Thing 17

Before this exercise, I knew little to nothing about social bookmarking.  Honestly, I had never even heard of Delicious before.  However, I believe this took could be very useful.  It would make it easier to bookmark sites, especially if you use multiple computers or even multiple browsers.  Losing a bookmark would become almost impossible.  I believe this tool could be used in the classroom.  It would be great for group projects.  A class could even do a webquest together to expand their knowledge.  Student contributions are sometime the most helpful in learning.  Teachers could take advantage of this site and social bookmarking to find new resources.  It would make it easy to see what other teachers are looking at and bookmarking.  It would also me a great tool to use with students in the classroom.  Students could easily share their research and learn from their peers.

Thing 16

Organization is the key to success in not only teaching but in life.  If you are not organized, life will pass you by and you will get nothing done.  I am a very organized person, but in a very low tech manner.  I rely heavily on paper to do list, and lists in general.  Using the Web 2.0 tools discussed in this activity would be a great way to use technology to keep me more organized.  The customized start page is awesome!  I love that they are on line so you can access it anywhere. I hate bringing my lap top to school so I often work on the computers at school.  This tool would be great for helping stay organized when using multiple computers.  I used the netvibes start page.  I really like that you can customize it to suit your interests.  It was extremely easy to set up and, even better, it was free.  I am going to try using it as my permanent start page and see how I like it in the long run.  On line calendars would be a great addition to my organized life.  I prefer to use the Google calendar, as  I already use Google extensively.  On line calendars are great since they can remind you of events.  They are easy to use, and you never have to worry about losing them.  I like the MyStickies application.  Since most of us spend a lot of time on our computers, this would be a great way to remember an event or assignment.  I would recommend this to a friend.

Thing 15

Everyone loves Wikipedia.  You can easily find simply stated information about a topic.  This information is generally up to date, because (as we all know) anyone can change Wikipedia at any time.  In the realm of academic research, this may not be a good thing.  Wikipedia may not always be accurate.  However, the concept of a wiki can be extremely useful in other applications in education.  After exploring exactly what a wiki was (I will be honest, before this learning experience, I could not have told you),  I began thinking of all the creative ways I could use this technology in my classroom.  Wikis would be great for a group project.  Students like to use the excuse that they cannot all get together to work on something, but with a wiki, they can all work together on line.  Since I want to teach history, I loved this website http://resourcesforhistoryteachers.wikispaces.com/.  I could easily see resources and modify them for other teachers.  Wikis would also be a great way to collaborate with a class in another location in this country or anywhere in the world.

I love the entire wiki concept.  Wikis allow people to work together without the constraints of time and space.  If a group of people cannot get together in a room because they live in different states, they can use a wiki to plan a trip or work on a group project for schools.  Wikis have endless possible uses, both in the school and in your everyday life.
 

Thing 14

Everyone learns differently.  Some people need to see a picture, while other require a chart or table.  Flow charts and mind maps are both useful in the classroom to help meet the needs of students and assist the teacher deliver information.  A mind map is an excellent way to outline infomation visually while a flow chart is better for explaining more complex pieces of information.  The following is a mind map I created about slavery in the US for a class I am teaching next semester

This would be an excellent way to help me organize my thoughts prior to lecture.


This is a flow chart I created to deal with World War II.

I chose to use flowchart.com because it was extremely easy to use and contains templates for many different chart types.  I could use a flow chart in the classroom to not only present information but to explain grading.

Thing 13

Google Drive Document

This a form I created in Google.  The event is made up, solely as an example of the possibilities.  This would be a great way to send out information to a mass amount of parents in the classroom and receive a response about an issue.

Google Drive Form

Google Drive allows students to work together on a project easily.  One student could do their part of a group project and share the document with his or her group members.  Each student could do this and complete the project.  The students would not have to worry about having Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.  The Microsoft Office software is quite expensive.  Thus, even if students have access to a computer, they may not have that software.

I much prefer Google Drive to Zoho, but this may be due to the fact that I have been using Google Drive for years and I am comfortable with the software.  I am a loyal Google user and find Drive much simpler to use and easier to access, as Google is almost always open on my computer.

Thing 12

Almighty Google.  Google does it all, from searching the web to providing directions on your phone to translating text.  Although Google has tons of useful products,  I chose to explore Google Scholar and Google Translate.  These two items seem like the ones that will be most useful in my classroom in the future.  Google Scholar is an easy and quick way to search for academic articles.  Teachers need to stay current on research in their field, but it is sometimes difficult if you are not a student with easy access to periodical databases.  Google Scholar is a way to still search for academic material, but it is free for everyone.  Google Scholar is extremely easy to use, as it is identical to Google.  Google Translate also contains endless possibilities for use in the classroom.  This service is also free and quickly translates text into another language.  In our increasingly global culture, Google Translate can help a teacher with ELL students greatly.  If a student speaks and reads only Japanese, it is difficult and unfair to give them a test only in English.  The test is not longer over the content area, but is now a test of the student's English language skills.  With Google Translate, a teacher can translate a test or other material into a student's native language.  Although Google Translate does not always perfectly translate text, it can ease the burden of learning a new language on a student. Google still does it all! There are so many useful (and free!!!) services available on Google that can make someone's life easier, but are also useful in the classroom.

Thing 11

Who know finding blogs could be so easy?!?! I never realized search engines existed solely for the purpose of finding new blogs.  I thought both blogsearchengine.org and technorati.com were especially user friendly and provided comprehensive lists of blogs.   I did not find the Educblog award site very helpful, as I experienced technical difficulties when trying to use the site.  I found some excellent blogs for history teachers.  These were my favorites: http://ushistoryeducatorblog.blogspot.com/, http://worldhistoryeducatorsblog.blogspot.com/, http://teachingunitedstateshistory.blogspot.com/.  These were the most frequently updates and useful blogs.  I could have spent the majority of the day reading these blogs.  I found this website, which allows a person to search for RSS feeds with a specific content, http://ctrlq.org/rss/.  However, I think the easiest way to find RSS feeds is to simply frequent your favorite website and see if they offer the service.  Looking for websites solely to finds one with RSS feeds just to fill a feed up seems pointless.