I LOVE Google Calender! I have one set up for my classes, one for each of my jobs, one for when I'm "supposed to" go to the gym, one for other appointments... it lets you set each one as a different color so it's like a rainbow of activities :) I actually get excited when I make plans because I get to add it to my Google Calendar! Wow, just realized how sad that sounds. One of the other features I like is that you can share your calendar with other people. I sent my school and work calendars for my mom to see so she'll know when I'm busy and not call me then (I don't think she bothers looking at them though). As a teacher, you could make a class calendar, with activities, meetings, field trips, that are planned and either invite parents to view it, or make it public. It would be a great way to keep parents informed. You could also make one with your cirriculum plans and share it with the other teachers in your grade. One of the settings when you share your calendar allows you to collaborate on a calendar together.
I tried using Google Notebook; it sounded like something that would be really useful to me. I'm constantly opening a million browser screens when I research something, and then don't want to close them and lose the information. Google Notebook would be a great way to keep all that organized. Unfortunately, when I tried to start one, I got a message saying "Google recently stopped development on Notebook, which means it is no longer being improved upon or open to sign-ups by new users." Sadface.
Google Alerts didn't appeal to me because I couldn't think of something I wanted to be alerted about, although it could be very useful in the classroom when students are doing a project on current events.
I didn't think Picasa would interest me, because I already have a Flickr account and never use it. But I liked the way it's organized, and noticed that Google Translator automatically translates comments people leave in other languages, which I think is an awesome feature.
I ended up making an iGoogle page. Google's "classic" website has been my homepage for years. iGoogle lets me organize a bunch of cool stuff with the Google Search - and I can pick whatever stuff I want. So far, I have a thing that tells me the weather, my Google Calender, a ToDo list, my horoscope, a How To of the Day, CNN.com headlines, and a virtual pet turtle.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Thing #11: Feeding
Most of the blogs I've subscribed to I heard of through word-of-mouth. I'll get an "I think you'll like this" email, or someone at work will show me a link. SInce my last post, I've added a blog Sarita, my friend from home, started when she moved to South America and Stuff White People Like, which Sarita suggested to me. I also subscribed to Improve Everywhere, a site I found in my Social Deviance class when I was in undergrad.
Using feed finders was a new experience for me. I wasn't the biggest fan at first, mostly because I didn't know what topics to search for. But when I went to Topix, there was a headline that caught my attention (At Least 1 Stabbed at Clarksville Mall) and I was tempted to browse the sight more. I liked that it had local news and read a lot from The Leaf Chronicle, but I couldn't subscribe to their website directly. I liked the way Topix was organized and that it focused on news instead of any and every blog. I browsed a little more and added SNAFU-ed (I unsubscribed from Huffington Post because they update a few thousand times a day, so I needed a new news source).
The Feedster and Syndic8 links would not work for me, so for the last two feed finders (Google and Technorati), I did an experiment: I searched for a random topic - Backpack Europe (something I've always wanted to do and hope to get around to someday soon) - at both sites and compared the blogs that they found for me. As a Google Devotee, I was surprised that I liked more of Technorati's results. Furthermore, their site was more aesthetically pleasing to me.
Using feed finders was a new experience for me. I wasn't the biggest fan at first, mostly because I didn't know what topics to search for. But when I went to Topix, there was a headline that caught my attention (At Least 1 Stabbed at Clarksville Mall) and I was tempted to browse the sight more. I liked that it had local news and read a lot from The Leaf Chronicle, but I couldn't subscribe to their website directly. I liked the way Topix was organized and that it focused on news instead of any and every blog. I browsed a little more and added SNAFU-ed (I unsubscribed from Huffington Post because they update a few thousand times a day, so I needed a new news source).
The Feedster and Syndic8 links would not work for me, so for the last two feed finders (Google and Technorati), I did an experiment: I searched for a random topic - Backpack Europe (something I've always wanted to do and hope to get around to someday soon) - at both sites and compared the blogs that they found for me. As a Google Devotee, I was surprised that I liked more of Technorati's results. Furthermore, their site was more aesthetically pleasing to me.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Thing #10: Too Simple?
