Thing 19

I absolutely love Thing 19. I think this will be one of the most useful items for me! As a computer teacher who is continuously repeating the process of "How To" over and over and over, this is a huge timesaver.

In the past, I have had to resort to lots of written reference sheets and reteaching lessons for students who need to get caught up. With these screencasts, it will be more effective for students as opposed to simple written directions (which some kids have much difficulty with). I can also see this being VERY useful for tutors who come into my classroom with very little computer knowledge and are very nervous about helping their own students. They will certainly benefit from these videos, as will some interested parents who want to help their child (or themselves) at home.

I can't wait to start making these screencasts this year (perfect timing now that we have switched to Windows 7). Finding the time might be tough, but I can just keep adding and adding new screencasts for new skills as I find the time. I wonder if there is a limit on Screenr.com to how many I can create. I will have to look into that. Otherwise, I am very excited about the possibilities for this in my class.

I found this extremely easy to use. I had to do two takes before I got it right without pausing too long or misspeaking, but overall, I loved it. Doing these before a presenting a new classroom skill could even help me revise and improve my instruction. It helps to be the "viewer" and not the "presenter" to critique my technical instructions.

Thanks for the great tool.

For this post, I created a screencast on how to post to our new classroom blog hosted by Kidblog.org. I notice, when I view it full screen on my blog, it is very blurry. But I would use this through my bookmark on mydelicious, which shows up fabulous through the link rather than a downloaded & embedded video.

Thing 18

I must admit, I have been interested in finding out more about podcasts and videocasts. I explored the NPR site, the Educational Podcast site, Podcast.com and even a few others when I tried a general search.

Throughout my search, I found it very difficult to find something I would deem appropriate for my middle school students. Most of the podcasts and vlogs I came across were very techie and not speaking at all to a young student audience. I did not find a single thing I liked on the new Windows 7. I thought I might use that as an intro with my students at the start of school, but I found nothing. I also searched for podcasts on video editing and Adobe Premiere, but came up short.

I did find a guy's podcast who gave some great computer demos of Microsoft Excel Shortcuts. I have a lot of students who are always looking for more shortcuts, rather than using the mouse. This might be a neat video podcast to show them:

http://technology.podcast.com/episode/57022896/17173/ - Excel Shortcuts Episode

#1209

For my personal use, having just purchased a new iMac last week, I was interested in some of the Mac podcasts. I found one on the in's and out's of customizing my Mac:

http://technology.podcast.com/show/68254/Ask-The-Techies-%28iPod-Smaller-Version%29/
ask the techies - Customizing your Mac OS

Finally, this podcast gave cool little tidbits of Apple History. It was a quick and easy way to remind us just how far we have come. http://technology.podcast.com/episode/61598951/11173/ -On this Day in Apple History

Overall, I was a little disappointed. I think I would be more likely to use podcasts if a friend or colleague directed me to a specific one that was worthy. I found the search process to be exhausting and unproductive. Perhaps this is just because of my topic choices. I can certainly see how creating my own podcasts for students might be helpful, but very few of the ones I searched seemed to fit my classroom needs.

Thing 17

You could spend an awful lot of time viewing these presentations. I think this could be a very useful tool to help you in the classroom so that you can use a great presentation that is out there instead of reinventing the wheel. It is a given that strong visuals make for great lessons. A great presentation from one of these two sources, Slideshow and Zoho, could be just that.

I discovered that the best products come from the Featured Presentations or Most Viewed or Most Downloaded. When you try to search by topic, you can go through endless pages of junk. I searched "technology" and got a lot of junk. I am especially critical as a Computer Education teacher when it comes to professionalism with slideshows, not cluttering the slides, and not writing a novel on each slide. There was a lot of this going on. But I did find some interesting things within the Featured Slideshows section. I found some great slideshows displaying amazing photographs. I added these to My Delicious Bookmarks so that I can send my 6th graders here during our short segment on digital photography. I am hoping they will be inspired by what they view.

