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.