If you could speak face to face with God, what would you ask?

I would ask when can I come home?

One Last Thing ...

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

iGoogle and 23 things

How has this program affected your lifelong learning goals?

Well, I have more to do and will never stop learning. I am a baby at technology and will need to continue growing.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

Slow down and spend more time on each thing. Everything else was awesome.

Because web 2.0 is always changing, I'm sure there will be tools that will be added that will blow me away.

Thing #4

I think we could set up classes and education only usages, can't we? I enjoy facebook as a personal space but certainly see the educational benefit
Commenting supports the person making the comment and lends to agreement in the fact the claims that one makes are true. Asking questions shows that you are interested in what they have to say. Giving your opinion helps others to decide what to do.

Thing #12 comment on Hatchett's House - Google is becoming my favorite also. Calenders, spreadsheets, and document sharing have really opened my eyes. I even made a form the other day.

Thing #18 on McG's blog - I agree with you and feel the same way about myspace. I have to admit that I haven't tried myspace so I guess I shouldn't make poor comments on it. Have you checked out or messed with myspace? I don't feel we gave myspace a fair shake.

Thing #16 From the deep dark corners of my mind or mouth - Cool, I enjoy the sidebar, what about you? I added different emails, google docs, and pics. Did you find anything interesting to add to it?

Thing #3 Lauren Finley - I would agree with you but, you will be teaching math, not English. The blog thing is a pretty neat tool to use as a teacher. I wish I had a teacher as great as you to teach me MATH!!

Thing #18 Selene Wang - I think we could set up classes and education only usages, can't we? I enjoy FaceBook as a personal space but certainly see the educational benefit.

I also commented on the Republican GOP page about the lack of promise fulfillment from the current administration. What can you expect from a government that is not of the people or for the people?

And Facebook integrating Google Chrome page. Want to know when and think it is wonderful.

I made these comments because I was assigned to do so. However, I think I will continue blogging even after this class has ended.

Thing #23

Wow, I have never really worried about licensing when I used things from the web. I know there is always music and video people complaining about copyright and loss of money. I know they deserve what they have contributed, but I also realize that educating our students for tomorrow is very important. I guess that where one has to way what is socially accepted versus legal.

I guess most of us trust that the things we use on the web are free and if there was an issue, someone and something would alert me to that fact. I realize I must be more careful when using things on the Internet.

Thing #22

I listened to a How to use a TI-84 podcast. I used to teach math and love to use technology in the classroom. I will be creating some videos soon for APSU online students. Podcasts might be a valuable tool.

Other useful things that podcasts can be used for are creating short clips for students who are absent or for when I am absent or sick.

My Hughesnet doesn't do well with downloading videos and viewing. I get to wait for it to load or spool before I hear it.

This guy goes through the steps of opening the package and even where to buy it.

TI-84 Calc. use

Thing #21

Hmmm...pretty easy, linked it to pictures I already had on the web and added music. Animoto did the rest.

Hope you enjoy what I created!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Thing #20

Youtube has a bunch of entertaining videos as well as educational videos. I've explored this website on many occasions. There are a lot of useful, as well as useless videos. CMCSS blocks all these sites because some of the misuse.

Here is a video of some truth about mathematics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr1qee-bTZI

I chose this video because it deals with my passion; MATH.

The thing I don't like is that a bunch of crazy things get posted...In my opinion.

Thing #19

I checked out some of the social networks and see how they can be used to enhance the education process. Setting up networks for schools, teachers, classes, and various other issues lends itself to collaboration and brainstorming.
Writing benchmark questions, asking what others think, gathering inputs, and just plain sharing is definitely an advantage to using social networking.

I know there is so much out there...but how many should someone be involved in? I can barely keep up with my daily routines let alone socialize more than I already do.

I am a member of facebook, ASCD, and linkedin. I read more than I ever have. I also am a member of teacher-teacher and monster.com. I feel knowing the job market is important as you never know what will happen.

LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site. i use it mainly for professional networking. I used to work with others in the nuclear field and like to keep up with it.

I did play on TeacherPop. Hopefully, I will have more time to look deeper into it.

Thing #17

Very neat! I again will have to take sometime in the future to figure out more uses. I like the fact that my bookmarks are saved. If your hard drive crashes, your bookmarks are safe and sound. The tagging system is interesting also. I have tagged photos before.
I definitely see the potential for collaboration and organization of sites.

