Experimental Play

Thing #11.5 Evaluation

2009-08-09T17:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am done. It took me a long time to do 11 things this time, but I leaned a lot and enjoyed every bit of it.

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

My favorite part was the screencast, facebook and the virtual world. I think screencast is something we can use and show it to our students and students will enjoy making their own. The next thing I liked was Facebook, since I have joined facebook I am connected to some of my old friends that I have not talked to in ages. Second Life was another thing that was fun, I don't know how this can be used in school, but I loved it.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

I am always open to learn new stuff and get new ideas. I learned tons of stuff here and there is still lot more that I have not explored yet. This program definitely helped in staying current with the new technology.

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

Second Life surprised me, I did not expect this to be part of the things, but I had lots of fun.

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

I think you guys have done a great job with this, and I hope you will continue this next summer, so we will enjoy, learn and will be ready for the changes in technology. Thanks.

Thing #11 Digital Citizenship

2009-08-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

In this day and age, majority of people including me use internet for news and information. Digital citizenship is very important for anybody who is using internet. We as a teacher need to learn this and instill this into our students.

5 Things that I might tell my students in my classroom would be:

1. Online Safety: Students should not give personal information, such as name, age, address, phone number, school etc. They should not share their password, and also not to trust people online
2. Digital Etiquette: What behavior is expected of them when they are using the computer? They need to respect and not misuse the computer equipment, and when they are online, treat people with respect and not use bad language.
3. Evaluating information: Lot of students when researching looks at the first resource finds the information and they try to do as quickly as possible. Not everything on the net is correct, so they need make the decisions based on multiple resources and through thoughtful research and critical analysis.
4. Fair Use: Students need to be careful about Plagiarism and copyright laws. They can not just copy from the internet and use it in the research paper. Also they need to cite sources in their documents.
5. Virus and spyware: Students need to careful in downloading software from the internet, and also be very careful in opening up emails from unknown sources. When doing business over the internet, they need to make sure it is a secured site.

Thing #10 Virtual Worlds

2009-08-09T00:06:00.000-07:00

What an interesting journey! It was easy to download the software and to make an avatar, but after that it was hard to get used to the controls. It was very confusing in the beginning, I did not know where I was going or doing. I found some other people on my way to somewhere.

It was fun when I got to Daden Space. I touched few things and got some space equipment and clothes for space travel, like space shirt, pants, shoes, gloves, helmet etc. I also found someone named Solace Beachcomber, he was very helpful and he showed me two foot prints that will transport us to surface of the moon. He just asked me to follow him and so I did. We transported us to the moon, where I saw Apollo 13, and our earth from the surface of the moon. The scary part was you don't know who you are meeting with, their background etc. I was very skeptical about accepting friendships. Once that person started asking personal questions, age, location, and sent an invitation for friendship, I thought it is time for me to go.

I just looked around touched few things and once I saw the landmark that will transport me back to the earth, I touched it I was was back. This is very-very addicting, the students are definitely going to get addicted to this.

I have seen my kids play ruinscape and in Wii also they have their avatars, where they buy and sell stuff, but I don't know how this will help them in education. I tried the link Education in Second Life, and read that lots of colleges and universities are using second life in education, but I still don't know how I can use this in my school.

It was very interesting experience for me and I am definitely going to go there again in a different setting find new people and will try to see how this can be used in education. Online safety will be very important to cover, before introducing this to the students. Students of course will love it.

Thing #9 Slideshare

2009-08-08T23:13:00.000-07:00

SlideShare is great idea to collaborate and share with other teachers across the world. In SpringBranch ISD, we do have a collection of PowerPoint Presentations on the C & I Intranet that we use. We also have flipchart repository where we share our flipcharts within the district.

SlideShare will be great for teachers as well as students. Students can use this as an additional resource to get information and ideas. They can also share their presentions and that will benefit other students. And it is all FREE!!

I also like the idea of adding audio and making it into a webinar.

