Uploading Thing #11.5

This exercise; 11.5 Things, are the most challenging activites I have encountered. I don't think that I have attended any workshops in the last 5 years that can compare to the quality of information that I have learned through these activities. I am visual and I have included things that I learned in the "23Things" and hopefully I will continue to work on some of the things I am learning now. Top 5 things are: Wordle, Skype, Uploading and embedding video and the educational sites for teaching, Screencast/Jing, and Digital Citizenship. I learned something from each thing but the aforementioned were my best.
I have to mention Second Life because I would like to review this exercise if a class purchases property and has educational parameters for exploration. Second Life was exciting but confusing with the different islands and an assortment of lifestyles and conversations. It was limiting on the free site and confusing when I tried comunicating with others but I can see the potential. It would be beneficial to me if one or several of the things explored were revisited with some kind of instruction during the year; any chance? I hope that our district will continue to offer these things because I absolutely learn more than ever and it's relevant and useful. Please offer something related to these "Things" next summer.

Netiquette Thing #11

Wordle - Netiquette: ""

I become really involved when the topic surrounds etiquette and treating others with the proper respect but I'm also aware that there are a variety of examples that kids follow and education is imperative. After reading several articles on Digital Citizenship I am in agreement with many of the items expressed in Rhonda's article on "Digital Literacy and the Classroom". Sometimes our expectations exceed the quality of our teaching. The educational system like many systems have priorities and over the years those priorites have not changed as quickly as the times. Yes, respect and civility are extremely high on my list and I think it is still very high in the educational system but what do we teach and how are we setting the examples for our students. Digital literacy and citizenship are extremely important for students and teachers. We have to teach students how to move in the digital world and what the pros, cons and conseqences are based on certain behaviors in the digital world. Are we behind in education? Overall I would say yes; we can't teach the kids things that we don't have proper knowledge of ourselves. Again, what are the priorities.
The 5 things that I would teach students would be: Digital Literacy, Digital Security & Safety, Digital Law, Education and Access and Etiquette. I think students should know that there behavior online should not be any different than the expectations we have of them offline. We should explain that words are powerful in the negative and positive as well as the dangers of communicating information online. Treating others as we would like to be treated is simple but for some of our kids more is needed. I would add role play and explanations of the terms and examples of situations that they will encounter online and off. This is a really great topic that can help all of us.

Brave new World --- Thing #10

Thing #10
Wow, Second Life is amazing, confusing and limitless. I would like to explore vitual worlds with a tutor. I recreated an Avatar by the name of Case Starship and I explored the mainland and heard conversations, attempted to join groups and almost mastered the movements but what I was able to see and read led me to think that Second world would be great for students'. Teachers could create an envirnment for her class for several classes to collaborate on projects, create identities, jobs, homes etc and simulate our society on some level. Students would be able to understand the financial systems, collaboration, spending, shopping etc. The curriculums would suddenly take on a new image and excitement along with a focus and engagement that would involved more creativity and long term educational value. Second class is economical and if a school or class wanted more indepth learning there is low cost purchases of land to create whatever environment you are seeking. Etiquette, dress codes, appropriate language, parameters; there is so much to explore. As you can see I am a little excited with my limited experience; can you imagine what could happen if I were able to learn more?

Slide to Slide Thing #9

Thing #9
This particular thing was not as exciting or challenging as the other things but very educational. Students, teachers and professionals are able to create,embed, publish, upload, download, share or not any and all Power point presentations and slide shows syncing with music, creating webinars etc. I found a lot of information that I can use to inform through discussion along with some sort of presentation (ppt or slide show). I was very intrigued by the advertisement in Connecticut's Darien Library enticing parents to become more tech savvy it was titled; "21 Things for the 21st Century Parent". There is so much information out there to help in creating whatever you chose and for students it's a great resource as long as they are aware of the parameters.

