Diigo vs Delicious

I created an account with both Diigo and Delicious.  At this point I prefer Diigo.  It was very easy to set up and easy to bookmark urls.  Of course, I am familiar with Diigo since that is what our instructor uses and we've been able to use her shared bookmarks.  I was also able to put tags on the bookmarks, as well as comments and made a list for INST5330—I have bookmarked my classmates blogs with the hopes that we will be able to stay in touch after the class is over.  I'm also hoping that that will be a great way to keep up with the newest technology, and that we can keep learning from each other.  I thought it was very intuitive to use.

On the other hand, Delicious states that it is intuitive—but I would say absolutely not for me.  I was excited when I first saw that it was affiliated with yahoo.  I started the account easily, and really liked the list of freshest bookmark suggestions.  Then it asked if I wanted a bookmarklet or to just bookmark, and did I want to add it to my toolbar?  I thought that Delicious was very confusing.  I don't know if I missed something or what, but I have no intention of using Delicious.  Then I remembered that I have tried Delicious before, and I didn't like it then.  I'm hoping that when reading everyone else's posts I find that I was just missing something, but at this point, I will stay with my new Diigo account.

As far as which is best for education, I would say it is great to have a choice.  Delicious has a way to share bookmarks and to set up networks, but I believe that that is how our instructor was able to share bookmarks with us in Diigo.  Since like everyone else, my time is limited, I choose to use Diigo.  I will continue to experiment with Diigo and add more bookmarks.  It will be great having access to these bookmarks from wherever I am.  In the past I used to save my bookmarks to my favorites, which I still do once in awhile; but if it is something that is really important to me and I want access to it at school and at home, I have started saving my links (especially the ones that I use for teaching) on my Google page.  I have several boxes of links on my home page, and at a quick glance, I can click what I need.  The timing on Diigo is great because I have been needing to reevaluate my links on my Google page—I have already put a link there for my Diigo bookmarks.  This will be a great way for me to group my bookmarks and not have so many in my boxes of links.

Second Life Virtual World

This is my second experience with Second Life.  The first time I did not enjoy it at all, and I felt like it was very cumbersome.  This time I still think it is cumbersome, and things did not load very quickly, but I had a better experience than before.  I saw someone and chased him down until I could talk with him.   He was very helpful.  I told him that I was confused, but was on here for a class.  I asked him if there was anywhere special that I needed to go.  He asked me what I liked, and I said country music and dancing.  I blinked, and he disappeared.  A minute or so later, he sent me a friend request, and when I responded he was able to send me a teleport request.  We went to Moose Lodge Stonewood Homes and Interiors.  I asked him how long he had been on Second Life, and he said ten days and that he had had good help navigating Second Life.  I told him that I had already had a better experience than last time because I had talked with him.  Besides the chance to teleport from a teleport request from a friend, he gave me another tip that was very helpful.  There is a search button just below the time.  I searched some things, including Hawaii, and then I teleported there.  I couldn't maneuver anywhere and lost contact with my new "friend".  I also lost connection.  I have had lots of problems getting cut off.

After researching Second Life further, I have become very excited about the educational possibilities.  I found a You Tube video (below) which was too long for me to watch it in its entirety now, but I was amazed at the possibilities. Sarah Robbins, doctoral candidate from the University of Indiana, teaches Freshman Composition in Second Life.  She had over 200 students applying to take her Second Life Freshman Composition class when only 18 seats were available.

Students can interact with each other at a low risk because they are in a virtual world instead of the real world.  When educators build learning spaces, it gives students the opportunity to learn authentically by letting them be themselves, which might be more difficult for them in a face-to-face classroom. An extreme introvert may have more opportunities because he/she would be less nervous.

Educators can teach class on different free properties or there is a lot of open space. Educators can build on Second Life.  Even though it is free, there are incidental costs—different carpets, etc.  She gave each team 100 Lindens (equal to about $.30).

The instructor has all of her students in a group, so it is easy for her to disseminate information to the group.  There are different controls that can be set at different times, which can be turned on and off for class times.  Here is the video where Sarah Robbins explains her experiences.

