Is it the End? Or Only the Beginning?

• What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
• My favorite exercises on this learning journey have been the youtube exercise and the animoto.

• How has this program affected your lifelong learning goals?
• This program has expanded my lifelong learning goals.

• Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
• Yes, I found several new uses for google! I didn't realize that it could be used for more than settling an argument or finding an image or address... It really is so much more than that.

• What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
• I think that it should be updated. The instructions are not always as they may have been when this program was last modified. Testing of links may be useful before the next semester. For example, animoto's link for posting on blogger was not working when I tried. I needed additional information on other options to embed the video into my blog. 

• How will what you have learned influence your practice as a teacher?
• I will use these tools that I have obtained from this course in my practice as a teacher. I will certainly be using the online storage so that I can access my work from home or school.

• How do you plan to keep up with new developments in web 2.0? Recommend a way that you have found to be useful.
• I plan to keep up with the new developments in web 2.0 by using them often. I will adapt as the web continues to transform. One way that I have found this to be useful, again, is through the google navigation. I  knew that it had a lot to offer, but it is a great resource for teachers!

Thing # 23

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/


This shows that 23 things is based on someone else's work, but is modified for APSU students. I would have thought that this was based on this site. I think that I will use this more in the future, but I have found it difficult to navigate since I was introduced to this site several months ago. I think that I will eventually use it as a teacher in my classroom for new ideas and activities.

Thing # 22

MY BINDER

I didn't like this site as much as the others. I found it more difficult to navigate and much more complicated than it needs to be. I do like that you can easily add sites based on a google search, but I don't think that I will use this as often as I will the regular google, by pinning and bookmarking. 

Thing # 21

http://animoto.com/play/Wv05cxl8Q3pMfFoAR28YXw

The link to add the video directly to blogger isn't working, so here is the link! Hopefully I can upload it from youtube shortly!. I have made videos online before, but this one is much simpler! I will definitely use this in the future.

Thing # 20

I chose this video because it is hilarious! I saw it on TV last year and thought that it was real! What a disaster!
I love youtube. I have used it from everything like how-to videos to music videos. I actually took public speaking online a few years ago and used youtube as my way to send my videos in to my professor and classmates.
I know that youtube isn't always available in schools because it isn't closely regulated and monitored, but I think it is a great way for students to learn things. For instance, I learned how to tie a tie on youtube. I mainly use youtube for comedy purposes, but I have used it for step-by-step instructions before.

Thing 19

<embed wmode="opaque" src="http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/index/swf/badge.swf?xn_version=124632088" FlashVars="backgroundColor=0xFFFFFF&textColor=0xFF1A45&config=http%3A%2F%2Fteacherpop.ning.com%2Fmain%2Fbadge%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fxg_source%3Dbadge%26size%3Dmedium" width="206" height="174" bgColor="#FFFFFF" scale="noscale" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"> </embed><br /><small><a href="http://teacherpop.ning.com">Visit <em>TeacherPop</em></a></small><br />

Hopefully my badge worked! :))
I think that teacher pop looks like a great tool for student teachers and teachers. This is a great way to share information. How cool is it that it was created at Austin Peay?!?
I am a member of several online communities through facebook and twitter. However, I am not on any other social networking sites outside of those, well until now! I joined teacher pop, and it looks amazing! Can't wait to use it more! Craftster looks very cool, I love doing crafts in my down time, so I will likely check that out after finals! I also see that IMDB is on there, I would not have thought to place this among the other sites, but I have been using that for years.

Thing #18

For thing # 18 we are asked to explore social networking. I am a huge fan of social networking, as I have been on social networking sites since I was in high school. It all began with myspace, then when I got into college for the first time, in 2004, I joined facebook. When facebook began it was only for college students and you were required to have a university email address to access the site. Now, everyone can join! After a few years of facebook, I joined twitter. Twitter is an interesting way to connect with people of similar interest. Needless to say, I have years (10 years actually) experience with social networking and I think that I have seen it all so it is difficult for me to gain anything from this exercise.
I think that it is important for educators to know how social networking works because it is a great way to connect with others. It is however, a technology that is accessed by students and parents alike so that should be kept in mind while posting. Many people have the idea that their social networking is private, but it is far from it! My favorite of the sites is facebook. There are apps on facebook that are mostly annoying games, but some are useful. I cannot see these social networking sites being helpful in the classroom. In fact, I think that they should be saved for home use only and not in the classroom or workplace.

www.twitter.com/jessicatheteach

Thing # 17

I think that delicious is a good tool for education students, but I do not see much value for it in the classroom. I doubt that it is allowed in the Montgomery county school system. It also seems too broad to get work done quickly for students. I think that it is an interesting tool only if you have time to browse, I don't see this site being very popular among many students. Several of the links that I clicked were inaccessible (yes, I am sure that I am connected to the internet). The idea of this thing is like pinterest. Pinterest is a newly popular site that took off with the concept of social networking and tagging for ideas. Stumble upon is a less interesting version of pinterest in my opinion. Teachers can definitely take advantage of ideas on pinterest and stumble upon, using bookmarking. I follow several teachers on pinterest and already have several ideas of what I would like my classroom to look like as well as many activities that I would like to do with my students.  

Thing # 16

I chose the google home page or start page. Google is becoming the online computer backup, so I might as well have all of my things in one place. I prefer to keep everything in one place so that they are easily accessible from anywhere. I may even consider exchanging my iphone for a google powered phone. I have recently downloaded all of the google apps and I hope that they will help me sync with my computer more easily including the calendar.  The calendar that I like the most is the google calendar. I have used the MSN calendar before, but I think that google is beating everyone in simplicity, yet modern ideas. I do like the remember the milk app, I have had it on my iphone for several years and it is helpful when there are so many things to get done each week. I have not yet synced this app with google, but will do so very soon! I find all of these tools to be very useful for both school and home. They are all versatile from personal to professional  life as things can get quite hectic!

Thing # 15

The sandbox is a very cool tool to help students work on a wiki together. This was interesting because I can easily access the work that all 23 things students are doing in the sandbox. This is a great tool for online learners! I can see this technology being used in the future for online courses in universities or students who are unable to make it to classrooms because of illness (in public school systems).  I already use wiki for several things including research for school. While the sources are not as reliable as scholarly journals, they do offer several ideas that are interesting in most cases.

Thing #14

FLOW CHARTS!
I love flow charts! I typically only make them in windows programs or by sketching by hand, but had no idea that there were other options out there on the web that made this just as simple. I used mind meister and gliffy.com. I think that mindmeister would be a great way for students to develop their writing ideas and show their work and thought process for English and reading classes. I think that gliffy.com would be a great way for students to explain how things work possibly in science. Gliffy also has a program that allows users to create a floor plan which can be especially helpful for students of design as well as teachers when deciding on a classroom setup that best suits the classroom.

Thing 13

This is my drawing created with google docs. I prefer google docs to zoho because it is a program that I am a little more familiar with and it is much easier to navigate through. I think that google docs is a technology that I will certainly use in the future because it is so versatile. I can access my docs from my iphone, and on my computer. All documents can be converted easily from one technology to the next.
I think that students will enjoy using this application because they can access their work easily from school to work, and show parents what they are doing in class without going through the trouble of emailing.