BP10_2009123_PeerReviewCarolynChew

Carolyn I loved your one minute massage on GoAnimate. This is a tool I would really love to introduce to my students. Great post and video!

BP10_2009123_PeerReviewChuks

Chuk this is for you! I loved your posting on Flickr-teaching creative writing. I especially loved the sample poems you posted. Didn't know you liked and wrote poetry. Does it say that on your profile? I've looked at it a few times but I don't remember reading that. This is a great post and will poetry and creative writing in mind when interacting with Flicker. Great post!

BP15_2009123_OneMinuteMessage2

Please check my podcast on blogging and why it is a great web 2.0 tool for anyone especially teachers.

BP5_2009121_SocialBookmarking

Social Bookmarking, what is it anyway and how does it help me? Well whether you are sending emails with attachments or simpling working on blogs and inviting others to view and share in the ideas posted on your blogs, you are taking part in social bookmarking. Social bookmarking is a method used by Internet users to share, search, organize and manage bookmarks of resources found the world wide web, Keep in mind that bookmarks reference these resources but does note share them. This is a great tool for anyone looking to share ideas with others. It is an easy and simple way to share and reference information. One that I have learned about from ETC is Delicious.

I found the following list of what you can do with Social Bookmarks or what Social Bookmarks can do for you

from an article posted by About.com: Web Trends entitled

Social Bookmarking 101 - What is Social Bookmarking and How Can It Help Me?

"Not only can you save your favorite websites and send them to your friends, but you can also look at what other people have found interesting enough to tag. Most social bookmarking sites allow you to browse through the items based on most popular, recently added, or belonging to a certain category like shopping, technology, politics, blogging, news, sports, etc.

You can even search through what people have bookmarked by typing in what you are looking for in the search tool. In fact, social bookmarking sites are being used asintelligent search engines." (http://webtrends.about.com/od/socialbookmarking101/p/aboutsocialtags.htm)

I have also included some screenshots of some social bookmarking tools and links to these tools.

So my social friends, if you have not been social bookmarking, I hope the above reasons will get you started.

http://delicious.com/

• www.BookmarkingDemon.com

BP10_2009122_PeerReviewMichaelMcCurdy

For this blog entry, I am researching the Web 2.0 tool, GameClassroom.com. “Game Classroom is a one-stop web destination for accessing high-quality educational games, and homework help for K-6 students” (GameClassroom.com)

1. I have taught music at the elementary school level for 10 years as of this post. Because my initial undergraduate major was electric engineering, I have always stressed the importance of learning core subjects to my students. There would be many times where I would integrate my music curriculum with the subject material being taught in the homerooms. So GameClassroom.com seemed like a resource I would like to research in order to share with the core subject teachers.
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GameClassroom.com is not directly collaborative as many other Web 2.0 tools, such as Flickr, Blogger, Wikia, etc. It is, however, very INTERACTIVE. Students who go to GameClassroom.com are not passive participants in their learning. Because the content is based on educational games, GameClassroom.com students are active participants in their learning.

GameClassroom.com allows students to select from two main categories: Language Arts and Math (as of this posting there is not a section for Science. Each category is separate skills for each grade. And each skill has a specific topic. Suggested games in the GameClassroom.com can be found in each skill level. The games give instantaneous feedback to the student. Games for lower grades have excellent demonstrations and are designed for the beginner learner. Games for older students have visual instructions and are designed for the older learner. The game engines do not frustrate the learner, so he or she is able to focus on answering the questions by whatever means the games use. Interestingly enough, I found it rather insightful to practice my skills on games for all ages. I realized that my teaching skills would benefit from occasionally playing these games. I found it interesting to compare how I present content to how the games found on GameClassroom.com present content.

There is so much good content on GameClassroom.com (except for the lack of a science section) that this is a highly recommended Web 2.0 tool for all elementary school teachers.

