Technology Pursuit

Thing 11.5 Evaluation

2009-08-07T09:59:00.004-05:00

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning program?
I am excited about using a Screencast to help with my faculty instruction as well as our student instruction. I know that our LA SIS is interested in using Bookr. I"ll have to find a good way to sift through the Video Resources.
2. How has this prgram assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
Last year, I was able to present some Web 2.0 ideas to our faculty when they were writing their tech goals for the year and I hope to do that again this year. It gave some new options to teachers that had been doing the same old thing for the last few years. The students loved to see their Animotos, Wordles, and Smile Boxes sent to their parents' e-mails.
3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this that surprised you?
I always ask older students that I encounter what they've been doing in school technology-wise. My 18 year old nephew was with us for a few weeks this summer. He spent a lot of time on Facebook chatting with his girlfriend. I asked what kind of technology applications he uses in school. The answer was pretty much just PowerPoint. He had never heard of most of the Web 2.0 topics in our courses. His high school is huge and has a 50% dropout rate, so I don't think they have a lot of access to technology.
Also, I asked three graduate students (23 years old) at UNC if they had ever heard of Glogster, Bookr, Wordle, Word Sift, cloud computing, etc. They all said no. They are so busy researching they don't have time to just explore the web.
4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program's format or concept?
The program is SBISD's best technology offering and I appreciate the time it takes our lifeguards to read all the blogs.
I do think that both 23 things and 11.5 things are worth more hours. I already had experience with at least half of the content in this course and it still took me way more than 11 hours to complete.

Thing #11 - Digital Citizenship

2009-08-07T09:44:00.003-05:00

Using Web 2.0 applications moves students and teachers from an “Acceptable Use Policy” to a “Responsible Use Policy” as technology shifts. The online publishing and shared documents create an entirely different set of criteria. The whole world can see what you publish. And, you can stitch up your whole group on a shared online project.
The idea of using the iPods, iTouches, FlipVideos, etc. at school and possibly sending these hand held devices home relates to development of Digital Citizenship. To me, Digital Citizenship not only covers the content on the device but the care of the device. (ISTE#5) In the ideal, we would eventually issue one portable device per student. “If we encourage students to put their own work on the iPod, the device seems personal to the children as opposed to it just being another school device. If it’s personal to the child, then they’re going to take better care of it. They will make sure it’s charged, because it’s theirs….What’s important to you are those things that are personal to you.” (GoKnow interview from Tech and Learning Magazine, June 2009)

Thing #10 - Virtual Worlds

2009-08-07T09:24:00.002-05:00

I was first introduced to Second Life at a TCEA workshop. (I would have to say it was one of the worst presentations I have ever sat through - which probably biases my attitude as a whole.)I had to go back and take a look later to try to make any sense of it at all. I found the whole site to be very time consuming. Why bother to "walk" up a flight of stairs and down the hall to find information? Give me a link to click on any day!
Meeting and chatting with other people on the site could be beneficial.I just could never figure out how you knew who was supposed to be when and where. It seemed to lead to random success.
Also, the concept of broadcasting conventions could be useful. It would be difficult to gain access to all breakout sessions, but at least the keynote speakers could be online.
Virtual worlds for kids have been around for years. My own kids played them at home for awhile. At school, our students would let us know the latest fascination, but if we played them with any frequency, the sites would soon be blocked by Tech Services. Which was okay by me. Most of the sites were really more of a gaming venue. I really prefer for the computers at school to be used with a clear learning objective in mind.

Thing #9 - Slideshare

2009-08-06T12:02:00.002-05:00

It seems that there are a wealth of slidesharing sites available. Of the sites listed on your page, I ended up bookmarking AuthorStream and 280. Having free access to 280 would be a cost saver to the district. It would be a quick way to "author" student work and get out to a wider audience. And there are some good examples of PowerPoint design that could be deomonstrated to students.
For now, I am not sure how much we would use these at school because we already save to the student server for shared projects and post finished PowerPoint projects on our web page. (Although is would be easier for the majority of the teachers to post to AuthorStream.) Students don't work much on projects from home anymore due to our new homework policy so school access is sufficient. Also, we would once again be back to user name and login issues for the shared sites. Does the district have a policy for posting student work outside the district?

