How Do You Feel About 7 Billion?

This morning on ABC's Good Morning America, there was a segment about how the world's population is expected to hit 7 billion tomorrow on Halloween!  There was a lot of interesting facts so I searched for the video and found it here on YouTube:



I wanted to find out more and found out that National Geographic has been putting on a Special Series all about the populations' growth to 7 billion.  There is a lot of great information, photos, videos and an estimated population counter that could be used in Social Studies and current event discussions about the population and the implications of the steady increase.

They also have a great video that shares more facts and figures on the matter:



There is an app with additional information called 7 Billion (unfortunately it is only available on the iPad).  Finally, you can also join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #7billion.

What do you think about 7 billion people?  Scary or not?

My New Favorite Professional Learning Network!

Twitter

Success!

Wow!  Amazing!  Fantastic!  I can not stress enough how wonderful, supportive and informative my new professional learning network is!  I finally get the opportunity to have meaningful, up to the minute professional development everyday!  Everyday??  Yes!  Everyday!

How, do you ask, do I find time for professional development everyday?  Twitter, of course!  Twitter has become my absolute favorite Web 2.0 tool.  Over the past couple of weeks, I have been expanding my Twitter following list, becoming familiar with some other teaching professionals that I follow and accumulating enormous amounts of ideas, support and connections!

Getting Started

When I began with Twitter, I quickly realized how many professionals are actually using Twitter and how many connections I could make.  Unfortunately, I was under the impression that trying to make connections via Twitter may be difficult because of the distance and online nature.  Was I ever wrong?!  I have a number of connections on Twitter now that I know I can turn to for advice, support and great ideas everyday.  There are some amazing teachers on Twitter who have been inspiring me to improve my own classroom and the teaching and learning that is occurring.  

I work in a fairly small school and so sometimes I find that it can be difficult to get support in all of the areas that I would like.  I work very closely with a number of teachers in the school but of course we differ in our teaching methods and strategies.  Personally, I have been trying to increase the level of technology integration in the classroom as well as use the Daily 5/CAFE method for Language Arts, which is very new for me.  These are a couple of areas where I do not feel like I have the support that I need to ensure that I am doing the best that I can do.

Twitter as Professional Development

Through Twitter, I have come to discover a great deal of phenomenal teachers who are using the Daily 5/CAFE method in their classroom.  Luckily for me they are one of the most supportive and vocal group of teachers that I have found on Twitter.  I have begun following the #d5chat (previously #daily5) on Twitter and find that the teachers using Daily 5/CAFE are very supportive of one another and willing to welcome and encourage any new teachers that come along.  They participate in a live chat once per week, which I have had the opportunity to participate in a couple of times now, or if I am unable to be online at that time, I read through the archives after.  Each week there is a different theme centered around Daily 5/CAFE method and the information that I have learned has been greatly beneficial to the integration of Daily 5/CAFE in my own classroom.

There is also a great number of teachers that I follow that are integrating technology into the classroom.  I love when I log into Twitter and I see Tweets published by the students of the teacher who owns the Twitter account.  It allows me to see the technology in action in the classroom and the number of resources and ideas that I have accumulated in the past number of weeks has been astronomical.  

Professional Development

Twitter has allowed me to move my professional development from the individual or school (district) wide models to a group method.  It allows me to personalize my professional development in a way that can grow and change on a daily/weekly/as needed basis.

TweetChat

The first time that I attempted to participate in a #d5chat, I was overly frustrated because I could not follow the conversation while using Twitter online.  I typically use Twitter on TweetDeck on my iPhone but I figured for a chat session the bigger screen and the original Twitter site would be my best bet.  This was not the right strategy at all.  Using Twitter, it appeared that I was missing Tweets which made it very difficult to follow the conversation and keep track of who was tweeting to who.  My first experience I simply sat and followed rather than participating because I felt like I was lost in the midst of a great conversation and by the time I figured out something to say or how to participate that part of the conversation was already over.

Between my first attempt and my second attempt, I reached out to some of the chat participants to figure out how to best join in the conversation.  They directed me to TweetChat which according to their website is designed to "put your blinders on to the Twitter-sphere while you monitor and chat about one topic."

