The more I learn about the internet and the things that are out there, the more I realize that I don't know.....I have soooo much to learn. I feel like a speck! How can a person be totally enthralled and excited about something, and yet, be afraid in the same moment of learning? Part of my fear, comes as a parent and as a teacher of younger children. I worry for them, there's so many distractions and the temptation to waste time or get involved with something they have NO business getting into, is and will continue to be great. Healthy boundaries, reasonable limits and self-control will be even MORE necessary in the future. Parents are going to have to take a strong stance and then hold their ground as they consistently enforce and reinforce the boundaries for their child/children. Parenting is not a passive encounter....we're going to have to be diligent and active, as we monitor our children's exposure to all the great, creative and wonderful things offered on the web; as well as, filter their use and deflect them from the potential evils that lurk within the digital world.
I see great opportunity in improving collaboration efforts among colleagues, as we learn to communicate in the explosion of the digital world. It's going to be crucial that all educators and administrators stay on top of the digital culture; so, that we can continue to be able to model lifelong learning behaviors. I've long held the attitude, that we learn best, when we perceive it as play. The 23 Things Project has shown me the mere tip of the iceberg of the "digital toys" that are out there...FREE....just waiting for someone to come, learn, and play. This project should be mandatory for all university students entering the field of education. If they knew how to use even half of the Web 2.0 sites explored in the 23 things Project, they'd be even more prepared for the opportunity to embrace the digital world and pass the enthusiasm along to students.
Admittedly, I am part of the "immediate gratification" generation. I want it now and I want it to be simple. Much of what this experience taught me, plays right into that mindset. The more I worked with the activities and ventured into exploring the sites and applications, the more I realized that I will have to be patient with my own ability to learn only so much, at once; I'll have to prioritize my needs, and then be thorough with my learning a new task, before chasing yet another interesting digital rabbit down another trail.
Focus, Martha, focus! Feel the fear and do it anyway!!!!!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Thursday, December 31, 2009
#22- Custom Search Engines-Rollyo
We are in the process of trying to get our house on the market and need to do some improvements/repairs. "Ask Mr. Fix-It!" caught my eye in the list of searches and it is absolutely awesome!
I typed in rotten window sill and had ten versions of how-to-do-it advice columns right in front of me.
I also typed in "replace exterior doors"....loved the videos so I had strong visuals and could get my mind around how to do it.
This is going to help us tremendously.
Sadly, lots of ads....everybody wants to sell me something.
I created a search roll for bulletin board ideas.
http://rollyo.com/mhmelton/bulletin_board_ideas/
It was an easy process; however, most of the search hits I initially got were to business supply and office supply sites, trying to sell me different types of cork board, white boards, etc. Everybody wants me to buy something!
I typed in rotten window sill and had ten versions of how-to-do-it advice columns right in front of me.
I also typed in "replace exterior doors"....loved the videos so I had strong visuals and could get my mind around how to do it.
This is going to help us tremendously.
Sadly, lots of ads....everybody wants to sell me something.
I created a search roll for bulletin board ideas.
http://rollyo.com/mhmelton/bulletin_board_ideas/
It was an easy process; however, most of the search hits I initially got were to business supply and office supply sites, trying to sell me different types of cork board, white boards, etc. Everybody wants me to buy something!
#21 Shelfari--Book Catalog
As I worked with this site, I quickly realized that I wish this was for DVD movies. I'd love to have a working bibliography/catalog of my personal copies of hit movies, that could be easily updated. I often loan out my DVD's and forget who has what flick. Whoever came up with the idea to put a "loaner" section on Shelfari was brilliant.
Cataloging all of my books would be very labor intensive...definitely a summertime project....if it ever became important "enough" to me, to do it. I'd be much more likely to do it for my DVD's.
I loved the fact that they had thumbnails of the book jackets. That is a helpful touch for quick recognition.
http://www.shelfari.com/o1514407202/shelf
Cataloging all of my books would be very labor intensive...definitely a summertime project....if it ever became important "enough" to me, to do it. I'd be much more likely to do it for my DVD's.
