Because I am ALL OUT of creativity at this point, I'm just gonna copy-paste and answer some questions.
* What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I liked almost all of them, so it's really hard to pick a favorite. The ones I liked least were about the applications I'm most familiar with, like Facebook and Google Docs -- but that's only because the applications weren't so shiny, and I wasn't as actively curious.
* How has this program affected your lifelong learning goals?
I feel SO accomplished having completed this. I love to sit in a class and learn, but it's harder for me to do something that takes so much self-motivation. The feedback and comments really helped, and the fact that the subject was interesting to me (and was something that allows my Web 2.0 experience to closer approximate my husband's) kept me going. Maybe now I'm in the Long Tail of Teachers Who Grok Web 2.0!
* Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I love being able to join my husband in conversations about our wikis!
* What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I think a major improvement would be to add the "update" email information to each of the Things' blog entries. For example, in the Update #3, you link to "other brainstorming/mind-mapping tools" for Thing #14. It would've saved me some time (in the form of tab-swapping) if you'd listed those links under an UPDATE: heading at the bottom of that Thing's page! Aside from that, though, it worked out great! I don't know if I'd've had a fruitful an experience without the knowledge I already had, though!
* If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
DEFINITELY. But probably only if it was offered during the summer. Haha, yeah, my answer is "definitely probably."
* How will what you have learned influence your practice as a teacher or school librarian?
I'm not sure yet. It will definitely change the way I think about my teaching.
* How do you plan to keep up with new developments in web 2.0? Recommend a way that you have found to be useful.
You've already shared that with us! I can do a Google email alert, or put a blog on my RSS reader! That Learning 2.1 page was pretty, um, heavy.
I will definitely share my experience with my administrators and co-workers. I've already shared the 23 Things page with my mom, who just got high-speed Internet for the first time!
As for the future of this blog... Hm... I'm pretty anal, so unless I continued with the enumeration, I'd have to rename and reformat it. I might start another one, though... I can't imagine having enough time (even 15 minutes!) after school starts.
But.
The Things have shown me that they are indeed powerful, especially when used in concert to make life online more efficient and informative. I have only one year of teaching under my belt, so using all of them this year is a virtual impossibility (pun, of course, intended). But I'll use baby steps, and hopefully my power as an educator will rise, exponentially.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Thing #23 - Twenty-Third Power
Ah, copyright.
Things are changing so quickly, as more and more information exists. It's impossible to control this spread of information, and Creative Commons helps create almost an "honor code" of copyright. There are people who thing that copyrighting works is evil. Creativity today is based so much on the idea of mashup, and who's to say that the greatest artists ever weren't using other's ideas?
I know the Learning 2.0 - 23 Things blog was based on someone else's work and modified from its original form because it's duly attributed to its original authors, and the sidebar features Credits that show up on every page of the site!
Wow! Serendipity! Check out what just showed up on my RSS Reader: A Copyright Sliderule that tells you what rights you have with any work, based on its publication date! Cool! (via Lifehacker)
I'm crazy-glad that teachers and education professionals are cool with sharing content - I don't know what I'd do as a teacher if I didn't have Google to help me. And now, I have Google, and wikis, and social networks, and all these new resources at my disposal! Woo hoo!
Things are changing so quickly, as more and more information exists. It's impossible to control this spread of information, and Creative Commons helps create almost an "honor code" of copyright. There are people who thing that copyrighting works is evil. Creativity today is based so much on the idea of mashup, and who's to say that the greatest artists ever weren't using other's ideas?
I know the Learning 2.0 - 23 Things blog was based on someone else's work and modified from its original form because it's duly attributed to its original authors, and the sidebar features Credits that show up on every page of the site!
Wow! Serendipity! Check out what just showed up on my RSS Reader: A Copyright Sliderule that tells you what rights you have with any work, based on its publication date! Cool! (via Lifehacker)
I'm crazy-glad that teachers and education professionals are cool with sharing content - I don't know what I'd do as a teacher if I didn't have Google to help me. And now, I have Google, and wikis, and social networks, and all these new resources at my disposal! Woo hoo!
Thing #22 - Podcastaway
Ah, travels in podcasting directories...
I visited the Educational Podcast Directory. It featured an annoying, uninformative menu-based search system. Any podcasts listed were categorized, but not by any useful terms.
Podcast Directory hurt my head. TONS of paid advertising can be really misleading, not to mention visually cluttered. As for results, their top listings definitely sounded less-than safe for work (especially in a kid-centered environment).
Podcast Alley also had some NSFW options... but they have a Kids & Family section, where I found Byte Size Science. Neat! Added to my reader.
Oooh, Learn Out Loud looks way better - more polished, appropriate, and topical. And they have an age range search! I can look for great music/chants for my students there.
Honestly, I think iTunes' free podcast section is the easiest to use (though not exhaustive in its supply/range, unfortunately).
My husband and I love listening to This American Life, an NPR production that plays on the weekend while we're running errands. For road trip purposes, he loads entire episodes onto his iPod, and we plug it into my car and listen, even in the middle of nowhere, yay!
I endeavored to go into iTunes and link to the podcast, but instead of opening the Store, I went to the show's website and have linked to their web-based player. This summer, we heard a poignant tale of the way pets affect our lives, so, without further ado, here's Ira Glass with In Dog We Trust.
I don't know if podcasting is right for my kids. They're almost computer novices -- in fact, I've been trying to figure out how to teach them word processing this year in time for the Science Fair -- so I think I want to concentrate on the basics. Maybe later in the year I'll do our read-alouds by podcast, so I can get stuff done in class while they listen at their mobile laptops! I could also send them to Learn Out Loud to find podcasts that interest them for "free time" in the lab!
I visited the Educational Podcast Directory. It featured an annoying, uninformative menu-based search system. Any podcasts listed were categorized, but not by any useful terms.
Podcast Directory hurt my head. TONS of paid advertising can be really misleading, not to mention visually cluttered. As for results, their top listings definitely sounded less-than safe for work (especially in a kid-centered environment).
Podcast Alley also had some NSFW options... but they have a Kids & Family section, where I found Byte Size Science. Neat! Added to my reader.
