1. My experience with blogs has been mostly what I hear... Also, I find myself at a loss in filtering through the mass of blogs to create my "circle." However, I feel that a good starting place might actually be the Edublogs award winners. Past winners would be worth spending the time reading and sifting through to find those relevant to my interests/needs. Even the nominees are worth a look. In light of this, I think this one would be the easiest to use to get started.
2. Syndic8 wasn't so much confusing as overwhelming. The site design made me feel like I wouldn't like it before I even took a good look.
3. I think, perhaps Topix.net would be immediately valuable in classes. Whether you set up feeds concerning a "unit" of study, or simply had a topic of the week, what a great, simple, and most importantly, focused way to hook your class up to real-time info on what's happening
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thing 8
In some ways this has been exhausting...
1. The obvious advantage of the RSS system is the simplicity of getting what you want, free of the clutter that can often surround it. And, of course, having information delivered to you without having to go looking for it is even better.
2. I can think of several applications of this technology for school. I like the idea of being able to track author blogs, sharing their comments with the kids. Keeping up to date with what's happening with them. Finding authors that bother to blog is, perhaps, getting easier... Personally, I feel the delivery of news items, civic, educational or even entertainment, in such an efficient manner will make "keeping up" that much easier.
3. It might be interesting for a school (administrator or committee) to determine a list of sites for a faculty-shared RSS/reader site. This could be linked to a school blog where teachers could post comments about the articles. OK, this sounds like one more thing to saddle teachers with doing, but I'm anticipating a buy-in, prior. Wishful thinking?
1. The obvious advantage of the RSS system is the simplicity of getting what you want, free of the clutter that can often surround it. And, of course, having information delivered to you without having to go looking for it is even better.
2. I can think of several applications of this technology for school. I like the idea of being able to track author blogs, sharing their comments with the kids. Keeping up to date with what's happening with them. Finding authors that bother to blog is, perhaps, getting easier... Personally, I feel the delivery of news items, civic, educational or even entertainment, in such an efficient manner will make "keeping up" that much easier.
3. It might be interesting for a school (administrator or committee) to determine a list of sites for a faculty-shared RSS/reader site. This could be linked to a school blog where teachers could post comments about the articles. OK, this sounds like one more thing to saddle teachers with doing, but I'm anticipating a buy-in, prior. Wishful thinking?
Thing 7
There are way too many things to play with here, but I narrowed to 2 to comment on.
First, Google Advanced Search. I know this seems pretty basic, but I looked at this with the idea of saving teachers from reinventing wheels. I used the PowerPoint (ppt) search option and came up with 15k on the subject of photosynthesis. Narrowed that by adding .edu and dropped the hits to 5k. While I realize this number is still overwhelming, it will serve to illustrate that tech resources are rich and available.
I was also intrigued by one of the testimonials under Docs. LaRow's Google Historical Voyages and Events sounded like an excellent collaborative project. Our community was developed pretty much by the DOW Corporation, and I believe engaging in this project could garner a great deal of community interest that could be echoed around the globe, due to the company's international presence.
First, Google Advanced Search. I know this seems pretty basic, but I looked at this with the idea of saving teachers from reinventing wheels. I used the PowerPoint (ppt) search option and came up with 15k on the subject of photosynthesis. Narrowed that by adding .edu and dropped the hits to 5k. While I realize this number is still overwhelming, it will serve to illustrate that tech resources are rich and available.
I was also intrigued by one of the testimonials under Docs. LaRow's Google Historical Voyages and Events sounded like an excellent collaborative project. Our community was developed pretty much by the DOW Corporation, and I believe engaging in this project could garner a great deal of community interest that could be echoed around the globe, due to the company's international presence.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Thing 6
I loved Mosaic! I thought of several uses that could be from teacher or student. With some planning, of course, students could create a mosaic (number of pictures could enhance their grade?) representing the book they've read. They could also use a mosaic to help them do a booktalk, using the pictures as visual cues.