TweetChat is so easy to use!  You simply log in to your Twitter account and type in the hashtag that you want to follow.  Voila!  You are now participating in the chat.  It can still be a bit confusing depending on the number of participants but it definitely makes it easier to follow.  Plus you do not have to remember to add the hashtag to your Tweet because TweetChat will automatically do that for you and you can use a simple click of a button to reply or retweet other Tweets.

TweetChat

This past Friday I logged in to TweetChat and actually participated in my very first Daily 5/CAFE chat.  It was very simple to log in, I was able to participate with ease and I learned a lot of valuable information.  Coincidentally, my first chat topic was Daily 5 and Technology!

Thanks to @soingirl, there is always an archive of the chat posted up onto the Daily 5 CAFE Chat Wiki where users can go back and reread the conversations after the chat is over.  This is especially helpful because of the fast nature of the conversations that occur.  Users can post links to websites, pictures, videos, etc. which can be difficult to view in the moment while trying to keep up with the conversation.

Daily5 Chat - October 28, 2011 Daily 5 and Technology

Join Twitter!  Now!

I would highly recommend Twitter to any teaching professional as a way to personalize and improve the quality of professional development.  I have been talking non-stop in my staff room and around the school encouraging other teachers to join Twitter.  Many think that I am crazy but I am working on a Glogster presentation to present to the staff showing them some of the benefits of Twitter.  Wish me luck!

RT #bit.ly @Help!

@Please Help!
No I am not angry, frustrated or slinging profanities across the online universe!  Instead I am trying to learn a new language in order to read the tweets that are sent to Tweet Deck from the many people that I am currently following via Twitter! 

RT @djessome86: Put off by Twitter
Berger and Trexler (2010) introduce Twitter with the question "What Are You Doing?" (pg. 172).  I have put off using Twitter for years because I thought Twitter was essentially that; What was I doing?  Why would people want to know that I am starting my vehicle, walking my dog or cooking dinner?  I was completely unaware of what a "Tweet" was or how to "Tweet" and I did not over enjoy being called a "Twit" when I told my friends about my new adventure (Kist, 2010, pg. 3).

After spending a bit of time getting to know the real Twitter, I have come to realize that I misunderstood the uses and purposes of Twitter.  I have actually come to enjoy Twitter more than my Facebook habit merely for the amount of new information and ideas that I can learn every day from my new Professional Learning Network on Twitter.

#Learning Step by Step
In order to begin, I I felt the need to spend some time looking through Twitter Basics on the Twitter Help Center because I had a hard time reading between the symbols and vocabulary of a Tweet.  Although a Tweet is only comprised of 140 characters, there are a lot of complexities involved, as summarized in Raffi Krikorian's Map of a Twitter Status Object as seen on The Economist Online:

Raffi Krikorian's Map of a Twitter Status Object

I have learned a lot from the Twitter Help Center, and especially Edudemic's A-Z Dictionary of Educational Hashtags.  Besides a quick trip to Google every once in a while to search for a hashtag or the meaning of a symbol, just purely playing with Twitter has also taught me a lot.

#Tweet Language
Here is a quick summary of some of the language I've learned so far:

@: means at.  Basically if I want to send a message to a specific person I can just use @ and their Twitter name to direct the Tweet at them.  Send me a message at @djessome86!

@mentions: is an at directed at me.  So anytime someone posts a Tweet using @djessome86 they are mentioning my name so the Tweet is directed at me.

#: is a hashtag.  Basically a tag, keyword or summary of what the Tweet is about so that other people can follow Tweets on a specific topic.  Some of my favorite hashtags at the moment: #daily5, #2ndchat, and #edes501.  I'm still not overly sure about how a hashtag gets created or if you have  to technically go about creating a hashtag in order to use it, but I will look more into this.

http://t.co: is Twitter's way of shortening URLs.  Since we are limited to 140 characters and websites can be very long, links are shortened either through Twitter's built in converter or you can use sites like https://bitly.com/.  So instead of Tweeting my blog at http://web2-0classroom.blogspot.com/ it shows up as http://bit.ly/sBResM.

