Saturday, March 27, 2010
BP12_2010033_One Minute Message #2
All images were taken from the Sparknotes website covered under the fair use copyright law.
BP10_2010033_Link to Froiland's Blog
Here is the link to my comment on Froiland Natividad's blog Kindersite.org.
Screenshot compliments of Kindersite.org from Froiland's blog.
Friday, March 26, 2010
BP9_2010033_Web2.0Tool3_SPARKNOTES
OH MY SPARKNOTES! What a great Web 2.0 website for students, parents, and educators! I was so impressed with this site that I immediately had my 11th and 8th grade sons sign up for a free account. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten asked by my sons what’s going on in books they’re reading in their Language Arts courses or Math courses that they can’t understand. Just recently, my 11th grader told me that he has no idea what Nathaniel Hawthorne is talking about in his book The Scarlet Letter. Well guess what? I couldn’t remember myself because I hadn’t read The Scarlet Letter since I was in high school some 20+ years ago but now I remember, thanks to Sparknotes.
Sparknotes is an online Web 2.0 tool that’s free to anyone who may need a memory refresher or recall on just about any subject or book. Sparknotes provides cliff notes on just about any educational book used in any course (Biography, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Drama, Economics, Film, Health, History, Literature, Math, plus many more) (Sparknotes, 2010).
I clicked on the Math cliff notes, then on Order of Operations just to see what kind of information it would give me. WOW! It gave me an introduction of what Order of Operations was and then it explained what an expression was. It was so detailed. Lastly, it gave me step-by-step instructions on how to work out an Order of Operations problem with explanations and a review. Physics; my son is struggling with that subject so we clicked on the subject area that he was studying and there it was, Linear Momentum (screen shops compliment of Sparknotes).
Sparknotes offers so much more though. It offers guides with in-depth summaries on any subject of confusion, blogs, SAT, ACT, & AP test prep, Flashcards to help you study in any subject, Miss Marm (the writing expert), Spark Tests (fun IQ tests, love tests, facts tests, etc.) and SparkLife (funny blogs on how to stay on top of your game). You can even follow Sparknotes on Facebook and Twitter (Sparknotes, 2010).
I have already shared this site with my family, my students and entire high school staff and now you. Won’t you give it a try? I promise you’ll be blown away with amazement! Oh, I forgot to tell you…Sparknotes shows you how to cite any reference from their site, APA style! I told you it was a great tool! Check it out at this SPARKNOTES LINK.
Sparknotes. (2010, March 20). Linear momentum. Retrieved from
http://www.sparknotes.com/physics/linearmomentum/conservationofm
omentum
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
BP5_2010032_Web2.0Tool2_Flickr
I decided to kill two birds with one stone when I signed up for my Flickr account. I have heard the word Flickr a couple of times in connection with photos from my colleagues but I really didn’t stop to ask them about it. When asked to explore and research another Web2.0 tool, I chose Flicker because I wanted to learn about it, what it was, and how could I use it personally and professionally. Flickr brags about being the best online photo management and sharing application in the world. Flickr also offer it’s service for free but a client can purchase a ProAccount for added features for about $2.00 a month.
Flickr was created by Ludicorp and launched in February 2004 (Ludicorp, 2004). Flickr gives the client solution to organize the many digital photos they take on any given day while allowing the clients friends, family, and other contacts permission to organize the client’s photos by tagging them, adding comments, and notes (Ludicorp, 2004).
Flickr has two goals: 1) showing it’s users how they can better manage their photo/video content to share it with anyone who matters and, 2) show their users how to manage their online photos and videos.
Creating a Flickr account was so easy and it also works through FaceBook. After I created my account, I uploaded my photos. However, there was a problem with my upload. I read that Flickr allows it’s clients to upload batches of photos stored in a file or folder and that’s what I did. I uploaded a whole folder of about 180 photos. I learned that there is a 100MB limit on photos you can store a month. The great thing about this feature is that Flickr will highlight your photos with the largest MB so it would be easier for the client to delete them.
One way I would use my Flickr account in my classes is to set up an account that only my students can have access to. I can have them create their own account and have them share their photos they took during a resent class field trip to Islands of Adventure. They can tag, make notes, and comments on each other’s photos. Since this trip was about the hiring processes of the park, the students were able to complete mock interviews with the Human Resource staff, look at some differences between a poorly written resume and an exceptionally written resume, and the wow factor of first impressions, the students can label what phase of the hiring process they were in when their photo was take.
This is a great Web2.0 tool to use in the classroom. I will be implementing it very soon.
