Is it the end or only the beginning?

Learning 2.0 was a great class! I had previously taken a class and learned the "things" but did not necessarily learn how to apply them to the classroom. I also liked the format of the class although I might include a warning about how addicting some of the "things" are! Although keeping up with other people's blogs and commenting on them was tedious, I actually came to appreciate it because I got so many ideas and learned how to effectively comment! I really enjoyed the wikis and plan to incorporate that as well as the blog in my classroom next year. I am going to include a page in my wiki where students make a goal for themselves for books they will plan to read, similar to the 50 Book Challenge in the LibraryThing. (This was favorite!) I also hope to join a book club in the LibraryThing as well as incorporate a book club in my classroom. Google Docs will have a permanent home in my room. I love to have the students collaborate and this is a great way to have the students work on a presentation. I also want to use Google Earth if possible (don't know if they'll let me download!) to help the students get an idea of the bigger world around them.

Thanks for everything! Had a blast!

Thing #23--Beyond MySpace: Other Social Networks

The Ning sites were not what I expected when I was thinking social networking. They reminded me more of a high tech wiki than a social networking site. I did find them useful. The discussion tabs were the best. There was so much information and so many ideas flowing that you could find what you were looking for. There were also enough people on the site that if you asked a question, you would be guaranteed to get some sort of response.

Thing #22--Explore Social Networking

People are social beings. Our students are social beings. Social networking brings this to a head. Our students want to be heard and this is the way the world can hear them, especially their friends.

I just recently joined Facebook (knowing I had to for the class). I wanted to get to know the site before I had to write about it. Boy is it addictive! You right what you think and people actually want to know and respond AND you want to know what others have to say. Facebook has SO MANY different things to it. You can play games, send gifts, do quizzes, find groups who have similar interests (like the cold side of the pillow), find family, put birthdates on a reminder calendar, upload pictures, chat, and that's just what I've found! The only thing that I dislike about the site is that some of the applications are repetitive, but hey, that's advertising!

Educational application? I am curious how much educational application this really has. I could see more potential for the discussion tab on a wiki and this is why. Students want to talk. As mentioned above, we are social creatures who want to be heard. Now if they are going to talk, I guess we could give them something to talk about. However, I don't see many students "poking" another student for help on their math homework. I think this would be better suited for the wiki.

Thing #21--Google's not just for searching anymore

I am amazed at the many "things" Google now has available. This past year, I tried to create a website for the students to go to for their homework. (Click here to see our site!) It didn't quite turn out how I had expected so I cancelled it. Any ideas of how to improve it?

I've also used to Google Books to preview books that I wanted to incorporate in my class. This was great! I didn't have to purchase the book and was able to read the first few chapters and decide what was best for my classroom.

The new idea I have came from my husband. He suggested that we use Google Earth to map out our plan for our trip, to see what was in the same location so that we could get the most seen in two days. The last two years, I have tried to have students map out locations of where their clothes were made. They struggle because they don't know where all of the places are. Students can now use Google Earth and find the location and then label it on a map. They could also use a spreadsheet or graph to list their pieces of clothing. This is awesome!

Thing #20--Google Docs

GoogleDocs is a technology I am somewhat familiar with. I didn't use it much last year and was thinking of ways to use it this year. I have embedded one form that I thought of using for the start of the year. Another idea I had was creating a recipe form. I have tried for several years to make a recipe book for the students with little success. Students have a hard time remembering to bring a recipe to class. If students had access to the form on a class wiki or blog, they could enter the recipe at home or bring a recipe in. A collaborative document could be a presentation using color schemes. We learn about the color wheel and students usually have a hard time seeing the color schemes. After showing them examples, they can work as a group and take pictures of the different color schemes and upload them to their GoogleDoc presentation.

Thing #19--VoiceThread

So what do you think?

VoiceThread was interesting. I can see it more for personal use but I do have two projects that it might work with. The first is that I usually do what's called a "Me Bag". Students decorate a bag and place five things inside that represent them. Instead, I could have them upload five pictures and describe them in the presentation. Students also do a baby project. For extra credit when they take their babies home for the weekend, they may take photos of them doing different things and create a VoiceThread to discuss their experiences with the babies.

Thing #7b--Google Reader Revisited Again

The blog I read is entitled How Fakes on eBay Save Antiquities. This blog summarizes another website that explains how ebay has affected the antiquities market. The market has seen a decrease in sales since people are now buying knock-offs much cheaper. Instead of looting, people are creating their own copies and then turning around and selling them. This is saving the priceless treasures which had once been stolen and robbed from history, but now is having a detrimental affect on the selling of antiques. We have to decide what's more valuable: the history or the money?