Sharing Sharing Sharing! Teachers need the time to share. Teachers also need to want to share! It seems like a competition and not everyone is there for the same reason. I personally have issues with sharing with teachers who don't try very hard.

I did download Delicious. It is similar to bookmarking sidebars with the added feature of creating tags and organizing features. I'll have to spend some time with it and comment more on it at a later date.

Thing #18

This is the link to my facebook profile page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/roger.taylor13?ref=profile

I created a teacher group from some of my APSU teachers and some teacher friends I have. I also follow some people who are important to me on facebook.

I started facebook about 6 months ago and really enjoy connecting with lost friends and keeping in touch with my family and friends.

Teachers need to stay on-top of all new technology and Internet things students are interested or involved in. My sons have myspace pages and I feel it is a younger generations place. I don't like that they keep changing facebooks configuration every few months. I think they both have a place, but I think facebook appeals to me more.

The thing I don't like about it is that sometimes I get posts on my page from people that I wouldn't expect would post things like that.

Thing #16

I chose a whole bunch of things to do.
First, I chose Google Desktop. Now I have a sidebar with my blog, google Docs, Google Calender, Flickr, Scratch Pad, and To Do list to name a few. This really streamlines all the things that I want to look more at and use daily. I am working on syncing it with my cell phone and outlook account.
Secondly, I set iGoogle as my homepage. iGoogle is something I am really enjoying and also streamlines all the things I am interested in. I hope that I can keep up with all the things that I have created and that I am working on.
I did look at life hacker, but didn't think I would use it.
The tool that I definitely will use is the to do list. I am a sticky man and need to get better organized with my to do list.
I will keep iGoogle as my home page. I am experimenting with it and I really see the value in it.
I am still working with Google calender. I am attached to Outlook Calender. We will see which one wins out.

If you have any recommendations for me let me know.

Thing #15

I joined a wikispace. The address is http://taylortopics.wikispaces.com

If I were going to use tool, I could use for collaboration with other teachers. I could also use this as a website that I can protect and have students go to the wikispace and follow the links that I would post. I need to spend more time with it. I don't know if it is something totally different than what I have on blogger. I really don't like the ads that pop up on my wikispace.

I like the setup and the concept of a wikispace. I like that I am the only one able to modify the information on the pages, however, I plan to incorporate pages year after year that students can use for collaboration with classmates, discussion, and reflection. I can place a topic and or assignment that students can view and complete.

Thing #14 continued

I tried out multiple tools and chose the bubbl.us and flowchart.com. They both can be easily incorporated into daily activities. These tools seem to be user friendly and I liked the setup. I did have a problem uploading a pdf file to my blog. Did anyone else have that issue?

Thing #14

OK, I will have to admit that I haven't used or incorporated flow charts into my teaching. It just didn't seem necessary for me to explain how things interacted with the bigger picture.
I was WRONG again.
I need to take the time to show the students in the classroom how concepts are integrated. I used bubbl.us to create a flowchart of how things in math interrelate. I can use it to show weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly relations. I view this as a powerful tool. I think I can incorporate it daily by adding a strand of what is to be accomplished that day, so that it can be seen as part of the big picture. This is another thing I can do in math class that will improve student learning.
My favorite teacher uses flowcharts frequently. She also uses technology way more than I do. I'm hoping someday to be able to do the things she does to improve student learning.

I also started a family tree for one of my sons. This would be a cool project to have the students do. I used flowchart.com to do this. There are so many tool on the Internet that can and should be introduced to students in the schools. I am definitely going to start putting the things I use on the web so that I can access them anytime I want. I am also going to keep a list of all the tools that I have found on the Internet and maybe share some of the things I do with other educators. I hate repeating myself, endless possibilities!

Thing #13

I really enjoy on-line document writers and spreadsheets. I use them all the time to keep track of what I have done or to calculate different things. What is really awesome is that it is saved on-line for use anywhere and on any computer.

Why is this a great tools?

I was at work on Friday and decided to plug in my USB drive to get a spreadsheet that I had worked on for quite a while. Well, you can guess what happened. My USB drive was shorted out by the computer. The Computer's USB drive had bent prongs and "smoked" my drive. Now this is the first time I have ever lost data in my life. I have heard others say back this up and back that up, I never really listened. I am now a believer of backing up work and on-line storage.

I guess I have learned a valuable lesson!

