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-

• 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

Cons-

• 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}

I also inserted an image I had created. Making changes to the Wiki was very easy to do .

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.

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!!!!

Thing 5- got out of order

What is School 2.0?
Well somehow I managed to skip Thing 5, so here's to trying to get back on track.
School 2.0 to me is a new school where the learners are in charge of what they will learn. It is an interactive technologically based system that offers the learner limitless possibilites. It is a school where the learner can set his or her pace and learn as much or as little as he/she prefers. According to Web 2.0: A Guide for Educators, Web 2.0 has "transformed the internet from an e-commerce to a planet-wide networked community where every citizen is invited to create content". Kids today are digital natives and are already familiar with this new way of learning and education needs to hop on board. This is how students are learning, yet many schools actually keep from using technology within their classroom. 
Web 2.0 may take some digital immigrants out of their comfort zones but will allow them to reach students on their own "turf". This will allow students to be more comfortable and to also take more ownership in what they learn.  If educators can peak the students' interest and let go of the reigns, we may surprised at the amount our students are capable of learning using this new 2.0 school. The biggest problem our schools face today is the money needed to make our schools more tech-ready for Web 2.0. Students need constant internet access and in many schools, there isn't even a computer lab. Another change would mean that teachers would have to give up some control of their classroom and become more of a facilitator rather than an instructor. 
Word of advice: Schools get ready, Web 2.0 is coming fast and strong. School systems must step up and embrace the change. Let's reach these students so that they can continue to be LIFELONG learners!

Thing 12

This is my igoogle page. I have the following gadgets on my page:

YouTube

Date & Time

Weather

CNN.com

NYTimes.com - Top ...

NPR: News, Music, ...

Comedy Central's Jo...

GoComics from Univ...

RollingStone.com: M...

Music

Gadget shares ()

Updates

Friends

 

 

 

Enable chat

This another vacation picture from Gatlinburg that I uploaded using Picasa Web Albums. This was very simple to us but not nearly as interesting as Flickr. However, I am extremely impressed with all that Google can do. iGoogle is great for a homepage and can be used to keep up with news feeds or other important gadgets that can be used in the classroom. Best of all, it is all on one page. You can even have a virtual hamster for your class pet without ever having to change a stinky cage. Simply said, GOOGLE ROCKS!

Thing 11

searching for RSS feeds
I am a Google girl through and through. I absolutely love Google and use it often. I found that the Google blog search was the easiest for me to navigate and understand probably because it is set so much like all the other Google tools. Second to Google I liked Technorati. It was also easy to search through and follow.
The most confusing tool in my opinion was Syndic8. I didn't have as much luck when searching for feeds,  the home page appeared cluttered with too many links. The search box was in the middle of the page rather than the top like most search tools. Topix was ok, but as soon as I typed in my zip it gave me choices that really weren't worth reading.
I subscribed to PBS teachers resources feed. I know that will be very helpful throughout the year.
While I was using Topix I entered my zip code and several odd feeds appeared. One was titled "Who's the hottest MILF in Hopkinsville?" I decided it would be best if I left that one alone. LOL! I think that one is a little irrelevant to my current content. I'll just stick with my Google search tools!

Thing 10

RSS feeds
I really like that instead of surfing various websites for resources or updates, I can have one website that I can frequent that contains all of the information I would normally search for. I like that I can add as many RSS feeds as I'd like and can access them all within seconds and never have to leave my reader page. I created my account with Google Reader about a year ago but hadn't spent much time using it until now. Wish I had!!! I should have been using this at school to keep all of my resources together for my classroom. I find myself searching for HOURS for different resources I can use in the classroom, when all I had to do was subscribe to different feeds and read through them each day. This would have saved me so much time. As I find more resources I will be checking for the RSS symbol so that I can subscribe.