References:

GameClassroom.com (2009) Retrieved December 13, 2009, from http://www.gameclassroom.com/

Images:

All images are user-generated screenshots from http://www.gameclassroom.com/

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BP12_2009123_Tool#4(blogs)

Blogs, blogging or blogger any way you call it, blog is a web 2.0 tool I have come to love. This web-publishing tool allows me to post anything from text materials to artwork and even videos quickly and with ease. I find my blog site to be very user friendly and fun. I can easily change the look of my blog web site by the click of few buttons. There is no guesswork when it comes to maintaining a blog website. As a student one thing I like about blog is the convenience it provides me. I can access it from anywhere at anytime. There are no special technical skills required to be a blogger. Just create your blog web site, choose any topic and blog away. I am writing a blog on blog. How cool is that! Blogs are excellent tool for teachers. Besides using blogs as a communication tool with students and parents, teachers can use blogs for collaboration, as a motivational tool, and discussion forum. There are a lot of things teachers can do with their students using blogs. You can use blogs to differentiate instruction so that all of your different types of learners are learning at their optimal. Blogs can be used for writing and reading assignments. It is an excellent tool to integrate into writing activities, especially for students who are not so fond of writing. Blogs can also be used for classroom management. According to the posting by Teaching Today, blogs can serve as a portal to foster a community of learners. They can be used to inform students of class requirements, post handouts, notices, and homework assignments, or act as a question and answer board. Blog is an excellent tool for teaching and blogging is a great skill to add to your list of mastered skills as an educator. You owe it to yourself and your students to start blogging. (http://teachingtoday.glencoe.com/howtoarticles/blog-basics). To get started with blogging, go to www.blogger.com and create an account. It is as easy as ABC. Happy blogging!

BP12_2009123_Tool#4(edu 2.0 for school)

edu 2.0 for school:

This is a fantastic site for educators or anyone looking to create an online school. The following is a quote directly from the site I created for myself:

The site makes it easy for teachers to create classes and for students to enroll in them. It also allows administrators to monitor and control every aspect of the system. The end result is that teaching becomes more efficient and enjoyable. Teachers use this site to create online lessons with resources such as pictures, video and audio. They also set, track and grade assignments online. The system includes the latest collaborative tools such as blogs, wikis, forums, chat rooms, RSS feeds and debates. Teachers can make transcripts of the student's work available to parents so they can see how their child is doing. (http://tea.edu20.org/site)

I created my site in minutes. From what I could see, this is a very professional web site. You can create your own online school. I plan on using it to create online homework assignments and in school technology based workstations for my students. It is just like actual school. You can add your lessons and schedule assignments for the students. You can also track completion of assignments and grade these assignments online. Creating an account is so easy anyone can create an account in minutes. You can customize your site with pictures, videos and other forms of media. It is a win, win situation for teachers and parents. I love this site because it puts you in control of your classroom even when you are not there. For those looking to start their own school, it is a great starting point for an online school or interactive school website. You can use the free one or contact them for a chance to be licensed with your own edu 2.0 site. Keep in mind this is optional so the site is completely free. In fact the site’s motto is “the free, easy way to teach and learn online.” (http://tea.edu20.org/site) This is an accurate description of the site. It is free to create your own online school, it is easy to set up the site.

References:

Retrieved December, 13, 2009 from http://tea.edu20.org/site

BP12_2009123_Tool#4(classtools.net)

Classtools.net is a great site for teachers. There are several useful templates on there teachers can use with their class. Templates like the Venn Diagram. I created one for my wood and paper writing activity next week. The site is awesome for bloggers because you can embed whatever you have created directly to your blog as I have done for this blog. I embedded the Venn Diagram I created for my Wood and Paper science activity on my blog. This web 2.0 site is a winner. every teacher should definitely check it out. There is something on there for everyone.

BP11_2009122_OneMinuteMessage1

Web 2.0 Tools

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Flickr, the easy, fun, must use web 2.0 Tool

**Please note the video podcast is approximately 1 minutes long, not the 2+ minutes that's shown. Thanks for watching and for your comments.

