Just Playing Around

I know I finished but now I am starting to play further and practise embedding video clips etc that I had no time for before. I'm pretty excited because I went to a 3 day conference over the weekend on 'Identity in Catholic Schools' and saw a couple of great video clips that spoke to me. I was inspired because I now have the technology skills to come home and seek them out for myself. So here goes....

Finish Line

Wow! Who would have thought it at the beginning that I would be sitting here confidently blogging for the last time - or is it??? Thanks Dione for the great course. I really did enjoy learning a bit more about what's out there and while it's a bit daunting to know that it is changing by the minute, it's not rocket science and with a bit of time for exploration I can gain greater understanding. I loved having the weekly tasks. It was very difficult in the beginning to manage my time with little access to the computer. Going wireless, and reclaiming my laptop from the family made all the difference. I also liked the weekly emails with extra websites to check out. They gave me a greater understanding of the set tasks.

Thanks to all the participants. I loved reading your blogs and learnt just as much from you, (or quite possibly more)  from your insightful reflections than just doing the set tasks. Thanks also everyone for the great sites you put me onto. I have bookmarked, on Delicious of course, (but may move to Diigo) many of these for future reference. I especially liked the 34 Interesting Ways to use Google Docs in the Classroom (sorry can't remember who's blog it was on).

I undertook this course as I have been out of the classroom for 5yrs bringing up 3 small children. Whilst I would never consider myself a technology guru, I now feel confident that I could enter a classroom and know what some of these web.2 tools are and how to apply them. So in terms of the success of the course, for me it was highly successful. I fully intend to spend a bit more time checking out the Web 2.0 tool Directory. Good luck everyone with future blogging and/or application of web 2.0 tools. Thanks again Dione

# 22 Audiobooks and # 23 Downloadable Media

Yesterday I stumbled into Borders to see if they had any nice bookends I could purchase for my brother-in-law, who has just completed his PhD. No they didn't, in fact it was their last day of trading. It was with tears in my eyes I broke the news to my 5 yr old son that there would be no more sojourns to (airconditioned) Borders on those long hot summer afternoons when we'd lounge around reading books. Well he would lounge around absorbed in books whilst I perused the shelves for what's new. Meanwhile I clutched my bargain purchases (80% off) of Aussie Bites, Steven Axelson and Artimus Fowl audio books to hide for birthday gifts. I just love audio books. I get a real thrill when I hear my 3 year old reciting great passages of Roald Dahl's 'The Enormous Crocodile' brilliantly read by Stephen Fry. Mind you when my kids are riding their scooters round the outside of the house and I hear "Steer, you big Wally!" I have Michael Rosen to thank for extending my children's vocabulary. I loved the LibriVox website. I personally don't mind that volunteers read all their audiobooks. I know not everyone can read like Stephen Fry, but that's the joy of the whole experience, when you come across an unexpectedly well read story. It's also a great teaching point with students to illustrate the importance of great diction, enunciation and expression when reading aloud, especially when you can compare to poorly read stories. I actually like the idea that anyone can volunteer to read. What a great project for a class. Even the poorer readers could polish part of a text for publication. Thanks Dione for the great sites to look up this week. I found some great children's short stories to put on my ipod for those extended trips. Project Gutenberg taught me the difference between 'free' of charge (read only) and 'free' as in freedom (can do whatever you like with it). I guess with all downloadabel media, you need to be mindful of copyright.

Okay, who would use audiobooks apart from me: They're great for the sight impaired, and for students with reading difficulties. No longer are they restricted in what they can read/listen to. I have in the past used audiobooks in class as a change for the students who must get sick of hearing my style of book presentation. I think they're great for developing listening skills (and not just in the primary school context).

Ebooks....mmmm I'm excited by them and also saddened to see the effect they have on mainstream booksellers. Before this task I had no idea what a Kindle was, now I want one (I think). As an avid, avid reader, I love the idea that you can download multiple books onto something so light and small it'll fit in your handbag. Fantastic for travelling, commuting on public transport, waiting in traffic jams (anytime really). However, I don't enjoy reading from a computer screen and always like to have a hard copy of text. Besides, nothing quite beats lying on the couch in front of the fire with a good book, or in the hammock in Summer. I also can't bear the thought that a time will come when we can no longer wander into book stores to while away many happy hours. I think being able to download ebooks would be great for students. No longer would they have to carry heavy backpacks full of texts. Wish they had them when I was at uni. I could never afford all the texts and the ones I needed for assignments were always 'not available' in the uni library. Much more equitable for students.