I chose to use Google Reader because I already have an account with google and check it almost compulsively throughout the day.
The first three blogs I subscribed to were no-brainers because I visit the sites daily anyway. They are FMyLife, MyLifeIsAverage, and S***MyDadSays. After subscribing to them, I felt like I needed something with a bit more substance, so I subscribed to Huffington Post, a collection of news, blogs, and videos about politics, media, business, entertainment, living, style, the green movement, world news, and comedy. The final blog I stumbled upon was Faces in Places, which is updated everyday with a photo of a face found in an everyday place.
At first, I was hesitant about grouping all my blogs in one, easy-to-access location because I tend to visit the first three sites as a way to kill time when I should be doing other things... Who wants to make killing time more efficient? But as I looked around at all the other blogs I could subscribe to, I realized how useful this tool could be when you want to check out a large number of different sites. I also like that there is a way to organize your blogs into different folders, so if you have a group that are about education, and another group about cooking, you can keep them seperate. This could be really helpful in school if you create collections of blogs about a topic you are researching or teaching.
The first three blogs I subscribed to were no-brainers because I visit the sites daily anyway. They are FMyLife, MyLifeIsAverage, and S***MyDadSays. After subscribing to them, I felt like I needed something with a bit more substance, so I subscribed to Huffington Post, a collection of news, blogs, and videos about politics, media, business, entertainment, living, style, the green movement, world news, and comedy. The final blog I stumbled upon was Faces in Places, which is updated everyday with a photo of a face found in an everyday place.
At first, I was hesitant about grouping all my blogs in one, easy-to-access location because I tend to visit the first three sites as a way to kill time when I should be doing other things... Who wants to make killing time more efficient? But as I looked around at all the other blogs I could subscribe to, I realized how useful this tool could be when you want to check out a large number of different sites. I also like that there is a way to organize your blogs into different folders, so if you have a group that are about education, and another group about cooking, you can keep them seperate. This could be really helpful in school if you create collections of blogs about a topic you are researching or teaching.
Thing #9: Generation
Some of the image generators that are available seemed appealing at first, but turned out to be more complicated than they need to be (unless I just don't know what I'm doing, which is very possible). The first image I tried was putting my boyfriend's face on a monkey body:
Maybe I had trouble with it because of karma.
After fiddling with that for awhile, I switched to image generators that I didn't have to upload pictures for. I made an alternate banner for my blog:
I used ImageChef to make a Word Mosaic:
It's similar to what you can do with Wordle, but you can make the words create a shape!
I also liked what ImageChef called Visual Poetry, which was similar to the Word Mosaic, but repeats the phrase you give it instead of randomizing the words:
Maybe I had trouble with it because of karma.
After fiddling with that for awhile, I switched to image generators that I didn't have to upload pictures for. I made an alternate banner for my blog:
I used ImageChef to make a Word Mosaic:
It's similar to what you can do with Wordle, but you can make the words create a shape!
I also liked what ImageChef called Visual Poetry, which was similar to the Word Mosaic, but repeats the phrase you give it instead of randomizing the words:
Thing #8: Do the Mash
My personal favorite application was the PopArt Creator. I don't know how you could use it in the classroom, but it makes my picture look like a poster I could buy in a store!
The Commons on Flickr provide access to pictures of historical events from the Library of Congress. These would be invaluable in giving students a concrete reference point while teaching history.
Montager is another cool thing you could use Flickr for in the classroom. You simply type in a word and it creates a montage of different images with that tag.
Thing #7: Flickr
This is a picture I took a few years ago of my ex-boyfriend's cat, Poster Nutbag (bonus points if you understand that reference). I tweeked the color and exposure a little with the Picnik editor.
Apparently, I have a tendency to sign up for things and never bother using them. When I went to the Flickr site, I saw you could use your Yahoo! id to log in. I tried my old email address (which I surprisingly could remember the password for!), and realized I had uploaded 15 pictures in October of 2006...
I think Flickr has always intimidated me. Unlike other online photo sites, Flickr seems more artistic; more of a place to show off artwork than share pictures of your family. For this reason, I could see myself using Flickr as a source for pictures to decorate my classroom or illustrate a lesson with, but doubt I will start using it for my personal photos. I did have fun with the photo editor (Picnik) Flickr has, so if I'm ever feeling artsyfartsy, I may upload some more pictures to play around with.
