Thing #15

Using a wiki can be fun, entertaining, educational, but sometimes dangerous all at the same time. I found it interesting that as I scrolled down to view other post, my scroll seemed to go on and on and on. It was neat to see how many people had added posts or edited something. I posted my thing #7 in the APSU 23 things Sandbox wiki because it involved gathering an image from flicker, and I love photography. Honestly, I am still unsure if I actually did it right. The dangerous part about a wiki is that if you are wanting to gather information, there is a possibility of it being incorrect. The people's ability to change any and all thoughts, I do not trust it.

#14

For my flowchart I chose Gliffy. I found Gliffy to be extremely interesting and fun. I like the floor plan tab because I enjoy using my creativity and I could see myself "decorating" for hours. I could use this tool to help with "creating my classroom" if we were allowed to use outside sources. This website would be of great use in my classroom if I plan to teach 5th grade Science. There are numerous flow charts used in Science when explaining processes and cycles. This would be a useful and simple tool to have the students use for a project or assignment.

For the mind map I chose to use Bubbl.us. At first I was unsure of how to use this site. Then after I typed in my first word, I saw how to use it. This tool would also be useful in my future classroom. The difference in this tool and the first is that with this one I could use it in more of a way to show groupings, terminology, or chronological order of events.

#13

I enjoyed viewing and getting to explore both Zoho and Google Docs. I went to the Zoho site first. I liked how it was set up like Microsoft word when I created my online quizzes. Zoho allowed for me to be creative with the quizzes I made. The entire time I couldn't help but to think how I could use tho tool when I become a professional. It was simple to navigate through and did not take up much time. Also, it didn't hurt that I had fun doing it. Next I visited Google Docs. I really liked how you could create more than just a word document. They had tables, graphs, spreadsheets, drawings and more. This would be a fun website to use in or outside the class room. Especially if there are students who may not have Microsoft Word at home. They can simply visit one of the two sites and be able to construct something similar. 

Thing #12

I enjoyed creating and exploring the Picasa Web and Google Translate web pages. Picasa Web reminded me of Flickr in the sense that it dealt with photos. I have used Google for quite sometime now and have never known about that nifty tool. I now have a place to upload and save some of my photos without worry of possibly losing them. Google translate was my favorite of the two. I have two close friends who live in France and Finland. They visit m every summer, but their english seems to worsen the longer we are apart from one another. This special tool can help me communicate with them in their native language. I'm sure it will be entertaining for them to read it as well. These tools can both be used inside a classroom. Picasa Web can allow teachers to upload photos of their class so that the parents and outside world can see what the children are learning. Google Translate can possibly be used for language classes. Also, if a class has a "sister" classroom from a different country, this tool might be a neat way to communicate with them to show interest in other cultures.

Thing #11

The Edublogs Awards Blog was the easiest method of finding feeds. It had everything broken down into organized and interesting groups. The easiest search tool for me was Google Blog just because I am so use to Google. The others were not really confusing, just new to me. However, I will try to use them throughout my teaching career because one is never enough. I found a blog entitled “Dan’s 5^th Class”. It showed what the students were learning, what projects hey were doing, and even fun facts about their class. Some other search engines that I use are bing and twitter. 

Thing #10

I like how RSS and newsreaders allow one to stay up-to-date with information specific to what he/she is looking for. Using this technology for both my professional and private life will allow me to become more aware of what is going on in the world. I could use it in my classroom to gain ideas for projects, lessons, or any information on a topic. I could use it is my private life to find new DIY (do it yourself) crafts and or new food recipes. 

Thing #9

Generators such as the ones I used can be used for just about anything. In the classroom one could use the 'Post It' generator for assignment reminders for the students or parents on a classroom website. The word generator that puts words/phrases into a shape is something that can be turned into a fun learning activity for students if they are needing to know certain terms under a specific category. I enjoyed using these tools because they allowed me to show some creativity.





















Post It 
http://www.imagechef.com/ic/final_widget.jsp