23 Things Summary

Wow!! I can't believe how much I have learned over the past weeks. I had heard of most of the tools we explored in 23 Things, but I never imagined actually working with them all (and more) in such a short amount of time.

Although I really enjoyed working with the photos and image generators, I think my favorite discovery of all was learning about all Google has to offer.

I look forward to revisiting the Learning 2.0 23 Things website often to go back over the Web 2.0 tools. I feel like I've learned alot, but I have a sinking suspicion we've just scratched the surface.

The neat thing about these 23 Things is that I don't have to tackle them all at once. I can pick one and work on it for a while, share it with colleagues and show them how their students can use it. The sites are so user friendly, I know that I'll be able to get a couple of teachers to "bite.

I really enjoyed the experience, as I get closer to my deadline I realize that I've had plenty of time to complete all of the tasks outlined. I spent more time than necessary on some of the tools, but that is just a testament to how much fun I was having. I can't imagine how I would have managed 23 Things during the school year, though. I would definitely take another discovery program like this again. I appreciate how it has been more than just an online class, it has really been a series of experiences.
Until then, I'll just keep revisiting Learning 2.0 - 23 Things and listening to the podcasts I have subscribed to via RSS.

Dear Mary & Debbie,

Thanks you guys, I know it has been a lot of work on you, but I feel like I have learned so much and I am truly grateful that you have offered this class. You are the best, and we are fortunate to have you here in Mesquite ISD!!

Thing #23 Creative Commons

This statement is taken from http://misd23things.blogspot.com/2008/05/about-learning-20-23-things.html. 

"The Learning 2.0 - 23 Things program is based on the Learning 2.0 program that was designed by Helene Blowers, Technology Director at the Charlotte Mecklenburg County Public Library system, with the support and assitance of several staff. Helene's program was loosely based upon Stephen Abram's article, 43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year (Information Outlook - Feb 2006) and the website 43Things."

As an Elementary Technology Facilitator I regularly see teachers struggle with what they can and can't do material they find online. I can encourage them to look for the Creative Commons symbols when they are selecting media files for classroom use. More importantly though, I can help them to understand what the symbols mean and to clarify some of the confusion surrounding copyright and the Public Domain. 

Thing #22 Podcasts: no iPod needed!

The podcast I chose to post about came from the The Educational Podcast Network. I like this directory because I new I wouldn't have to browse through a lot of random titles to find ones related to elementary schools. I recognized many of the podcasters but was also glad to see several I had not heard of before. The one criticism I have is that the episode titles are not specific nor do they give the length of time. I'm not a fan of long podcasts.
The one I chose to listen to was "ACE Kids". This podcast is produced by 5/6 year students from Ballina, Australia. They added sound effects and soundtracks to make the episodes more appealing. I added its RSS feed to my Google Reader. I look forward to hearing any new episodes from this school, there teacher is moving on, so they are not sure if they will still podcast next year.
The Educational Podcast Network is definitely a directory I will return to often and who knows, maybe one day you'll see podcasts from me on there!

Thing #21 Animoto

Before I even signed up for Animoto, I thought, "Now this is going to be fun!" I immediately started thinking of this as a way to showcase a photos from a field trip, or science investigation.

An idea to wrap up "23 Things"  came to mind so I sought out logos from the sites we have visited. I ended up with 22 images, some of them were corrupted, so instead of worrying about that I just used the remaining images. Well, that didn't work, there was apparently problems with my image files and I got a message that they will contact me via email if my video short can be produced. Okay, so on to plan B. Here's a video short using Flickr images of GiGi. By the way, it is recommended by Animoto that you retrieve images from an online photo management site rather than upload them from your own desktop files because images in Flickr are already formatted and compressed and all that jazz and are ready for Animoto to use.

Thing #20 You Too can You Tube

After spending waaaaaaay too much time searching for a good video to post, I finally chose this interview with author Betsy Byars. I chose it because I enjoyed watching it. One thing I found as I watched videos on YouTube is that I became very bored and didn't watch most of them in their entirety. I used the search feature on YouTube for several different topics. I found this video in the related video pane while watching another author video. 

