Week 9, Thing 23

When I signed up to take this class, I thought that I would be learning more information about the things I already knew (shortcuts, additional editing toots, etc.). To my happy surprise, we covered things that I had only heard about but had never even attempted to do. I thought I was pretty Internet knowledgeable. Big mistake!
I especially enjoyed setting up my own Blog and exploring the different sites for picture editing and the cartoon makers. Setting up the del.icio.us membership and tags was interesting too.
By following the curriculum, I have continued to learn new things and broaden my computer skills. In doing so, it has opened new opportunities for me to learn in order to be the best educator I can be and to be able to share what I have learned.
There were times when I was doing the activities that I was not sure I was doing them correctly. At those times, I would have liked a little better explanation about what it was I was expected to do. I would also have liked to see examples of what others have done combined in the explanations so that I would not have had to go to different sites to see what was expected.
I understand that there is another discovery program in the works. I would be very interested in completing it. The information I have learned has been very helpful and I would like to continue to learn more.
This program was "incredibly helpful and enjoyable!"

Week 9, Thing 22

I checked out www.schoollibrary.com . The list of books seemed good but old. I do know that there are books available for blind and visually impaired children, free of charge, from the Texas State Library and TSBVI (Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired), on their websites. With the Texas State Library, you have to sign up and they send you a player and two books of your choice. When you finish with the books, you send them back and they will send you one for each one you send back. There are other organizations that have books available but you have to pay a membership. Also, the state textbook department is working on getting an universal type of file so that all of the textbooks and children's books will use the same type of equipment for audio books as well as books that can be sent to an embosser for the Blind.

Week 9, Thing 21

I have been using podcasts from ITunes for a while. I have found many funny, short clips to share with others on my IPod. I really like the ones from TV shows such as Comedy Central. Again, you have to be careful what you allow your children or students use. But, one of the nice things on ITunes is that they let you know if the material is "explicit" or not so you can monitor what is being seen.

Week 9, Thing 20

I have used YouTube in the past. In fact, some of the funniest videos I have ever seen have been on YouTube. However, some of the worst and most obscene videos I have ever seen have been on YouTube. In order to use it in the classroom, you would have to monitor its use very closely. I have also seen how YouTube is being used in a negative way such as fighting, killing of animals, etc., just to get on the net. It is a shame that something meant to be good fun, has become so corrupt.

Week 8, Thing 19

I like Library Thing. I can't wait to explore it more. In fact, I noticed where it said there were books available for download. I want to explore them to see if there may be some that I could use for my students. If they books can be saved and read by a text reader, it would open a whole new opportunity for them to be able to access books easily, instead of having to go through the process of getting them from the state library.

Notice that I put a link to LibraryThing on the right side of this page.

Week 8, Thing 18

Week 8, Thing 18

    The young girl, named Ann, sat staring out the window waiting for a car to pull into the drive. She was excited knowing that she would soon be meeting her cousin for the first time.  

    Ann had lived in Saudi Arabia for 10 years,and was many miles away from any of her relatives until just recently when her and her mother moved to be closer to other family members.  Ann's cousin, Sheila, was the same age as Ann and they had talked to each other over the phone before, but they had never met in person.

    Living in another country, and in a town without any other Americans, Ann was not sure what it would be like to be around Sheila.  She was both excited and scared.  She was worried that she would not have any thing in common with Sheila or any one else in her community.....

 

This is the story I am started using ZOHO Writer.  I like all of the icons and editing choices given at just a touch of a button.  In fact, it took me a few tries before I found the one needed to post to my Blog, but one I did, it was really to do so.  I see a great use for this site and feel that I will be using it often.

Week 7, Thing 17

I wrote a beginning to of a story to go with the picture on the Classlearning Sandbox. I am interested to see if anyone will add to it. I can see how interested things could get with people editing your site. It could also be scary if you do not monitor it closely.

Week, Thing 16

The short description does not give you much information on what a wiki is. I have seen that it can be used for class discussions from the digital camera class. I am interested to find out more to be able to use it for my outside groups as well as a way to communicate with family members.