Here is presentation I enjoyed from slideshare in the Humor/Education category.

The Fun Freaky Facts QUIZ On Animals

View more presentations from Bro. Oh teik bin.

Thing #8 Screencast

2009-08-08T12:25:00.000-07:00

Screencast was fun to do. It looks so easy when you see others screencast, but it does take time when you are making your own.

I tried doing Jing first, and started downloading the software, it was taking a long time to download software, so I stopped installation process in the middle. Then I was thinking doing my screencast using Goview, but when I saw Screencast-o-Matic - Requires no download, I decided I will use this instead.

Here my screencast using Screencast-o-Matic on how to balance a chemical equation in four easy steps.

Thing #7 Video Resources

2009-08-07T10:37:00.000-07:00

I watched the video on Remix Culture: Fair Use Is Your Friend, the documentation on fair use and the FAQs about fair use and video, but it did not tell much what guidelines we should be using. It took me a long time to watch the video, as my laptop is becoming very slow these days, it takes a long time to buffer and then view a video.

I really enjoyed Hulu and Blinkx. I did not know there could be so many videos out there, I usually search YouTube, google or yahoo for videos. I found lots of cool recepies on Hulu, here is one for "How to Make Apple Raisin Bread Pudding."

I also watched the How to make the lava lamp, it was fun and easy. There were lots of how to videos. This is "How HDTV works" in simple terms.

It does take a long time to open embeded videos. I use united streaming videos in my classroom, but now I am going to add some cool science experiments that I found on Blintx. I am going to embed the video clips in my flipcharts or just show it to my students from Blinkx, that will be good variety for the students.

Thing #6 iTouch Apps

2009-08-06T23:22:00.000-07:00

I don't have an iPhone, so this thing was little hard for me to do on my own. I went to my friend's house today, so I can use and see the special features of her iPhone. Her phone was already loaded with stuff, she uses her phone for everything: emails, music, stories, pictures, games, GPS etc. She had so many pictures and video clips stored on her iPhone. I like the feature that when you rotate the phone, the picture rotates by itself.

I did not download any stuff on her phone, but she showed me how it can be done. My kids are after me to buy an iPhone, if T-mobile comes up with something like that, I am definitely going to get one.

I like the multitasking feature, where you can make a phone call while emailing a photo or surfing the web over a Wi-Fi or 3G connection.

Students are definitely going to enjoy using the iTouch in classroom or library, they already know more things to do in there than us.

Thing #5 Microblogging

2009-08-06T22:27:00.000-07:00

I am really enjoying the facebook, and have spent quite some time with it. Some of my friends are also very happy as they have been saying and sending me invitations to join. I have an account in Orkut and this is very similar to Orkut. Lot of my students have accounts in FB, but I don't know if I am going to add them to my friend's list. It is a great way to connect to the people, and to stay in touch with them. It will be a good resource in my high school, to stay connected with the studens who graduated and are attending college, so other students can vision life after high school and also take some pointers from them.

I did not play much with Twitter, I don't know if the website was down, but I was not able to save my privacy setting. This will also be a great tool to see what your friends or your students are upto. You will definitely get a response much faster in twitter or facebook, than a regular email.

I really like back-channeling, it will definitely add depth to the presentation, on the other hand it can also act as a distraction.

Thing #4 Video Hosting (YouTube)

2009-07-24T01:10:00.000-07:00

I did not know it will be so easy to upload a video on YouTube, no wonder there's been so many videos being uploaded. I had made a photostory last summer on Houston during 23 things, so I just uploaded that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFoyksOPcRA

I liked TeacherTube and how it is arranged into channels. There were lots of small videos on Science that I would like to show to my students and may be put the videoclips in my flipchart. My students would also love to get their work or lab uploaded to Teacher Tube, and that can also be used and shown to my other students.