I love the idea that you can download just about anything from magazines to newspapers, music, TV shows, games, videos and radio programs. However, I just can't imagine reading Country Style mag online. I just love when it arrives each month in the post, sitting down with a brewed coffee in the sun and whiling away a few hours.

# 21 Youtube and Teachertube

I have tackled this activity over a number of weeks, so consequently have forgotten half of what I've investigated. I like the fact that you can find just about anything on Youtube. People sometimes email me podcasts or are they vodcasts??? and I think where do you people find these things? Well now I know. I must say a lot of time is absorbed just sifting through the good, the bad and the ugly on Youtube. There was some great stuff on Teachertube but again very time consuming finding something relevant that I would use in a teaching capacity. Teachertube seems a much safer option for students and I can certainly see why schools limit access to Youtube. I think there's lots of value in using something with students from either of these sites, especially when it can demonstrate or explain something better than I can. However, you'd have to weigh up the benefits of time for resourcing and technology should always be used to enhance effective teaching, rather than replacing it. I would be more likely to use resources from Youtube and Teachertube that have been recommended to me by others who have successfully used them. However, I will endeavour to find more great stuff in the weeks and months to come.

I love this clip of the Sound of Music - very entertaining. I hope you do too.

# 20 Podcasts

Until this task I didn't really know what a podcast was, although I had heard the term bandied around a lot. I thoroughly enjoyed the 'Amazing Presentation', how very true. Years ago whilst travelling round Australia in our camper trailer, my husband and I listened to Radio National on our car radio (when there was reception). I loved that we had a running commentary as we passed through each state. How great would it be to download to the ipod for those times when there was no reception. I investigated quite a few of the 'Educational Podcasts' and could really see the value of some of these in terms of both professional development and use in classrooms. As I am not currently teaching, I haven't an immediate use and know that I will need to continue on the technology learning curve if I am to continue to stay in touch with the technology students are using in today's world.

# 19 Rollyo

I must say, I couldn't really see myself using this tool on a personal basis. I do like google search and seem to find what I need fairly easily. Having said that, I can see the value of creating your own search tool for just the websites you want your students to use for research on a particular topic. It would eliminate access to unwanted sites and certainly save time. The negative side of that though, would be the limitations set by the search roll. Sometimes an advanced search uncovers unexpected treasures.

# 18 Wikis

I like how Wikis are quick to build, easy to edit and you don't need any knowledge of html to set up, which levels the playing field. Having a website where all members or users can write, edit and rewrite is very useful for collaborative writing, pooling knowledge and exchanging ideas, especially with subjects that change or frequently need updating. I also like how it can eliminate the need for emails back and forth. Everyone has access to the same information so there is no doubling up. What does concern me however, is if someone changes what you have contributed and their information is wrong, also you would have to ensure only members have access to the Wiki. I think there's lots of scope for the use of Wikis eg setting and posting agendas for meetings, planning projects, collaborative editing of documents, debates, open ended taskes where there are many possible answers or ways of arriving at a given answer. Curriki was easy to navigate with some great resources for teachers (will have to bookmark on delicious). There was also some great stuff on the Educational Wikis - too much to absorb now. I'll have to come back to it. Our family has a wiki for weekend jobs at my mother-in-law's house which works really well. We know who has done what job, when and what needs to be done.

# 17 Delicious

Well not only have I been able to set up a Delicious account but have managed to test it on 4 different computers as I've been travelling this week. I love that you can access bookmarks from any computer (no more having to email my husband sites he needs). I have also managed to link Delicious to my igoogle page which I am chuffed about and makes bookmarking very quick and easy. I also like the privacy aspect where you can share sites or keep them for yourself. (I would definitely set it up like this for classroom use). I used Delicious years ago when it was De.lic.ious. We had a teaching network who would all bookmark great sites. I loved it, but as I haven't been teaching for a few years sort of forgot about it. One thing that did frustrate me was when not all the sites bookmarked were that great, you still had to sift through them. However, setting up my own account eliminates that a bit. I can see that in the classroom, by bookmarking relevant topics for research it would reduce time spent trawling irrelevant sites. The only down side I can see is if people bookmark too many sites that you don't find helpful and you don't have much control over what is bookmarked. Yes, I'll be using Delicious in the future and hopefully hubby will be too.

