Thing #24

I can't say that I had any particular favorite learning experience with the 23 Things. I did enjoy learning more about Flicker, even thought I have no idea when I will use it. It was nice to see some of the pictures of different places out there. I really did enjoy the Web Quest that I put together. I think this may be something that I can actually use in my classroom. I also think the Excel project that we did was very good. This was a very practical tool that we learned in order to have an affect on the classroom. I also thought that the Power Point activities were good, as they were practical for us for classroom purposes.

I certainly was surprised at how much we tried to cover in this program. I was expecting the program to be based more around software programs that we actually use in schools and in classrooms, and less about blogs and things we do not use in public schools. I definitely think this class has affected how I look at life long learning. This course has somewhat cemented my views on life long learning and the fact that life long learning is something that is best done through life experiences, and that a classroom can only supplement life long learning, and it can not be the main source of it.

I think the biggest thing that can be done to improve this course is to have a more realistic work load. Between the 23 Things activities, which are multiple activities on each step and all of the other projects in this class, there is entirely too much to accomplish in 14 weeks. When we are working full time plus, and then attending multiple classes at APSU, there simply is not enough time to do justice to all of this work. I feel that I did learn things in this class, but I don't think that I learned as much as I could have if the work load had been more practical. I would recommend either cutting back on the projects that are required and keeping the 23 Things, or get rid of the 23 Things and keep the projects. I personally would suggest getting rid of the 23 Things and keeping the projects, as I think the projects were more important to me for my teaching success. While learining how to blog may have been fun for some, it is not a pracitcal use of time when we need to understand how to effectively use technology in our classroom to reach and stimulate our students. The students that teach can not use any web site that allows posting of any kind. Our county has it blocked as a safety measure to protect against on-line preditors.

As for keeping up with web 2.0, I am a technology teacher, so I attend several inservices that cover technogoical developments. I also keep up with state standards for my areas of endorsement. In addition, we have weekly collaborative meetings among all of the technology teachers at our school. I will continue to do this, as well as continue to talk with my students about their findings and discoveries to keep myself up to date.

Thing 23

The videos used in the APSU 2.0 - 23 Things are examples that the exercise was based on others' work and modified specifically for this course. Each of these videos were used in part to help reinforce the message the creators of the APSU 2.0 - 23 Things were trying to communicate, but the videos themselves were not created by the creators of the APSU 2.0 - 23 Things. The videos and certain information within the APSU 2.0 - 23 Things were used under the Creative Commons license agreement. This allows for their use, with credit being given to the original creators.

Now that I know more about Creative Commons, I will look for information that has been created under the Creative Commons license agreement. This will alleviate concern about the rightful use of materials in my classroom. In addition, I will be more likely to create material and share it with others now that I know how this can be done. I think Creative Commons is a great solution to an issue that has been plaguing teachers and researchers for quite some time.

Thing 22

I chose to listen to Dave Ramsey for my podcast. I really enjoy his show and think that this should be part of every school curriculum. The premise of Dave's show is to help people get out of debt and stay out of debt through lifestyle changes and a different way of thinking. He argues that debt is bad and cash is king. By holding to this theory, Dave personally went from bankrupt to a multimillionaire. He believes that by beginning solid financial practices early on, people can avoid going through hard financial times.

As for the directories, I think they were all equally easy to use. I do like the fact that Educational Podcast Directory focuses on educational topics and podcasts that are geared toward learning. This helps when looking for podcasts that are educational in nature. Podcast Directory and Podcastalley both provided a wider array of podcasts to listen to, which was nice if you are looking for something more specific beyond just education.

At this point, I am not inspired to create my own podcast. First off, I don't feel as though I would have enough expertise to provide enough information to entice anyone to want to listen to my podcast. I think that I would need to bring more to the table to justify the work involved with creating and maintaining a podcast. This may be something in the future that I would be interested in, provided that I become enough of an expert in an area to justify the work.