Thing #3 Like Skype

2009-07-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

I have been using Skype for couple of years now. It is a great and very inexpensive way to talk/chat with people across the globe. I have friends and family in India/England/Dubai, so we have setup a time with them when they come and we do conference call with them. Sometimes we have friends and relatives from 7-8 different places and we all talk to each other at the same time.

We used to use Yahoo messenger and MSN messenger, we still sometimes do, but the sound quality is little better with skype. In Skype, however we cannot do video conferencing with more than two contacts, so we also open Yahoo messenger and use that webcam, but we have to compromise in picture and voice quality.

In the classroom, we can use this to stay connected with other teachers, or team teach and collaborate.

Thing #2 Image Generators 2

2009-07-15T16:03:00.000-07:00

Wordle is a great tool to work with especially to introduce or review the vocabulary to the students. Here is the one that I made on Forces and Motion. Students will have lots of fun making their own wordles.

I liked both the Glogster/edu and the VoiceThread. I think students can sometimes use glogster instead of making a poster. It will be something different for the students and will give them some variety and also learn this great tool. VoiceThread is a great for commenting.

Animoto – is very similar to photostory and can be made very easily. Students, at the end of the project can create an animoto with the snaps of their project and create a movie. I liked the Voki – the talking avatar, it did not have as much choices as the yahoo avatar though.

Bookr is also another great tool show pictures. Here is the one I made on Michael Jackson.

Thing #1: Registration and the networked student (11.5 things)

2009-06-25T21:38:00.000-07:00

Great movie!! The people in this day and age are exposed to so much knowledge and information; it is wonderful and sometimes scary also. I liked the way the video was shown it was simple and easy to follow.

Teacher's role as the facilitator and a guide is very important. It seems like the student is doing all the research and the work, but I think teacher is playing a bigger role and has more responsibility than a regular teacher. Teacher has to monitor the student's progress when each student is at a different place and guiding them and making sure they are at the right track and not wondering away.

The part when the student is easily able to listen to the lecture by a professor in Berkley University or anywhere regardless of the location is very COOL!!

Library2Play 2, 11.5 More Things

2009-06-25T21:07:00.000-07:00

I am so glad Library2Play is back again. It was lots of fun last summer, and I am looking forward to this one. I am jumping in the water, and trusting the lifegaurds will help me if I start to drown. I don't know what happened to my yahoo avatar, I tried removing and exporting it again, but it is still not showing.

Thing # 23: Summary

2008-08-04T11:01:00.000-07:00

Yahoo!! It was great ride, and I am finally done with my 23 things.

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
My favorite discoveries were to create my own blog, my avatar, and the online image generator. I also liked watching and embedding the videos from YouTube and TeacherTube.

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
This program has definitely assisted and affected my lifelong learning skills. I usually learn better when I see the person who is teaching and there is a face to face interaction. This was a great experience, and I feel more confidence in me.

Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I was surprised by all the cool Google tools, and also Web 2.0 Award list. I am definitely going to go back and refer to it. I did not know that blogs, podcast, and audio books would be so easy to make and share.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I loved the program; it was really good and very well organized. All the instructions were very clear and easy to follow.

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
I would definitely participate in another discovery program. This was lot of fun and learning.

How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things learning activities?
Getting ready for FUTURE and Mind Boggling.

Thing # 22: Nings

2008-08-04T10:33:00.000-07:00

Nings is a great place for social networking. I looked at Ning for Teachers, it is a good place for teachers to connect and share ideas. I did not find any good lesson plans for high school Science, and for some lesson plans I was redirected to EdHelper.com Teacher's Blogs were good read and interesting.

Thing # 21: Podcast and audiobooks

2008-08-04T08:55:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed making the photostory on our Houston. I wanted to post my podcast, but did not want to register for switchpod, I have already registered for lots of different things since I started 23 Things.

Thing # 20: YouTube and TeacherTube

2008-08-03T10:01:00.000-07:00

It is fun to watch videos and is very addictive.