# 15 RSS and # 16 Subscribing

Well have spent quite a bit of time this week revisiting igoogle (and have now made it my home page). Now that I have reclaimed my laptop from the rest of the family (told hubby to bring his home and stop using mine and banned kids from using it), not to mention purchasing and setting up wireless so that I can work at night, I can play around a bit more with each activity. Up until now I felt as if I was just getting by, doing each activity but not really absorbing and understanding what everything was. I am immensely proud of myself for going wireless and what a surprise when husband came home and discovered my new IT skills.

I found the video RSS in Plain English great. It was very straight forward. I understand RSS to mean really simple syndication and that it delivers regular updated info without having to search whole websites. I now have the blogs I am following, regularly updated on my igoogle page which is great. As there isn't really any website I check regularly at the moment I didn't know what to subscribe to. I haven't quite worked out how to attach an RSS feed to my own blog. I think I'll have to just move along and revisit this activity when I get inspired about what to follow.

I love the concept of RSS. My husband regularly checks particular sites on his work computer and I told him he should use RSS. I think he will.

I can see that in a classroom situation this would be great if you wanted regular updates on a current affairs issue being studied. How do others use it primary classes?

# 13 MySpace and # 14 Facebook

Well after much deliberation and psyching up I finally joined MySpace and Facebook, checked out what each of them offered. Checked out what other people had on their sites, then promptly deleted my accounts. I know that was wimpy of me but there is a reason I have avoided joining the ever growing numbers of people on social networking sites. Over the past few years I have been amazed by the number (and frankly the type of people who have wanted to 'friend' me). Surprise! Surprise! my friends have remained my friends even though I have not friended them on Facebook or MySpace

I have to say that I printed out the 5 easy steps to stay safe on Facebook, and followed them to the letter. I can see how people would get frustrated with this task and not bother, though when I looked at the default settings it certainly allows people to access just about anything. For this reason, I would prefer facebook over MySpace as it seemed to offer better privacy settings for the user. MySpace had a more appealing  homepage and I can certainly see it appealing more to the younger user with it's easy access to music downloads. Thanks for the articles about protecting yourself, they were very valuable.

Lots of my friends are on Facebook and find it very useful for sharing photos, especially when living/travelling overseas or organising group catch-ups. I don't feel the need at the moment to spend an inordinate amount of time seeing what others are doing. Maybe that need will present itself as my kids get older.

I checked out Ning but couldn't access it and had a look at Linked-in which looked good for those in professions such as teaching or education. Haven't had much time to investigate Twitter. What I saw didn't impress me much. However, I have enjoyed reading many people's "Twittered" comments whilst watching Q and A.

# 12 Flickr

Yipeeee! It worked!!!!

Imagine my surprise when I set up my flickr account and found not only did I already have an account (which I suspect a family member had set up) but that there were photos of my children on it that my brother-in-law had put on. I have uploaded photos to flickr and discovered that because I set my settings as 'family only' and not 'everyone', I was unable to post the pictures to my blog. At least I know how to do it if the need arises. I like how you can search for people by email or name. It's easy to organise into sets and collections of sets. the galleries are great for getting ideas. I loved the N-generation clip.

I got this from Dumpr. Love the way you can turn photos into sketches. I tried it on photos which I loved but didn't want to put photos on my blog. Here goes, let's see how easy this is to add to my blog.


http://www.dumpr.net/photo/e1c236ca0a5765e8/

oops will try again.

