For the past several week I have thoroughly enjoyed with some of the web 2.0 resources. After visiting the web 2.0 site I have come to realize that this is just the beginning. I have begun to use many of the "things" in my day to day teaching for both instruction and the sharing of information with students and staff. The linking of several sites and integration/sharing of content, information, video, audio is all connected. Almost every site that I go to can be linked through a blog, geotagged, rss feed, followed on twitter shared on facebook...where will it end? How will it expand? Copyrite, privacy, and ethic concerns continue to come into play.
The things I have been using the most are in this order: My Tech Blog, delicious bookmarking, and twitter. This past week I have been developing and experimenting with my youtube account. I especially enjoy the ability to upload videos from my phone and share them with the world.
The internet can a powerful tool as long as one has the technology and understanding of how to use it. The students of today have more control of technology than many of their teachers.
I feel fortunate that I have a good handle on working with computers and the technology of today. I remember back in college when windows was first introduced. Prior to that we worked in dos and basic languages. My first web pages were written in html code and if you could imbed a photo you really knew what you were doing. Napster was alive and well and we shared music for free, before any DRM was even thought of. Chatting on an IRC network had an average lag time of 25 min between posts. We have definitely come leaps and bounds in the last 10 years alone, computer are smaller and more affordable for the average family.
Mobile technology, home integration, wimax, and g3/g4 will expand technology in the years to come. I am very excited to see what the future will hold for the next generation!
Thanks for letting me be a part of the newington23things experience. I will definitely be checking out some of the other web 2.0 sites! If I may ever be of any assistance please don't hesitate to ask.
SMC
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Thing #22 Edit a Wiki
A. Edit an existing wiki: I edited the page on the Newington23things wiki page.
B. Create your own wiki: I started initial pages on wikispaces and wetpaint, currently not sure which one will work best for me. Still exploring.
My pages are www.nhsmusictech.wikispaces.com
http://nhsmusictech.wetpaint.com/
C. I like the idea of the wiki but I am not completely sold on it as of yet. I personally like the ease of using the blog for day to day use. My wiki may work best for overall course information and large group projects. With the wiki, information may be added by everyone where as my blog is just comment on and not added to. With the blogs I can add quick videos, photos and posts while on the go from my phone where the wikis require a workstation. I will spend the rest od the next 2 weeks of the 23-things to explore wikis more in-depth.
B. Create your own wiki: I started initial pages on wikispaces and wetpaint, currently not sure which one will work best for me. Still exploring.
My pages are www.nhsmusictech.wikispaces.com
http://nhsmusictech.wetpaint.com/
C. I like the idea of the wiki but I am not completely sold on it as of yet. I personally like the ease of using the blog for day to day use. My wiki may work best for overall course information and large group projects. With the wiki, information may be added by everyone where as my blog is just comment on and not added to. With the blogs I can add quick videos, photos and posts while on the go from my phone where the wikis require a workstation. I will spend the rest od the next 2 weeks of the 23-things to explore wikis more in-depth.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Thing 21 - Wikis
Wikis: So far it looks like it is a web page that everyone can look at and add to. Edit Write and Save, seems simplistic enough so far. I definitely like the idea of people being able to contribute information. The aborheights site is a great page where you can have several webmasters rather then relying on one person to update all the information necessary on the page.
Exploring: I was looking through the NHS project pathfinders and it seemed a little confusing to navigate. I will create pages in wikispaces and wetpaint.
Wikispaces: Looking to use this as a nhsmusictech site. Free extras for educators!
Having some fun playing around with this site, I like that fact that I can import some of my blog posts.
WetPaint: Easy to create and account and choose a style. Easy to link different resources such as youtube and blogs. I think I may go with this one but not too sure at the moment. Seems like there is too much advertising.
I found some great resources with some sound recording wikis. They have been a great resource for class. I still need a few more hours to work on customizing my wiki, inviting members and creating pages. I think that once a page is initially established it would e easy to build upon it from year to year adding information and experiences from prior students. I think I will spend some time during the summer working on developing an initial page for my classes.
Thing # 20 E-Books
I love ebooks, I am not much of a reader but for those of you that are ebooks are the way to go. My grandmother has been reading novels for as long as I can remember and each month she has to go through and recycle her books, she tends to run out of storage space. For Christmas my family got her a kindle ereader, surprisingly it was very easy for her to use and she loves it.
