I explored all of the mind maps and flowcharts from the list and found that I liked Gliffy and Bubbl the best. Gliffy.com was a good site to make a flowchart because there were so many options with which to make it. They were fun and creative options! I also liked that the site allowed you to zoom in and out to see the full extent of the flowchart during the process and after completion. The creation process was easy. All you had to do was click on the image that you desired to use, drag and drop it to the grid, and type the desired text in the blinking box. I do wish that the images had the ability to be rotated though. That would have helped a lot with the arrows and other connectors.
Bubbl.us was a good mind-mapping website because of its grand simplicity. To make a mind-map, you click on the "start brainstorming" button on the homepage. That button will take you to a yellow box without text. Click on the yellow box that says "start here" to type the text in the box. There are tabs on the yellow box to help you make the map. Click on the tab to the left to make a new yellow box. Click on the tab at the bottom to make a connecting box. If you hold your mouse over a box, the edit box will appear. Despite all of its simplicity and usefulness, there is still room for improvement. I think it would be easier to use the mind mapper if you could right click on the box that you want to edit rather than holding your mouse over it. Sometimes the edit box does not respond when you hold it over the box. Also, I would like it better if there was a left tab option as well as the right tab instead of just the right tab.
I would like to use Gliffy for a project sometime in the future. Of the two websites, I liked it better than Bubbl because it offered more creative freedom to the user. Both sites are great for educators, students, and office personnel to use though. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a mind-mapping website or a flowchart website.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Thing #17
I recently joined Delicious and enjoyed exploring the awesome website. I typed educational technology in the search bar and got a lot of results. I was able to see the comments that other people had made for the bookmarks on the right-hand side of the page, and I was able to see the tags that they had added to the bookmarks.
The Delicious website is very useful to anyone looking for something specific. All you have to do is type in the search term that you are looking for and voila! Either they have it or they don't. The tags on the websites were very helpful when I was looking for things. I really enjoyed looking around the site at all of the other awesome websites that I was not aware of before. I loved that the whole thing was very easy to use!
Delicious would be great to use as a resource for the classroom! There are so many websites especially geared towards education on the site. For example, there was a website that had videos for teachers and videos of lesson plans on the site. There was another website that had games and interactive activities for the students as well. Teachers can take advantage of the social bookmarking websites by sharing with other teachers the websites that they have found useful in the classroom and for the classroom. By sharing the helpful resources for the students' sake, teachers can help education to flourish further.
The Delicious website is very useful to anyone looking for something specific. All you have to do is type in the search term that you are looking for and voila! Either they have it or they don't. The tags on the websites were very helpful when I was looking for things. I really enjoyed looking around the site at all of the other awesome websites that I was not aware of before. I loved that the whole thing was very easy to use!
Delicious would be great to use as a resource for the classroom! There are so many websites especially geared towards education on the site. For example, there was a website that had videos for teachers and videos of lesson plans on the site. There was another website that had games and interactive activities for the students as well. Teachers can take advantage of the social bookmarking websites by sharing with other teachers the websites that they have found useful in the classroom and for the classroom. By sharing the helpful resources for the students' sake, teachers can help education to flourish further.
Thing #16
I chose the iGoogle start page because it looked like the most simple, efficient one to use. I liked the design, the widgets that were available, and the fact that I am already familiar with Google tools. I do not think that I will make it my homepage, though, because I already have a homepage that I love. iGoogle would be my second choice for a homepage.
I like the online calendars that are available to us to use. I can use it to remind me of important, upcoming events. Instead of making notes all over the house to remind me, everything that is important is all in one place with all of the information that is necessary. I can use it to remind me of birthdays, meetings, classes, appointments, holidays, random events, and so many other things. I chose to use Basecamp because it has multiple tools to use all in one place. The calendar and to-do lists are available there too.
I found the to-do lists to be very useful on Basecamp. It was quick and simple to make. It was extremely helpful. When I am done with something, I can literally "check" it off of my list. I love the to-do list. It would be great if the calendar and to-do lists could somehow be combined! That would be a very efficient, effective tool.
tinyurl.com is another very useful tool that I found in the research for this blog post. It is a useful website to use at home, school, or in the office. All you have to do it take a long URL, copy it, go to Tiny URL in a separate window, and paste it into the white box. Once you click "make tiny URL" next to the white box, a new page will appear with the converted URL in black bold. I would highly recommend both Basecamp and Tiny URL to anyone else who uses a computer.
I like the online calendars that are available to us to use. I can use it to remind me of important, upcoming events. Instead of making notes all over the house to remind me, everything that is important is all in one place with all of the information that is necessary. I can use it to remind me of birthdays, meetings, classes, appointments, holidays, random events, and so many other things. I chose to use Basecamp because it has multiple tools to use all in one place. The calendar and to-do lists are available there too.
