Thing 23

Great course. It was really good because it pushed me to step a little closer to the technology edge. This exposure to the digital topics makes me feel I will be able to connect better with my students as well understand the tech-speak they use. Makes me feel confident that I can stay current. I just got a smart board in my classroom as well! Hopefully I will be able to incorporate many of the new web2.0 apps I've learned about and enrich the learning students experience in my classroom. Thanks for the help, support and comments. :)

Thing 22

I would have my 8th grade students share comments about a favorite painting before they created their own painting. I could see the wiki page I created being used for each student to link to one image of a painting and writing what they liked best about it. When I have tried to I do this verbally the students often feel shy about sharing... this type of forum gives them a chance to state opinions without everyone in class looking at them. This has the same comfort level for them as texting. I will start this by providing a collection of web sites that would have visual resources of paintings from which they could pick to write about.

Here it is:
https://mkms-g8-painting.wikispaces.com/




I will certainly try to incorporate this type of a wiki this year. I think the students will like that they can respond to art through the computer. I really think this might help them express themselves more deeply than they would if they were responding in front of the class.

Thing 21

I have always wanted my 8th grade students the opportunity to share comments about a favorite painting with the class before they created their own. I could see a wiki being used for each student to link to one image of a painting and writing a comment about what they liked best about it. When I have tried to I do this verbally the students often feel shy about sharing... this type of forum gives them a chance to state opinions without everyone in class looking at them. This has the same comfort level for them as texting.
I could start this by providing a collection of sites that would have visual resources of paintings from which they could pick to comment on.

What hurdles might stand in the way of your using a wiki? First, have to be sure our server would allow school access to the wiki. I would then intro this in a computer lab. Because students do not work at the same pace, class time is short and computer lab space so tight,I would probably make this a 'take home' to finish assignment. Students could finish from home or during their AA time at school if library computers are available.

What would it take to remove the hurdles? I'd love to have a small bank of computers right in the art room.

Thing 20

I definitely feel more enlightened about the availability of ebooks. I was unaware that there was a site such as FriedBeef with its collection of links to ebook sites and that many titles are free. In the past, when I would stumble upon a good site, they would give excerpts for free, but you had to pay a price if you wanted the entire book. Obviously most of the free stuff has been in publication for a long time. New authors would not make much of a living if no one bought their books.
I checked out MANYBOOKS, Gutenburg Top 100, and BookYards.
I like that most of these sites have developed good user interface and a user is quickly able to find a book/publication by author, title or genre. It is also good to see that the downloads can be saved in so many different file formats (pdf, html, rtf, txt, etc.)so very important now because there are so many different display options.
The biggest learning benefit I see for this type of delivery is that many of these books have an audio component, so even if the book is a bit beyond the students reading level, they can listen as they read along, and eventually improve their reading ability. The drawbacks for me are that most of these sites are full of advertisements which I find annoying and distracting. I feel I would have to be very certain about what site I would recommend for middle school students to use outside of the NPS library system.
I could not get in to the NHS eBook collection, the username and password I wrote down in June, isn't working for me. But, I was able to access and see all the print books available at my school. I was not aware that I could do that from home.
There are art ebooks which students who are interested may read and explore art topics on their own. I would have to read them first myself, before I could recommend them. All I need is a lot of time.....

Thing 19

I liked the way screenr worked but was really unhappy that I needed a twitter account. I did wind up using ScreenCastle. Will I be able to use this at school? I went in to school a few days to try but my computer was all locked up in Admin mode. I guess they were still installing the new OS.
I could really use this type of instruction building software when I teach a vector computer art application to my students. I can't really create anything applicable yet because the new Windows 7 OS doesn't support the software I've been teaching for the past 3 years. I now have to learn new 'free' shareware. I am not going to do this until the computer labs have it installed and I know it works and is accessible. So I tried to attach a successful screencast that I created using CorelDraw in ScreenCastle which was easy to use and did display fine. Just can't get it to link and run in my blog.

Thing 18

For me, being able to listen to a current or past podcasts or watch a v-cast when it is convenient is the real plus of Podcasting. From looking at the overwhelming amount of sites, I would say that this is more of a singular tool, great for special personal interests, such as learning and refereshing a foreign language, following a health topic, getting gardening advice, keeping up with current news, etc. I did like it that I was able to find npr's All Things Considered, which is one of my favorite radio shows.

I tried many searches for potential sites that I could use specifically in my classroom, but didn't find any good fits (yet). Podcast.com has a site called For Arts Sake, but I found most of the topics to slow or adult to keep middle school students interested. I will keep looking.