Oooh, Learn Out Loud looks way better - more polished, appropriate, and topical. And they have an age range search! I can look for great music/chants for my students there.
Honestly, I think iTunes' free podcast section is the easiest to use (though not exhaustive in its supply/range, unfortunately).
My husband and I love listening to This American Life, an NPR production that plays on the weekend while we're running errands. For road trip purposes, he loads entire episodes onto his iPod, and we plug it into my car and listen, even in the middle of nowhere, yay!
I endeavored to go into iTunes and link to the podcast, but instead of opening the Store, I went to the show's website and have linked to their web-based player. This summer, we heard a poignant tale of the way pets affect our lives, so, without further ado, here's Ira Glass with In Dog We Trust.
I don't know if podcasting is right for my kids. They're almost computer novices -- in fact, I've been trying to figure out how to teach them word processing this year in time for the Science Fair -- so I think I want to concentrate on the basics. Maybe later in the year I'll do our read-alouds by podcast, so I can get stuff done in class while they listen at their mobile laptops! I could also send them to Learn Out Loud to find podcasts that interest them for "free time" in the lab!
Thing #21 - Animotorized!
Animoto is down. Be back later with content!
UPDATE, NEXT DAY: Wow, that was some work! I got my photos loaded through my Flickr account (which took a while), and then apparently they don't allow m4a format, just mp3... So, after 20 minutes of reformatting adventures, I got the song I wanted loaded. It's rendering now...
The video is made of photos I took at a Sigur Rós concert a few years ago at Bass Hall in Fort Worth. It was an amazing concert, and I chose one of their new songs to be the soundtrack to my photos.
I will DEFINITELY use Animoto to make a few "class videos" for our holiday and end-of-year parties. Hopefully, by then, they'll take care of the bumpiness and lag time. Again, I'm hoping they allow these videos through the firewall.
Right on, they're done rendering - let's give this a go!
Ok, here's a link to it!
I tried to get it to embed, but scripts wouldn't work right and my blog's not showing up on their Blogger interface! Grrrr.
Let's try the Flash option here:
Yay! There's my video! Loverly!
UPDATE, NEXT DAY: Wow, that was some work! I got my photos loaded through my Flickr account (which took a while), and then apparently they don't allow m4a format, just mp3... So, after 20 minutes of reformatting adventures, I got the song I wanted loaded. It's rendering now...
The video is made of photos I took at a Sigur Rós concert a few years ago at Bass Hall in Fort Worth. It was an amazing concert, and I chose one of their new songs to be the soundtrack to my photos.
I will DEFINITELY use Animoto to make a few "class videos" for our holiday and end-of-year parties. Hopefully, by then, they'll take care of the bumpiness and lag time. Again, I'm hoping they allow these videos through the firewall.
Right on, they're done rendering - let's give this a go!
Ok, here's a link to it!
I tried to get it to embed, but scripts wouldn't work right and my blog's not showing up on their Blogger interface! Grrrr.
Let's try the Flash option here:
Yay! There's my video! Loverly!
Thing #20 - YouTube, iTube, We All Tube for YouTube!
I heart YouTube!
My favorite thing about YouTube is they way they immediately link to related videos. One night, I was bored, so I searched for "baby laughing," and I was fully entertained for at least half an hour, following the related video trails.
My all-time favorite YouTube video is of prison inmates in the Philippines doing a rehearsal of Michael Jackson's "Thriller":
Gotta love it. And in the related videos, you can see several other routines the prisoners did - just look for the orange jumpsuits!
The biggest dislike I have about YouTube is the commenters! I have, quite literally, never found an intelligent or interesting comment under any of the videos I've seen. (I may not be looking under the right kids of videos, though, so no offense if you guys have commented!)
I'd like to offer "Video of the Week" as a reward for my class. If everyone turns in their homework, they could get to watch a video of my choice. First up? Fainting Goats!!!
I would love to be able to use this on my campus, but I'm not sure if we could get past the firewall... And if by accident, a questionably-appropriate link showed up in related videos, my job could be on the line. Has anyone worked around this? Do YouTube imbeds work in front of the firewall?
Can you see any features or components of the site that might be interesting if they were applied to your library website?
My favorite thing about YouTube is they way they immediately link to related videos. One night, I was bored, so I searched for "baby laughing," and I was fully entertained for at least half an hour, following the related video trails.
My all-time favorite YouTube video is of prison inmates in the Philippines doing a rehearsal of Michael Jackson's "Thriller":
Gotta love it. And in the related videos, you can see several other routines the prisoners did - just look for the orange jumpsuits!
The biggest dislike I have about YouTube is the commenters! I have, quite literally, never found an intelligent or interesting comment under any of the videos I've seen. (I may not be looking under the right kids of videos, though, so no offense if you guys have commented!)
I'd like to offer "Video of the Week" as a reward for my class. If everyone turns in their homework, they could get to watch a video of my choice. First up? Fainting Goats!!!
I would love to be able to use this on my campus, but I'm not sure if we could get past the firewall... And if by accident, a questionably-appropriate link showed up in related videos, my job could be on the line. Has anyone worked around this? Do YouTube imbeds work in front of the firewall?
Can you see any features or components of the site that might be interesting if they were applied to your library website?
Thing #19 - Nets Work!
I'd never heard of Ning. But hey, it looks cool. I signed up, commented, and added a photo of a pie I made Thursday (from my phone, yay). I hope we stay in touch!
A lot of social communities are interesting to me. I'm used to looking at the Internet as a place to go out and find stuff, not as a place to interact with people. (I say that, but I LOVED the online dating scene back in the day.) I don't feel I need a personal relationship with people on a message board to get information, but I'm sure it helps! Just like teaching kids!
My additional community I chose to examine was Goodreads. Here's my profile: Link. I have the traditional "to read," "currently reading," and "read" shelves, but I added two: "Class Library" for books appropriate to either read to my students or let them read; and "Professional Library" so I can keep my "teacher books" separate and easy to find.
I'm going to use Goodreads to track my class library! I'll use the "class library" shelf I've created to make notes about books' contents (and maybe access to online stuff about the books).
