Sunday, May 20, 2012
I had fun creating several Vokis at Voki.com while I was checking out the website before using it with my students. I found out that you can move the avatar around and even put in your own background. You can record your own voice or pick a voice and copy and paste your own text in. I couldn't resist one to use on my staff page. Here it is:
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Learning 2.0 Thing #50 TED
For Thing #50, we are to check out the videos at Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED.org).
This was a fun assignment as I don't always get a chance to watch videos very often. It gave me a chance to check out this site and find out what is available.
I checked out several videos. One of the TEDTalk videos that I watched was by Thomas Suarez: A 12-year-old app developer.
He has a great point about where do you go to learn how to program/create games/apps. It is inspiring to see a young student getting involved and creating programs, and wanting to see other students learn from his experiences.
Another video I chose to talk about is Graham Hill: Less stuff, more happiness.
I certainly agree that we should be simplifying our life. Get rid of things that we are not using and help someone else that could use the items. Why spend so much time I have had a terrible dream that I have outlived most of my family and I'm left having to deal with everyone else's stuff.
A very funny and informative video was by David Pogue on Cool Phone Tricks. I always like to listen to his incites about technology. It is rather lengthy and parts will be outdated as it was done in 2008.
I plan to check out some more of David Pogue's videos!
This was a fun assignment as I don't always get a chance to watch videos very often. It gave me a chance to check out this site and find out what is available.
I checked out several videos. One of the TEDTalk videos that I watched was by Thomas Suarez: A 12-year-old app developer.
He has a great point about where do you go to learn how to program/create games/apps. It is inspiring to see a young student getting involved and creating programs, and wanting to see other students learn from his experiences.
Another video I chose to talk about is Graham Hill: Less stuff, more happiness.
I certainly agree that we should be simplifying our life. Get rid of things that we are not using and help someone else that could use the items. Why spend so much time I have had a terrible dream that I have outlived most of my family and I'm left having to deal with everyone else's stuff.
A very funny and informative video was by David Pogue on Cool Phone Tricks. I always like to listen to his incites about technology. It is rather lengthy and parts will be outdated as it was done in 2008.
I plan to check out some more of David Pogue's videos!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Thing #48: A Facebook Page for Your Library
A Facebook Page for Your Library
Assignments
1. I had created a Facebook account for our school library last July for Thing # 38. Located at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beals-School-Library/145070912176343?sk=wall
I have posted to it during the school year about different events going on.
2. Checked out the Nebraska Learns 2.0 and clicked on the Like button.
3. I had planned to put a link to it from the school web page, but was told that it was against school policy to link it from the school web page. Hopefully, that will change. Since we are an elementary school, my target audience is mainly parents and the community. I'm aware that many of our students also have Facebook accounts even though they are not yet thirteen. Whenever I ask the students about having an account, they tell me that their parents said that they could. We then have a discussion about Internet Safety. I have not imported any of my "friends" as this is not my target audience.
4. When I originally created the Facebook page for the library, it was before they had Pages. It was easy to change over and I like that there can be more than one administrator if that works for the library. I have this account under Companies & Organizations - Education. I think that this is a better fit for an elementary library. I usually post information and events that are going on in the library. I tried this morning to make a link to our curriculum based activities for students to use, but it only links to the District homepage. I even tried to create a tiny URL, but the result was the same, so I removed it.
There are not too many Facebook pages that I could find yet for the elementary library. Several that I did find, did not look like they are kept current. The ones that are posting regularly are writing about what is going on in their library.
Assignments
1. I had created a Facebook account for our school library last July for Thing # 38. Located at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beals-School-Library/145070912176343?sk=wall
I have posted to it during the school year about different events going on.
