It's going to be a hard decision!
Friday, February 1, 2008
Final Thoughts
Talk about procrastination...I have waited 'til the last day to finish this project (I work well under pressure) and it's taking me forever to get my "final thoughts" in order. I thought this would be one of the easiest posts to write, but actually it's becoming a little overwhelming to sit back and think of everything we've done and the impacts they have had.
One of my favorite discoveries was Animoto. I have LOTS of friends and family that live far away and I am constantly hearing, "We need new pictures of Madelyn!" I am thinking of buying a full length video (for only 3 dollars!) and emailing it to friends and family, as well as posting it on my blog. The video will be a great way to send people updates! I am also thinking of putting together a video for my mom for Mother's Day with past and present pictures of all three kids. (This will be very meaningful to her since my brother passed away 5 years ago.) I have already shared this site with teachers; encouraging them to us it with their students. What a great, cheap way to share photos from Play Day or classroom parties.
As a lifelong learner, this program has made me not so afraid of the new technology that is happening around me. Before the 23 things, the technology was there but I am now a part of it and it's a great feeling. I love the feeling of collaboration and that's what the 23 things is all about! I also feel like I would be more inclined to take technology PFK classes now. I don't feel so lost. Hopefully I will find something that continues my 2.0 journey.
One of the "unexpected outcomes" that I had for this project was that I had FUN throughout! In October, I was worried to start because of the unknown and I was nervous about the assignments and whether or not I would be successful in them. This project reinforced to me that I do like to learn and that I think learning is FUN! I enjoy the "self-discovery" aspect of the project and would definitely participate in another if offered.
Even though the 23 things was a self-paced, self-discovery project, I do wish we would of had a few meetings along the way. Just having time to talk with others for ideas would have been valuable to me. I also feel like if we would have meet a couple times throughout, everyone would have completed the project.
I have already started sharing these 2.0 tools with teachers and faculty on my campus. The tools have given me something to talk about with teachers I do not know very well, and they have helped me start building relationships. I hope to continue the sharing but I also hope to start seeing them being implemented by teachers.
I am going to try to maintain my blog. As of now, my plan is to continue the blog as a "personal learning journal." Check back and look for notes and thoughts from staff developments, journal articles, and more! I am also thinking about starting a personal blog which would include pictures, family updates, and more! Who knows, maybe one day you'll be subscribing to my blog through RSS feed. :)
One of my favorite discoveries was Animoto. I have LOTS of friends and family that live far away and I am constantly hearing, "We need new pictures of Madelyn!" I am thinking of buying a full length video (for only 3 dollars!) and emailing it to friends and family, as well as posting it on my blog. The video will be a great way to send people updates! I am also thinking of putting together a video for my mom for Mother's Day with past and present pictures of all three kids. (This will be very meaningful to her since my brother passed away 5 years ago.) I have already shared this site with teachers; encouraging them to us it with their students. What a great, cheap way to share photos from Play Day or classroom parties.
As a lifelong learner, this program has made me not so afraid of the new technology that is happening around me. Before the 23 things, the technology was there but I am now a part of it and it's a great feeling. I love the feeling of collaboration and that's what the 23 things is all about! I also feel like I would be more inclined to take technology PFK classes now. I don't feel so lost. Hopefully I will find something that continues my 2.0 journey.
One of the "unexpected outcomes" that I had for this project was that I had FUN throughout! In October, I was worried to start because of the unknown and I was nervous about the assignments and whether or not I would be successful in them. This project reinforced to me that I do like to learn and that I think learning is FUN! I enjoy the "self-discovery" aspect of the project and would definitely participate in another if offered.
Even though the 23 things was a self-paced, self-discovery project, I do wish we would of had a few meetings along the way. Just having time to talk with others for ideas would have been valuable to me. I also feel like if we would have meet a couple times throughout, everyone would have completed the project.
I have already started sharing these 2.0 tools with teachers and faculty on my campus. The tools have given me something to talk about with teachers I do not know very well, and they have helped me start building relationships. I hope to continue the sharing but I also hope to start seeing them being implemented by teachers.