I love that there are so many videos to preview. I also like that they are made by just regular people. I think it would be good to gather a few videos made by children to demonstrate to a class how they too can create and post videos. The problem is finding just the right videos. The rating stars didn't really mean anything, some videos I previewed had 5 stars, but they just weren't pleasurable to watch. 

All-in-all I appreciate what YouTube has to offer, but the experience of searching for a video to post was not too fun for me.

GiGi

Find more photos like this on 23 Thingsters

Thing #19 Beyond MySpace: other social networks

This was one huge thing!!! I enjoyed exploring the many social networks sites presented. I had no idea there were so many. I joined the Ning network Mary set up for us and added pictures to my page. I also created a badge and posted it to my blog, along with the photo slideshow widget. All of these tasks were very easy to do in Ning. I also posted the slideshow widget to MySpace. 

After reading Jim Louderback's article, "My Guide to Social Networks" I felt personally challenged to join Pownce. I have found a new friends and am just waiting to see if they will accept me:) I know I have a long way to go, but maybe one day I'll be allowed to hang out with the "Super-cool Web 2.0 kids."

So, my adventure with Thing #19 made me a member of the 23Thingsters and Pownce. I also Twitter and have MySpace and Facebook pages with a couple of friends:) Oh, I also have a Nike+ account that I visit regularly to log runs and talk smack.

I like how simple Ning is to navigate and manipulate. I really think I will try to set up a social network for the teachers in my schools. These social network sites are so user friendly, or have I just become more Web 2.0 friendly?

Thing #18 Explore Social Networking

As I was browsing through Facebook and MySpace I realized that these social networking sites are for everyone, including our students. For that fact alone, we as educators should know the basics of how they work? I set up a site on Facebook and joined a group for teachers. Social networking is not just for making personal connections, but also professional. I really liked how Facebook pages I visited were clean and easy to load, MySpace pages were very unique to the creator and often tended to be chaotic and difficult to read and load. I can see how MySpace appeals to younger web users.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1344744497

Thing #17 Tagging and Social Bookmarking with del.icio.us

After browsing the three social bookmarking sites I really got a better idea of what the "hype" is. Del.icoi.us is a really cool Web 2.0 tool that will change the way I keep track of sites that interest me. The only challenge I really find with del.icio.us is the pink highlighted "savedby" text. It's hard to read, I wish they would make the text black within the pink. I enjoyed seeing what tags others used for the different sites. 

These social bookmarking tools are very beneficial for personal or professional research. I went ahead and created my own account, I think now I will migrate my Safari bookmarks from previous research projects to del.icio.us.

Classroom teachers can take advantage of del.icio.us as they point their students toward quality websites. 

What a cool tool that makes a lot more sense to me now that I've had time to learn more about it.

Thing #16 Get Organized with Web 2.0 Tools

Overall, I'm really impressed with the Google suite of Web 2.0 tools. It seems like they have a solution for all productivity and communication needs. I just got the new iPhone, with "push" technology. My mail, calendar, contacts and photos all sync between my iPhone, MacBook, and Safari. This is all great for my personal needs, but Google really addresses the collaborative needs as well.

Stickies

These little reminders are great. I use them alot and they really help me keep on top of things. Here's a picture of my current desktop.

Online To Do Lists

Backpack is pretty neat, I like its clean appearance. I think I will give it a try for a couple of months and see if it helps me get things done.

Online Calendars

My first attempt at working with an online calendar was a no go. Unfortunately the link to Kiko didn't work. So then I tried working with Spongecell. Creating the calendar was pretty easy. I like how I could select a color scheme. I noticed at the bottom of the calendar there was an iCal link so I clicked it, and sure enough, the event I created was sent to my iCal. Strangely though, instead of the start being at 8:00 am, it imported at 10:00 am.... hmmmmm.

Currently I really don't have a need to publish a collaborative calendar. But if the time comes that I do, I certainly know where to find one. I really like Google Calendars.

Customized Start Pages

I customized my iGoogle page, I had already worked with it quite a bit prior to #16, so I redesigned the header.

Thing #15 Wikis

The more I work with wikis the more I like them and the more I regret all the past time spent building a classroom website from scratch.  I created a wiki for a church project this morning using PBWiki. It took a couple of hours, and even though it isn't anything flashy, it does have a lot information. I had problems inserting images, but I'll work on that some tomorrow. I ran into a couple other problems, that I need to figure out, but overall it was pretty easy and some of the members of my church group have already emailed me to let me know that they have made changes.  I was so impressed with that. 