A lot of social communities are interesting to me. I'm used to looking at the Internet as a place to go out and find stuff, not as a place to interact with people. (I say that, but I LOVED the online dating scene back in the day.) I don't feel I need a personal relationship with people on a message board to get information, but I'm sure it helps! Just like teaching kids!
My additional community I chose to examine was Goodreads. Here's my profile: Link. I have the traditional "to read," "currently reading," and "read" shelves, but I added two: "Class Library" for books appropriate to either read to my students or let them read; and "Professional Library" so I can keep my "teacher books" separate and easy to find.
I'm going to use Goodreads to track my class library! I'll use the "class library" shelf I've created to make notes about books' contents (and maybe access to online stuff about the books).
Friday, July 18, 2008
Thing #18 - MySpace or Yours?
I'll say a few things about MySpace, but not a lot. MySpace, despite its popularity, hurts my eyes (the sites I see aren't clean, slick, or simple). I like that it's given the record industry a run for its money, and that it's brought people together, but its user interface, search features, and ultra-customizability (too bad no feature says "The wallpaper, automatically-glaring music, or flashing image you are about to install will drive people away!"). It is useful for music artists, but the level of interaction, basically messages left on a "wall," seems to be about all there is.
As for Facebook...
Wow, this one required zero work to set up; I've had this puppy done for a long time: Here's my Facebook profile!
I use Facebook for my personal life - I went to high school in Indonesia, so I know people from many regions, and Facebook makes it easy to reconnect and stay connected. I obsessively check my feed; I update my status through Twitter several times a day, and I can spend hours poring over others' friend lists and Walls.
I think we as educators need to know about the trends in social networking because they're followed by our students. I'm not on a school-based network on Facebook (I think wikis are a better way to collaborate professionally). I might track students on one of these sites, though. Maybe principals can set up their Friends lists with all students!
The biggest thing I've learned through using Facebook is that the Internet (and especially Web 2.0) really does shrink the world. People who live 13,000 miles away can feel like they live next door to each other. I love that! Also, I've been really interested to see what third-party apps are out there. I don't want to install many on my page, but I love that companies let their APIs "loose," and people come back with some great stuff!
As for Facebook...
Wow, this one required zero work to set up; I've had this puppy done for a long time: Here's my Facebook profile!
I use Facebook for my personal life - I went to high school in Indonesia, so I know people from many regions, and Facebook makes it easy to reconnect and stay connected. I obsessively check my feed; I update my status through Twitter several times a day, and I can spend hours poring over others' friend lists and Walls.
I think we as educators need to know about the trends in social networking because they're followed by our students. I'm not on a school-based network on Facebook (I think wikis are a better way to collaborate professionally). I might track students on one of these sites, though. Maybe principals can set up their Friends lists with all students!
The biggest thing I've learned through using Facebook is that the Internet (and especially Web 2.0) really does shrink the world. People who live 13,000 miles away can feel like they live next door to each other. I love that! Also, I've been really interested to see what third-party apps are out there. I don't want to install many on my page, but I love that companies let their APIs "loose," and people come back with some great stuff!
Thing #17 - Magically Del.icio.us!
This just keeps getting better! I have always meant to set up Del.icio.us for myself, but I never got around to it. So thank you, 23 Things!
I am delighted by the terminology involved in a lot of Web 2.0 stuff... The name of Del.icio.us is a clever play on URL extensions. I love "folksonomy," to play off the stodgier "taxonomy" as an organizational model. Also, "bookmarklets" are neato - like cute, lighter versions of the heavy bookmarks. I like the abundance -- yet clarity -- of information; I see tags given to a page by others, and then I can click through to them
On Furl, I was disappointed in the Most Popular Bookmarks on the main page. And the tutorial was boring... So meh. I jumped ship. But hey, that's the way it is with the web... If something doesn't grab you, it's super easy to find something else quickly!
The Ma.gnolia service seems very similar to Del.icio.us, a bit homier-looking, perhaps, but functionality seems really similar. (And I hate to say this, but the period-in-the-midst-of-the-name thing is so copying!)
My preference with social bookmarking sites is similar to my preference with a lot of things - which is the most popular? (Even though BetaMAX was a better format, my parents chose VHS because it became ubiquitous; I learned a lot from that lesson when I was, what, 6 years old?) Sometimes, even if something's an inferior product (which I'm not saying Del.icio.us is), the sheer availability becomes important. I know that Del.icio.us is supported just about everywhere. Woo hoo!
I've been meaning to get started on what I'm calling my "TEKS Project" all summer - my categorization of web resources, organized by TEKS. This may be a great help in finding lesson plans specific to TEKS - though a cursory search for "TEKS math 5.1a" doesn't come up with anything - at least I'll be able to stockpile stuff I do find in an easily-accesible, sharable place.
As far as the social aspect, I can see wanting to share, share, and share (and borrow, borrow, and borrow) a lot when I find useful information.
I'm putting my Del.icio.us feeds on my iGoogle page, on my "School" tab along with the RSS feed for my 5th grade wiki updates!
And check out the bottom of my page! Badgeriffic!
I am delighted by the terminology involved in a lot of Web 2.0 stuff... The name of Del.icio.us is a clever play on URL extensions. I love "folksonomy," to play off the stodgier "taxonomy" as an organizational model. Also, "bookmarklets" are neato - like cute, lighter versions of the heavy bookmarks. I like the abundance -- yet clarity -- of information; I see tags given to a page by others, and then I can click through to them
On Furl, I was disappointed in the Most Popular Bookmarks on the main page. And the tutorial was boring... So meh. I jumped ship. But hey, that's the way it is with the web... If something doesn't grab you, it's super easy to find something else quickly!
The Ma.gnolia service seems very similar to Del.icio.us, a bit homier-looking, perhaps, but functionality seems really similar. (And I hate to say this, but the period-in-the-midst-of-the-name thing is so copying!)
My preference with social bookmarking sites is similar to my preference with a lot of things - which is the most popular? (Even though BetaMAX was a better format, my parents chose VHS because it became ubiquitous; I learned a lot from that lesson when I was, what, 6 years old?) Sometimes, even if something's an inferior product (which I'm not saying Del.icio.us is), the sheer availability becomes important. I know that Del.icio.us is supported just about everywhere. Woo hoo!
