Thing 23

I can't believe I'm writing my blog for Thing 23! It seems like just yesterday I started this journey of discovery, which is exactly what it was. Well, here are my replies to the questions for Thing 23:

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercise on this learning journey? I think my favorite was creating my blog and my avatar! I really enjoyed that. I know it was a small thing to do, now. But at the time, it made me feel like I could really do something!

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals? I’ve always considered myself a lifelong learner. This program has reinforced this belief. I know that I will always be striving to learn new technology, and not be so scared of it.

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you? One surprise was teacher tube. I didn’t know such a thing was out there. Another surprise was how easy some of this is to do. Many of the tools are so user friendly.

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept? My suggestion is to offer 11 ½ Things, or some such smaller version. The format was fine – although everyone knows that you end up learning so much more than 23 Things!

5. IF we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate? Yes. I have learned so much from this – much more than I have from any other technology class I’ve taken.

6. How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things learning activities? Worthwhile!

Thing 22

I looked at teacher lingo. I guess I'm just not a "social networking" kind of person. I can see how Nings could be useful, but I was not too impressed with what I saw on teacher lingo. It seemed like a bunch of people posted blogs on things that were not very serious. Many were just complaining about the way things are. My time is more valuable than that. IF you could get a Ning started that was for sharing ideas related to say, 5th grade science concepts, then that would be useful. But, the "social" part, I don't have time for.

Thing 21

This was fun! I explored Photostory and created the video below, using some photos I had taken during a science class this year. I just had to make sure that all the students in the photos had permission by parents for their photos to be used (you know, that form that students take home and return with signatures at the beginning of the school year).

It was very easy to do. I can see how this would be fun for students to do, as well. I plan to use this one!

Thing 20

There are some really funny videos out there! You can spend unrealized time viewing them all. I found several good science videos on Teacher Tube. It's great to have this resource available to use. I've added one here for others who might be wondering "How else can I possibly teach about erosion?"

Thing 19

There are lots of websites to look at for this Thing! I chose netvibes to explore. This is a site that lets you make your own webpage and have everything you want all in one place. You can have your favorite websites, blogs, email, search engines, podcasts, widgets, all there in one place. It looks really useful. I know I'm so confused by all the different Things I've joined to explore, but this is a way to organize all those Things.

In a Library setting, I can see this as useful to me as a Librarian, having all the different web info I need to manage my library linked to one page, so it's easy to find what I need when I need it. I'm really glad I chose this site to explore, because I was wondering how I was going to keep everything straight! I think this one is worth checking out, if you haven't already.