Thing #18

I'm well-versed in the world of Twitter and Facebook. Facebook is a great way to interact with family, friends, and coworkers, and Twitter is better for media and updates. APSU has several Twitter and Facebook accounts, and they're a great way for students and faculty members to be aware of new events around campus (because if we all "heard it through the grapevine," no one would know). However, you do have to be very careful on who you interact with and what you say on social media. A lot of potential bosses will go through your Facebook before hiring you. While you may not post anything inherently wrong, you may speak your mind more on social media, and your opinions might clash with the opinions of the boss, which can cause problems and hard feelings. I think Facebook is the better site. Twitter is more for updates, while Facebook is more social and interactive. A lot of teachers add their students as friends on Facebook, and if they have a school-related announcement to make, they'll post it on there (and most kids will know about it), but I would not add students to my personal Facebook, but I think a class page on Facebook would be a great way to go. The majority of kids have one, so it will be a great way for them to be informed if any abrupt changes were being made in school.

Thing #17

To be honest, Delicious is pretty much exactly like Diigo. I did search educational technology in the tags, and it was all of the same stuff I had seen before by looking it up on Google. I also searched through other tags, and I couldn't find a lot of things. Maybe it's because it's not an "up and coming" site on par with Pinterest, but there wasn't much that I found on there that I couldn't find on a regular Google site.

To get new ideas for the classroom, I think Diigo or Google is a better bet just because they have more variety. Personally, I think it's easier to have a class blog and to post important sites on the blog so the students don't have to sift through tags. However, if they're doing a project and have to look up websites, this may work for them.

Thing #16

For the start page, I used Google (can you tell I'm a Google girl yet?). It was the easiest because I use my Google account the most, and it was neat to choose what new updates I wanted to see on my homepage.

As I've stated before in a previous entry, the calendars are useful reminders. I know all of my important dates, but they tend to sneak up on me, so they're a great at refreshing my memory.

To-do lists are great! I always write mine down and I lose them along the way, so this is a great way of keeping track of things. It's also great for setting personal goals. I have a list of books that I want to read for the summer, and I will use Remember the Milk to help me reach my goal.

Zamzar is AWESOME! I have been looking for a great file converter, and I'm glad I've found this site! I will definitely use it. I would recommend it to people who are tech junkies that always need to convert files. It's great!

Thing #15

In school (and even today in college), I am told to STAY AWAY FROM WIKIPEDIA, and any non-academic website, but I never listen. I love Wikipedia, and it's been a staple in my education since middle school. Although it's true that not all of the information is accurate, it's pretty easy to tell what's true and what is just trolling. Therefore, since I've been told time and time again to stay away from Wikis, I was surprised that this exercise encouraged me to use them.

I knew there were other Wikis out there based on TV shows, movies, music, etc., but I didn't know that educators used them. I think it would be cool to have a classroom Wiki and to have the students add onto the Sandbox. I would make it an assignment for my history students. I would assign them a time period or an event, and it would be their job to add onto the Wiki. It could be used as a study guide for tests and final exams. I think it's cool for students to collaborate together on a website. If academics can collaborate on thesis papers, why can't students collaborate on the Internet?

Thing #14

I like flow charts! They are extremely helpful and help me organize my cluttered mind. In history, flow charts are helpful in mapping out stages in historical events, such as the French Revolution or the Civil War, and the evolution of the American political parties. They provide cohesion and clarity to a subject.

I've never heard of a mind map, and they seem a bit too complex for me to use in a history class. Like Dr. Wall said in her blog, I think they are better for creators than readers. If you're a writer, a mind map would be very useful when detailing the characteristics of your plot and character traits, but I think it's too complex to work in a history class. For history, one would need something linear, so you could see the cause-and-effect relationship.

Gliffy is really cool because you can create all sorts of diagrams (and educators LOVE diagrams). This is perfect because, to me, it's easier than using Microsoft for diagrams and charts. You can even create floor plans! I thought that was pretty neat. Mindmeister was pretty cool to explore. As I said, I have never heard of mind maps, so it was interesting  to explore. While I don't think mind maps would have a place in my classroom, they would be great elsewhere, as in an English or creative writing classroom.

Thing #13

To be perfectly honest, Zoho and Google Docs are pretty much the exact same thing. I didn't see much of a difference, although the Zoho website isn't as cohesive and clear as Google. I prefer Google Docs because it's aligned with your entire Google account, which most people have. With Docs, you can share a document with other people and they can add onto it, and you can see their changes instantly, which is great for group work. Zoho has pretty much everything Google has. Zoho is great for businesses because it has accounting software and other apps for small businesses, but in a classroom setting, I prefer Docs because most school use Google in some form or fashion, and it's the simplest and easiest way to share documents with students and teachers.

Thing #12

Google is the best website! It's so efficient and user-friendly, and they have so many great applications like Google Earth.

I decided to use Google Translate and Google Calendar. I absolutely love Translate! I have some Vietnamese relatives on Facebook, and I copy and paste their statuses to Translate to see what they're saying. I also like to type in funny phrases and translate them into different languages. Most languages have an audio option so you can hear it being spoken in that language, which is really neat. I like to see what my name sounds like in different languages, and the pronunciation is very, very different, especially in Dutch; it sounds like "Mohawn."

I'm a very disorganized person, unfortunately, and I never messed around with Calendar, but now that I have, I think I'll use it. It will definitely help me keep things organized better than a planner, because I always seem to lose them or never use it at all. I made a birthday calendar for all of my friends and family. I know when everyone's birthday is, but it often sneaks up on me and I have to scramble to get a gift or card at the last minute, so it will definitely be useful for me. Google Calendar has an alert system, so you can get an alert for a birthday on your phone days in advance. Now I don't have an excuse to send off belated birthday cards! :)




https://www.google.com/calendar/render?pli=1&gsessionid=vfkW6HTuvbhyjlu93KUJ6A

The educational possibilities are endless. For Translate, it's always helpful to hear how things are pronounced in their own language, so in my history class, we can see how a certain name or town is pronounced so we can say it correctly in the classroom (I HATE mispronouncing things, so this is very helpful for me as a teacher because I don't want to mispronounce it and look stupid). For Calendar, you can make it public and have your students see what the agenda is for the day and what is due. Google is a website of endless potential and possibilities, and it will definitely be a cornerstone for my class!