Thing 23 The Journey Continues...

What does it all mean?

It means the world is changing at a rate that is hard to comprehend. What I do know is that this class was one of the best classes I've taken in a very long time..

How has your thinking changed between Thing 1 and Thing 23?

When I first started this class I had a pretty good idea or so I thought, of what web 2.0 applications meant. What I have learned is that what I knew just scratched the surface of this truly amazing network of very generous and incredibly diverse folks out there world wide who freely give their time, energy, ideas and creativity with the goal of sharing, trading and collaborating with others.

Has this program changed how you view the Internet or how view education in the digital world? What plans have you made for using these tools in and out of the classroom?

One of the great things about this class is the way it consolidated so many examples of how educators are using technology and it is really inspirational. This program gave me many ideas on how I could use wikis, (committee work, collaborative student writing projects, as an organizational tool), it has inspired me to get back to work on my library blogs, and I have learned it's not that intimidating to add RSS feeds, videos, podcasts (though I still need to learn more about creating them). One of the challenges of course will be to figure out how to get around the district filtering system.

How will you continue to learn about Web 2.0 tools? What are your big "take aways" from this experience?

I hope I can keep up with at least some of the blogs and podcasts I subscribed to. I have volunteered to be on the tech team at both my schools. We will be participating in a train the trainer program called Michigan Champions. It should be interesting and it's a good way to force myself to continue to use what I learned and continue to grow. Often we learn things in workshops and in-services but if you don't use it you loose it.

My take away from this experience is that the range and depth of educational resources made available through the web 2.0 network is very much worth the effort. Thanks Jacki and Carol!

Thing 22 Create a Wiki

Post the link to your wiki.
http://dearbornpeacejam.wikispaces.com/
I started this wiki just to try out a few things such as embedding video, pictures, and links but hope to refine it to be used by a group of teachers who will be using the PeaceJam program with students in Dearborn.

Discuss your feelings about using a wiki.
The wikis we were directed to were really wonderful - thanks. They gave me a lot of ideas about how wikis can be used as did the 23 Things wiki with the list of ways they can be used in education. I love the idea of using it to have students create a collaborative book. That would be a fun challenge. I really loved the way the wiki Bookleads was laid out. I'd like to learn how to do that.
http://bookleads.wikispaces.com/
I learned that wikis can be used as a powerful tool for collaboration between teachers and in the classroom.
How does a wiki differ from a blog? When is one more appropriate to use than the other?
I see a blog as directed by one person in terms of how it is set up, the content, and so forth. It is interactive in that others can post responses, and could work really well for creating discussion groups for instance.
The purpose of a wiki is definitely more collaborative. It is meant to be used for a group project of some sort.

Thing 21 Wikis

Describe a wiki you found that inspires you to create one of your own.

The Hanalee Book Wiki done by
5th graders studying the novel, Turn Homeward, Hannalee
http://wiki.woodward.edu/hannalee/doku.php?id=hannalee
It really shows the potential use of a wiki well. It incorporates podcasts of readers theater performances and a civil war song, slideshows of illustrated idioms and objects of items discussed in the novel, and timelines, maps and glossaries.

What hurdles might stand in the way of your using a wiki?

Well, for me a hurdle in using a Wiki like the one mentioned would be to find a teacher to collaborate with in using this technology. This is a great example though, and it sells itself pretty well.

What would it take to remove the hurdles?
Would it be worth it?
It would take time to slog through learning to incorporate the things I learned in this class, but yeah, I think it would be worth it for the experience of doing a collaborative work like this. The nice thing is that as a media teacher who is split between two buildings, I could participate and offer technical assistance and resources on an ongoing basis without physically being in the classroom all the time. The work can take place in the classroom, computer lab and library or even at home.

Thing 20 Finding and Subscribing to Podcasts

Include in your post the name of at least one podcast to which you subscribed.

I subscribed to some NPR programming shows I like but don't get to listen to much because they air during the day. They include This American Life which is wonderful story telling and Fresh Air which has interviews with a broad range of people, Wait, Wait, don't Tell Me a very funny news and entertainment show, and NPR Technology reports.

Describe your experience using the various search tools.
As someone who is new to podcasting, I found the search tools EPN and PostcastAlley to be a little frustrating and overwhelming. I wished they had a way of ranking by popularity or recommendations so I didn't have to search through, click on the title to get the little description, then actually have to download something to see if it was interesting. A quick preview was all I was really looking for at this point to see if it would be something I'd like to subscribe to. There were so many podcasts to explore (and so little time...).

I liked Postcast Alley, and subscribed to the Storynory podcast and Just One More Book.

Which do you prefer and why?

I'm glad I know about the other search tools now and will probably use them when looking for something very specific to libraries or education, but iTunes was easier and I'm a visual person, so I kind of like to see the pictures. That sounds kind of dumb, like judging a book by it's cover, but I find it appealing. It's more interesting than looking at long lists of titles of podcasts. One of the things Apple does so well is to make it's applications user friendly and visually appealing. It's also convenient to keep all the podcasts in one place.

Thing 19 Podcasting

Which podcasts did you find interesting?
(Be sure to include links in your blog entry to the podcasts mentioned.)

Just One More Book
http://feeds.feedburner.com/JustOneMoreBook
Storynory
http://storynory.com/


Identify one or two podcasts and describe how you would use them in your work.

Just One More Book is a fun source for book reviews that is searchable by topic, audience,(age group), discussions, format (picture book, chapter book, etc.), illustrations, and even values (i.e. acceptance, forgiveness, honesty etc.). This would be useful for keeping up on new publications, and also as a resource for questions from teachers about book recommendations. If they were looking for a book for a reading prompt on Honesty, for instance, I could check this site for ideas.

Storynory is a free site for audio stories for kids. I could show this site to students and teachers to use in class, at home, or to supplement the literacy program. It would also be useful for genre studies.

Thing 18 Slideshare

What did you like about the presentation you embedded?

This is a decent library advocacy slideshow that would be good to use as inspiration to create one for our district. It discusses the current state of access to certified Media Specialists (Teacher/Librarians) in PA, where the situation is a bit worse than in our district (for the moment), but it could provide a vision of what it would be like if such a valuable resource was cut.

How might Slideshare be useful in the classroom? out of the classroom?
I could see it being useful. Hopefully I can find some work related slideshows that I could use in my library class. Just poking around I found some good examples to show when teaching kids how to create PowerPoints. The nice thing about this site is that there are lots of very slick and professional looking slideshows available. As a PowerPoint creator I know how time consuming they can be. I'm always looking for ways to avoid re-inventing the wheel.

School Libraries & Equity: An Advocacy Presentation

View more presentations from joycevalenza.

23 Things Links to application sites

23 Things Links to application sites

A useful link provided by Hagrid23 - thanks!