After researching, I tried to think of a group that may be involved with Second Life, and I found ISTE has its own island, which I was able to locate on Second Life.  Here is a short YouTube video discussing it.

I found another article written by a student, Rachel Gollub, that also explains Second Life and discusses how it can be used for library resources.

Also, here are two of the pictures from UCM Selmo Park.

Mobile Technology

Even though I don't have mobile technology, I was excited about this assignment.  In August or September, I am going to reevaluate my cell phone plan and am considering upgrades. I didn't know much about any of this, and I have certainly learned a lot, but I'm looking forward to reading everyone else's blogs to help me make some sense of all of this!  The problem with the decisions that have to be made is that I will be in a two-year commitment, so I want to make the right choices.

Mobile technology, according to Wikipedia, has to do with cellular communication.  Besides being a phone, it can be a GPS navigation system, web browser, Instant Messenger client, and a gaming system.  Many think that future computer technology rests in mobile/wireless computing.

There are many types of Smartphone operating systems including Android, Blackberry, WebOS, Apple iOS, Windows Mobile Professional (touch screen), and Windows Mobile Standard (non-touch screen).  Two of the most popular are the Apple iPhone and Android.  Android is Open Source and free to any cell phone carrier, but the Apple iPhone is the most popular because of its customizable OS which you can use to download applications made by Apple.  Business Link reminds us that examples of mobile IT devices include laptop and netbook computers, palmtop computers or PDAs, mobile phones and smart phones, GPS devices, and wireless debit/credit card payment terminals.

According to Wikipedia, Android is an operating system for mobile devices, which includes middleware and key applications.  Android has a large community of developers (Open Source) writing apps that extend the functionality of the devices.  There are currently over 150,000 apps available for Android.

The pros of mobile technology, in my opinion, would be the convenience of it.  You become familiar with the phone and all of the apps; and as the need arises for another app, it is likely that you will be able to find one that will meet your needs.  I was talking to a teacher that has an ATT I-Phone, which is probably what I'd be interested in because I have ATT.  She said that she would be lost if she didn't have her phone.  I asked her what apps she had, and her first enthusiastic response was a bar code scanner (free) called Red Laser.  She says that if she is out and sees something that she'll scan the bar code and then check and see if she can get it somewhere else at a better price. Immediately, another teacher at the table found the app and added it to her phone!

One reason that I didn't do anything besides my cell phone almost two years ago was that I wasn't sure of the dependability of the internet in various locations.  What I would like to do is get a smart phone that I could dependably use for internet wherever I am, including at home.  I also like using my keyboard, rather than the small phone, even if it is a QWERTY board—that would be a drawback for me as far as using my phone for the internet, and the cost of the portable internet would not be worth it to me unless it would also work for my needs at home.

The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple, primarily as a platform for audio-visual media.  Its size and weight falls between a smartphone and laptop.  It runs the same operating system as the iPod Touch and iPhone.  A drawback is that it will only run programs approved by Apple and distributed via its online store.  It is controlled by a multitouch display.

Hotseat is a software app (Web 2.0) that captures student comments about a class and allows everyone in class to view those messages, including the professor and teaching assistants.  Students can post messages to Hotseat using their Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter accounts, or they can send text messages or log into the Hotseat Website.  It is currently being pilot tested in two Purdue courses, and has become a favorite of both instructors and students.   One of the instructors believes that students are engaged and interact more with the course and ask relevant questions that they wouldn't ask out loud in class.  73% of 600 students enrolled are participating even though it is not a class requirement.

Another  lesson I found uses a mobile phone and special software, Scratch, to engage third grade students in creative writing. The students will create their own greeting card and send it to a friend. With the software the students will be able to track how their greeting card was spread among their friends.

AskMobi is another tool that can be used in the classroom to make a survey, analyze the data and share their results. Students can engage in finding out different views on one topic. 

I am looking forward to reading everyone else's blogs.  There is so much information to process!

Blackboard vs Moodle

After I explored the Blackboard test site and the Moodle test site, I decided to do some research for this blog post.

