Oh, Merciful End

If nothing else, this technology course has shown me how much innovation and intimidation is really out there in the digital world! Coming into this course, I had not a clue what to expect. The format seems beneficial for those who need the freedom to maneuver time around a project which needs more than simply an hour and twenty five minutes to post a project. Having the work days was critical in the success of myself and those I have spoken to in class.

I am thrilled that I now know how easy it is to create a blog such as this and will perhaps continue the blogging journey once I am in-service. One thing is for certain, I will know more than my children at this stage; parents know what I mean. Staying ahead of the student is always beneficial to being an effective practitioner.

Knowing where to find the critical teaching tricks in the techno-sphere is part of the daily battle to reach students and this course has surely opened my eyes to the possibilities. The Google Earth site was probably the most interesting and potentially useful tool that I can imagine myself using regularly in the classroom. And, because I am a bit of an organization junkie, I plan on revisiting the Livebinders site to do more creative cataloguing.  

Once the tools have been used and become a functional part of the curriculum enhancement, the mastery and keeping up-to-date will, on measure, work itself out. The resource librarian and colleagues will be great assistance as well in the quest for the current "thing" or simply staying fresh in the blogging game.



Thing #23

23 Things Cambridge 

This Blogger website is very near to the APSU 23 Things Web 2.0. Creative Commons items are used here, but not exclusively as I have found the Cambridge site riddled with items that were not given proper credit.

Knowing Creative Commons is a share site for free use will be a great benefit for teacher ad student alike. However, there will be times (perhaps many) when fatigue or simple ambivalence will bring the occasional "copyright infringement" to the classroom.

Thing #22

My Livebinder

Wow! Finally, an alternative to saving favorites to the computer. As a teacher there will be terabytes of information that will be too much to be saved in a simple jump drive. Having a digital binder which can be accessed from any internet capable computer will be a definite advantage for those who desire to keep all the relevant information for the classroom organized and at one's fingertips...literally.

This particular embedded binder is concerned with writing techniques for essays and other forms. Calling this information to a Smartboard and having the students follow the steps on technique saves considerable time and a time consuming Power Point or handout will not need to be produced.

Thing #21

My Animoto Video

This was pretty cool. How do I know this? My children got to pick the photos out and simply loved doing the video with the cat as the star of the show. I can definitely see me having this sort of thing as a looping video in class while the students are getting themselves prepared for their day or next lesson. The ease with which a video can be produced is a great bonus for me.

Thing #20

Go for it!

YouTube is yet another source to find those nuggets of information which offer additional information and, at times, myriad perspectives on a lesson. How many of us have sat through a class and secretly prayed for a fire drill or perhaps even an assault by space aliens looking to conquer earth and enslave its inhabitants. We have all been there. The effective teacher is the one who keeps the students wondering what will be on the agenda for the day. Being predictable simply allows for embedding drudgery into the students, and that can make for a very long school year. I think all teachers, regardless their curriculum, might use a YouTube video every now and then to keep the students' mind from wandering on you. Believe me, trying to teach economics and keep it interesting is a chore of the highest degree!

Thing #19

These are examples of NING badges found on the website. The badges are personalized and allow the blogger to show their interests and individuality to viewers.

Widget applications allow the user to invest more content into the blog and may take on different forms. They are a fun and interesting way to personalize the web applications into a way of hyperlinking your content design into the larger web so that the blogger might introduce his or her personal interests to the visiting viewer.

 

Image copied from: Teacherpop.ning.com

Thing #18

I have begun an account on Twitter and have yet to really get into the whole "Tweeting" thing.

Teachers should resist the urge to dismiss social media. This would be tantamount to a teacher in the 1950s dismissing the television. The technology is here and children are going to use it if they have access to it, period. Unlike television, however, the social media have become woven into the fabric of communications all over the world. Knowing this, the teacher should be advised that without the skills in multiple communications formats, students will be severely hamstrung in today's economy.

Simply picking up the land-line or cell phone is not enough to be completely connected. The world is webbed with social networks, Wikis and more. These and other tools are a clear competitive advantage which will assist these future productive citizens in being more efficient and productive than ever before. If teachers do not embrace this in the name of the student, they are failing in their prescribed mission as educators.

The Twitter craze might be used in its short and to-the-point format. It could be used to update information about classroom activities, or perhaps incorporated into a lesson. Imagine having students learn about the early 1900s American industrial revolution and, as a project, have the students formulate a Twitter conversation between two or three captains of industry during the era. Samuel Morse could perhaps Tweet Isaac Singer about his telegraph invention and Singer back to him about his innovative sewing machine. How much fun would that be for the class!