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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Thing 16

I LOVE Google Docs.  When I first heard/learned about this last summer or so, I was hesitant to use it. However, I have shown it to a few students and they are loving it.  One student was trying to save things to his flash drive and go back and forth and everywhere.  He wasn't able to save in the correct formats on each computer and it was messing things up.  I showed him Google Docs and how he could use it anywhere and I thought he was going to hug me.

I have introduced this tool to another teacher and she and I are going to team teach a project, or several projects, next year using this tool in all formats.  We are very excited to get started.  The only problem I can see will be students creating their emails.  However, another colleague wrote in her blog, that she created generic emails all with the same password for students to get in.  She created a spreadsheet with these email addresses so that she could refer to them when they forget.   (Thanks, Karen!)  Let's face it, they will forget and if we want to use the tools, they need to remember.  It amazes me that they can text so fast, but they can't remember their log ins.

Personally, I haven't figured out how I would use Google Docs or find a need for it at home, but absolutely am planning on using it TONS at work.

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Thing 15

RSS is becoming easier to understand, however, using a Mac doesn't necessarily make it easier to use.  It took me some digging again to remember how to subscribe to a new feed.  Also, I couldn't get any of the news fees to work.  I am going to keep trying though.

I do understand the benefits of using this tool.  I have been trying to check Bloglines frequently, but I'm not addicted to it - yet.

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Thing 14

Delicious is a tool that I have been using for quite awhile now, both at work and at home.  A few years ago, during grad school, I started using it.  Then when we needed a new computer, I was able to bookmark using Delicious sites from our computer so that when we got the new one, it would all be there without the work.  Here is my account.

I have also used the LMSA Delicious site on occasion, however, I don't use that one as often.  That site is here.

Social bookmarking can be used in my teaching with students in various ways.  I have shown my students my Delicious page and explained how it works to them.  I always have students who sign in to use the same computer or get frustrated when someone is on "their" computer because they have bookmarked sites on that computer.  I tell them about Delicious, but because they are not in my class, they sometimes don't listen.  I have had a few tell me they would like to get started, but very few.  Students can use it for many things, if they would just give it a try.

I have found that Delicious does help me be productive.  I'm not redoing my searches all the time.  I can look at my Delicious page and find what I need.  I have also pointed co-workers to it so they can see what it does.  I hope to share with more.

Tagging is very useful for me to use.  I know my tags and can find things easily, however, others may not know my system.  In one of the articles it said to stick with the common tags, but there are some things that are special and don't fit into those tags.  It's just a matter of sharing and having others look them over.  I know this may take time, but when the searching is lessened to begin with, they may take the time to do it.  It is important to try to use common lingo, but that isn't always possible.

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Thing 13

There are many things about Facebook that I enjoy.  I have been a member for about one year and have many "friends."  The funny thing is, I originally signed up because of my husband and now I'm the one online all the time.

I really enjoy being able to search for family that I had lost touch with.  It's also fun to see what my high school classmates have been up to over the years.  Emailing each other through Facebook is so much easier than trying to remember what everyone's email address is.  Facebook has changed its look and, at first, it was not liked by the users.  There was this big uprising in Facebook world that they wanted the old way back.  However, the new look has stayed and I have become used to it.  I like that I can see the most recent updates by friends quickly.  I do forget to check out my friends is they haven't posted new things for all to see.  Also, inviting people to take the quizzes or sending flair or posting pictures and videos can be fun.  I post both pictures and videos for my "friends" to see.  I make sure that only those who are networked with me can view them.  This is a safety thing for me.  In the long run, I'm a Facebook addict now and love it.  I'm even getting my husband to check it more often.

Twitter on the other hand, is not something that I find useful for me.  It's like posting very short emails to the world.  In order to keep up, one must post frequently and that can be a pain.  I don't text or instant message well because the English teacher in me is very bothered by the lingo.

Students do use these tools on a very frequent basis.  If there could be a safe way to incorporate this into the classroom setting, I know they would LOVE it.  One of the biggest safety things that I would tell my students is to be careful about what they post.  They truly believe that bad things can't happen to them, when that just isn't true.  We as educators, quite frankly, need to use scare tactics to get them to understand that once it's out there, it's out there.  Some people are out there to find victims and we must teach our students to be aware and safe.  Getting parents involved, again, is essential.

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Thing 12

I hope this works. It looks like a fun tool.  I got it from Widgetbox.  Since I was adding a widget, I also decided to add a gadget to my blog to see what they were.  I added the Sudoku puzzle.

The widget that I added is fun and people will be able to find a band they like to listen to.  It is very easy to embed the code, especially using Widgetbox.  

The only other social networking site that I use is Facebook and I do find that I like it.  At first, I didn't think I would, but I have been able to reconnect with friends and family that I haven't spoken to in years.  I do not use MySpace and never plan to.  Online communities can be very good and very bad.  It depends on what the purpose of being in one is.  I like that I have found people, however, there are some people who have found me that I don't really think being "friends" with would be appropriate.  For me, face-to-face would be better, but many of the people that I communicate with are not close by so this is the next best thing.

Kids are social butterflies and using MySpace and Facebook, among others, are what they do.  They are communicating in more ways all the time.  I believe that they find it to be safer than actually saying things to someone in person.  It's easy to take on a persona online and not have to face someone.  It's easier to let someone down in an email that confronting them in person.  It's easier to because they don't have to face them.  It is taking out some of the social skills that they will need when they get into the job world.

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Thing 11

I don't mind commenting on other's blogs and I do enjoy getting comments. However, I think I mentioned this before, there are people out there who are a bit on the weird side and look for people to comment on. They don't like to follow the "rules" and some can simply be dangerous. In an online community, comments are a part of the fun. It's fun to see what someone thinks about what you have posted. Without comments in the online community, what would be the point of posting? If no one says anything to us about what we post, it would be very boring and it would no longer be a community. It would just be a website.

I know my students would enjoy using comments in the classroom setting. There would be a strong emphasis on the rules and etiquette of being online and in that community. They would need to be careful and parents must consent, especially at the elementary level.

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