Thing 17

Here was a slide show I would like to use a part of. I would want to download it and customize it to my 7th grade lecture on the styles of art. Is this ethical?

Art Movements2

View more presentations from Noreen Strehlow.

Zoho- my 2 slide presentation:


I found Zoho very easy to use... a great way to put up a presentation slide show of artwork from different museums for classroom use. Would like to, but I'm not sure I could use this for a gallery of student artwork for view by parents and students because this seems to be a very public tool. I'd have to work with it longer before I decide. It is nice how it links to Flickr and Picassa.

Thing 16

I created this with a freebie called Sketchfu that followed my drawing steps....click on Share! to see it. Or you can go to Make Your Own.



Learn how to draw cartoons, comics, and anime at Sketchfu!


I could see kids having fun doing some cartooning with this.

I found sketchfu at a site called Web 2.0 Cool Tools for Schools at http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/ where I found a list of 100s of utilitites for Web 2.0 Too many to list, (presentation, graphing, video, etc.) but very worth checking out.

I also checked out the Knowtes online flashcard study site but it has been shut down until further notice due to the cost concerns of providing a free service.

Notely is a tool I might suggest a new college student check out. Notely has all the features a student would need, note taking, calendar, to-do list, task list and an upload area. So Notely makes it easy for students to get organised.

Thing 15

How might you use this tool in your personal and professional life?
Professionally this could be useful when writing a collaborative lesson plan or grade curriculum.This free Web 2.0 Google docs tool just saves past versions. Nice for small groups with good communication.

What issues come to mind about using this tool with students.
Until open source software accessibility has been allowed and students have easy access to a PC like wireless laptops, and teachers have some implemented tracking software in place, I can't see that this would be an easy to manage tool for education. But,it does suit well for small publications in progress such as a school newspaper. Again, as with most Web 2.0 Tools, if the school server doesn't let us access these open source files then they are not that helpful.

Thing 14

I didn't join any. I still don't see the advantage for me. My personal family and friends know I don't like spending hours in front of a computer for social purpose, so they won't use the computer to keep me current. I have always had a strong paranoia with posting personal information on the web. My mantra to my own offspring was that they should never give out their name, telephone or address on the internet. Yes, I know that 'privacy controls' can be implemented but one of the sites this course sent me to said "The problem in implementing these privacy options is that they're just too confusing for most non-tech savvy people to handle." This is true. Plus really motivated tech savvy people can often find work arounds to get to your digital information.

If you read my Thing 13, you will see I was not happy about being added to Yahoo Pulse- apparently a social networking site, without realizing it. I was also watching CNN for morning news today. One of their stories was how banks and lenders are following social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to find out more about people before they approve a loan.
My opinion about social networking has not changed since working on this Thing, it has always been negative. I am going to wait until I am shown huge educational gain before I would support the use of social networking at school.

Thing 13

This is the first digital tool that really made me feel I can use this ALOT. Once I get back to school I can look in my file drawers and add my hard copy lists of 50+ good art education web sites and add them to my Delicious account. What a fast way to bring up a museum site or quick YouTube clip for the students to view on the smartboard. No more scrambling to find and type in the right url.

If I can get 3-4 computer stations set up right in my room, I could set them up so students could view how tos, tips and techniques independently. Again, great for the student who needs to refresh, reteach or catch up when absent This is how technology can really help me reach more students.

Questions and Concerns:
1. When I signed up for Delicious, I did so using my own existing Yahoo account. This immediately put me into something called YahooPulse- apparently a social networking site. It picked up and brought with it all my personal info from my email/internet carrier. It would not let me 'delete' the account. I could only 'hide' my profile. I found this to be a great INVASION of privacy.
2. I tried to run a Youtube clip I tagged at home and tried from school. It didn't work.
3. In the past, I can't get to Yahoo mail from school- will I be able to get to Delicious? which is kinda hooked to my mail now?

Thing 12

I spent many years using bookmarking and tagging to create auto generated nested indexes in printed and on-line publications, so the concept makes sense to me. This could be a great time-saver when searching for sites I use in the classroom.

Is tagging a useful way to organize your digital resources and why? What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages? Yes I think it's a great improvement over just putting sites in 'Favorties' on one PC or having a printed reference list of wwws like I have now. I think you do have to be careful that you don't get overzealous with it as too many tags for one bookmark might not be helpful anymore.