I've been meaning to get started on what I'm calling my "TEKS Project" all summer - my categorization of web resources, organized by TEKS. This may be a great help in finding lesson plans specific to TEKS - though a cursory search for "TEKS math 5.1a" doesn't come up with anything - at least I'll be able to stockpile stuff I do find in an easily-accesible, sharable place.
As far as the social aspect, I can see wanting to share, share, and share (and borrow, borrow, and borrow) a lot when I find useful information.
I'm putting my Del.icio.us feeds on my iGoogle page, on my "School" tab along with the RSS feed for my 5th grade wiki updates!
And check out the bottom of my page! Badgeriffic!
Thing #16 - What a Tool!
At this point in the 23 Things course, I feel really cool. Almost every app I read about in the resources I had heard of -- and most of those I'd actually tried!!! Yay!!! I feel way less "lost" online, even though I know I haven't gotten anywhere near the End of the Internet.
I totally chose iGoogle to be my start page. Why? Well, I already use Google Calendar, Gmail, and Google Reader! I like that they have "designer" themes and fun "gadgets." I wish I knew if they were behind the MISD firewall... Are they, anyone?
As far as Google Calendar goes, I love it. I have friends who've shared their calendars with me, and it helps coordinate my weeks. If my husband asks, "Can we have friends from Houston stay at our house next weekend?" he can look on my Google Calendar and know what plans, if any, we already have. The calendar on Outlook, though, is what I use at school. It's easy to get to, and it's somewhat easy to collaborate/invite with.
I have a TaDa List, but I've recently jettisoned it, preferring to just use my Notes app on my iPhone (however, that's limited if I want to do something complicated). There may be new apps available for the iPhone, too, that I haven't checked out. Seriously, though, for work, I just use good ol' PEN AND PAPER! Best listmaker ever!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE TinyURL! It's super-hard to tell kids to type a long URL to get somewhere, and heh, even with the shortened URLs, they still make typing errors! But it helps with that.
And Lifehacker! I enjoy it, as well as the other Gawker Media sites (some of which aren't family-friendly, as it were, so I won't link to 'em).
I totally chose iGoogle to be my start page. Why? Well, I already use Google Calendar, Gmail, and Google Reader! I like that they have "designer" themes and fun "gadgets." I wish I knew if they were behind the MISD firewall... Are they, anyone?
As far as Google Calendar goes, I love it. I have friends who've shared their calendars with me, and it helps coordinate my weeks. If my husband asks, "Can we have friends from Houston stay at our house next weekend?" he can look on my Google Calendar and know what plans, if any, we already have. The calendar on Outlook, though, is what I use at school. It's easy to get to, and it's somewhat easy to collaborate/invite with.
I have a TaDa List, but I've recently jettisoned it, preferring to just use my Notes app on my iPhone (however, that's limited if I want to do something complicated). There may be new apps available for the iPhone, too, that I haven't checked out. Seriously, though, for work, I just use good ol' PEN AND PAPER! Best listmaker ever!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE TinyURL! It's super-hard to tell kids to type a long URL to get somewhere, and heh, even with the shortened URLs, they still make typing errors! But it helps with that.
And Lifehacker! I enjoy it, as well as the other Gawker Media sites (some of which aren't family-friendly, as it were, so I won't link to 'em).
Thing #15 - Wiki Which
One thing I'm struck by as I explore wikis is how it seems that librarians are totally kicking teachers' butts when it comes to active use! C'mon, teachers! Let's get wiki-ing!
Here's what I put on the Collaboration page of the misd23things wiki:
Here's what I put on the Collaboration page of the misd23things wiki:
I've always wanted to share ideas with other teachers in my school, district, state, etc. - but everything seems so scattered! If I have a connection with certain teachers, we can share a wiki to discuss/play with/collaborate on ideas for the upcoming school year, ways to deal with TAKS, and even stuff like plans for field trips! And I am super-excited about trying to convince my grade-mates to make wikis about our thematic units! - Summer M.And then this is what I put in the sandbox - hope no one kicks me in the face with the sand for it:
¤ ¤¤ ¤¤ ¤Well, okay... So I got a little curvy square!But the real meat - I made a wiki; maybe I'll be able to get buy-in from my team! See, here it is! I'm going to email my team today and see if they'll add on!
The button said "Insert Special Character" (look at the keyboard key above) - and I thought they meant me!
LOL!
-Summer
¤ ¤¤ ¤
Thing #14 - Flow Yeah!
Here's my experience with Gliffy. I'm not a huge flow chart person, though personality-wise, I should be. When I was in 2nd grade, my parents had a First Aid book that featured all kinds of flow charts to diagnose/treat/advise in different health situations. It was AWESOME (and when my mom cut her finger with a peeler, she was royally annoyed with my incessant questioning). I set out to recreate a flowchart from Cooking for Engineers, one of my faves: Making Lime Juice!
Flow charts are very procedural, follow-the-line graphic organizers (I'm thinking about the Flow Map, with split-offs). But mind maps are much more fluid, loose, and non-procedural - like neural nets without the synapse.
So, I then tried out Mindmeister, making a mindmap of some Web 2.0 ideas/associations:
Our campus uses Thinking Maps, and I wish there was an online collaborative app for these. Well! A quick google leads me to this, a place where you can buy Thinking Maps software. But is it web-based? No! But I think that in our Promethean software, we have the ability to type onto them. So I'll definitely use some of those in teaching content as well as going back to that "teaching how to decide what's true and real" online.
Flow charts are very procedural, follow-the-line graphic organizers (I'm thinking about the Flow Map, with split-offs). But mind maps are much more fluid, loose, and non-procedural - like neural nets without the synapse.
So, I then tried out Mindmeister, making a mindmap of some Web 2.0 ideas/associations:
Our campus uses Thinking Maps, and I wish there was an online collaborative app for these. Well! A quick google leads me to this, a place where you can buy Thinking Maps software. But is it web-based? No! But I think that in our Promethean software, we have the ability to type onto them. So I'll definitely use some of those in teaching content as well as going back to that "teaching how to decide what's true and real" online.
Thing #13.1 - Um, no.
