Thing 24:

Finally! I feel that most of these discoveries and experiences were very beneficial. This was a very educational journey and experience. I did notice that some of the links were dead, so those need to be revived or replaced. I plan to add some web 2.0 resources to my RSS feed so that I can keep up to date. I will make the resolution of using the tools that I now know, keep up with new tools, and apply them in my future classroom and job as an educator.

Thing 23:

"23 Things" is attached to Learning 2.0 and was designed by Helene Blowers. She loosely based it off of Stephen Abram's article and website about "43 things I (or you) might want to do this year". After learning about Creative Commons and the copyright law, I have become a more careful researcher. I will definitely pass this information along to my students as deemed appropriate. We were required to make a copyright tutorial for this class, so I fully plan on using that with my future students.

Thing 22:

Using LiveBinders was a little difficult for me. It seemed very complicated. The titles of my three LiveBinders are:  "Inclusion", "Bullying", and "Brain-Based Learning". I chose these specifically because I had previously gathered these resources in my other education classes. As a teacher, I could use LiveBinders for my personal development as an educator, to compile research. If I were teaching older students, they could use this tool for compiling research as well. They could work in groups and collaborate one or work on them individually and share them.

I provided the link to my Inclusion LiveBinder:
http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=700643

Thing 21:

I noticed when creating an account with Animoto, it can take photos from your Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, or Picasa accounts. I use both Facebook and Picasa, so that added some ease. I really enjoyed this "thing". I did not like that you could only create 30 second clips for free. Making slide shows has always been fun for me and now you get to see some of my photos!


Make your own photo slideshow at Animoto.

I could see a teacher using this if he/she took pictures or video of the class and could use Animoto to create a slideshow or compile the videos to show to parents, post on the classroom blog/Facebook/etc. the video/slideshow could be played for the kids and their family at the end of the year.

Thing 20:

I have used YouTube many times. I do not like the advertisements with the video (but who does?), but I guess they have to make their money somehow. Some of them can be inappropriate though and can ruin the quality of the video you are trying to watch. I chose this video/trailer because I saw it on TV a while back and still have not seen the movie. It gives me chills and looks like it will be really good. Our schools need reform and there are efforts being made.

Thing 19:

TeacherPop is very much like a Facebook for teachers. I thought it was very neat. As far other online communities, I am a member of Yelp. Anytime that I am on vacation, I use Yelp mainly for restaurant reviews to decide where to eat. It also houses reviews for pretty much any service you would ever need. I find the reviews from others on there very helpful. I use IMDB, which is a movie database, but I am not a member of it. I have also heard of last.fm and GoodReads, but never really used them. TeacherPop is really the only one that I could see as beneficial to teachers. Maybe the others listed could be used with or for activities and lessons in the classroom.

Thing 18:

This "thing" was easy because I already have Twitter and Facebook accounts! I joined Twitter before I graduated high school so that I could be updated with what my friends were doing without having to text all of them separately. I have since added a Twitpic account so that I can tweet photos too. I created a Facebook after I graduated high school so that I could keep up with all of the people that graduated with (the ones I cared about anyway, haha!). Both social networking sites are a great way to connect with people, sometimes people you have never even met before. I am a firm believer in that you can learn something from everyone you meet (not saying that you have to meet these internet people in person, but figuratively!). I am not sure about using Twitter in the classroom, maybe on a school or district level to make important announcements. I think Facebook might work at the classroom level. The teacher could make a group or specific page for the class. I would assume that these would only benefit the parents. Of course, parents are allowing their children to have these accounts at younger and younger ages now. The good thing is that teachers or school staff can make these profiles private or public, so that parents or whoever do not have to have an account to view them. With Twitter, you can have updates sent to your cell phone or if you have a smart phone, then there are apps for that and Facebook. So, if there is an emergency, parents can be alerted immediately.


