Looking on the Webware 100 winners website, I found a Web 2.0 tool called Skype. It is an instant messaging program that you download onto your computer. You can talk to people via webcam, audio call, or instant message. Recently, there has been a new feature added where you can have a webcam conversation with more than one other person. This is a good way to keep in touch with friends and such. One thing that I love about it is there are games you can play with the person you are talking to. This is a good way to interact with family and friends that you may not get to see very often.
I think the profile for Skype should have an "About Me" section and things like that. It would take it to the next level. There is a status update bar, and you can add a profile picture. You can set it to public, contacts only, or private. This way, you have a choice of showing the world who you are or not.
With this tool, you can screen share with any of your contacts. This is a great way to share information and show someone what exactly is going on your computer screen. The viewer can see every move the mouse takes as you change screens and open browers. There is also a feature where you can take a snap shot of the other person or their screen. The photos are saved to your computer and can be shared instantly with whoever you are talking to and other people.
I can't see this being used in a school setting, but I can see this being used between a teacher and student that needs help with homework when they are at home. It is one more way that a student or parent can talk to a teacher in their every day busy lives. I think this tool could be beneficial to students in a library setting as well. Students who need help with research could contact a librarian anywhere they are and ask them for help. With screen share, the student and librarian can see what is on eachother's screen. This will help the understanding of both the student and librarian as being directed to the right information.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Thing 5
Reading Teachers 2.0 showed me that teachers are always finding different ways to use technology in learning. Most students learn better when technology is involved because it is second-nature to them. When you grow up in a home in 2011 that has atleast one computer, tv, ipod/ipad, cell phone, and gps, you are bound to use the elements that are convenient to you. For example, I will openly admit that I do not own a dictionary in today's world. Flipping through pages to find the spelling of the word doesn't seem like my cup of tea. I normally use the "T9" feature on my phone to find the spelling of a word. Who doesn't have their phone at their side every second of the day anyway? No matter how wrong I spell it, it will usually show you the correct spelling. I think relying on technology such as a cell phone or computer is just as good and better than the ways of the past.
According to Web 2.0: A Guide for Educators, 55 percent of children with the age of 12 through 17 use social networking for communication on the Web. I am few years past that, and I have always used social networking to socialize with friends, update my vocabulary and knowledge, and do school work one way or another. As an adult and future teacher, I am always trying to find ways to research faster and more efficient, socialize in a more convenient way, and come across facts I didn't know. As a future teacher, it is my job to know all these things and educate my students and peers for the greater good of education.
"School 2.0" is near and dear to my heart. It means to me that learning and education can now be technology based. As a current student, it means that my education can be furthered anywhere I go whether it is at school, home, the library, or using wifi at McDonalds. Learning can now be done anywhere with the Web. I think schools of the future will find more and more ways to incorporate their ipads, cell phones, and blogs in the classroom. Instead of banning cell phones from class they should make a clickers app where students can use their cell phone to select answers to a problem that the teacher has on the board. This could also be connected with something each student has like an email account to integrate technology in the every day lesson. With the app, the teacher can for that period of time control the use of each cell phone. That is an example of how things near and dear to a student can be used in a productive way.
According to Web 2.0: A Guide for Educators, 55 percent of children with the age of 12 through 17 use social networking for communication on the Web. I am few years past that, and I have always used social networking to socialize with friends, update my vocabulary and knowledge, and do school work one way or another. As an adult and future teacher, I am always trying to find ways to research faster and more efficient, socialize in a more convenient way, and come across facts I didn't know. As a future teacher, it is my job to know all these things and educate my students and peers for the greater good of education.
"School 2.0" is near and dear to my heart. It means to me that learning and education can now be technology based. As a current student, it means that my education can be furthered anywhere I go whether it is at school, home, the library, or using wifi at McDonalds. Learning can now be done anywhere with the Web. I think schools of the future will find more and more ways to incorporate their ipads, cell phones, and blogs in the classroom. Instead of banning cell phones from class they should make a clickers app where students can use their cell phone to select answers to a problem that the teacher has on the board. This could also be connected with something each student has like an email account to integrate technology in the every day lesson. With the app, the teacher can for that period of time control the use of each cell phone. That is an example of how things near and dear to a student can be used in a productive way.
