Podcasting--Great Web 2.0 Tool

Learning about new web 2.0 teaching tools has added some excitement into thinking and planning my next years library lessons. Podcasting for one, creating and using a simple Podcast seems easy, fun and a great way to spice up any lesson! If I get principal and parental permission I would like to highlight students each month using a podcast and a readers theater, which the students love, and posting them on my website.

I also found this great site EDUCATION PODCAST NETWORK which is an effort to bring together the wide range of podcast programming that may be helpful to teachers looking for content to teach with and about, and to explore issues of teaching and learning in the 21st century.

7 Things You Should Know About Virtual Worlds

I am intrigued by Second Life, but I haven't had time to go in and explore.

As we know a virtual 3D world, like second life, is an online interactive environment. I.m trying to look at the possibilities that this could have with providing new types of experiences to our students. The scenario that this article discussed was definitely a great use of this tool. Older students can use this tool to set up a community, they can make decisions, interact with others, express themselves creatively and put themselves in charge of their own learning. EXCITING! However, it may have a downside if students aren't monitored closely they can stray from the desired educational goal you have set for them.

Twiigs--Web 2.0

I'm trying again to set up a poll on my Blog.
I created one from scratch so here we go.

Which Web 2.0 Tool is Your Favorite?

• Teacher Tube


• Twiigs


• Delicious


• Flickr


• Blogging

Created on June 17, 2007

View Results

more at twiigs.com...

Please vote. Thank you!

Web 2.0--Teacher Tube/ You Tube/Twiig

Wow, I know after reading Terrible Two, some people seem to be questioning web 2.0. But when you have sites like teacher tube where you can watch or create classroom videos it becomes a great classroom teaching tool. It is very interactive-I'm hooked.

"You tube" I wouldn't use as a classroom tool because I did view one video on setting up a blog account that really wasn't appropriate for teachers or students. So you need to be careful.

Alot of classmates were talking about "Twiigs" so I went to investigate and really found a site that a can use to get my students involved in book selections. I would only use it a couple times a year unless I had 3 or 4 books to go with the curr. I need to cover then I could use it more. But I made a sample poll or their website. It was great. Students can feel they have a say in their learning! I'm excited!!

Which book would you like to read next week? (First Grade)

Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
The Umbrella by Jan Brett
Lilly's Big Day by Kevin Henkes
Fancy Nancy by Jane O'connor

The Terrible Twos: School Library 2.0

Does Web 2.0 live up to their hype? They represent a new way of interacting online. This online article lead me to lots of different 2.0 tools and articles. The one article I read was School Library 2.0 After I finish with this post I want to search why NCLB (No Child Left Behind) does not recognize librarians as highly qualified teachers. I don't understand why, when they contribute to improve students achievement by providing instructional materials aligned to the curriculum and they collaborate with teachers. Librarians are teachers/ they are building bridges with teaches to help our students succeed. When using varies web 2.0 tools the school library can add more to support the school's curriculum. Students can use these tools to access resources though blogging social bookmarking Rss and wikis. I thought it would be great to set up a blog for 2-4 graders on my webpage for next year (its not on the one I created) but they could do a book review if they wanted on the books they took out of the library for the week and read. It would be fun for the other students, teachers and me to read. I have challenged myself to find ways to brings some 2.0 tools to my school library.

Library Wesites and Proboards

I have spent many hours veiwing library web pages. I found many to be excellent offering alot of data for parents, teachers and students, and some that were just ok. It really is amazing what you can do with you web page once you have the skills to do. I can't believe how time I've been putting into designing our web page. I'm excited about it. I'm excited about trying to add web 2.0 tools into this page and create my tutorial also onto this page.

I just visited the proboard site registered and read the rules and am finding it a little to complicated for me. I would like to watch somebody role play in this site I am just not sure I could do it at first. Theres that confidence level that I am lacking.

Browser 3D

I was watching the news Thursday morning before work and they mentioned to this new technology(3D Browsers) for the web. Now, normally I wouldn't have caught it but this class has made me aware of so many new things related to technology and the web. Which is a good thing! It sparked my interest so I did a search on 3D browsers. I remember what you said in class using your hands comparing tech. where its been, where we are today, and where we are going in the future. 3D browsers I feel definitely pulls us forward into the future of technology. Browsing the web in 3D sounds awesome and a little bit scarey. 3D Browsers offers users a visual advantage of finding and using web information more productive. The article says "that 3D Browsers provide the most efficient ways to find, organize, save and share web-based data". 3D Brewsers will allow you to view 4 live web pages in a single window.

