In the Clouds...

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I would like to start off by saying I thought I was "Internet savvy" until I completed this assignment.  I taught myself a lot by completing this lesson. 

The first site I investigated was http://www.studyblue.com/.  This website offers students and teachers the ability to make and study flashcards online.  The site states it is a digital book bag.  I believe this site could offer great benefits for teachers and students alike.  It would cut down on note taking and paper consumption and would allow the students to save their notes digitally and have access to them whenever they have access to the Internet.  No more lugging around tons of paper notebooks filled with notes. 

The second site I investigated was The DimensionU Learning  http://www.dimensionu.com/default.aspx .  This site will benefit teachers and students because it offers curriculum and games that are engaging and fun. The downfall is that you do have to purchase this program, but they do offer some games that are free.

The third site I investigated was http://www.espressoeducation.com/.  Out of the three sites I found this would be the most beneficial to education.  As educators we are constantly told to connect learning to the lives of our students.  This site brings together current news articles that are age and curriculum appropriate.  Each week there is a new list of articles.  These articles are achieved for easy access.  There are also links for each article that offer quizzes to test listening skills.  Where I teach we use non fiction articles to teach skills at least twice a week.  This would really cut down on the time I spend searching the Internet for articles.  I also use news article to teach current events.  This site is also a paid site, but it seems well worth the money.
 

Wikipedia defines a tag as, “… a non-hierarchical keyword or term assigned to a piece of information (such as an Internet bookmark, digital image, or computer file).”  Tagging helps describe an item and allows it to be found easily by browsing or searching.  

Vitaly Friedman states that tag clouds, “… can provide visitors with an instant illustration of the main topics, giving a very specific and precise orientation of the site’s content.”  Word clouds can also be used in the classroom to begin or focus on word choices in writing such things as personal narratives or analyzing a famous speech. 

Social bookmarking is my new best friend.  As a teacher I have a set of favorites on each of the computers I use; school, lap top, and my home PC.  This tool will give me access to all my favorite sites at a touch of a bottom.  It will also allow me to save articles or any other information I find valuable and allow me to access it anytime using an Internet connection.

All of these valuable tools cut down on the amount of time we would spend either searching or trying to access information on the web.  Time is valuable to educators and students.  These tools will affect teaching and learning in a manner that will be faster and will allow access to the most current up to date information.

I've learned more about twitter than I ever thought I would.  First, I didn't realize that I could use twitter on my smart phone.  I seems to make sense now, and if I continue using it I will use it on my phone verses using it on the web.  I didn't know that with twitter you had the option of replying publically or privately.  I assumed it was like facebook everything except an inbox is viewed by all your friends or anyone if you don't set up your privacy manager.  In the article from the New York Times entitled, Twittering Tips for Beginners, the author stated, "No other communication channel can match its capacity for real-time, person-to-person broadcasting."  I think twitting could be used in the classroom if you were taking a pole or even asking a simple question.  It would be a great way to get the students engaged in what ever you are teaching.  I believe now after all I have learned that twittering could be a valuable resource to use in the classroom.  One problem I see, at least at my school is our network blocks site like twitter.  The networks I choose to follow on Twitter were New Scientist, National Geographic, and Discovery Channel US.  I teach science and I love to read science facts to my students.  This network has posted some pretty interesting facts and  links to some great articles and I have only been using it for a day.  I'll admit I would have never created an account if it wasn't a requirement for this assignment.  I'm glad I took this class.

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/twittering-tips-for-beginners/

I also learned more about blogging also called collaborated communication then I ever thought I would.  I love to write to express myself and the first thing I learned is that your blog can be seen by anyone who searches for your name.  Because I am a teacher this was a little disheartening to me.  I'm not saying I would post inappropriate material, but there are times I like to rant when I write.  It's a way for me to vent.  For now I'll keep those rants on my word journal.  I learned that these collaborative communities, "are gaining a  great deal of traction and are poised to enter mainstream use in primary and secondary education both as supplemental and as a primary classroom spaces."  This was interesting to me I never thought of using blogs as a way to communicate with my students.  I beleive now after all I learned about blogs that they could and will be a valuable classroom resource.

http://wp.nmc.org/horizon-k12-2010/chapters/collaborative-enviroments/

I also learned how to post a link to a blog so other people can follow articles or information your writing or commenting on.