Thing 4
Commenting in the "blogging world" is a way for readers from all over the world to interact with the writer. This can be by simply putting a "thankyou" and your thoughts on the subject. When a blogger gets a comment on their page, it makes them happy to know that they are not just talking to themselves. A lot of the time, bloggers do not feel like they are getting their point across because a lot of readers read the post and do not take the time to put in their input. Most bloggers want to make a difference in the community and world by sharing their thoughts and knowledge with readers.
Commenting is a good way to show the blogger that you "hear them." When a blogger gets a lot of comments on a post, more than likely they are going to write more on that topic. The writer might even mention your name in a post. This not only makes the blogger feel good, but the commenter as well. You can put a hyperlink on their name that will direct you straight to their blog page. It is a simple thankyou and giving back.
I have chosen to follow several blogs: Kyle's World, Mallory Stewart's 23 Things, Penick 23 Things, Sarahmariefelts, 23 Wonderful Things, First-grade Teaching, and Tattling to the Teacher. These blogs have been very interesting to read throughout the semester. I have commented on each one of them.
When I visited Penick 23 Things, I commented on a post about technology growing over the years. She explained what someone had told her about their day years ago and how much technology has grown. I agreed with her comment that some schools can take the usage of technology too far, and I believe that one day younger generations will lose simple skills obtained when our generation learned them. I commented on a post in Kyle's World that talked about networking with Facebook. I think that Facebook is a great way to network with anyone. Mallory Stewart's 23 Things blog ends in a post about how much of a rollercoaster ride this class has been. I commented and agreed with her, but we both are happy that we went from knowing nothing about computers to being "tech savvy." Saramariefelts did a post on flow charts and mind maps. She put a picture of a floor plan that she created through the Giffy website. I had not tried this feature of that website, so I had to tell her what a great job she did! 23 Wonderful Things has a post on Livebinders. As I was reading, I noticed that she had made a binder about class decorating. I did as well, so I had to share that with her!
I have added both First-grade Teaching and Tattling to the Teacher to my blogs to follow, but they both have not shown up in my "following" list. I have been following these two blogs throughout the semester because I want to be a first-grade teacher, and I have learned some good ideas from these bloggers. They both share work that is done by students in their class, worksheets, and lesson plan ideas. I thanked Kristen who wrote First-grade Teaching for sharing all of her wonderful ideas because I love reading her posts about her classroom! She is my favorite blogger by far. Laura wrote Tattling to the Teacher. She put up pictures of Factor Houses by her students. They were the cutest things! I told her that it was a great idea. One day I am going to use some of these ideas that these two teachers are putting up.
Commenting is a good way to show the blogger that you "hear them." When a blogger gets a lot of comments on a post, more than likely they are going to write more on that topic. The writer might even mention your name in a post. This not only makes the blogger feel good, but the commenter as well. You can put a hyperlink on their name that will direct you straight to their blog page. It is a simple thankyou and giving back.
I have chosen to follow several blogs: Kyle's World, Mallory Stewart's 23 Things, Penick 23 Things, Sarahmariefelts, 23 Wonderful Things, First-grade Teaching, and Tattling to the Teacher. These blogs have been very interesting to read throughout the semester. I have commented on each one of them.
When I visited Penick 23 Things, I commented on a post about technology growing over the years. She explained what someone had told her about their day years ago and how much technology has grown. I agreed with her comment that some schools can take the usage of technology too far, and I believe that one day younger generations will lose simple skills obtained when our generation learned them. I commented on a post in Kyle's World that talked about networking with Facebook. I think that Facebook is a great way to network with anyone. Mallory Stewart's 23 Things blog ends in a post about how much of a rollercoaster ride this class has been. I commented and agreed with her, but we both are happy that we went from knowing nothing about computers to being "tech savvy." Saramariefelts did a post on flow charts and mind maps. She put a picture of a floor plan that she created through the Giffy website. I had not tried this feature of that website, so I had to tell her what a great job she did! 23 Wonderful Things has a post on Livebinders. As I was reading, I noticed that she had made a binder about class decorating. I did as well, so I had to share that with her!