Itunes will be releasing an online bookstore that will also focus on the academic site for colleges and universities. With the upcoming release of the apple Ipad it will definitely increase the awareness of ebooks, The Kindle currently is winning the war along side of the B&N Nook ereader.
I was just on the turning the pages web site and I was looking at Mozarts Musical Dictionary with audio examples. Very cool, these electronic versions give us access to public domain books I would never get to hold in my hands, some are historical.
That is great that our students have access to those ebook resources!
I read all my newspapers online, that's as close to the books as I get. But I am learning to take some time and read a bit.
Itunes will be releasing an online bookstore that will also focus on the academic site for colleges and universities. With the upcoming release of the apple Ipad it will definitely increase the awareness of ebooks, The Kindle currently is winning the war along side of the B&N Nook ereader.
I was just on the turning the pages web site and I was looking at Mozarts Musical Dictionary with audio examples. Very cool, these electronic versions give us access to public domain books I would never get to hold in my hands, some are historical.
That is great that our students have access to those ebook resources!
I read all my newspapers online, that's as close to the books as I get. But I am learning to take some time and read a bit.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Thing 19 - Screencasting
Screencasting is something I experimented with a few years back, I was using adobe captivate back then. I created self extracting files that were tuturials of the innerworking of powerschool. When I used to teach multiple sections of one class I would create screen casts of the lesson and then play it back for the next class rather that doing it all over again. The smartboard software in the classrooms can do this at a very basic level. I enjoy using the captivate software because it is so advanced. The Java based online screen capture programs work well but can be limiting.
OK now that some of the JAVA has been updated I think I can do this.
I am excited to look at this THING:
Screener.com: First off I am interested to see a web based version. I definitely want something that supports narration.
I do have a twitter account thank to the things!
Looks like you only get 5min time limit here.
Thing 18 - Podcasting
Podacast is something I have been familiar with for the last few years. I have experimented with creating and also following certain podcasts. I have been using Itunes to publish and subscribe to podcasts. I subscribe to a podcast based off of my favorite website endgadget. It talks about the latest in technology and up and coming products.
'In my tech class I have experimented with student created podcasts, they have to give a review of their favorite band with short audio clips and background information.
The thing I have just discovered is that in my ipod I can subscribe and download podcasts directly from the handheld. In the past it would bookmark your selections and then download them the next time you synced with the computer.
I am slowly working on developing video podcasts of my class lessons so when a student is absent they will be able to see what the lecture in class was all about.
'In my tech class I have experimented with student created podcasts, they have to give a review of their favorite band with short audio clips and background information.
The thing I have just discovered is that in my ipod I can subscribe and download podcasts directly from the handheld. In the past it would bookmark your selections and then download them the next time you synced with the computer.
I am slowly working on developing video podcasts of my class lessons so when a student is absent they will be able to see what the lecture in class was all about.
Fundamentals Of Music
Check out this SlideShare Presentation:
Fundamentals Of Music
View more presentations from JlMoriart.
Thing 17 - Presentation Tools
Wow these things really get cooler and cooler as we go along.
Currently checking out SLIDESHARE:
Posting a slideshow on the Fundamentals of Music...wow that was easy, if I was already logged in I just clicked the blogger button below and it set it up already!
I have been using a blog for my tech class each day so this will come in handy.
Tons of great resources for what I do in class from podcasting to digital recording.
Heading over to ZOHO Show:
Easy to log in with my google account, nothing to sign up for. Seems a little more organized and professional as compared to slideshare.
Looks easy to upload and keep my presentations secure.
Several time throughout the year I require my student to make PowerPoint presentations, not they can upload and share their hard work for the class and others to view. Outside the classroom I can use this for presentations and for sharing my work with other teachers.
Not sure how much I will use this but definitely will try a few presentations in the classroom. I will upload all the current presentations I used into a zoho account.
Thank you thing 17!
Currently checking out SLIDESHARE:
Posting a slideshow on the Fundamentals of Music...wow that was easy, if I was already logged in I just clicked the blogger button below and it set it up already!
I have been using a blog for my tech class each day so this will come in handy.
Tons of great resources for what I do in class from podcasting to digital recording.
Heading over to ZOHO Show:
Easy to log in with my google account, nothing to sign up for. Seems a little more organized and professional as compared to slideshare.
