Thing 10

My experience with digital storytelling has been limited to trying out Glogster. I would love to use more tools like this because even though students focus on the images, they tend to go deeper with their research and content as well.

I would like to use the cool tool that Roberta and Kelly were using when I have my students create graphic novels. What was that site?

Glogster

I am trying Glogster with two of my classes. They are doing research associate with Grapes of Wrath. I am finding that their products are a lot more creative and in-depth than if you were doing a PowerPoint or paper.

However, we have had some issues with saving. Sometimes the computers freeze or the pages don't save. The site also can be very slow, which may have to do with how many students were using it. They are in groups, so that helps. Links with video and songs were tricky too. I don't think Websense helps.

Overall, they were good guinea pigs on a cool program. However, there were a few kinks. Despite that, I would use it again.

Twitter

I have not tried it yet. I'm thinking about it, but there was an interesting article in the paper today. It talked about celebrities that use Twitter to connect with their fans. The sad thing is, a number of them have never actually used Twitter. They hire someone to tweet for them. The moral was that you never know who you are actually talking to. You might think it's a celebrity, but it might just be their publicist instead. It was a good reminder that the Internet is not always what it seems and people need to be careful about its use.

Screencasting

I love it!! My second video isn't quite as good as the first, but the computer I was on hated me and I lost it. But, I captured the steps to log on to moodle for the next time I set up accounts with my kids. It's awsome because I can show them how as I walk them through it rather than repeating the directions a thousand times to every student. It might be a lifesaver and a sanity saver!!

Wikis

My 2nd and 4th blocks are currently working on wikis. It is a good way to keep all my energetic boys focused!! The only kink using Moodle is if students don't have an e-mail account. He just created one in Yahoo. I'm guessing you have to have an e-mail for most programs. The really nice thing is the student accounts are already set up in moodle, and their name goes on everything they do so they can't have weird screen names that I can't identify.

It doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but it works!

Thing 9

The lesson on creative commons was a really great reminder for me. While I try to follow copyright, I know I have been guilty of stretching the rules. It is ironic, because I beat citations into my students (practically, not really) but I am not good about citing pictures when I use them. It was also great to learn that there are musicians allowing their songs to be used. It is nice because it is so easy to just grab a song, yet we are so against pirating music so we really shouldn't just use it in our presentations either.

The hard part is reminding myself because it is still easier to just grab something when you are scrambling at the last minute than to follow the rules.

Learning Facebook

When I first joined Facebook, I thought it was just a social networking tool. As Karen blogged, it definitely is a powerful one. I have also learned that you can do so much more. I'm involved in daily pillow fights, and I just added good reads to my profile. You need to go to www.goodreads.com to sign up, and then you can link it to your facebook and your friends can join. It is a place to list and rank books you have read, are reading or will read. Your friends can comment on your evaluations of the books and vice versa. As all tools these days, there is more it can do that I have yet to discover but it has been fun enough so far.

I was talking to a student the other day about how glad I am that I joined facebook. This is how they communicate, and now I am aware of what is available to them. Student council and DECA both have groups to get information to students. I feel that it is an important tool for teachers and one that we need to understand because our students have mastered it and use it every day.

PS-I'm up to 32 friends:)

Facebook

Facebook is becoming a bad habit for me. I still do not know all the fancy gadgits, but I can find friends. Instead of doing my grad school work, I've been searching for friends. It's a little sad when you only have 11 and everyone else has at least 100. I'll never compete with social butterfly Travis. Who knew that social networking could be so lonely?

Facebook

Well, I finally joined the 21st century and joined Facebook. I have no idea what I am doing, but I have 4 friends already:) I know it's hard to imagine me with friends!! I already got a mini tutorial from my students this morning, so hopefully they will help me learn quickly!!

Blackle

I feel like someone blogged about this, but I was reminded of www.blackle.com. It is powered by google custom search, but the screen is primarily black so supposedly it saves energy. A student in my class says that it doesn't really save energy because of the new computer screens, but I think it's an interesting concept.

Technology Implication

I read an interesting article in the paper today about Twitter. I know we have talked often about its uses. People are now using it to find jobs. One woman put out a message to some people she had met at a conference that she was looking for a job. A week later she had an interview, and two weeks later she had a job.

It is also interesting because people are now recommending that those applying for jobs make information about themselves more accessible. They said to link personal web sites, blogs or profiles on professional networking sites, and one woman links her blog to her twitter profile and lists it on her resume for recruiters.

As I was reading this I was thinking about my father-in-law who is looking for a job. He has become discouraged because he cannot just pick up a paper anymore. He feels at a disadvantage because he knows most postings are on the internet, but not only does he not own a computer he does not know how to use one.

It also made me think about all the things people post on blogs and Facebook...etc. Not only are people looking at Facebook to check out potential hires, but they are not interviewing people based on what they post. At a time when jobs are so hard to come by, it seems that we have another responsibility to our students to make them aware of the implications for what they post and also try to help them be aware of how they can take advantage of new technologies in the job hunt. Of course, it would be great if I was aware and knew how to use them first. Thanks to MILI:)