The Last Thing

I have learned so much during this exercise.  I came into this class with little interest in many of the things we have worked on and had never heard of the term Web 2.0.  My favorite new tool is the RSS reader.  I love getting all my favorite information at one location.  RSS is not the only tool that I plan to continue to use.  Gliffy is a great asset to make diagrams for my classes as are the comic strip generators.  As for keeping up with all the information and changing tools, I am going to have to keep visiting the sites we have explored during this class.  Likehacker is another site that I have bookmarked to keep myself updated.  This assignment lends itself to life long learning.  I have now learned how to use technology.  I am no longer hesitant to try the new things on the Internet.   

As for this assignment, I think it was very useful.  The only item that I did not like was having to make so many new accounts.  The course was well developed though because no accounts required you to purchase anything to use them to get the project completed.  The instructions were also helpful.  With few exceptions, I was able to accomplish the assignments without too much difficulty.

Thing #23

Creative Commons is a great asset in this new collaborative, information sharing world that we live.  During this course I created a lesson plan where I can teach my classes about Creative Commons.  With so much information readily available, it is imperative that students learn and retain the necessary abilities to conduct scholarly research.  In the mentioned lesson plan, students will review the basics of copyright and the creative commons license.  I teach social studies.  I believe that one lasting legacy students take with them from its study is the ability to read, analyze, research, and write about what they have learned.  Students must know how to document others work properly in order to accomplish this.

Below is an example from the 23 Things site that demonstrates the information on the site was taken from another site.  I took this from the Thing #6 instructions.  I copied the below information from that page.

Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/circulating/254126209/

Thing #22

Copy of 1920's to World War II Unit

http://livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=128642

Livebinders is causing me more trouble than any other thing I have done so far.  I think I have finally figured it out though.  Click on the link above to view my Roaring Twenties to World War II slides.  I created a binder for that unit, as well as one containing my EOC reviews and some test reviews.  I thought is was much easier to embed websites.  I found this site to be cumbersome.  I initially had a really hard time getting the site to upload my documents properly.  This site requires alot of trial and error.  This makes it more difficult to use in the classroom, because I do not have the time to be the technical advisor to all my students trying to access this site.  This site does not due anything really unique that other sites designed for education do not already do.  I can see where this would be a good collaborative tool, but you can use online document sites to do the same thing.   I can use del.icio.us and Engrade to provide all the same information to my students without the headache.  I am not a fan of this site, but I hope you like my binder. 

Thing #21

I never heard of Animoto before this assignment.  I found the site really easy to use.  I used some pictures from Kuwait and Iraq to make the video.  The only negative is the music on the site.  The only music I knew was in the classical section.  I wish I had this when I was in school.  It can make presentations so much cooler.  I will have to try this site out some more. 

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Thing #20

I may not have used many of the items we have used in this class before it started, but YouTube is one that I have used quite a bit.  YouTube is great to find short clips to show in your class.  You can find great clips from movies, or a skit just to lighten the day a little bit.  You can also find instructional videos to teach students about numerous topics.  The video I chose is about what great teachers do.  I really like the point the presenter is making.  The problem with YouTube is that many school systems block access to the site.  I do not know the basis for this decision, but it does make using this site hard to accomplish.  My opinion is that if you are going to trust the teacher to educate children, you should trust the teacher to use this resource appropriately.  To me this point is made in this video.  Great teachers will use this resource to educate. 

Thing #19

I signed up for a Teacher Pop account.  I am a member of one veteran online community.  I don't think I will sign up for any of the others ones I saw through this activity, but I did find a few I found interesting.  I like the educational networking site.  I like sites that give you simple lists to follow and that's exactly what this one does.  So in the future, if I wanted to find another community, I would go here first to start my search.  The playlist site was another that I really liked.  I have used Pandora quite a bit, but I found playlist more to my liking.  It allowed me to go directly to the band and song that I wanted to hear.  Shelfari and Good Reads were also ones that interested me.  I read quite a bit and these are great sites to find information on the latest books out there.  Finally, the open source food site looks great.  We use cooks.com quite a bit and this looks like another great site to find recipes.  

Thing #18

I set up a twitter account.  We had a facebook account at one time.  We did not like it and frankly found it intrusive.  Facebook has a ton of applications.  You can share photos, play games, communicate to a group, or individually.  You can do much of the same things on twitter.  I like twitter better because it is more to the point.   It is more about information to me than anything else.  I found setting up my twitter account easy to accomplish.  I also like the things you can follow.  I quickly hooked up to my undergrad alumni organization, my current education technology professor, a fellow teacher, and the scholastic teach twitter account.  Following people and tweeting is easy to do.  I like the quick updates I get from the people/groups I am following.  This is the link to my twitter account:  http://twitter.com/PCarneal

I did not gain any news insights because of this exercise.  I do, however, find it extremely important for educators to understand social networking.  I teach at the secondary level and it seems that virtually all of our students are a member of at least one of these sites.  We need understanding to reach our students and to have that we must understand what is going on in their lives.  These sites, whether or not they ever become part of the curriculum, affect our schools.  Students communicate with one another on them and they also use these sites for negative purposes at times.  Administrators and guidance counselors see the negative effects of these sites on an almost daily basis.  Students are bullying one another through these sites and other things that I do not want to even mention in this forum.  Part of the educational process is teaching students how to operate in society.  These sites are part of our society and by understanding what is going on thru them we can educate our children on the proper way to act even in a virtual community.

I like Twitter more than Facebook, but they both can be used in education.  I believe one day they will.  It is another way that I can instruct my students.  If I am going to be out one day unexpectedly, I could use these sites to update my students to any activity change.  I can send out a tweet reminding students of required materials one day.  I could even send out a message because I see a cool program coming on TV that has implications for my classes.