Thing #23

I have always wanted to become more Web savvy and this has definitely helped. I particularly liked learning about Wiki’s and Podcasts. I’m not so much into the social networking stuff with the exception of a Ning for professionals. I was kind of surprised that one would use Twitter. I think that one would have better things to do but Reality shows abound on TV and some people are into that kind of thing. I liked how everything was hot linked. It made researching easier. I already heard that there is 11 ½ more things out there. I will definitely visit that on my own soon. It’s really cool that someone with recent knowledge of the Web can keep the rest of us abreast of current things. I would describe this exercise as rewarding and fun.

Thing #22

I can see how a Ning can be of use to a librarian/teacher. The ones I visited have many members and lots of information and ideas shared. It can be a very powerful tool for communication between likeminded people. Librarians can become part of a network that can bounce ideas off of each other. The librarian can use this to glean new ideas for the library. This might be more user friendly to the librarian who isn’t into RSS feeds or Listservs or doesn’t have as much time for them as needed. I can see possibilities for a class to use one but it would have to be carefully monitored

Thing #21

I used Audacity to create a recording of my voice over a piece of music. This is pretty cool. The program can get complicated and I will have to delve into it more later. I had trouble uploading it to this Blog. I'm already familiar with Photostory though and created a simple one of my nephew's 4th birthday. Students can get very creative in using this to make a presentation on any subject.

Thing #20

I have heard of YouTube and always thought it was just a plaything for teenagers. I did not realize that it encompassed so much more than just funny videos. This is an awesome platform for video interface. One can learn so much about all kinds of subjects. Being able to learn visually is very powerful. Of course, one can still see all the cool videos that are out there for fun as well. TeacherTube is, of course, more of a learning tool as it is used primarily to help people in the education sector become more knowledgeable. I teach special needs children and some of them are medically fragile. I found videos on how to use special equipment such as standers, etc. Very informative.

Thing #19

I took a look at Google Maps at maps.google.com. This is a really useful tool. Not only does it show a street map of a place but it also shows a satellite image. One can use it simply to see someplace or even get written directions to and from there but a really neat thing it does is identify places of business or other importance. If I wanted to find the nearest McDonald’s. I just put input McDonald’s and it plops down icons that identify locations within that map. I could see them on a complete city map or just by zip code. I can drag the map around instead of clicking the edge of the map for faster panning. If I need to see familiar landmarks, I can switch to satellite mode. A Social Studies class can use it to find famous places an landmarks such as the Washington Monument by inputting the name and it just moves over to that location. A student then could zoom in and take a picture of the monument from the air.

Thing #18

Google Docs is a novel concept. I can create office documents as I would on my own computer and have them open for sharing and editing with those that need to have access to them. It can just be an information sharing forum or a document building forum. Nobody needs to have access to my computer and needless tedious communication can be minimized. I can also keep folders on my computer to a minimum. I still would like to have a home office suite to do personal documents however. Our group in class that I am a part of is already using this to facilitate our final project. Whoopie!