I have added both First-grade Teaching and Tattling to the Teacher to my blogs to follow, but they both have not shown up in my "following" list. I have been following these two blogs throughout the semester because I want to be a first-grade teacher, and I have learned some good ideas from these bloggers. They both share work that is done by students in their class, worksheets, and lesson plan ideas. I thanked Kristen who wrote First-grade Teaching for sharing all of her wonderful ideas because I love reading her posts about her classroom! She is my favorite blogger by far. Laura wrote Tattling to the Teacher. She put up pictures of Factor Houses by her students. They were the cutest things! I told her that it was a great idea. One day I am going to use some of these ideas that these two teachers are putting up.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Thing 3
I think using a blog as a teacher is a great idea. It is a good way for parents to connect with the teacher and classroom to stay involved in their child's education. I think keeping in touch with the parents is very important. Blogs give you so many options as to what you can put on them. With Blogger you can create a Bio, so the parents can learn about you and/ or what the class and year is going to be like.
As a student, I know I would like to see my teachers put notes and important things they tell us in class on a blog page. As a future teacher, I think it would be a great idea to create a blog for students to be able to read their assignments that are due, notes that were taken that day, and daily reminders. I feel like the students would have more of a personal connection with the teacher since students are so technologically oriented these days.
I think it would help students that need extra help as well. Let's say you have a high school student who needs extra help or is not able to write as fast as other students when taking notes. Having the notes on a blog that students can access will solve the problem of "I can't write fast enough" or "you talk too fast." Students now have another way to review for a test and get better grades. PowerPoints can now be accessed wherever the student is from any computer.
As a student, I know I would like to see my teachers put notes and important things they tell us in class on a blog page. As a future teacher, I think it would be a great idea to create a blog for students to be able to read their assignments that are due, notes that were taken that day, and daily reminders. I feel like the students would have more of a personal connection with the teacher since students are so technologically oriented these days.
I think it would help students that need extra help as well. Let's say you have a high school student who needs extra help or is not able to write as fast as other students when taking notes. Having the notes on a blog that students can access will solve the problem of "I can't write fast enough" or "you talk too fast." Students now have another way to review for a test and get better grades. PowerPoints can now be accessed wherever the student is from any computer.
Thing 2
I really like the blog I created through blogger.com. It is very easy to use, and it is pretty self-explanatory. I used to real name on the blog, so my classmates could identify me. In the process of creating the blog, you have to have a user email address. I created a new one through Google, gmail.com. I did not want these emails going to my personal email address.
After I created my blog and made my first post, I created an avatar using doppleme.com. You have to make sure you use the advaced code and not the quick code, or it will not work. My avatar looks just like me. I put a pink shirt on her because pink is my favorite color. There were not very many options as to what clothes and facial expressions you could put on your avatar, but it did have a lot of colors to choose from. I find it funny how big the heads are. Overall, my avatar reflects my personality and who I am.
After I created my blog and made my first post, I created an avatar using doppleme.com. You have to make sure you use the advaced code and not the quick code, or it will not work. My avatar looks just like me. I put a pink shirt on her because pink is my favorite color. There were not very many options as to what clothes and facial expressions you could put on your avatar, but it did have a lot of colors to choose from. I find it funny how big the heads are. Overall, my avatar reflects my personality and who I am.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Thing 1
While listening to the tutorial on Lifelong Learning, I found that there are many different ways you learn. This tutorial in particular got me thinking about learning and my goals. I am the type of person that never meets a challenge but a new opportunity. Habit number three would be the easiest for me. I think viewing problems as challenges are a great way to set goals and meet those goals and expectations. However, my goal has never been to accept responsibility for your own learning which was addressed in habit number two. It would definitely be the hardest for me. Now that I am aware that it is my responsibility for my lack of knowledge about technology, I want to catch up to the rest of the world one step at a time.
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