2. Checked out the Nebraska Learns 2.0 and clicked on the Like button.
3. I had planned to put a link to it from the school web page, but was told that it was against school policy to link it from the school web page. Hopefully, that will change. Since we are an elementary school, my target audience is mainly parents and the community. I'm aware that many of our students also have Facebook accounts even though they are not yet thirteen. Whenever I ask the students about having an account, they tell me that their parents said that they could. We then have a discussion about Internet Safety. I have not imported any of my "friends" as this is not my target audience.
4. When I originally created the Facebook page for the library, it was before they had Pages. It was easy to change over and I like that there can be more than one administrator if that works for the library. I have this account under Companies & Organizations - Education. I think that this is a better fit for an elementary library. I usually post information and events that are going on in the library. I tried this morning to make a link to our curriculum based activities for students to use, but it only links to the District homepage. I even tried to create a tiny URL, but the result was the same, so I removed it.
There are not too many Facebook pages that I could find yet for the elementary library. Several that I did find, did not look like they are kept current. The ones that are posting regularly are writing about what is going on in their library.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Thing #46 Stixy
Part I.
Stixy.com is a very easy to learn and user friendly application. You are allowed to create as many stixyboards as you want for free and it is very easy to navigate between them. I'm not a big fan of using sticky notes, but this allows you to also add photos, to do lists, as well as documents. I'm also try out their new calendar feature. I'm not sure that the calendar will be that useful in this application for me anyway since I use Google Calendar. There doesn't seem to be a way to import multiple events. It will allow you to have an email sent to you (you can pick when) to remind you of the event. This feature worked very well. I got an email reminding me of the event. That could be very useful.
I was frustrated when I first tried to look at the two guest samples. My Internet Browser (Firefox v 3.6.15 on a Mac OS 10.6.7) kept quitting on me. I upgraded to 3.6.16 and still continued to have problems. Upgrading to Firefox 4.0 seemed to fix the problem. I like the fact that there are several quick colors options for the sticky notes (only 4 plus the note can also blend into the background), but you have several more options as backgrounds if you want more, as well as several font styles and colors. I did try to put a frame around an image, but it didn't show up.
What I don't like about this site and has an effect on if I would use it, is that anyone with edit permission can change or delete text. I especially don't like that additions, changes, and deletions aren’t tracked. This could have the potential of someone whether by accident or on purpose deleting information. I'm really having problems figuring out how to use this as a collabroative site without having a way to track at least with students. I do like to use Wallwisher.com for that reason, but this site has many more options in the way the material is presented.
One thing I will need to test is if I can get to this site at our school. Several websites are blocked. I checked this morning and it is available in our school district. Yea!
Part II.
In part two, speculate about who in your community might have an interest in or use for Stixy? I could see where this application would be very useful to several different groups. Sixty has the advantage of being very easy to use and of course free, always a big plus.
Would parents be interested in learning about it? Not sure, possibly. Depends on their needs. Poyssibly a PTA group, or scouting. Way to organize a meeting, activity.
Genealogists? definitely if information was kept private and with a password.
Church groups? Yes, just another way to get information out to the parish.
Are there ways you could use Stixy in the library, either internally or with your community? It would be a great way to keep patrons informed. I think I would have it as view only, of course, that would depend on what your goal for the Stixy was.
Could you use it as a staff bulletin board? I think you would need to use what was established by the library/school//District, etc. This might be a quick easy way to share items for sale, recipes that would not be allowed on an official site.
With your teen advisory group? Yes, and it could be kept anonymous if teens didn't want to share their name.
With book club groups? Definitely! Great way to write their own opinion/review of a book and share.
I can see being able to link several stixyboards together to create a "scrapbook" of a tour, or a way for students to have their own page and create a biograpy, a brochure, etc.
I'm going to concentrate on using it to get information out about activities/events/contests to students and parents in the form of a quick newsletter type.
Go to http://www.stixy.com/guest/113052 to see my stixyboard.
