One Last Thing

My experience with APSU 23 Things has been awesome, bumpy, frustrating, and educational all at the same time. I really enjoyed learning about blogging, Animoto, the web-based applications, flow charts/mind maps, the image generator, and RSS feeds. Of all the 23 Things, I feel these will be the ones that I will use the most on a regular basis. Using technology to my advantage is no longer the hardest Lifelong Learning Habit for me, it is a constantly improving and easier habit I am forming. After this experience I feel more knowledgeable and prepared for the technology I will face in the classrooms. When I first learned of completing the 23 Things, I thought it would just be "busy work"and it was, but I learned an immense amount about the different technologies that I did not know before and I am very thankful for this style of a learning experience. The biggest issue for me was Thing #15, I don't know what the glitch is, but there is one when trying to edit the page, this should either be corrected or better explained in the directions for Thing #15 for many students had the same issues when trying to post. Completing APSU 23 Things has taught me that whether I like it or not technology is going to become my new best friend and has more benefits that pitfalls. I have to stay on my toes and keep up with the times if I am going to be the best, most prepared educator I can be! And, thanks to my RSS Feeds and the different educational forums I have joined along the way on this experience, I think that I have the tools to stay informed with the newest and latest technology for education and the classrooms!

GO ME!

Thing #23

At the bottom of the website for 23 Things you will find this:

Credits

Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers is based on Learning 2.0 - 23 Things, a staff development program for the Mesquite Independent School District. That program was based on the Learning 2.0 program that was designed by Helene Blowers and adapted by the California School Library Association and others. Content and style for Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers has been borrowed and duplicated with permission, under a Creative Commons License.

 

Dr. Wall could not have made it any clearer that APSU 23 Things is based on a larger work!

 

After learning about Creative Commons, I will teach its foundation and principles to my students so they can start to understand the concept at an early age. Creative Commons has also made me aware of my previous copyrighting mistakes....but now that I am aware of the importance of getting the proper permissions, I will be very cautious in the future in following copyright rules and acquiring the right permissions for my intended use of copyrighted materials.

Thing #22

http://feeds.feedburner.com/thetechteachers

I chose to listen to The Tech Teachers podcasts where they discuss new technologies and education...which fits perfectly with Education 3040! I found the Learn Out Loud directory to be the easiest to use, when I attempted to use the Educational Podcast Directory some of them were old or didn't load properly, or simply didn't interest me. I think there is a need for more exciting, vibrant teaching podcasts and when I have my own classroom I would like to incorporate podcasts into some of the bigger, kid friendly, and exciting projects the class will do as a documentary of the do's and don'ts of the projects. I am going to follow the Tech Teachers' podcasts because no matter where you teach technology is busting down the doors and forcing its way into the classroom benefiting the education of our children!

Thing #21

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Animoto is super easy and super cool! At first I thought I was going to have to go Facebook and save some of the pictures to the desktop and upload them from there...but oh no....Animoto had a better idea and linked directly to my Facebook account and retrieved the pictures for me! Can I say wow! Wow. This site is an awesome tool for the classroom...you could take pictures of the students doing different projects or just during class time, create a quick easy video on Animoto, and share it with parents via email or better yet a blog you created for the purposes of staying connected to the parents of the students in your class. As a mom, I love seeing pictures of my babies in different environments where I am not present and with my elementary students I would like to give my parents the same experience. Animoto makes this really quick and easy to do! OH, if you don't have time to wait for the video to finish, go ahead and do what you need to do because Animoto will send you an email when they are finish...why can't the cable guy do this instead of making you wait for him for 4 hours?

Thing #20

YouTube is a very simple site to navigate and I had no problems, but of course I have visited the site on other occasions although never to look at videos that pertain to the education world.  The site is simply search and go, and it even shows related videos to your search information. An excellent way to broaden some one's horizon with new information. I chose this video because it is our wonderful President Obama speaking on America's education and there isn't any more important information I would rather spread. YouTube could be used for teachers to post lesson videos for children who need a little extra help or reminders to assist them with doing their homework. It would be a lot more work for the teacher, but for the student who doesn't have educational support in their home, the videos would be priceless!

Thing #19

Visit TeacherPop


I am one of the newest member of the TeacherPop online community! I used to be a member of my high school's Ning page, but it was discontinued. :( But, I recently created an online community on Facebook as a forum for the planning of our high school class reunion next year....and where do you think I got the idea from.....of course Thing # 19! lol

I was most interested in the Bake Space community being that my husband is deployed and I will using my free time to become a better baker and cooking with the kids! Classroom 2.0 is neat too, and its cool that the site has a beginner group for those of us who are new to using the different technologies in education.

I am definitely interested in creating my own group/online community to create an environment that I am more comfortable in sharing my ups and downs of teaching with others who relate to me...not everyone is open when it comes to discussing the downs of being a first year educator and I would like a community with no judgements or sugar coated truths!

Thing # 18

Asante Pugh

Teachers need to know how social networking works so that they socialize and communicate with their peers at the click of a button. Being able to manuever thorough the social networking world educates teachers on the do's and don't's of these types of sites and eliminate the unknown causing big mistakes. I already had a Facebook account that I use to stay in contact with friends and families that live far away, but I did learn that on Myspace it is way easier to keep up with what is going on in entertainment media all one page! When exploring the sites, Facebook was alot easier to set up and get started, opposed to myspace being a little difficult for me to setup and the page was way too busy for me...I would never be able to digest all the information that is provided on the homepage in one sitting nor would I want to. Facebook had the most useful features for communicating with others, but Myspace had more useful features for information on entertainment, videos, new topics, etc. Personally, I feel that these are personal socializing sites and prefer to keep them out of the classroom for any grades!