Thing 20

Google docs is a great tool for sharing information and for collaborative work. I have been using it for a while, beginning with a collaborative project with the 4th grade classes. I created a spreadsheet for the students to share between the classes so that they could collect data in their classrooms about spring break destinations. Then, as each class came to the technology lab, I simple pulled up their spreadsheet and the students where able to use the data to create graphs representing the results. I have also use google docs to share information and collaborate on a project with other staff members. Google docs will be very useful for any project involving sharing, from writing stories and poems, to sharing notes and data.

Thing 19

I have found that YouTube has a wealth of videos for education. I have already used it for instruction (there are some excellent videos about robotics). My students have used some YouTube videos in their Movie Maker projects (I donwloaded and converted them to avi files for them.) Of course, YouTube can also be fun! Here is one of my favorite episodes of "I Love Lucy!"

Thing 18

Some thoughts about podcasting...

Thing 16

Goal setting in a public way would not necessarily be beneficial for me. I am self-motivated and usually don't need coaxing and cheering from others to achieve something. If I do need encouraging, the most helpful way for this to happen would be from my family and friends and not from random people on the internet. I can see a use for this site in the classroom to help a team of students collaborate and encourage each other to accomplish a task or group effort/performance/event, etc.

Thing 15

I think that the Library Thing is very cool, not only for me personally, but for my family of voracious readers. After exploring the site, I emailed the link to one of my daughters. She is an English major, I'm sure that she will love it! She infact responded, "you have found the dork in me."

Thing 14

The challenge for me to use delicious as a website organization tool will be to break my habit of bookmarking websites. I am very practical and task oriented. My time is short. My bookmarks are organized and I can get my work done quickly. I will have to reorganize my stuff to effectively use delicious. http://del.icio.us/zottnick

Think 13

So many tools, so little time! It seems that almost daily there are new, cool tools on the web. I chose to play with the comicbook maker, http://www.toondoo.com/. It is very creative and fun . My students have created comicbooks with Word on the American Revolution. This web tool may be a way to update the assignment. It would also provide the students with the ability to publish and share their work.

Thing 12

Technology advances geometrically. This is evident with the speed of the developments in the internet since 2003. The interent used to be just a means to tie computers together - sure we could email and look up information but that was it. Now the whole concept of the internet is different, and consequently the mindset for the use of technology in the classroom has shifted. It has shifted from being merely a tool in the classroom to, as Lani Ritter Hall suggests in “Classroom 2.0 or You Live Where?”, to an integral part of a studio ffull of creativity, networking, connecting, and collaboration.