Ludicorp., . (2004, February). A Simple guide to flickr. Retrieved from http://theroxor.com/2009/06/09/a-simple-guide-to-flickr/
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
BP3_2010031_Web2.0Tool1_FotobabbleInc
FOTOBABBLE
After researching the many Web 2.0 Tools and Applications, I finally decided on Fotobabble because it seemed to be the best application to introduce to my students. My students are always taking photos on their cellular phones and digital cameras and uploading them to the computers in my lab. They use their photos as their screen savers. Sometimes they upload inappropriate photos like students with their middle fingers pointing up suggesting foul language, or pictures of famous actors and actresses half naked. Of course I make them change them.
What is Fotobabble? Fotobabble is an application that allows anyone to turn photos into talking photos. A student can create a talking photo in a matter of seconds with just a couple of clicks. They don’t have to purchase any special equipment or software. Fotobabble is a completely free web-based application. Students just upload their favorite photo, record their voice and share their talking photo through e-mail, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or they can embed it into a blog or website (Fotobabble -0.6.8, 2010). However, an account must be established before getting started and that only takes seconds too.
I couldn’t believe how easy it was to learn Fotobabble. I began to think how could I make student learning relevant in my business course using the photos the students already had. Then it hit me; they already have to create a small company as one of their projects this quarter so why not bump up the time line a few weeks.
Every year or so, I go through my old lesson plan notebook to see what projects were a success and what ones I needed to tweek. Creating a Small Company always seemed to be a good one to use but I’ve mostly had them create PowerPoints to share their companies. Even I was getting bored with PowerPoint. So this year I want to see how it will work using Fotobabble. The instructions are as follows:
Introduction
Student Task
Your task is to break up into groups of seven (7) students. Each person will have to choose one of the following roles: President, VP-Marketing, VP-Production, VP-Finance, VP-Human Resources, VP-Public Relations, and an Alternant Record Keeper (who will fill the vacant role if someone leaves the group) and lastly the Board of Directors consist of all of you collaborating together to make important decisions.
After filling each role, your team of executives will come up with a product or service to sell of your choice and the price at which it will sell for. You will also create a snap shop Business Plan for your company. Finally you will discuss ways in which you will raise capital to start you organization. All information must be presented in a Fotobabble presentation.
Questions that must be answered by each department are as follows:
1. What is my primary role and responsibilities in the organization and what is the responsibility of the Board of Directors? (All Departments)
2. President – What procedures should be used when more than one person wants to speak during a meeting? What type of reports/letters must you make known to the public, to your stockholders?
http://www.hvacrbusiness.com/issue/article/176/three_distinct_roles_define_the_effective_company_president.aspx
3. Human Resources – What is a compensation Plan? What are the Administrative Records? What payroll information does your department deal with?
http://www.businesstown.com/people/compensation-plans.asp
4. Production – What will be your product’s packaging/label? What safety guidelines should your company have to take into consideration?
5. Marketing – What type of advertising and publicity campaigns will you use to promote your product (word-of-mouth, commercials, billboards, radio, internet, posters, etc.)? How will you keep up with inventory and where will it be housed?
6. Finance Department – What are financial statements (i.e. Income Statement, Balance Sheet)? What role does your department play in Payroll? What taxes are your department/company responsible for withholding?
7. Public Relations – How will you attract and retain your customers? What are a few ways to handle negative opposition from your product (ex. if your product harms a customer or another company says that you stole their idea)?
Summary
In summary students should have a general idea of what departments an organization has and its duties to the organization, and what it takes to run a company. Some web links have been provided to get students started. Continue to find references to aid in your Fotobabble presentations.
Deliverables: Students must submit talking photos presentation created in Fotobabble to share their findings with other groups in the class.
Another Educational Use
I can really see this as a wonderful educational tool for groups especially. Let’s talk about Googledocs for example; Googledocs allow multiple users to work collaborative on one document in real time, from any location, whether it is in the form of a Word document, PowerPoint, or Spread Sheet application. Just think if multiple students worked on the same project and would never have to meet in one location to complete their assignment just like in Googledocs except they use Fotobabble. They could take pictures, screenshots, or scanned images of artwork, a Word document, PowerPoint slide, or even a Spread Sheet and add commentary behind them with their thoughts and ideas as how to incorporate them into their projects. Want to know what else makes this a great application; it’s a time saver! We talk faster than we type. With a scripted document in place, projects can be completed in less than half the time it would take to type it up. I will recommend this program to everyone I know who uses computers and digital photos.
References
Fotobabble, inc. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.fotobabble.com/
Managing people-compensation. (2003). Retrieved from
http://www.businesstown.com/people/compensation-plans.asp
Smith, R. (2010). Three distinct roles define the effective company
president. HVACRBUSINESS, Retrieved from
http://www.hvacrbusiness.com/issue/article/176/three_distinct_roles_
define_the_effective_company_president.aspx
After researching the many Web 2.0 Tools and Applications, I finally decided on Fotobabble because it seemed to be the best application to introduce to my students. My students are always taking photos on their cellular phones and digital cameras and uploading them to the computers in my lab. They use their photos as their screen savers. Sometimes they upload inappropriate photos like students with their middle fingers pointing up suggesting foul language, or pictures of famous actors and actresses half naked. Of course I make them change them.