The podcast that I may be most interested in subscribing to and listening to is the Dave Ramsey podcast. Sinc ethe only way you get his podcast in its full version on a regular basis is to be a paid subsriber, I don't think that I would subscribe at this point. I am currently able to listen to his show on the radio, or via the web for free at this time. I can not see paying for something that I can get for free. Since my day as a teacher is fairly structured, and I am also working a part time job while going to school two days a week, my time is very limited. I can honestly say that I would not listen to a podcast of any length on a regular basis at this point in my life. As things change and my daughter gets older, as well as when I am finished at APSU, I may change my mind on this.

Thing 22

I chose to listen to Dave Ramsey for my podcast. I really enjoy his show and think that this should be part of every school curriculum. The premise of his show is that debt is bad and people need to learn to live within their means. I typically do listen to the show whenever I have a chance. I am regular follower of his, but I normally do not podcast the show. I do think that I would time to listen to all of the shows on a regular basis, thus I listen when I get a chance.

I liked Educational Podcast Directory in that it focuses on educational topics. This tells the user up front what they can expect. Podcast Directory and Podcastally both were nice in that they offered more variety in the types of pod casts that are available to listen to. I can see where there is value in these two for those that are looking for more information on a variety of topics. As for ease of use, I think they both were equally easy to use. I did not find one any more difficult to use than the other.

At this point, I am not inspired to create my own podcast. I feel that I do not have the expertise necessary to create a podcast that would be meaningful enough to get the value from it relative to the work that it would take. I also have not found a podcast that I would be interested in subscribing to on a regular basis at this time. My schedule is very full, and I prefer to listen to things that are current (i.e. news or events from the day), rather than things that are recorded or may be a couple of days old. I also do not like to listen to items that seem long or that drag on. I prefer very short new like stories. If I am listening to the radio, I typically prefer music and the last thing I would want to listen to while driving is a podcast. I prefer something that is far more upbeat and that contains more interaction.

Thing 21

I did my Animoto video, and it was not difficult to do once you got going. I am not certain exactly what I will use the video for, if anything. It was kind of fun, but the music was limited and I didn't have much of a chance to figure out how to get more music to choose from. I think if I were take more time with it, I would be able to have more fun with it.

Thing 20

I am working on the YouTube video component of this project. I am having issues, as I can not use YouTube at my school, and it is blocked from my computer. I am in need of administrative privileges to be able to even get to You Tube. This is making it difficult to complete the lesson. I am having a difficult time seeing how I would use YouTube in my class. I have full access to Discovery Education and I am more likely to use these videos in my class than something from YouTube. I prefer the Discovery Education video series because I know the videos are school appropriate and they are educational. This minimizes the need for me to sort through "junk" videos like some of what get posted on YouTube.

I have found a video on YouTube that I do like, which would fit well with the employment unit that I would use for my students. The video goes through best practices in hiring employees. This provides a great perspective to my students about what employers are looking for in employees. I can then gear lessons around this to assist my students in determining how they can proceed with their education to achieve their goals in life.

Thing 19

I am working on my APSU 23 things and I am developing a posting for the APSU Ning site. At this time, I am waiting for approval to post to the Ning site. I have investigated some of the other sites listed on the APSU 23 things. A couple of the Ning sites have some good information for teachers in general. Due to the nature of the subject that I teach, some of the materials and suggestions are a bit limited.
Since I am not a "die hard" hobbyist, I am struggling with how I would use some of these sites. In addition, I do not typically enjoy being on the computer any more than absolutely necessary. Because I view the computer and internet merely as a tool to conduct work, I do not see myself being an active participant in on-line blogs or communities.
I have learned about some of the interesting communities that I can use to gain additional information that would assist me in preparing for classes. Mush beyond this, I do not see myself getting too involved in web based communities. Actually, I am more interested in using the web for research than I am in communicating with others. I prefer to communicate with my colleagues in person about best practices and improving lessons, rather than seeking advice from an on-line community.

thing #18

Link to my Facebook account

It is important for teachers to know how social networking sites work in order to protect our students. These social networks are places where children can be vulnerable to predators. As an educator, we need to insure that our children are aware of these people and we need to be certain that we educate children on how to not fall victim to these people.