This is a great video on Youtube. Shift Happens: Educational (Technology) Reform

Following is the video I found on teacher tube is about 11 Things Children Teach You About Weight Loss

Thing # 19: Web 2.0

2008-08-02T10:33:00.000-07:00

I did not know that there will be so many options to choose from. I had used few sites, like craigslist, monster, picassa, etc, but this list is great. I liked the list as it is organized by categories. I tried the games and entertainment, I could not play Zango, as I needed administrator rights to run the games. Doof was good and had lots of games.

Some of my favorites sites were the www.fixya.com in questions and advice, as I had questions on how to uninstall and install microwave, and this site helped me with that. I also liked www.zillow.com. Zillow is a real estate website with a bird's eye view, it gives the value of the house and the neighboring houses in that area. You can also see the mortagage interest rates.

I loved the Web 2.0 awards, next time I have to look for something I am going to refer back to this list, and also share it with my friends.

Thing # 18: Online Tools

2008-07-31T11:33:00.000-07:00

Google Docs is very good, I tried opening, uploading, and importing the files as document, spreadsheet, and presentation. It is very user friendly, and it has all the basic features.

Advantages of using these tools is accessibility, we can access from any computer any where, sharing the files are also very easy. And most of all it is absolutely FREE!! One disadvantage is that you have to be online to see the files, most of the time internet is available, but when it is not available, you won't be able to access it.

I did not download the Open Office, since I use google for lot of other things as calendar, photos, etc.

Thing # 17: Rollyo

2008-07-31T09:47:00.000-07:00

Rollyo is great way to create our own search engine. Registering and adding own search engines was easy. This will also keep the students on task with research, should be a lot easier, less time consuming, and also safe way to surf the internet.

It is nice that there are preselected sites and then we can add or delete from the list. Students and even us teachers have to spell the words correctly to search the sites.

Thing # 16: Wikis

2008-07-29T11:46:00.000-07:00

Wow! I did not know that there so much to Wikis. I often use the Wikipedia, to get the supplemantary information and often wondered about how much information there is.

I can see how useful a wikispace could be in my classroom. This would be a great thing for them to do when they are working in teams and can work collaboratively on their projects. By creating a wikispace, teams would be able to share research, ideas, add and edit content without having to email or even meet together after school.

I also added my entry to the Learning 2.0 Sandbox wiki. That was very easy to use. I was concerned about changing or deleting other peoples comments.

Thing # 15: Web 2.0 and Library 2.0

2008-07-28T21:59:00.000-07:00

The video about the Library of the future: "A Vision of Students Today", is great. I agree that Libraries of tomorrow, even five or ten years from now, will look substantially different from Libraries today. I feel like SpringBranch ISD is a great district to work for because we are already learning about the new technology, and can introduce it our students as well, so they will ready for tomorrow.

I like the idea of OCLC, Online Computer Library Center. Connecting people to knowledge through library cooperation. The world's libraries, Connected.

I read all five perspective on library 2.0. What I understood about Library 2.0 is that you can use it any time of the day, and also eliminating the barriers between patrons and the information they need, so they can spend as little time as possible with search interfaces and as much time as possible actually reading and learning.

Thing # 14: Technorati

2008-07-28T21:26:00.000-07:00

Technorati is a great website to search for blogs. I searched for Library2Play and found the site immediately. I was not able to search my blog on Technorati, may be I have to register and claim my blog to do that. I did not register my blog though, as it was optional. I have already registered myself to so many things since I have started doing the 23 things, I do not want to register any more.

Thing # 13: Tagging and Del.icio.us

2008-07-28T20:36:00.000-07:00

It is a great way to bookmark pages, and we can use it on any computer. I always add pages that I visit often to my favorites, but when I am using a different computer I have to search for them again. This is wonderful, I don't have to waste my time searching for it.

Tagging is a very nice way of organizing the bookmarks. Del.icio.us is great, and it also gives popular tags and recommended tags.