What is Fotobabble? Fotobabble is an application that allows anyone to turn photos into talking photos. A student can create a talking photo in a matter of seconds with just a couple of clicks. They don’t have to purchase any special equipment or software. Fotobabble is a completely free web-based application. Students just upload their favorite photo, record their voice and share their talking photo through e-mail, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or they can embed it into a blog or website (Fotobabble -0.6.8, 2010). However, an account must be established before getting started and that only takes seconds too.
I couldn’t believe how easy it was to learn Fotobabble. I began to think how could I make student learning relevant in my business course using the photos the students already had. Then it hit me; they already have to create a small company as one of their projects this quarter so why not bump up the time line a few weeks.
Every year or so, I go through my old lesson plan notebook to see what projects were a success and what ones I needed to tweek. Creating a Small Company always seemed to be a good one to use but I’ve mostly had them create PowerPoints to share their companies. Even I was getting bored with PowerPoint. So this year I want to see how it will work using Fotobabble. The instructions are as follows:
Introduction
Student Task
Your task is to break up into groups of seven (7) students. Each person will have to choose one of the following roles: President, VP-Marketing, VP-Production, VP-Finance, VP-Human Resources, VP-Public Relations, and an Alternant Record Keeper (who will fill the vacant role if someone leaves the group) and lastly the Board of Directors consist of all of you collaborating together to make important decisions.
After filling each role, your team of executives will come up with a product or service to sell of your choice and the price at which it will sell for. You will also create a snap shop Business Plan for your company. Finally you will discuss ways in which you will raise capital to start you organization. All information must be presented in a Fotobabble presentation.
Questions that must be answered by each department are as follows:
1. What is my primary role and responsibilities in the organization and what is the responsibility of the Board of Directors? (All Departments)
2. President – What procedures should be used when more than one person wants to speak during a meeting? What type of reports/letters must you make known to the public, to your stockholders?
http://www.hvacrbusiness.com/issue/article/176/three_distinct_roles_define_the_effective_company_president.aspx
3. Human Resources – What is a compensation Plan? What are the Administrative Records? What payroll information does your department deal with?
http://www.businesstown.com/people/compensation-plans.asp
4. Production – What will be your product’s packaging/label? What safety guidelines should your company have to take into consideration?
5. Marketing – What type of advertising and publicity campaigns will you use to promote your product (word-of-mouth, commercials, billboards, radio, internet, posters, etc.)? How will you keep up with inventory and where will it be housed?
6. Finance Department – What are financial statements (i.e. Income Statement, Balance Sheet)? What role does your department play in Payroll? What taxes are your department/company responsible for withholding?
7. Public Relations – How will you attract and retain your customers? What are a few ways to handle negative opposition from your product (ex. if your product harms a customer or another company says that you stole their idea)?
Summary
In summary students should have a general idea of what departments an organization has and its duties to the organization, and what it takes to run a company. Some web links have been provided to get students started. Continue to find references to aid in your Fotobabble presentations.
Deliverables: Students must submit talking photos presentation created in Fotobabble to share their findings with other groups in the class.
Another Educational Use
I can really see this as a wonderful educational tool for groups especially. Let’s talk about Googledocs for example; Googledocs allow multiple users to work collaborative on one document in real time, from any location, whether it is in the form of a Word document, PowerPoint, or Spread Sheet application. Just think if multiple students worked on the same project and would never have to meet in one location to complete their assignment just like in Googledocs except they use Fotobabble. They could take pictures, screenshots, or scanned images of artwork, a Word document, PowerPoint slide, or even a Spread Sheet and add commentary behind them with their thoughts and ideas as how to incorporate them into their projects. Want to know what else makes this a great application; it’s a time saver! We talk faster than we type. With a scripted document in place, projects can be completed in less than half the time it would take to type it up. I will recommend this program to everyone I know who uses computers and digital photos.
References
Fotobabble, inc. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.fotobabble.com/
Managing people-compensation. (2003). Retrieved from
http://www.businesstown.com/people/compensation-plans.asp
Smith, R. (2010). Three distinct roles define the effective company
president. HVACRBUSINESS, Retrieved from
http://www.hvacrbusiness.com/issue/article/176/three_distinct_roles_
define_the_effective_company_president.aspx
Sunday, March 7, 2010
BP4_2010031_RSS Feeds
GOOGLE READER
The more I work with my iGoogle account, the more I love it. Having a place to store all of my favorite Web 2.0 sites in one location is very appealing to me. Google Reader is far the best! Listed below is just a few sites that I have marked as favorites in my Google Reader:
News4Jax – News4Jax is an online version of our local Jacksonville newspaper. Every morning, I get a cup of coffee and log on to News4Jax to catch up on the latest happenings in my town. http://www.news4jax.com/index.html
Teacher Beat – This is a blog site of Education Week where I can find out what’s happening around our country concerning the latest news and insights on teacher – related policies and politics. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/
U.S. Department of Education – With this site, I can find funding for educational purposes, conduct research, find out about educational policies, and much more. http://www.ed.gov/
ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) – ERIC is a web based library with more than 1.3 million journal and articles for research.
