Item #21

I found a lot of new information through this process. I used to copy and paste web addresses so students could click and link through, and now I know how to embed content and RSS feed information to give a better flow for information.

I loved the Library Thing website and will personally use that quite a lot in the coming year.

The biggest thing I'm going to walk away from this experience with is that although technology changes quickly, it doesn't change too quickly to keep up with. Some of the ideas and uses of embedded information will cut my workload way down. There's always a learning curve and this one was not steep. It's been a fun and non-stressful experience, and I'm glad that my colleagues will be going through the same self-discovery process so we can talk about shared use of technology at our site.

Thanks for reading this.

Item #20

I spend a lot of time commuting and listening to audio books. Mostly I go through my (monthly fee) audible account to get the latest fiction books, but I also like Project Gutenberg. I have not yet used ManyBooks, but I'll explore some of their lists and files over the next week or so. The problem I have with many of the "free classics" files is that they're abridged or very poor sound quality (particularly in a car with poor signal-to-noise ratios.)

I don't use an eBook reader yet but my husband does, and he loves his Kindle. I will eventually use one, but for now I'm still a paper-book-library-using girl. I love the smell and sound of paper when I'm reading and the Kindle doesn't have the right tactile weight. I will eventually get one when I take a long trip since it takes up less weight and space than several paperbacks.

I'm looking forward to the next generation of Kindles that should have the ability to be read or have an attached audio file that share one bookmark so you can read on the screen or listen through headphones or an audio jack out. It's coming eventually, and I'd like to hold out for the feature(s) I want before buying an eBook reader.

Item #19

I've used podcasts in the car (automatically downloaded through iTunes to my mp3 player then attached through a *gasp* connecting wire to the front of my car stereo. I hadn't known that podcasts are now video feeds also. That makes sense since iTunes started selling videos too. I'm currently hooked on Car Talk and Wait Wait (the NPR news quiz) since my favorite show, Pulse of the Planet, went off the air. I'm going to try and link the Wait Wait podcast, or at least a part of it, to this blog.

Item #18

There are some really fantastic videos on YouTube, and some horrid things. I've been frustrated at school trying to stream content (after we finally got YouTube unblocked), and I've found the best thing to do is download at home, burn onto a CD, and play back at school. This destroys any spontaneity to click through as each class takes its curiosity in different directions. I'm open to suggestions about how best to show video content from a live site. My current favorite YouTube video is

Taylor Mali - "What Teachers Make"

which I fully encourage you to check out. I think there are a couple of rude words in it, but the content is worth it. I'm not comfortable linking to it because it's not relevant to teaching math or science, but I wholeheartedly encourage anyone interested in teaching and teachers to check it out.

Item #17

I absolutely LOVE LibraryThing. I'm an avid (okay, addicted) fiction/science fiction reader, and this gives me recommendations for books I might like based on books I've already loved. It's like being in my favorite bookstore or library where everyone already knows what type of books I'd like. I know, based on the recommendations for the first book I entered, that I'll like many of the recommendations because I've already read all but one of the recommended books and enjoyed most of them.

I have no idea how I'll use this for school, but I can see my summer reading list taking shape already. This site alone has been worth the time I've put into the GRMS 21 Things project. Thank you, Katie!

Item #16

I was able to use the Google docs program to make a Valentine's Day card. I'll try to post it. This should be a great use of my time, but I can also see this as an incredibly time sink for that "just one more screen of cute puppy pictures" image. I love the idea of sharing document templates with students and colleagues. I think I need some more experience/practice to make it usable.

Item #15

I really like the way some of the Wikis are being used between classrooms worldwide. It's like the great-great grandchildren of pen pals. When I was in second grade, I became friends with Erin D in New Jersey and we wrote back and forth for years. This is like an international, instantaneous (except for time zones) classroom full of pen pals. I think at some point cultural sensitivities will have to be taught in school (perhaps along with anti-bullying training) so that students can get the most from their collaborative relationships.

There are some fantastic uses of technology, but what I saw reading through the flat classroom project was mainly that students have the ability to demonstrate their understanding and learning in different media. If a student can articulate (or link to) information, then others don't have to repeat the information but can build on it.

My main question is: How do you determine when an individual student has internalized the content and fit it into his own personal framework? At what point can we stop testing students for recalled facts and start testing them on synthesizing information and use of logical thinking and accurate fact searching?