What is important to think about before assigning tags to bookmarks or other Internet content? I will have to be consistant with my method of labeling, organizing names, subjects so I don't confuse myself! I see this as a great resource for our department to collaboratively create a list of useful web sites - we will just have to first determine how we should categorize the information.

Thing 11

The site PBS Teachers is something I would really use in my classroom. They have lots of pre-made Lesson Plans for all grades and subjects with video clips, along with 2-3 different and age appropriate projects. I of course,went right to PBS Teacher Activity Packs/6-8/Art. I signed up because they give you a Home Page and a Saved Resource Page where you can keep and access all the lessons you like in one list. This looks like a great way for me to start adding digital interest to my lessons without having to start from scratch with the development.


I made this widget:


Get a Voki now!



Hope it works. Could add a bit of fun to those daily reminders in class.

Also, I really like polldaddy. Not too hard to use and implement. Same sign up requirements as all the other digital spots like Flickr and Twitter. You get to use 100 Free. I could see using this in the classroom for immediate feedback from my students- they would have to be able to access my blog from home and school.

Thing 10

What is the value of Twitter?
I tried to check it out and get enthusiastic about tweets on three separate days. I just don't see a lot of value to this type of connectivity. The advertisements annoyed me, the strings that I followed did not lead me to sites or comments I really wanted and the news tweets were redundant with what is already on display on my Yahoo homepage and the TV channels. I felt I had Frittered my time away and the 3 plus hours I roamed could have been used in a better way. Maybe this is one of those venues that has a higher appeal to a younger generation. I just don't feel I need to share all the small minute details in my life all the time. I prefer to update friends and family in more traditional ways- texting, cell calls and email. Plus, when I do get together with a group of friends over dinner etc., I still have something to talk about.

Select one of the sites that you explored from Time's 50 Best Websites of 2009.
I liked the site, Academic Earth —which lead me to believe that even more classes will be available to more people on-line.

What were the site’s useful features?
It was easy to navigate through the sites. Some of the sites I was familiar with but I liked how they gave a quick overview so you could move on if it wasn't anything of interest.

Could you see any educational applications for it?
I think all three of these were very geared toward marketing and sales of consumer products. Useful, maybe for high school or college business courses teaching how to sell and get brand recognition.

Thing 9

WOW! Huge Topic. It felt like the more I read about copyright use the less certain I am of proper usage. I would really love a Professional Development day or two on this topic- soon.

How do you see teaching and learning changing as a result of Web 2.0?
I think this will be a great avenue for students to not so much as to learn at their own pace but rather progress in their own learning. My biggest obstacle is that middle school students are not at the same starting place; they are not at the equal ripeness to absorb what is being taught and differ in their level of interest in topics. This technology assisted way of teaching could let me assess students based on their own progression rather than how they stack-up against 20 other students in class at the moment.

I found huge truth in the mention of how we teach in isolation and can see that Web 2.0 tools has the great potential to improve collaboration in the educational community.


What opportunities do you see emerging?
Reclaiming lost learning minutes. Currently in a 90 minute block, when I need to work one-on-one with my students, they each get less than 3 minutes of my time. In a 45 minute block, less than 90 seconds. There have been times where students will sit and wait until I come around to them because they want to make sure they're doing it right. So, if I had a few computer stations set up with video /blog where I've selected and assembled visual and written how tos, and students knew they could get up and view them at any time- how great would that be. If they could eventually view this all from their seat using their iphone... even better!
This would help the student who was absent, the student who needs a reteach or to refresh their memory after a 3 day weekend, the student who wants to be sure before they start, the student who wasn't listening yesterday because they were upset about something else, or the student that has the time and inclination to go farther with their project.

What can educators do to practice and teach ethical use of these interactive resources?
Make sure what we use in our classroom, digital or hard copy, has been cited or is in the legal domain. Also, anything we write and put on the web should use a Creative Commons type of copyright to let others know how they might use or re-purpose the work.

Thing 8 - continued

This was a great game to watch... I was happy to be able to see it again, or at least these highlights. What makes this video out take better than the actual game it that the creator added a great song by the Rolling Stones in the background and completely eliminated the very annoying zuzuvella (sp?) horns!!!

Thing 8 FIFA World Cup 2010 Argentina Vs. Germany 0:4

Thing 7

YouTube has it all! The Good, the Bad, the real Bad and the Funny!

I have found very good short clips in YouTube that I could use for classroom instruction, lots of fun software tutorials for vector drawing with a computer application which I teach to the 7th Grade. I think if I ask IT, and give enough notice, I can show the clips at school.

