Thing 23

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? Do you see the trends that Hargadon writes about in a different light than when you read about them in Thing 1? Has this program changed how you view the Internet or how you 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?

I definitly see myself as more confident in using these tools.  Some obviously more then others but I think that can be expected.  I still think the amount of technology and information can be overwhelming at times.  However, I understand that this is what teaching is becoming.  Our students are exposed to technology everywhere and it is essential that I try to do more. 

I was at a conference last month and we were on break eating lunch.  I took out my computer and was emailing back and forth with a few students about some questions they were having.  The teachers I was sitting with were shocked that I would email students on a Saturday.  I told them that it was either that quick 2 minute email then or it could be a stressed out 7th grader by Monday who also had their parents stressed out.  I'll take the 2 minutes.  It was just so weird to me that they thought emailing on a Saturday was me be technological.  Wow,  I just hope that my sons and daughter don't have teachers that out of touch.

As far as the tools that I have used in this Web 2.0 experience.  I am a thousand times more confident in creating a blog.  I also love the podcasts.  I'm sure I will spend more time on there searching around.  I have used google docs for a few years now and will continue to use it to collaborate with my teaching partners.  Overall finishing the 23 Things has been a good experience to explore the many tools available to educators.  Now if only I could remember all my usernames and passwords :)

Thing 22

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?

Klos' Wiki

Ok, I did it.  I made a wiki.  I have to say that I am not that impressed by this tool.  It seems too similar to a blog or website.  The only difference I can really see is the collaboration aspect of it.  However, I do think there are also creative ways to collaborate using blogs too.  I'm still not convinced that wikis are in my future.

Thing 21

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 was inspired by the flatplanet wiki.  I like the fact that it showed the collaboration of the students who are in completely different continents were able to collaborate on the wame wiki. 
The thing I still struggle with in making a wiki is that a lot of what I can do on a wiki I can do elsewhere.  Even on the flatplanet wiki they say at the bottom to see their blog for more information.  It just seems like doing double the work for the same result. 

Thing 20

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?

I subscribed to The Math Dude and Dirty Tips to Make Math Easier.

I prefered just searching on itunes.  It was quick, easy, and I was able to listen to it very quickly.  I also have to say I am so excited that I don't have to have an ipod to use itunes.  I never tried it before because I thought I had to have the ipod.  I must be more of a technology immigrant than I thought :)

Thing 19

Which podcasts did you find interesting? Identify one or two podcasts and describe how you would use them in your work?

The podcast I found interesting is the Math Grad. 
 http://www.mathgrad.com/shownotes.html

I liked that he had topics that discussed math that is around us in popular culture.  Some examples include suduko and deal or no deal.  I like showing my students how math isn't just found in a Math book.  His podcast seems to do that too!

Thing 18

Gaming In Education2

View more PowerPoint from Jeffrey Piontek

What did you like about the presentation you embedded? How might Slideshare be useful in the classroom? out of the classroom?
I like that it took a nontraditional look at how students can use technology even the technology of games to learn.  I would use slideshare in the classroom if I find one that relates to what we are learning.  It is a great resource to borrow from other teachers and to publish your own.

Thing 17

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 tried the site Remember the Milk.  Again another username and password to remember.  If I could remember them they I probably could remember the milk on my own.  I wonder if there is a secure tool for remembering all my user names and passwords?  That would be a tool for me!

Thing 16

How might you use this tool in your personal and professional life? What issues come to mind about using this tool with students (ie, they need email addresses to log-in)?

I love google docs!  When we started using it in summer school I knew it was something I would continue to use.  I think it would be great to use as an address book.

The one issue I think comes up is if you share and allow others to edit it, I worry about how they might edit it.  For example if students started changing the labels or messing with other student's responses.  Maybe it's just the control freak in me :)

Thing 15

Is RSS becoming easier to understand? Do you recognize new benefits of using this tool? Do you remember to check your feeds regularly? Has it become a habit (or obsession!) yet?

I still do not like RSS.  I get it, but I'm ok with missing some posts.  I already feel my inbox is overwhelming.  It is just one more thing to do.  When I added the tag feed with the delicious site.  My RSS went crazy with tons of feeds.  Most of them were junk feeds that had nothing to do with the tag I was looking for.  RSS just has me frustrated!

Thing 14

 Does Delicious seem to be a tool that can enhance your productivity?

I like that I can label my websites into categories I choose.  I also think the stacking to is very effective.  The only drawback I currently have is that it is another username and password to remember.  It is getting hard to keep them all straight.

Thing 13

Share your thoughts about tagging. Is tagging a useful way to organize your digital resources and why? What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages? What is important to think about before assigning tags to bookmarks or other Internet content?
I definitly think tagging will be useful for organizing my favorites.  Sometimes I think I have a website saved as a favorite, and go to find it but then realize that I have it saved on my home computer instead of my work computer and vice versa.  It will definitly be an advantage to only have to organize it once. 

Thing 12

Review the widget you selected. Are you getting comfortable with embedding code? Do you belong to other online communities? Are relationships formed online as meaningful as face-to-face relationships? Why do you think Facebook and other social networking sites are so popular with kids today?

I definitely think I am more comfortable embedding code.  If I would have known that it was as easy as copying and pasting I wouldn't have waited this long to try it.  I do think it is hilarious that I just blogged a week ago about Voki and here it is as one of the 23 things.  It is so cool.  I already created one, so this time I tried something different.  I embedded the map instead.  It was easy to do, but now that I think about it I probably won't have many hits from around the world :) It was still fun though.

I am on Facebook, but I have to admit sometimes I am very active on there and then sometimes I go for weeks without checking.  My friends and family know how to get a hold of me if they need to.  This is why I think online relationships are not nearly as important as those I see face-to-face and make time for. 

I think kids like Facebook and similar sites because they want to be "liked" and the want everyone to "like" what they are doing.  They get instant approval from their friends