Item #14

I found some of the information on the book lovers Wiki really useful, but I have the feeling that the only people reviewing books (or taking the time to review them) were people who loved the books they were writing about. Did they not read any books they didn't like? Did they read them then not take the time to comment on them? If there's a book not listed does that mean the book wasn't read, or wasn't liked?

I also was frustrated looking at the 2 sample "school" Wikis since I wasn't able to gain access to any of the member discussions. I think that's a very good safeguard since there should be some privacy around student work, and it makes me a little more comfortable sharing personal information on a school site.

I think the community conversations are fantastic. I think that's the direction our GR groups is going on schoolloop and will expand to be a lot more groups over the next few years. Between the GR Ning (mostly teacher-based) and the schoolloop groups (mostly grade-level-based), I think we'll have a functional online community for academic pursuits and conversations. We can share resources and also share ideas.

Item #13

I had been familiar with Creative Commons since a musician I really like has had all of his albums come out through the site. It surprised me that he was able to sell albums/downloads/weekly subscriptions with a shareware business model. Part of the whole model, for me, is trust in the intelligence and integrity of your audience/users.

The law for fair use is not crystal clear, and the CC website (video tutorial for teachers) does a fine job of breaking down what is and isn't acceptable use. It also brings up the topic of students copyrighting their own material, although that would be more appropriate for Reflections contests and that sort of application instead of general classroom assignments. I can't imagine grading based on creativity when students are using the same source material. I'm much more comfortable with objective scores.

The online copyright comic (Duke University) does a fine job to outline how students can and can't use material they film or capture.

I don't yet see an application for this in math (which is not heavily student-creative projects), but I have a much better feeling for the legal use of different website materials and use. I've always used music that I've legally purchased and played for students (to count bizarre timings, see patterns, and the like) but I could legally use music I download and not purchase. This bears a lot more looking into.

Item #12

I can't really see myself organizing Del.icio.us files for use between home and school, but I can see using them for students to keep track of their different assignments. Perhaps this could allow for better communication between departments, like taking data down for velocity and acceleration labs in science and then using/graphing the data in math. This bookmark website may allow for students to use the COWs or computer lab, or home computer, without losing track of which programs they're using and which graphing or lab requirements they have. I like that the websites are reviewed, but that's not how I see myself using them. If I'm looking for objective information then I'm not going through peer-reviewed sites. I'm going through reviewed and refereed articles in authentic journals. I think we're not teaching the difference between research and looking up information, and students will have a skewed view of "research" as being synonymous with "Googling", or will see no difference between an Encyclopedia and Wikkipedia.

Item #11

I had joined the GR Ning back in September, then didn't do anything with it for the last 5 months. I rechecked, and there are some great discussions and conversations happening. I'm wondering if I can somehow link from schoolloop groups to the GR Ning since there are some overlapping calendar and scheduling items. I also really like the travel quiz (at the bottom of item #11), since I love maps and travel. I think it would be a really fun game for Saransh and others who are geography bee/geography lovers.

Item #10

The images are very cool, in a very faked way. This reminds me of the first Clash of the Titans movie, which was incredible animation despite being so awful. The comic strip site is just a searching-for-sex chat room, and very blatant about it so that link should probably be removed from the #10 directions links. This whole faked images makes me wonder about how to authenticate images for use in court. There's got to be a whole world of complications right now with actual vs. enhanced vs. faked images submitted in court cases. (I was recently called to jury duty and have been thinking about submitted evidence, and how easily one could submit photos with different addresses or car license plates in the photos.)

Item #9

I found searching key words to be the most helpful here. I tend to go off recommendations from former colleagues or vetted institutions (the Exploratorium, NASA, Chabot Space and Science Center, Lawrence Hall of Science) that I know already edits for age-appropriate content. It's one less step I have to go through.

Item #8

I've looked through the RSS feed information. Although the google tutorial is more than 5 years old and no longer accurate, I have some good information from it. I think RSS feeds have changed over the years to be more search-friendly. I'd love to see a feed selected more by topic and less by source site, but I think there are ways to narrow down the source feeds. I found some good sites for teaching basic math concepts. If I find useful stuff then I can link through my schoolloop account for student use. I have to check the legalities of freeware vs. personal use vs. student use.

Item #7

I really like the spacehack website, and particularly the Global Telescope Network application which allows people at home to use their computers to process telescope images when they're not using their computers. There have been several use-your-own processor-while-you-sleep-to-turn-your-home-computer-into-a-giant-parallel-processor programs, notably SETI, but this one is actually really cool and doesn't suck a lot of time or memory. I love that home computers can be part of a larger science project or scientific community.