Thing Twenty-Three

Take a few moments to reflect on your journey. You've covered a lot of material over the past ten weeks. What does it all mean? How has your thinking changed between Thing 1 and Thing 23? Has this program changed how you view the Internet or how view education in the digital world? What plans have you made for using these tools in and out of the classroom? How will you continue to learn about Web 2.0 tools? What are your big "take aways" from this experience?

When I first started this course I was moderately knowledgeable about technology.  But after completing this course, I realize that I was missing a basic piece of information.  I was using Facebook, GMail, google calendar, YouTube, and many other Internet tools.  But I never knew that I was part of something called Web 2.0.  Now I know that Web 2.0 includes technology that allows users to receive, respond to, and interact on the Internet.  It allows users to be connected and collaborative.  It allows users to share thoughts, information, pictures, videos, and social interactions.  In the past I was a consumer of information on the Internet.  Now I can be a consumer, producer, and collaborator. 

I used to believe that technology had a small place in early childhood, but that most of it was not useful to my classroom, my teaching, and the learning of my students.  Now I have a broader idea of how Web 2.0 could become part of my classroom.  In fact, it was already impacting my classroom before I understood what it was.  This year I have used the Internet to find resources for teaching.  I have researched learning topics, shown learning videos, interacted with learning websites, and created a website that helps showcase student learning.  In most cases my classroom has been an Internet  consumer.  But I can now see how my classroom could interact with these same tools and become a producer as well.

My plans for the future include using these web 2.0 tools more fully.  I plan to add a blog to the website that I already have.  I hope to make this an interactive forum so that I can give information to, and gain feedback from, classroom families.  I also hope to create blogs as a whole group or small group writing activity with my students.  I would like to become involved in an EPals project next year.  I hope to become more interactive with my colleagues by using either Dropbox or Google Docs and maybe beginning a wiki that will help us collect resources around a teaching and learning topic.

The big “take aways” from this experience are that Web 2.0 is about collaborating, connecting, and expanding our learning environments beyond our physical classrooms. As teachers, our minds should be open to learning and exploring the new possibilities that we have through technology tools.   

Thing Twenty-Two

In your blog post be sure to include the link to your wiki. Then discuss your feelings about using a wiki. How does a wiki differ from a blog? When is one more appropriate to use than the other?

My wiki can be found at https://heather155.wikispaces.com/.  It was fun to create a wiki for a personal hobby of mine, which is classic movies.  I could invite my other movie watching friends to add to my list of movies.  I would be interested in creating other wiki pages to support my other hobbies or areas of interest.  I would also be interested in creating a professional wiki where my colleagues could continually add resources and lesson plan ideas for a particular learning theme.  


A wiki is different from a blog in that it has multiple users who are all contributing ideas or more current information.  A blog usually has one author who is sharing his own ideas.  Other people can respond to the blogger's ideas, but can't change or edit the original blog.  A wiki is more appropriate for collaboration among several people.

Thing Twenty-One

Describe a wiki you found that inspires you to create one of your own. What hurdles might stand in the way of your using a wiki? What would it take to remove the hurdles? Is it worth the fight? 

I found the wiki for Arbor Heights Elementary School to be interesting.  The wiki was similar to a website with all of the expected pages for staff, classrooms, supply lists, and family learning.  Some of the classrooms had their own wiki pages (not sure if that is the correct label) that gave information about learning, events, and newsletters.  One of the wiki pages was a kindergarten classroom.  I'm not sure if I would create a wiki of my own.  I currently have a weebly website for my classroom that works really well for disseminating information to parents.  Because I wouldn't need to share editing privileges with anyone else on this website, establishing a wiki doesn't seem to be useful for me, but maybe I'm just not being imaginative enough about how I could use it.  I can see it being useful in collaborating with colleagues on projects, research, and lesson plans for learning units or themes.    

Thing Twenty

Include in your post the name of at least one podcast to which you subscribed. Describe your experience using the various search tools. Which do you prefer and why?