Thing #8 Sceencasts

2009-07-30T09:48:00.004-05:00

This was a lot of fun and so easy! I used the Screencastle site to make a short video on using templates in Google Docs. I used a Math Quiz template in the video. Unfortunately, I can't get my home computer to recognize my microphone right now, but when I get to another computer, I'll redo the video.
This tool will be great to use for spreading new information to teachers and students. I also would like to make a video for parent access to Gradespeed since I am responsible for that project. I think I will download the Screencast and post them on the MDE website to make sure they don't disappear on me in the "cloud" world.

Thing #7 Video Resources

2009-07-23T10:47:00.002-05:00

I had not looked at the PBS site for awhile, so it was good to see all their latest. With so many of their shows online, there is a lot of material that can be presented. This is a link to a program on how Grand Central Station was built. (Trains are a favorite topic in our house.) I did not see any links to embed the video.
Grand Central Station on PBS
The amount of video online is staggering. I spent two hours browsing through the sites and didn't watch all of any one piece. I see that Google Video has identified their main problem as making sure that all videos posted are searchable. I agree with that assessment. You can spend hours looking for just the right content for a lesson. I think that United Streaming has done a good job labelling their videos which is why it is so popular with our teachers. They can find what they need in a short amount of time.
I will have to use some self-discipline to complete the reminder of the course. Now that I know I can watch Antiques Roadshow on PBS online, I can see myself easily distracted.....

Thing #7 Video Resources

2009-07-23T10:38:00.003-05:00

This video is on Compost Tea for your garden. It is from Blip.TV. It mentions the soil cycle - we always talk about cycles. And, it is on plants - every grade level grows plants sometimes during the year.

Thing #6 - iTouch Applications

2009-07-10T11:52:00.002-05:00

I bought an iPhone in January and have enjoyed experimenting with it. Amazing technology. I visited the Top 100 site you suggested and downloaded a dozen or so new apps. Dictionary.com comes up with a defintion and recorded pronunciation fairly quickly. I love the Google Search that can be used by voice. It recognized what I was saying and came up with a range of search results. The connection to all the other Google apps from that program is handy, too.
I use my iPhone to hunt down information all the time and I imagine students will, too. While recently visiting my mother-in-law, we were talking about pirates in the Seychelles area. She really wasn't familiar with that island country so I went to Wikipedia and read her that information. We had a debate going over birthstones for each month and solved that with the iPhone, too. She suffers from blindness, so she can't really see the device screen, just the device. She kept saying, "you're getting all that information from that little thing!"
I see students mainly using them for gathering information and possibly placing that information on a "Cloud Computing" server such as Google Documents. I see the shared documents as a great resource for students (although, quite frankly, I can't imagine that any business would want to store their business information on someone else's remote server as was suggested in the linked video. Most of the companies I know have strict policies against doing that.)
Once the iTouches are fitted with cameras, having the ablity to take and save photos can provide great documentation for events.
I, personally, find my eyes strained when I try to read a lengthy passage. I'm especially better off in other formats for book reading.
There are a few challenges for school use:
1. We cannot receive cell phone reception on most of our campus. We have to walk outside to get a signal.
2. The battery/recharge issue. My phone charge lasts about two hours if using the Apps features.
3. They are so small - where might they hide?