Both Blackboard and Moodle are course management systems (CMS).  Blackboard is a commercial course management system, and Moodle is an open-source course management system.  These systems provide the framework for putting courses online and allow students to remain connected twenty-four hours a day.  Blackboard claims that they welcome open-source competitors because that increases the interest in using course management systems.

Besides being a course management system, Blackboard’s site lists other uses including blending learning models, credit recovery, online professional development, and virtual programs.

Blackboard’s price tag would keep us from using it at my high school, but it would be my preference between Blackboard and Moodle.  Of course, having used it as a student makes it easier to comprehend how it works.  Getting the opportunity to see how it works from the instructor’s point of view was a great opportunity.

Moodle is a “Course Management System (CMS), also known as a Learning Management System (LMS) or a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It is a free web application with a GPL license that educators can use to create effective online learning sites.”  Prior to this class, I have explored Moodle and have had the tech person set it up on our server.   My first question when I start something new is “how does the student see it?”  There is an option in Moodle that lets you switch roles so that you can see how it is viewed by the student.

My department has hopes of possibly implementing Moodle next school year so that we can better prepare students for college. Last week I was at a dese workshop at UCM, and the instructor mentioned that they used OIS (Online Instructor’s Suite), which is considered a learning management system (LMS) developed by SEMO (Southeast Missouri State) and free.  Before we make the final decision to implement, we want to continue to explore our options because not only the research takes time, but also working with the IT people to set it up, and then how to implement it efficiently and to make it engaging for the students.

Wikispaces tutorial using CamStudio

I have embedded my CamStudio video about Wikispaces. I really don 't have a preference of CamStudio or Camstasia. The only problems that I had was getting them to YouTube. There was a gliche of some kind on my Camstasia that said that it would not work. I finally got a friend to help me figure out that it was something that was not installed properly in the beginning. After that it worked fine.
As Ken said, I did not have the problems with CamStudio that everyone else had. I recorded it as a swf to start out, which was great, but when I submitted it to Blackboard, there were two files that I needed to submit, and I only submitted one of them; and it would not let me resubmit. Then I spent several hours trying to get it uploaded to YouTube. After about eight tries, I figured out that the file formats were not accepted by YouTube. I finally just rerecorded it in CamStudio, but this time as an avi file, which was easy to upload to YouTube.
Again, I have no preference of CamStudio or Camstasia. There are many more features in Camstasia, but I would rather use Jing since it is free.

Avatars to Help Autistic Children

There was a news story I saw on TV earlier this week, and then I found more information on the internet about it. The Center for BrainHealth in Dallas uses avatars in a virtual world to help autistic children learn to cope socially.  They claim that four or five sessions are comparable to two or three years of real world training.  Coffee shop get togethers and job interviews are examples of social situations that are presented.  It helps the students recognize emotions and facial expressions, and it could be their gateway to social interaction.

Technology Integration

This Abraham Lincoln Voki is a demonstration for a secondary history course.  I have suggested Voki and/or Blabberize as tools for this classroom to begin implementing technology into high school history classes.  In the proposal shared in Evernote, I provide a link directly to the Blabberize character that I created as an example of that application.  In this blog, besides seeing the Voki sample, there are other examples of technology used in the classroom, including podcasting, Photostory, and Animoto.  There are many links of other applications that may of interest to teachers of any subject.

Web 2.0 and Education

After watching the Jing presentations on all of the exciting (and free) Web 2.0 tools, I’m glad that we get an opportunity this week to reflect on what we’ve learned and think of possibilities of how we can implement these in our own classrooms and how we can share these resources with others.  I remember last spring when I took Foundations of Educational Technology, I was so excited about the opportunities and tried some of them in my classroom.  Again, this spring I’m fortunate enough to get to try these in my classroom as I learn about them.

I have already shared with others that Animoto is a great tool for photo slideshows, and I plan to share it with my Multimedia class this spring.  Voki and Blabberize are easy programs that I also plan to share with my Multimedia class.  I think Jing is a great tool that I wish that I had found a long time ago!  I will definitely be using it.  I may even use some of these fun programs as a teaser to my Computer Applications class to get them interested in taking Web Design and Multimedia.