RT: means retweet.  This helps to spread useful information to more people.  If I find a useful quote, link, suggestion, etc. and retweet it, it gets passed along to other people who are following me.

These are just a few of the basics that I have learned and used with my Twitter account thus far.  My Twitter use is strictly professional and I like it that way.  Everyday I can connect and collaborate with other educators in order to better myself as an educator and as a learner.  I really agree with the way Richardson (2010) described Twitter and how it creates this ""network at my fingertips" phenomenon where people ask questions and get answers, link to great blog posts or resources, or share ideas for projects as they go through the day" (pg. 86).

Join me in the discussion! @djessome86

References:

Berger, P., & Trexler, S. (2010). Choosing web 2.0 tools for learning and teaching in a digital world. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited Inc. 

Kist, W. (2010). The socially networked classroom, teaching in the new media age. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

 

 

Technology is Everywhere!

At the beginning of our PD session on Friday on literacy training, our vice-principal shared this video entitled Did You Know? 4.0:

I can not (and at the same time, I can) believe how much I have been hearing about technology in all aspects of my life lately.  On one hand, I do not recall hearing nearly as much about technology in years past, but on the other hand, I know how much technology is changing and shaping our educational world so why wouldn't I be hearing about technology?

I really enjoy facts and figures so this video really caught my attention and so I spent some time trying to find more recent facts along the same lines.  When I was searching I found this video (not from the same company) with some more recent facts:

I also found some information about how technology is effecting brands and their interaction with consumers.  It made me think about how if I want to be a good brand (teacher) and I want to sell a product (knowledge, skills and attitudes) I need to branch out to the consumer (students) in a manner that will best attract their attention and meet their needs.

Creating an Organized Chaos!

As I set out to create order in my bookmark chaos, I can not believe that I have continued to save bookmarks after all of these years when there seems to be no logical sense or order to my methods.  When I look at the bookmarks in my iPhone alone, seeing things like "Writing" or "Untitled" serves up no useful ideas in my mind as to what the site may be about.  You do not even want to see the mess of the bookmarks on my desktop, which I have owned for a lot longer than my phone!

The one thing that I am happy to have figured out is how to add a bookmark to my iPhone for Post to Diigo.  Although it took me a while to figure it out, it seems to be the only useful bookmark on my iPhone at the moment.  With this, I can finally save my useful links directly to my Diigo account which helps to create a whole lot more organization in my life.

Post to diigo --------->

I still have some work to do in being more consistent and accurate in my use of tags but I am getting better and my Diigo account is saving me a lot of time searching for things that I would like to look back at.  I am especially enjoying the highlighting and sticky note functions!

Here's a brief look at the beginnings of my Diigo account:

My next step is to directly link my Diigo account to my blog!  Stay tuned...

The Battle of the Bookmarks

Chaos
In the past, bookmarks have been more of my enemy than my friend.  I find something interesting, hit the bookmark button and click done without even really paying attention to the title that the computer has arbitrarily chosen for my "something interesting."  Even though the sites that I bookmark are valuable and worthwhile to look back at, they become a needle in the haystack.  At this point I have bookmarks on my iMac, my MacBook Pro, my iPhone, my iPad, my iPod, and my work iMac.  Six separate devices with six separate lists of valuable information that never gets looked at.  I can never remember which device I used to save the bookmark, let alone what title I should be looking for.  Finding a tool to keep these in order will add so much more organization into my cluttered life.

Social Bookmarking Tools
In steps the two competitors...Diigo vs. Delicious.

                                      VS.

Diigo

Delicious

The idea of social bookmarking is a relatively new concept for me.  I had heard briefly about it but I could not understand why people would want to look at my bookmarks or why I would want to look at others' bookmarks seeing as I have an abundance of my own that rarely get used.  According to Berger and Trexler (2010),"social bookmarking opens the door to new ways of organizing, classifying, and sharing Web content while also encouraging student and faculty collaboration and higher order thinking" (pg.45).  Wait now!  My bookmarks can make me think on a new level?  Clearly I have been doing something wrong all of these years.