Thing #5 - Microblogging

2009-07-08T10:23:00.004-05:00

I have been using Twitter to try to keep up with happenings in the Texas Legislature and the US Congress. Across the year, this usage has changed. The current trend seems to lead to a Tweet being sent out on a hot issue that links to their web page. IF they are still tweeting at all. (John Culberson seems to have a pretty good system going on this.) Many of their Twitter accounts just have a link to their home page on their Twitter page.
I happened to be listening to Glenn Beck the day that he decided he needed to Tweet. He was pressured into it because other people kept signing up for Twitter accounts saying they were him, but they weren't. So Twitter agreed to delete those accounts and now he has his real account. Since he loves to ramble, the Twitter format suits his personality. His Tweets are meant to be more humorous than informative (Michael Jackson is still dead.) I'll be curious to see how long he keeps it up. I think he started around Memorial Day.
I checked out some other "personalities" and there are many that have established accounts in self-defense. They just link to their real website to avoid having other people masquerade as them. I mention this because it does set off some warning bells to me that elementary students could easily be commnicating with people that are not who they say they are. I don't really see any way of a teacher monitoring these short messages that can be exchanged so rapidly. (BTW- Twitter has yet to figure out how to make money. They are in the hole big time. Maybe that is an indicator of how long they will actually survive.)
I admire the Facebook creators for a novel idea that has been implemented successfully. The Group facebook pages can certainly provide information and interaction. The last account I asked to Friend was Rachel Ray's.
Of your suggested sites, the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented had the most current postings. Not a whole lot of interaction, though. (I signed up for "Houston's Deal of the Day" from their ads on site. Will see what that brings. I wanted to support Facebook who actually is making a profit.) I do think that their stongest usage is from young adults networking socially and foresee that continuing in the future.
The Today's Meet and Tiny Chat microblogs have a huge appeal to me. They have a specific goal in mind with a limited time span set to implement. I read somewhere yesterday, (maybe in Wall Street Journal?), that something like 75% of the web pages that exist really aren't in use at all. Great ideas are started, but no follow through. Topics expire. Etc. These two sites would help students focus on a specific task or assignment.
I now have over twenty accounts created in all kinds of places for all kinds of chat. While watching "He's Just Not That Into You" this weekend. Drew Barrymore's character said, “I had this guy leave me a voice mail at work, so I called him at home, and then he emailed me to my BlackBerry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It’s exhausting.” She closed by stating that she longs for the days when she just had to answer one phone and check for messages on one phone. Somehow, I really identified with this sentiment.

Teacher Tube - MDE TV

2009-07-08T09:50:00.010-05:00

We were trying out the Flip Camera. Basically, the whole project was a big experiment. I learned that this group of kids really liked to give ALL the details.

You can view the view at MDE TV

I took down the YouTube postings because I don't feel comforatable putting students on that site.

Thing #4 Posting Videos and Podcasts

2009-07-06T11:19:00.005-05:00

I have used Teacher Tube to find examples of video projects for teachers and students. We showed several videos based on classroom Science experiments on MDE TV to give teachers examples of how videos might be created in the classroom and shared.
I also spent time last year trying to post to theses sites from school. I could only post very short videos without our network quitting in the middle of longer uploads. I ended up having to work from home in order to successfully post a video on Teacher Tube.
Our new web masters have created server space for us to post podcasts and videos on the SBISD site. I worked with our Kindergarten team to post some songs and poems online so that they could listen and practice at home. I hope to expand this effort this coming year. They can be heard at Podcasts. Also, our Spanish teacher has posted some of her songs at Spanish at MDE.
As best as we can tell, these files are running pretty well from this site thus avoiding a third party user name and ID.

Thing #3 Skype

2009-07-06T11:05:00.002-05:00

Skype seems to be an affordable option for world wide communication. Our family has enjoyed using Skype while our nephew was in Japan for a year. Our niece is currently in Spain and her parents have enjoyed talking with her AND seeing the room she is staying in.
The audio and video feeds can provide a lot of information for parents as well as our students at school. All real time! Primary resources would be much more accessible. Information can be shared immediately and interaction can take place.
The time zone differences around the world do pose some challenges. Europe is generally 6-7 hours ahead of us. Japan and the Far East are day vs. night which makes them hard to schedule for classroom time.
Also, I am wondering, has anyone actually Skyped from within SBISD? Does our network support this use or are we blocked out of this? (Either by an actual blocking tool or by lack of band width?)

