11.5 Thing 11.5 Evaluation

My favorite discovery was screencasts. I enjoyed making one, and this is something I’ll definitely do again, and teach my students to do as well.

This program has affected my lifelong learning goals because it is helping me become a better teacher/librarian for my students. I feel like I am keeping up with technology, even though I realize that so much more is out there. I really like it when I have answers for other people on my campus when it comes to technology.

The only unexpected outcome for me was Second Life. It was so easy, I don’t know what I was scared of! That in itself sort of makes me worry – I really don’t have excess time to spend in SL!

I cannot think of anything to improve this program. Of course, we all need more time to work with these new things. But we can’t really expect you to be able to conjure up more time, unless it’s in SL . . . .

11.5 Thing 11 Digital Citizenship

Digital Citizenship involves many things. To help my students be good digital citizens, I will include in my lessons on the subject these topics: internet safety, netiquette, cyber-bullying, copyright, and website evaluation. These are not topics that you can mention once. You must reinforce them again and again (and hopefully the classroom teachers will help with this). In our district, we are using the Isafe lessons, and I find them pretty good combined with the brainpop videos.

11.5 Thing 10 Virtual Worlds

After reading so much about Second Life, I was eager to give it a try. Easy to do. I really enjoyed creating my avatar -- I can see how you could lose hours of your life in this! I have a hard enough time keeping my farm up in Farmville (Facebook) -- I don't think I can handle SL too much. But I loved flying! I'm sure I'll spend more time in SL.

However, I can see how teens would be very attracted to SL. It is very much like the RPG games many of them love to play. It would certainly keep student interest if you were showing them how to find information in SL! Although, since you must be at least 13 to create a SL account, I do not see my students in an elementary school using this. Perhaps in the future there will be something similar for elementary.

11.5 Thing 9 Slideshare

At first I thought, "What's the big deal? We can already use Google Docs for this. But then I realized that Slideshare has an archive of presentations on a variety of subjects that you can search. This is a definite bonus.

Slideshare, and the various alternatives out there, would be useful for students. I really like Authorstream -- especially the ability to format presentations for use on ipods. Too bad that this costs $2 a pop (at least, that's my understanding of it). My library budget is slim to say the least, and I must use only those free options!

I definitely see students using slideshare to create their own research presentations, as well as to find information.

11.5 Thing 8 -- Screencasts

After exploring screencasts, I created one that I can send to my teachers to help them find books using our new online catalog. It took me three tries to make it because I was working at home and interruptions, such as the clock striking 10 o'clock, kept happening! But it was very easy to create with Screencast-O-Matic. I hope the video plays okay in this post. I could not get it to play from the preview screen of this post -- but hopefully it will play once it is posted.



I can see students using this to explain how to use some of our new technology. I'm sure they'll really like creating screencasts.

11.5 Thing 7 Video Resources

This was an opportune time to be working on this "thing." I was looking for something very basic for my 2 preschool classes about plants growing from seeds. I looked at totlol, but they wanted you to pay a fee to join. Then, I looked at Blinkx, but the video I found wasn't loading within the district. Then I noticed that next to the video was a blurb about going to Sesame Street's website for videos, so I went there and found the same video, and it will load in the district. Here's the short video I found and plan to use next week with my preschool classes:
http://www.sesamestreet.org/video_player/-/pgpv/videoplayer/0/33412479-f663-4937-9457-014f1c95de0d/mrs_obama_plants_a_garden

I found the second video I'll mention here at neok12.com. This is a well organized video website, in my opinion. I have used it successfully before. This video, covering the phases of the moon, is for my 5th graders:
http://www.neok12.com/php/watch.php?v=zX6b5c7f0456765261795b6b&t=Moon

11.5 Thing 6 -- iTouch Apps

Having received 12 iPod Touches in my library, I have downloaded several educational apps -- a variety including those to reinforce math facts, states & capitals games, fairy tales, connect 4 type, and others. Easy to do, and easy to sync all the iPods with the cart.

Maybe I'm being simplistic, but I see the iPod Touches as another way to access information in the library. Students can use it to find websites, and thus information, to practice skills, to view videos, etc. I could see teachers having wikis with assignments and even instructional videos, all accessible through the iPod Touches. I'm eager to have the "new" wear off so the kids can get down to work with them!

11.5 Thing 5 - Microblogging

I have a Facebook account, but really don't do much with it except play Farmville! I have made contact with a few friends that I lost touch with for many years -- one I haven't spoken with since 1980! I like the idea of groups specific to your interests and have joined a couple of those, such as ALA. With a child about to finish junior college and head off to a 4 year university, those apps about planning for college seem like something worth looking into. As far as classroom/library use goes, I like the idea of bookclubs on Facebook. Also, students could post a project on Facebook (such as a photostory) and could post comments on other students' projects.

I do not Twitter. I have an account, have done a bit, but that's it. After reading some of the blogs and articles on using twitter in the classroom, I am inpired to try more with it. I like how Cool Cat Teacher explained how to set up your twitter account so you can get messages on your cell phone. That would make it easier to use, for me.