I understand that people enjoy using these sites for trying to stay connected. Personally, I do not find them to be a means through which I would prefer to stay connected. I would rather speak with people than simply post things anonymously on a web site and then wait for someone to get back to me. I just find this to be very impersonal.

I think that Facebook was a better site, but it is also geared more toward adults. Perhaps this is why I found this site to be easier to use. I also felt more comfortable on Facebook than I did on Myspace. The Myspace community seems to be a younger age group with different interests than I have.

I honestly do not see a practical application in the classroom for either of these sites. These are simply sites for sharing things that are going on in your personal life. While the social aspect of school is important, it is not the only aspect of education. If anything, I believe that sites like Myspace and Facebook are degrading society and our ability to effectively communicate on a personal level. People tend to operate behind a veil of anonymity with these types of web sites, which removes personal accountability. I think people were more concerned about each other and had a more genuine interest in others when they communicated in person, rather than through an electronic posting tool.

Thing #17

I see whee there could be use for social bookmarking. I would still be concerned about using this as a major source of research. I am a proponent of conducting your own research, rather than simply relying on the opinions of others.

For the avid web user/surfer I can see where this would help to save time. Since I spend very little time on the web, I personally do not think that I would be someone with hundreds of saved websites. I just do not get into web research to that level.

The biggest plus that I see to this is when leading a class that is conducting research, a teacher can use this tool to direct the students' research. By building a social bookmark tool, the instructor can have student use the tool to gather his/her research in a simple, one stop type of scenario. However, I also see how this could hinder students that are in a class where they are be learning how to conduct research. I think this tool must be considered on an individual class basis.

Thing 16

I chose iGoogle for my start page. I chose this, as it seemed simply to use and the layout is similar to my Comcast home page. I will not make this my start page, as Comcast is my start page. I like Comcast better, as this is who my personal e-mail is through, and I am able to easily access the information I need from this page.

On-line calendars can be useful if you wish to post things for others to see and access, or if you wish to do a single posting and have things sent to your mobile phone. Since I do not want things sent to my mobile phone, and since I already have a networked calendar system with those that I want to share information with, I personally do not see a big need for me to maintain an on-line calendar.

Personally I think the to-do lists would be a lot of work to simply ask someone to pick up some milk. I can call my wife and within 30 seconds have the message delivered via a telephone that we need something from the grocery. I do not see how something like this can possibly be considered an efficient use of time. In my view, if you have enough time on your hands to go through the effort of turning on the computer, logging in, composing the message and then sending it, you could have gone to the store to get the item that you need.

As for longer to-do lists of items that need to be completed, I simply do not see how this system is any more efficient than simply writing down the to-do list on a piece of paper and simply marking off the items once they are complete. Plus, if you place your list in a prominent spot, you will continually see it and be reminded of the items that you must accomplish to get rid of the list.

PDF Converter is a program that has practical application for the classroom. You can take a document that you create in word, or most any other program and convert it to PDF. This will allow the document to be read by others without changes being able to be made by others. This is a great tool to allow formatting to be held for professional looking documents, but also does not allow the formatting to be changed. When constructing a PDF, there is also the possibility of allowing only certain fields to be edited by individuals accessing the PDF, and this is at the discretion of the PDF creator. I would highly recommend using this program.

Thing 15

When it comes to Wikis, I am not completely sold on the world wide use of them. I understand the concept is to allow for collaboration among larger groups of individuals, but I see one major flaw with this. Where is the certification of the members in the Wiki? How do we know that what is being posted is true and accurate? As a teacher whose students are required to do research, I insist that all of their research sources are able to be verified. With a Wiki, there is little to no verification of information. This essentially makes them useless in terms of research.

I would rather spend my time on something that can be easily verified and is able to lend quality to my research and learning. While Wikis can provide you with other people's opinion, I really don't care about the opinion of strangers.