Is this the end or only the beginning?

My favorite application by far was the movie maker with Animoto because I had never done something like this before, and it showed me that you can create a quick slideshow that is fun and entertaining.

This program has affected me because I now have the knowledge to fully use just about every application the internet can throw at me. And this I know will definitely help me as an educator because I will be able to help any student with a technological problem they may have.

The only thing that really surprised me about these applications was that fact that I became confused sometimes when trying to figure out how to take things from one website and put them into my blog.

I would not change anything about this program because it was very helpful and easy to follow.

It helped me because I now have a bunch of ideas floating around in my head about things I could do using technology and some of the applications we used during this assignment. So, I believe by doing this it has helped me become a better teaching candidate by broadening my knowledge of education and technology.

The best way to keep up with Web 2.0 applications is to keep using my blog and viewing other blogs because they are a great way to gather new information that can be used for something later. 

Thing #23

Creative Commons are definitely needed in every classroom around the world. The amount of nonsense in the social media network is ridiculous, but then again there are some very important things that can be used to like several of the applications we have used in class this semester. As an educator I want my students to understand technology and incorporate it whenever they can. But it is my duty to educate them on what is acceptable and all the other things that are just "bologna".

The 23 things portion of this class is a very helpful activity that can help even the technologically challenged become more familiar with the computer. My experience with these 23 things changed along the way at the beginning I thought this was just like an activity to fill time but as I began to get deeper into it my view changed because I was actually learning new things about the internet and Web 2.0 applications that I had not known before and I feel I have greatly benefited from this assignment.

Thing #22

Education
Live Binders I believe can be a very helpful tool to keep people like me organized. I know that trying to keep up with a huge three ring binder can be difficult at time, with stuff possibly getting lost or tore up, or just the fact that you lose the whole notebook. This application is one that I think will help many teachers stay organized with documents and websites and whatever else they decide to put in their Live Binder.
My three Binders are entitled History because that is my main concentration, Education because keeping up with everything in the education world would be beneficial, and finally Instructional Technology because I thought it would be necessary since all the things we are doing these days in society deals with some sort of technology.  

Thing #21

Try our slideshow maker at Animoto.
This "Thing" by far was my most favorite activity that we have done. Being able to make my own video was really interesting. Using my own pictures to create a slideshow is something that I have never done before except through Powerpoint but this is much different you can add music to it and text to spice it up a little bit. This is an application that I will definitely be using again. 

Thing #20

The YouTube video that i chose for this "Thing" is titled Background on Constructivism. I chose this video because since I have been in the College of Education at APSU constructivism is a term that I have come to know very well. I even believe I want to run my classroom on some of the principles of constructivism. What it is pretty much is letting the classroom collaborate with each other while the teacher still gives instruction and insight on what to do but it allows the class to come up with ways to solve the problem by working together. I also believe that YouTube could be beneficial for any classroom if you were able to filter out the videos that are unnecessary and that interrupt the classroom.  

Thing #19

Teacher Pop was a tool that for educators that is necessary to understanding the social media world. It is an easy tool to navigate and gives up and coming teachers a resource to learn how to use social media before they get into a classroom. I also find it very interesting that the College of Education uses this to keep everyone updated on what is going on around the Education field. I have found that it works pretty much like Facebook so learning to use this tool should not be very difficult for myself.

Thing #18

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=501758904 This is the link to my Facebook which I now feel like I have had forever which is almost true because I have been part of the Facebook world since my freshman year in high school over 7 years ago. But the social media world has greatly influenced the world I believe because now anything that happens you can pretty much go to Facebook and read all about it 20 minutes after it happens.

I also believe social media sites can be good for the classroom to because it gives the students a way to communicate other than just talking and they can become more technologically savvy. Also on this note it is necessary that educators know how to use these social media sites so they can monitor their students when using them but they will also have to be familiar with them if they are planning on using them in the classroom's anyways. Twitter on the other hand I just can't get the hang of and would not consider using it in my classroom. All the hash-tagging and re-tweeting is just beyond me, so I will just stick with what I know. 

Thing #17

Delicious is something I could see myself using in the near future because by the bookmarking it gives you links and websites associated with pretty much any subject matter you can think of. But on the other hand it was a little frustrating at times because I seemed to stumble more on nonsense rather than reliable sources. But because most of the content for education was reliable I can see myself using this website someday.

Thing #16

The most interesting tool that I came across was the tada list because being a college student we all know how assignments can pile up really quick and I am not one to carry around an agenda or calendar like I see so many other people do on campus I would rather just open up the internet like ta da list does. It gives you the opportunity to organize all of your stuff from your PC which I find very awesome since I tend to forget things from time to time.

igoogle was something that I have played around with before but I am a person who does not take change very well I like to keep things the same so I can remember what I have done or have to do. But iGoogle is very interesting being able to create your own home page and have everything you do right in front of you when you open your browser is quite pleasant.
 