I love that wikis allow the author to open up the site for editing and revision to readers. How cool would it be to post a passage on your wiki site and have students login in and revise and edit it? Or set up a page of math problems for students to solve using the "edit" button. I wonder if there is a way to force the wiki to revert to an original page once the student logs out?

One thing is for sure though, once you open up your publications for revision by the masses, you have to relinquish a lot of control. What a great step towards "Guide on the Side".

Here's the link to the church wiki I created this morning:

http://sherriguerra.pbwiki.com/St%20Martin%27s%20Heavenly%20Dishes%20II

Thing #14 Go with the Flow

I created a Gliffy flowchart and a  bubbl.us mind map to plan for an upcoming trip. The biggest advantages to these two services is that they are online and therefore you can access your charts from virtually anywhere. I liked how user friendly they both are and if I needed to, they both have a collaboration feature which allows for others to work on the charts as well. This could be very handy for group projects.

Overall, I liked these tools, but I don't know how often I would really use them with elementary students or for myself for that matter. Very handy if the need arose, however:)

GiGi - a Zoho Writer Document

Meet GiGi

GiGi is a dog. She would be quite offended if she knew this little detail about her existence, so we'll go on referring to her and treating her as a person. Specifically, she is a Lhasa Apso. If you were to see the breeders' pics of their Lhasas you wouldn't think GiGi is one of them, I can't keep her coat long and flowing like they do, it gets too tangled and when it gets real long she starts to shed. So, she gets her hair cut but she doesn't mind, in fact she seems to strut after her visits to the groomers.

When GiGi was born in 2005 she was tiny, and just the cutest little fur ball. We drove all the way to Amarillo to pick her up. What a long drive that was, but worth the effort. She is very loving and you know she is happy to see you when her tail starts wagging and she jumps up in your lap and starts licking your face. You also know when she is not happy by the way she puts her nose up in the air and refuses to make eye contact with you.

All of my nieces and nephews just love GiGi. She plays with them and lets them chase her around the yard. She has never bitten any of them, even the babies when they have pulled her hair. That is quite impressive given the reputation Lhasa Apsos have for being impatient and stubborn.

Our family would not be complete without our little GiGi.

Thing #13 Web-based Applications

Zoho Writer is so easy to use. It's just like creating a word document. I tinkered with the text editor tools and found them all just super easy. Publishing to my blog should have been super easy too, right? NOT!! Ugh, super easy turned to super frustrating when it came time to enter a username and password. I've created so many usernames and account names and passwords recently and even though I've tried to simplify and keep them all the same, somewhere I did something wrong. Anyway, after resetting passwords and and republishing things finally worked out. You can read my Zoho Writer document right here on my blog! The box you see with a question mark in it is a smiley face I inserted in Zoho Writer. Not sure why the formatting didn't carry over......

This tool would be great for students creating documents at school that they need to edit at home. I wish I had Zoho Writer when I was working on my master's degree. How convenient to have working documents online that you can access from almost anwhere!

Thing #12 Google

Google has it goin' on! 

I set up an iGoogle page, it kind of reminds me of the MyYahoo page I once had. I was surprised at how easy it was to add gadgets, being able to select a gadget and continue browsing without being redirected back to the main page was nice. Once I returned to my iGoogle page I liked the layout. It was so easy to delete tabs and gadgets. This Google feature is so user-friendly. I even added a gadget for my Google Reader.  I set up a Google Alert for "Brad Angelina Babies", I know, cheesy, but it is all over the news and I knew I would see results with a topic like this. I looked for a gadget for Google Alerts and didn't find one. It would be great if my Google Alerts could be sent to my iGoogle page instead of to my email. Anybody know how to do that? iGoogle could easily become my Safari homepage!

As an educational tool, teachers could share their calendar with students and parents. There calendar could include assignments, class/school events, deadlines, meetings, etc.  Google Notebook can include a classroom newsletter for students and parents.

Google. That's a good thing!