Pros and Cons
In order to fully understand the benefits and shortfalls of each, I signed up for an account with both and spent a few days bookmarking to each (which means I have bookmarks in even more locations!)  Signing up for both was relatively easy except Diigo allowed me to sign up using my Google account which was convenient and one less password to remember! (Diigo: 1, Delicious: 0)

Although both were easy to sign up for, I was surprised by Diigo's plans and pricing options.  I hoped that it wouldn't be one of those situations where I have to give my Visa number online just to get the free trial and hopefully remember to cancel before I got charged.  Thankfully, Diigo has a free version with less features, which is what I signed up for.  Delicious, on the other hand, had no mention of any costs involved. (Diigo: 1, Delicious: 1)

Once I was signed in I initially noticed the clean, basic look of Delicious.  The basic layout gave a less intimidating feeling, which is important when I am facing the overwhelming years of bookmarks that need to be reorganized.  I was a bit disappointed when I signed into Diigo and noticed the advertisements right away at the top of the page.   Of course when I tried to close the advertisements, it took me to the plans and pricing page again.  (Diigo: 1, Delicious: 2)

Once I got started, both were relatively easy to use.  Both had links that I could save on my bookmark bar so I would only have to press the Diigolet or Save to Delicious button from any web page that I had open.  Each gave me the option of Lists (Diigo) or Stacks (Delicious) that I could create to help organize my bookmarks into folders.  Both allow tags to be created to further classify saved pages.  I really liked that I could stay on the page that I was viewing in order to create a bookmark, send it to the specific List or Stack and add the tags all in one simple step.  I could also choose from the pop-up boxes whether the bookmark should be shared or private.  The one advantage that I noticed with Diigo was that when I used the Diigolet, it also gave me the option to "Twitter This" so that I could immediately share the link with the Twitter World without have to leave my current page.  (Diigo: 2, Delicious: 2)

It is at this point that I noticed the similarities in features of the Diigolet and the Save to Delicious buttons ventured in different directions.  The features of the Save to Delicious button basically stopped there.  With Diigolet, I noticed further buttons labeled Highlight, Sticky Note, Share and Diigo.  These were features that I couldn't wait to explore.

With highlight, I could select a portion of a page, choose from four different highlighter colors and highlight a portion of the text.  When I am researching, my highlighter is my best friend and so I could see how this would help when researching or reading online.  It also would help for when I bookmark a page so that I can remember why it is that I highlighted it in the first place! (Diigo: 3, Delicious: 2)

Highlighting in Wikipedia

Upon testing the highlighting feature and returning my My Library in Diigo, I noticed an incredible added feature!  Not only could I highlight on the page, but the highlighted parts saved right into My Library list so that I can see the important parts of multiple pages all at once!  (Diigo: 4, Delicious: 2)

Highlighted Sections in My Library

The excitement continued when I began using the Sticky Note feature.  I could highlight a section of text and choose to highlight and sticky note or just highlight.  This could further help with my research because I could add my own personal notes into the text and just like before, both the highlighting and the sticky note appeared in My Library on the Diigo site! (Diigo: 5, Delicious: 2)

Sticky Note is Highlighted

Next was the share feature.  Since I am so focused on Web 2.0 lately, this is a very important feature.  Share gave me option of sharing to Twitter, Facebook or e-mail.  Again, the Diigolet allowed me to do this from the convenience of the page that I was currently viewing.  I could even edit the message that would appear in Twitter, Facebook or the e-mail right from the pop-up box.  Now I can update my Twitter when I'm not even on Twitter all the while sharing valuable resources on the web! (Diigo: 6, Delicious: 2)

Sharing with Twitter

The last share feature was an annotated link.  I didn't really understand what that meant but clicking on it gave me my answer right away.  It allowed me to copy a link to the page that I was on but it also saved the highlighting and sticky notes that I added to the page.  Then I could paste the link anywhere I wanted (ex. my blog).  How exciting that I can not only share links that I am interested in but I can share them with others and point them to what I think are the important sections of the page! (Diigo: 7, Delicious: 2)