I found the to-do lists to be very useful on Basecamp. It was quick and simple to make. It was extremely helpful. When I am done with something, I can literally "check" it off of my list. I love the to-do list. It would be great if the calendar and to-do lists could somehow be combined! That would be a very efficient, effective tool.
tinyurl.com is another very useful tool that I found in the research for this blog post. It is a useful website to use at home, school, or in the office. All you have to do it take a long URL, copy it, go to Tiny URL in a separate window, and paste it into the white box. Once you click "make tiny URL" next to the white box, a new page will appear with the converted URL in black bold. I would highly recommend both Basecamp and Tiny URL to anyone else who uses a computer.
Thing #15
I created a page on the APSU 23 Things Sandbox wiki. At least, I hope I did. I was not entirely sure what I was doing on there because it was somewhat confusing to me. I was not sure if I put my blog post about my curriculum ideas in the right place. I really hope I did not mess something up or delete anyone's post. If I did, I apologize. It was completely unintentional! You can find my page on the wiki at http://apsu23thingssandbox.pbworks.com/w/page/64381396/TheThing. I also added my blog post to the FrontPage on the wiki.
I found the idea of easily publishing documents for others to view and contribute to as the interesting aspect of wikis. When I watched the YouTube video about wikis, the concept seemed quite simple and useful. However, after experiencing a wiki for the first time for myself, I may have to revise my thinking on that issue. It was not simple. I was lost the whole time I was on the wiki. The editing did not work like the YouTube video said it would. I think I may have accidentally deleted the previous post before mine. I completely agree with one of the links explaining wikis that mentioned how organized, OCD people may not like wikis because they are disorganized and easily changed! I believe I fit in that category.
There are many ways that a wiki could be used. If I ever did decide to use a wiki, it would most likely relate to my classroom and/or students in some way. Perhaps I could create a wiki to post information about the curriculum topics that I will cover in the classroom. Other people could post helpful tips or information that I could incorporate into my lesson. I would request that the informational comments be reinforced with research evidence.
I found the idea of easily publishing documents for others to view and contribute to as the interesting aspect of wikis. When I watched the YouTube video about wikis, the concept seemed quite simple and useful. However, after experiencing a wiki for the first time for myself, I may have to revise my thinking on that issue. It was not simple. I was lost the whole time I was on the wiki. The editing did not work like the YouTube video said it would. I think I may have accidentally deleted the previous post before mine. I completely agree with one of the links explaining wikis that mentioned how organized, OCD people may not like wikis because they are disorganized and easily changed! I believe I fit in that category.
There are many ways that a wiki could be used. If I ever did decide to use a wiki, it would most likely relate to my classroom and/or students in some way. Perhaps I could create a wiki to post information about the curriculum topics that I will cover in the classroom. Other people could post helpful tips or information that I could incorporate into my lesson. I would request that the informational comments be reinforced with research evidence.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Thing #13
This was my first experience with Zoho writer. While on the site, I made a sample PowerPoint presentation and a sample document. I liked the new features that both tools had to offer. They had the same features as the Microsoft software, but they were presented in a new way. It was exciting for me to try something old in a new way. One thing that I saw different in the Zoho document toolbar was the capability to create equations for the document. I am not aware of that feature in the Microsoft Word software. I attempted to create the quadratic formula in the equations maker, but it did not have the capability to underline the whole equation to divide by 2a. That was somewhat disappointing. The PowerPoint tool on Zoho had several new themes to choose from for the presentation. I liked them very much because they were pretty and had fun new fonts to use in the presentations as well, such as cabin sketch. What I really liked about the Zoho website was that you could keep your documents, spreadsheets, presentations, music, pictures, and videos all under your account. I don't know of any other website that offers that many potential storage options to the user.
https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1LZvwo2BNNi0TLvsqsxeWLvWu8H8Yp6KyqJkiq9_kZ2Y/edit?usp=sharing is the link to my drawing that I made using Google Docs. It was fun to do, but I wish I had been able to put some color into it. I have used Google Docs before and was not overly impressed. However, one feature that is appealing about Google Docs is its capability to update documents automatically as you type. You don't have to send multiple copies of revised documents to ten different people and have a mess in your e-mail. That feature alone makes Google Docs a good collaborative tool for students to use inside and outside of the classroom. For example, if students were to have an assignment where they had to create a group skit for class, they could create one document to share and contribute to it all in one place at one time.
