Sunday, October 17, 2010
Slidebloom Presentation
I ran into a few complications when creating my presentation. After I had finished selecting what I felt to be the most appropriate images, when I uploaded my presentation to Slidebloom I got a message on several of the slides saying I needed Quicktime and a decompression file. The images were working fine on my original file but just wouldn't work in Slidebloom. I had to choose about 3 more images that weren't quite as effective but still get the job done.
This version of the powerpoint is far more effective than the original version simply because words were needed to describe the images at the same time. The two work together so that the audience can better understand the content of the presentation.
Slidebloom is a great way for students to share and critique each other's work. It is a place where students can store their work and teachers and students alike can view the work and make comments to help improve their presentations.
I have to say that embedding narration wasn't as easy as I had hoped. I originally started on a Mac and thought all was going well until I reached my final slide. For some reason, I couldn't record my narration completely without it getting cut off. After a little research, I discovered this is a common unsolved issue with Microsoft Powerpoint on Mac's. I then had to rush to Walmart to purchase a microphone for my PC and transfer the file to my PC. I ended up having to re-record each slide, but FINALLY finished the process. YAY! Aside from the minor complications, I think this experience made me more aware of how fast I speak. I honestly don't know how my students manage to keep up with me, but they do!! This is definitely going to come in handy when or if I have a substitute teacher. It will be as if I never left the classroom. :)
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Thing 18
I choose Facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/#!/amanda.ezell
Here is my facebook account. I have had both facebook and myspace accounts but really felt that facebook was more appropriate for me. I noticed myself caring more about the appearance of my page than actually networking to keep up with others. Facebook to me a more user friendly. I like having the homepage to keep up with various posts from those within my networking circle. I don't have to worry with glitz and glam of a page. Social networking sites such as Facebook can be very beneficial to education as well as outside of school. Many schools now have facebook pages that students can join. This gives the students a sense of pride in their school and allows them to constantly be in contact with each other as related to school. It is important that educators know how to operate these social networking sites primarily for the simple fact that nearly every (of age and sometimes even underage) student belongs to a networking site. This is what these students know well. Why must teachers be teaching in the stone age when we can use this type of technology to encourage kids to work collaboratively and also build relationships at the same time? It still upsets me that my local district keeps facebook blocked not only for students but teachers as well. There comes a time when administration must actually trust their teachers to not abuse something if given privileges to use it AND if that abuse begins to occur, then revoke those users privileges rather than mass punishing those who are willing to use social networking in an educational way!
http://www.facebook.com/#!/amanda.ezell
Here is my facebook account. I have had both facebook and myspace accounts but really felt that facebook was more appropriate for me. I noticed myself caring more about the appearance of my page than actually networking to keep up with others. Facebook to me a more user friendly. I like having the homepage to keep up with various posts from those within my networking circle. I don't have to worry with glitz and glam of a page. Social networking sites such as Facebook can be very beneficial to education as well as outside of school. Many schools now have facebook pages that students can join. This gives the students a sense of pride in their school and allows them to constantly be in contact with each other as related to school. It is important that educators know how to operate these social networking sites primarily for the simple fact that nearly every (of age and sometimes even underage) student belongs to a networking site. This is what these students know well. Why must teachers be teaching in the stone age when we can use this type of technology to encourage kids to work collaboratively and also build relationships at the same time? It still upsets me that my local district keeps facebook blocked not only for students but teachers as well. There comes a time when administration must actually trust their teachers to not abuse something if given privileges to use it AND if that abuse begins to occur, then revoke those users privileges rather than mass punishing those who are willing to use social networking in an educational way!
Thing 17
Delicious:
I have used delicious only once for another class I had taken but didn't really spend sufficient time searching through the bookmarks. All I can say is WOW. You can find something for nearly any topic of your choice. I found several resources for teaching elementary music. I wish this had been around when I first began teaching music. I was always competent at finding material online, but this makes life so much easier. And with the added bookmarks, you can have more luck finding more material. This also gives you the option at searching through other users bookmarks. This leads you to find some things without actually typing in a particular keyword or bookmark. More than likely the topics you are researching will relate to other bookmarks from other users. For instance when I began a search on musical elements and found that topic, I chose to view a users list of other bookmarked materials. While doing this I found some other interesting music resources this user had bookmarked. This opens the door for educators to work collaboratively to increase their resources. A new way to work smarter instead of harder. Thank goodness for social bookmarking!
I have used delicious only once for another class I had taken but didn't really spend sufficient time searching through the bookmarks. All I can say is WOW. You can find something for nearly any topic of your choice. I found several resources for teaching elementary music. I wish this had been around when I first began teaching music. I was always competent at finding material online, but this makes life so much easier. And with the added bookmarks, you can have more luck finding more material. This also gives you the option at searching through other users bookmarks. This leads you to find some things without actually typing in a particular keyword or bookmark. More than likely the topics you are researching will relate to other bookmarks from other users. For instance when I began a search on musical elements and found that topic, I chose to view a users list of other bookmarked materials. While doing this I found some other interesting music resources this user had bookmarked. This opens the door for educators to work collaboratively to increase their resources. A new way to work smarter instead of harder. Thank goodness for social bookmarking!
Thing 16
My start page
I have added blogger to my widget because I am contantly checking it. I also cleared some widgets I don't use. I know I have discussed this in a previous blog, but having a start page that contains your most checked or used information is very beneficial and time saving.