Thing #11 Finding Good Feeds

The easiest way I found to locate good RSS feeds is to follow the experts. I went to the Edublogs' award winners list and just browsed.  There are plenty of blogs out there about "technology and education" and there are certain names to follow in this field that keep me busy with there daily postings. So I decided to search for Lhasa Apso feeds to get a new perspective on the blog searching experience. 

Feedster wouldn't open.

Google Blog Search was quick and easy but gave more hits than I could handle, so I narrowed my search by adding "training" and some of the blogs that came up weren't really what I had in mind...... But still, I found a couple to subscribe to.

Topix.net didn't really fit my needs at the time, since it searches news feeds but I did look at it, and liked how it is organized. I suppose it would be okay if you are looking for some obscure news story, but really there are so many news sources out there, I'm not sure this would be my first stop.

Syndic8 wouldn't open.

Technorati was a neat site. When I searched Lhasa Apso it gave a page full of stuff. A bit overwhelming at first but then I noticed four tabs "Posts, Blogs, Photos, Video". I liked how the hits were categorized. 

Overall, I liked Google Blog Search the best, just because it was simple to search and simple to view. But Technorati comes in a close second because of the way the results are organized. I was disappointed that two of the sites were not active and were a waste of time trying to figure out if it was a site error or a problem on my end or whatever.....

One of the things I found very interesting was that lots of the blogs I came across were Blogger sites. I also found it very helpful when the blogger posted a links list in the sidebar. Definitely something to think about as I am building my own blog site.

 

Thing #10 RSS Reader and Feeds

RSS and newsreaders really help me to use my time more efficiently. There are sites that I visit daily just to see what's new. This tool will help  save time by delivering the new stories to me. Now, if I can just find the time to read all of the stories.

I chose Google Reader because of its many features and because of the other products Google offers. I like that this newsreader is web-based, I also saw that it has an iPhone feature I plan to take advantage of. I have subscribed to lots of sites in the past just to realize that I'm seeing the same articles over and over again. I hope to eventually get my subscriptions weeded down to just the essential. I would like to find a few sites that would be of interest to the elementary teachers I support and then show them how to use a reader to stay informed and up-to-date.

Thing # 9 Online Image Generators

So these little image generators are kind of fun. I'm not feeling too creative right now, so I'll post the two I have made so far and then return when I find a little inspiration. 

This first cartoon is an incentive note for students. It says "You're doing a great job! Keep up the good work." They love hearing about our pets, so why not let our pets "speak" to them? I used  a photo of GiGi. http://www.fototrix.com

This second cartoon is a template and I just filled in the text. http://www.txt2pic.com/toons/5.htm

There is so much to see and so much to do within the links for the generators.... Very fun!

Thing #8 Flickr Mashups

GiGi mosaic
Originally uploaded by AuntSherri

Ohhhhhhh, so that's what a "Mash-up" is. I've heard the term and now I know. This was really fun and super easy. As I explored the various mashup sites provided I uploaded the products to my Flickr account then just blogged from Flickr. This just keeps getting better and better. 

When I think about how to use this with students categorizing and grouping comes to mind. Give your students a bunch of pictures and have them sort out a group and create a mosaic, then explain how all the pictures in the group relate to each other. For example sorting living creatures of a specific biome.....

I think sharing images online is a great idea. Personally I think it is safe enough, but then again, I don't have anyone stalking me... that I know of anyway:) 

Thing #7 Explore Flickr cont.

Say "Cheese"
Originally uploaded by AuntSherri

Say "Cheese"

This picture was taken right after GiGi's first haircut.

Thing #7 Explore Flickr

Flickr...... where did the past hour go? I love this site! As I was exploring I ventured off into the mapped photographs and chose the group "Hard Core Street Photography" and chose a group of photographs in London to look at. I looked through the photostream of Nils Jorgensen. Wow, simply incredible photography. I was really inspired by his work and apparently so are many others. He has a large following of fans who comment on all of his photos. I tried to download images from the this photo stream, but they were all protected so I decided to move on to my own pictures.

