New class...new ideas for Blogging

During our first class session for "Internet Learning Resource"  the instructor asked us if we enjoy and thing that our blogs useful.  I do think that they can have some value to them, but I wish we had a different way of setting it up.  We were asked if we can think of some way to do our blogging differently.  I do like this site, but I wish I had more immediate feedback as well as the ability to see many of my peers posts at one time, rather than having to click on their link.  I know that clicking on a link isn't hard, but since there are ways of sharing information, such as Facebook, this way just seems to be a little "old fashion."  I am very use to going on Facebook and seeing the live feed of all of my friends.  If somehow our blogs could be intertwined with some presentation software like that, I think I would enjoy it more.  I really am not sure how this could be done, but if anyone out there has an idea, I would like to hear it.  It think a lot of my peers would like to hear it as well.

As for what I have learned this past week, I really liked being introduced to Wikis.  I have found it very easy to enter my assignments and the Wiki in general is easy to use.  If you are unsure of what a Wiki is, it's just a site that is set up that can be edited by many people.  You have an area that tells you what you need to type about and you just edit and post your ideas under it.  I have used Wikipedia before and understand that is how Wikipedia works, but I haven't actually ever changed anything on that site.  It's fun to experience something similar to that in class as well as getting to use something different in this program than the Angel program and Google docs.  Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy those two programs, but I do like learning about other options. 

Wrapping up "Using Productivity Tools Effectively"

We did a lot these past couple months, but a few things really stuck out and I will probably use them the most.  First of all, I learned how to set up a Google Calendar.  I think this is a great tool not just for me, but also for my students.  I would like to get my students set up to use Google products, and if I do, I think the Calendar can be a great function for them to stay organize and have a place to put their due dates for assignments or for other special things they need to remember in their lives. 

I also feel that I can analyze software more effectively now because of this class.  I never really thought about analyzing software, but now I have tools that I can use if I see something I like and I can share it with others if I think it is something that can be used in the school.

Finally, due to this class, I am going to be trying to do more production based projects with my students.  I don't think I will be able to do a lot right off of the bat, but I am going to try to incorporate some of those types of projects each year and eventually my students will have a significant amount of production based projects to work on throughout the school year.  I see a great benefit having students produce something from scratch and discovering what they should put into the project...having them be the main investigator , not the teacher.  I am currently doing a project like this with my Civics class.  The students have an outline for presenting about a specific president, but they have to produce something that is unique to them and looks different than the other students.  So far it's coming out pretty well! 

Anyway, off to another class.  And as always, I look forward to what awaits!  

The past week of productivity

Something that really stuck with me this week was a video we watched of Sir Ken Robinson.  I think a lot of what he said about education is totally true.  He basically says that school is great for a portion of the population that will be professors as adults.  For the rest of us, it limits our true potential.  He focuses on teaching not only the academic things we normally think of (science, math, etc)  but also teaching things such as art and dance with just as much rigor.  He feels that schooling is set up to kill creativity and ends up making students scared of failure.  I think a lot of that is true, but hard to change.  It think it would be very hard to change the system as it is.  Too many people feel school is supposed to be mainly for learning the core subjects.  If you want to watch the video I am talking about, here it is:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY&feature=player_embedded   .  Another thing that I learned about this week was using tools that evaluate software.  I have never really thought about evaluating software that I many use in the classroom, but now I have the know how to do so if I am in the position to get new software for my class. It's nice to know there are products out there that can help you focus on the benefits and down sides of software you may use in your class. 

The InTime Video I chose

The video that I found that I felt could be used in my Civics class is a state power point presentation.  Here is the link of the video: http://www.intime.uni.edu/video/030moue/8/  .  I typically set some time in my year to discuss the different states and the different types of state government.  Many of  my 9th grade LD students are still very unaware of what other states besides Wisconsin offer or how their government is set up.  This project would give them a great opportunity to investigate a state they have never traveled too and gather interesting facts about the population, geography, demographics and government in a different state.  I already do something similar to this regarding the United States presidents, so if I set up this project a little later in the year, students will have a sense of how to put the project together and how to make the slides visually appealing and interesting.  My students study state government in late April and May, so I will be looking to implement this project sometime during that time frame. 

