Is it the end or only the begining?

The 23 Things taught me a great deal about what is out there on the internet.  In the past I had heard about free internet tools, but I was leery of clicking download.  This activity forced me to do just that.  It forced me to sign up for free memberships and services.  It forced me to use tools that I was afraid to use before.  In just one semester, I have found so many new and exciting tools.  I am grateful to have a blog so I can go back over it to remember just which ones I liked, like flowchart.com, and the ones that I didn't like so much like livebinder.com.  The experience allowed me to explore so many new websites and required me to keep an actual log of my experiences on those sites.  This fact allow will help ensure that the end of this class is not the end of my use of many of these tools.  Since I have a record, I won't quickly forget them.  I know I will use many of these things in my teaching.  I am excited about the possibilities.

Thing # 23

I googled 23 Things, Web 2.0 and found the link to this site:  http://plcmcl2-things.blogspot.com/

This link proves that the 23 Things is modified from someone else's original work.  Since the creative commons teaches us that an idea cannot be copyrighted, then that makes this OK. Our 23 things is completely different from theirs.

It's only a problem if you copy someone's exact work.  I will use Creative Commons licensing in the future to ensure that my students understand copyright laws.  I will also use the concept to create activities for my class.  The 23 things was a great activity to help us learn about Web 2.0 tools.  I am glad someone decided to take the idea and build from it for our class.  I can apply the same principle to develop new activities for my students in the future.

Thing # 22

Livebinders is a lot like Delicious, a social bookmarking tool.  I found it to be very time consuming.  I also did not like that it wanted me to install their livebinder toolbar.  I despise programs that want me to change my toolbar.  I work hard to customize my toolbar to my needs and get comfortable with it.  Then, with the click of a button, my toolbar has been completely changed to add their new improved toolbar.  The only problem is that then I have trouble finding or doing anything on that new tool bar.  It took me longer to uninstall the toolbar and livebinder program from my computer to get back to normal function than I enjoy. 

Thing #21

I worked for quite some time trying to paste my Animoto slide show with music.  I liked my Flickr account and tried to link the pictures of my kids, but finally gave up and just added in photos on my computer.  I do not think Animoto is as simple to use as promised.  I quickly got frustrated with it.  I will definitely not use this site again. 

Thing # 20

YouTube could have a great educational significance if we were allowed access to in the classroom.  Since you cannot save a YouTube video directly to your computer without a YouTube link, all You Tube videos get blocked in the classroom in this county.  I teach Health Science education.  I chose to look up how to take a blood pressure, something I teach in my class.  I found a variety of very good educational videos that would help me to show my students how to take a blood pressure before I give them the equipment to actually take a blood pressure.  I like You Tube.  I know the potential for abuse is out there, but I feel that in this case, the educational value to educators may outweigh the risk.  If we are all doing our part as educators and monitoring the internet use of our students, it could be possible to use YouTube for educational purposes only. 

Thing # 19

I joined the TeacherPop Ning website.  I looked at this one and several of the educational networking sites.  I can see the usefulness of these sites.  These site help to allow you to connect with other educators out there.  Who better to ask when you need new ideas in your class than experienced teachers.  I will definitely use these sites again.

Thing # 18

I am a regular social networker.  I already have a Facebook and a Twitter account.  I update my status on Facebook daily.  I do not update on Twitter much at all, but I use it to follow some of my favorite celebrities.  I enjoy using Facebook to keep up with family and friends.  It has even been useful in reconnecting with old friends.  I am not sure, however, of it's use in the educational setting.  Most school systems, ours included, block these sites from their servers. Students unfortunately are using these sites for things such as cyberbullying and inviting this into the school system is just not an option.  Additionally, as a rule, I do not accept friend requests from any of my students or their parents.  Even though I would love to use something like Facebook to keep my students informed, I think that the potential for them to use this site inappropriately would be there, and I will feel like I had to be constantly checking and rechecking their posts.