I am going to try to maintain my blog. As of now, my plan is to continue the blog as a "personal learning journal." Check back and look for notes and thoughts from staff developments, journal articles, and more! I am also thinking about starting a personal blog which would include pictures, family updates, and more! Who knows, maybe one day you'll be subscribing to my blog through RSS feed. :)
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
more #23
A little note about the video posted below...I found that creative commons explanation on my own. I didn't know it was one of our discovery resources until just a few minutes ago. So if you watch it, you'll probably be watching it for a second time.
I really do get it, but it seems hard to explain in a post...maybe if I was talking, it would be easier, but I'm going to try. "If copyright is a red light, then think of creative commons as a green light." That was one of the creative commons explanations that stuck out to me when viewing the "tutorials" and it helped me simplify this complicated "thing." You have to STOP when you come across a copyrighted work and have no "rights" to use it (except with fair use). With creative commons, you have permission to GO with what's there; edit it or add to it to meet your needs.
With creative commons, people are able to build upon things that already exist such as taking a song and editing it to fit a slide show or finding an image and adding it to your MySpace...and who can't use this when they are having a hard time being completely original!
I really do get it, but it seems hard to explain in a post...maybe if I was talking, it would be easier, but I'm going to try. "If copyright is a red light, then think of creative commons as a green light." That was one of the creative commons explanations that stuck out to me when viewing the "tutorials" and it helped me simplify this complicated "thing." You have to STOP when you come across a copyrighted work and have no "rights" to use it (except with fair use). With creative commons, you have permission to GO with what's there; edit it or add to it to meet your needs.
With creative commons, people are able to build upon things that already exist such as taking a song and editing it to fit a slide show or finding an image and adding it to your MySpace...and who can't use this when they are having a hard time being completely original!
Thing #23
I am just starting to learn about Creative Commons through thing #23. I came across a video while exploring Creative Commons and I thought it did a great job of explaining just what creative commons means and how we can benefit from it. I thought I would add it to my blog for anyone interested.
I'll continue my #23 post when I'm done playing...
I'll continue my #23 post when I'm done playing...
Thing #22
I feel like a child who is telling you their favorite toy but then quickly changes their mind again, and again, and again!!! Why you ask? Well, because that's what I have done through all 23 things. On my posts I confess that the current "thing" is my favorite but then I find something else that I love just as much and say it's my favorite...but FOR REAL this time...Animoto is my favorite!! What an easy way to create "slideshows." I can think of a million ways I can use this in my personal life and just as many uses for the library. How about creating a video using pictures from children's book week and then adding it to your library homepage. (I'm not sure if we have enough "space" to do that but wouldn't it be cool...) Or how about as a research product, have students search for images related to their unit and create a video. And, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself because I'm not sure if you can only upload photos or if you can upload other images such as book covers...do you see where I'm headed...but what about creating a video with the covers of the Bluebonnet or Mockingbird books. I could keep going forever. I'm definitely going to look into buying a full-length video!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Thing #21
The podcasting "thing" seemed to offer many of the things that I already knew. I felt like I was a little ahead on this "thing" due to our podcasting staff development earlier this year but I did learn more about where to find podcasts and the resources of how to make one seems useful, if I ever take on the task of creating one. I spent most of my time searching for podcasts with Educational Podcast Directory. After time-consuming searches for useful podcasts, I was disappointed when I noticed the lack of updates. One podcast that I found and thought I would subscribe to was Book Voyage; however, I noticed that the last podcast submitted was in August 2007. I didn't want to subscribe to something if I wouldn't be getting regular feeds. After searching for a while longer, I came across Storynory, a podcast of audio stories for children. I actually subscribed to this podcast on the day of our staff development using iTunes but do not check it regulary because I don't use iTunes on a daily basis. I have now subscribed with the RSS feed and I look forward to checking in daily...because I check my Bloglines just as much as my email or MySpace.
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