And the winner is...
Clearly I am leaning in a certain direction as I begin my journey down the Diigo vs. Delicious path.  Although Diigo has the advertisements and extra features that need to be paid for, I am a big fan of the extra features that Diigo's basic version provides.  The highlighting and sticky notes really sold me thus far on this tool.  Before I make my decision, there are two aspects that I would still like to explore that will also weigh on my decision.  I need to know how Diigo and Delicious will stack up when I attempt to use them on my iPad and iPhone.  If I am going to use a Social Bookmarking site, I need to be able to use it on the go, as I do quite a bit of reading and research while I am on the road, away from home or waiting in lineups.  Also, I need to look further into the social aspects of these tools.  There is more to social bookmarking than simply sharing to Twitter or Facebook so these require more investigation.  More on these features later.

Next steps:
-  Explore portability of Diigo and Delicious
-  Explore the social aspects of my chosen tool
-  Cleanup and organize bookmarks

Do you have a preference for Diigo or Delicious?  Any great features that I am missing?

References:

Berger, P., & Trexler, S. (2010). Choosing web 2.0 tools for learning and teaching in a digital world. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited Inc.

Do I Have an Addiction to Technology?

I am not a big fan of documentary movies, but every so often I find one that connects to something recent in my life that catches my attention. As I was perusing my personal Zite magazine on my iPad today, I came across some information about a documentary by Tiffany Shlain entitled Connected. This weekend was the theatrical release in select theaters around the United States. After watching the trailer and doing a bit of online reading about the film, it is one that I am looking forward to seeing. Unfortunately, I will have to wait for the DVD release in 2012.

According to Liz Shannon Miller's blog post, A Documentary About Addiction to Technology That Could Save Us, the film "is about the evolution of human communication and how it has changed our lives, for better and for worse."

While I have never faked having to go to the bathroom to check my e-mail (one of the anecdotes from the film), I do understand an addiction to technology and feeling connected. Seeing as my iPhone is never more than a couple of feet away from me and I have multiple other devices around me at home and at work, technology is an important part of my everyday life. I wake up and check everything from the news to my e-mail to my twitter, re-check multiple times throughout the day and then take one last look shortly before going to bed. Even in the middle of typing this I took a break to Skype with my 2 year old nephew who lives in Saskatchewan.

Liz Shannon Miller also talks about a short film entitled Yelp which deals with the idea of "unplugging." I have never tried a weekly ritual of "unplugging" and frankly I would probably have a lot of difficulties sticking to it (especially now with taking this course), but I have had times when I unplug completely. Once a year I go on vacation (usually somewhere hot like Mexico or Cuba), and I turn off my phone when I leave and do not turn it back on until I return. Now I mainly do this because of the costs associated with using my technology outside of the country, but I also enjoy the relaxation that comes along with not being tied to anything (not even a watch).

This year I will not be going on a hot vacation so maybe I will have to challenge myself with a similar period of unplugging here at home and see if I get that same feeling of relaxation.

Here is the trailer for Connected:



Here is Yelp:

Keeping Myself On Track

I have to be honest at this point in the game.  It is not something that I am proud of, or a characteristic of myself that I am overly fond of.  I am a procrastinator.  I have worked really hard over the past couple of years to make sure that I make myself deadlines and stick to them, but I still leave some things until the last possible minute.  I always have to remember to just

Do it!

 rather than the other hundreds of tasks that I find myself doing instead.  When I have something due I can think of at least a dozen things that I should clean, a handful of books that I would rather read, people that I should go visit, TV shows that should be watched on the PVR, etc.

So here I am making my deadlines public to the whole world!  The shame that I would feel if the whole world knew I was missing my deadlines will definitely keep me on track this semester!

Throughout this inquiry, I will be exploring a combination of all of my tools at once. This outline is to serve as the deadlines for my exploration, even though I hope I can be organized enough to complete aspects of the inquiry in the weeks prior to my deadlines. As blogging and Twitter are such large tools, they will be explored from beginning to end, whereas some of the smaller tools will not be explored over the whole period of time. I will be using my blog throughout as a reflection of my learning as well as a topic of exploration.