I loved the fact that they had thumbnails of the book jackets. That is a helpful touch for quick recognition.
http://www.shelfari.com/o1514407202/shelf
Activity #20
http://www.imagechef.com/ic/word_mosaic/
I must have played with this site for 2 hours yesterday. I created all kinds of graphics, saved them to my hard drive for later use. I loved the way you could change the shape, colors and text to get lots of variety within the end product. I really enjoyed playing around with the sports jersey ones. I may have to print some of them for a bulletin board. Wish that they had a hockey one.
These tools are useful and fun for me. I could get lost on the internet and lose track of time very easily.
I posted one of my favorite graphics on my Facebook account. Several folks asked how I did it. Referred them right to ImageChef.com!
Letter James told me that it would "relaunch" in the winter. It was a no go. I goofed around with some of the graphic manipulators on FDToys. They make me laugh. My daughter was very interested in what I was doing. She's bumping me off the computer so she can play with it now!
I also played with Big Blue Labs' Photo caption site. I'm going to love that! http://bighugelabs.com/captioner.php I'm totally going to mess with somebody's picture, now.
I must have played with this site for 2 hours yesterday. I created all kinds of graphics, saved them to my hard drive for later use. I loved the way you could change the shape, colors and text to get lots of variety within the end product. I really enjoyed playing around with the sports jersey ones. I may have to print some of them for a bulletin board. Wish that they had a hockey one.
These tools are useful and fun for me. I could get lost on the internet and lose track of time very easily.
I posted one of my favorite graphics on my Facebook account. Several folks asked how I did it. Referred them right to ImageChef.com!
Letter James told me that it would "relaunch" in the winter. It was a no go. I goofed around with some of the graphic manipulators on FDToys. They make me laugh. My daughter was very interested in what I was doing. She's bumping me off the computer so she can play with it now!
I also played with Big Blue Labs' Photo caption site. I'm going to love that! http://bighugelabs.com/captioner.php I'm totally going to mess with somebody's picture, now.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Activities #18 and #19 Twitter and Resources
Twitter was simple to access and register with. What became difficult, was finding other physical educators to follow. I had to go through the back door to get to them, (locating my professional organizations' Tweets, and then seeing who followed them); but, I finally found a few. I also found a lot of people following my professional groups were spammers and just trying to sell me something. It's a shame we can't filter them out. Wading through the spam was a resented waste of my time.
I spent a significant amount of time scrolling through a lot of Tweets, because they were written in a foreign language. Again, I wish there was a filter, so that I could just get a hit on English speakers.
I signed up for several web pages and pertinent sites I discovered on people's Tweets or profiles in Twitter. Those may prove more valuable than the Tweets themselves; at least in my case.
I also signed up for email notification, if Tweets I am following, become updated. There were several notifications in my mailbox just hours after my initial registrations. That was cool. But someone named "Steven" flooded my inbox with about 20 Tweets. :-)
I think I see Twitter more as a professional development tool, than I do a student to teacher means of communicating. I teach elementary school and I'd just be totally surprised if the bulk of my kids have access to a computer, much less a Twitter account.
Being aware of what's out there is important. I'll keep checking back and investigating the updates I receive. Hopefully the list of elementary physical educators will grow.
I spent a significant amount of time scrolling through a lot of Tweets, because they were written in a foreign language. Again, I wish there was a filter, so that I could just get a hit on English speakers.
I signed up for several web pages and pertinent sites I discovered on people's Tweets or profiles in Twitter. Those may prove more valuable than the Tweets themselves; at least in my case.
I also signed up for email notification, if Tweets I am following, become updated. There were several notifications in my mailbox just hours after my initial registrations. That was cool. But someone named "Steven" flooded my inbox with about 20 Tweets.
I think I see Twitter more as a professional development tool, than I do a student to teacher means of communicating. I teach elementary school and I'd just be totally surprised if the bulk of my kids have access to a computer, much less a Twitter account.