# 11 LibraryThing

Being an avid reader, I spent loads of time in this site. I set up an account and found lots of my favourite books quickly and easily. I was fascinated to discover that the Kite Runner had 29,859 people who had catelogued it. I spent some time looking at the different groups and thought there were some novel ideas eg the read a book with a fabulous front cover challenge. I can see how this would appeal to many people but do wonder where they would get the time to participate in challenges and group chats. I don't feel the need to have an online catelogue of books at this point, though I do feel it's a great way of keeping a record of fabulous books read as I have a terrible tendency to forget what I've read and then can't recommend them to others.I wouldn't think there's much scope for this in the primary classroom. If anyone uses it in a primary classroom, please let me know how useful it is. Checked out Yarra Plenty's new website. It was also easy to navigate. I'd love a job that involved writing book reviews!!!

# 10 Still Going

There surely must be a better way. Whilst I have enjoyed playing around with the each of the online image generators suggested for this week. I'm sure my limited capabilities are restricting me. I have decided to move on and come back to this when I have quite a few more hours in order to process the "how to' of attaching to my blog. I'm sure it's a easy as someone showing me the one necessary button to click.
Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator - Create Your Own Logo

# 10 Again

Am trying this again to see if there is a better way of linking this image to my blog.
ImageChef.com Poetry Blender

# 10 Image Generators

No idea what I am supposed to be doing here. I seem to spend hours going the long way around things. Hope this works. I've made a word mosaic.

#9 Virtual Worlds

MMM not really sure where to begin here. I visited Second Life. Whilst it was fairly easy to check out what was involved and the various choices on offer (ie billions), I started getting more and more stressed about the fact that soooo many people, especially young boys/men would spend sooooo much of their time in the virtual world. My husband reckons he has enough trouble dealing with the real world. I immediately thought of our 5 year old son who began Kinder this year. He absolutely loves reading (says it's his favourite thing in the world to do - which I can totally relate to), and is already reading chapter books. I had images of him as a teenager happily ensconsed in the virtual world creating multiple Avatatars, totally oblivious to anything around him. Where has my beautiful articulate little boy with the love and awe of everything around him gone???? Am I just being old fashioned here? Or am I experiencing technology phobia? I am a huge promoter of social skill development and I do question where social skills fit in to virtual worlds.

I can see the benefit to Virtual Classroom with online collaboration tutorials where educational institutions such as universities take advantage of this platform to deliver content to a world wide audience at low cost. As a primary school teacher I don't see the value in a primary school setting. Fortunately the 13yrs plus age limit negates this anyway.

I think it would be great if I was learning or practicing a language. I can see the value of Exit Reality. As I am planning the building of a back deck for our home I can see great benefits if you were an architect.

# 8 iGoogle

Well, I had a lot of fun with this one. My kids particularly liked the games you can add to your homepage. I really like the timesaving aspect of having lots of sites at your fingertips for regular browsing. I wouldn't actually use iGoogle as my homepage on this computer as too many people share the computer. However, I can certainly see the benefits in the workplace.

# 7 Google Books

Wow I love this site. I would most definitely use this from home. I buy quite a lot of books through booko.com and sometimes hope that what I have bought is what I really want. I tend to cross my fingers a bit and hope for the best. With this site I can now travel through content pages and even read parts of the text before buying. This is especially good when selecting a gift for someone. I'll be sharing this site with my friends for sure.

# 6 Google Maps

I love Google Maps. I have used it before. When we moved into our new home, I looked up the satelite pictures, which the kids found pretty exciting. We use the directions sections when we have to be somewhere unfamiliar in Sydney, though I must confess to relying on the Navman when actually driving there.

#4 Web 2.0

This adding a new post seems fairly straight forward. Someone told me this was not rocket science and that anyone can do it. I guess it just takes confidence and time. Whilst I don't profess to fully understand web 2.0 I was impressed with the line "it is what technology is allowing us to do". I am amazed by the ability to be able to tap into other people's research and ideas. I hadn't really thought about the ability to collaborate online before, but it has great appeal for me in a work environment. I can see great labour saving devices at work here.

Activity 2

Hi,

This is all very new to me. Stoked I've made it to this page uninterrupted by one of 3 small children. I'm wanting to learn about web 2 tools before re-entering the workforce as a teacher. I'm sure my 7 year old could probably teach me all that I need to know but I would like to surprise her and keep up the impression  that parents actually do know more.