TASK 10

TASK 10

1 point for exploring:

I viewed Will Richardson’s PLN video explanation.
I LOVED the Stopwatches site…
Discovery Education is a place I explored last fall thanks to CD McLean, our librarian.
itunesUniversity was a delightful discovery and many thanks for including it in our lesson.

1 point for blog entry that you make:

I really enjoyed listening to Will Richardson’s interpretation of a PLN (Personal Learning Network). A couple of ideas that I found of interest were that our students already have their own PLN yet many are using them without the safety and ethical guidelines that are needed. Hence we find cyber-bullying. Will suggests that we as teachers need to help them understand their potential the how-to of PLNs. I liked his concept that social networking is the “way of now” for students and that it is created out from their own spaces (Facebook, MySpace, etc.) their local environment, and what we as teachers help them to understand.
I view and played with the Stopwatches site. I definitely will use it for timed testing, quizzes and activities. I like that the time can be displayed on the overhead projector and all students are aware of the time just by looking up and not having to twist around in their seats to see the clock.
Discovery Education is a familiar site that I experienced last fall. My UD Librarian, CD McLean, was excited about the site and made it a point for the History Department to know about it and to explore it.
I visited the ItunesU site and found that it is a very exciting and useful place full of opportunities for all of UD. The sites include academic works, lectures and information that will be useful in the UD setting. I will be a frequent visitor to it.

I grew a lot this summer thanks to this opportunity. I shared the information with my daughter for her second graders, I met LD teachers through their blogs, and explored places that I never heard of and still can’t pronounce without thinking about the name. It has been a busy but satisfying experience. The best thing of all is that I have confidence to work with my new class blog and feel empowered to make it more than just posting thoughts.



1 point for emailing me your thoughts and opinions. How can I do better next time? What would make it easier for you as an online course?
It will be on its way soon!

TASK 9

TASK 9 – Slideshare

1 point for exploration:

I viewed the slideshare quick tour and found it interesting. I tried the demo but had some issues in my attempt to download a power point to it and so tried again and have the secret code for viewing it. I could not figure out how to post it on my blog…..
After that fiasco, I viewed your 280slides tutorial and found SUCCESS! I created and posted a test project on cats. I did register as you suggested.
1 point for creating something in either tool--share the link as a bookmark in Diigo or export to your blog.

Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/secret/L7vIfSry83wztq
280slide is posted on my blog….yeah!

1 point for reflections in your blog about these kinds of tools and their uses for you.

What a cool opportunity to use in my class. It will come in handy to post on the blog since Edline tends to struggle with larger presentations. THANKS!!!!!!

Now this is something that I will use this coming fall. Since I am creating a class blog, now I can post my class slides for student to use if they miss class or want to review before a test or quiz. I am very excited about the 280slides.com features. As my material moves quickly and covers so many new concepts and terms this feature will really make a significant grade change opportunity for my students who have doctor/dentist appointments or just sleep in and miss class.

Thanks to you my bag of tricks is getting full and I can stay ahead of my student and use those 21st century skills.

TASK 8

1 point for exploring:
I viewed the the Glogster tutorial and the Minnesota State University tutorial pages. I did go to the Tools in their Classroom page from the Educational Workshop and viewed the many uses for Glogster projects. Those really are inspiring and I will share this with the History Department as project opportunities. I also read through the 4teachers sites you included.
1 point for creating a Glogster or using another tool
I posted my poster for you to see.

1 point for your blog:
WHERE DO THEY FIND THE NAMES FOR THESE TOOLS? I seem to be lost in the creativity of this process Imaybe they are they same folks who make up the names for OPI nail polish. I must be really old school.

I absolutely loved this tool. It allows the use of a visual literacy skill that takes a little practice and will make us look like a genius! As many posters as we do in class this tool can make the process fun. I liked that they included the use of the term 3-D as a communication skill for the 21st Century. The skills used in Glogster allow for the opportunity to collaborate and to employs inquiry-based learning. Glogster allows students to process new information and to solve problems in a performance activity that a traditional approach would not. I like that video clips can be inserted into the poster which reminds me of the Harry Potter pictures that are moving in their frames.

TASK 7

Task 7 - Collaboration
1 point for exploring (remember, you don't have to do everything--just look at what might interest you).

Thanks for that reminder……that we don’t have to do it all!

I viewed the Wiggio site and the animated character, Jack, is me many days. I would like to have a way to unify all the messaging centers that I am part. It sounds like something to talk with Jose in UD about using.
WallWisher is a good collaborative tool but as stated it’s best usage is between teachers.
I reviewed the Twitter tutorial "In Plain English" about its uses and agree that we need to see different sides of ourselves between blogs and class. I find that I use Facebook more than twitter…perhaps it is because I am not always on the computer and I don’t have the type of cell phone that can accommodate that application and I don't want to be that connected.
I posted a sticky note on your Wall about my favorite 2.0 tool.
I did not view the Skype site because I Skype at home with family and did not feel the need to review the material. Skype is such a great way to stay connected with the grandsons and daughters when I need a family fix. I know that you have those feeling being so far from family.
I loved the Flash Cards. I took the video tour. I think I will use this one with my students because my course has many, many vocabulary key terms that they must become comfortable with to be successful.