Well, the title didn't show up, even though I liked the composition interface better... So I think I'll just keep using Blogger for now!
Thing #13 - Unlucky?
Since I've played with Google's product in the past, I'll tinker around with Zoho. Already, this app is freaking me out. I'm composing this blog entry on Zoho, and we'll see how it turns out!
I am very used to Google Docs, but this seems a lot more complex. My husband and I used Google spreadsheet to build the invite list for our wedding, complete with addresses and replies; we also tracked our wedding gifts and whether we'd sent a thank-you note! I loved that we could collaborate (if his mom emailed him with an address, he could add it himself; if he unwrapped a gift, he added it to the list when I wasn't home).
UPDATE: Okay, I just published the above to Blogger. I LOVE how they let you publish as a draft (something I really wish Flickr would let you do). As far as formatting goes, though, I write in the "Edit Html" window instead of using "Compose" - it makes me feel more in control - and the HTML for the above text looks pretty opaque.
I did, though, in the Google Docs Power User article, read about how Google lets you post to your blog, too. So let me try that -- look for Thing#13.1 in a sec!
I am very used to Google Docs, but this seems a lot more complex. My husband and I used Google spreadsheet to build the invite list for our wedding, complete with addresses and replies; we also tracked our wedding gifts and whether we'd sent a thank-you note! I loved that we could collaborate (if his mom emailed him with an address, he could add it himself; if he unwrapped a gift, he added it to the list when I wasn't home).
UPDATE: Okay, I just published the above to Blogger. I LOVE how they let you publish as a draft (something I really wish Flickr would let you do). As far as formatting goes, though, I write in the "Edit Html" window instead of using "Compose" - it makes me feel more in control - and the HTML for the above text looks pretty opaque.
I did, though, in the Google Docs Power User article, read about how Google lets you post to your blog, too. So let me try that -- look for Thing#13.1 in a sec!
Thing #12 - Google Eyes
I have a Google Calendar, and I stopped using it this school year (I used the Outlook calendar instead), but I've used it a lot this summer. Search "Summer Marshall" to find it; it's public. I searched for other public calendars, and WOW! The presidential candidates' campaign calendars are on there!
I set up an iGoogle page; I've needed a good home page for a long time. I love that you can simply drag the items to wherever you want them to go! I played around with themes - and eventually chose the 10 Pãezinhos theme. And the gadgets!!! Wow! Lots of them are ugly and suffer from what I call the "MySpace syndrome," being too flashy and redundant, but I ended up adding the YouTube gadget, Word of the Day, Einstein Quote of the Day, and Hot Guy of the Day. (Just kidding on that last one; it doesn't exist. I checked!!!) (There are, though, DOZENS of Hot Chick of the Day "gadgets.")
But Google Sites is a major interest in terms of school use. I wish Google wasn't behind the firewall, though, because entering my password EVERY TIME I want to Google something or use a Google app is REALLY annoying. (Can you tell how I really feel?) I made a site that I may use for a class "home page" -- One Hundred Percent Marshall! I'm still playing around with it... I can't figure out how to change the layout yet, but I haven't done much instruction-reading!
And I'm really curious about Google Notebook. That'll take me a while to digest; I'm not sure if it's redundant with the programs I'm already using.
I set up an iGoogle page; I've needed a good home page for a long time. I love that you can simply drag the items to wherever you want them to go! I played around with themes - and eventually chose the 10 Pãezinhos theme. And the gadgets!!! Wow! Lots of them are ugly and suffer from what I call the "MySpace syndrome," being too flashy and redundant, but I ended up adding the YouTube gadget, Word of the Day, Einstein Quote of the Day, and Hot Guy of the Day. (Just kidding on that last one; it doesn't exist. I checked!!!) (There are, though, DOZENS of Hot Chick of the Day "gadgets.")
But Google Sites is a major interest in terms of school use. I wish Google wasn't behind the firewall, though, because entering my password EVERY TIME I want to Google something or use a Google app is REALLY annoying. (Can you tell how I really feel?) I made a site that I may use for a class "home page" -- One Hundred Percent Marshall! I'm still playing around with it... I can't figure out how to change the layout yet, but I haven't done much instruction-reading!
And I'm really curious about Google Notebook. That'll take me a while to digest; I'm not sure if it's redundant with the programs I'm already using.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Thing #11 - Feed Me!
My RSS feed is going to be a strange blend of geekery, education, celebrity gossip, news, and random stuff.
*Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use?
I enjoyed using the blogrolls of blogs I read. If I really like someone's writing, chances are, I'll like what they read, too!
*Which Search tool was the easiest for you?
I really like the no-nonsense interface of the Google Blog Search. Just like Google, you're entering a search term and coming up with some decent returns. Also, it lets you set up an email alert if you want to be notified of topical blogs that come up later. Woo hoo! It's like a reader for your search!
*Which was more confusing?
Topix confused me - I was expecting a list of blogs to subscribe to, when it's actually a news aggregate of its own. You can edit what you see, and comment on it, but I've seen similar aggregators out there (Google News links directly to the "real" article where you can comment with the readers of the original source). Even with Technorati, you have to click through to a Blog Directory. Where's the Page of Blogs I Want? The top 100 helped, but...
*What kind of useful feeds did you find in your travels?
I've been around the web, and I kind of already have my favorites... So I compared a lot of the feeds to ones I already have, and they came up lacking.
*Or what kind of unusual ones did you find?
I think my favorite is one called Overheard in New York, which posts brief snippets of strange overheard conversations.
*What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?
A simple Google search on obscure topics that interest me came up with some cool blogs that - whaddaya know - interested me, too!
*Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use?
I enjoyed using the blogrolls of blogs I read. If I really like someone's writing, chances are, I'll like what they read, too!
*Which Search tool was the easiest for you?
I really like the no-nonsense interface of the Google Blog Search. Just like Google, you're entering a search term and coming up with some decent returns. Also, it lets you set up an email alert if you want to be notified of topical blogs that come up later. Woo hoo! It's like a reader for your search!
*Which was more confusing?
