Thing 20 - Libraries and Social Networks

I was introduced to Facebook last year when some of the students I work with showed me their pages. I was amazed at how many of the students have accounts on this site. It wouldn't surprise me that Facebook is the fastest growing social network, since you can see your friends, and their friends, etc. It is like that old commercial - I don't even know what they were advertising - but the words said something like... you should tell two friends, and they will tell two friends, and they will tell two friends, etc. Navigating this site isn't too difficult, plus with all the people using this site, someone you know is bound to be willing help you!

I looked at My Space, but didn't spend much time on it. A few years ago, I heard that my niece was on the site, so I checked it out. There was no need for me to sign in to find out all about her. All I did was type in a first name in a 30 mile radius and found her right away. She had a pic posted, info on where she goes to school, where she hangs out, etc. I was shocked. The red flag was flying high! At my urging, she took off her pic, and I guess now you can make a profile private or something, but it scared me knowing that ANYONE could find out so much info about a minor! Very scary.

I think Facebook is much more safe, and can very useful for communicating with people who are physically distant from you. I am afraid that it could be another of those interenet "tools" that take over your life, so you sit in front of the computer instead of actually going outside and doing something!

Thing 19 - Podcasts

I listened to a few podcasts - from MPR and the SCSU podcasts. I didn't realize that a person needs to download them. I thought it would just be streaming audio. I was at TIES a couple years ago when the media staff from Holdingford shared their daily news podcast. I think it is a fun way for kids to gain confidence in both participating in a news broadcast, as well as speaking to an audience, without having the "audience" right in front of them to make the kids nervous! I have done a live morning news show, which would be really fun to post online, but the audio only (podcast) would eliminate the concern for students privacy issues.

Is there a reason that the podcasts from MPR and SCSU have a video component to it? The screen "saver" was quite distracting. I suppose that if I really wanted to just listen to the podcast, I wouldn't be watching the screen anyway!

In the future, if I found a good podcast, it would be great to sign up for the RSS feed and listen to it on a regular basis.

Thing 16 - Student 2.0 Tools

The University of Minnesota Assignment Calculator is a great tool! When I taught 4th grade, we used planners to keep the kids organized. The assignment calculator is like a 4th grade planner on steriods! The optional reminders for each step in the research process will keep the student on task, and they won't tend to procrastinate... like I did on the last several Things! :)

I am very impressed with the number of tools/worksheets that are provided for both the teachers and the students. This site has everything you could ever ask for when teaching research skills, from topic-finding to refining an internet search, using seldom used boolean characters.

If I were an classroom teacher, I would use this site all the time! I will be certain to share this site with the English teachers at school. Actually, the Social Studies teachers do a lot of research projects, especially investigating controversial topics. I'm sure they would love this site as well!

I have to get back to learn more about this site at a later date!

Thing 15 - Online Games and Libraries

I tried Puzzle Pirates. I had my nephew help me put together the characters. He had much more fun with this game than I did. It was difficult for me to figure out how to play. A different nephew plays online games like this all the time. "All the time" being the critical words here. I think this type of thing is very addictive - to all ages! I don't see a real use for this at school - the kids are too distracted as it is. I did take a quick peek at Second Life, and although I didn't create an account to play, it reminded me of SimCity, which we did have at school. All in all, I think plaing online games is a waste of time. Have any of you read The Last Child in the Woods?

Thing 18 - YouTube & Other Online Video

I am jumping around a bit on the last few Things. I have only used YouTube a few times. I searched for spoofs on some Classics for an English teacher last year. The kids thought it was a ton of fun. I have also found some useful videos for both home and school use.

I can imagine that this site can soak up many hours while searching for funny things to watch. I used a couple different search terms, and found both home videos as well as portions of TV shows and movies. I'm not certain how people can publish home videos with copyrighted songs on them. I wonder if anyone has ever gotten in trouble for this.

This was a rather entertaining Thing, and although I did spend a bunch of time on it, it was nice to play a bit, instead of just try to figure everything out, like on many of the Things. Plus, I didn't have to create an account and think up another username and password. Thanks!

Thing 14 - LibraryThing

I like the idea of LibraryThing and have been looking for just this kind of tool. I have an English teacher who has a list of book recommendations for her students. We want to be able to list these books, and give the kids the ability to write comments about the books. LibraryThing seems to do just that, but I don't want so much clutter... I just want a simple site that allows only my students access. Any ideas?

Thing 13 - Online Productivity Tools

I used iGoogle for my start page, and customized it. I liked some of the gadgets - the most helpful being the weather and date and time gadget. I would like to be able to place links on the page, so I could get my booksmarks from Delicious, but I couldn't figure out how to d that.

I also worked for awhile on Don't Forget the Milk. I guess I still do most of my "listing" in my head. I don't write things down. I have all kinds of sticky notes on my computer at work. Unless I see my "jobs" right in front of me, it doesn't help me to make a list, plus, I had hard time figuring out a easy way to add tasks and due dates. I don't think I wil use this tool again.

I think I spent about 2 minutes in my chair at work today. I wrote a few important emails, and even at that, I had them half-done and got interrupted, and finished them later. I guess I should get my life more organized... and maybe using lists would help, but I would need to find the time to write the list out! I blame it on the fact that I never used an organizer growing up. :) I am too "by the seat of my pants", and have trouble sitting down!