Oh yeah, did I mention that I had to move computers and this was my first time on this computer at work. Made for a great bad start for the day.

1. I do enjoy the fact that it is very similar to other software that we have all used!

• I also like the easy of inserting math symbols.
• the cute faces.
• 2/20/2010
• 
  the comment section is pretty cool

Thing #12

I started using iGoogle and love the easy to use homepage and the adding of gadgets. I have all of my families weather outlook on my page, craigslist, news, email, flickr, deals, etc... I am impressed and See the benefit of having everything at my fingertips. There is so much to do and no time to do it. I want to stay stop adding all this stuff. I cant keep up with it.

I also worked with Google calender. I synced it with my outlook calender which is synced with my blackJack. I need all of this so I don't forget what I'm doing. I love having everything planned out so I can figure out what I'm doing and where I'm at.

I can see the students being able to keep track of all their classes and responsibilities on iGoogle. I can also see them syncing their calenders with mine class calender so that they can keep up with what is required. Wow, the possibilities are endless!

Thing #11

I used Google Reader and had difficulties finding sites. I even went as far as adding sites I go to frequently and it didn't find the feeds. I found the easiest way to check feeds is to go through my bookmarks and see if they have the RSS button. That's when I noticed that some of my sites didn't have RSS feeds.
I did figure out the differences between the types of feeds (audio, news, all, sports, ...) I found it easy to search with many different engines. I collected sports teams I like, local news, and educational issues so that I can stay better informed. I didn't realize how easy this is to keep current.
I think my brain is ready to burst. I have learned more in the last week than I have learned in years. Technology is way more advanced than I thought. I now can watch all the things I want on one page along with email, weather, news, and blogs I set up or explore. What more could I want?

Thing #10

RSS feeds, I understand them now. I have always avoided things that I didn't know about. I am so sorry that I didn't start this sooner. I have spent many hours searching through websites to check for updates. RSS has definitely streamlined some of the pages I visit. I used Google Reader and even went as far as adding it to my iGoogle.

Use in the classroom? Well, teachers can use these feeds to what current events from multiple sites. Check different sites for new information that is streaming. It really is simple to click and add with the little button.

This new technology, which probably is old by now, is really going to make me more efficient in many ways. The youtube video clips really make it easy to understand also.

Thing #9

I found this to be appropriate to make after my wife complained she didn't have any other shoes to wear do to the do do. Followed step by step instructions at http://graphics.pryat.com/signs/safety/clipart.asp?


This was very easy to do and dangerous for a person who likes to do devilish things! I uploaded a photo, clicked on which type of posting space, then added text. This can be done easily at www.fotoTrix.com.






This last one is for my brother and his enjoyment with duck hunting, not!!! I created this plate at http://www.txt2pic.com. Very easy and fun to think of things to say to the ones you love!

I think I have covered how I would use these things personally. At school, I would make things for the students in my classes as gags to keep them interested. I also could use these tools for making lists, adding special student interests to my presentations, and just making the learning environment more enjoyable.

Thing #8

I used the Mosaic Maker to make a memory of my buddy RJ. This is so cool and I can see so many ways I can use this when creating slide shows and such of my pictures. I don't know about a school connection with this application. I will use it to make family portraits. I could play with these tools or mashups forever, but I need to get finished with the assignment. I would hope to have more time to work with these items at a later date.



Mosaic created at: http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php

Thing #7

Will you use Flickr for classroom, library or personal photos, or in some other way? How? Have you ever used another photo hosting service besides Flickr? Which one? How do the two compare? How do you feel about having your photos in a public place (note that you can mark your photos private too) -- any concerns?

Ok, I think I have this figured out now. I will probably use Flickr for sharing photos and for finding photos of things that relate to what is being taught. The libraries seem fairly decent with a lot to explore. I have used other photo hosting sites to share pictures with my family. Picasa rings a bell about me using it. Flickr seems to be pretty easy to use. I don;t know that I can compare the two fairly, as they both seem fairly easy for a low level technology geek like myself. Well, I would have to say that I have been publicly exploited in the past without permission and don't really have concerns about people looking at my handsome face. I do enjoy all of these THINGS that we are doing, wish I had more time to play!!

Thing #6

Create a post about your discovery. Be sure to create a link back to the site where you found your tool. What did you like or dislike about the tool? What were the site’s useful features? Could you see any applications for its use in a school or library setting?