Stixy.com is a very easy to learn and user friendly application. You are allowed to create as many stixyboards as you want for free and it is very easy to navigate between them. I'm not a big fan of using sticky notes, but this allows you to also add photos, to do lists, as well as documents. I'm also try out their new calendar feature. I'm not sure that the calendar will be that useful in this application for me anyway since I use Google Calendar. There doesn't seem to be a way to import multiple events. It will allow you to have an email sent to you (you can pick when) to remind you of the event. This feature worked very well. I got an email reminding me of the event. That could be very useful.
I was frustrated when I first tried to look at the two guest samples. My Internet Browser (Firefox v 3.6.15 on a Mac OS 10.6.7) kept quitting on me. I upgraded to 3.6.16 and still continued to have problems. Upgrading to Firefox 4.0 seemed to fix the problem. I like the fact that there are several quick colors options for the sticky notes (only 4 plus the note can also blend into the background), but you have several more options as backgrounds if you want more, as well as several font styles and colors. I did try to put a frame around an image, but it didn't show up.
What I don't like about this site and has an effect on if I would use it, is that anyone with edit permission can change or delete text. I especially don't like that additions, changes, and deletions aren’t tracked. This could have the potential of someone whether by accident or on purpose deleting information. I'm really having problems figuring out how to use this as a collabroative site without having a way to track at least with students. I do like to use Wallwisher.com for that reason, but this site has many more options in the way the material is presented.
One thing I will need to test is if I can get to this site at our school. Several websites are blocked. I checked this morning and it is available in our school district. Yea!
Part II.
In part two, speculate about who in your community might have an interest in or use for Stixy? I could see where this application would be very useful to several different groups. Sixty has the advantage of being very easy to use and of course free, always a big plus.
Would parents be interested in learning about it? Not sure, possibly. Depends on their needs. Poyssibly a PTA group, or scouting. Way to organize a meeting, activity.
Genealogists? definitely if information was kept private and with a password.
Church groups? Yes, just another way to get information out to the parish.
Are there ways you could use Stixy in the library, either internally or with your community? It would be a great way to keep patrons informed. I think I would have it as view only, of course, that would depend on what your goal for the Stixy was.
Could you use it as a staff bulletin board? I think you would need to use what was established by the library/school//District, etc. This might be a quick easy way to share items for sale, recipes that would not be allowed on an official site.
With your teen advisory group? Yes, and it could be kept anonymous if teens didn't want to share their name.
With book club groups? Definitely! Great way to write their own opinion/review of a book and share.
I can see being able to link several stixyboards together to create a "scrapbook" of a tour, or a way for students to have their own page and create a biograpy, a brochure, etc.
I'm going to concentrate on using it to get information out about activities/events/contests to students and parents in the form of a quick newsletter type.
Go to http://www.stixy.com/guest/113052 to see my stixyboard.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Thing #45 Account Settings
Part I - Settings on Blogger
The first part of this assignment is to look at the setting for the Blogger account. I added a description and found that I had already selected the updated the editor. I did have to change the Time Zone to Central Tim. I think that I had to locate this once before when I noticed the time off on my blog, but had a problem at that time locating it. I had already included my email account.
I'm really impressed with the design section as it is very versatile. You could spend a great amount of time playing with all the features available and rearranging items to get the look that you want. I did add a small image that I also use on my school web pages. I do like the fact that you could make a template and even use HTML if needed to change items. I had spent some time before playing with the backgrounds. I had forgotten how I had gotten there before. It took me awhile to find where to change the background again. It is not the easiest to find. You have to click on Design and then on the Template Designer in order to change the background. I think there have been some additional backgrounds added since the last time I had looked 2 months ago. Under the Advanced settings, I changed the Gadget Font to Sunshiney and the color to a dark brown instead of grey. I was surprised to find that I did not have the option to change the color of the post title, but I did increase the size by 2 px. Dotted red line shows up around the items that you will be changing, so it makes it easier to understand what if anything you are changing. Just make sure to click on Apply if you want to keep the changes. I did update my profile and image, but have not made them public yet.