I am drawn to backchanneling while I am repulsed by it at the same time. Well, maybe "repulsed" is too strong of a word. I have one of those attention spans that must focus on the presenter. I cannot stand table-talk at a meeting. If I am focussing on typing my question or my response, I will miss what the presenter says. I know that about myself. But the idea of having my questions about the presenter's information answered in such a timely way -- that's great! I think this may be good for secondary school, but I'm not too sure about elementary.

11.5 Thing 4 - Video Hosting

I created a new photostory to upload to teacher tube, which I already have an account with. It is very easy to upload videos. If they okay my new video, I'll post it to my blog, but it's been 22 minutes and they still haven't, so . . . . of course, it is Sunday.

Having teaching/learning videos available online at sites such as Teacher Tube or You Tube is great. I have used videos from these sites in my lessons in the past (this year, as part of my internet safety classes) by embedding them in flipcharts. Students show more interest and thus are more actively involved in lessons when they see it's a video from one of these sites -- I think they realize it's not going to be something old and boring. And yes, I've had to do the Zamzar thing in the past, so I can access the video at school.

I think one of the biggest advantages to uploading student work would be the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that students feel at having their work online for others to see. Publishing is great for self-esteem. Also, students would be able to view classmates' work and comment on it.

11.5 Thing 3: Skype

I think Skype, or "like Skype" applications have a place in the classroom and the library. For a foreign language class, it takes "pen pals" to a whole new level! The article, 50 Awesome Ways to Use Skype in the Classroom, is pretty overwhelming to me, but full of great ideas. From virtual fieldtrips to virtual author visits, Skype has great potential for learning situations. I think you just need to make sure you plan what you do well, and test it thoroughly first. I downloaded Skype, but am having trouble finding others who have it as well.

Some of the other applications that are Skype-like sound really good, too, such as WizIQ. I looked at that website, and it looks like it would be a good application to use. It does not require downloading to run the virtual classroom.

11.5 Thing 2

Wordle is a fun tool. Here's one I created using my blog's url:

Students will enjoy using Wordle to create word clouds of topics they are learning about. They could use a paper they've written as the text, and the larger print should be the main idea of their paper.

Voicethread seems really cool. I can definitely see this being used by students, similar to a photostory, but with the added bonus of being able to comment on photos or videos. I would love to use this next week when we return to school, (so students, by class, can comment on a short video about posting photos to the internet) but don't see how I can get everyone set up to comment in this amount of time.

I already am familiar with animotos, so I looked at Voki and created a talking avitar. However, I could not get it to display in this post. I put the provided code into the Html, but it just had a link to Voki where you would have to sign in. Anyway, it was fun. I just have to figure out what I did wrong, or it won't be very useful for me. I think an email with a talking message would be much more of an impact than a typed message.

Bookr is similar to photostory, but the turning pages make it feel more like a book. Students could use this to create "books" showing what they learned from various units of study. I found an example of one about different kinds of cats (wild and domestic), written in Spanish.

11.5 Thing 1

I have seen this video before, perhaps in a class. At any rate, it was familiar. It makes a great deal of sense to me, in my current position as Librarian. I try to create lessons that help my students use technology to find and access information. I am a facilitator to learning, not an all-knowing person with all the answers. I have not encountered a student like the one in the video, but that was a high school setting. But, my students are eager to use technology, and I'm sure they can be just as successful.

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.

Thing 18

Open Office is great! I haven't had much experience with it, but it seems very easy to use. I have used Google Docs. Once you play around with it, it's also pretty easy to use. But Open Office has so many more options. I plan to use Open Office on my home desktop computer -- it came with a 3 month trial version of a popular word processing and office tools software program, which has long ago expired. It seems that one advantage of using the free program is that you don't have to worry about expired licenses, not to mention expenses!

Thing 17

The Sandbox was easy to sign in to and to edit. I'm not sure what all the trouble was for others, based on their comments. I have vista, and was able to sign in and edit the page from home. I think wikis could be used in the classroom for many projects, but especially for book clubs or book reviews.

As a student, I am planning on using a wiki to share ideas for questions we need to come up with for interviewing current librarians. Since we (the 4 students) do not all have the time during the day to meet about this, it's a great way to communicate our ideas!

Thing 16

Wikis aren't totally new to me (a couple of months ago, I joined one as part of a team in one of my classes, for the purpose of sharing information for a project). But, I do wonder about using them as a classroom teacher now, and as a librarian in the future. I enjoyed looking at ways they are used. I especially like the example at Book Lovers Wiki. This is now a "snapshot in time," capturing the book reviews offered during one particular library's summer reading program. That's something I could see myself doing. I especially like how this wiki looked. It looked like a "regular" website. Sometimes, wikis look stark, plain, and drab. This one had flair.

I could see having a wiki for library programs you might conduct -- book fairs, bluebonnet book reviews, etc. But, when I create one, I want it to look interesting, like the sample one I mention above.