Topix confused me - I was expecting a list of blogs to subscribe to, when it's actually a news aggregate of its own. You can edit what you see, and comment on it, but I've seen similar aggregators out there (Google News links directly to the "real" article where you can comment with the readers of the original source). Even with Technorati, you have to click through to a Blog Directory. Where's the Page of Blogs I Want? The top 100 helped, but...
*What kind of useful feeds did you find in your travels?
I've been around the web, and I kind of already have my favorites... So I compared a lot of the feeds to ones I already have, and they came up lacking.
*Or what kind of unusual ones did you find?
I think my favorite is one called Overheard in New York, which posts brief snippets of strange overheard conversations.
*What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?
A simple Google search on obscure topics that interest me came up with some cool blogs that - whaddaya know - interested me, too!
Thing #10 - Living in Syndication
I've been "load all in tabs" with my bookmarks for YEARS now, so it's about time I save myself some time! I need to hook myself up with a reader. I love it: "It's like Netflix compared to the video store." I love that the infomation comes to you instead of making you waste the "trip" by loading a site if there's nothing new. Now, I can just go when I know there's something good!
I went with Google Reader. I like that it meshes with my iPhone and Google accounts (mail, calendar, etc.), and that it's intuitive after using the we-based Google apps. And, for data freaks like me, there's tons of infoporn (and no, I don't mean that stuff - I just mean images/data that are exciting to people who are curious about web use - I SWEAR that's safe for work)!
Using newsreaders will save me TONS of time -- not to mention bandwidth -- for stuff I do every. Single. Day.
I'll most likely use this technology in my professional life, not in my classroom (yet). I'll use it to keep tabs on what's going on in educational news and policy, plus keep track of what's going on in terms of best teaching practices.
I don't want to make my reader public, though; I sometimes read stuff that's not entirely family-friendly (read: things that others might find objectionable for whatever reason), so sorry, blogosphere! Here's something that I'll close the "interactivity loop" on!
I went with Google Reader. I like that it meshes with my iPhone and Google accounts (mail, calendar, etc.), and that it's intuitive after using the we-based Google apps. And, for data freaks like me, there's tons of infoporn (and no, I don't mean that stuff - I just mean images/data that are exciting to people who are curious about web use - I SWEAR that's safe for work)!
Using newsreaders will save me TONS of time -- not to mention bandwidth -- for stuff I do every. Single. Day.
I'll most likely use this technology in my professional life, not in my classroom (yet). I'll use it to keep tabs on what's going on in educational news and policy, plus keep track of what's going on in terms of best teaching practices.
I don't want to make my reader public, though; I sometimes read stuff that's not entirely family-friendly (read: things that others might find objectionable for whatever reason), so sorry, blogosphere! Here's something that I'll close the "interactivity loop" on!
Thing #9 - More Imagical Stuff
Ah, image generators! Whee!
I this is one of the reasons I love the Internet - anyone can make relevant and/or funny imagery, thanks to programmers. The generation software, web-based, is pretty self-explanatory; usually you just enter the text you want into the field, and viola! A picture!
I used the Famous People application for this one:
Made with free image tools @ TXT2PIC.com
How about this, from the Barcode section of Custom Sign Generator for emphasizing how important bubbling in their answers is?
Ooh! A Magic Eye generator!
All of these will be great to put on homework, class signage, or notes I send home to add visual (and content) interest.
There's a fun church sign generator out there, too!
I this is one of the reasons I love the Internet - anyone can make relevant and/or funny imagery, thanks to programmers. The generation software, web-based, is pretty self-explanatory; usually you just enter the text you want into the field, and viola! A picture!
I used the Famous People application for this one:
Made with free image tools @ TXT2PIC.com
How about this, from the Barcode section of Custom Sign Generator for emphasizing how important bubbling in their answers is?
Ooh! A Magic Eye generator!
All of these will be great to put on homework, class signage, or notes I send home to add visual (and content) interest.
There's a fun church sign generator out there, too!
Thing #8 - Pickr 'n' Flickr
I made this conversation heart at the Acme Heartmaker, and I can't wait to play with it!
So, I started with this image. I entered it into retrievr, and it gave me all of these cool options. I next played drawing my image instead of uploading it, entering a sort-of U.S. flag as my input, and wow, one actually came up as a result!Then I played around with Colr Pickr, and I really enjoyed this quote - it speaks to the role of Web 2.0 for artists and hackers the world over:
This is either something that designers and photo editors have been waiting their whole lives for, or one of those "I've created this because the Web lets me do it" kinds of things.Maybe I should make it my Web 2.0 goal to have one of my photos show up on Colr Pickr!
-- Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
The guy who made Colr Pickr also made this cool image using science fiction book covers! And this one made of iconic "peril" signs! Mouse over them to see the individual photos making up the mosaics.
Finally, spelling, my favorite thing, brought to you by Spell with flickr:
See? A magic spell.
That sums up how I feel about sharing photos online: magic. I could spend hours (and woo hoo, as a teacher, I can, during the summer!) playing around and looking at this stuff. I'm not sure how to use it in a classroom setting - maybe looking at animals' camouflage with the Colr Pickr? Or trying to find national flags or countries on a map with retrievr?
Thing #7 - Flickr?!? I hardly knowr!
Here's a photo I took in a place I consider my "extended classroom," the Exploratorium in San Francisco. It's a view of water crystals viewed through a polarized lens. Rainbows! Yay!
I have used Flickr for years for its wonderful social networking abilities and ease of use. I keep some school photos on there; if they feature students, they're listed as private -- if you see any students, please let me know! -- mainly for my own media storage. I'm not sure if I'll use it for public classroom photos (if I did, I'd have to create a new user, since I don't want my kids/their families seeing my personal stuff).Right now, I have my wedding pictures catalogued and hope to make a big book (though Flickr's service) soon. Overall, I love having photos "out there" - photography has been a great hobby. I hope to keep it going in the future.
I've tried Picasa, a long time ago, because it meshed with Blogger first. My early blog days had a few Picasa-loaded photos, but Flickr arrived and was superior then. Honestly, I haven't looked at other sharing sites in a long time. I hate it when they make you sign up as a user before you can look at others' photos; Flickr is open and free.
And, they have the Explore function! You can find out what the most popular tags are (displayed in a cool wordswarm), or find photos deemed "interesting" by their online traffic.
