Thing #7

Flickr- Photo Sharing is a neat tool; however, it would be hard to restrict certain types of photography from being seen by students. I think that being able to search for photos using "tags" is helpful. I like that you can join groups on Flickr; this would allow me to set up a group for each of my classes and organize class projects. I was a yearbook editor in high school and Flickr would have been a great way for parents, guardians, friends, and students to submit photos from sporting events, travel games, homecoming, prom, etc. for submission into the yearbook (appropriate photos, of course).

I uploaded a photo of my now 14 month old son, Graysen, during our trip to Chattanooga. I picked this photo because it represents how active even an infant’s imagination can be and I think it’s important that regardless of the grade level or subject matter all students should continue to be asked to use their imagine.

As an instructional tool in 7-12th grade English/Language Arts I could create groups entitled: Shakespeare, The Iliad, The Odyssey, 18th Century, 19th Century, etc. These groups would have photos of authors, costumes, theatre productions, maps, video clips, and any other images related to the author, work, or genre.

As helpful as Flickr is as an organizational tool; I would still prefer PowerPoint for instructional purposes.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/67535751@N02/6148765827/

Thing #6

HULU.com

Hulu is a Web video service from NBC Universal and Fox Entertainment Group everything on Hulu comes from content providers, not users (e.g. YouTube). Hulu allows viewers to watch full-length movies, documentaries, and t.v. shows with limited commercial interruption. I had always used and viewed Hulu.com as a "backup dvr" but once I started to look at it as an educational website or tool the possiblities began to overwhelm me.

The fact that content on Hulu is set to expire after a certain amount of time seemed like a downside to me until I realized it meant content would always be relatively update or at least be the most recent pro/con argument for content in documentaries or t.v. specials such as 20/20, ID Investigates, etc.

I would use Hulu.com in my classroom to show students videos relevant to course content; interviews, theatre productions, feature length films, documentaries, etc. My only misgiving with Hulu.com is the "search" its very broad and there is no advance search criteria therefore you have to browse through sometimes several pages of video content.


For brief description of Hulu see: https://elearn.apsu.edu/d2l/lms/content/viewer/main_frame.d2l?ou=2989284&tId=19309363

Hulu.com, documentaries, key search: Literature, Using Literature to Teach Reading: http://www.ehow.com/video_4790936_using-literature-teach-reading.html

This is an example of a documentary link I may post on an educational blog that I use to communicate with parents and guardians of students. Like one of the key ideas of Web 2.0 I also believe that learning can and should continue outside of the classroom; that means parents and guardians (and they thought they wouldn't have homework too!) need to be engaged in their children's learning process.

Thing #5

"Examples of Web 2.0 include social networking sites, blogs, wikis, video sharing sites, hosted services, web applications, mashups and folksonomies."  

This means that most, if not all, of us have used Web 2.0. These web-related advances allow users to interact; not just simply read a mass of content. Web 2.0 makes collaborating on ideas and sharing various information medias easier. I enjoyed reading the articles regarding Web 2.0. I was mainly intrigued by "Web 2.0: A Guide for Educators", and "Teachers 2.0." I did watch Dr. Wesch's video entitled "The Machine is Us/ing Us" video (it made me rather motion sick).

In "Teachers 2.0" under the forums tab there is a tab called lessons, I found the concept of this tab to be brillant. This forum allows teachers, administrators, and bloggers to post lesson plans. But, not just completed lesson plans; they can submit "works in progress" or "needs help" lesson plans to stimulate feedback on way to improve a particular lesson plan. A great use of Web 2.0 collaboration.

"Web 2.0: A Guide for Educators" has several good points as to why it is important that we as individual educators and the education system as whole embrace Web 2.0. 

Visual information is everywhere online, and the importance of being visually literate cannot be overstated. Visual literacy has been identified as an essential literacy by Partnership for 21st Century Skills; and with the development of the tools and contributory capacity of Web 2.0, it is critical that schools focus on helping students acquire the skills necessary to navigate, evaluate, and to communicate with visual information.

As teachers we need to apprecitae how Web 2.o tools can allow us to educate our students beyond books and the printed word.

Thing #4

I commented on several EDUC 5540 blog posts. First I commented on Kelley Whitaker - Thing 8! because Kelley had great ideas about motivational posters and personalizing classroom decor. Second, Katrina Motter - Thing 10 because she expressed the importance of SSR/newsfeed to organize classroom information. I found Nathan Davis- Thing #9 very entertaining as he displayed and explained useful posters/images to display classroom rules and encourage a non-disruptive learning environment. Melissa Bullock- Thing #11 discussed Calvin and Hobbes and using comic strips to teach content ideas which made me think about using comic strips in the English classroom to teach literary elements and character analysis. Finally, I commented on  Scott Meyers- Thing 11 because we found opposite search tools to be more useful and it made me re-evaluate how to phrase my key terms when using search tools/engines.
Next I commented on blogs not related to EDUC 5540. I commented on Cool Cat Teacher's Blog "Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock," because even though I plan on teaching 7-12 English, I plan on having my students write stories that they will read or present to elementary students. Next I commented on Colon Camara Bring On The Change blog "Teaching the Odyssey" because it gave great ideas on how to incorporate art into the lesson.

Commenting helps create a sense of community and interaction, since our 5540 classroom isn't structured in a lecture/discussion based  format the 23 Thing Blogs are a great way to "discuss" the topics covered in this class. Commenting is a great way to share ideas or pose questions in order to guide or continue the discussion process.

Thing #3

Blogs are used to navigate various topics; so why not use a blog as a way to allow students, parents, and guardians to navigate through your classroom?

As a future educator I can see several successful ways in which to utilize a blog for instructional/educational purposes. I could create a daily blog which allows students to review key information such as: readings discussed in class, homework assignments, a reminder of any upcoming tests/quizzes/projects. I could use the blog as a review tool; have students access the blog in class, click on hyperlinks, post comments to content related blog posts, etc. I could use the blog weekly as a way for parents or guardians to access course content and review what has been discussed and/or assigned for the following week, as well as links to study guides.