Thing 15~

I was a little unsure of the wikispaces at first but seeing other English teachers use and integrate class discussion onto their page, I was starting to see how teachers can use it for students. One of the spaces had students discussing Frankenstein and what themes they thought were important and it was really refreshing to see them interacting and saying things like 'Good Response' to each other, encouraging each other. I think having students collaborating and working with each other and seeing other people's ideas on the internet give them a way to talk and discuss things without worrying about speaking in front of the whole class. Many people feel more comfortable talking from behind their computer screen where they can formulate  their thoughts and ideas out before putting it out for others to see.  I think spaces could be a good way for teachers to discuss things as well. You could put your lesson plan up and get feedback from other teachers. I think that would really help new and upcoming teachers get clear feedback from others who are more experienced.
Posting on the sandbox was fun~ I liked seeing what other people posted and what they changed from their original blog post. I like how most people posted pictures and other fun things~

Thing 14~

Both gliffy and minmeister were incredibly easy to use and very interactive. I think minmeister had a cleaner look and was a little easier to use. I'd definitely use that for professional purposes. But I liked messing around with the shapes and colors on gliffy to make the chart above that explains the basic plot development. I think students would enjoy using it to share their charts easily and it's very good for power point presentations. However, both are very user friendly and I'd feel comfortable letting my students use either site.

Thing 13~

I created this on Zoho, an online document website. Everything was interesting and I liked the idea of collaborating and exchanging documents with people anytime and anywhere from any device. However, I found it incredibly difficult to share my documents onto my blog. The html wouldn't work, the url wouldn't work. I finally copy and pasted the image from a screen shot. I think Zoho would be a good idea if it were an original site, but I like Google docs better. I've been using docs for about two years now to collaborate with friends over in Arizona. Google docs is attatched to my Youtube, my Gmail, everything so it's easy to share and copy and paste between resources and it's easier to get people's emails from your contacts to share quickly.

I think students would love google docs to work on essays together with, especially in high school where students have jobs and don't necessarily have the time to meet out of class with their group. They can work together from home or from their phone without having to miss out on the project. Very useful application.

Thing 11~

Finding new blogs that are relevant to teaching and education is a great way for teachers to stay informed and find quality blogs. However, with so many blogs created, it is difficult to find one that caters to exactly what each person needs without having to dig through tons of blogs. Finding blogs was easy with technorati and google blogs. The only problem with google blogs is that it brings up many things that are technically relevant but may not be what you need. It searches for key words, so typing in 'high school teacher' often results in finding news blogs that are complaining about a teacher somewhere. Technorati felt more comfortable and looked more professional, however, I worry it doesn't have as wide of a net as it needs to. Typing in "Young Adult Literature" provided on result. However, another great way to find blogs is to find a blog that you like, an if possible, see what blogs they enjoy. It creates a web effect that allows people to see blogs closely related to what they enjoy.

Thing 12

Google is an amazing tool for teachers and students and people in their everyday lives. Google is used constantly and is being used more and more all the time as it begins to expand from more than just a search engine. Now Google has several amazing features that people can easily use. My favorite is the calender. Now i can find out when that test was from my phone or my laptop or in the library. I write stuff on my calender at home all the time and then need that information when I'm at school or at work. Not to mention it saves me from having to buy a calender~! But all of the features are incredibly useful and students could use it to organize assignments and mark when tests are. Google translate was my best friend when I took French (didn't cheat, I promise :D ) but it was a great tool for double checking homework before I turned it in. With the internet connecting students with people all over the globe, it's really important that they have the ability to translate web pages and understand people from all over the world. Not to mention, it would be a fun assignment to have students write a poem then translate it and discuss how the different language changes how the poem feels to people who don't understand it or how it made them think of the poem differently.

Thing 10~

I've never heard a RSS feeder before but it's fascinating~! I think it's a really useful tool that more people should know about. It's great for keeping track of the doezens of websites people check a day. The RSS feeder pulls all of the new information into one spot~! I think students would really enjoy because it's like facebook notifications, except for all of the other sites they love too. Not only could they use it for personal sites, I could have them follow current authors or the news or even the school website (maybe even their parents could use it). It's a great way to avoid wasting time visiting individual website and will help students organize the information they care about. I think it's important for them to organize their websites so they can spend time on the computer more effeciently. Teachers can benefit from it as well by using for blogs that help keep them updated on current education technology and maybe the shcool website updates as well. It could tell them when their students update and which ones updated easily. For myself, I really enjoy it for the vlogbrothers and for some podcasts that I enjoy.

Thing 9~

 

I think students would love the image generator~! Imagechef waas my favorite, I really enjoyed playing with words and shapes. Students could use these in projects or for their own blogs as well. Creating images like this could allow a teacher to make customized posters for their classroom, with much more motivational words than 'Kitty Cat'. Image chef was the most user friendly. The other sites, especially the sign one, had many many ads and did not look safe or professional. I finally managed to use the smiley face website to create the image below but I wouldn't reccommend it. I don't mind using them but worry about students getting onto those sites.