Being aware of what's out there is important. I'll keep checking back and investigating the updates I receive. Hopefully the list of elementary physical educators will grow.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Activity #17 Technorati/Blogosphere/Tagging
When I was four, I got to visit the south rim of the Grand Canyon. I can still remember looking over the edge of the railing and being totally overwhelmed at how huge that hole was and how teeny I was in comparison. Activity 17 gave me the same sensation. The internet is HUGE. I can't even begin to get my brain around it. The fact that people (way smarter than I) have found ways to organize it and help people narrow the massiveness into useable chunks astounds me. I actually felt a bit anxious as I tried to get my mind around its vastness. How are my child and my grandchildren going to be able to deal with the explosion of knowledge? I just can't even let my mind go there.
Now that I used my voice to share the fact that I feel like a speck, I'll carry on to complete the activity:
At first, I thought it was quirky that there were actual websites and programs that help you develop your tagging language...but by the time I finished the activity, I could see why. There's so much out there, that having some "universal verbage" is critical, if you want the searches we set out on, to be effective and useful. as I nosed around and played with key word to compare the blogs, directory searches, etc. I found that I had more appropriate hits for my inquiry when I could use more specific words to "label" my topic. Vague tags lead more to general information and then I'd have to narrow my word choice, to get closer to what I was really looking for.
When I looked at what I'll call "Buzz Words" within the blogging world, it appeared to be top heavy with what I identify with business and economic terminology. It was interesting to look over, but not somewhere I'd spend any great amount of time....unless I was a marketing major at a university. Then I might be more inclined to hang out on that list. I just didn't see any practical use for it, at the moment. I was open to the experience for the sake of exposure, but it wasn't anything that popped a light bulb on, over my head.
As for the usefulness of Tagging, I can see how it will be helpful for me. I generally do little with my personal digital pictures, beyond uploading them to my computer and slapping them in a folder labelled with a generic name and date. I will one day go through and organize and tag my photos so that they will be more easily retrieved.
As for using tagging with things that are "open for the world's eyes", I'm a little more conservative. I'm not sure I'm ready to just throw my life out there like an open book...for anyone at anytime to see. I have quite a bit of pondering to do as I learn to set some healthy boundaries for myself and my daughter as she embraces this ever-changing, brave new world.
I am very appreciative that many of the sites do provide for making your information private. I hope that is not just a facade, but a reality in that your information and portions of your "internet being" can be protected and shielded at the Creators will.
Now that I used my voice to share the fact that I feel like a speck, I'll carry on to complete the activity:
At first, I thought it was quirky that there were actual websites and programs that help you develop your tagging language...but by the time I finished the activity, I could see why. There's so much out there, that having some "universal verbage" is critical, if you want the searches we set out on, to be effective and useful. as I nosed around and played with key word to compare the blogs, directory searches, etc. I found that I had more appropriate hits for my inquiry when I could use more specific words to "label" my topic. Vague tags lead more to general information and then I'd have to narrow my word choice, to get closer to what I was really looking for.
When I looked at what I'll call "Buzz Words" within the blogging world, it appeared to be top heavy with what I identify with business and economic terminology. It was interesting to look over, but not somewhere I'd spend any great amount of time....unless I was a marketing major at a university. Then I might be more inclined to hang out on that list. I just didn't see any practical use for it, at the moment. I was open to the experience for the sake of exposure, but it wasn't anything that popped a light bulb on, over my head.
As for the usefulness of Tagging, I can see how it will be helpful for me. I generally do little with my personal digital pictures, beyond uploading them to my computer and slapping them in a folder labelled with a generic name and date. I will one day go through and organize and tag my photos so that they will be more easily retrieved.
As for using tagging with things that are "open for the world's eyes", I'm a little more conservative. I'm not sure I'm ready to just throw my life out there like an open book...for anyone at anytime to see. I have quite a bit of pondering to do as I learn to set some healthy boundaries for myself and my daughter as she embraces this ever-changing, brave new world.
I am very appreciative that many of the sites do provide for making your information private. I hope that is not just a facade, but a reality in that your information and portions of your "internet being" can be protected and shielded at the Creators will.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)