If students get access it at school, they will be laughing, but I'm not sure they'll always be learning!

Thing 6

Flickr could be a great way to compile photos of art styles or art posters into topics or albums for classroom discussion by displaying and viewing them on the smartboard or used to create a notebook presentation from some of them.
Issues: First, I'm not yet sure about all the legal constraints but I know I would have to really look in to the copyright of doing this before I began. Also, I have not been able to access Yahoo accounts from the school PCs so IT policy would have to change.

This could also be a wonderful way to display individual student artwork, maybe in albums by grade.
Issues: My first concern would be with privacy. I don't think that I couldn't list student full names, so it kind of diminishes the 'spotlight' of having their artwork displayed. If I listed the school, I might even have to forego listing first names with grade as this might be too much information to share on so public a place. My second concern would be the time it takes. I would have to add the task of photographing the work, editing the file, uploading and organizing the photos, adding labels and make sure I don't go over the space allowed.

Thing 5

I did pick out a fun picture from Flickr but I was not sure what to do for the copyright. So I am posting a picture I took of the Pacific Ocean with my digital camera.
This is taken on the shore of northern California, about a two hour drive north of San Francisco, very close to the small town of Gualala. This part of California is a spectacular place to visit! The ocean drive is like being on a roller coaster, but you can stop often to take in the view. I saw hundreds of seals and sea lions just hanging out. Not a place for sunning and swimming, only brave divers go in the waters here looking for abalone shells. Minutes away from the ocean edge you are in the California Red Woods; so serene and calm in comparison to the violent ocean waves. Of course, the near proximity of good wine makes this part of the world a must see in my opinion!

Thing 4

I like uncluttered, simple screen displays that load quickly, so I tried to access Eskobo because it sounded like what I would like to use for my homepage but it kept redirecting me to the popular Netvibes. After a few tries and failures, I gave up and did create my homepage in Netvibes. Perhaps they've merged.

I added the gmail I use for this on-line class as well as USA News Today and weather but I already see these when I go to my real Yahoo mail.

What I'd really like to use it for is to keep all of my web links to teaching references all in one spot. Right now they are in a variety of digital and non-digital forms and places. I could see that this might be the tool for this. I would just need to know if my homepage can be accessed from the school site. Also, I would use it as a central bank where I can link to YouTube clips and Discovery streaming videos that I could use with the students.

Thing 3

I commented: "I can use a blog as a forum for students to post their work in progress which parents can then view or use the blog site for all to collaborate on one project, each student having a piece, like creating a puzzle."

I am concerned about students posting to a blog in an appropriate manner- even with my being able to first monitor the posts, and deleting any unsuitable ones. This puts me in the spot of being the 'judge' of what is acceptable content. What if my opinion differs with a student and possibly even their parent on what is okay to post?

Also, as much as I think parents like being connected to what their children are learning, I'm not sure I want to be that connected to them. How do I stem the flow of well meaning but often time consuming parent ideas and suggestions without offending?

July 3, 2010 1:34 AM

Thing 2

I am hoping this virtual program will help me decide where to best spend my tech energy and time. I need to understand how to use all of these varied forms of tools to communicate, collaborate and educate students in my classroom, so I can filter out the ones that are digital time wasters and embrace the 'hits the spot' tools that speak to the subject area I teach.

I would like to plug in to the tools that keep students interested for longer, so more in depth discussions can take place, which in turn should make me a more effective teacher and have a stronger impact what the student actually learns.

Thing 1

I just finished re-reading a sci-fi that came out when I was in college, Enders Game written in 1977 by Orson Scottt Card. The students desks in this futuristic war novel are described as digital, portable, connected to both instructors and students as a touch screen type all-in-one learning center. This appealed to me because it seems simple, like the slate and chalk of 100 years ago.

But now, after viewing and reading about digital learners in 2010 (Thing 1), I wonder how the back to school student supplies list will read in the near future years. Seems like traditional pencils and notebooks will be replaced by a variety of digital tools plus all those accessories. Not that I object; they are all wonderful in their own way, but I do not yet find them to be cohesive, integrated and easy to use in an educational setting.

I believe that education should be an equalizer not a separator of social class. I can't assume that students of the future will be less likely to lose, drop or forget their digital supplies. I'm concerned that the personal cost to student, parent, teacher as well as costs to public educational budgets will now really create a social gap between the haves and have nots.

I think the technology will become less complex but that it will be some time before digital learning is streamlined to a simple and affordable all-in-one system for both learner and teacher. I wonder, will it happen in my teaching lifetime?