BP7_2009122_Tool#2(Flickr)

Technology in education is an exciting thing and I get so excited whenever I come across a new technology to use with my young students. So it should come as no surprise to anyone reading this blog as to why I’m so excited about Flickr and using in it the classroom. I mean teaching, while challenging, is only as fun as the teacher makes it. One way I plan to use Flickr to make my class fun is by taking adorable pictures of my students in various settings and posting these pictures with parental consent of course and then using the pictures to create stories, which we will read together as a class. In this way, the students will be the stars or subjects of the stories. This is just one idea of the many things you can do with Flickr in the classroom. While on the hunt for more ideas of how to incorporate Flickr into my lesson plans, I came across this lesson idea post on Flickr is a great web 2.0 tool for teachers. I can use it for with many content areas. I can use in math to show pictures of real life representation of numbers, fractions, time and so on. I will get my students started on flickr by helping them create their own flickr accounts and getting setup with the getting stated process. Once they have set up their accounts and uploaded their pictures, you can show them how to add comments and do various things with their Flickr site. The idea is to give the students clear and concise guidelines that will connect the use of Flickr to the content area you are teaching.

BP7_2009122_Tool#2(Kindersite)

I like the site http://www.kindersite.org/Directory/DirectoryFrame.htm and it is a site I will visit frequently for resources to use in my class. This web 2.0 site is full of resources for kindergarten teachers. The resources are endless, from storybooks to lullabies to music and songs to games. I can basically create a lot of my lessons just by visiting this site. I also noticed that a lot of the activities on this site are differentiated by learning style and preference. The site is inline with my teaching style and my students will benefit from all of the wonderful resources on the site. I also loved the colorful graphics used on the site. The storybooks look inviting and make for a good way to motivate the students read. This is a site I can use also as part of my resources for my AR project since my research is on reading in kindergarten. I can get so many ideas from the activities on this site; ideas that help can me build resources I can use to introduce students to technology using the appropriate content area for my young learners. The resources on this site will offer me measureable technology based tools to teach and assess my students. I am so excited! This site is indeed a great and very useful website for kindergarten students and teachers. Another thing I liked about the site is that it gives the age group for the storybooks so you can select the age appropriate books for your classroom reading. This is a good resource for read aloud and independent reading. There are also puppets to use with the books. This is a something I found that students enjoy. They love puppet shows and the resources on this site makes it easy to combine the storybooks with puppets.

BP6_2009121_AntiTeaching

For the past few months, I have been exposed to many interesting and fascinating technology designed to help me teach my students according to the 21^st Century standard. Based on what I know from reading books and watching videos related to technology in education, I cannot understand why any educator would want to teach any other way. I definitely believe the old way of teaching, paper and pencil, is rapidly dying down, as more and more digital natives demand technology-based method of learning. This brings me to CMS. Although information technology has been a part of education for decades, it is only in the recent years that CMS has become a very popular form of teaching and decimating information from teacher to student. Just a few years ago, you had few options of getting a higher education, you either had to go to a conventional classroom or watch video tapes or take home text books and exams. The phenomenon caused by CMS and the likes have made it much more possible for many to attain higher education. For example, this technology have allowed a mother of two, a teacher, and businesswoman living in Texas to attend a great film and technology school in Florida without leaving her home or loved ones. I love the technology and completely support the idea of working smarter and not harder. Why would I want to pack up and move to another state, leave my home, pay out state tuition and attend classes everyday when I can earn the same degree from the comfort of my bedroom.

Although we are moving in the right direction towards technology in education, I feel that we as a country are not moving fast enough in this direction when compared to other industrialized nations such as China. As the video below shows, we need to teach our children, the future of tomorrow and of this country, the skills through the method---technology that will make them marketable and allow them to compete in the marketplace of the future. In consideration of the consequences we could face if we continue to teach from our comfort zone or because we are afraid of change of change, I consider myself an advocate of anti-teaching.

BP2_2009121_RSSFeeds

I added the videos related to Video: RSS in Plain English because the updates will keep me aware of simple ways to learn new technology related skills.

I added this feed ClickZ News feed because it’s a feed on web 2.0 tools for teachers.

I signed up for the Delicious/edtechlive/mp3 feed because I get updates from this site of social networking teachers using web 2.0 tools in their classroom.

I added the PBS Teachers Resources for the Classroom feed to this site to my Google reader because I will get research updates on motivating students to read and write. This is my topic area for my AR project.

I added the Flocabulary feed to my Google reader because I’m a huge fan of Flocabulary and using music and hip hop in education. I love it and my kids love it. The feed will me updated on new Flocabulary resources.