Besides Multimedia, I’ve learned about several other tools that I plan on implementing into my other classes—Personal Finance and General Business.  CoboCards, the electronic flash cards, will be a great resource for any class.  I plan to use Bitstrip in Personal Finance and General Business.  I will give each student a small topic and have them create a strip to explain or demonstrate the topic.  Awesome Highlighter is another resource that I want to try; I want to see if I’d rather use it than copying and pasting into Word like I do now.  Also, I’ve just begun to use Evernote, but I like what I see so far and believe that it would be a great way to store information online so that it is available wherever I am.

Other Web 2.0 resources that some of my classmates have mentioned that I’d like to explore more are Prezi  and Online Converter.  I have done a little research on each of them.   I am going to set up Prezi and try it. It is not slide by slide like a PowerPoint presentation, but more like a whiteboard.  I have been in need of the online converter to convert images, audio, etc. from one format to another, so I will definitely be bookmarking it.

It is so exciting to have so many new resources!

Voki Avatar

The Web 2.0 application that I chose was Voki.  Using this application, you can create a personalized Voki avatar with voice that can be added to your website, profile, or blog.  My tutorial using Jing demonstrates how to create the avatar.  I have published my Voki, as well as the tutorial. 

This was a fun application to use, and I believe my high school students will really enjoy this.  There are also games that can be played with Vokis, and they could be used for teaching language and vocabulary.  My first use of my Voki is to be an introduction to my Multimedia course next year.  I can see these being popular with all ages.

While searching for a Web 2.0 application, I considered doing my tutorial on Big Huge Labs, Scratch, and Wallwisher.  Big Huge Labs allows you to create posters, trading cards, mosaics, and magazine covers.  Since my Multimedia students like to experiment with new software and applications, I have had Scratch installed in my computer lab for them to explore if  they finish projects early.  It introduces them to programming because they can create interactive stories, games, music, and art.  Wallwisher is an online notice board maker.  After searching, I chose Voki for my tutorial because it would be an application that I could implement in my classroom.   

As I was posting this tutorial, I see that my video is very large.  I have a widescreen that I used when I captured my screen with Jing.

 

Cloud Computing

According to Wikipedia, Cloud is a metaphor for the Internet.  Cloud Computing providers deliver common business applications online that are accessed from another Web service or software like a Web browser, while the software and data are stored on servers.  Open Source software has provided the foundation for many Cloud Computing implementations. My opinion would be that Web 2.0 is part of Cloud Computing.

Cloud Computing lets you access software applications, hardware, data and computer processing power over the web.  You don't have to purchase and run software on your computer anymore, but there are Ups and Downs of Cloud Computing.

Some of the "Ups" of Cloud Computing are the ability to use applications from multiple locations, many are free, and they are helpful when collaborating at a distance. Virtual field trips, interactive websites, and online educational games support learning experiences.  The "Cloud" can provide a diverse learning experience outside of school hours. 

"Downs" of Cloud Computing include security issues, sometimes the need to filter content, and that even though some of the applications are free, some software still needs to be purchased. 

When I think about my experiences in high school many years ago, it is almost mind boggling to think about what is available today.  I believe that the ups definitely outweigh the downs. With the capability of technology doubling every day, the possibilities are endless.  What an exciting time!

Photostory or Animoto?

I believe that both Photostory and Animoto were fun to work with.  Since I did the Photostory first and did the voice recording, I was a little disappointed when I found out that I couldn't put the voice on  Animoto.  On the other hand, I really enjoyed the animations in Animoto and like the fact that there was music available that was easy to use. I have seen some of my former students that are Seniors and told them about Animoto and that it might be fun to use to make their Senior slide shows look more "professional" than the PowerPoints that many of them use.  I'm going to teach Photostory and maybe Animoto in Multimedia this year.  I love it when I can use something from a college class in my own classroom when the timing is right.

Both my Photostory and Animoto videos are tutorials about making an All Vegetable Soup.

My 1st Podcast!

The topic of this podcast for my Personal Finance class is Payroll Deductions.  Thank you Jason Shaw at audionautix.com for the use of your music.



