Is it the end or only the beginning ??

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey? I really enjoyed the things where we got to create something ( videos, pictures, etc.) I felt that will be able to apply all of these activities to my classroom. By learning all these things it has gotten me more interesting in learning about more that Web 2.0 has to offer. I was blown away at the amount of resources that are available for free or very close to free. The web is jam packed with so many good resource, and I feel that this class just scratched the surface. Everything that I learned in this course will allow me to be a clearer more effective teacher. Whether it is keeping me organized or allowing me provide information to my students in a different way, I will be able to use every activity. The best way that I found to stay current on Web 2.0 resources was to find a website that condenses the most current Web 2.0 resources into one organized space. Such as http://www.go2web20.net

Thing #23

As we learned in class creative commons is a great resource that all teachers should participate in. Creative Commons is a valuable tool for students to understand. When creating projects we have to teach our students that it is not ok to "borrow" copywrited material. Creative Commons allows for an easy solution for copyrighted material. By properly explaining creative commons to our students they will be able to understand how to create many different types of projects without the fear of copyright infringement.

Thing #22

 The title of my binders were benefits of exercise, proper stretching techniques, and fun sports. I think that the binders can be used in the classroom to guide student research to websites that the teacher has previously picked out that target the learning objectives. Instead of the students searching the web for resources the teacher has saved time, and can keep the students on task more easily by using the binders.

Thing #21

Boom

Animoto is a pretty interesting resource that I think many students will enjoy and readily use. They could use it in classroom projects of just for personal use. It is a great way to make plain pictures come to life.

Thing #20

1. I chose the video below because I plan on using Youtube to discover new activities and exercise to use within my Physical Education classroom. When I searched for P.E. Lesson youtube was full of different options as well as grade levels. The embedding feature is very nice because it allows me to use and move the video within another document or tool, that we may already be using in class.  

Thing #19

•  I think the best uses of social media for an educator would be research and communication. Social media has limitless opportunities for both. I was only a member of facebook until recently I created a Twitter account, but I do use IMDB pretty often to look into new movie releases, actors, or any info regarding film in general. I plan on making an account with IMDB and seeing what they have to offer since I am such a movie fan.

Thing #18

https://twitter.com/etimhoff21


With the current move toward a paperless society and more and more schools adopting many new technologies it will be very important for all teachers to be well versed in social media and other Web 2.0 resources. I did  not have a twitter account previous to this assignment, but I can really see the benefit and the ease of access to information that it can provide. The hashtag search went well for me once I got the hang of it, and I can see where it could help someone narrow down a search and find something related to what they are looking for. I could definitely see a use for this within a school setting. It would allow students to do research and also provide them a way to connect with the people that are related to that research by allowing them to follow what that person is doing.

Thing #17

I think that tagging certain items can be a great way to direct your students research on a certain project. By directing their attention to certain links or activities the teacher will be able to keep their attention focused on the appropriate material, and because these bookmarks can be accessed from anywhere it will allow the students to do research outside of the classroom if they have internet access.

Thing #16

I chose uStart for my start page. It seemed to be the most appealing and useful start page tool I found. Everything is very customizable and easy to use on uStart. Although all the benefits that uStart has I do not see myself changing it to my permanent start page.

Although I will not be changing my start page I do use online calenders. An online calender really helps me stay organized. I really like the reminder features that most online calenders have. They will send an email a week or a day before a certain appointment, some can even send a text message. It really helps me keep track of my appointment, due dates, etc.

The PDF converter seems very useful. Everyone does not use the same type of computer or software, and a PDF file is very universal. It would be a great advantage to be able to convert word documents to PDF files that everyone can use.

Thing # 15

I really like the idea of using a Wiki in the classroom. I think it is a great way for my students to collaborate, and it really allows each student to contribute. A wiki would be a great way for group member to communicate and share ideas instead of email, and I think it would allow a student who is hesitant to share ideas in class to share via a wiki. Overall I think through proper teacher supervision a wiki can a be a great learning tool.

Thing #14

I chose Gliffy and Mindmeister for my flow chart and my mind map. I believe that using a flow chart can really benefit students that learn better when somethings is described graphically rather than in words. To use a flow chart in my Physical education classroom I would use it to break down a certain routine or motion that I am wanting my students to do in smaller easier steps.

A mind map is similar but it focuses on a main idea and then spider webs out with ideas how to accomplish that idea. I would use this for goal setting in my classroom.  I would post a main goal in the middle of the mind map and then branch out with ways to achieve my main goal. This will allow the students to break down the goal in more manageable steps.

Thing #13

Google Drive Document
Mile Time Spreadsheet

Students will being able to use google drive to collaborate on many different types of assignments. They will be able to use google drive with homework or a project I may assign. This allows students an ease of access to each others information/ or part of their project without emailing.

I prefer google drive to other similar web bases applications because of the ease of navigation and the available tools that are built into to google drive.