Thing #2

2009-06-30T13:39:00.003-05:00

I have spent quite a long time on Thing #2. Especially considering I have already used Animoto and Wordle extensively, so I didn't spent any time there. Word Sift looks interesting. I was interested in the visual aspect, so I put in the lyrics to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" to see what would be generated. The "rainbow" and "bluebird" worked out okay, but the "fly" totally missed the mark with photos of fighter jets. Couldn't figure out a way to work around that.
The Glogster site provides a creative presentation. I can see using it as a quick, summary assignment. I don't think the writing format really encourages "good" writing so wouldn't want to use it for a large project.
Bookr is my favorite of the bunch. I can see elementary students using it for content. I'd like to see some students use it to retell their science experiments using photographs of their experiments. Maybe use it instead of Science journals? BTW - I could never get a Bookr sent through e-mail. I tried sending it to two different addresses. It's been an hour and a half and I still don't see it. Even checked the Junk Mail in case it went there.

Bookr

2009-06-30T13:26:00.002-05:00

Glogster 2

2009-06-28T15:37:00.004-05:00

Fourth of July Practice Glogster

I am having trouble getting the entire Glogster to be embedded in my page. I have tried reducing the width and height in the html, but is still cut off. Anyone know how to do this?
Also, I was trying to bring in a flash "swf" file, but couldn't find a way to do that. Any hints there?

Glogster

2009-06-28T15:33:00.002-05:00

Part 2 - Thing #1

2009-06-16T11:08:00.003-05:00

"The Network Student" has a lot of ideas to access loads of resources. Certainly tons of information available. The student would have to analyze and synthesize quite a bit to determine which information is valid and worth mentioning in their own project. The bookmarking sites would be helpful to review where information on the final project was acquired.
On the practical side, I would be interested in another movie or site that gives specific suggestions as to how to instruct accessing these resources and how to monitor content. Especially at the elementary level. What standards are set for evaluation? How do you set up user names, passwords, e-mail accounts for all your students?
I would also love to see a project such as this that is completed by an elementary student.

Baby Polar Bears - March 08

2008-12-09T21:44:00.001-06:00

Pursuit 23

2008-08-03T15:07:00.003-05:00

1. The image generators and widgets were the easiest - a lot of bang for the buck so to speak. I also will keep in mind the Web 2.0 Awards page as a source for new ideas. Embedding videos will be a big time saver for me. I have spent hours recording YouTubes to VHS at home because the site is blocked at SBISD.
2. The course reminded me that there are always new things to learn. I just have to find ways to seek them out. I enjoyed sharing bits of the course with my friends and family. There were 6 of us from our campus that took the course, so I need to organize a way for the 6 of us to present to the faculty what we learned. (That's my job as Technology SIS.)
3. Unexpected outcome - there are so many people out there that spend so much time on the web! So many different comments and threads.
I asked my three twenty-something children if they blog, and they all responded with a similar answer. They used to but it just got to be too time consuming. Specifically, they don't have time to read their friends blogs and post their own.
4. Some of my teacher friends that are more mid-level users struggled through some of the Things. You could provide more specific instructions - but I know the sites change all the time. I used the Help on Blogger and it told me what I needed in a brief, concise format. Maybe you could point that out to learners.
5. Yes, I would participate in another course. I would like to see some coordination with the Education Technology department regarding students actually logging on and using many of these sites. Most user agreements ask if you are over 13 when you register, so how much trouble will we get in if we let our students use these sites???

Pursuit 22

2008-08-03T14:41:00.003-05:00

Nings- At first introduction, I thought the concept of Ning providing a social network outside of Facebook or My Space had some possibilities. I spent about 45 minutes looking through your Ning links and some of the Nings posted by other Library2Players. I just have to say that the format doesn't work for me. All the pages are SO crowded that it gives me a headache to read them. There is no "white space" to rest your eyes. (I have a vertigo problem and I don't know if that contributes to my inability to focus on the content.) The content is so random. Less than half of the postings seemed to relate to the goal of the site. This was particularly true in the photos and videos postings.
I don't see any advantage to using the Ning site versus a Blogger page for classroom projects. Am I missing something?