I have some pics in my iPhoto library of my doggie GiGi that I chose upload. I used Flickr's blogging tool to post the pic of GiGi here on "Learning Something New" it was pretty easy to set up my blog to work with Flickr. My Flickr experience was a good one, but this is not the site for random people like myself. I kept getting lost in the photos and losing track of time. Even when I started working with my own pictures I had to force myself to stay on task. I really like the world map feature, I tried to recreate the steps I used during my last visit but couldn't figure out how I got there, but I'll try again soon. Flickr is the only photo hosting service I have used. I think it would be great to have an MISD group with pics from around the district to be used for newsletters, student projects, etc. I like being able to log into Flickr and find exactly what I am looking for, hopefully I will become a little more efficient at that.  

Thing #6 Discovering Web 2.0 Tools

Wow! I had no idea Web 2.0 tools were so diverse. The categories presented included sites I never imagined would have collaborative features. Take real estate for example, who new you could do more than just search for a desired property. Individuals can post there own property for sale, or present an ideal property they wish to purchase and wait for potential sellers. 

There was a book site that I really couldn't find any Web 2.0 aspect to it. It appeared to be just an online bookstore, but perhaps I missed something there. 

The tool I found particularly interesting was Wufoo form builder; "The easiest way to collect information over the internet." This site provides lots of templates for those in education as well as those in the business world, or you can create your own. For us teachers Wufoo would be great for posting parent forms online such as for field trips or surveys for students such as "Red Ribbon Week" pledges, you get the idea.

Check out the Wufoo survey I've created in my sidebar. It was simple to create, and even easier to post using the HTML code.

Thing #5 Perspectives on Web 2.0

There is no denying that things are changing and they are changing fast. Our schools are not excluded from these changes. Web 2.0 technologies are broadening the learning potential for ourselves and our students by allowing access to people, places, and experiences previously out of reach. This is an environment where learners participate in activities at there own level and eventually evolve into providers of information rather than just consumers. Learners in the Web 2.0 school have multiple teachers, not just the one standing in the front of the classroom but also a docent who is presenting live from the Alamo, or group of peers who are commenting on the same novel read in class through a blog, or a child in India demonstrating how to cook a meal via podcast. Our students are not just the learners, through the experience of collaboration and sharing their own knowledge they teach others and learn more.  

There are no limits to time, level, or depth of involvement. Talk about multiple intelligences.... Wow! Web 2.o really is for every type of learner. This does present challenges for the traditional classroom teacher. How do you manage such an environment, particularly in the elementary classroom where younger students or ESL students may not be proficient readers yet? Finding content on the appropriate reading and comprehension level is time consuming, multiply that by how ever many different learning styles/levels represented in one classroom. The process of locating, analyzing and evaluating potential sites has to be repeated for each concept taught within a school year. All of this is assuming that the teacher is confident with Web 2.0 herself/himself. 

If traditional schools are to evolve with Web 2.0 there has to be support, and lots of it for our teachers. There are too many risks involved in "stepping out there". But surely the benefits outweigh the costs; David Jakes gives a couple of those benefits in his article "New Literacies: Enrichment or Essential?", he concludes that our students will become content creators and by creating products such as blogs they will be better writers, who write more personally, expressively and collaboratively. Digital storytelling enables students to find their own voice, produce products of compelling value, visualize their writing, tell stories and ultimately learn more because the learning is personalized. 

It is not far fetched to imagine our classrooms without textbooks, papers or  pencils. The reality is that I didn't have televisions, computers or even calculators in my classroom when I was in elementary school and that was just 30 years ago! Who knows what advances the next 30 years will bring? Since Web 2.0 provides learning in ways extremely different from how we currently teach we need to accept that our jobs as teachers are going to undergo radical changes...... Teaching 2.0?

Thing #4 Commenting is Important

I have typically been just a blog lurker, on the outside just peeking in from time to time. Thank goodness for the other 10% of bloggers who have kept the machine going. Without the ability to comment, blogs would be one dimensional, like watching t.v. or listening to the radio. Blogging allows readers the opportunity to have conversations, learn from one another, and to build relationships. This sense of community and interaction is only possible when readers are willing to comment. 

