Friday, January 30, 2009

Thing 19

Book Wink - this offers video summaries of the books Endangered Animals and Quest for the Tree Kangaroo. Students would be quite motivated to read these books simply because of the very interesting introductions.

The WillowWeb had cute radio podcasts. I think students might enjoy creating these because so much learning and interaction is involved. I listened to some quality student experiences as students learned about science.

Poems on sonibyte are nice for those who would like to suscribe to the poem of the day. I did enjoy music links and especially the sixty Second Science. I think short and quick is the key to using these in the classroom. Having them downloaded and ready to go at the appropriate time is important; a number of links were no longer available.

Somewhere along the line I stumbled across the following website. I'm always going off in another direction. This is a good find to explore later! http://www.sitesforteachers.com/index.html

SanDiego Zoofari Chats provide very informational listening. These would be excellent resources for taking notes, researching a topic, and listening for details and practicing recall of information.These do not include a video but provide a depth of knowledge and information that is fascinating.

The storynory podcasts are cute read-a-longs. They are read by adults with great enthusiasm and expression making these very appealing. Listening with a visual component would be my choice.

Before you could makey our students aware of the many high quality podcasts, it will take a lot of previewing and planning on the part of any teacher. However, if you have a trusted group of Delicious colleagues who share an interest in podcasts for specific purposes, searching time can be cut considerably.

Thing 18 plus a little more

ClustrMaps http://clustrmap.com/admin/action.php



Thing 18

Here is my map! The door is open and the light is on! I'm waiting for visitors!

Locations of visitors to this page

Thing 17

I am enjoying creating projects on Wikispaces and find, once again, with each new Web 2.0 application, I become consumed in the experience.

How is a wiki different from a blog? I view a blog much like a personal and/or public diary with all of the visuals and links available to the reader. With a blog being linear, I would use it as a way to post thoughts to be shared with others. I tend to like developing projects using a wiki because I am more comfortable with a non=linear process. A wiki is easily developed as a website without the constraints of a blog.

The types of assignments that I envision a wiki being more appropriate than a blog would be when a small group of students contribute to a project, each having a set of responsibilities. A wiki would be a good opportunity for teamwork and sharing information on any subject. The wiki discussion tab will enable collaboration and communication.

Problems I can envision when planning a wiki developed by students would be in establishing who and to what extent each student has privileges to edit and make decisions about the structure and content of the wiki. Determining appropriate settings and privileges with the strengths and weaknesses of participating students in mind, would go a long way to build success into the construction of any collaborative project.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Thing 16

My Ida School Craft Plus wiki is moving along smoothly. It is being developed in collaboration with Deb Vogel, a lead teacher from Bedford and guru of Craft Plus Writing Program Implementation. Because of so many teacher created items already available, and so many pieces of the program to link together for teachers to use, a wiki is the perfect application to tie everything together. Deb has everything stored on a server and must email all files in an effort to share information. Sharing via a wiki is a simple solution.

The best part of a Craft Plus wiki is that it can grow along with the program and be shared with appropriate staff who need access to a wealth of organized resources.

Thing 15



I have learned my way around in wikispaces. This is a wonderful application that allows anyone to create a web page with most of the trimmings but without the need to know how to use Html.
In my own development of a wiki, I did learn that I can cause a page to poof into thin air with an errant click! I haven't yet gotten the hang of using the history to reclaim a loss. I am familiar with the basics of managing a wiki but obviously I have more to learn. I find it to be such a useful application that I certainly will persevere and master this challenge.

Check out my addition to http://mcisd21.wikispaces.com/ for some interesting wildlife in Alaska.

Thing 14

http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com

Tools, tools, tools and more tools. So many tools and great tips provide something for anything you could ever want to do with Web 2.0 applications! I could be lost in this wiki for days!

http://mcisd21.wikispaces.com/
Here is the list of many wikis selected as favorites by others.

Thing 13























You can have a lot of fun with dumpr.net whenever you feel like being creative. In fact, this application adds all of the creativity I would ever need!

Thing 13

dumpr.net is just too much fun! Check this out!



Add ImageAdd Image

Thing 12

I have been enjoying placing many photos on Picasa. I tend to like the Google applications. Take a look at my favorite place in Northern Michigan. It is relaxing in the summer and a winter wonderland in December. First I saved my photo album of 8 pictures as My Favorite Place. Then I went back to find it as a public album among hundred of thousands of others with a similar name. So I went back and named my album "mcisd23things" and I found it! Sauna, hot tub anyone?

Thing 11

Now I'm really seeing the possibilites for sharing PowerPoint presentations. I find it amazing to see how many people have visited the ones that I have already shared with the public. One of the best qualities of SlideShare is that you can set the privileges of anything you wish to have posted. For example, if something is to be shared with a specific group or person, that is easily controlled. The viewer doesn't even have to have any special software application on their computer. I can't get past the idea that this is free on the web! The quality of Web 2.0 applications that I have been finding are fabulous. I remember back to the days of the SE30 and the Apple IIe. Remember LOGO? Who would have guessed what I would be doing 25 years later. Education is so interesting at this point in time! Here I am, actually retired, but I don't want to leave education with the technology available today. There is so much more to do. Imagine what 25 years from now will be like with technological advances in the future!