Maybe I'll use Flickr in the classroom as a vocabulary-building exercise; kids can enter vocab words and see what kinds of tags show up!
Thing #6 - The Toolbox
I'm gonna play around with Pandora. I just got the update for my iPhone (haha, it's iPhone 2.0!), and Pandora is an available application. I want to play with it so I can have access to music that I'll probably like, based on extrapolations of a computer.
Anything touted as a "genome project" appeals to me! From the creators:
First, I added many of my favorite bands to "Summer Radio," the "station" I created. I like that it has a "smart add" button (though it took a while to use because the navigation relied on some pop-ups and menus I didn't really understand). Then, I clicked play! Simple as that! The first song they threw at me was by the White Stripes, a band I didn't put on my list... and a song I didn't particularly like. But, never fear, they let you "thumbs up" a song or "thumbs down" it; it'll drop songs like it from the playlist evermore! I have it playing in the background now. Here 'tis!
I don't like that when you share the station(s), the emails take so long to arrive! I'm waiting for a "share" email so I can link to my stations! Search for "Summer Radio"
I'm really excited that I'll be able to use this with my phone. I'm not taking advantage of the iPod feature of my iPhone at all yet, so having this (free!) resource to entertain me (and plug into my car!!!) will be great.
It's useful because I'm always seeking out new music, and Pandora (based on the selections for Summer Radio) has quite a few obscure selections.
For school, wow... That's an interestingproblem challenge!
It might help me relate to my students if I create a "Class Radio" station by inputting their favorite songs/bands... We could play it as a reward. Or if we have a certain unit theme, we could list songs and see what Pandora comes up with...
I created "Science Radio" by entering bands I know are into the whole science songs thing and certain science songs I know. But it didn't really come up with sciencey songs, because it's looking at musical connections, not lyrical/content connections. Check out its not-so-greatness. Oh well.
Anything touted as a "genome project" appeals to me! From the creators:
Together we set out to capture the essence of music at the most fundamental level. We ended up assembling literally hundreds of musical attributes or "genes" into a very large Music Genome. Taken together these genes capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song - everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony.Awesome!
First, I added many of my favorite bands to "Summer Radio," the "station" I created. I like that it has a "smart add" button (though it took a while to use because the navigation relied on some pop-ups and menus I didn't really understand). Then, I clicked play! Simple as that! The first song they threw at me was by the White Stripes, a band I didn't put on my list... and a song I didn't particularly like. But, never fear, they let you "thumbs up" a song or "thumbs down" it; it'll drop songs like it from the playlist evermore! I have it playing in the background now. Here 'tis!
I don't like that when you share the station(s), the emails take so long to arrive! I'm waiting for a "share" email so I can link to my stations! Search for "Summer Radio"
I'm really excited that I'll be able to use this with my phone. I'm not taking advantage of the iPod feature of my iPhone at all yet, so having this (free!) resource to entertain me (and plug into my car!!!) will be great.
It's useful because I'm always seeking out new music, and Pandora (based on the selections for Summer Radio) has quite a few obscure selections.
For school, wow... That's an interesting
It might help me relate to my students if I create a "Class Radio" station by inputting their favorite songs/bands... We could play it as a reward. Or if we have a certain unit theme, we could list songs and see what Pandora comes up with...
I created "Science Radio" by entering bands I know are into the whole science songs thing and certain science songs I know. But it didn't really come up with sciencey songs, because it's looking at musical connections, not lyrical/content connections. Check out its not-so-greatness. Oh well.
Thing #5 - 2.0migosh!
After reading this wide-eyed article and this fairly-opaque one, I realize that Web 2.0 is causing a lot of wonder and a lot of fear.
So, to me, "School 2.0" means (and stick with me; it's an endearing metaphor, really!)...
...total and complete information frappé. Seriously. Let's take every person's knowledge and throw it into a blender. Put bytes of fruit in, and watch it get chopped into bits of information that look nothing like what they went in as. What goes in there, anyway? Do we know if it's healthy? Is it served to sustain Life or Second Life? Are the "facts" still there in chunks, or have they been annihilated by the blades of interactivity? Make it hard to tell who is who and what is what (and, for that matter, when is when and where is where). Blur the lines between fact and opinion. Let all the participants contribute to the flavor.
But. At the very end of it, this smooth, creamy blend tastes really, really good. I know kids who would rather have a banana-strawberry smoothie than eat a banana and 5 strawberries. This smooth, digestible information might be the way we sneak in the nutrition.
For schools of the future, this means that kids, faced with this blurry future of blended interactivity, will need to be taught how to find the truth that's out there. How to discern if what they're drinking has nutrition, as it were. Can they tell that there's a teaspoon of malt in the mocha? It's a challenge to stay ahead of the game, to keep track, as teachers, of what goes into the blender, but that'll be what we teach the students, no matter how little we ourselves know about the Nutrition Facts.
I mean, Nutrition Opinions.
So, to me, "School 2.0" means (and stick with me; it's an endearing metaphor, really!)...
...total and complete information frappé. Seriously. Let's take every person's knowledge and throw it into a blender. Put bytes of fruit in, and watch it get chopped into bits of information that look nothing like what they went in as. What goes in there, anyway? Do we know if it's healthy? Is it served to sustain Life or Second Life? Are the "facts" still there in chunks, or have they been annihilated by the blades of interactivity? Make it hard to tell who is who and what is what (and, for that matter, when is when and where is where). Blur the lines between fact and opinion. Let all the participants contribute to the flavor.
But. At the very end of it, this smooth, creamy blend tastes really, really good. I know kids who would rather have a banana-strawberry smoothie than eat a banana and 5 strawberries. This smooth, digestible information might be the way we sneak in the nutrition.
For schools of the future, this means that kids, faced with this blurry future of blended interactivity, will need to be taught how to find the truth that's out there. How to discern if what they're drinking has nutrition, as it were. Can they tell that there's a teaspoon of malt in the mocha? It's a challenge to stay ahead of the game, to keep track, as teachers, of what goes into the blender, but that'll be what we teach the students, no matter how little we ourselves know about the Nutrition Facts.