My favorite article was ProBlogger's 10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog the suggestions provided were not dissimilar to normal, everyday communication skills that one one should use in  ftf (face-to-face) conversation. The author instructs bloggers to "Invite comments, ask questions, be humble and gracious." A comment I found very interesting about blogging is to leave open ended comments for your readers to reflect and comment on. Most of my favorite blogs are written by experts in the field of education, particularly technology in elementary schools. It can be very intimidating to comment on a blog that seems to be perfectly written and appears to "have all the answers". Writing blogs in an open-ended fashion is a skill that takes time and practice to master, but I think allowing collaboration and creativity among your readers is a benefit well worth working towards.

Brown's Thoughts  The Ten Commandments of Blog Commenting pointed out that one should contribute often, leaving comments that add value to the discussion. I think this is important not only for the sake of the blog itself, but also for developing one's own blogging style. The more you blog, the more confidently you contribute, the better you will become at it.

The five 23 Things blogs I have chosen to read and comment on throughout this experience are:

1. Technocricket, because the blogger, Debbie Bailey is a fellow ETF and I think I can learn alot from reading her posts.

2. TLC Crickets Corner, another technology facilitator I'd like to learn from.

3. A W.M.C. View seems like a neat person I would like to get to know better.

4. Coach D's Corner

5. mborden

The two other of my choice are:

6. Moving at the Speed of Creativity by Wes Fryer because he is a leader in Web2.0 in the classroom. I may change my mind on using this blog just because it is so well known I may not be up to commenting on it just yet.... We'll see.

7. The Blue Skunk - by Doug Johnson, returning to my librarian roots.

8. Dogs Training Blog - I left a response to a question about house breaking an 8 wk old Lhasa Apso. 

Comments by me have include:

I've added words of agreement or interest to my fellow 23 Thingsters' blogs. I responded to a post about making yourself hard to replace on your campus.

Thing #3 Registering

Well, I'm going to go ahead and post this entry, maybe I'll come back and edit it later.... I registered my blog through  Zoomerang Tuesday night but I still haven't received the "Welcome Letter". Is it a computer generated letter or does a real live person send it?

Should I be offended? Am I not really welcomed after all? I really should work on these self-esteem issues.....

Blogging is a great way to broadcast your ideas to a large body of people at once. I love the fact that you can just put it out there and not worry whether or not you included everyone or if you remembered the attachment as with email. The responsibility is on the reader to get the information, but they can always go back through the archives and re-get it if necessary. I think blogging would be a great tool for a principal to use for weekly agendas and keeping teachers informed in general. I can use a blog in a similar way with my assigned schools. I think it is very beneficial for  teachers to know of developments in technology as they happen.

Thing #2 Creating an Avatar

Creating avatars is fun, it reminds me of playing paper dolls when I was a little girl. I'm going to Cancun in a couple of weeks, that is why my avatar is wearing a swimsuit and standing in front of the Mayan ruins. I tried to limit how much time I spent picking out clothes, hair, background, etc. for my avatar, (I'm working on Habit #2). In enjoyed the process, and thought it was fairly easy to do, don't be surprised if I change it often. I wonder if there is a sunburned skin tone for when I get back from Mexico. 

Thing #1 Habits of Highly Effective Learners

Hi Friends,

Some of you reading this remember me from my Librarian days. When I first heard about Learning 2.0 and the 23 things, I thought it sounded really interesting and I wanted to know more about it. So, here I am trying to catch up and looking forward to learning with you all.

When I was a little girl my grandma called me "Nosy Rosy", obviously my curiosity was undervalued:) I love learning new things, especially about people. Habit #6, "Using technology to your advantage" is definitely a strength of mine. These days I don't know what I would do without my laptop and the Internet or podcasts w/ RSS. Back when I was a kid I actually enjoyed watching PBS documentaries and, brace yourselves, this is going to shock some of you, when I first became a librarian, I couldn't believe all the videos we had! I actually took stacks of SVE videos home to watch just because ...... I think habit #6 needs to be broadened to "Using multimedia to your advantage". 

The habit I really need to work on though is habit #1 "Setting and Defining Learning Goals". I tend to go about learning in a haphazard kind of way and when I've learned just enough to answer one or two questions, I move on to another topic. I think I would find a lot of gratification in deep knowledge of topics, but I need to set and define learning goals and then commit to achieving them.

I think now it is appropriate for me to set a learning goal and so my current learning goal is to complete the 23 things.

This is going to be fun stuff!!!