Google Calendar:
I have used the Google online calendar for my church website, but I don't plan or attend enough events to make good and frequent use of online calendars. Contrary to many other people, I actually prefer to stick with my old fashioned desk calendar in my own handwriting. BUT I can certainly see and appreciate the usefulness of an online calendar.
Remember the Milk:
This is a great site to keep up with your "to-do" list. My only problem is remembering to get online and check off my list. The reason why I have a hard time getting everything done is because I lack the time to finish all that needs to be done. Having to get on the computer takes even more time out of the day. However, one of these days I would LOVE to have an iPhone so that I can constantly have internet access without having to pay per usage fees. This would make Remember the Milk even more beneficial to use!
Google Calendar:
I have used the Google online calendar for my church website, but I don't plan or attend enough events to make good and frequent use of online calendars. Contrary to many other people, I actually prefer to stick with my old fashioned desk calendar in my own handwriting. BUT I can certainly see and appreciate the usefulness of an online calendar.
Remember the Milk:
This is a great site to keep up with your "to-do" list. My only problem is remembering to get online and check off my list. The reason why I have a hard time getting everything done is because I lack the time to finish all that needs to be done. Having to get on the computer takes even more time out of the day. However, one of these days I would LOVE to have an iPhone so that I can constantly have internet access without having to pay per usage fees. This would make Remember the Milk even more beneficial to use!
Thing 15
WIKIS!!
I like wikis. What a great way to get all students involved on a project. I know I have used one a few times in other classes when creating study guides for upcoming tests. Our professor would post possible questions that could be asked and we worked as a team to answer the questions in order to create a guide to study by. Wikis are extremely easy to use, but I think it needs to be made clear what the boundaries of a wiki consist of. Users need to be aware that altering another person's work without consulting him/her first is not the best thing to do. Wikis should be used to add more information and explain unclear concepts from another perspective.
This is what I added to Sandbox.
{Hi, I'm Amanda. Just here to play around with the wiki. Below I have pasted a section of Thing 6 from my blog, my favorite web 2.0 app.
Below that is a puzzle I created from Thing 8.
2.0 Tool I like....JamLegend
Ok, let me start by saying I am NOT a gamer at all. I have never been good at any type of electronic game, and never cared that I stunk at games because games are not my thing. BUT the first time I played Guitar Hero, I had a blast. Jamlegend is very similar to Guitar Hero and can be played online using the number keys on the keyboard.
Pros-
I like wikis. What a great way to get all students involved on a project. I know I have used one a few times in other classes when creating study guides for upcoming tests. Our professor would post possible questions that could be asked and we worked as a team to answer the questions in order to create a guide to study by. Wikis are extremely easy to use, but I think it needs to be made clear what the boundaries of a wiki consist of. Users need to be aware that altering another person's work without consulting him/her first is not the best thing to do. Wikis should be used to add more information and explain unclear concepts from another perspective.
This is what I added to Sandbox.
{Hi, I'm Amanda. Just here to play around with the wiki. Below I have pasted a section of Thing 6 from my blog, my favorite web 2.0 app.
Below that is a puzzle I created from Thing 8.
2.0 Tool I like....JamLegend
Ok, let me start by saying I am NOT a gamer at all. I have never been good at any type of electronic game, and never cared that I stunk at games because games are not my thing. BUT the first time I played Guitar Hero, I had a blast. Jamlegend is very similar to Guitar Hero and can be played online using the number keys on the keyboard.
Pros-
- user friendly
- variety of songs to choose from
- different levels of challange
- can create an account by using Facebook account
- don't have to be a member to play
- can play against computer or other members
- don't know many of the songs that are free
- most of the well known songs must be paid for and downloaded
- random advertisements not appropriate for all ages}
Thing 14
I really like bubbl.us. I spent time experimenting with both bubbl.us and flowchart. I found bubbl.us to be more simple to use and for my class this would be more appropriate to use. I actually created a map I will use within the next month in order for my students to better understand the realtionship of the elements of music.
http://bubbl.us/view.php?sid=764289&pw=yaL2hBcy.qstANDBobU02UnQ2OXdYaw
I am a fan of simple websites with simple choices. That's why bubbl.us is for me. It was easy to create a mind map and experiment with size and color. It was also easy to save and make changes to my document and to export my final product into an image file or website. I only wish I had thought to use this years ago. This is a perfect way to visually connect and discuss the the content I am currently teaching.
http://bubbl.us/view.php?sid=764289&pw=yaL2hBcy.qstANDBobU02UnQ2OXdYaw
I am a fan of simple websites with simple choices. That's why bubbl.us is for me. It was easy to create a mind map and experiment with size and color. It was also easy to save and make changes to my document and to export my final product into an image file or website. I only wish I had thought to use this years ago. This is a perfect way to visually connect and discuss the the content I am currently teaching.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Thing 13
I love Zoho! I played for while with a couple of documents and found it to be very similar to Microsoft Word. I especially love that you can import and export different file types so that you can open them on Zoho and other software as well. I also love that I can access my docs from any computer connected to the Internet. Other than Microsoft losing loads of money, I can't see any major downfall with online processing applications. This is very beneficial to those who honestly can't afford pricey software. I recently bought a laptop that had a trial version of Microsoft Office. Now that the trial version has expired, I will continue to use Zoho to meet my writing needs. GO ZOHO!!!!
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