Thing #20

I was pretty familiar with Youtube, so I decided to play with teachertube. Online video sharing site like Teachertube is a great way to engage students in learning . Students can do more than just watch videos- they can create them! Another value I see in Teachertube is that is another way for teachers all over the world to share materials (such as the instructional video here).

Thing #19

I had a great time experimenting and using Wufoo. This tool allowed me to effortlessly create a form. You can create surveys, contact forms, registration forms, and so on- will continue using it for sure! Once you have created the document you want, you can be notified via email, create graphs, view stats and email your form to a group of people, imagine that! I really liked this internet application as it was very flexible and it required little technical knowledge. I am sure that if I had been willing to go further than the free level of serviced provided by Wufoo, I would have been able to do more and see even more benefits. Lastly, one of the benefits I see is that as educators we work with a lot of data, Wufoo can help organize it and understand it.

Thing #18

Open Office is pretty cool, especially considering its price- FREE! This site seems to be able to do anything that Microsoft can do and it supports a wide variety of formats. I will continue to explore this.

Google Docs- This was one tool that I had played with before, and remember thinking at the time that Google had so many “secret” functions (ha!) only to discover that it really does as I go through this 23 Things Journey. As always a question or two- how secure is it to store documents online? What kind of tech support is there?

Thing #17

Has anyone created a Top 100 web 2.0 for educators? Well, whatever the answer is, Rollyo should be included- In my opinion, a constructivist base tool for learning!


I imagine that personal search engine tools like Rollyo will gain popularity when other teachers realize how powerful they can be, or have they already discovered it and I am once again in the dark? I picture teachers creating a list of websites about any topic relevant to their content and students accessing them to do research or just take control of their own learning. The list of web 2.0 tool seems to be endless… Get ready, set, Roll…Yahoo!!!

Thing #16

http://secondaryesldcs.pbwiki.com/

A quickie on Wiki- I created this Wiki with the intent to communicate and collaborate with SBISD’s ESL DCs (and teachers if interested). However, I have not had much luck! What’s getting in the way- fear factor, time, too complicated or other? One of my goals was to create valuable resources in a collaborative environment using this online database, but not there yet! …. Wanna a Wiki?

Thing #15

The library as we knew it is a thing of the past, when I read some of the articles included in 23 Things, I couldn’t help but to think that the library has been unleashed! The library now has to be a user-centered and flexible place, where there are different types of media to be able to keep up with the constant change. Well, does this mean that there will be no more books? The bookless library? Hmmmmm.... interesting!

Dr. Schultz’ article “To a temporary place in time...” was one of favorites – I know she is probably right on, but I felt like I was reading a Sci-Fi article or watching something from the Jetsons. Very good!

Thing #14

I am going to skip registering and claiming my blog on Technorati. I am not sure I want to gain traffic on my blog just yet- I tried to open the video a few times, but wasn’t successful, but went to the Q&A section instead. I am just awe of how big the blogosphere is… will it soon replace face-to-face communication? Amazing, just amazing how communication has changed in such a short time!

Regarding tagging- I think a lot of the information I have learned through the 23 Things experience is coming together. Thing #13 dealt with bookmarks and tagging, but Flickr and RSS also had tags! I have concluded that the common purpose of tagging is that by writing a one word or very short phrase (tag) that describes the content of the file or the bookmark, I can organize and manage the information. I think I just made the connection that tags are like the folders that are even under “your favorites”. I understand that tags are more flexible though. What a great discovery... and there is nothing like making connections! Ha!!!