Pursuit 21

2008-07-31T15:07:00.003-05:00

I am familiar with Photostory, so I admit that I took the easy option here. I think that I like using it better than Audacity anyway because this way you get the photos along with the sound. Like many other Library2Players, I can't find my microphone here at home, but will try adding some narration once we get back to school in August.

We've done Photostory projects on campus for the last few years. This would be a great way to share them!

BTW - The best way for me to get help with postings is to use the Blogger Help menu. I can find out how to post things in under a minute. I would recommend going straight there instead of wasting time trying to figure it out yourself!

Pursuit 20

2008-07-31T11:16:00.002-05:00

I enjoyed viewing the videos on Teacher Tube. I can see where organizing a whole set of tutorials could be useful for our faculty and students. Will have to delve into this further at the start of the school year.

Pursuit 19

2008-07-13T20:45:00.002-05:00

The Web 2.0 Awards page has a lot of fun sites to visit. I found Lulu.com which is a site for publishing books and songs. My sister has previously published a short paperback, so this site looked like a good way to publish a second book for her. I looked specifically at the songs section for use on MDE TV. Last spring I went to Best Buy with a mission to buy some new broadcast music but found nothing. Either High School Musical or Sponge Bob. This site seemed to have some cute, original children's songs for either very cheap or free.
I had mentioned in a previous post about a color picker widget that I couldn't get to work on my blog. ColorBlender.com was listed on Web 2.0. Since I am moving into a brand new house next week, I am hoping this help me pick some colors for fabric. I could also use it for making color appealing web pages or presentations.
iFoods.TV was also on the Awards page. I watched the recipe for 10 minute Crab Cakes. I'm going to send this link to my college-age children. They are always looking for recipe ideas, just like their mom!

Pursuit 18

2008-07-13T19:13:00.002-05:00

I have experimented with Open Office in the past. I have it on my home computer as well as my new school laptop. I started looking at it more closely after visiting with my niece and her sons. They are constantly struggling with their home computer. Part of their problem is a severely limited budget. I sent them a copy of Open Office to install instead of spending money on Microsoft Office. (They are on dial-up, so it would have taken them a long time to download it themselves.)I haven't heard from them. I am curious to know if they were able to use the program easily. I will have to ask them in person to get honest feedback, and I haven't been to Indiana lately.

Pursuit 17

2008-07-13T19:07:00.001-05:00

Rollyo is an interesting concept. It would be nice to use it to narrow searches to my favorite sites to use as a first go around. I had looked for online crossword puzzles in the past, but was never sure which sites were safe to save from on play online. I used the Rollyo Reference list (as previously established by Rollyo) to search Crossword Puzzles and came up with some pretty good results. Much quicker to sort through than my previous searches for this topic. My Search list is at
http://rollyo.com/drtrivialpursuit/trivial_pursuits/. I would have to think for awhile about other sites to add to the Search list.

Pursuit 16

2008-07-08T22:07:00.003-05:00

Well, I wandered my way through this one. I have always enjoyed using Wikipedia. They do seem to pick up some really random, accurate information there. I read the accuracy percentage a long time ago. Can't remember exactly what it was but for sure it was in the high 90s. It is definitely my husband's favorite site. He always starts his web searches there.
I looked at some of the posted WIKIs. It seems that many of them have crossed into more of a blog format. I looked at the Sandbox site and left a comment. I got a chuckle out of the What we want in a library list. Everyone seemed to have something to say there!
Before that, I somehow drifted into the Library Hacks links. I found PaperBackSwap.com which I will try for awhile. It reminded me of the book chain letter that circulated our campus earlier this year. I always hate spending money on new paperbacks so this might be a good way to get some cheaper reading. I went to the county library and checked out seven paperbacks last night (I do tend to run through them during the summer!) I found another library hack called Libary Elf that might help me remember when to return them!
Curriculum idea- most likely to try a collaborative information project