1 point for contributing something to the collaborations I set up for you
Posted a sticky note for you

1 point for your blog

Collaboration is so important. This whole social networking phenomenon has become part of our culture and we need to be part of it. This fall I am using a blog for my psychology classes with an RSS feed to the American Psychological Association site and Psychology Today magazine. I wanted to use the blog as a tool not only to further our connection beyond the textbook’s material but to get students to interact, to think and to communicate their ideas in hopes that we can spur further discussion on a topic. I want students not just to memorize material but to analyze, apply and think critically about what they read. I am excited that I can be actively using 21st century skills and that simple blogging is a way to do it.

TASK 6

Task 6 – Digital Storytelling
1 point for documenting resources you explore:

Listed are the sites I explored:
The University of Houston’s Education Uses for digital storytelling – cool site and since I have been on their campus and had some of their student teachers in my class, I thought the site was well-done, very informational and easy to follow.
I viewed the Intro to Digital Storytelling with Daniel Meadow and his “time machine” video.
I viewed the Youtube google video “Discovering Digital Stories with Daryll Bellingham.
I played with and created a card with Kerpoof. Viewed their tutorial on creating a Kerpoof product.
I read Bob Sprankle, Kevin Jarrett and Wes Fryer’s pages on digital storytelling.
The Nasa site contains awesome pictures but I don’t need to use them for my classes
Xtranormal is clever but not for me.


1 point for a Kerpoof or Animoto story. If you choose Animoto, email it to my gmail account, please.

Created a Kerpoof card about Earth Day and posted it!

1 point for reflections in your blog about digital storytelling:

The definition of digital storytelling states that this tool combines the use of a computer-based format to tell a story that focuses on a specific topic, personal view, historical theme or current event. I found that the most interesting approach for use in class was one that would not be used by teachers but more by the students. The concept of a voice + an image + sound = makes a digital story is so simple. I thought Daryll Bellingham’s suggestion to use it for a 2-5 minutes story made it an easy assignment for any student to complete. I particularly liked Wes Fryer’s listing for learner outcomes which included; to explore, to understand, to use resources and strategies and to include a voice over. That makes it easy to document skills for mapping!!!!!
That said, this storytelling tool has great potential in the LD and MD. I see more limited use in UD yet it has some stronger possibilities in English literature classes. It was fun to explore and play with all the sites, I learned a lot, experienced some new areas and truly enjoyed the opportunity to know about them. I will share these with my daughter- the second grade reading teacher who will be thrilled to know about them.

TASK 5

Online Writing:
For this session, there is one point for documented exploration

I checked out and explored the following sites:
The guided storytelling tools of We Tell Stories, Historic Tales, Myths and Legends and Digital Storytelling were cute but do not fit into my UD curriculum but I will let my department know about the Historic Tales as an interesting too.
Scrapbook tools of Misbook, Tikatok, Big Universe and Scrapblog are tools that have a possibility for my area.
Comic tools are better but still tend to be a little too young for my students. Read Write Think, Pixton, Witty Comics, Make Believe Comix, and Comic Creator 2.0 offer a clever way to explore vocabulary, situational examples and a creative imaging for an activity or project.

one point for creating something

I used Scrapblog to create a page with pictures of my grandsons. I am not a scrap booker so It was not as easy as I thought because of limited freebees. I like the ideas of using stickers, balloons, and frames to enhance the page. I am not ready to try a video entry yet. I posted my creation.
one point for your blog entry

In general the sites that I explored and played with are designed for LD and MD students.
A few sites that have a potential for my classes would include: Make Belief Comix and Historical Tale Construction Kit (which I will share the site with the History Department).
I took the Quick Tour for Scrapblog and found some success there. I tried our Mix Book, Tikatok, Big Universe and Read Write Think but found that the age range is not for my age level in class. Pixton and Wittycomic were really not applicable but that Make Belief Comix was an opportunity to use and I will Diigo it for later. Some of the other sites We Tell Stories, Myths and Legends, Digital Storytelling would work best in an English class not psychology. All in all, I discovered some sites that I will share with my daughter who teacher is a second grade reading teacher in Texas. It appears to me that their school’s technology person is behind in sharing these wonderful sites that you found for us….thanks Sandy. You are the best!!!!!

TASK 4

Flickr Assignment:

1 5 points Spend some time exploring Flickr and Flickr tools. Document this by telling what tools you tried in your blog.

Played with PictureSandbox - it was an amazing collection of harder to find topics for pictures that I have spent hours looking for to include in a power point…..wish I had known about this one earlier.
Compfight was another way too cool search! So amazingly easy!
BigHughLabs is one of my favorites. I played with my grandson’s picture and made it into a poster that will go in his room. Thanks for that one….it makes his “Nana”, me, look like a genius.
The concept for Creative Commons is a life saver and I can see future plans to use in for visual presentations for the Honors Psychology class as we explore the beginning of psychology and the creative men who are icons in the field.

1.5 points--Talk about ways you might use some of the tools in your classroom on your blog or post some of the things you created using the Snip tool. Here's how to add photos to your blog.

I created the poster of Ben and it’s posted! What a great tool with lots of possibilities