After interacting with both Zoho writer and Google Docs, I have decided that I like Zoho writer far better. It has every capability that Google Docs has to offer to its users plus more. I also like the clean set-up of Zoho writer better than that of Google Docs. In my opinion, Zoho writer is obviously the better tool to use.
https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1LZvwo2BNNi0TLvsqsxeWLvWu8H8Yp6KyqJkiq9_kZ2Y/edit?usp=sharing is the link to my drawing that I made using Google Docs. It was fun to do, but I wish I had been able to put some color into it. I have used Google Docs before and was not overly impressed. However, one feature that is appealing about Google Docs is its capability to update documents automatically as you type. You don't have to send multiple copies of revised documents to ten different people and have a mess in your e-mail. That feature alone makes Google Docs a good collaborative tool for students to use inside and outside of the classroom. For example, if students were to have an assignment where they had to create a group skit for class, they could create one document to share and contribute to it all in one place at one time.
After interacting with both Zoho writer and Google Docs, I have decided that I like Zoho writer far better. It has every capability that Google Docs has to offer to its users plus more. I also like the clean set-up of Zoho writer better than that of Google Docs. In my opinion, Zoho writer is obviously the better tool to use.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Thing #4
I think commenting helps create a sense of community and interaction because of the ideas that are being shared and discussed. Typically, people comment on blogs or statues because they are intrigued by what an individual has to say in either a positive or a negative way. By commenting on the status or blog, one makes himself or herself an instant member of that conversation. People interact through conversation and learn about varying things. In some ways, this creates a community because the people who are interacting have something in common.
There are two other points from the readings about commenting that I found important. I liked the idea in the Cool Cat Teacher Blog about making hyperlinks to things that bloggers have written about. I feel that this is important because it helps the reader to understand more of what the blogger is referring to in the blog. For example, if I said that I really liked this intriguing new website that I found for teachers, it would be highly beneficial for me and for my readers to have a hyperlink to the website that I speak of so that they understand what I am talking about. Also, a hyperlink cuts down on a lot of unnecessary description in the blog. Another thing that I found important was from 10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog; it said to interact with the comments left on your blog. I absolutely agree with that. Commenting on the comments keeps the conversation going, and it makes people feel good to know that their opinions are valued and their voices are heard.
This comment is from Hayley Carney's 23 Things Journey regarding the usefulness of a blog for education. I said,"I must concur with Brandy; your blog ideas are wonderful! I had not thought of so many ways to use a blog for the classroom. It seems like you put a lot of thought into this. :) You are right that children spend much of their time on the Internet these days. The adults do too, so it would not be a problem for most of them to get on your blog and browse the things that you have up for a certain week or ask questions. With your permission, I would like to organize my blog in a similar way as you have described here. It is one of the more efficient ways that I have heard of to use a blog for education."
I made this comment on her blog because I liked the ideas that she presented and wanted to express my approval of her post.
I commented on Alena's post at http://asglassford.blogspot.com/ concerning YouTube videos. I said, "Alena, you make some very good points about YouTube for education. I also believe that it can be a tool to utilize in the classroom to help the students understand a concept. There are many helpful educational videos on YouTube, but there are also some very inappropriate videos as well. Unfortunately, schools may not allow YouTube access due to such available videos. It would be great if there were a link to all of the educational things on YouTube to avoid the improper images all together during the search for good teaching materials."
I also commented on Mary Ann Swaney's blog about the Flikr letters and said "Mary Ann, I love your idea to use the Flikr letters to spell out words! The kids
could be creative while they enjoy the various shapes and colors during the
learning process. The Flikr letters might also be used to create signs or labels
for things throughout the room."
The final comment that I left on the education blogs was at Bailey's 23 Things about using the Mosaic Mashups. I said, "Bailey, I have seen many great ideas while browsing through the blogs. I have said it before, and I will say it again. I love your idea to compile some of the students' works at the end of the year! That is a very creative way to use Flikr for an educational purpose. It might also be fun to make a collage using Mosaic Mashups of your students doing various activities in the classroom throughout the year."
I chose each of these people to comment on because I found their ideas intriguing. Some of the blogs I added to the idea if it was possible. These future educators used good grammar and punctuation for the most part and seemed to know what they were talking about. Because I am somewhat technologically challenged, that is something that compelled me to read some of their blogs. I wanted to see if they offered any advice on how to go about creating the things that they had posted.
I tried to leave encouraging, positive comments on each blog. Each of my comments mentions something about their particular posted item. If I could add to their ideas, I would give advice on other possibilities for the tool.
"This sounds like a wonderful book to share with students. Thank you for posting such a thorough and intriguing review. I will look for it to buy nearby. :)" was the comment that I left on Waking Brain Cells blog about the review called Review: Miss Moore Thought Otherwise by Jan Pinborough.
