own presentations. I do, however, see some of them trying to "borrow" a slide show for their own use without giving credit to the creator. Those kids sure can be sneaky.

Out of the classroom, Slideshare could be used professionally for meetings, etc. At home for personal use, I really don't see the need except for sharing things with family, but there are other ways to do that.

CR

Thing 17

For this lesson, I played around with 30 Boxes, online calendar creator. I decided on this particular tool because my husband has been asking me about creating calendars for free online. I have a Palm and use that as my calendar and upload one a week. He doesn't have an electronic calendar and this option really seems to be good for him.

I was able to get him started. If he chooses, he will be able to share his calendar with others. He can also create an RSS feed for it to be subscribed to by others. Not that he would to that, but he could.

I don't see myself using this at school/professionally. I might look more at Library Thing. I did create an account there, but it seems very involved and I haven't taken the time to load my bookshelf. Another to-do for me.

CR