Podcast Powered By Podbean

Copyright

According to Wikipedia, copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute, and adapt the work.  Copyright does not protect the ideas, only their expressions.

Taking the Mystery out of Copyright from the Library of Congress is a great resource for teachers that I just found during this search, which I plan to try out in my Web Design and/or Multimedia classes.  In Foundations of Educational Technology with Dr. Jurkowski, he shared a link with us that I have been using that the students really like.   It is A Fair(y) Use Tale, which uses clips from Disney movies (ironic, I know) to teach about copyright.

Fair Use, according to a government copyright site that I found, is Section 107 of the copyright law, and it contains a list of purposes where the reproduction of a work is fair.  Those purposes include criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.  It also sets out factors to use to determine whether or not a use is fair.  Those include the purpose and character of the use (commercial or nonprofit educational purposes), nature of copyrighted work, amount used compared to the amount of copyrighted work as a whole, and the effect of the use on the value of the copyrighted work.  It also indicated that the distinction between fair use and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined.

The idea that the distinction between fair use and infringement may be unclear is so true.  I teach copyright, but still struggle with it.  I always try to be overly careful, and the students know it.  I have to remind them that just because they can get it from the internet doesn’t make it theirs to use without permission.  I had a student find some pictures that someone had taken that they wanted to use.  I told him that he couldn’t use them unless he got permission.  He contacted the person and told that he would like to use the pictures for a website that he was doing for a class and that he had no intention of publishing the website.  The guy wrote back and gave him permission.  I reminded the student that he had the permission to use them as he had stated, but that he couldn’t decide to later post the website because that was outside the permission that he was granted.

According to Wikipedia, creative commons licenses are several copyright licenses that allow the distribution of copyrighted works.  They were initially released in 2002 by Creative Commons (a US non-profit corporation).  You keep the copyright, but allow others to copy and distribute your work if they give you credit. These licenses differ as indicated by Wikipedia’s Creative Commons  Frequently Asked Questions.

RSS

My understanding of RSS (Really Simple Syndication) readers are that they are a great way for someone to keep up on certain types of news without browsing all the time.  The news comes into your reader without you having to spend the time looking for it. (USA)

Even though I remember RSS readers being mentioned in the Foundations of Educational Technology class with Dr. Jurkowski, I had never used an RSS reader before this assignment.  As we were directed, I installed Blog Bridge on my school computer.  The installation was easy.  I just followed the directions, and it installed properly.  I then subscribed to the class blogs and to other blogs that were related to educational technology or just educational blogs.   Since I already had an iGoogle page, I looked around and found the reader and set it up and subscribed to all the class blogs and to other educational blogs.  
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Installing things on my school computer makes me nervous because everything of mine at school is usually installed by the tech person. I was pleasantly surprised to find that anyone (including me) that could click on the link provided by the instructor and could read and follow directions could easily install BlogBridge; therefore, I don't think students, teachers, or administrators would have problems setting up this RSS reader.

After the initial setup and trial of both readers, Google reader is definitely my preference.  I have had a Google page for over two years, and I like the consistency of using Google.  I keep my Google page open at school because I have links on my page that I use daily.  I like having everything together in one place, so that is the reason I will continue to use Google reader instead of Blog Bridge.  If someone wanted an RSS reader and did not want to use Google, I would suggest BlogBridge because it was easy to install and user friendly.

When it comes to the RSS reader in general, it reminds me of my business education discussion list.  I really like my discussion list; and I get a lot of information and resources, but I also get a lot of things that I don’t need or want.  At first I had to “wade” through all of it.  Now if there is a subject line that has nothing to do with me, I just delete it without taking the time to read it.

I have the same issue with the RSS readers.  With approximately eighteen classmates’ blogs and at least ten others, that means a lot that comes through that feed.  I have already found that I’ve added some blogs that are not what I had thought they were going to be; and I need to delete them.  I also noticed somewhere that I could do something with keywords, and that is something that I want to look into so that I can narrow the information.

