FixIt

I was reading Skips blog and clicked on Sue Summerfords site called, “Web 2.0 for the classroom Teacher”. What a great site. Information overload! This site should be called, “Everything you wanted to know about Web 2.0 Tools but you were afraid to ask”. The site is located at http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/listweb20s.html.

The site is filled with all kinds of applications to use along with the tutorials to get you started. Many of the sites you visit will provide links to other helpful sites to use. I will go back to this site to put together a few new lesson plans.

One of the links Sue provided is called, “Back to school with the class of Web 2.0”. The author, Brian Benzinger” gives many links to helpful tools that can be used in the classroom.  The URL is http://www.solutionwatch.com/512/back-to-school-with-the-class-of-web-20-part-1/. Just a few of the many helpful sites Brian offers are classroom related to make life in the classroom more enjoyable. One site called gradefix will help students organize their homework to fit with there busy schedule. http://www.gradefix.com/. Another program is called Chalksite, a system built for teachers, students, and parents providing teachers with an easy to use central point where they can communicate with students and parents, post assignments and grades, send messages, and manage a website for their courses. http://www.chalksite.com/.

So check out this site and give Skip or I some feed back on your findings. Happy hunting.

Ron

I visited a few interesting sites today for my class readings. The articles were related to the web site called, “You Tube”. I find it very interesting how proficient the younger generation is when it comes to the use of computers or how well they learn to use all its applications. I suppose if I were a teenager at this day and age with a lot of time on my hands I would be most interested in becoming a whiz at using one also. 

Students are combining software and computer programs to create videos with audio playing in the background. They were quite interesting I might add. I watched one video a few teenage girls created called, “Snapped by a passing satellite” and then I was hooked to the You Tube site and spent a half an hour watching other videos. If you are interested in a few videos log on to  http://www.theage.com.au/news/web/youtube-course-is-a-class-act/2006/11/06/1162661610036.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1. 

There is an English teacher that uses You Tube in class for vocabulary and other class related lessons. He allows students to watch videos in class for their assignments. The teacher has an array of lessons he uses for the web base site and feels that it’s working great for him and the students. This site is located at http://esl.about.com/od/listeninglessonplans/a/youtube.htm. 

One video I really enjoyed shows how much the classroom has changed because of the way society and cultures have had to adapt to advancing technology. This would be a great video to show at school board meetings when it is time to vote on the budget for new technology in their schools. The video really makes you sit back and think about how effective the old hum-drum lesson plans are. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC928e629iM

Ron

Every day on my way home from work I would stop by a construction site were a few homes were being built. I would take some pictures as they moved along trying to capture each step of the home building process. I put together a small power point to show this work in process. The power point is located at the top of this page. Being new at this blogging, let me try to put it up on my site.

Ron

I read three articles on the consequences of blogging. I never realized how many people log on to these sites just to see if you have been or are a blogger. Colleges, business, schools, friends, and even family. Blogging is like talking to the world. You really need to be careful what you say about yourself or about other people.

One story I found to be of interest is called, “Many faces of facebook”.

http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/06/15/facebook

A director of judicial affairs, ( www.uvsc.edu/ombuds/judicial/ ) named, Shawn Mcguirk enjoys a site called, “Facebook”, when he logs on to this site he calls it snooping around. Students tend to leave themselves wide open when it comes to their credibility in the eyes of future job opportunities or their status within the school campus.

A story called, “Thoughts on Facebook” alerts you on five things to think about when using facebook. Your, Invincibility, what is Caching, will you be monitored, being responsible for yourself, and how the law can bite you if your blogs contain personal matter on another person.

Reading a story named, “MySpace in College Admission”,“www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/News/StepsNewsletter/myspace_students.htm” named off a few consequences that already happened to some students from the results of someone else reading blogs. At least one college applicant was denied admission in part because of his blog on LiveJournal. Swimmers at Louisiana State criticized coaches on Facebook and were kicked off the team. A high school freshman in Maryland was reportedly suspended because of online photos. Police busted an underage drinking party at George Washington University after they found invitations online. Students in middle school, high school and college are being suspended and expelled for their online indiscretions. Here’s a site to look at that tells a story about a student applying for a job and then the interviewer came across his blog. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/us/11recruit.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

According to the 2005 study by executive job-search agency ExecuNet, cited in the Chicago Tribune, 75 percent of recruiters use Web research as part of the applicant screening process.

Ron

As I read, “Why Blog and Blogoshere” many teachers and students are blogging for more then just enjoyment. Well blogging in the classroom for a lesson sounds fun but they are actually doing for a grade. Teachers are writing into blogs that their students are enjoying the fact that learning can be fun when all of their peers are responding to each others work as well as students that live far away. Sounds like something I would like to investigate.

Ron