Week 9 -- #23

This project was an awesome experience. Though I have had experience with some of the technology, such as blogs, wikis and podcasts, some were new to me, especially mashups. It was great to fill in the gaps in my own technology skills/knowledge.I'm very excited to use these with my teachers. Since I teach a significant amount of the professional development in the district, I know that I will be offering some workshops on some of these discoveries. I would definitely be interested in future professional development from CSLA.

I wonder if I will be able to keep up wih some of the websites I have registered with -- already I can't keep up with the RSS reader. That will most certainly be my biggest challenge.

Thanks to the development team for the work they have put into this. I'm sure that this has been a major commitment, and it has been immensely beneficial to all of us.

Week 9 -- #22

World eBook has an amazing number of resources -- I just explored a few of the links, but I will definitely be back to add a few to my ipod, though I really do prefer to read my books. I'm very visual and sometimes find it difficult to focus when I can't see what I am listening to. I took a look at LibriVox again. I had looked at their site awhile back. I'm glad to see that they have made it possible to subscribe through iTunes.That will make it much easier for me to upload to the ipod. They have a lot of children's literature and poetry, both of which could be very useful for school.

Week 9 -- #21

Podcasts are my friends! I finally got an ipod for Christmas 2006 and have been hooked ever since. I do use itunes and update my ipod with podcasts to listen to at the gym, mostly NPR book reviews and author interviews. My favorites include Nancy Pearl from Seattle, and Between the Lines from Atlanta. Lately, I have been listening to geography class lectures from Stanford. With itunes University, we have access to hundreds of course lectures. Though originally recorded for students, we can certainly benefit from the access. Also, I learned to create podcasts last year when I took a class at the Cue conference. I haven't created any yet, but plan to in the future. There's so many ways that they can be used -- book talks, tutorials, lectures, student-created projects.

I added NPR technology to my RSS reader, and I need to add it to my iTunes as well. I also looked at Podcast Alley and Yahoo Podcasts. Since I have already downloaded the software and it works well for me, I will stick with it.

Week 9 -- #20

YouTube rocks! If I could just convince my district tech people of that. They're afraid that students will access inappropriate material, which I admit is a valid concern. However, I think that education is the key -- teach kids what is permissible and be consistent in the enforcement. Since I have the ability to unblock the content filter, teachers frequently ask me to download files for them to use for instruction.

I chose the video Monty Python video because it has been cited as a possible inspiration for the term "spam" as applied to unwanted email, a topic I was looking up recently. And it's just plain silly. Educational application of YouTube certainly includes the numerous curriculum-related videos. Last week I downloaded a Magic School bus episode on Digestion for a student-created health lesson. Students could also create and post their own video projects. Library applications could include tutorials on a variety of topics as well as book talks.

Week 8 -- #19

I discovered LibraryThing a couple of weeks ago when I was exploring the 2.0 award winners. As soon as I found it I had to create an account and start adding books to my library. It really is very easy to do. I like to read what others have to say about the books as well. I added the widget to a blog post, but I need to add it as a permanent part the page. I will also set up a new library for school and try to add it to my Destiny page.Unfortunately, Destiny does not support Javascript, so I'm unable to paste the code to add this feature to my school library page. What I could do is to create a blog, then paste the widget there. Then students could click on the link that I will place on the library homepage -- not as cool as having the titles and covers on the front page. Maybe once Librarything fixes thing so that it can be used on Live Journal, then I'll be able to use it on Destiny. I will also contact Follett to see if they are working to allow Javascript.

Week 8 -- #18

I have been using Google Docs for quite awhile. It helped me solve several issues. First, it has worked well for publishing and revising the library schedule. My library tech and I can edit from any workstation, and my teachers can view it from the classroom before they call to schedule their classes. One disadvantage, though, it that the word processing capabilities are not as sophiscated as Word, so I create my template in Word, then copy and paste into Google. It works well that way. Zoho Writer has the added benefits of templates to use. Google Docs has very few extras.

Though it is not specifically part of this exercise, I want to share my experiences with Google pages. I use it to create pathfinders, then link them on my Destiny homepage. In that way I can upload and delete as needed. Otherwise, if I post links on Destiny, when I no longer need them, the links are lost once they are deleted. This is any easy way to maintain the links for the next time I need them. I have instructed other teachers of this incredibly easy way to create webpages, upload assignments documents, and several have since created their own webpages.



See Vanden's Destiny homepage: http://destiny.travisusd.k12.ca.us/common/welcome.jsp;jsessionid=3ED2F4E0853232744F61109E0BA4FE5B?site=106

Google Docs: May/June Schedule

Google Pages: Career I-Search -- Resources
Teacher webpages --Hansen, Zadnik

Week 7 -- #17

I added my blog post about wikis to the Sandbox on Calcurriculum wiki. One idea I saw on the wiki that intrigued me was the use of blogs to create a tutorial for students. I agree with the comment on the wiki that students and parents sign AUP's without really understanding what is being agreed to. I want to help students clearly understand the provisions and the consequences of the AUP.

I already use Edublogs for student / staff book reviews. I was considering a move to Blogger, but last week while I was using Blogger for student responses to a college library research project, the blog was locked by Google. They thought that it was a "spam blog" and have not yet unblocked it. I moved it to Edublogs so that the students could complete their blog posts. Very frustrating. I have been happy with the results of using the blog to record student responses to journal topics.