CNN Tech – CNN Tech is an extension of CNN News where articles of the latest technology discoveries and uses are wrote about. I love this site because I can learn what is happening in the world of technology and also to see if any of the findings can be incorporated into my lesson plans. http://www.cnn.com/TECH/
BP2_2010031_EduUses4Blogs
What About Blogs? Are There Any Educational Advantages for Using Blogs?
I love technology! I love learning about advances in technology. I even teach application technology at a local high school in Jacksonville, Florida. I teach because I love that face -to-face interaction. Nothing pleases me more than to see those light bulbs turn on in the face of a high schooler when a technological application concept that I’m teaching finally is comprehended. What a rewarding feeling.
However, people are under the misconception that I spend every waking moment on my computer because I’m a computer instructor. Imagine that, me, a high school teacher, spending time on the computer aside from my job! Truth is, I don’t won’t to touch a computer after I’ve worked all day on it. When computers are your job, there comes a moment when you have to separate the two, from your personal and professional life and that’s just what I do when I get home.
In saying all of that, blogging is not my favorite past time. Though I follow a few blogs, my friends mostly, I had only started one blog for myself prior to working on my Master’s Degree program at Full Sail University in Education Media Design and Technology. I really felt that when I learned of blogging a few years back that I would give it an honest try and see if I would enjoy it as much as my friends and co-workers who had their own blogs. Needless to say, I didn’t get that much excitement from it as my friends did. I guess it was because I didn’t feel that face-to-face interaction with blogging that I needed to survive. Yes, I need people like I need oxygen and blogging did nothing at all to fulfill that need for me! Personally, I’d like to Skype, iChat, or video conference with a friend, colleague, or business associate on a particular subject than blogging online with them. Yet, if that is their preferred method then I accommodate them.
I have though, introduced blogging to my students. I feel that I need to expose them to as many technological advances available to increase their desire to become life long learners especially in the technology arena. Blogs definitely have a place in education although my school district block a lot of the Web 2.0 blogging sites from students. Blogs are useful teaching and learning tools because they provide a space for students to reflect and publish their thoughts and understanding (Ferdig & Trammell, 2004). I’d like to piggyback on what Ferdig and Trammell thought about blogging and add that blogging is also from my perspective, a time travel capsule for future students in that a blog spot becomes a library of powerful information that other students can learn from. Blogs have been used for all types of educational uses; to display art work, to record thought processes in Math, Science, and Social Studies, and I've used them in the past to have my students reflect on how they could use a software application like PowerPoint.
I might not care too much for blogging for myself but I do support blogging for students in particular. Even as long as I can remember, journaling in the classroom has been a part of education. I even remember my elementary to high school years having to keep an in class journal in one of the black and white composition notebooks that were and still is on every teacher’s supply list sent home by a student. Now, instead of using the composition notebooks to keep a daily in class journal (which can be very hard to read at times), we have online blog spots. Online journaling has many advantages; a state-of-the art format that appeals to students, an increase in quality and quantity of student output, and increased potential for teacher-mediated input and the potential for future extensions to include the addition of links to illustrative websites and other options offered by web-based learning (Philleo & Stiler, 2003).
Maybe by the time I complete my Master’s in Education Media Design & Technology, I may have develop a better disposition for blogging on a personal level. Nevertheless, I have always respected blogging, the bloggers, and the advantages of blogging. I look forward to incorporating more outside classroom blogging with my students in the near future since blogging sites are blocked by my school district. The challenge is to find a safe place free from inappropriate advertising for students to blog about educational projects. I think I may have found one; Ning! Ning is an online social network that allows many types of Web 2.0 platforms. Educational platforms that Ning are especially good for is that Ning allows a teacher to create an education platform free from commercials and they offer the removal of such commercials at no cost as long as it is used for educational purposes. Otherwise, it would cost close to $20.00 per month not to have commercials.
References
Ferdig, R.E., & Trammell, K.D. (2004). Content delivery in the 'blogosphere'.
THE Journal (Technological Horizons In Education), 31(7), 12-20.
Stiler, G.M., & Philleo, T. (2003). Blogging and blogspots: an alternative
format for encouraging reflective practice among preservice teachers. Education, 123(4), 789.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
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