Part 2 - Settings on Another Service
Evernote
For the second online service, I chose to look at my free Evernote account. Evernote if you haven't heard of it before, allows you to save images, web links, notes, ideas, etc. that you find on the computer and save them in one location so you can get to them again from any computer. There is a program you can download to your computer for when you are offline and want to look at your info. and apps for mobile devices. The text is searchable. I took a look at the settings for Evernote, but there were not many options under settings. Basically your personal information, username, how long you have had the account, how much space you are using. There is a place to change your password, and you can also import from Google Notebook (which I don't have). I had not looked at the settings since I started it in a workshop last June. I have a link on my browser so it is easy to add information, but have not really organized it for several months. Most of the items are in the default notebook. It is a great way to save websites and not have to worry about which computer it might be on. Looking at the settings on this account was not really worth the time. It was setup from the beginning, although I did change it so I wasn't getting some notifications about products. Not that big a deal.
Facebook
I decided to take another look at Facebook settings since I had not done that in several months. I know that they had changed their security settings. I did change several privacy items to friends or friends of friends only instead of leaving it as everyone, so it was worth the extra look.
The first part of this assignment is to look at the setting for the Blogger account. I added a description and found that I had already selected the updated the editor. I did have to change the Time Zone to Central Tim. I think that I had to locate this once before when I noticed the time off on my blog, but had a problem at that time locating it. I had already included my email account.
I'm really impressed with the design section as it is very versatile. You could spend a great amount of time playing with all the features available and rearranging items to get the look that you want. I did add a small image that I also use on my school web pages. I do like the fact that you could make a template and even use HTML if needed to change items. I had spent some time before playing with the backgrounds. I had forgotten how I had gotten there before. It took me awhile to find where to change the background again. It is not the easiest to find. You have to click on Design and then on the Template Designer in order to change the background. I think there have been some additional backgrounds added since the last time I had looked 2 months ago. Under the Advanced settings, I changed the Gadget Font to Sunshiney and the color to a dark brown instead of grey. I was surprised to find that I did not have the option to change the color of the post title, but I did increase the size by 2 px. Dotted red line shows up around the items that you will be changing, so it makes it easier to understand what if anything you are changing. Just make sure to click on Apply if you want to keep the changes. I did update my profile and image, but have not made them public yet.
Part 2 - Settings on Another Service
Evernote
For the second online service, I chose to look at my free Evernote account. Evernote if you haven't heard of it before, allows you to save images, web links, notes, ideas, etc. that you find on the computer and save them in one location so you can get to them again from any computer. There is a program you can download to your computer for when you are offline and want to look at your info. and apps for mobile devices. The text is searchable. I took a look at the settings for Evernote, but there were not many options under settings. Basically your personal information, username, how long you have had the account, how much space you are using. There is a place to change your password, and you can also import from Google Notebook (which I don't have). I had not looked at the settings since I started it in a workshop last June. I have a link on my browser so it is easy to add information, but have not really organized it for several months. Most of the items are in the default notebook. It is a great way to save websites and not have to worry about which computer it might be on. Looking at the settings on this account was not really worth the time. It was setup from the beginning, although I did change it so I wasn't getting some notifications about products. Not that big a deal.
I decided to take another look at Facebook settings since I had not done that in several months. I know that they had changed their security settings. I did change several privacy items to friends or friends of friends only instead of leaving it as everyone, so it was worth the extra look.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Thing #42 Pimp Your Twitter
I created an account and made a post. As a beginner, I decided to see what Twitter was all about. I did check out all the articles that was mentioned in the assignment. I guess I'm just not sure about Twitter. It didn't help that I had a "follower" as soon as I signed up. I need to find out how to delete her from my following if possible. Don't like the message she left.
I did create a tweet and played around with the design and added an avatar to my profile.