Back in Action!

I'm getting ready again to get back to class and discover some new practical technologies I can use in my personal life and at school.  Although I have had the last couple weeks off of class, I still stayed busy on classwork for a couple days focusing on spreadsheets.  Up until three weeks ago, I didn't really us spreadsheets for anything more than keeping my monthly budget and keeping track on how I do when I play blackjack. (I enjoy Las Vegas and Oneida Casino :) I also have always used Microsoft Excel, though now I am going to be importing my Excel documents into Google docs spreadsheets so I can have access to them where ever I am.  I learned a few things I never really used in spreadsheet programs.  Out of everything I learned this past lesson, I really like the ability to set up formulas in spreadsheets which allow you to change one cells number and in turn it changes many other numbers on your spreadsheet.  It's a great tool for figuring out ingredient amounts in different recipes.  I was thinking that I could use a similar formula for students who have difficulty with multiplication facts.  I can put a formula into a spreadsheet a student could access and they could play with the numbers and see what products different numbers would produce.  Although I don't typically use spreadsheets with my students, I think that could be a practical use of a spreadsheet for my students with learning disabilities. 

Week 2 of productivity

This week has been another interesting week of online learning.  We had to compare search engines as well as discover new ways to make our searches more productive.  Up to this point, I have used Google for the good majority of time when I need to search information.  I don't think that is going to change, though after looking at some other sites, I think I will be more inclined to use them if I feel my Google searches aren't producing exactly what I need.  I did look into Exalead, another search engine, and I found it's home page a lot more welcoming than Google's.  You are able to book mark your favorite pages and they are bookmarked as pictures, not text.  You can also access your computer from this website, no matter where you are are what computer you are on.  It was nice to see something that was a little different than Google, but again, Google has seemed to work well for me and I probably will still use Google a lot. 

Another thing that we did this week was look at more online word processing websites.  During this class, we have been using Google docs for our papers and presentations.  It really has been a great tool because  you can do your work from anywhere and you are not dependent on your own computer.  You can also share your work with anyone and they can edit the work (great for group work).  The two other programs that I looked into were called ThinkFree and Zoho Writer.  ThinkFree is a lot like Google docs.  You can do word processing documents on it, spreadsheets and slide presentations.  You can also share your work with others, like Google docs.  Although I will be continuing to use Google docs for class, it was nice to see something different in case I need to use it for work or in some other aspect of my life.    Besides ThinkFree, Zoho was also another interesting online word processor.  It felt a lot like Microsoft Word, so I liked how i felt familiar with it, even though I never used this particular program before.  I did notice that this sight only offers word processing, and not spreadsheets and slide presentations like Google docs and ThinkFree does.

Overall, this has been an eye opening week.  I feel that I may not be changing everything I do because of what I learned this week, but I may be doing some things differently in order to get more work complete in a faster manner. 

On to the third class!

This week I started my third class of my online cohort, Using Productivity Tools Effectively.  One of the things that we are supposed to do is make a presentation using a presentation product other than Power Point.  We need to use one that is web based.  I have to say, I am pretty pumped about this because I do use power points with my classes, but they always seem to be a pain to interact with the students on their work.  In my district, there are community folders where students can put there work and I can look at it, but it isn't very easy to put comments on their work.  I'm hoping that a web based presentation program will be easier to make comments and help students as they are working.  It will also be nice to be able to see the work from any computer I am at, home or school.  In addition to that, we are also going to be making a graphic for the class and then posting it.  I'm still not sure how I will use this, but I'm sure I will find some way to incorporate it into what I do.  This class has a little different twist to it because we actually have a text book!  Wow, I feel like I'm going back in time actually having a book for a class!   I just got finished reading the first chapter and it basically got me to think what is technology's place in the classroom?  Do you need technology all the time?  When is it or isn't it appropriate.  It has been pretty interesting and I think my ideas of what technology should do for me is very similarly in line with the authors prospective.