I have had a Facebook account for a few years now, it has been a way for me to communicate with friends and family that has been much simpler than email. Since I moved to Tennessee from California it seem to be one of the few ways to stay up to date with the people I care about lives and for them to stay up to date with mine. I have a really large family and circle of friends and there is no way that I would be able to talk to all of them and it's so rare that I use email anymore except for school communications that Facebook has been very easy to stay up to date, although I don't like all of the changes that the site has made such as Timeline, it seems more of an invasion of privacy and having to re go through all my privacy settings over and over gets redundant, but it's a free service and I don't have to use it if I don't want. I'm not really comfortable putting a link to my Facebook here and can't make another one because I don't have another email.
But I had to setup a Twitter account for this class already and am perfectly comfortable posting that link.
ShannaGuentert Twitter
It's important for educators to know about social networking sites because the students they will be teaching will be up to date and very aware of the functions and can use them to spread information quickly to anyone who has access. Now that cell phones are just as connected to the internet as laptops and computers, students have any new information at their fingertips. Whether it be via Facebook or Twitter, these students can spread information about tests, dances, locker searches, or anything they want. This is also another forum that can be used to bully or humiliate other students, which over recent years has become an increasing problem. I didn't gain any new insights on these sights since I already had access to them, but Twitter still seems like the bigger waste of time. I know that the shortness of the posts is specific to keep people from being long winded, but other than a few "people" who are on Twitter I just see it as a place to dump minute and seemingly inconsequential information about a person's moment to moment actions or thoughts. Sometimes it's just better to keep those kinds of things to yourself. Facebook can be just as bad depending on who you have on your friends list. I see social networking as important for teachers to know but also an avenue that can get us in trouble. Although we think it's safe to express ourselves on these sites and have an outlet for such expression, it is the internet and easily seen no matter privacy setting we place on it. So I see social networking as a potentially dangerous avenue to express ourselves.
I was told by my first ever boss that "if it's not in writing than it never happened" and recently a teacher told me "Never put anything in writing that you wouldn't want to testify in court about."
Monday, August 6, 2012
Thing #17, Social bookmarking
After joining Delicious and searching for the tag educational technology the amount of websites was amazing and the organization by tags definitely makes it so much easier to look for websites that would be helpful. I also searched for a couple other tags like cooking and photography. Being able to see the additional tags and comments people have made on particular sites helps to narrow down what I was looking for specifically. On a couple of the educational sites I think it would have been good of the people who posted them to put that the services cost money. As future teachers we will only get a small budget for resources for our students and everything else must come out of our own pockets so we will have to be careful of how much we spend and what we spend it on. Or we could end up in the poor house.
I can definitely see the potential use for this in the classroom, being able to set up tags that correspond to specific lessons or classes would be a great way to keep the websites that I want to use in class handy for when I need them. The ability to access the bookmarks from any computer would definitely be the most important since I won't be carrying my home desktop with me to school everyday.
Teachers can take advantage of socially bookmarking sites by letting their co-teachers know that they are involved in this site and what kinds of tags they use. It could make for a way to collaborate and know that students no matter who's classroom they are in are getting the same amount of technology. For teachers who aren't as technologically savvy and unaware of how to find good websites being able to go to a social bookmarking site would help them narrow down their choices and find what would work best for them in a classroom setting.
I can definitely see the potential use for this in the classroom, being able to set up tags that correspond to specific lessons or classes would be a great way to keep the websites that I want to use in class handy for when I need them. The ability to access the bookmarks from any computer would definitely be the most important since I won't be carrying my home desktop with me to school everyday.
Teachers can take advantage of socially bookmarking sites by letting their co-teachers know that they are involved in this site and what kinds of tags they use. It could make for a way to collaborate and know that students no matter who's classroom they are in are getting the same amount of technology. For teachers who aren't as technologically savvy and unaware of how to find good websites being able to go to a social bookmarking site would help them narrow down their choices and find what would work best for them in a classroom setting.