Week	Tool	Work Schedule
1 October 9 – 15	Blogging and RSS	• Publish initial blog posts (Introduction, Autobiography of a tech user, Proposal) •      Link Google Reader account to blogger site
	Twitter	•      Beginning following additional users who Tweet about professional topics
	Diigo and Delicious	•      Explore the features and uses of each and make a decision about which is best for my use
2 October 16 – 22	Blogging and RSS	•      Expand Google Reader list by researching teacher and student blogs and adding Twitter users’ blogs to Reader •      Begin to comment on other writers’ blogs •      Publish blog post regarding Diigo vs. Delicious
	Twitter	•      Continue adding to “following” list •      Research the language of Twitter to use when Tweeting
	Diigo and Delicious	•      Reorganize bookmarks using my selected tool •      Add widget to blog to share Diigo or Delicious bookmarks
3 October 23 – 29	Blogging and RSS	•      Publish blog post regarding Twitter language •      Begin adding widgets to improve blog
	Twitter	•      Continue adding to “following” list •      Start sharing articles, blog posts, videos, etc. that relate to educational topics
	Evernote	•      Explore uses for Evernote in my professional life
	Glogster	•      Explore the features and use of Glogster
4 October 30 – November 5	Blogging and RSS	•      Publish a blog post regarding the use of Evernote •      Publish a blog post about the features and use of Glogster •      Embed Glogster presentation into blog post •      Publish blog post regarding Goodreads vs. Shelfari
	Twitter	•      Continue adding to “following list” •      Participate in live #daily5 chat
	Evernote	•      Explore the share feature in Evernote and share links to notebooks using my blog or Twitter
	Glogster	•      Create a Glogster presentation to present to staff members
	Goodreads and Shelfari	•      Explore the features and use of each and make a decision about which is best for my use •      Begin creating bookshelf and finding/creating groups
5 November 6 – 12	Blogging and RSS	•      Publish a blog post about live chats in Twitter •      Explore the use of blogging in the primary classroom •      Compare various blogging sites to determine benefits of each for primary classroom •      Continue to add classroom blogs to Google Reader
	Twitter	•      Continue adding to “following list” •      Explore the use of lists in Twitter
	Diigo, Delicious and Evernote	•      Continue to use Diigo or Delicious and Evernote to organize information collected from websites, blog posts, etc.
	Glogster	•      Explore uses for Glogster in the primary classroom
	Animoto	•      Explore the features and use of Animoto
	Goodreads and Shelfari	•      Add widget to blog to share Goodreads or Shelfari bookshelves
6 November 13 – 19	Blogging and RSS	•      Publish blog post about the possible use of blogging in the classroom •      Publish a blog post about the features and use of Animoto •      Embed Animoto presentation into blog post •      Publish a blog post about the use of Goodreads or Shelfari to create discussions
	Twitter	•      Explore uses for Twitter in the primary classroom
	Animoto	•      Create an Animoto presentation to present to staff members
	Goodreads and Shelfari	•      Participate in Goodreads and Shelfari discussions about chosen book
7 November 20 – 26	Blogging and RSS	•      Publish blog post about benefits of RSS •      Publish blog post about possible uses of Glogster and Animoto in the classroom setting
	Twitter	•      Continue adding to “following list” •      Find a new live chat to participate in
	Animoto	•      Explore uses for Animoto in the primary classroom
8 November 27 – December 3	Blogging and RSS	•      Publish blog post about overall blogging experience •      Publish blog post about Twitter experience •      Publish blog post about where to go from here
	Twitter	•      Continue adding to “following list” •      Participate in a new live chat

Crossing the River

Now that I have identified the goals for my Inquiry project, I somehow feel like I am on one side of the river and the answers to my questions are on the other.  Rather than struggling to swim against the current, I have built myself some stepping stones (Web 2.0 Tools) that I will use to slowly make my way to the other side.  