This sounds amazing and I've never done anything 3D before on the weg not enen gaming. So Second life will be my first. Hopefully I can do it.

Let's Cram

I thought this was a great site especially since it was created by a h.s. senior. How creative, letting students get together on line to do homework. It's a great way for students to get help from their peers if they need it. I also like that its user friendly for students, lets them post homework questions and even get study guides. My h.s. senior could have use really benifited from this site. It's amazing whats on the web if you only know where to look or search.



Yes! I'm learning and I'm really excited about it.

Week 3-- HTML Lesson

WOW!!! WHAT A GREAT CLASS!!! These html tags are really amazing. I sat when I got home from class to try and download everything we did tonight into my documents. At first I got frustrated because I didn't copy all the tabs to my e-mail. So I had to retype it. Ok--what I learned was to always double check to make sure the whole page was highlightened and copied. So after I retyped I saved it to my documents. Again, I got frustrated because it wouldn't open as a web page. Again, I had to stop and think and look how I was saving it. Once I had it as an html file I was ok. It opened and looked great. I went back and centered my sentences within my chart. I tried to add an animated picture but it didn't work. So, I'll play with that tomorrow. I can't wait to begin working on my web page.

How Amazon Revolutionized The Publishing Industry

Amazon revolutionize the publishing industry when with technology it offers the ability to puchase any book from the comfort of your home. These books are then mailed directly to you. Besides being able to purchase books, amazon gives you the ability to read book reviews as well as write them. This lets you as well as others decide whether a book may interest you or not.

Wal*Mart

How Did Walmart Revolutionize Society?

Wal-mart the biggest retailer! First there was Wal-Mart and then came super Wal-Mart!
So how did it become the biggest and how did it revolutionize society? By being a store that has: one stop shopping, low prices, up to date technology, low wages and knowing what their customers want. The more stores they open the more jobs that become available. However, this does put some of the mom and pop stores out of business.

With over 20 million shoppers visiting Wal-Mart on a daily basis they must be doing something right. Even though some people might not agree with this. Customers are looking for the lowest prices (value for the dollar) and a store where they can get most of their needs, from food, hba's, toys, music, stationary, household items, sporting goods, clothes, eye care, pharmacy needs, photo needs, pet supplys , lawn and garden needs and much, much more. One stop shopping saves the customer time and money.

Some people feel Wal-Mart has had a negitive effect on society They feel they don't take care of their employers offering them lower wagers and fewer benifits.

But in the scheme of things Wal-Marts success and how its helped to revolutionize society comes from offereing products at a lower price and keeping its labor costs down.

Week 2--Web 2.0--Kayak--43 Things--Zillow

KAYAK I thought this was a great site that I know I would defintely use when planning a vacation. You know you'll get the best prices since they are not trying to sell you anything. Teachers could definitely use this site in a social studies lesson. With 4th or 5th graders teachers could have students each pick a state of their choice that they would like to visit. Students could research facts and points of interests about the state--make a brochure. Then students can go to Kayak and investigate the best prices for flights and hotels if they were to plan a trip to that state.


43 THINGS I thought this was a fun site. I always have to make list on a daily basis of the things I did to do during the day. So this site takes it one step farther on making a list of goals you'd like to achieve and sharing your progress once you've reached those goals. Its also a way of meeting people who have similar goals.

Library 2.0

I wasn't going to be ambitious--but all my reading was done for this week so I didn't to see what Library 2.0 was all about.

The first two thing I read were libraries for the next generation and libraries are changing. Which brought back to Technology and how it has an impact on everything. There is so much you can do with technology. Imaging utilizing and retrieving any and all library needs and services from your own home. These changes and services would greatly benefit students busy life styles and schedules, who can't get to the library during normal hours.

I'm always looking for the latest or a good book to read. Having customers comment and write their reviews about the books they have read in the catolog can be benifical to others.

Libraries do have to keep up with the changing needs of its users and to reach out to those who currently don't utilize its services.

Library 2.0 will be utilizing the new technologies of Web 2.0. Since I'm not familar with web 2.0, that's were I go from here to learn what its about and connect it to Library 2.0.