Freeze Thing # 8

THING #8

I am still working on perfecting this particular application. I can use the screencast and jing on a regular basis because I am constantly providing step by step website instructions for parents, colleagues and students. Whether I am capturing the page, an image or making a video of the step by step process to the final destination; this will be great.
I decided to use a video showing the online enrollment process for Texas Tech correspondence courses; something that is used quite often. I am really excited about this application because it will simply the process for all involved. Jing was a great tool. I was not able to reduce the video to a thumbnail. I will try this application several times to attempt to do a better job.

ITouch UTouch Thing #6

Thing #6
I have attempted to investigate Itouch devices and have had the opportunity to play on many of my friends iphones and students' ipad's and I must say it seems to be very intriguing, educational, practical, not quite sure if it's economical but these devices are valuable. If teachers are are provided tutorials or have the technological knowledge to operate these devices students will be able to gain loads of information while enjoying the journey. The amount of information that I have learned in the last few weeks has been invaluable. This is our future and if we are really interested in staying current and involving our kids in the process there is no question that we must change many of the ways that we engage students'. I intend to purchase an iphone in the next days because I am really excited in the applications that are available to me and those applications that will help student find the proper resources to make informed decisions. One of the websites that I found useful was the "makeuseof" site: http://www.makeuseof.com; I was able to find out how to download applications to Itouch, Iphones etc. There are two applications that I will use; the GPAMe application because it allows to students to monitor there assignments, grades and calculate there grade point averages. This application also provides information regarding all colleges in the US including SAT/ACT scores profiles of the universities and he websites; that is wonderful! I also like the Dexy application which helps kids with the organization of notes and retrieving notes without much difficulty. I have a lot of research to do regarding these devices and the process has just begun. I made use of the spell check before publishing this post; let's hope that I made good use of this application.

Reeling Thing #7

This particular "Thing" was a little challenging but I really enjoyed the research. We have come so far from the Reel to Reel, 8_Track tape, Cassette, VCR, Camcorders, CD, DVD. TIVO, DVR, Webcam etc. It is amazing. The Creative Commons Licensing states that Fair use is not limited to a percentage but to the point. Why are you borrowing or using someones creation; the intent should be to make a point. You must clearly illustrate the relevance of using someone's creation and give credit to the creator. I chose to use a video regarding the transition to the 1st year in college. The creator is Rob Boscamp; a student at Texas A& M Corpus Christi. UTube state the following regarding copyrights:

YouTube hereby grants you permission to access and use the Service as set forth in these Terms of Service, provided that:

1. You agree not to distribute in any medium any part of the Service or the Content without YouTube's prior written authorization, unless YouTube makes available the means for such distribution through functionality offered by the Service (such as the Embeddable Player).

Wordle - NuTech Thing #5

Wordle - NuTech: ""Thing # 5

Microblogging; what a concept. We have so many ways to communicate that it can be overstimulating but for education it is great. So-o-o-0 many ways to get students involved in the research process; communicating globally, locally and instantly is no longer a concept it is reality. It is possible to reach the masses as well as specific interest groups through a variety of venues; microblogging is the new and exciting communication system. Twittering, facebook, Blogs, and of course, the the old email is just a few of the modes of communication. Within each of these systems are specific stategies that students can utilize to explore, collect or send information to the appropriate person or destination. I have had a facebook account for a year and a half and though I see the advantages of this communication system for students; it is not my personal favorite. Though it is not my personal favorite the advantages outweigh my bias especially when it is related to reaching a specific audience regarding pertinent information. Students love it because they can communicate instantly with friends and get information out to such a large population whether it is a class reunion, fieldtrip, or what's happening in their lives at the moment much like TWITTER. The education value is unlimited; I can guide students to Gradzilla, College Planner, Skool Pool and a host of other resources that will help in collecting information regarding the colleges of their choice from students that are actually attending those colleges. Facebook can also provide informatikon regarding the organizations that your friends are member of provides the opportunity for you to donate or join. I sign up on the Twitter site and attempted to get info from other counselors regarding Postsecondary counseling and how to reach the masses. I will continue to search for answers, ideas, opinions and resources via twitter or blogging. Back channeling is a wonderful concept that I believe will help many students; to be able send electronic note to your teacher or a faciliator of a conference without feeling that all the attention is on you especially for those really smart shy students who are afraid to ask questions in front of the class or even those students that may not be able to attend class on a specific day, channeling is great. Back channeling would have been one of my most frequent choice of communication in high schoool and college.

