Friday, July 10, 2009

iLearn Technology » Blog Archive » 20 iTunes Feeds for the 2.0 Teacher

Great resource for teachers who already use 2.0 tools and those who would like to know more!

http://ilearntechnology.com/?p=989

georgetownblogs - Twitters and Tweets

Just what is the web 2.0 stuff all about? Twitter, what the heck is that and why do I care?  Who blogs and why, do I want to?  These are just a few of the questions the new developments on the web engender.  Social networking, social bookmarking, tweeting, we are hearing all about this and our students are doing it.  Here is a great wiki (another one of those terms!!!) that helps you to understand this and also to see the variety of tools and resources available to help.  Take a look and join the 21st century!

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Interesting blog on "back channels" posted by Jeff Utecht, really food for thought. I really like the notion of a focused conversation outside of the presentation but I could see how that would be very distracting. I also was interested in his description of the process of learning how to use such a conversation. He talks about people first randomly commenting in a very unfocused and personal way then gradually figuring out how to use the conversation to understand the presentation. I could see how many educators would become frustrated if it was not focused immediately and deciding it was too distracting and not a good tool. His observations are some what different but I don't see many people taking the time to use and learn back channels. If you are curious and would like to know more here is the link to his blog. Take some time to read it, I was not a real fan of the idea until I had read a couple of his entries and then thought about it some. I think I can see why it might be a good way to explore a presentation more thoroughly and but would like to find an opportunity to try it out.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Haven't posted for quite awhile, we have been busy getting ready for new laptops for the teachers and students. So much work gathering the old ones and getting them off to be recycled and then waiting for the new ones to come in. Anyway, I am looking at Twitter with new eyes. I have so enjoyed following all the tweets coming from NECC, you people are awesome. I am very jealous, but so glad there is a way to keep up with all the activity. I have really enjoyed twitter these last couple of days although I will admit that it has been time consuming because of the furious number of tweets coming in. I have also been exploring the idea of using Twitter in a school environment. Not so much with students, our teachers are just not ready to go there but as a communication tool for us and also for parents. I am not at all sure how that would work, and I am sure there would be some serious questions from admin types and also from parents. While social media is interesting many of them find it very scary! There are a lot of preconcieved notions to work through before that kind of thing can be adopted. I read some great articles on corporations adopting social media and their guidelines, I think these can be good tools to deal with many of the issues that are bound to crop up.

I was amazed to read about the many social networking tools that are being marketed to corporations now. Very Ning like in appearance, but of course with a cost. When you start seeing something developed as a product you know it is becoming mainstream! My aunt is using facebook, my very elderly aunt! She is now friends with my daughter and her husband on Facebook, how cool is that? THAT is mainstream.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

I have been using Twitter for a couple of months now, really trying to decide what it is all about and if it is worth the hype. I have discovered a couple of things. One, and this was a total surprise!, it is an ego boost. The first time some "real" followed me (by that I mean not someone trying to sell something, a lifestyle coach or robot) I thought OMG, this person chose to follow me! I mean several people chose to follow me after I started following them but this person went first! Okay, not a huge deal but still it was a bit of a boost!

Another thing is that you definitely need something to manage your "tweets", I use tweet deck, I also tried Twitbin but I don't like the way it makes my browser screen smaller. (it opens up on the side of your browser). Tweet deck pops up a message that you have a tweet or a direct message or a reply. So far I like that best.

I find that I have learned about people who I was not familiar with. I have also found a lot of new resources.

All of that said, I do find it difficult to go through and a lot of times I just don't want to read through the status updates in order to get to something more interesting. Also, I follow quite a few blogs through Google Reader, it is hard to keep up with that, this is just one thing more that takes time.

I do like the idea of creating a PLN (Personal Learning Network) with lots of resources to help me. I am also learning to let it go sometimes, I just don't have time to read everything so I am learning selective reading habits. Also, I am very easily distracted, (one of those adults who found out later in life that I have ADD, explained so much!!!) so it is sometimes overwhelming, but I am learning how to filter better.

I read a couple of months ago that I had to give it at least a month and I had to get enough people to follow. I am now getting to the point where I follow enough people and have given it serious use for a month. I have to admit, the jury is still out!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

pagetweet.com - spread your message!

I am seriously exploring Twitter, trying to figure out if it is as valuable as so many people feel it is. It has been a couple of weeks and I am only now getting a handle on how this might work for a teacher. I have looked at some apps to keep up with tweets, read a number of articles on how to best use Twitter and how to build a community (will provide links in the links blog). I am beginning to see where it might be useful, I am not sold but not seeing it as a totally dumb thing now. (yes I did in the beginning!) If you are interested there are some good places to find the info you need. I would recommend you explore these options and some of the others I posted in the Technology Links blog, read what people have to say, develop a group to follow and then give it a month or two. It is taking awhile for me to really get into it but it actually could prove to be useful.
the nest site is a list of people to follow, you can find many familiar names here. I started here and then started following others as I found them.
This next article is at the crux of the matter, we are using these tools to learn more, and develop skills.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Friday, March 13, 2009

Great Links for Educators

I have spent several years book marking sites using various tools. I started with Backflip, used that for quite awhile, then changed to Delicious and then to Diigo which I am currently using. I loved each one of them and still do. I have tried a few others also but none I liked as much as these three. However, there is so much out there and I am saving so many sites that sometimes I find something I really think is great and I lose it. Yes I have lists and I am trying to tag carefully but I still cannot always find what I want and I often forget about something really great so don't even know to go looking for it. I started sending some links to my blog when I really wanted to remember them but realized that was not quite what I wanted, now I have a blog all set up just for links. Now this may get to be a problem too, there are so many good resources and tools out there on the Wild Wild Web. But it is a small way to deal with a big problem! Any way that said here is a link to that blog.


Great Links for Technology Educators

Friday, February 27, 2009

Magnetic Poetry


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

This is a fun way for kids to write, there are  a lot of options here to allow kids to write a variety of poems and stories.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Okay, this is really dumb but I had a website that I did not want to get lost in the wealth of websites I post on Diigo every day. So I was looking for a way to mark it especially so I could find it quickly. Low and behold I discover (never looked before) that I could post it to my blog as I book marked it in Diigo. I feel like an idiot, I am supposed to be the really tech literate one! Anyway I have posted two here. I think I will start a new blog for these sites so it doesn't get mixed up here but it was very cool. I now have two posts of these websites that I really want to keep in mind! Will wonders never cease here on the web. I keep trying to stay up only to find there are so many sites I have never seen and certainly don't have time to visit. It is amazing.

Mrs. Tenkely’s Computer Class


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Wonderful computer resources for elementary students in all curricular areas. 

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Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Google News Slide Show