Looks easy to upload and keep my presentations secure.
Several time throughout the year I require my student to make PowerPoint presentations, not they can upload and share their hard work for the class and others to view. Outside the classroom I can use this for presentations and for sharing my work with other teachers.
Not sure how much I will use this but definitely will try a few presentations in the classroom. I will upload all the current presentations I used into a zoho account.
Thank you thing 17!
Thing 16 Time to Explore
Google Templates - explore the infinite templates that are virtually just a click away in your Google docs account. Sign into Google docs and click on the Search Templates button
From the list to choose from this seemed like the most logical one for what I do on a daily basis. I am always creating day to day form for common things I do, calendars, lists, data tracking as many others do also. Through the search feature in google docs (that I enjoyed from the last thing) users can share the templates they have created with others. This will save time and energy, also the crazy formatting and set up time it takes to figure out how to get something to look correctly.
Currently I have found:
A nice, simple lesson plan worksheet
DJ Music Play list forms
Resume Builders
Monthly Budgets
By taking a basic form and customising it definitely will save time!!
From the list to choose from this seemed like the most logical one for what I do on a daily basis. I am always creating day to day form for common things I do, calendars, lists, data tracking as many others do also. Through the search feature in google docs (that I enjoyed from the last thing) users can share the templates they have created with others. This will save time and energy, also the crazy formatting and set up time it takes to figure out how to get something to look correctly.
Currently I have found:
A nice, simple lesson plan worksheet
DJ Music Play list forms
Resume Builders
Monthly Budgets
By taking a basic form and customising it definitely will save time!!
Thing 15 Cloud Tools
Ok at first glance I totally love it! This would be amazing for my fire department, as secretary treasurer I am always updating and revising by-law revisions, roster data, monthly department meeting minuets. Unfortunately this information must be shared with several people and the email train begins. If there was one place where everyone could access all the information it would save space and time.
Going exploring:
GOOGLE DOCS:
I used this feature to add a form to my blog for my tech class but did not explore it any further.
So far it looks like google docs has a storage limit of 1024 MB.
Sharing seems easy enough, I think that for the department the space may be sufficient but for my school classes I require large amounts of storage space.
Microsoft Live:
Looks ok so far as long as you are running an xbox, messener, or a hotmail account.
Nice Place to add photos
Looks like storage space is 25gigs woohoo, this could replace my flash drives as long as the Internet stays active at work.
Possibly a good place to back up data in case I forget something at home.
I think this is the one I will go with at the moment due to its extensive storage size.
Still not sure if email gets linked through here.
For my department I may have to set up a site specific account.
Definitely like the secure and public folders!
Wow! Uploading was fast! And the ability to access it was just as good!
Not a fan of uploading individual files, perhaps there is a bulk uploader I can use.
This will definitely make my life easier, being in three schools I have to carry a lot of data around with me, occasionally I forget something at home. I haven't even looked at the possibility of others editing and changing files, this too will be great!
My students also can take advantage, I created several ghost accounts that kids may use if they do not have an email address of their own. I would also like to check if you can simultaneously log in from different locations.
Thanks!!!!!
Going exploring:
GOOGLE DOCS:
I used this feature to add a form to my blog for my tech class but did not explore it any further.
So far it looks like google docs has a storage limit of 1024 MB.
Sharing seems easy enough, I think that for the department the space may be sufficient but for my school classes I require large amounts of storage space.
Microsoft Live:
Looks ok so far as long as you are running an xbox, messener, or a hotmail account.
Nice Place to add photos
Looks like storage space is 25gigs woohoo, this could replace my flash drives as long as the Internet stays active at work.
Possibly a good place to back up data in case I forget something at home.
I think this is the one I will go with at the moment due to its extensive storage size.
Still not sure if email gets linked through here.
For my department I may have to set up a site specific account.
Definitely like the secure and public folders!
Wow! Uploading was fast! And the ability to access it was just as good!
Not a fan of uploading individual files, perhaps there is a bulk uploader I can use.
This will definitely make my life easier, being in three schools I have to carry a lot of data around with me, occasionally I forget something at home. I haven't even looked at the possibility of others editing and changing files, this too will be great!
My students also can take advantage, I created several ghost accounts that kids may use if they do not have an email address of their own. I would also like to check if you can simultaneously log in from different locations.
Thanks!!!!!
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