BP9_2009122_FlickrLesson

I get so excited whenever I come across a new technology to use with my young students. So it should come as no surprise to anyone reading this blog as to why I’m so excited about Flickr and using in it the classroom. I mean teaching, while challenging, is only as fun as the teacher makes it. One way I plan to use Flickr to make my class fun is by taking adorable pictures of my students in various settings and posting these pictures with parental consent of course and then using the pictures to create stories, which we will read together as a class. In this way, the students will be the stars or subjects of the stories. This is just one idea of the many things you can do with Flickr in the classroom. While on the hunt for more ideas of how to incorporate Flickr into my lesson plans, I came across this lesson idea post on http://www.teachersnetwork.org/NTNY/nychelp/technology/flickr.htm by Pamela Aucoin, a World History Teacher in New York City. Aucoin recommends having your students get their own Flickr and email accounts and then going through the easy setup process. Once they have set up their accounts and uploaded their pictures, you can show them how to add comments and do various things with their Flickr site. The idea is to give the students clear and concise guidelines that will connect the use of Flickr to the content area you are teaching.

BP1_2009121_iGoogleScreenShots

4 BP4_2009121_Tool#1(Kidyos and Games Classroom)

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my instructor, Rena Hanaway for this assignment. For if it wasn’t for this assignment, I would not have come across these wonderful web 2.0 sites for children. As a Kindergarten teacher, I am always on the lookout for wholesome and safe websites to use with my students. I love technology in the classroom but with so much junk out there, it can become hard to find fun and educational online games and videos for this very young age group. I loved the Kidyos site because it has been screened and certified safe. As I explored the site, I immediately added it to my list of site to make available to both my students and my 4 year old daughter. I have already signed her up for it. I will use the site during literacy workstation as one of my computer approved sites for the kids to visit. I also explored the Games Classroom website. I liked the site as well and will use it again for both my students and my daughter. The games on this site are very educational. There are estimating and comparison games, both are some of the objectives we teach in math. I can do a lot with these sites. I am so excited and I know my children will love watching the videos and playing the games on these sites.

These are truly great web destinations for accessing high-quality educational videos and games for children.

http://www.go2web20.net/app/?a=Kidyos

http://www.gameclassroom.com/

BP3_2009121_EduUses4Blogs

Everywhere you look these days; there are blogs on everything from how to brush your teeth to how to start a business. The popularity of blogs have also made their way into classrooms and these personal web space or online journals as they are called by some are not only limited to the general things like brushing your teeth and starting a business.

Blogs are very popular in the classroom because of their usefulness and helpfulness to teachers. Teachers like them because they can easily collaborate with students, other teachers and parents. It is an easy way to share ideas and inputs on various topics. Bloggers can create newsfeeds on any topic. It is also a useful tool for sharing information about the class or school, rather than waiting for the monthly newsletter, you can log on and read the latest news about the class or school…blogs save trees, no printing and no paper.

Some of the ways that blogs are being used for educational purposes include, postings of course content, web links to research for reports and assignments, postings of syllables, upcoming assignment, test dates, postings of questions for teachers and fellow students, there are so much that teachers, parents and student can post on their blogs. Since it is online, there are no special logins to access them. All that one would need is the link. Blogs are also used as communication tools for teacher-to-teacher communication, teacher to parent communication as well as teacher to student communication in some educational settings.

In my search of education uses for blogs, I came across numerous sites making mention of the much usefulness of blogs in education. The following are some of those sites and some of the useful ways to use blogs in education:

http://www.educatr.com/uses:

·Informational Resources

·Course, Classroom, or School Management Systems

·Student, Class, Teacher or Art Portfolio's

·Collaborations or Collections

·Electronic Filing Cabinets.

·Professional Learning Community Blogs

·Enhanced Reading Experience

·Enhancing Literacy/Language Discussions

http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2009/04/blogs-in-education.html:

Blogs are used to create learning communities, helps to motivate kids to do their best, gives ownership to kids, gives access to broader worldwide audience, helps kids articulate their needs and inform their learning, it teaches a variety of skills and can be used as collectivity enquiry into a particular topic or subject matter. Teachers can start a blog by using it to post class information or reading list.

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0450.pdf:

Here is a quote from the above website which sums up my views on blog in education:

“The process of reading online, engaging a community, and reflecting it online is a process of bringing life into learning.”