Horizon Article

So much has impacted on higher education as well regular education. Things aren't simple any more. Do to increasing costs, people having to work more and crazy schedules their is more of a need for distance education. Unlike me who would much rather find time to sit in a classroom and learn, other are on the go and need to do their schooling on line. Within this article one of the trend they discussed I didn't really understand information literacy--I'm assuming is just taking information we read in literature/articles and processing it to make sense of our changing world.
To be continued--

Pew Internet and American Life Project

First off I was thinking if I was a teen in todays society (I'm glad I'm Not) would I be able to keep up with all this new tech. and how fast its changing, updating and growing? Well, we know I'm having problems with all of it now because I'm so behind the times. Hopefully by the end of the class I'll have mastered some of it. I've already come a long way!!!

I thought this was a good article and it made me think and pose questions to myself. I have blocks on my computer(of course someone set them up for me) and I go in and check sites my teenagers have been on. But because I don't feel I know enough about computers and technologies can my kids find ways to get around the system?

MySpace has always made me nervous because of the information kids can post about themselves. When my kids first starting using this I made them take themselves off because I was too afraid. They do have accounts again, because everyone else does and as they say we need to stay in touch with our friends. So my oldest son helps me moniter it because of that tech. issue that I have never been good with.

I liked the question that this article pose "Are teen less concerned about their privacy because the internet gives them many opportunities to socialize and share infor." I'm glad it wasn't a sure cut yes. Hopefully most teens continue to remember (with parents help) the risks that they can encounter by putting up to much personal info. for all the public to read. Are teen who are sharing too much personal infor. or taking to strangers on line--those whose parents not closely moniter their computer and internet us? Maybe-Probably!

I was really glad to learn that only 16% of teens are connected to people on social networking sites who they have never met before.

Are job as parents are to just keep on open line of communication between ourselves and our kids and know what they are into and to keep them safe.

7 Things You Should Know About...

Tonight I read alot of these tools. Social Studies and Science can come to life in your classroom using Google Earth and Mapping Mashups. Flying around the world and visiting places you are learning about making comparison..I sit here saying wow. The possibilities are endless and the learning is so incredible. Adding these tools to your curriculum help reach the different types of learners and make students want to take part in their learning. No student should be bored. Now I need to figure out how I can incorporate some of these tools into my lessons that I teach in the library.

I'm learning so much already as to what technology tools that are available that I never knew before. I've never been on IM and just this week I've been in my first chat room. I've only started text messaging recently. I'm behind the times. Not for long though!

Facebook II is definately a great tool for college students and now even HS students. As I was reading this I thought it would be so useful to those HS students who know what they want to do but not sure which schools offer their major or which school has the best program. They post this infor and connect with students in that major at various colleges. Get their opinion and weight pros and cons.

It still makes me nervous when kids have personal information posted whether it be here on facebook or myspace because of all the crazy people in the world today.

I keep thinking about the Battle of the Books that I do the the fourth graders and how I'm going to set up some media tool( right now its setting up classroom reading group bloggs because that one of the few tools I know about right now) next year. Each group has 5 students in it (5 Group) the students will have to post the main facts after each chapter they read. Then the other students can read about the facts of the books they don't read. Something like that.

Back to my reading

Media Multi-Tasking Article

We have become a society that relies on media to accomplish our daily tasks throughout the day. Where would we be without it. Cell phones alone keep us in contact with others 24 hrs a day either verbally or texting. And with the use of that same cell phone you can be on the web or down loading and listening to music, taking pictures and making vidoes. This article was an eye openener and most parents and teachers should read it. Scarey thought that kids spend 6 and 1/2 hrs a day using various forms of media, multing tasking, and most of these hours are not doing school work. Statistics showed that students who spend more hours playing video games have lower grades. Kids are not being closely monitored when using some of these media tools espescially when they have computers and TVs in their rooms. Kids even admitted even if they have time limits on these tools its not being inforced by their parents.

i was really glad to read that 3 out of 4 kids (73%) still read read for pleasure during a typical day even with all these media tools at their fingertips.

After First Class Thoughts

I am so excited about getting started and learning about new technoloy that I can apply to my daily library lessons and helping the teachers with their curriculum. I am going to investagate the reading websites tonight. Can't wait! Thank you to all who helped me tonight.

I Made It Through the First Night

Here we are! I'm still really scared that I'm not going to be able to do this on line. But the few friends that I sat next to said that they would help me. That was great. I am really excited about taking this course and learning all the ways that I can better assist my students in the library.