Pursuit 15

2008-07-02T22:37:00.002-05:00

I think that the Library 2.0 philosophy is needed for today's students. Information on the web can be much more up to date than a book that's been on the shelves for years. You can get so much more information, too. Kudos to the library profession for leading the community to explore new ways to learn and communicate.
I think our greatest challenge as teachers is to get the students to EVALUATE all the information they get from the web. Evaluate and ORGANIZE. This is actually the more time consuming part of technology instruction and it is often skipped over.
I have heard about the forum that was hosted last spring with the higher ups in the Ad building and some high school students. One of the boys on that panel from Memorial High School found a very polite way to state that he had never checked out a book from the library his entire high school career (and, yes, he was a top student at MHS.) Makes you think there are a few challenges out there discovering what a future library should provide.

Pursuit 14

2008-07-02T19:56:00.003-05:00

I spent some time looking at Technorati. I found myself just wandering around without any clear plan, so I don't think I'm geared toward this format. When I looked at the Top 100 Blogs, I was surprised to find Ariana Huffington as the top blog! Had no idea she was that popular. The Google Blog was in the top rung too. I've e-mailed my son to see if he actually reads that posting. Technology, news and entertainment seem to carry the most weight in the tags. The technology comments really seem to get the most interaction, hmmmm.
The tags are helpful. Somehow when I've seen them on pages before, I never connected that the larger the text, the more popular the tag. What a great idea! I did enjoy watching the video featuring the Technorati founders. One of the things I learned in a GT graduate class is that computer programmers usually are high up there on the GT traits - they have to think how their code transfers to a user friendly interface - a very spatially orientated task.
I've been experimenting with widgets a bit. I found this Shelfari Bookshelf widget on another Library2Play page. I thought it looked cool. It took me two tries to get it to work. I really wanted to get the Color Matcher, Picker one that I found earlier to work. That would be really useful to have. I couldn't get it to work and now I can't find it again!
Does anyone know how much risk is involved in bringing in these widgets as far as hidden codes? I know the code itself is on blogspot, but can it hurt your home computer when you use the code?

Pursuit 13

2008-06-29T20:50:00.003-05:00

I spent some time working with the tagging site. I had used Backflip! in the past so I was familiar with the concept of keeping bookmarks on a remote site. Across the years, I have gotten better about organizing my bookmarks to begin with so I quit using Backflip! The addition of tagging would make the remote bookmarks more useful. If I were to use it, I would have to give some thought as to what tags would be the most useful - work, personal, science, technology, troubleshoot, etc.
Having said all that, I probably won't use the site because of the buttons being added to the Toolbar. Anything being added to the IE Toolbar just makes it launch slower. It also makes me wonder what the button is doing that I don't know about.

Pursuit 12

2008-06-27T19:20:00.002-05:00

The Google Blog search was easy to use. And the search return was in their nice, familiar format. I tried searching for Butterfly Gardens and didn't find too much. But then I tried searching for Needlepoint Projects and came up with a bunch of good information. One site had a helpful Color Picker widget that I tried to get onto my blog, but I couldn't get it to work. Will try again later.
I enjoy reading comments from my fellow bloggers. Nice to know someone is looking at my work! I saved some of the html's on the How to Comment links to use with my faculty this fall. I think the Darth Commentator analogy was pretty good. When I read through postings on local news sites, there are always a few lurking DCs.

Pursuit 11

2008-06-27T17:50:00.000-05:00

Library Thing - I enjoyed looking at this site. The page design was much better than all those blogs in the last Thing.
I signed up as a user and hope to benefit from this site. I am always looking for good books to read - not just the books that Barnes and Nobles choosed to display. I read the description for The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society and will have to track a copy of that down. Since I was sick for 4 days in May, I actually had 4 books that I read recently to enter. I cruised through a couple of comments that others made about those books, too.
I spent the day sorting books here at home in anticipation of moving in three weeks. So many books that I'd forgotten we owned! Maybe a site like this would help me get better organized!