Proposed Web 2.0 Tools

The tools that I have chosen are meant to inspire learning and create change in my personal, professional and teaching and learning environments.  I have tried to balance the three and will be exploring the following tools:

1.  Blogging and RSS 

RSS

The first reason for choosing Blogging and RSS for this inquiry project is for professional reasons.  As all teachers are taught, I think reflection is a big part of my day-to-day life in order to better myself as an educator.  I agree with Blake-Plock's (2009) article Why Teachers Should Blog when she blogged about the ability for a blog “to teach yourself what you think.”  Discovering what Blake-Plock talks about in the difference between “understand[ing] that it’s not all about ‘getting it right’, but rather is a matter of ‘getting it’,” has been a barrier in my blogging career thus far.    I have attempted personal blogging but did not have the inspiration, focus and purpose behind it that allowed me to get over that fear of getting it wrong.  It also did not follow the suggestions that Richardson (2010) has for “real blogging” such as the analysis and synthesis stages (pg. 31).  The use of blogging and RSS will allow me to reflect professionally as a teacher as well as to collect ideas, suggestions, resources, etc. from other teachers who are participating in the same idea of reflecting publically.

The second reason for choosing Blogging and RSS as a tool is for the benefit of my students.  In order for my classroom to become what Kist (2010) calls the “new literacies classroom,” I have to be able to integrate the tools, such as blogging, that are part that ever-expanding world (pg. 8).  Campbell (2011) points out that “the activity of blogging motivates students to write because of the publishing opportunity that blogging offers and the recognition that they receive from their peers.”  It is this inspiration that I want to be able to offer to my students in order to have them want to write and to become better writers.  Only through my own exploration of these tools am I going to be able to use them in a productive way in both my professional and teaching life.

The third reason for choosing RSS is to explore some of my personal interests in digital photography.  I thoroughly enjoy digital photography and have spent time learning more through books and various classes.  Now that I have been introduced to RSS and blogging, there is a whole community of photographers that I can follow, view their photos and learn different techniques.  

Blogging and RSS will definitely be the most difficult part of this inquiry project.  I enjoy following blogs, but putting my own voice out there for others to read is a bit intimidating.  I look forward to being challenged and exploring the uses of blogging and RSS in a personal, professional and teaching and learning atmosphere.

Twitter

2.  Twitter

For many years I have explored social networking through the venue of Facebook.  When I learned about Twitter, I scoffed at the idea of what I only thought was posting status updates.  Why did I need another social network just to post what I was doing that day?  Little did I know that Twitter is what Richardson (2010) says, “one of the most powerful tools for connecting and sharing the great content and professional development opportunities that are available to educators today” (pg. 11).  The complexities that are involved in a Tweet, as outlined in Raffi Krikorian’s Map of a Tweet (as cited in The Economist Online, 2011), have opened my eyes to the possibilities of Twitter in my professional life.  I have only just begun to look at Twitter and the various terminologies that go along with it (tweet, hashtags, etc.), but Anderson’s (2011) LiveBinder, An Educator's Guide to Twitter, has been a great resource in order to get my feet wet.  I hope to use Twitter in order to expand my professional learning network.  Twitter appears to be the best choice of tools for this area since, as Richardson points out, “Twitter creates a “network at my fingertips” phenomeon where people ask questions and get answers, link to great blog posts or resources, or share ideas for projects as they go though the day” (pg. 86).  Over the course of this project I would like to expand my use of Twitter in a professional manner and develop my “”sixth sense” in terms of the network; [and to] feel more a part of the larger conversation, more a part of the community” (Richardson, pg. 86-86). 

Diigo

3.  Diigo, Delicious and Evernote

I feel it is important to include a social bookmarking and productivity tool into my exploration to manage all of the information that I am going to be encountering by using the previous two tools.  As Richardson (2010) points out, “With more than 10 billion pages of information on the Web already and millions more being added each year, it’s no wonder people are starting to feel overwhelmed by the Internet” (pg. 89).  I am no exception to this statement.  Throughout the span of a day I may use my work iMac, personal iMac, MacBook Pro, iPhone or iPad.  I read blogs, view websites, check social networking sites, etc. on all of these different devices.  When I find a source that I like or want to look back at, I typically hit the bookmark button and move on.  