Thing # 12: Creating Community Through Commenting

2008-07-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

Commenting is definitely an important part of blogs.

I liked all the Ten Commandments of Blog Commenting. The two points that I thought were important are to Be Polite and Don’t be condescending. Some times people think that if they don’t see each other they can write mean things, since they don’t know them, and nobody will know who wrote that comment, but that is not true. We should always be polite and also saying it nicely when pointing out errors.

I also posted comments to our Learn2Play community members and also outside this community.

Thing # 11: Library Thing

2008-07-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

This is a great website. I don't read a lot of books, but this year I started listening to books on CDs because of my long commute, and got hooked on to it. I have added 10 book titles to my account, and will add more later. This is a great idea for the book lovers, and they can share ideas, rate them, add comments etc.

I joined two groups, Hogwarts Express and Science Fiction Fans.

Thing # 10: Online image generator

2008-07-27T09:11:00.000-07:00

Comic Strip generator is really cool. My students can get really excited about this, with all their creativity.

I liked all the image generator tools, Body Switcher was fun and I tried playing around with my husband's picture. Scrapbooking, adding props, and special effects was great as well. Lots of fun stuff.

Thing # 9: Useful Library-Related blogs and News Feed

2008-07-25T15:20:00.000-07:00

Google Blog search was easiest for me to use, and I was not even able to open the Syndic8. Technorati was easy to use as well. Bloglines is a winderful way to search for blogs.

Topix.net was good, as it focuses on news and media outlet RSS feeds for information.

I have not explored Atomic learning that much, but I am thinking I will give my students informtaion on this so they can get quick answers to their questions.

Thing #8: RSS Feeds and Reader

2008-07-23T20:18:00.000-07:00

I like the concept of RSS feeds. That way the news and the blogs will come to us, instead of us searching the web. It is an easy way for to be alerted when content that interests us appears on our favorite Web sites. Instead of visiting a particular Web site to browse for new articles and features, RSS automatically tells when something new is posted online.

I have added the Science news and blogs on my account and also some bollywood sites for my personal interest. I was little confused by the orange icons. I can use this in my class to get the latest Science News.

Thing # 7:Cool Google Tools

2008-07-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

I didn't know google had so many cool tools.

Google Calendar is great. I added friends and families birthdays, and some appointments. I am going to add the SpringBranchISD grading dates, progress reports and report card pickup dates also.

I was already using Picasa Web Albums to share my pics with friends and family. It is very friendly and easy to use.

Google Earth is awesome. My husband had showed this to me few years back and I had fallen in love with it. I looked for my old school, and our special hangout places.

Google Advanced search was good, I had not used this before and it will be very useful for my students when they are looking for very specific information.

Thing # 6: Mashups and 3rd party sites

2008-07-20T22:21:00.000-07:00

Wow! The possiblities are endless. I created the photo mosaic, it took me some time to replace the pictures and edit them. My students can use the mosaic or the trading cards when we are covering periodic table. They can select an element or a group and describe its properties and put the pictures with it. Mappr is a great tool, I still have to figure it how I am going to use it in my Science class.

Thing #5 - Explore Flickr

2008-06-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

Flickr is really cool, I was lost in there for hours. Here is cool picture I found on City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia (Spain).

Thing # 4 - Register Blog

2008-06-23T17:33:00.000-07:00

I have registered my blog, and hopefully I will get the official welcome email indicating that I am registered. It has been a real good learning experience for me so far.

Thing #3, Set up Blog

2008-06-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

My blog is set up. It was lot of fun creating the avatar.

Thing #2 - Pointers from Life long learners

2008-06-19T13:59:00.000-07:00

The easiest thing for me is to accept responsibility of my learning, I enjoy learning new skills. The hardest things are to view problems as challenges and have confidence.

Thing #1, Read Blog

2008-06-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

Looking forward to learning 23 things while playing. Sounds like fun.