Thing #10 Maps

Over Spring Break, my wife and I visited the Scottsdale, AZ area as a possibility of an area to retire within. I have shown on a map of the area, focal points for our future home searches. You can access the map that shows where pools were found at http://maps.google.com/maps/user?uid=107758019749017707883&hl=en&gl=us

Thing #9 Learning Networks

Waiting for approval by the Administration in order to proceed.

Thing #10 RSS

I now can see how people can sit around and stare at their Blackberries all day long with newsfeeds and continuous information streaming in. I set up the suggested five newsfeeds sites which included Google - Top Stories, CNN, NPR, Christian Science Monitor and Rueters and also found Rapid Growth to be an excellent source for local information.

Just for fun, I subscribed to Movies, Mind-mapping and Beer sites. There are a whole host of other subscriptions I can see using in order to stay current on education related topics or other personal interest venues. One of the benefits of using Google reader is that I don't have to go after the information; it comes in to me and can be easily categorized and starred for favorite articles.

With more time on my hands, it would be really fun to customize the information coming in to me.

Thing #8 Videos

YouTube has many videos that I have seen over the years that I can use and have used. What an exciting media explosion that must be taken advantage of for learning in the classroom. Students are engaged with video when it is done right. A tremendous asset still at the beginning stages of it's potential.

I have never seen TeacherTube or SchoolTube before and always am interested in new resources. I didn't like the ads with TeacherTube but became aware that they go away if I became a member, so I guess the ads are one way to support themselves encouraging teachers to become members upon frequent use. One of the videos I watched tied the video in with a workbook of some sort but they didn't mention how to reference the workbook.

SchoolTube was great because it can be used by students to learn how to post their own work for viewing by others. I like how they broke things down by categories by had trouble doing a search like I did on TeacherTube. They had some good resource links and allowed users to search as a beginner, intermediate or advanced user.

Thing #7 Wiki's

The first wiki that I remember coming across, other than the Wikipedia Encyclopedia, was in a workshop on 21st Century Skill Standards. When I typed in "21st century skill standards wiki" into Google, the top listing that came up was: http://visualblooms.wikispaces.com/ This site listed the top 25 internet learning tools for 2009. It is very well organized and provides content very similar to this course and will be a good resource for anyone who wishes to take this course to a broader level. It shows the top tools for each category and then gives you the comprehensive listings. You can spend an endless amount of time searching this site and not absorb everything.

Speaking of spending an endless amount of time searching information; the mother of all wiki's, the Wikipedia Encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page should be utilized in learning for information on almost any subject. I refer to this site often to explore new concepts and ideas. Since it is subject to anybody posting to it, you cannot rely on it as 100% accurate, but it has so much information on so much that you can't help but utilize it as "thee go to wiki site" for many subjects.

It looks like the website - Wikispaces http://blog.wikispaces.com/ is a good umbrella to discover wiki's that have been tagged for a variety of categories. It is free, but you have to register to get into it. It boasts over 4 million users and over 1.5 wiki's. I clicked on education and came up with "Web 2.0 - Cool Tools for Schools" and "Getting Tricky with Wiki's". There are so many blogs and good information available to make it a site that boasts the tag line: "Wiki's for Everyone".

Thing #6 Presentations

Here is a post to a presentation I put together about Character Education using Zoho Show:

http://show.zoho.com/document.do?p_id=748677000000004015&a_t=EDIT_DOCUMENT

I liked the ease of use, but had a hard time trying to figure out how to share the link in the format of a finished slide show.

Thing #5 Documents

The best format for me would be text since I am not in a classroom but sharing typed information with others.

Here is a link to a Google Document that I created:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddbrfc6g_0gjcxsncv

Feel free to add your comment to my message.

I don't think Google Docs will replace Microsoft Office because Microsoft Office will still be used for word processing for applications that are not meant to be shared.

Thing #4 Podcasting

I just tried to do a voice thread about my family picture of the Mackinac Bridge. I found a microphone for my computer at Crestwood, recorded a lengthy story of the details of my swim across the Straits of Mackinac and then I tried to play it back and couldn't. After checking with someone in the know, I found out that none of the computers at Crestwood Middle School has the capacity to record. Something to do with only having basic software loaded.

Oh well. I can't think of an application for me to use pod casting for the mentoring program, but it would have been fun to be able to do it if an opportunity came up. It was so easy, that I think I could do it if I had a computer that was receptive to it.

Thing #3 Photosharing

I take a lot of pictures and download them all to my computer for storage and retrieval. My son, who is a professional photographer, suggested I use Picassa many years ago.

I have uploaded a photo of my family taken the day before I swam across the Straits of Mackinac. Pictures capture the moment and bring back so many memories.

For school, I take a picture of each mentor and mentee when I make the initial match and get three copies made. One for the mentor, one for the mentee and one for me which I include in a montage in my office. I also post all the pictures to the "T Drive" for sharing within the district.

Thing #2 Bookmarks

I enjoyed pulling together some of the resources that I was already familiar with and put them together in one place for easy access. I can see how I will be able to network for ideas within the tags and web sites of related programs. What an explosion of good, useful information with a very organized and systematic approach.

Here is a link to my del.icio.us account: http//delicious.com/tgates7135

Introduction

I am the Middle School Mentor Coordinator for Kentwood Schools. If anybody knows of an adult who is positive and cares about others, let me know. By spending thirty minutes a week with a student, this person can make a tremendous impact on a young person's life.

Best wishes,
Terry