Adieu ITEC 7430...I have mastered your 22 Things!

When I first started this class, the 22 Things seemed so daunting! Now that I have done all 22, I could do them again, easy peasy! (Not that I want too!!!!!) Some things were harder than others and some I already knew, but I truly feel like a better teacher from going through them all. I have used quite a few of the "Things" in my classroom so far and have all kinds of ideas to use the rest of them next year. I am excited to finally have some time to flesh out my ideas and start creating a 21st century technology centered classroom!!!

Good bye ITEC 7445...

As I first began ITEC 7445 (Multimedia and Web Design in Education) I was a blank canvas. I had never taken a design class before...I just used my natural born talent to make everything look amazing! Well now that end is here, my natural born talent was not so much a talent as a lucky guess. I can already see myself critiquing my own work and others when it comes to the design elements. My newfound knowledge of HTML has already come into play with my website having hiccups and I have just given it a good dose of HTML TLC to fix it! I never thought I would say this, but thank you HTML. You have been helpful. I no longer feel like a blank canvas when it comes to design...I feel like a work in progress. I can see myself using my design knowledge in helping create and implement with other teachers or on my own amazing worksheets! I do not think my canvas is complete yet, so hopefully more knowledge will be add to create a complete design package!

Webquest Update...again!

O my webquest...how you keep changing! I have it mostly done right now...well as done as a my decision making skills allow. I keep tweaking things, but that is normal for me. I really only have the video and audio left to do. I have left little "to add's" through out my unpublished Weebly so far, but there are not many left! I can see the end in sight!!!

I can say that I tackled HTML and won the battle while building my webquest on Weebly!!! I wanted to put my rubrics up as tables and Weebly was not happy with that idea. So I took my Word docs and saved it as a webpage, opened the webpage, and copy/pasted the code. It worked splendidly...by the end of the 1.5 hours I spent making the tables look exactly the way I wanted on Weebly. Lots of copy/paste, but now they are perfect. Unless I change my requirements again, and then I might throw my computer across the room. :) I feel accomplished for mastering (sort of!) something that scared me before we learned about it.

Thing 21-Share Everyone!

For my Slideshare debut, I chose to show an online tool I found based on an online tool I was introduced to in class (confusing huh? Love it!).  In Thing 12, I was introduced to wallwisher.  I did not blog about my exploration, but was inspired by reading other blogs to create a wallwisher adventure.  I made a wall for a test review where my students could post questions/answers to help one another study. I also posted some questions for them to think about and answered some of their questions.  My students and I loved it since they were not studying by themselves.  However, the site crashed…a lot.  It was not helpful if we could not access it.  So I went hunting for a new wall and found Stixy!  It is amazing and it has post-its (or sticky's)…with different colors!  (The office supply obsessed person inside me cannot get enough!).  It is great for both personal and professional use because you can share the “wall,” make it private, or make it password protected.  By the way, it is FREE!  My favorite word!

My view on Slideshare is rather complicated right now.  I like the concept of it, but it was a trial and error process.  The first presentation I upload, the font got changed and so did my formatting.  I went exploring then and I saw that I could upload a PDF, so that is the option I went with.  Nothing got changed or moved the second time…it was exactly the way I wanted it!  I usually upload my presentations using Google Docs and the students can watch it there or print it.  With Slideshare, I do not have to go through as many steps and it looks just the way I want it to (in PDF format that is).  I really like being able to embed the presentation!  Makes my blog engaging-looking! I can see using Slideshare as a way of students turning in presentations they make, which they either email me or embed in their blogs.  Slideshare is great for not having to juggle all the flash drives, hoping I got everyone’s project on my desktop.  It is quick and easy way to upload and share.  I give it 4 Stars (Minus 1 Star for the changing of my layout)!

Thing 21 - Slideshare stixy.com

 

Thing 20 - Let's Catch It!

Jing is very interesting so far… my computer HATES IT!  Every time I try to use it, my computer freezes and says that it is working improperly.  I like the concept of it, but it is not cooperating with me.  Hopefully by the end of this, I can get it to work in my favor!  


(PS, I did get it to work! This is what I get for getting frustrated and taking a break…I jumped the written gun!)  :)

I can see Jing being a great resource in education.  It is perfect for walking students through what you expect them to do.  The Jing I made was showing new students how to use the Online Textbook and navigate it.  I use the Online Textbook quite often in class and I have tried to create step-by-step directions for students to follow, but they always struggle.  With this Jing, they can watch as they do.  Much simpler!

The image capture function could be great when presenting diagrams.  I could just project the screen shot with the incorporated arrows and text that is easily created instead of taking 30+minutes to create this in Paint or some other program that can be tedious.  I am already excited to Jing some diagrams of electrical circuits!

Another use of Jing in the classroom is to use it for student presentations.  They could create the normal slide presentation, but then add some Jing to it so it is more active.  Instead of a bibliography at the end of the presentation, they could use the video feature to show the different websites they used.  The more active the presentation is, the more engaged the students will become!  I am ready to Jing some more!!!

Thing 19 - Google my Love!

I have been using Google Docs for the past few years.  It is something I usually depend heavily upon since I do a lot of work at home and I have a tendency to lose my flash drives (yes I have more then 1 and I lose each of them daily).  I just upload whatever document I am working on to Google Docs or I just make a new document in Google Docs. It is a life saver and a convenience I have learned to not live without.  I have been teaching my students all year about Google Docs so they do not have to borrow a friend's flash drive.  They are quickly becoming as addicted as I am!

To show all the possibilities of Google Docs, I chose to have my blog post be in a Google Doc!  I hope you learn to love Google Docs as much as I do!!! Click here for access to the grand world of more Google love.

Thing 18 - Being social is a good thing!

Wow.  Classroom 2.0 is very overwhelming!  I looked at the website over a week’s worth of time, trying to take in as much information as possible, but I think I still need more time before I have seen everything I want to.  I really did like Classroom 2.0 and I think I am going to join them.  I like the idea of having a professional social network where I can pose questions and get help from outside people.  Sometimes you just need a new eye to see the solution to your problem.  I read some discussions where I wanted to comment, but could not since I am not a member yet.  I liked how many different groups there with different focuses on for each, so I can get my fill on every topic I am fascinated by. 

I really enjoyed reading a discussion on “Looking for examples of science classrooms using web 2.0”.  I found the discussion by searching Groups for “science.”  The discussion was started in 2009 and has posts as late as 2010.  They were offering great ideas and suggestions for Web 2.0 in the science classroom.  I am interested in Prezi now.  Click here for the presentation the author of the discussion post created based on feedback to her post using Prezi.  I hope one day (when my membership is approved of course!) to be able to take part in a discussion just like this one.  Classroom 2.0 is an extremely helpful and awe-inspiring website for educators to join and find help/ideas from other educators who are just like them!