I did have a Webshots account once too, but I would get a little creeped out when I would log in and see that my pictures had been viewed 657 times in the past week... I don't think I even know that many people! Now I tend to put my personal pictures on Facebook. I doubt it's any more secure than Webshots or Flickr, but I like having them linked directly to a social networking site that a lot of my friends and family already have an account with.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Thing #6: Exploring Web 2.0
Comiqs sounded really interesting; I could see myself using it in English classes to help the kids understand story structure and sequencing. But alas, the website wasn't working any of the times I tried to look at it.
Writeboard was my second choice. It would be an excellent way to peer-review writing assignments without wasting paper on multiple drafts. It saves all versions of the document, so you can go back and see what has changed, which would be useful as a teacher because you could compare the students original document with the version their peer suggested changes on. And it keeps track of when the changes were made, so which might be insentive for students to work on the assignment the night before rather than minutes before class starts! Other bonuses include the fact that it's 100% free, works in most browsers, and is allows you to access your document from any computer with an internet connection. One flaw is that you currently can't import text from an external source into a writeboard, but it's pretty simple to just copy and paste it in.
Writeboard was my second choice. It would be an excellent way to peer-review writing assignments without wasting paper on multiple drafts. It saves all versions of the document, so you can go back and see what has changed, which would be useful as a teacher because you could compare the students original document with the version their peer suggested changes on. And it keeps track of when the changes were made, so which might be insentive for students to work on the assignment the night before rather than minutes before class starts! Other bonuses include the fact that it's 100% free, works in most browsers, and is allows you to access your document from any computer with an internet connection. One flaw is that you currently can't import text from an external source into a writeboard, but it's pretty simple to just copy and paste it in.
Thing #5: School 2.0
According to Wikipedia - Web 2.0, the term "Web 2.0" has existed for the past decade. It was coined by Darcy DiNucci to describe the "new version" of the internet developing. However, Web 2.0 is Not About Version Numbers or Betas clarifies that, contrary to many people's assumptions, "Web 2.0" is more of an attitude than a new technology. Unlike the original version of the World Wide Web, which was characterized as a passive transfer of information, the internet has become an active "participant-oriented" (Web 2.0: A Guide for Educators) entity.
This is very similar to the transformation taking place in classrooms around the world, a phenomenon called "School 2.0" by many. Educators that once relied on lecutre and "content bulimia", as I've heard it called, are shifting to a mroe collaborative format. Students are becoming more responsible for their education, just as everyday, non-technological people are taking responsibility for what is available on the internet.
Furthermore, schools are become more global than they ever have before. This is in large part due to the ever-increasing availabilty of these new technologies; people are connecting in a way that was never previously possible. Classrooms on opposite sides of the world are able to not only share ideas, but collaborate with each other and create a unified product, without ever meeting face-to-face! The possibilities for this in education are endless.
One final note: it was mentioned in Web 2.0: A Guide for Educators that 55% of all online American youth are using social networking sites outside of the classroom. I think it's imparative for educators to harness this technology to enrich their curriculum and keep up with a rapidly changing culture.
This is very similar to the transformation taking place in classrooms around the world, a phenomenon called "School 2.0" by many. Educators that once relied on lecutre and "content bulimia", as I've heard it called, are shifting to a mroe collaborative format. Students are becoming more responsible for their education, just as everyday, non-technological people are taking responsibility for what is available on the internet.
Furthermore, schools are become more global than they ever have before. This is in large part due to the ever-increasing availabilty of these new technologies; people are connecting in a way that was never previously possible. Classrooms on opposite sides of the world are able to not only share ideas, but collaborate with each other and create a unified product, without ever meeting face-to-face! The possibilities for this in education are endless.
One final note: it was mentioned in Web 2.0: A Guide for Educators that 55% of all online American youth are using social networking sites outside of the classroom. I think it's imparative for educators to harness this technology to enrich their curriculum and keep up with a rapidly changing culture.
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