RSS Assignment Part Quatro

I have one word that describes my opinion for RSS: addicted! I have made my iGoogle site my homepage and I check it everyday, several times a day and I think that this has been a great learning experience. I have my favorite "things" that I have added including the "Places to See" gadget and the "ToDo" list. I really like looking through my Google reader as well. I have my favorite blogs and podcasts that I have suscribed to and I feel that I have learned a lot from the all. One podcast that I have subscribed to for personal use is "Coffee Break Spanish". This podcast gives small Spanish lessons and I think that it is important for me to learn Spanish especially since I am planning on teaching in Austin, TX. A lot of my students may be hispanic and it would be beneficial for me to learn some Spanish. With my busy schedule I don't get the oppertunity to read a lot of blogs so podcasts work better for me so when I'm walking between classes I can listen to my iPod. I definitely think that blogs, podcasts, etc. can be used in my future classroom. I think that having students journal in a blog once a week about something they learned and if they had any coments, questions or concerns about class that week would be a great idea. I also think that creating a podcast of different lessons could be beneficial for both parents and students. If a child misses class due to sickness or family vacation then both the parents and the students can listen to the lesson so the student is not as far behind when he or she comes back to class. I have really enjoyed doing this RSS assignment and I see a lot of potential use for it in my future classroom!

RSS Assignment Part Tres

So I was reading a blog that I subscribe to called Nerdy Thoughts on Technology and her latest blog talked about another blog that she subscribes to called TechLearning.com and after looking through it today and yesterday I really like it! It offers a lot of "site of the day's" which I really like. One of the sites that I like is Poetry4Kids. This site provides a lot of lesson plans, learning games, pictures and audio and it is appropriate for both elementary age students and middle school students. It is a really great site that students can go and look through. It also provides tips on rhyming and links to other poetry that is written by students. I have really liked reading through all of these different blogs because it allows me to "escape" out of the college life and play around on different websites.

RSS Assignment Part Dos

First of all I have been using my RSS page (iGoogle) for two weeks now (sorry about the late blog! (o: ) and as I'm sure you know I am absolutely addicted. I have been telling my friends about it and set up my roommate with it and now she's addicted too! It is so exciting to see RSS become more and more popular right after we learned about it.

Anyways, I have found a blog that I particularly love it is called Ed Tech Review by MrYardley. He has several blogs about the newest technology and if it is practical for the classroom. I read one that he entitled iPod Now Ready for the Education Market. In this particular article he talks about the iTouch phone and the new apps that are being created for it in regards to education. He mentions that he uses "Preschool Adventure" with his three year old and miTables with his daughter who is learning her multiplication facts. I thought that this related back to a lot of the RWLD's (reading, watching, listening and doings) that we have done for class. Technologies that are not necessarily made for educators (like the iTouch) are continually adding apps and other ways to implement it into the classroom. Overall, Ed Tech Review is one of the blogs that I like to keep current on.

RSS Assignment

First of all - I LOVE iGOOGLE! I made it my home website and check it every morning when I get up. I have over twenty gadgets which are:
1) Google calendar
2) Gmail
3) Facebook
4) Weather
5) Daily Iowan
6) Date and Time

7) Crockpot Recipes

8) Bible Verse of the Day
9) To Do List
10) Fat Loss Tip of the Day
11) Places to See
12) Top Stories
13) TVGuide.com











14) Disney Character of the Day
15) CNN.com
16) Movie Theater Listing
17) How To of the Day
18) ETonline
19) YouTube Videos











20) GoComics
21) Music Like
22) Simply Recipes
23) CNET.com
24) Artistaday.com











At first I was concerned that this would not be something that I would like but it is so organized and all in one spot. I'm addicted! I picked all of these sites for a variety of reasons. I love to cook which is why I have #22 and #7 (and #10!). I love television, the entertainment buisness and art which is why I have #24, 21, 20, 18, 16, 14, and 13. The rest are my personal reasoning but I visit almost all of these sites on a regular basis. I love it!

My current approach to video authoring...