I am investigating Google Docs. My wife has been using it for some time and has high regards for the tool. This is my first time using it. I like that I have storage space and can save files to it for use at any computer. I also like that I can share things with those I choose to share with. What I find particularly helpful is that you or others can share changes in real time. I can share folders with colleagues or student groups and give permissions to edit or just view. I am a math person so I really like Equation Editor! I can't list all the features that are available. Drawing, spreadsheets, surveys, PowerPoint's, word processing, ... are just a few of the many more things that you can do on google docs. Images, tables, templates, and more for use in your presentations.

I can see this being used to track students who are falling behind, collaborate and share ideas amongst teachers, or even share notes with the students. Team work amongst teachers who are preparing lessons for the students. I can come up with many ideas, its the incorporating that takes the effort.

Ok, my wife just helped me create a survey to collect information in a spreadsheet. Oh my, the possibilities are endless.

Thing #5

Web 2.0: A Guide for Educators
I am fascinated by the way technology has grown in the past 25 years. Educators do need to get on board with these new technologies. I for one need to spend more time learning how to incorporate these web tools in my lessons. The social networking sites that are available for people these days are making communication much easier for everyone. The downside is that it is for everyone. Predators, employers, creditors, and investigators all have information available at their fingertips. This world without boundaries can have its downsides if not properly controlled.

The Horizon Report – 2008
Wow, what an article! I find it very intimidating to read about all the things that I have not yet explored and/or used to my advantage with regards to the web. The things that the students have been talking about and working with for years I just thought was garbage; my mistake and one of my many short-coming. Doing things I’ve never done and incorporating things that I don’t truly have a grasp on is difficult for me. I know social networking, videos, digital messaging, web collaboration, data compiling, and much much more is upon us. I need to get out there more and do what it takes to become more informed and keep up with the way of the future. Class collaboration with countries from around the globe, video clips of lessons and concepts, and other ways to work to make things available for everyone is important for our future. Teachers are going to have to lead the way and school administration are going to have to understand these things so that everyone can take advantage of what is already available. We, as educators, need to step outside our boxes!

What does "School 2.0" mean to me?
School 2.0 means that there are many more resources available for students and teachers to use in the learning process. What was once a process of teachers lecturing and students practicing with paper and pencil has now become presentations and the gathering of resources to defend your position, Textbooks are becoming outdated as they are available on the web. Learning can now happen independently from the classroom and with a much larger audience. Our students have grown up in a world without walls. Today's students are more technologically savvy than ever before. As educators, we have a responsibility to harness that desire for collaboration, social networking, and creativity and incorporate it into educational experiences.

What does this mean for schools of the future?
There is going to have to be a new breed of educator. Technology has endless possibilities and the schools of today and tomorrow need to take hold and encompass it. I have been in college for many years. This is only my 3rd online course ever. Schools are heading toward online independent learning so that students can work at their own pace, be tracked simply, and have data compiled so that they know where to go from here. Teachers are going to have to create learning opportunities through modules and explorations so that learners will be able to explore the information and become more responsible for their own learning. I have no idea what this is going to look like, but I do know that I better get on board before I get run over.

Thing #3

Wow again!!

I could use this to assist with homework in the classroom. Students could ask questions and I could respond to them so that all students could see the question and answer. What a valuable tool for teachers.

In college, I could and Professors should set up a blog with their classes so that all can benefit from the discussions and answers. Mr. Wall, did I tell you this is fun! This could be used for students who want to remain anonymous while asking questions from a computer. The possibilities are endless.

Maybe others have better explanations to the questions than I do. I could have my students teach other students on the blogs. What a great learning and training use.

Thing #2

I chose a posting name and blog name that I can use anytime as I think it is appropriate. I have enjoyed creating a blog, however, it has been difficult to do for me. I do like it though. It was difficult moving around between pages and having my family interruptions.

I tried my best to create an avatar that resembled me. I loved creating a mini-me to have on my blog spot. Personality is a little hard for me to show, because I enjoy life to its fullest ... most of the time.

Thing #1

Easiest: Habit 7 - Teach/mentor others
I love to teach. My true passion is to work with others and help them achieve their goals. I hope to be able to teach again someday. I have learned more about life and things through my teaching.

Hardest: Habit 7 1/2- Play
I guess this is why I'm not so technology literate. I only seem to read materials that I am required to read. If I am curious, I might investigate it a little. However, I don't actually take the time to properly learn it.

Easy

This is my first Blog and it is so easy!