Delicious

This becomes an issue when I want to go back and view it again because I cannot remember whether I bookmarked it on my iPad or iMac, or if I bookmarked it while I was at work or at home.  Needless to say my supply of bookmarks is an unorganized, frustrating and not very useful list of websites that I typically do not return to again, or repeatedly re-bookmark on different devices.  Therefore, I am ready to move into Richardson’s community of bookmarks and find a new way of organizing my information (pg. 90). The idea of being able to highlight, annotate and make notes on websites, blog posts, etc. is attractive but what I especially like is that I am actually “making a copy of the whole page for use later on” and that it is an online program (Richardson, pg. 95).  This helps to ensure that I can always look back at what I have saved and that it does not matter where I am or what device I am using. 

The social ability of sites like Diigo, as displayed on Diigobuzz’s (2008) YouTube video lends this tool as another way to expand my professional learning network.  

Glogster

4.  Glogster
According to Wikipedia's (2011) article entitled Glogster EDU, Glogster “enables users to combine videos, music, sounds, pictures, text, data attachments, special effects, animations and links into a digital poster”.  These are all aspects of technology that I want to be able to use to engage my students as learners in the classroom. According to Wikipedia, “Glogster EDU provides students with the opportunity for self expression and develops their creativity.”  It opens up the possibility to create a visual display of student learning that steps outside of the traditional paper and pencil poster.  Roche's article Glogster in the Classroom (2011) also lists several reasons for using Glogster in the classroom that sold me on the use of this site as a teaching and learning tool to explore during the inquiry process.  After watching this YouTube Video and beginning to explore the tool myself, it appears to be a user friendly application that students would be able to use without affecting their ability to display their learning.  

Glogster

5.  Animoto

Animoto is a tool that I have not heard much about prior to this course.  I have explored other video editing software such as iMovie and MovieMaker, but have not explored the use of an online editing program.  I was never too impressed with MovieMaker, but on several occasions, I have created video and picture montages using iMovie in order to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, etc. and it is an exciting and creative approach to multimedia.   According to Sheneman’s (2010) research, Animoto is even easier to use than MovieMaker.  The user-friendly ability of a tool was an important part of my decision making when choosing Web 2.0 tools to use and explore.  If tools are not user-friendly, they end up frustrating and discouraging users from using the full potential of the tool, which is not what I want to encounter or for my students to encounter.  Fryer's (2008) Animoto for Education – Use It for Thoughtful Media Creations also explores the use of Animoto and the possibilities for all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy to be reached.  It can be difficult to guide students to those high levels of thinking in the classroom, so if a tool like Animoto can be used to reach those higher levels and inspire and motive students, that is an added advantage.  Unfortunately, Sheneman also points out five weaknesses that Animoto poses for its users, which I hope to address through my own exploration in order to determine whether Animoto is the right tool for my students.

Goodreads

6.  Goodreads and Shelfari

Goodreads and Shelfari and both described as “social cataloguing websites” according to Wikipedia (2011).  My understanding is that it is the social network version of a book club.  This is what inspired me to investigate these two tools as a personal aspect of my inquiry.  I enjoy reading and have always wanted to join a book club but find it hard to find a group of people who enjoy all of the same books that I would read, plus the time to actually join a book club.  Through the use of these tools, I hope to discuss books that I have read or would like to read with others, as well as explore other books that may be of interest to me from the suggestions of others.  

Shelfari

Bookseller Chick's (2008)  article Goodreads, Shelfari and Librarything: A Features Comparison outlines many of the similarities and differences between Goodreads and Shelfari, most noteworthy, the fact that Amazon owns Shelfari whereas Goodreads is privately owned.  Through my exploration I will look at the various features of each and decide which one I personally like better and would like to continue using.

References: 
 

Berger, P., & Trexler, S. (2010). Choosing web 2.0 tools for learning and teaching in a digital world. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unltd Inc.

Campbell, K.. (2011, August). New technologies and the English classroom. English Leadership Quarterly, 34(1), 7-10.  Retrieved October 1, 2011, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 2422748771).

Kist, W. (2010). The socially networked classroom, teaching in the new media age. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Sheneman, L. (2010) Digital storytelling: how to get the best results. School Library Monthly, XXVII(1), 40-41.  Retrieved October 1, 2011, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 2131214271).