My topic of expertise for my Emerging Instructional Technologies class is video authoring. Although when I was assigned this topic I was not really thrilled about it but after thinking about all the possibilities with video authoring and how it could have a positive influence in my classroom I got more excited about the topic. This is something that I do not know a lot about. I have a webcam that my boyfriend and I used regularly this summer since he was in Texas and I was here in Iowa. I learned how to make a simple webcam video to leave him a message each morning but that is about it. I am looking forward to learning more about this topic with Dr. Z and I am hoping that I will be able to teach my fellow classmates how to integrate video authoring into their classrooms or area of work. I think that I could use video authoring in many different ways in my classroom. I think of YouTube and the "In Plain English" videos and how beneficial these type of videos could be to teach some basic facts to my future technology native students. I think a good example would be "World War II in Plain English". Obviously this would not be the only approach to World War II that I would take as a teacher but I feel like this could be a creative way to introduce WWII to my students that catch their attention and keep them interested. I am very excited in the potential videos I could make for multiple uses but specifically my future classroom. :o)

Second Life

We have recently started using Second Life in class and it has been an interesting experience. I appreciate Second Life and the medium it could possibly provide for students but it can be so frustrating. I have spent a lot of time trying to find eight different "locations" in SL that focus on Literature/Libraries and the whole time I have been frustrated. It can be very confusing. Although it gets easier as you go along I still don't think that I could ever be fluid in SL not do I think that I want to be. I can definitely see why people really like SL but I am just not one of them yet.

Eight locations focusing on libraries/literature/language arts:

1)Information Communications and Technology Library
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/21/192/33">
This Information Communications and Technology Library looked as if it was collaboratively made and it provided a lot of information. In this photo I am standing in front of a great article about second life, education and libraries. It was visually rewarding and there were a lot of interesting pieces in this library. I found a blog online about this particular library at http://secondlifelibrary.blogspot.com

2) Publishing Island
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Publishing%20Island/128/128/7
This is a place where people can post some of their own personal work. In this photo I am standing in front of an author’s “store” and the author posted an introductory note to all the visitors. Each of the posters on the wall are of the author’s work and if you click on them then it will give you an introduction to the book/article behind it. In Publishing Island you can rent out a store and post your own books/articles/poems and people that visit the island are allowed to read them. I think this would be a great place for students to post some of their own work and allow them to network with others about their work.


3) Book Island
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Book%20Island/128/128/34

Book Island is very similar to Publishing Island in that there are several different “stores” that offer free books, articles and entrances to different websites involving literature. I am standing in front of a small store that offered several free books and articles along with a website entry too. This would be a great place for students to get new, free books and articles and look at some other interesting websites.

4) Alliance Virtual Library
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/218/59/96
This was a great place for resources and I think it was the best for students. In the photo I am flying in front of one of the towers and the top floor has information on Africa and other places around the world and then the building to the left had information about astronomy. There was a lot of good information and was visually stimulating.

5) Infolit iSchool
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Infolit%20iSchool/76/145/23
The Infolit iSchool was created by the University of Sheffield. This picture was taken in the iSchool library where there are several links that will take you to the of library. This is very similar to the University of Northern Iowa online library. There is a place to look up articles, books, etc. It would be a good place for students to research for projects for find casual reading literature.

6) Meteora

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Meteora/178/173/27

I found Meteora on accident but I think it is an excellence research facility for science classrooms. My favorite part of Meteora is that their is a Hurricane simulator and weather balloon. This will allow students to have a virtual experience in a hurricane. There are a lot of great resources regarding weather and different climates. Very neat!

7) English Village

http://slurl.com/secondlife/English%20Village/131/162/126

English Village was created by a teacher that lives in Japan and is teaching English. The main purpose of this island is to provide a tehcnology medium for students to learn English. There are a few resources around this island that provide literature research along with different places for lectures about English.

8) Cincta - The Dream It, Do It Initiative

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cincta/91/98/22

This was a great resource it focuses a lot on multicultural education and literature. As you cna see in my photo I am standing in front of a lot of books lade open on a pier. People are allowed to read these pieces and it also provides a lot of links to other resources.

First 2 weeks of class...

I am currently in a technology class at the University of Northern Iowa to apply towards my minor in Instructional Technology. The first two weeks of this Emerging Technology class have been really interesting and time actually seems to fly even though the class is three hours long! Something that I really enjoyed so far was when we all posted about different "emerging technology" examples. The one that stood out to me the most was an interactive coffee table that my classmates, Paul and Marrissa, found. I think it is so interesting how much technology comes out daily and how advanced our society is becoming.