week 6: Thing 15

I spent some time to explore the creative commons site and Larry Lessig's video How Creativity is Being Strangled by the Law, and found this to not only be interesting but also something much needed in our new technology driven age. It seems that with everything out there (blogs, videos, websites, etc) creative commons would be more well known. This is the first time I have heard about it.

Week 6: Thing 15

I just took some time and watched the non-Disney copyright video posted on this weeks discovery assignment. This video is great and should be seen by everyone. It really makes me look at Disney differently. A while back, around the semester break I think, LCMS had a great speaker visit us. He spoke to our students and staff on the topics of bullies and the overall treatment of people at school, those you know and do not know. Underlining his speech, he used the Beauty and the Beast movie. This video made me think about how the two relate and the impact Disney has had helping to form those images and perceptions in kids minds.

Plagiarism as a violation of copyright law...

On another note, I gave a written assignment in PE this year and could not have more disappointed with the amount of students who went online for information and just 'cut and pasted' onto the assignment. We had reviewed plagiarism and what it means, how to not do it, etc. and I know other teachers discuss and talk about it however, they still did it. I thought about making those redo the assignment then realized 90% of each class would have to. Next year I will show the non-Disney copyright video. Are the students just lazy?

Week 6: Thing 14

I spent some time exploring Technorati. This site makes my head spin! I am finding that although I thought I was fairly up to date with technology some of these weekly tasks are showing me differently! It took some time to dive into this site first starting out searching for 'classroom learning 2.0' which brought back so much info. Some useful, some not so much. Branching off and searching relative sites for my subject matter, it definately will take some time to weed out info to use. I was able to find some interesting blogs to read. However, loosing track of time, this will have to wait for a later date!

Week 6: Thing 13

While checking out del.icio.us I was able to find a cute website (www.totspot.com) for kids. It is an online babybook sort of thing. Right now this seems fun in order to communicate and share with our family back east. I am so hesitant of posting personal info. due to all the crazy things you hear. I will check it out...

Personally, I am not someone who has a ton of sites bookmarked on my computer. Maybe this is why sites like these are not of too much interest to me. Nor do I want to or have social relationships online. However, I do like 'peaking' into what others have bookmarked...I also like looking at model homes... To learn from others and see what is out there may be of interest to me.

Professionally, I could see using a bookmarking site if there is project to work on and you want to use specific sites. However, knowing how some students don't go too far above & beyond, would this limit any info they would be researching?

Week 5: Thing 12

Rollyo seems like it can be useful at certain times or for a specific project. I can see how it can be beneficial however, some of these sites appear to be more of headache than they are worth. I guess I am not looking online for everything. I am not opposed to technology but... It seems like you can potentially have a website for everything you want to do. Too many passwords...or am I missing the point?

Week 5

Today I was surprised to find out that when my husband changes the avatar in our email (we share) it automatically updates to my blog! Now I am a boy...
Also, I couldn't resist sharing the picture of Sydne! She sits up like this all the time & sometimes tries to sleep...it's too funny!

Week 5: Thing 11

After looking at the short list of the sites on the web awards list, I found that I use some of the sites on a regular basis. I had never heard of Ning and it is interesting but I am just not the type of person to use the social network. I like the face to face interactions! The imcooked site seems fun. I will have to investigate this one a bit more! I find that www.ifoods.tv is more 'organized' and has a cleaner more professional look to the site. Since there is one chef it has a universal feel to it rather than any member being able to post any recipe. There are ways to search for recipes. Next time I need some help in the kitchen, I will check this site out!

Week 5: Thing 10

I was able to create this image with fdflickrtoys.com. These puzzles would be great to buy for kids! Then using the site www.comicstripgenerator.com, I made the image on the right. This is very easy and I can use this in so many different ways in class. One suggestion I like was to use this to give directions on papers/tests. Using a comic strip can help to get any middle school student's attention!

Week 4: Thing 9

I have come to the conclusion that for me I will go the actual website I am interested in and check if it has a RSS feed rather than trying to search for information. This is the easiest for me. Using Topix.net I found some interesting sites relating to PE and kids in sports however after being redirected to the source and reading the first page I then was asked to sign in and create an account to read the next 3 pages. I think I am going to stick to the old way of getting my information.

Week 4: Thing 8 continued

So I have looked at some RSS feed info and subscribed to some through google reader. Is the number next to the subscrition how many 'bits' of info you get on a given day? What if I don't want that much? Can it be changed? Ugh! Information overload or maybe I am just trying to filter it. What's really wrong with not knowing EVERYTHING! So I thought I would at least get something I was interested in and subscribed to the food network feed. Then I recieved info from 2005! Really!! why? If I get all these on my google reader account and this assignment is to put feeds on my blog I don't want to! However, I can and did post some relevant links to some articles regarding PE to my blog. I did this without using RSS feeds so I feel like I did not complete the actual assignment but rather just created a link!

Did I miss something...or multiple things...? (I think I like being in the dark!)

Week 4: Thing 8

After reading about RRS feeds and how they can streamline the process of finding out news topics with how inundated with information these day I think they can be incredibly useful.

Week 3: Thing 7

There is so much technology out there to learn. Personally, the one thing I am trying to learn about is basic technology when it comes to camcorders. Not knowing much about all the differences and trying to decipher the best for the money can be overwhelming.

Regarding my classes and what I would like to learn would be about creating a way to post a question/topic online that relates to what is happening in our class as well as our world where my students can respond and comment. In college we had to do these frequently so I know it's possible! I'm not sure maybe it's covered in this course.