Teachers could have fun doing the same thing (creating a mosaic to represent a book) and then having the class either try and guess the book, or perhaps write a story to go with the mosaic. Or how about a mosaic travel log for social studies (this could also come from Mappr).
Gee, are these ideas too much of using tech to springboard back to the traditional? Well, I guess we do still have TAKS...
Teachers could have fun doing the same thing (creating a mosaic to represent a book) and then having the class either try and guess the book, or perhaps write a story to go with the mosaic. Or how about a mosaic travel log for social studies (this could also come from Mappr).
Gee, are these ideas too much of using tech to springboard back to the traditional? Well, I guess we do still have TAKS...
Things 4 and 5
Well, I'm a player now...in a good way.
I worried about whether my email from Yahoo would make it into a school district account. Ours blocks my emails which is a real bummer.
Flickr is pretty cool. I can definitely see using some of the pictures to bring all sorts of references to life for my students. My school population is "economically challenged" and the kids don't travel. The photos can show them where stories take place, show them things (that's right, ground hogs are real, not just pictures drawn in books about Ground Hogs Day). Sure, I could already do that, but a photo site like this can result in much more interesting results than an on-line reference book. I may take part in some of the library sponsored activities. I'll have to put some thought into how to design one for our school.
The one thing that really bothered me is the spelling problem with tags. One of the articles mentioned the problem just a reversal of letter could create in a tag. But looking at a tag page in Flickr, I saw at least 4 misspellings in a cluster of about 6 or 7. Is this the result of texting sloppiness or just a general lack of spelling abilities?
I worried about whether my email from Yahoo would make it into a school district account. Ours blocks my emails which is a real bummer.
Flickr is pretty cool. I can definitely see using some of the pictures to bring all sorts of references to life for my students. My school population is "economically challenged" and the kids don't travel. The photos can show them where stories take place, show them things (that's right, ground hogs are real, not just pictures drawn in books about Ground Hogs Day). Sure, I could already do that, but a photo site like this can result in much more interesting results than an on-line reference book. I may take part in some of the library sponsored activities. I'll have to put some thought into how to design one for our school.
The one thing that really bothered me is the spelling problem with tags. One of the articles mentioned the problem just a reversal of letter could create in a tag. But looking at a tag page in Flickr, I saw at least 4 misspellings in a cluster of about 6 or 7. Is this the result of texting sloppiness or just a general lack of spelling abilities?
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Thing 3
Finally, I got the avatar added to the page (thanks to the advice of a kind associate here in my school district who has been down this road). For the most part, setting up the Blog was pretty easy. The avatar, as I said, slowed me down for a while.
I guess my main concern for the blog is having something to say. As long as I'm addressing "Things," all should be well.
I guess my main concern for the blog is having something to say. As long as I'm addressing "Things," all should be well.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Thing 2.
While I don't have the site completed, I thought I would go ahead and post the easiest and hardest of the 7-1/2. I think the easiest habit is play. Of course, there is a distinct difference in playing to play and productive or purposeful playing. My learning "at play" is probably more incidental. Too often, when we complete training on some tech application and are given time to play, I am less than productive.
Perhaps then, it will be no great surprise to learn that the most difficult of the habits is taking responsibility for my own learning. I perform and "learn" better when in a class with structured guidelines and a timeline. The 23 Things will present a significant problem for completion...
After signing up, I was gone on family vacation for over 3 weeks, with little opportunity to work on this. Now, I scurry.
While I don't have the site completed, I thought I would go ahead and post the easiest and hardest of the 7-1/2. I think the easiest habit is play. Of course, there is a distinct difference in playing to play and productive or purposeful playing. My learning "at play" is probably more incidental. Too often, when we complete training on some tech application and are given time to play, I am less than productive.
Perhaps then, it will be no great surprise to learn that the most difficult of the habits is taking responsibility for my own learning. I perform and "learn" better when in a class with structured guidelines and a timeline. The 23 Things will present a significant problem for completion...
After signing up, I was gone on family vacation for over 3 weeks, with little opportunity to work on this. Now, I scurry.
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