I like FaceBook and created a page for our school library. I don't plan on creating one on Twitter. At this point, I don't see a need for it at the elementary level. There is not enough time to keep it up to be useful. I don't like the micro-blogging. Not enough characters to explain at times unless you link to another site.
It was wonderful to see all the public and university libraries that tweet, keeping the community posted on what is going on.
I did a search for our library, school, etc. and did not find anything mentioned. I did look at LibraryJournal and New York Public Library Twitter accounts. I have noticed that links are used a great deals so that readers can get more information. It is a way to direct readers to your website. I even looked at one with the subject of sewing. Not impressed.
I checked out Susan's and Allana's Twitter, but both are private. I did send a request to each. Christa certainly has a lot of followers. I liked her comment about the free books from the bank.
Michael needs to be careful about letting people know where he is at. Many people have their places robbed that way. It is a safety issue. (Can you tell that I have been teaching Internet Safety lately?)
I don't think that this is something that will be useful to use with the library or personally, but I'm glad that I took the time to check it out. I will check it out every once in awhile to see if my opinion changes or not.
Twitter account
I did create a tweet and played around with the design and added an avatar to my profile.
I like FaceBook and created a page for our school library. I don't plan on creating one on Twitter. At this point, I don't see a need for it at the elementary level. There is not enough time to keep it up to be useful. I don't like the micro-blogging. Not enough characters to explain at times unless you link to another site.
It was wonderful to see all the public and university libraries that tweet, keeping the community posted on what is going on.
I did a search for our library, school, etc. and did not find anything mentioned. I did look at LibraryJournal and New York Public Library Twitter accounts. I have noticed that links are used a great deals so that readers can get more information. It is a way to direct readers to your website. I even looked at one with the subject of sewing. Not impressed.
I checked out Susan's and Allana's Twitter, but both are private. I did send a request to each. Christa certainly has a lot of followers. I liked her comment about the free books from the bank.
Michael needs to be careful about letting people know where he is at. Many people have their places robbed that way. It is a safety issue. (Can you tell that I have been teaching Internet Safety lately?)
I don't think that this is something that will be useful to use with the library or personally, but I'm glad that I took the time to check it out. I will check it out every once in awhile to see if my opinion changes or not.
Twitter account
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Thing #41: There's No Excuse Not To Learn! - How to 2.0
1&2. General How To Sites
I was really impressed with the variety of videos at Gaspr. You can even sign up using your FaceBook account. I chose to register as there wasn't as much information required. Although once you register, there is a profile section that they want you to fill out. FaceBook is having issues right now with personal information going to third parties.
I was especially drawn to all the craft videos. While looking at some of the quilting videos, I came across a game quilt video. I have that pattern and recently purchased the material. I plan to make it probably for Christmas. This will be a good place to look if I need any help with the directions. Here is the link: http://www.graspr.com/videos/QRC-Creates-a-Game-Quilt. I did see that this is only the first of several videos. The rest are located on a site that you must be a paid member to view.
One of the features that I like about Gaspr, is that you can see the videos created by a contributor and not just by topic.
Instructables is web-based documentation/instructions. Right now they are having a Halloween contest and lots of ideas for Halloween items. I don't like this site as well. A little complicated as far as looking at the images that go with the documentation. Topics include: Food, Health, Living, Outside, Play, Halloween, Technology, Workshop, & Dremel. I did find instructions to create lighted led wings at http://www.instructables.com/id/Lightwings-Fiber-Optic-Fairy-Wings/ . Cute idea for a little girls costume.
Certain features are for members only for a fee. I did get a good idea to use snaps with a bead/gem glued on to make hair gems. I didn't find that this site was very easy to use because of its organization or lack there of. There are some good low cost practical ideas if you have the time to look.