Thing #16, Organizing the 2.0 way
I looked and rearranged the iGoogle tool. I can see how being able to arrange and place on an online homepage what I want to know could be very useful. I chose iGoogle because of my love of all things Google already. Unfortunately after I got my homepage all setup the way that I wanted it the site told me that iGoogle will not be a viable homepage for very much longer. I have set up homepages before and this seems to happen quite often so I chose not to go through the process again but will enjoy the iGoogle homepage while I can.
The online calenders can be very useful as a society that is on computers very often having reminders that popup on your screen and they ease with which you can organize them to have every detail of your day planned out or just major events are good features. I try to not be on the computer that often and had already setup the Google calender which is attached to my phone so the convenience of having a Google based operating system on my phone makes me find other online calenders obsolete for me.
I can see how all of the online to-do checklists seem like far too much work for me. I am very much "old school" when it come to my to-do lists and other such things. I hand write them so it is easily marked off and I don't have to be on the computer or flipping through screens to mark off what I have done and look at what still needs to be done.
I can see how all of these tools could be very helpful for some people and how to keep some people well organized. I just don't see them as web 2.0 tools that I would use.
The online calenders can be very useful as a society that is on computers very often having reminders that popup on your screen and they ease with which you can organize them to have every detail of your day planned out or just major events are good features. I try to not be on the computer that often and had already setup the Google calender which is attached to my phone so the convenience of having a Google based operating system on my phone makes me find other online calenders obsolete for me.
I can see how all of the online to-do checklists seem like far too much work for me. I am very much "old school" when it come to my to-do lists and other such things. I hand write them so it is easily marked off and I don't have to be on the computer or flipping through screens to mark off what I have done and look at what still needs to be done.
I can see how all of these tools could be very helpful for some people and how to keep some people well organized. I just don't see them as web 2.0 tools that I would use.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Thing #15, Wikispaces
Wiki Spaces is a little difficult to navigate at first, when you aren't sure how the person who originally set it up. The only reason I can see to set up a wikispace would be as a classroom website. I liked looking through some of the wikispaces and finding some interesting information. I learned that only one person can add anything to the wiki at a time, this I can understand but was a little frustrating because I just had to wait for the other person to be done before I could work within the document. It was also not as simple as the video described it to be. Uploading files and making new pages wasn't simply done. I enjoy as much simplicity as possible with any kind of technology that I work with.
I do like the concept of wikispaces and how it could be another vital collaboration tool to use with projects for school or work. And like I had said it would be a good easy way to setup a classroom page that could be used year after year.
I do like the concept of wikispaces and how it could be another vital collaboration tool to use with projects for school or work. And like I had said it would be a good easy way to setup a classroom page that could be used year after year.
Thing #14, Flowcharts and Mind maps becoming more complex
I am not a fan of flow charts or mind maps. Throughout school I have never been good at doing them even when they were required. I like lists and I like to have things hand written when I go to type something up. I explored gliffy.com and bubbl.us. Gliffy was very easy to use and had many more functions than bubbl did. Of course this is probably because flowcharts are designed more to be for showing to others. A flowchart is something that needs to be eye-catching and easily understandable. I can see how flow charts are important tools and even mind mapping to organize ones thoughts and these sites that allow you to share your flowcharts or mind maps. You can also collaborate on gliffy with others that you designate. Flowcharts could be used in classrooms to help students understand the way things work for certain subjects, I just don't see how I would be comfortable using them to display historic ideas.
This is ridiculous flowchart that I created using gliffy.com I have to admit it was kinda fun, but meant to be humorous.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Thing #13, Collaborating with online Docs
Test Document on Zoho
I made a test document with Zoho; not exactly a professional document but I was trying out several functions. It was very easy, because it is similar to Microsoft Word. I was able to create a free account that linked with my Google account, which makes it conveniently accessible and one less password to remember. The site allows for sharing URLs, html codes, and being able to email documents to other people. You can allow different IP addresses or create groups to work on a project together. This could be a great function when collaborating with teachers or when students have group projects and they can't all be together at once. I had never heard of online programs like this before, but this seems to be a great tool for at home learning or collaboration.
