I've been exploring Blogline's search tool - love it. I found a podcast that I can exactly use for my students at 8D Spinning History.
I also found this ongoing support for Web 2.0 - you may have already seen it but I thought it worth mentioning. Classroom 2.0 Wiki.
I've added the edits and discussion to my RSS feeds. I wasn't sure which I'd most want so I figured I'd try both and then choose. I am definitely concerned about getting information without getting overloaded.
Does anyone know if I can mark the new messages as read without having to go to the site. Already I'm finding the news feeds overwhelming. I like to scan to see if there's something I want to read but, if not, I'd like to get them off the screen without having to go to that site. Any ideas?
Monday, June 16, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Week 4 Exercise 8
I signed on to the 5 RSS feeds. I had been aware of them before but didn't use them because I don't go online for news and have little interest in being sent more information. It is a burden to be bombarded... I usually read the daily paper and catch NPR in the morning and in the car throughout day. However, I'll give it a try.
I added The Loh Life from NPR because I do really enjoy Sandra Loh's comments and often miss the show. I also got some tech teaching updates. Plus, I signed up to find out about cool gadgets which may give me some good ideas for interesting gifts.
I did like the video from Common Craft Show and will definitely watch the others when I'm ready to start those tasks. It made it very easy.
I added The Loh Life from NPR because I do really enjoy Sandra Loh's comments and often miss the show. I also got some tech teaching updates. Plus, I signed up to find out about cool gadgets which may give me some good ideas for interesting gifts.
I did like the video from Common Craft Show and will definitely watch the others when I'm ready to start those tasks. It made it very easy.
Week 3 Exercise 7
I definitely agree with Jani that, if you haven't tried Wii, you really need to find a way. You're welcome to play tennis with me any time. I haven't tried the exercise program but I would like to go for it. I've tried Dance Dance Revolution and it exhausts me at the easiest level...
I'm interested in many technologies, but for now I'd like to learn about tools such as podcasting to help with student learning. Last year at the CUE conference I got started on how to actually do a podcast but I didn't follow up to use it with my students. I'd like to get more facile with producing podcasts and spend some time developing places in the curriculum where they will be useful.
A big concern I have about technologies in teaching is the amount of teacher and student time some of these 'cool' ideas can take. For the last 8 years I've maintained a website with weekly updates, general information, homework, grades, resources, etc. I'm not sure that it was a worthwhile return on my time. People use it more now with computer use being more ubiquitous but using time productively is REALLY important to me.
I'm interested in many technologies, but for now I'd like to learn about tools such as podcasting to help with student learning. Last year at the CUE conference I got started on how to actually do a podcast but I didn't follow up to use it with my students. I'd like to get more facile with producing podcasts and spend some time developing places in the curriculum where they will be useful.
A big concern I have about technologies in teaching is the amount of teacher and student time some of these 'cool' ideas can take. For the last 8 years I've maintained a website with weekly updates, general information, homework, grades, resources, etc. I'm not sure that it was a worthwhile return on my time. People use it more now with computer use being more ubiquitous but using time productively is REALLY important to me.
Week 3 Exercise 6
I played around with some of the elements of Flickr, including using the Help Forum quite a bit. It seems I have to wait another day or two until my photos are viewable to the public since I'm a new account. The other users responded clearly and quickly to my questions so I really recommend it if you need help.
I didn't find how to make my own images on Montager and saw that there was an unanswered question about it on the Help Forum. What would you use that mashup to do and do you know how to customize it?
I had some fun with Poster Maker, including creating a Fathers' Day card for my dad. Here you see a silly one of our cat reading. I haven't tried printing it out in various sizes but I guess you'd need to do that to make flash cards. That would be a fun assignment for students, I think, but I'd need to be sure that the learning was worth the time it would take to front load learning the application.
I will explore some of the other third party sites when I feel like meandering a bit.
I didn't find how to make my own images on Montager and saw that there was an unanswered question about it on the Help Forum. What would you use that mashup to do and do you know how to customize it?
I had some fun with Poster Maker, including creating a Fathers' Day card for my dad. Here you see a silly one of our cat reading. I haven't tried printing it out in various sizes but I guess you'd need to do that to make flash cards. That would be a fun assignment for students, I think, but I'd need to be sure that the learning was worth the time it would take to front load learning the application.
I will explore some of the other third party sites when I feel like meandering a bit.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Dinner Bread
Dinner Bread
Originally uploaded by aLearner2
This is a 3 lb loaf of bread I made in May. The recipe is unbelievably easy and the crust is as if from a boulangerie. I started baking bread in college and have never gotten these results. Whoo hoo for crispy crust.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Week 3 Exercise 5
Flickr
Flickr does seem like a terrific site. Since I'm a real privacy buff I'm glad to see that you can limit access pretty stringently. I posted a cartoon to try the process but then deleted it since it wasn't my photo. I figured out how to get the photo comments to show up on this blog but I haven't figure out how to get the picture itself. I'll continue working on that tomorrow.
This is a GREAT tool for sharing class photos with students and families. That's been a challenge for me before this tool. Plus, for many years I've made a movie/slide show of the year which I show the students on the last day. How fun if they can show their parents each activity we record through the year.
Having Yahoo, Flickr, Gmail, Google Reader and more connected certainly makes it easy getting these accounts. But, it is creepy having my information so readily available to each...
Flickr does seem like a terrific site. Since I'm a real privacy buff I'm glad to see that you can limit access pretty stringently. I posted a cartoon to try the process but then deleted it since it wasn't my photo. I figured out how to get the photo comments to show up on this blog but I haven't figure out how to get the picture itself. I'll continue working on that tomorrow.
This is a GREAT tool for sharing class photos with students and families. That's been a challenge for me before this tool. Plus, for many years I've made a movie/slide show of the year which I show the students on the last day. How fun if they can show their parents each activity we record through the year.
Having Yahoo, Flickr, Gmail, Google Reader and more connected certainly makes it easy getting these accounts. But, it is creepy having my information so readily available to each...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