MonkeySee - See How the Experts Do It, has videos on all different topics. Looks like the videos are done by experts in a particular field and then uploaded. It has featured How to Videos, Featured Videos, Recommended, Most Viewed, Newest, and Hot Now. This site has ads before some of the videos. Under Careers and Education > Elementary School, I found a video How to deal with a shooting at school. My how the times are a changing. She does give her qualifications for dealing with the topic. Videos can be shared to several online apps such as FaceBook, Delicious, Twitter, Digg, Mixx, etc. What I like about this site is that on the right of the video, there is information about the expert, you can save the video to a mobile device, and see a written transcript of the video that can be printed. There are also related videos available. You don't have to be registered to use this site unless you want to be able to save to a list of favorites or write comments.
School How To Sites
3. The biggest advantage of the online video how to sites is that it is great for the visual learner. The videos can be stopped and viewed again. Many times you can even contact the maker of the video if there are further questions or post a question. I will be anxious to see how many of these sites that I can get to from the school library. If these are not filtered, they are certainly a welcome addition to resources that the library can provide, especially when the budgets for materials are getting smaller.
I was really impressed with the variety of videos at Gaspr. You can even sign up using your FaceBook account. I chose to register as there wasn't as much information required. Although once you register, there is a profile section that they want you to fill out. FaceBook is having issues right now with personal information going to third parties.
I was especially drawn to all the craft videos. While looking at some of the quilting videos, I came across a game quilt video. I have that pattern and recently purchased the material. I plan to make it probably for Christmas. This will be a good place to look if I need any help with the directions. Here is the link: http://www.graspr.com/videos/QRC-Creates-a-Game-Quilt. I did see that this is only the first of several videos. The rest are located on a site that you must be a paid member to view.
One of the features that I like about Gaspr, is that you can see the videos created by a contributor and not just by topic.
Instructables is web-based documentation/instructions. Right now they are having a Halloween contest and lots of ideas for Halloween items. I don't like this site as well. A little complicated as far as looking at the images that go with the documentation. Topics include: Food, Health, Living, Outside, Play, Halloween, Technology, Workshop, & Dremel. I did find instructions to create lighted led wings at http://www.instructables.com/id/Lightwings-Fiber-Optic-Fairy-Wings/ . Cute idea for a little girls costume.
Certain features are for members only for a fee. I did get a good idea to use snaps with a bead/gem glued on to make hair gems. I didn't find that this site was very easy to use because of its organization or lack there of. There are some good low cost practical ideas if you have the time to look.
MonkeySee - See How the Experts Do It, has videos on all different topics. Looks like the videos are done by experts in a particular field and then uploaded. It has featured How to Videos, Featured Videos, Recommended, Most Viewed, Newest, and Hot Now. This site has ads before some of the videos. Under Careers and Education > Elementary School, I found a video How to deal with a shooting at school. My how the times are a changing. She does give her qualifications for dealing with the topic. Videos can be shared to several online apps such as FaceBook, Delicious, Twitter, Digg, Mixx, etc. What I like about this site is that on the right of the video, there is information about the expert, you can save the video to a mobile device, and see a written transcript of the video that can be printed. There are also related videos available. You don't have to be registered to use this site unless you want to be able to save to a list of favorites or write comments.
School How To Sites
- "WatchKnow - Thousands of great short videos, and other media, explaining every topic taught to school kids. Videos come from many sites include YouTube, eHow, National Geographic, TeacherTube, and more.
- TeacherTube – An educationally focused, safe venue for sharing instructional videos; designed for teachers, schools, and home learners.
- Khan Academy – Thousands of short videos created by Salman Khan to explain math concepts from simple to advanced. Useful to students of all levels. " (from Learning 2.0 Blog)
3. The biggest advantage of the online video how to sites is that it is great for the visual learner. The videos can be stopped and viewed again. Many times you can even contact the maker of the video if there are further questions or post a question. I will be anxious to see how many of these sites that I can get to from the school library. If these are not filtered, they are certainly a welcome addition to resources that the library can provide, especially when the budgets for materials are getting smaller.
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