This was another fun technology exploration.  It was easy to get lost in the myriad amounts of information that can be found through podcasts.  I spent a lot of time in Itunes.  I already had an Itunes account and have used it to organize my music and listen to podcasts, but I had never actually subscribed to a podcast.  In the past I just went out to search for a podcast each time I wanted to listen to it.  Because of this assignment, I have gone back and subscribed to the podcasts I have always listened to, and also discovered several more in the process.  One podcast that I was excited to discover is "Reading Rockets."  This podcast is the result of a book called "Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science" by Louisa Moats.  The podcast explores different issues in teaching reading.  This is a strong interest of mine and a topic I am always trying to learn more about.  

While in Itunes I was able to search through categories and by keyword.  At the bottom of each podcast description there were other podcast recommendations based on subject interest.  This helped to direct my search in my areas of interest.  I also did a Google search on top teacher podcasts and was directed to several more interesting podcasts.

Thing Nineteen

Which podcasts did you find interesting? Identify one or two podcasts and describe how you would use them in your work. (Be sure to include links in your blog entry to the podcasts mentioned.)

I was interested in “The Whole Child” podcast: http://whatworks.wholechildeducation.org/podcast

I was also interested in the “Learning Matters” podcast:

http://learningmatters.tv/blog/podcasts/the-learning-matters-podcast-series/8297/

Each of these podcasts would enable me to stay current on educational issues.  The Whole Child podcast showcases educators and schools that are exemplary models of educating the whole child.  Their website states, “We know we have to cultivate lifelong learners who are thoughtful, creative, culturally competent, intellectually curious, and civically engaged.”  The Learning Matters podcast was created in order to “shine light on the successes-and setbacks-in our schools and districts, and report them clearly and fairly to the public.”  While listening to two of these podcasts, I was struck by the thoughtful and in-depth reporting of educational issues.  This was a welcome change to the brief, attention-grabbing, often inaccurate headlines that are put on the regular daily newscasts.

164 colourful insects

View more PowerPoint from mireille 30100

What did you like about the presentation you embedded? How might Slideshare be useful in the classroom? out of the classroom?

The presentation I chose to embed is called “164 Colorful Insects.”  I chose this presentation because I just started a classroom learning unit on insects.  I thought that I could use this presentation on my interactive white board in order to expose my students to a wider variety of insects.  

Slideshare could be useful in my classroom as a way to explore other classroom learning topics.  It could also be used as a way to summarize and showcase our classroom learning.  As I searched Slideshare, I came across one presentation that had been created by a Kindergarten classroom.  Outside of the classroom, Slideshare could be a useful way to learn more about a personal topic of interest, gain ideas about sharing information about a topic, and just for fun as a way to share in the common interests of other users.

Thing Seventeen

Give a review of the tool you explored - what worked, what didn't work, how might it be used in your personal or professional life? 

I explored a tool called “Dropbox” which can be found at dropbox.com.  By creating an account on Dropbox, users can “drop” documents and photos into folders that can be accessed from any workstation.  The documents can also be shared with other people who can then modify and edit.  The site also provides a single file option so that documents and photos can be shared with people who do not have a Dropbox account.  I was also able to install a free Dropbox app on my phone. 

When I first created my account, I was automatically given 18GB of storage space.  New users can earn more free space by completing a list of tasks such as taking a site tour, inviting friends to join, and uploading and sharing a document.  By completing most of these tasks, I was able to earn 256MB of extra storage space.  Users who need more space can upgrade by paying $9.99 per year.  Because I don’t have a clear understanding of megabytes or gigabytes, I’m not sure if I will need more space.

I have spent a short amount of time exploring this tool, and have been impressed so far.  For my own personal or professional use it seems like an easy way to access documents from other computer workstations as well as my mobile device.  It also appears to be an easy way to share and collaborate on documents.  I like the option that allows single document sharing for people who do not have a Dropbox account.  I also like that a document does not have to be converted from a Microsoft Word format, like it does in Google Docs.  The limitation appears to be the limited storage space, although for my uses it appears that I will have plenty of space on this site.