I am embedding one of these presentations displaying such photography. I know it is beyond what a 6th grader can do, but I think the shots are so eyecatching, they excite me to take shots of my own. I also think I can use these shots to discuss angles, closeups, and choosing objects to shoot that aren't just portraits of friends. Students will enjoy these photos surely.

Thing 16

I wish I had endless amounts of time to explore all that is out on the Web. It is such a short time to explore and discover, it seems, once I put the kids to sleep and really get to check out new sites that can help with my curriculum, my students, and even me and my family as well!

But here I am, happy to have a nice little list to choose from for Thing 16. After looking at my choices and quickly assessing a few to see where my interest might lie, I decided to check explore bubble.us. I thought this might be a sight that could be a great resource for both me and my students.

The first thing I liked was how I could try it out and decide if it was worth signing up for. I began to create a concept map for my Computer Education curriculum. I created a very quick version displaying the different technology concepts learned from 5th grade to 8th grade. It was very user friendly and allowed me to save it in my account and also share it or embed it on a blog or website. I decided to try it out and save it on my blog that I am currently testing to be used with my 7th graders (Kidblog.com- Thanks Terri!) It was easy to embed although appears a little small even though students can zoom in to their area of interest. I think I will have students use this for their notes during research. They can access it from home and school which is nice and they can easily print it or embed it as well. My seventh graders can even add them to their blogs for me to check over from home...an added advantage (one with less paper peddling too).

Thing 15

Much like social bookmarking, this is another great way to be able to share and access important items elsewhere, digitally. This is always an issue with school items since we do not have access to our school files. I always find myself frustrated when I am home and have forgotten to email myself something from school or save it to my thumb drive (and I absentmindedly misplace the thumb drive as well). Many businesses give their employees remote access to their files from home. Since we do not have this, Cloud tools could come in quick handy.

I added my information to the 23 Things spreadsheet quite easily. It sort of reminded me of the program Lotus Notes which we used way back when in college. I thought it was really cool that l could collaborate with my group mates on a major business project through this program, researching and writing sections, while my group mates gave continuous feedback and my college professor chimed in whenever needed. Perhaps we were ahead of the times...that was back in 1996. With that in mind, I can see myself doing this with groups of my own students that might be creating a website or video, or both, together. They can keep me posted on their progress and share problems, successes, and technology learned with cloud tools. I can help edit and revise research, writeups, and scripts.

I don't know what I would do about the email addresses needed here. Suggestions anyone? What a cool tool this could be!

Thing 14

I joined Facebook mostly to get in touch with old friends and colleagues. It is a quick and easy way to catch up and let them know I am thinking of them. I can see what they're up to and find out what we have in common. If there are common interests, and time avails itself, I might even find myself reconnecting with them in person.

I am very aware of the common mistakes people make with social networking sites like this, and I am vigilant about checking privacy settings that seem to change frequently without notice. I also make it common practice not to "friend" students or people I do not recognize as friends. Many people seem to go overboard with social networking, as if it is some kind of addiction, and share ridiculous personal information with the Facebook world. I find this appalling.

I really enjoyed seeing how the NHS library uses Facebook to their benefit. After seeing that, I can definitely see how I could use Facebook for my computer technology program. I could post tips and cool tech happenings on there. I could also share student created photos and videos (ensuring copyright rules apply!) on there. I like this idea!

Thing 13

I created my account with Delicious. I chose Delicious as opposed to Diigo only because this is my first time social bookmarking and the Diigo looks more advanced.

I chose to begin bookmarking all the great new technology sites I have been learning about. I am excited about this because I have written descriptions of what each does (since it is easy to forget if not consistently used), and I now have access anytime, anywhere and so do my students and colleagues. If I want students to explore some sites I have for them, I can direct them to my Delicious site. If I am at a workshop or a meeting with my technology colleagues and we are sharing ideas, these sites are at my fingertips. I see see so many benefits here.

If parents are interested in what I am sharing with students, and would like to explore as well, I can send them to this bookmarking site to take a look. I love this new tool!