I mean, Nutrition Opinions.
Thing #4 - Commentary
Why does commenting help create a sense of community and interaction? Well, because otherwise, a blog is just a diary! The cool thing about the Internet in general -- and blogs, specifically -- is that they're interactive! (And hey, as teachers, we yearn to make our teaching as engaging and interactive as possible! So blogging is like teaching in lots of ways!) If we comment, it gives the blogger a chance to do a lot of things:
-defend his/her point of view;
-thank readers for insightful comments and help;
-see what others think about what they posted; and
-look at his/her work in a more "rounded," critical way.
As a commenter, it gives you the chance to have more back-and-forth! It encourages you to pay closer attention to what your reading if your focus is "what do I want to comment about?" - and it forces an inner monologue. (See my update to Thing #3!)
I chose to read "10 Techniques to Get More Comments" and the one about real names vs. pseudonyms for commenting. Here are the 2 points I found important:
1. I understand all the reasons for choosing a specific name/brand/alias for commenting -- I have a "blog brand" outside the 23 Things arena that I use for blogging, Flickr, Twitter, etc. that I even have as my home email address username -- but I think the commenter left out a reason that I think a lot of people choose an alias... Sometimes people don't use pseudonyms because they need privacy -- sometimes they use them because they're chicken! I see a ton of comments that are overly critical and/or downright mean, and the posters don't use their real names, I believe, so they can't be "tracked down" as the arsonist of a flame war.
2. I like the idea of commenting on posts people leave -- and rewarding them -- to encourage more blog comments. And back to how blogging is like teaching... Kids will interact if there are incentives involved! I know I would definitely check back on a blog post more often if the author - especially an author on whom I have a "blog-crush" - would even acknowledge my post.
One book I really want to get is No One Cares What You Had For Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog. It's about improving your blog (and, I assume about leveraging comments.) I've read Mighty Girl, the blog of that book's author, for years.
The five 23 Things blogs I chose to read, discussing why I chose them and the comments I left, are below. I picked which blogs to comment on purely based on the interestingness of the blogs' names!
-Valerie's Views. I know Valerie - she and I work together at Floyd! I posted here to say hi and that I was reading her blog!
-teachartiscool. I love art, and I can imagine that the name of the blog is indeed true. I posted here to ask advice about Flickr as an art "storage" venue.
-Loving Summer. I couldn't resist checking this one out, since Summer's my name! What, you mean my husband hasn't already formed a blog called "Loving Summer"?!? =) I posted here to share my fandom of Google Calendar.
-Technocricket. I posted here about my love of image generators, and I shared another one with her.
-sassy says what. I posted here to address her concerns about private photos on Flickr.
Outside our group, I choose to comment on the following blogs, discussing why I chose them and the comments I left:
-I'm gonna take the advice about being a good blogger and comment on my own Flickr stream (which is pretty much a blog) to encourage/reward commenting. I'm Iridesce, responding to a friend of mine's comment about growing up in Amarillo here.
-As I mentioned before, Mighty Girl has always been one of my favorite blogs. She posts about weird things she observes in the world, about parenting, and about design. She's branched out and posts other places, and this post was about something she wrote for another blog. My comment is #8 here. I wanted to add to the list of fantastic clocks, as well as point out a funny (to me!) observation about the Communist Ballerina clock.
Comments? =)
-defend his/her point of view;
-thank readers for insightful comments and help;
-see what others think about what they posted; and
-look at his/her work in a more "rounded," critical way.
As a commenter, it gives you the chance to have more back-and-forth! It encourages you to pay closer attention to what your reading if your focus is "what do I want to comment about?" - and it forces an inner monologue. (See my update to Thing #3!)
I chose to read "10 Techniques to Get More Comments" and the one about real names vs. pseudonyms for commenting. Here are the 2 points I found important:
1. I understand all the reasons for choosing a specific name/brand/alias for commenting -- I have a "blog brand" outside the 23 Things arena that I use for blogging, Flickr, Twitter, etc. that I even have as my home email address username -- but I think the commenter left out a reason that I think a lot of people choose an alias... Sometimes people don't use pseudonyms because they need privacy -- sometimes they use them because they're chicken! I see a ton of comments that are overly critical and/or downright mean, and the posters don't use their real names, I believe, so they can't be "tracked down" as the arsonist of a flame war.
2. I like the idea of commenting on posts people leave -- and rewarding them -- to encourage more blog comments. And back to how blogging is like teaching... Kids will interact if there are incentives involved! I know I would definitely check back on a blog post more often if the author - especially an author on whom I have a "blog-crush" - would even acknowledge my post.
One book I really want to get is No One Cares What You Had For Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog. It's about improving your blog (and, I assume about leveraging comments.) I've read Mighty Girl, the blog of that book's author, for years.
The five 23 Things blogs I chose to read, discussing why I chose them and the comments I left, are below. I picked which blogs to comment on purely based on the interestingness of the blogs' names!
-Valerie's Views. I know Valerie - she and I work together at Floyd! I posted here to say hi and that I was reading her blog!
-teachartiscool. I love art, and I can imagine that the name of the blog is indeed true. I posted here to ask advice about Flickr as an art "storage" venue.
-Loving Summer. I couldn't resist checking this one out, since Summer's my name! What, you mean my husband hasn't already formed a blog called "Loving Summer"?!? =) I posted here to share my fandom of Google Calendar.
-Technocricket. I posted here about my love of image generators, and I shared another one with her.
-sassy says what. I posted here to address her concerns about private photos on Flickr.
Outside our group, I choose to comment on the following blogs, discussing why I chose them and the comments I left:
-I'm gonna take the advice about being a good blogger and comment on my own Flickr stream (which is pretty much a blog) to encourage/reward commenting. I'm Iridesce, responding to a friend of mine's comment about growing up in Amarillo here.
-As I mentioned before, Mighty Girl has always been one of my favorite blogs. She posts about weird things she observes in the world, about parenting, and about design. She's branched out and posts other places, and this post was about something she wrote for another blog. My comment is #8 here. I wanted to add to the list of fantastic clocks, as well as point out a funny (to me!) observation about the Communist Ballerina clock.
Comments? =)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