Thing #15

This was actually a very fun activity I have known of wiki's for a while but all throughout high school and now most of college I have been told to stay away from them because they are not primary sources and are unreliable, but overall the APSU sandbox wiki was pretty cool I had fun editing some things but did not change anything because I wanted to be respectful of other classmates work but overall I enjoyed playing around with it.

Thing #14

The first tool that I chose was Bubbl.us because it was an easy and fun mind map I began with a simple idea and by minutes I had bubbles everywhere and had branched out in every direction. This tool would be great for a group project because individuals could be throwing around ideas and Bubbl.us keeps up with them and organizes them in an easy way for the audience.

The second tool that I chose was Gliffy because it has several different tools anyone can use to connect text boxes together which I like because you can be brainstorming a topic and have several ideas but if you walk away and leave it alone for a few minutes but another idea pops in your head you can head straight to Gliffy and make changes to the flowchart and still have all your other information intact.

Thing #13

I found Zoho to be a very helpful tool when writing a paper or forming your own document because before now an individual would need a flash or zip drive to save documents and transport them from computer to computer. But with Zoho anyone is able to create a document and save it to their Zoho account and then access it from any computer around and make changes to it. This is a really neat site that I will more than likely be using in the future as I write term papers and report.


Google Docs is also I very fun tool that has many applications necessary for college students because an individual can create documents as well as spreadsheets to use in class everyday without needing Microsoft Office to do so.

Students can use Google Docs everyday in the classroom because this is a free application with limitless activities that can be used in class. Students can also work collaboratively with each other on projects using this application to divide work between the group evenly.

These two apps are similar in many ways but the one thing that stood out to me most was the fact that Zoho gives you the opportunity to start a document and then save it to the PC without having to load it onto a flash drive. This cuts out the problem of the file not saving on the flash drive and gives the person access to the file where ever they are.

Thing #12

This was a very fun and interesting activity to explore because before now I did not know how many different applications Google was set up with. Even though I have had experiences with using Google Translate in my Spanish classes in high school as well as in college, and Google Earth was another application I have used before and I think it is very cool because it gives you the opportunity to view in depth picture via satellite anywhere on the planet.
Some things that I took a look at though were Google Calendar and Google Sites. Google Calendar was an alright application but I do not believe it would be useful for me because I pretty much remember anything important that is going to happen in the near future. But on the other hand I found Google Sites to be very interesting this is an application to create your own website, or wiki groups for conversation. Ever since I signed up for Facebook back in middle school I have always wanted to create my own website but just really did not know how, but by using this app it makes it easy to set up your very own personal website.

Thing #11

This activity of finding goods feeds to me was a lot less enjoyable than the previous "things" we have had to complete. I seemed to be just wandering around random sites after searching on Google, but I did find that there are some very well put together blogs throughout the internet on subjects ranging from sports to insects.
I found the Google blog search to be the easiest of the group because our "Reader" we sat up in the last activity is already linked with Google.
Technorati was the most difficult for me to use because it seemed to just bring up random blogs with no considerable link to what I was trying to search so I didn't stay on that site to long.
Even though I am not very fond of this method I believe it is useful for keeping in touch with topics related to what an individual is interested in. It is also a good tool for organizing these blogs and different feeds someone is following.

Thing #10

I like the RSS because it gives individuals a chance to organize their favorite sites or sites useful in everyday teaching efforts. As well as it is a quick and easy way to get to things that are most interesting to yourself for your reading pleasure whenever necessary.
In the classroom it can be used to organize sites by subject matter so when teaching the instructor doesnt have to get off task to find the website they want to display, and through using RSS the resource is already there and all you have to do is click on the link you want to use.

Thing #9

My experience with making these signs and using these online generators was a lot of fun. Pretty much anything you want to put on a sign or say you can whether it be funny, sad, clever, intelligent, or idiotic you can generate whatever you want.
The process I went through in creating my sign was just really playing around with all the different tools and resources available on the site. I chose the beware sign with aliens because who wouldn't be scared and on alert if you seen a sign that said aliens on the loose. Plus I just wanted to do something humorous because that is my personality.
This could be a very helpful tools for teachers as well because creating these signs could be a tool that could be used as decoration on the walls of your classroom to display rules or to post quotes from famous people in history. There is just a wide variety of things this sign generator site can be used for.

Thing #8

When looking over these mash-ups by Flickr I noticed that someone can do a wide variety of things with just a single photo. I chose the puzzle app because since I was young puzzles have always been a big hobby of mine and just to see my girlfriend and I as a puzzle is quite amusing.
These mash-up tools serve as a wide variety of resources that can be used by teachers in the classroom through making puzzles of likes maps or something or maybe combining several different elements to create something totally new to use with your students.