"These photographs are beautiful! I, too, am guilty of snapping pictures with my phone wherever I go and doing all of my editing from my phone. It is so accessible, but we sacrifice the beauty for the sake of the time." are the words that I left on http://anhsfoodblog.com/2013/02/eat-analogue-visits-to-pope-joan-brunswick-east-melbourne.html/#comment-10925 blog about photography.
I chose the sites and blogs to comment on because they are topics that I am interested and am invested in.
There are two other points from the readings about commenting that I found important. I liked the idea in the Cool Cat Teacher Blog about making hyperlinks to things that bloggers have written about. I feel that this is important because it helps the reader to understand more of what the blogger is referring to in the blog. For example, if I said that I really liked this intriguing new website that I found for teachers, it would be highly beneficial for me and for my readers to have a hyperlink to the website that I speak of so that they understand what I am talking about. Also, a hyperlink cuts down on a lot of unnecessary description in the blog. Another thing that I found important was from 10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog; it said to interact with the comments left on your blog. I absolutely agree with that. Commenting on the comments keeps the conversation going, and it makes people feel good to know that their opinions are valued and their voices are heard.
This comment is from Hayley Carney's 23 Things Journey regarding the usefulness of a blog for education. I said,"I must concur with Brandy; your blog ideas are wonderful! I had not thought of so many ways to use a blog for the classroom. It seems like you put a lot of thought into this. :) You are right that children spend much of their time on the Internet these days. The adults do too, so it would not be a problem for most of them to get on your blog and browse the things that you have up for a certain week or ask questions. With your permission, I would like to organize my blog in a similar way as you have described here. It is one of the more efficient ways that I have heard of to use a blog for education."
I made this comment on her blog because I liked the ideas that she presented and wanted to express my approval of her post.
I commented on Alena's post at http://asglassford.blogspot.com/ concerning YouTube videos. I said, "Alena, you make some very good points about YouTube for education. I also believe that it can be a tool to utilize in the classroom to help the students understand a concept. There are many helpful educational videos on YouTube, but there are also some very inappropriate videos as well. Unfortunately, schools may not allow YouTube access due to such available videos. It would be great if there were a link to all of the educational things on YouTube to avoid the improper images all together during the search for good teaching materials."
My comment on Jill Hutchison's 23 Things pictures that she made from Comic Strip and Image Chef read "I could not figure out how to work the online generator. Your
images are fun and compelling though. I think it is a good idea to start your
day off with a funny picture or inspirational message. Many of the kids don't
want to be at school when they are in the classroom. I think the funny pictures
might help lighten their moods just a little and maybe bring a smile to their
faces. :)"
The final comment that I left on the education blogs was at Bailey's 23 Things about using the Mosaic Mashups. I said, "Bailey, I have seen many great ideas while browsing through the blogs. I have said it before, and I will say it again. I love your idea to compile some of the students' works at the end of the year! That is a very creative way to use Flikr for an educational purpose. It might also be fun to make a collage using Mosaic Mashups of your students doing various activities in the classroom throughout the year."
I chose each of these people to comment on because I found their ideas intriguing. Some of the blogs I added to the idea if it was possible. These future educators used good grammar and punctuation for the most part and seemed to know what they were talking about. Because I am somewhat technologically challenged, that is something that compelled me to read some of their blogs. I wanted to see if they offered any advice on how to go about creating the things that they had posted.
I tried to leave encouraging, positive comments on each blog. Each of my comments mentions something about their particular posted item. If I could add to their ideas, I would give advice on other possibilities for the tool.
"This sounds like a wonderful book to share with students. Thank you for posting such a thorough and intriguing review. I will look for it to buy nearby. :)" was the comment that I left on Waking Brain Cells blog about the review called Review: Miss Moore Thought Otherwise by Jan Pinborough.
"These photographs are beautiful! I, too, am guilty of snapping pictures with my phone wherever I go and doing all of my editing from my phone. It is so accessible, but we sacrifice the beauty for the sake of the time." are the words that I left on http://anhsfoodblog.com/2013/02/eat-analogue-visits-to-pope-joan-brunswick-east-melbourne.html/#comment-10925 blog about photography.
I chose the sites and blogs to comment on because they are topics that I am interested and am invested in.
Thing #5
I believe that Web 2.0 means better education that will be more accessible to a wider variety of people. I think Web 2.0 will change education for the better and help individuals to understand things better than they did before. It will not replace educators or detract from education itself. Rather, it will help education flourish because more people will be reached through the possible tools that can be used for learning. Web 2.0 accommodates more of the different types of learners than what was done in the past through the various tools that are made available. The news ways of communication that have been made available are invaluable.
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