course 2.0 reflections

For audio learners or special needs students podcasting is a plus.

For the average student with good reading skills, I still think audio podcasts are too time consuming, not convenient to transport and not that valuable. Vodcasts (which are also podcasts) I believe will be an real hit with the students. Students are not trained to just “listen” and tend to multi-task or get distracted easily. Although producing my own pod-casts was fun…not everyone is a great public speaker. This was not my favorite tool.

Podcasts I listened to:

Nancy Pearl Book reviews Google RSS feed This is an enjoyable feed, that I enjoy weekly. It keeps me up-to-date in my field and makes a great conversation piece for the lunch bunch.

I hope to research some more podcasts on web 2.0 tools and download them to my ipod for listening during the airport downtimes while traveling this summer. A lot is available but it takes time to find the GOOD ones.

Directories I plan to use are:

Podcastingatchool

The Grazer provided by this class.

I explored on the K12Online Conference 2007 Web 2.0 Wendy Wolfe “If all my classes….” 23 min.

It was informative, concise and REAL. She did not hesitate to say the successes and pitfalls of trying new tools. I particularly like the enthusiasm she had for learning and experimenting.

I would like to use her style to present perhaps monthly a short movie highlighting a specific web 2.0 tool to our faculty or perhaps just link to hers or others. I believe the personal approach goes over well to our colleagues as opposed to “canned” presentations.

This site is a PLUS because of its “anytime” learning. I hope to visit it often to get ideas and enrichment.

PART 2: I was able to comment on my colleges blogs successfully.

7B) ……….Just scoped the Google Reader and found out from my Kindle RSS that John Steinbeck’s books are now available. This is good news since our experimental adaptation of the Kindle includes summer reading assignments Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath” is one of these. Also from

I found some more free ebooks to test on the Kindle at http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=196605209

7C……… Just scooped the Google reader and found the inspirational video “what kids want….” from the Infinite Thinking Machine RSS I think I’ll embed it here so I can find it when I need it.

Here it is:

Also found out that our purchase of 37 FLIP video cameras was a good investment since it is being lauded at the NECC conference 2008 this summer.
Also my Quotes RSS feed always brings a smile to me on a daily basis. It is just plain fun!

I choose to Quizlet to explore. It is a good tool for students to create and share their vocabulary assignments. I would definitely share or demonstrate this tool to the elementary and middle school teachers and students and to let High school kids know of the SAT preparation aspects of this site. The tutorial “video Tour” is excellent. The online chat function is collaborative as well as the choosing of public or private modalities.

It is a fun learning site. http://www.quizlet.com
Here is an example:
U.S. State Capitals

I am a fan of You Tube and hopefully of Teacher Tube as it grows larger. It is very easy to get distracted and wander off on tangents. I would advise that teachers have very strict guidelines and time limits if they are requiring students to do research with You Tube. I particularly enjoyed the history of You Tube.

As a resource for daily lesson plans it is invaluable due to ease of use, short takes and good quality. I have had success with using ZamZar to capture , convert and down load some of my favorite videos. I am definitely confused about who owns copyrights on You Tube. Is there a creative Commons?

Here are the Urls: for the four youtube videos I choose – enjoy:

1. Interview with Cornelia Funke– renowned author of Middle School Books http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7nXo7_UBkA

2. Movie trailer of one of Cornelia Funke’s Books Inkheart http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2324dJ1ja4g&feature=related

3. How to do Indoor rowing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXnKyJdA01w&feature=related

4. Fun Medieval Help Desk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ&feature=related

Social bookmaking (delicious) is an amazing tool. I found the site easy to navigate and the added buttons to my FireFox bar was easy to do and makes posting a breeze.  Great instructions, thanks. The collaboration aspect is invaluable and it stays current unlike a library pathfinder that needs continual updating. Multiple tags are what makes this unique and different from the standard ” digital vertical file”.  I also, when time permits, will investigate DIGG (sp?) to see if it has even greater usefulness.

I hope to get my faculty and students excited about the potential of this Web 2.0 tool. I know personally, I will be using it when my faculty ask me to recommend/research web resources on specific topics ( ie. Lost boys of Sudan, math fun sites etc.)     This one is a keeper!

http://www.evoca.com/everyone_recording.jsp?rid=158365

I totally enjoyed this exercise. As a member of 3 book clubs it is a great way to organize my comments and see what each club has read. As a library/Media Specialist I don’t know how I missed this one. I loved exploring authors, genres and specific titles. Now, If I can only master speed reading or find more time in the day I would be in 7th Heaven ( James Patterson’s newest book)!

(S-t-r-e-t-ch- task) I immediately joined and cataloged the reading I’ve done via my 2007-2008 book club. Not real a stretch but a pleasure, it was so easy to do. My summer reading list just tripled. Thank You.

Flickr is an amazing resource. It’s creative commons feature is plus to all student productions we wish to put on the web. For budding photographers the social comments on your work is very encouraging. Searching by tags created by the “lay person” is wonderful for kid searches who have some difficulty in finding similar key words to describe what they are looking up.

I searched in creative commons for Maui and found some beautiful shots. I am considering adding my recent Maui pictures to Flickr for comments. Here is one of the shots I found by Mbell1975.

Vicki Davis’s article on her first wiki was encouraging. It reminded me of Nike’s motto of “just do it!” I tend to wait until everything is perfect and use it as a delay to starting something new. Ms. Davis is a true role model in getting a new project snowballing! I am still fulminating with how I could incorporate wiki’s in the library curriculum. some ideas but nothing solid yet.

Comments on 4 wiki’s…..

Wiki #1 The Thousand Project (elementary 3rd Grade)

I enjoyed the concept of this page. Very positive for elementary grades perception of the world. Although ’short & sweet’, it was well organized and the content was age appropriate. One questions I have regarding this wiki is… How to you publicize your wiki? (tags? Mass Mailings? etc.?)

Wiki #2 Flat Classroom Project 2007

Such a rich site. Truly illustrates the concept of world-wide collaboration. Very rich with embedded videos and useful links and a great navigation sidebar. The keynote address was great! I can see why it won awards. Question I had is…What is a NING (just a commercial wiki space or blog space)?

Wiki #3 Grazing for Digital Natives

My favorite. I loved the avatar from Voki. I must try this myself. Made for a neat and unique introduction. Good navigation sidebar. Had many embedded appropriate videos. It was a little slow to load but definitely a wiki I will add to my bookmarks and delicious site. A great resource as a review for this course!

Wiki #4 Room 15 Wiki (6th Grade Page)

Fun project to do to introduce the students to the power of publishing and sharing. Clean, neat layout. I particularly enjoyed the caveats regarding spelling and grammar. Also, the invitation to parents and teachers to participate. I would have like to see a sidebar and some student reviews of their experiences during this project. I do think it is easier for them at younger ages than on the high school level.