Pursuit 10 - more

2008-06-27T17:17:00.000-05:00

These image generators are tons of fun! I am just wondering how I would get a class to actually complete a project. It seems that they would spend HOURS choosing which to use! I limited myself to 30 minutes on Thing 10 so that I can keep moving through the course.

Also, I am still confused as to how the students would access these sites and use them. If I am having a hard time keeping up with MY user name and account, I can only imagine attempting this with students. Has anyone tried this with a whole class or grade level? Do you print them all out or post them to your own blog? (Implying that you would enter your blog user name and password for each posting???)

Pursuit 10

2008-06-27T17:16:00.001-05:00

ImageChef.com Poetry Blender

Pursuit 9

2008-06-27T16:43:00.000-05:00

I have spent quite some time looking for a blog that I REALLY like and, to be honest, haven't found one yet. Most of them are so crowded with ads and other distractions that it's all I can do to concentrate on the content. Yikes!
The "cleanest" site I found was Technorati. The green color must be calming for me. Also, there is a lot of white space on the layout.
My thought is that many blogs haven't really defined their audience. The blogs that I have followed have a specific communication goal. For example, my nephew was studying abroad in Japan last semester. He was able to post on his blog and keep in touch with all of his family - which is a challenge with his 7 brothers and sisters and numerous aunts and uncles. Our niece's softball team won state last year and their blog had every detail you would ever want to know about their games.
It also seems that many of the indivudual blogs start out with a specific idea or goal and somehow totally divert from that goal. They seem to get full of themselves and start posting absurd content that no one else really cares about.
The news blogs may be more useful to other people. I am more of a "general" news browser. M

Pursuit 8

2008-06-19T12:39:00.000-05:00

The RSS feeds can be fun to read, but I think I have to develop my scanning skills or else I will spend all day reading on the computer. I have set up a Google Reader account. I hope to use it to keep track of other postings of my fellow teachers at MDE. I've add Tech101 but am looking for the names of our other users.

Pursuit 7

2008-06-13T21:04:00.000-05:00

I set up a Google calendar. One features I really like is that you can have more than one calendar. I always have trouble deciding what to list on my Microsoft calendar at work. I hate to list personal events, but if I don't list them, sometimes I loose track of them across the day. It would be nice to be able to separate them, but see them on the same log in.
I have used Picasa before. I also read an extensive evaluation on Notebook, but the author made it sound so complicated that I never tried it. They might have simplified it since its original release, but it still looks a little tricky for elementary students.
My son mentioned that he has used Google scholar for some of his research. But, he is working on his PhD, so I am not so sure about younger users and what kind of links you get.
This same son works for Google during the summer as a programmer. We have had numerous conversations about all the cool things Google develops, but then never really advertises. It seems like you have to have a love for Google in the first place to keep checking what's new on their site. There is also a book out called Googlepedia that was just written this past year that describes all these applications in great detail.

Pursuit 6

2008-06-13T20:27:00.000-05:00

I'm watching the Astros play the Yankees while working on my 23 Things, so I have to include a card for Lance Berkman tonight!

Mashups was a new term for me.

The playing cards and mosaics are fun. I am having a hard time keeping up with what user name and password is used for which site.

Pursuit 5

2008-06-08T16:54:00.000-05:00

Flickr - We had a chance to practice this with Vaughn last week, so this was an easy part today!

Family Pursuits

2008-06-07T17:25:00.001-05:00

This was quick and easy to put together!

Pursuits 3 and 4

2008-06-02T17:07:00.000-05:00

I have an Avatar posted. I will be curious to see how often I feel that I need to change her look! The best thing about this activity was that I did something my 22 year old daughter didn't know how to do!

Pursuit 2

2008-06-02T17:02:00.000-05:00

My favorite Habits are :
Habit 5: Create your own learning toolbox
Habit 6: Use technology to your advantage
I enjoy getting set up for a detailed project. And, I really appreciate finding ways to use technology in my life to communicate better with others.

First Pursuit

2008-06-02T16:29:00.000-05:00

This blog is my first pursuit in learning new ways to use technology. There are so many options in educational technology and I need to have a way to keep up with the pace!