Creating is possible? Thing # 4

#embed
Thing #4

So I created a video, though primitive, a video nonetheless. My interest has been peaked and I am interested in refining the skill. It was not difficult, the process was new to me so it was a bit time consuming. Can I do better? I sure hope so. I believe students are far more advanced but for those who are not, this will be a great starting point. I was able to create a video based on images I saved from the Flickr sharing site. The theme was based on the many goals students formulate during high school. I watched "How to upload a Video", Teacher Tube, UTube and the Animoto site which is where I created the video. I am hoping that I will be able to use a variety of the skills that I am learning in the coming year.

The Jetsons Thing # 3

Thing #3

We have made tremendous stride in the last 2o years; fax machine, cell phone, email, texting, powerpoints, wordle, avatar, imaging etc. I can't seem to keep up with the inventions and applicatons but Skype is truly amazing very much like the Jetsons 30+ years ago. We can now talk to people and see them while we talk to them (skype). We can communicate with family and friends via skype several thousands of miles away. Skype is an welcomed class interrruption; students are able to chat with authors of the most recently read book, communicate with a class in China on a daily or weekly basis, refine foreign language skills via class participation with another class in another country, have guest speaker and virtual field trips. Skype's potential is amazing and I have experiencedit first hand. I have downloaded skype, created a name and have been able to communicate with friends on skype. I can see the advantages of skype even with this project, if one of my colleagues is on skype at the same time that I am working we can communicate while completing each thing.The research shows that there is Skype etiquette; sending a chat message intially rather than ring to speak so that the caller can prepare in advance, what a concept. The excitement is real and warranted but technology is moving faster than our educational system which causes a concern regarding the readiness of our student in the next 5 years.

Perceptions Thing #2

Thing #2

Visuals, Images, creations, identity; all about individualizing projects. Students have the opportunity to create video's, Avatars with a voice, comment on Voice Thread, generate Wordles and Word sift. All of these projects have a certain impact on the audience and the creator. I enjoyed Wordle because the combination of specific words have a great impact in how I proceed each day. So, if I can visual the words and the feeling I am motivated to move forward. Glogster is a movitating tool; students are able to view information in a variety of venues and the impact of the video has alot to do with the interest of the student. The fact that there are so many to chose from helps the student find information that will help them to create the perfect project. The teacher tube was a great site to observe inforamtion in a variety of ways; I personally enjoyed "Did You Know", I think that was the title but in any event the video shared amazing information about about different countries and how they continue to populate, educate etc compared to USA. I also enjoyed Voice Thread because you are able to look at an image, write your perceptions and listen to the perceptions of those in the image. It could be a great tool in psychology and in undertanding behaviors and misconceptions. Overall this was a great lesson in generating images and how the images can be utilize in learning situations. The image that I have uploaded is from Joshua Franer's collection of photos during his visit to Ethiopia; I chose to indicate what we may perceive and what is actually happening or not happening in this country.

Shed Thing #1

Thing #1 It's really good to get started; it seems like the most difficult part of any new project is the first step. Now that I am on my way to learning more things; "The Networked Student seems to be an appropriate topic. I will hopefully be networking as soon as I am able to absorb the information that I attempted to understand today. Can a librarian connect students in the manner that I observed on the video; absolutely. Empowering student and teachers will be a more freeing experience as well as more exciting. Shedding textbooks and worksheet while learning to gather information, assessing the info, reading and watching documentaries by the experts and documenting your options sounds like a step into the future. The teacher becomes a guide rather than a lecturer and the student becomes more engaged in the learning process.