Image Created with Google Docs
I made an image with Google Docs. I was able to upload my own photo and than change things about the image. Again Google Docs was very easy to use and similar to the Microsoft programs. Trying to learn a bunch of different programs and their functions can be very difficult. The ease that I was able to make the image and navigate through the site was wonderful. Students could definitely collaborate on more than just simple word documents with Google docs. You can create word documents, images, forms, and presentations. That all function well and are easy to navigate. This is a great way to collaborate for students of all ages, old and young.
I prefer Google Docs because there is more than just word documents and like other Google items it is easy to navigate. I'm quite partial to using Google already and with having a Google email account it makes set up quite simple. The fact that a student or teacher would only need one site to collaborate on numerous kinds of documents is wonderful. I believe Zoho is a good site, just not a great site.
I made a test document with Zoho; not exactly a professional document but I was trying out several functions. It was very easy, because it is similar to Microsoft Word. I was able to create a free account that linked with my Google account, which makes it conveniently accessible and one less password to remember. The site allows for sharing URLs, html codes, and being able to email documents to other people. You can allow different IP addresses or create groups to work on a project together. This could be a great function when collaborating with teachers or when students have group projects and they can't all be together at once. I had never heard of online programs like this before, but this seems to be a great tool for at home learning or collaboration.
Image Created with Google Docs
I made an image with Google Docs. I was able to upload my own photo and than change things about the image. Again Google Docs was very easy to use and similar to the Microsoft programs. Trying to learn a bunch of different programs and their functions can be very difficult. The ease that I was able to make the image and navigate through the site was wonderful. Students could definitely collaborate on more than just simple word documents with Google docs. You can create word documents, images, forms, and presentations. That all function well and are easy to navigate. This is a great way to collaborate for students of all ages, old and young.
I prefer Google Docs because there is more than just word documents and like other Google items it is easy to navigate. I'm quite partial to using Google already and with having a Google email account it makes set up quite simple. The fact that a student or teacher would only need one site to collaborate on numerous kinds of documents is wonderful. I believe Zoho is a good site, just not a great site.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Thing #12, Who doesn't like Google?
I have always liked Google. I know there are other search engines, but I enjoy the familiarity I have with Google. I am nothing if not constant when I like something I generally stick with it. I couldn't even try to count how many times a week I Google something, whether it's answers to questions during a discussion, locations of places, or new recipes Google is my way of finding out the information I need. I have used Google Translate in the past to decipher what was on a website or a friend had posted on a social networking site. It's simple to use, has lots of languages to choose from, and helps you translate from any language on the list to another language. I've seen sites that only have a very limited selection of languages and some are only specified to go from English to one other language or vice-verse. Also, with Google Translate you can download a browser that automatically translates sites for you.This would be great when doing research if necessary.
Google Calender let's you share your schedule with family, friends, or even with students and their parents. This would be a great tool to use in the classroom that would send reminders about homework, projects, tests, or event going on in the classroom. You can send email, computer, or mobile reminders and alerts. You can color code events, make guest lists, and send invites. You can make certain events public and others private, so you only share the information you want to be seen by others. You can set up events to repeat themselves on specific days and when to either have the event stop happening or to go on continuously. Allows you to set a place and description for the event. This would be great for letting parents know where a field trip was going and what the intended lesson is for that field trip. You can print out the calender schedule as well.
My Google Calender
Google Calender let's you share your schedule with family, friends, or even with students and their parents. This would be a great tool to use in the classroom that would send reminders about homework, projects, tests, or event going on in the classroom. You can send email, computer, or mobile reminders and alerts. You can color code events, make guest lists, and send invites. You can make certain events public and others private, so you only share the information you want to be seen by others. You can set up events to repeat themselves on specific days and when to either have the event stop happening or to go on continuously. Allows you to set a place and description for the event. This would be great for letting parents know where a field trip was going and what the intended lesson is for that field trip. You can print out the calender schedule as well.
My Google Calender
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)