It is wonderful that it is so easy to access information, but in today’s world of technology, I sometimes feel like we get overwhelmed by so much information.  It is so much better than having to go to the library and check out books and magazines to get resources that I need for class.  Of course, I had to carry all of them and “wade” through all of them, too.  Just like with anything else that is new to me, I need to keep using it and figure out how to use it to fit my needs.  I’m hoping that when I read my classmates’ papers that I’ll get some ideas to help me be more efficient in using these RSS readers, possibly starting with keywords.

Besides my business education discussion list, there are a few business teachers' websites that I browse or to specifically look for something, and I believe that is where I found Free Technology for Teachers (an edublog).  It is a great ed tech blog.  Another good education blog, even though it is not technology intense, was The Innovative Educator.  As I continue to reevaluate the blogs that I have set up to come into my reader, these are two blogs that I will probably keep.

As I was finishing up this RSS paper, I was looking for ideas of how to use RSS readers in education. I found a very effective SlideShare presentation about RSS readers.  One suggestion in the presentation was that an administrator could use RSS readers to stay informed on available grants.  I believe that teachers (as we are in this class) can use RSS readers to stay current on educational news and cutting edge technologies.  I require my General Business students to submit an article review every week.  They could subscribe to blogs having to do with topics that I've provided for them.  Even though they may not want to use the blog, the blogs usually lead to other articles or resources, which I find to be one of the most exciting features of the RSS reader.

In summary, I believe that I like the concept of using the RSS readers.  I just need to get more efficient in reviewing them and in subscribing only to the blogs that has the information that would be the most helpful to my teaching.

Open Source

My understanding of Open Source is that by making all of the source code available to everyone that through a collaborative effort the application will constantly be improved; therefore, everyone will benefit from a better application.

It is encouraged to use Open Source and for changes to be made to the source code to improve it.  The derivatives that result are beneficial to all.  A free open source license makes software free for inspection of its code, modification, and distribution.  There may be a few differences in licensing in some open source and some free applicationss, but for the most part they are similar.  Nearly all free software is open source, and nearly all open source applications are free.  Proprietary software is licensed giving exclusive legal right to the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, but restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.

Two Open Source applications that I find to be useful in education are Moodle and Linux. I have looked into using Moodle in my classroom to give students experience with a course management system (comparable to Blackboard) to prepare them for college.  Linux is a free operating system that our school uses in the library even though I don’t have any experience with it because I have my own computer lab with licensed operating systems.  Another option if I didn’t have Office 2007 would be Open Office, which is an open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, and databases.

Introduction

Hi, my name is Karen Irvine, and I teach Business at Lafayette County C-1 in Higginsville. I love teaching business and technology all day long because I also learn new things. I obtained my Business Administration degree from CMSU.  I worked in insurance and real estate, and then chose to stay home and raise my two sons while doing books for our family businesses. As the boys got older, I went back and picked up the education classes that I needed to be certified to teach business (I'm also certified to teach MS Math and Elementary). I was on staff at Concordia for four years. I taught business at Crest Ridge for two years, and this is my fourth year at Higginsville, which is my hometown .The Educational Technology masters program was a very good decision for me because it is a great supplement to my Business Education certification.  I have already used several things in my classes and plan to implement more.  This semester I’m teaching Multimedia, which gives me a class that I like to share the newest technology with, so I’m expecting to pass along some things to my students as I learn them in this course.

I am definitely a lifelong learner.  I enjoy teaching, as well as learning.  It is stressful for me to take a class and teach at the same time because I spend a lot of my personal time working on both.  In fact, I've been told by my colleagues and friends that I spend too much time on both!  I spend a lot of time reading about technology and reading to figure out how to do something; therefore, I don’t have the time to read for pleasure like I did years ago.  I don’t remember the last book that I read, but the one that I will always remember is Hawaii by James Michener.  Even though it is fiction, it is based on how the islands and culture evolved.

 I picked up some used books last summer (including Hawaii) that when I finish my masters, I’d like to read for pleasure again.  I know that many of our students like to read and carry books to class to read if they finish their work earlier than the others.  I also have several friends that read for pleasure.  I would say yes, people still read.