Thing #7

This was my first real experience using Flickr.com and I can now say that it is a very interesting and cool web 2.0 tool. There is just about photos of everything you can imagine on this website I went from looking at music groups and guitars to theatrical stages and operas in no time just by clicking on the different tags each group and each picture has linked to it. But the image I have chosen to display in the post is a picture from the group Los Angeles and I chose this place because it has always been somewhere that I greatly want to visit, just not for the weather but because my favorite basketball player ever, Kobe Bryant plays 42 home games a year in L.A. And this is why I have decided to share a photo of the Lakers home arena the Staples Center. And the following link is where I have taken the picture from for your personal viewing.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63257315@N06/5793486139/

Thing #6

The Web 2.0 award nominee that I chose was www.Answers.com  because this is a resource that can be used in both a library setting as well as in the classroom because if your students are doing a project in class and need a simple answer quickly answers.com is great for that. From personal experience I can vouch for this site as being a good quick resource to use. What I like about it is that no matter the question you type it it will give you a response very near or spot on to what you are looking for. And it also will give you references and links to other sites where you can further your answer if their website does not suit you liking. Overall Answers.com is a very good Web 2.0 tool to use for pretty much any question or situation an individual has.

Thing #5

Several of these articles listed stood out as interesting to me the two main ones being Web 2.0 is not about version numbers or betas, as well as Web 2.0 A Guide for Educators. To start I want to talk about what Web 2.0 means to me, and that is that I believe Web 2.0 is meant to be a foundation for a network that expands the entire internet as the author of the first article I stated believes. Everyday new websites and social networking sites pop up everywhere and this is where the heart of the web 2.0 idea comes from, everyones opinion can be heard and anyone's dreams could come true just by setting up a website for a business they want to start.
The technology that is coming out today will define generations to come because so much of the new things being introduced can be used for technology. The iPad is just one of many things that can be used in the classroom to enhance students learning abilities as well as just keeping them interested. Because being a college student now I know how boring lectures can be, and how hard it can be to stay awake but with these new Web 2.0 tools students will hopefully be more engaged in class and take initiative to want to learn and better themselves. 

Thing #4

Commenting can create a sense of community in a couple different ways the most important being that without comments and interaction between users there is just a blog with no real response to it. It becomes independent and the main goal of any blog is to create a bubble so to speak in where many individuals can give their opinion to what is going on, and commenting does this.

One of the points I want to discuss from the reading comes from the Comment like a King section which talks about making comments that have meaning. This is very important because like most websites such as Yahoo or CNN users just get on there and really just say nonsense and nobody really likes to deal with insane comments. So whenever someone goes to post on a blog they should first stop and take the time to think about what they want to say instead of popping off at the mouth with the first thing that comes to mind.
And the second point that I really liked had to do with being controversial in the 10 Techniques to Get More Comments on your Blog. This is a really neat point because it raises eyebrows to an extent. Being controversial can lead to a widespread conversation on your blog and this is really whats blogs are all about and that's getting people to express their opinions. And through bringing up a controversial topic more people may be inclined to join your discussion.

Grant Brashears, Janelle Ferrier, Nick Caudill, Hayli Wrigley, and Nicole Gardner were the classmates that I chose and this was really just random thinking I was just clicking on random names and reading their material and decided to comment on the ones I felt like best related to myself.

Thing #1

The easiest of the 7 1/2 habits that I believe will benefit myself in the classroom is the one that deals with being teaching/mentoring people. I feel this would be my strong point in teaching because I am the kind of person that likes to help out those in need or individuals who are struggling to comprehend the material. It is really for this sole reason that I picked the education field. Since I can remember I have always been one to help out I can recall being teased about being a teachers pet in elementary school, but that did not bother me because I knew by helping out my teachers that I would benefit from this in the long run and ultimately I have.

On the other hand I think the hardiest habit of the 7 1/2 habits for me would have top be the one about beginning with the end in mind. This would be difficult for me because I am not an individual who likes to think way off in the future. My train of thought only thinks a few days maybe weeks ahead not months and years and this is something I am going to have to work on because the field of Education is always changing and if a young teachers does not think and plan ahead there may not be a job opportunity for them in the future.

Thing #3

A way that I could incorporate a blog into my classroom would be to post classroom assignments as well as upcoming events that may be happening to my blog page. Also it would give myself a way to interact with parents who have concerns or questions about what is going on in my classroom, and it would also allow accessing myself as a teacher easier if I am updating a blog everyday that my students and their parents could view at any time.

Thing #2

The way I decided on my posting name was by just using what is common to myself, and that is my APSU username I believe this will make things much easier to remember when logging into this site. My experience in creating this blog was fairly easy I really did not have any difficulty in setting up my account. My avatar reflects me in several ways because I made it to look laid back like myself and I made him look intelligent because I plan on teaching one day.