Thing 8~

I used the spell with Flickr for my mash up to create a really neat poster I could put in my classroom~! I think students would really enjoy creating mashups for their projects, like finding purple photos for the book "The color purple", and for their blogs, and help them learn to do more with their own photos, It adds an exciting element to creating photos and finding new photos. As for me, I didn't have a camera for a long time, so posting personal photos wasn't an option for me. However, now that I have a camera, I post photos all the time, mostly of my cats admittedly~! I think as long as it's not too personal and is something you would be willing to show your boss, posting personal photos is a great way to connect.

Thing 7~

Galileo Galilei, a photo by Vitolino on Flickr.

 A wonderful image of galileo who I think is really inspiring to people of all ages and subjects. The photographer appears to be Vito Leonardo, or at least that is their username. It was really exciting to see all of the photos on Flickr and I can't wait to see it become more popular. I think students will have an interesting time looking up a variety of photos and especially sharing their own. With so many phones having a camera installed, it's easy for people to take pictures anywhere and share them instantly~

Thing 6~

Photopeach was the website I enjoyed the most and thoughts students would enjoy too. It has tons of photos from around the world and would be a great place for students to see the world and explore new locations. They could view countries they've never seen before like France or Germany and see it in photos that are new and taken by people who live there, or see it more currently than in textbooks. It's a great way for students to connect with different countries and really enjoy different cultures.
http://photopeach.com/

Thing 5~

Web 2.0 is changing virtually everything about people use the internet (haha, see what I did there?). But seriously, the web was designed to store and transfer information using text. Now it's through images, videos, blogs, social media, reaching people around the world. Information is being processed, transferred, and learned in an entirely new way. People communicate differently, research differently, understand differently because of how the internet has changed. Important to note though is what Steve Hargadon said, is that now, people can find people with similar interests and collaborate, and therefor, innovate more than ever. Now they can help each other and create new things faster, with people from all over the world, for people all over the world. And the Horizons Report said it best when they discussed how all of this access for information can be used so well by teachers. The internet and emerging technology is essential to the success of education and teachers need to be ensuring that they are putting it into their curriculum. School 2.0 means the revolution in education, how the internet and technology will shape and enhance how students learn and how teachers communicate in every way. It will change everything and help students in countless ways. It has all of the tools for teachers to reach students in new levels, to encourage and excite them about learning like never before. All teachers have to do is take the time to learn how to do it~

Thing 4~

Commenting is a great way to connect with other people and tell them what you think about their blog. It allows people to connect in another way. Looking at other people's blogs, I realized my favorite ones to comment on were the ones that images and a story. I like seeing what they enjoy, reading why they chose that picture, and reading them talk about it. You can really feel what those people are passionate about.
Meghan Wagley, Nicole Clay, J.K Beaty, Steven Baldwin, and Jordan Tupper all had wonderful posts about their pictures and great stories go along with them. I also posted on VlogBrothers, a site I enjoy that has two brother that video blog back and forth. I posted one on Hank's video and one on John's video since they're almost like two different blogs. One is an author and the other is a biologist/chemist, so their content are very different. One of them is my favorite author and they both talk about current events. I chose them because I enjoy the community and they have great opinions about current events and are very educational.

Thing 3~

I think blogging is a great way to communicate with students and get them involved with technology on the educational level. Normally, schools trail far behind in recent innovations on technology or hardly integrate them into curriculum. Students can normally run circle around their professors on computers. But with a new generation of students and technology easily becoming the most essential part of everyday life, it's important for teachers to encourage students to use technology. I would use my own blog to communicate with students and send out reminders about assignments and update any kind of changes. I would have students create their own blogs and have them 'follow' each other and have them update their thoughts on the school, class, and books we're reading in class. I would encourage them to put their honest thoughts on there an comment on each others blogs to help them understand that it's okay to not like the book that we're reading or to let them talk about what they think. I think it's important for students to have their own voice and for them to feel comfortable expressing themselves. Of course, even if they don't like the book, they still have to read it!

Thing 2~

Growing up in the age of technology, I'm pretty familiar with blogs and vlogs and the other various ways that people express themselves on the internet, even following a few myself. Strangely though, it never occurred to me that I could share my own thoughts and experiences as well. I've always just kind of read what other people have done and wished I could do exciting things too. So starting my own blog was exciting, especially creating my own avatar. I always spend so much time making sure it looks as cool as possible. It sort of reflects me as a person but does not necessarily look like me. I always enjoy adventures and travelling so my avatar has a Captain's coat. As for my name, I chose to use my own name. Normally on the internet, I'm so focused on being anonymous and hiding behind screen names so it was nice to be able to just be me on my own blog. Creating the blog was simple enough, especially since it's free here and you still automatically get a lot of cool things like templates and fonts for free as well. Overall, creating a blog was a really cool experience and I'm glad that Education Technology focuses on so many different aspects of technology and really integrates them into the learning environment.

Thing 1~

Being a lifelong learner is essential to being a successful teacher. Learning new ideas and how to use technology as it continues to grow will enhance the way I teach and relate to students. I thought the habits really broke down the core of the what it means to learn. I've always been great at accepting responsibility for my own learning, both in school and outside of the classroom. If I didn't understand a concept I've always been quick to ask the teacher or look up a tutorial online. I think people should have an interest in learning new things and take the time to do so. However, I forget to have confidence in myself as a learner. Sometimes when I don't get a new concept right away or if I mess up what I'm trying to do, I can get discouraged and embarrassed. I should understand that's simply a part of learning. It just takes time to perfect what you're doing and to get as good as the professionals.