I'm pretty sure both of my profiles are set to private, but here are the links:
https://www.facebook.com/jessica.shaw.391
https://twitter.com/openxarms

Thing 17:

I had never heard of social bookmarking before, but I have heard about Delicious (not knowing what it is). I think that this is a great tool that everyone can use, especially teachers. I think it is great that your bookmarks are public so that others, including fellow teachers, can benefit from what you have found. I like that it is not tied to just one computer like regular bookmarks/favorites. This definitely a tool that I will use preeminently in the near future, since I will be buying myself a new laptop for Christmas. In that process, I will also be adding some websites that I can use in my future classroom.

Thing 16:

For the customized start page, I chose iGoogle which probably is no surprise. Google has never failed me, so I like their products. There are so many different themes and gadgets to choose from; it is very customize-able. I chose to add the Google Calendar, Google Translate, and Google Maps gadgets to start with. I chose a theme that pictured snow covered trees near a creek. I was disappointed to see, however, that iGoogle will not be available after November 1 of next year. So, I probably would not use this as my personal homepage. I do not use my current one as it is, except to check my email.
For online calendars, I chose to explore 30 Boxes. I did not really like this set-up. I would rather just keep a planner or a physical calendar instead. If I actually write it down, I am more likely to remember it. If I need important reminders for events in my calendar, I put them in my phone's calendar or I use my iPod touch's calendar app to alert me.
For online to-do lists, I explored Remember the Milk. They even have an app for that (literally)! It looks like it can also work with your Gmail account, Google Calendar, Twitter, and even Microsoft Outlook. It can email, text or instant message you reminders which I thought was really neat. You can even share your lists and put the tasks, like errands, on a map. This seems to be a very handy service. However, again, I like to actually write down my to-do lists so that I am more likely to remember them. This could serve as a back-up though with the reminders.
I also explored Zamzar which is an online file conversion service. It convert files to pretty much any kind of image (jpg, bmp, gif, etc.), document (pdf, ppt, html, etc.), music (wma, mp3, m4a, etc.), video, e-book and other formats. It will convert files under 100MB for free; if you want more, you will have to pay for it. It sends the converted file to the email you provide.
I would definitely recommend all of the above tools to others, minus the 30 Boxes online calendar.

Thing 15:

I use wikis, especially Wikipedia on a daily basis. I only use it for quick information on something or someone. I know to never use it for serious research purposes. I use it mostly to look up actors or actresses, usually to see what other roles they have played or how old they are. It is just convenient for me to get quick information on things that pique my curiosity, even though I know that information may not always be correct or true.
I think wikis are a great way for people, including students, to collaborate on various topics, given that they are sharing accurate information. However, if inaccurate information is shared, then it gives others a chance to correct it. It looks like many libraries and schools are using wikis. I really like the idea of doing a literature circle wiki. I can see using a wiki in the classroom as part of a Jigsaw activity being fun for the students. Divide the students up into groups and each of those groups would be assigned roles. Students with the same roles would collaboratively research a specific topic and then report on the wiki to share with the rest of the class. The whole class could understand the different relevant topics without doing all of the research. It would be a time-saver.

Thing 14:

To my understanding, a flowchart can help someone understand a complicated process more easily and a mind map is used more for brainstorming an idea. I chose to explore Gliffy and MindMeister. Both were fairly easy to use. Gliffy offers more than just creating flowcharts, you can also create Venn diagrams, floor plans, and technical drawings among many other things. I feel that something like Gliffy would probably be used more by me as a teacher to present a lesson to my students. I feel that students could use MindMeister themselves to help organize their ideas or even help them with essays or papers.

Thing 13:

I really like the idea of web-based productivity sites. Zoho Writer offers a lot of useful features, like online file storage, secure file sharing, and tagging. Of course, most of those features are not free - such is life! Google Drive has similar features, but it is free. I like that Google Drive will sync with the documents you have already created on your computer.Although, Zoho's prices are reasonable for what they offer, I would probably prefer Google Drive since it is free and a well-known name/company that I feel that I can trust. Students could use these web-based productivity sites to work collaboratively on group work or cooperative learning activities. They could also use these sites to share individual projects or work with their fellow classmates, teachers, or even potential employers.