Final Reflection

I really enjoyed participating in this class. I LOVE the online format with the ability to ask for help in the building. It was the best of both worlds. Beth and Ryan did a great job faciliatating this course. I learned a lot about different technologies. The great thing about how this class was set up was that I was able to spend more time on the sections that were more applicable to me and less time on the areas that I was not interested in. However, the exposure to it all was so helpful. I really liked Teacher Tube and Rollyo which I had never heard of before. I had heard of Youtube but I liked the teacher site!

My Space

Well here is my URL finally of my MySpace page http://home.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user. I actually created one some time ago to be able to log on to some other people's pages that were limited to friends. This is a useful tool but limited as it is blocked at school and often misused as well. It is interesting to look for student's my space pages. It is impressive how many of them actually have them (older students anyway!)

Thinkature

I have to be honest and say I wasn't too impressed with this tool. Perhaps it is because we don't have enough computer access (yet, :)) to be an effective tool. I would still use just regular mapping tools/papers I have at my disposal for my class. However, it may be fun and an interesting twist for the students to use as a demonstration tool when teaching mapping or a certain topic. I just don't know if I will use this often.

Google Maps

I have never created a map on Google Maps before but it is fairly easy to do. I have used Google maps just to find maps myself though and it is very handy. I created a map of La Conner

We study maps and La Conner history in 2nd grade so this seemed like a great mix. I would probably add more landmarks if I were to use it in class but I did not know all the exact locations off hand. This will be a fun tool to use in that unit.

Rollyo

I created a roll of food blogs with great tasty recipes. A friend of mine moved to Germany with her husband and is now a housewife with much too much time on her hands. She created a food blog to fill her time and I love reading it. I love having recipes to try (even if I rarely find myself cooking????). I created a roll called great recipes This is a great way to find things of a certain topic quickly. There are so many rolls I found on recipes after I posted mine. Why would anyone buy a cookbook anymore! This would be great if you wanted your students to have access to the internet but not everything the internet has out there.

generator

How fun is this??? I didn't know anything like this existed either. What a great waste of time to entertain myself!


Created with dumpr.net - fun with your photos

Flikr

I am familiar with Flikr because I have many, many friends with babies that live far away. What proud new mother doesn't enjoy showing off her babies. I have not posted before today but I have looked at many! I enjoyed putting up a few of my babies however do you see a danger having them be public? I can take them off after you read this (they are tagged) if you think I shouldn't have them there.


I guess linking is a problem for me. I can't seem to grant access to Flikr to post pics to my blog. When I hit the link from flikr it says there was an error in requesting.......???

letterpop newsletters

http://letterpop.com/builder.php?newsletter_id=83015

This is a link to my very, very rough draft of a second grade newsletter. I really like this site since I do send newsletters every week. I'll have to play around and put some class pictures on flikr so I can add those. It's a pity that more of our students don't have computers at home because it would be great to just do newsletters digitally!

Swivel

I have not used Swivel before either and I think this is a great tool. This is a great way to demonstrate data in a variety of ways. As an educator, I know that people learn (and see things in different ways). Swivel gives you the opportunity to show relationships to your students. Most of the data that I found on Swivel was a bit above my kids heads I can see how this would be very useful if I were to upload my own data. I think this is something I will try when we do graphing in math!

Google Docs

I did not know that this existed and I am very excited about it. I can see how there would be a debate because I can see all the good points such as not having to have all the software (and updates required) to read or create documents. This is the biggie for me so I think it is great. However, I also have a dad who is paranoid about people getting his documents off line so he may not want to use it. I'm not sure about the safety details because I am naive and I generally don't worry about that so much but I can see both sides of the coin. I have sent many attachments using a program that people can't open (yes, I'm a big appleworks user) so this is a great tool! I'm glad to have my eyes opened to this.

Teacher Tube

United Streaming

I have used United Streaming Video in my class a few times. It is a great way to have film to incorporate into your lessons and enhance your planning. I have used a video about soil and silt to enhance my science curriculum and I have used some animal video to enhance our reading curriculum on camoflage of animals. I do enjoy that you have this all available at your fingertips to show in your class. I believe the research that this can definitely improve your lessons and learning when used appropriately. I tend to be lazy sometimes and I have videos in waiting at the ESD that just come but I will have to try to incorporate United Streaming more.

La Conner Library Site

I love that our district library site has so many resources available! My kids use it a lot to access AR and they love the fun zone link as well. It is great to be able to search for a book from your class instead of having to visit the library. It is a great idea to have reviews available and to be able to add your own. It is very helpful and as a computer loving individual, much appreciated! You do a great job of explaining how to use it as well.

Web 2.0

Even though I did not realize what the term Web 2.0 meant, I realize I use these sites A LOT! My family is a big craiglist.org user. I was excited to also learn of seattle.oodle.com. My husband is a notorious seller to the point where my son tells me he is going to sell his toys and buy new ones. I also often use Google Maps (couldn't live without it!), flickr (what new mommy doesn't love flickr) and my newly acquired pageflakes that I love. I am a bit of an internet junkie and I can't imagine how we used to get information and connect without it. I can see Web 2.0 would be useful in any classroom because they are just tools to connect in everyday life.

So far this course has been very fun for me. I am familiar with most of the tools we have used so far but this course has given me the opportunity to find different aspects and tools involved. It has helped me find more ways to use the internet and more ways to waste even more time:)! What a great way to get people involved in technology!

Moodle

After visiting the sandbox and looking through the courses I believe that there is not much activity since the last group completed this course. The forum (where I added a question about art) is a great idea and way to get information from others. It was great to see people sharing information about curriculum between the staff. This is a great site to use if you have the computer access enough of the time with your class. I could see how this is really helpful and engaging. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to add a course topic in the center or just add to the forum. I couldn't find 20 posts so I was confused about that part of the post???

wikipedia

I am on the fence with wikipedia and all the wikimedia tools. I think there is some benefit of having people be able to add or edit information and introduce people to their knowledge or expertise. This could be somewhat useful with older children where you could explain that some of the information may not be accurate. However, I do not think I would have any of my 2nd graders use wikipedia or the wikimedia tools because I don't think they are quite able to understand the concept of the possibility of inaccurate information due to the fact that anyone could add information. I don't know if they could distinguish between this media and information that you can find and trust.