1. A Vision of K-12 Students Today: I liked this video. This is the way that education is going. One of the reasons that I decided to return to college for a Master's degree is because I want to prepare my students for the next level. I am definitely not from the digital age. I am from the manual typewriter age! I thought things had really progressed when I had my first electric typewriter! Now I simply say, "Wow!" I am completely fascinated by this new age and want to learn everything I can. It is amazing all of the technological advances that have occurred just in the aughts! I am also curious to see what the next big thing will be!
2. The Networked Student: This video did not work. I tried different times to no avail.
3. RSS in Plain English: I think I understand RSS feeds a little better now; however, this is completely overwhelming! I can not possibly get through all the good information that is out there. It is almost scary!
4. Social Bookmarking in Plain English: I needed to accept a friend request to view this video, but I wasn't sure what to do or what that meant!
5. Blogs in Plain English: I began to understand blogs during the first class; however, I still don't know how to do some things. One thing that I see other people do that I don't know how to do is to add links to my blog. I more or less just write what I am feeling at the moment. I don't have any great insights or sites that I can share with people. I would like to be able to do that.
6. Wikis in Plain English: I see great possibilities for collaborating using Wikis. But, again, I feel overwhelmed. One thing that the book said was that we need to practice using all of these tools, which takes time. Unfortunately, I don't have as much time as I would like to have! My day job gets in the way! I teach high-school English, and it seems as though I have lots of paperwork! I also facilitate the production of our yearbook. I don't even want to tell you the hours I put into that class.
7. Podcasting in Plain English: I again needed to accept a friend request, but I wasn't sure what to do. It is sometimes scary going into the unknown!
8. Twitter in Plain English: I guess I still don't know about the value of Twitter. It is somewhat like Facebook, which I do like. I have never been to Twitter, but, to me, it sounds more egocentric. I did buy a book about Twitter so that I could learn about its usefulness. It also is a book that I haven't read yet. As they say, for me, the jury is still out about Twitter.
9. Google Docs in Plain English: This video would not play correctly. I tried a couple of things to no avail once again. I somehow ended up with a video called "Why Google Apps for Education?" Google could be revolutionizing education! It is like one-stop shopping!
10. Social Networking in Plain English: I do somewhat understand the social networking. I joined Facebook to try to reconnect with one of my nieces, which I was able to do. But then a great thing happened. A number of my former students reconnected with me. As a general rule, I don't request too many friends because I don't want to intrude on people nor do I want to be rejected! However, these kids (even though some of them are in their 40's and 50's, they are still "my kids") requested me. It has been great fun catching up. One young man has been working in the Peace Corps in Africa. He has now completed his service there and is hiking through Africa. I think he is on his way to Egypt or Ireland. How cool is that? He has fascinating stories of his adventures. Another former student is a magician who performed at the White House on Halloween. He has a fantastic show. We saw him a couple of times when we were in Las Vegas. He has been to Europe and Asia doing his magic. The one thing about these sites that I find somewhat troubling is that they can easily become addicting!
11. Educational Uses of Second Life: I would like to learn more about Second Life. How great this would be for those of us from poor districts in rural Michigan! I need to check out a blog for more information: www.karlkapp.blogspot.com.
Whew! I made it through all of my comments! I will write more later. I think it is time that I take off my student hat, put on my wife hat, and fix supper!
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Judy,
ReplyDeleteI also could not view the same videos that you couldn't view. Is there something we are missing? Hmmm... hopefully if someone else knows, they will respond! :)
I googled this video and found one on Youtube. It was pretty good. Don't know if it was the same one.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwM4ieFOotA