Thing #13

The best thing about this program and the thing that really sets it apart from Microsoft Word is the ability to share your work and move you work to places like blogger online and just from computer to computer without needing any disks or other file holder technology.

Another great tool in Zoho is the Zoho show. It gives so many different ideas on how to use it during the presentation and has very cool useful shapes. It's also available onlne which makes doing group projects with people extremely possible and convenient because you don't have to be in the same room as someone to do the presentation with them and everyone has a copy they can edit whenever they need to.

This is my Zoho Document.

Thing #12

I really enjoyed working with the Google Picasa 3. It was difficult at first to find out how to make the collage, but it just took a little looking around the website.

Thing #11

I liked Topix.com and Technorati the best. Google reader and Syndic8 were more difficult to navigate. Also I didn't like how Syndic8 put new subscribers names on a pbulic list. I found mostly news feeds but one good Clarksville TN feed. I also located some new feeds just by going to the news websites and clicking on the RSS symbol to add it to my list.

Thing #11

I liked Topix.com and Technorati the best. Google reader and Syndic8 were more difficult to navigate. Also I didn’t like how Syndic8 put new subscribers names on a public list.
I found mostly news feeds, but one good Clarksville, Tn feed. I also located some news feeds, by just going to the news website and clicking on the RSS symbol to add it to my list.

Thing #10

I like that it keeps you updated without having to click on many different websites. I would be able to use this in my personal life to keep up on certain news, like for example, right now its politics. In my career, I could use it to keep connected to school websites.
Other teachers can use this technology the same way and keep up to date with their own school websites.

Thing #9

sign-generator
Originally uploaded by hburns14

This activity was a bit frustrating. I really liked navigating the ImageChef, but found it hard to upload any personal photos. I had found a wanted sign I wanted to use, but couldn't. So instead I found this at HappyFaceGenerator.com . It's very cute and something I could print out and use in my class. It was easy to make, I just clicked in the text box and pushed the customize button. To get it in the blog, I had to save it as a picture, then put it in Flickr.

Thing #8

I liked the flickr color picker, but chose the spell with flickr because I'm more likely to use this in my classroom. It is very catchy and I like how it is not just a different kind of font on each letter, but each letter is a different picture all together with a different background as well.
I feel fine with sharing images online and since seeing this program, I might try to take pictures of different letters and upload those.

Thing #7

I had a lot of fun in this experience. I went the 2nd route and created a Flickr account and added a photo to both our Apsu23things group and to my blog. I have used Photobucket in the past and Flickr seemed a little easier to navigate, but didn't have the URL option attached to each photo like Photobucket does. I'll probably end up using both and definitely will use it in my class blog so I can post a picture of myself. Having photos public doesn't bother me a lot, but I tend to keep all pictures of my kids private. I made an exception for this assignment though.

The only reason I might have concern is that I am a member of a community center called Babycenter.com and knew of a woman who found a picture of someone else's baby from a place like photobucket or flickr and pretended the picture was hers. I do know that the best way to stop this is by placing watermarks on your pictures, but for this one picture I'm not too concerned.

Paul Jr and Emma Lynn

newyork059
Originally uploaded by hburns14

Thing #6

I chose the backpack organization website, http://www.backpackit.com/, from the shortlist. It got first place in organization. I really liked the site. I constantly find myself forgetting appointments and due dates, even now and it’s hard programming every date into my phone for reminders. It’s just as difficult to keep up with a small notebook planner. So this tool is very useful because it allows you to set up an online calendar that you could keep private, or for business you could make public. But then when you have an event due, the program will email it to you or text message it. The calendar itself has color coding and plenty of space, which is a problem I have with paper planners. In my future career, it will be nice to use a program like this so I can keep all my kids’ events and all my teaching events straight. The only thing I didn’t like, is that it is not a free tool.

Thing #5

Web 2.0 does mean different things to different people. When reading through Wikipedia, I found out that Myspace and other similiar sites are part of the web 2.0. Then I went to the Web 2.0 for Educators, I found that the site I was just at, Wikipedia, is also a part of the Web 2.0 experience. I also found that the Educators site defines the web 2.0 as a more two-way relationship with the internet where people are contributing free space and information. That makes sense. I also read about Amazon.com and found many of those statements something I could relate to because I ususally won't buy something until I read all the reviews especially if I'm debating between two or more products.
I think that one of the other sites I read was right about where education is going as far as web 2.0. Myspace is a huge networking place, and teachers need to get into some kind of program like this where everyone can be connected online, such as just one classroom. This could be great help for students because it would provide direct communication and assistance could be given for homework. In my opinion, things are definitely going more web 2.0.

Thing #4

Commenting creates a sense of community because when someone writes something, commenting is one of the ways they know what they have written is being read. By commenting on someone else’s posts, you can find things in common and that person may in turn, read your blog. This forms an online friendship.
I found the point #10 from the 10 COMMANDMENTS OF BLOG COMMENTING helpful. It states that you should come back to the blog you previously commenting on. That makes sense because if you are a regular commenter, it creates more of a sense of community. Also from the EDUBLOGGER ETIQUETTE-RESPONDING TO COMMENTS, it says that if your retort is long, then you should write a whole new post. This is helpful because if others are reading the blog, they tend to read all responses to it before commenting themselves. If you leave an extremely long comment, it ruins the flow of the reading. Also if you are writing a lengthy response, typically you are including your own experiences and that takes away from the original blogger’s post.
I chose Michelle Burkhart’s blog because she also has 3kids like me. I like how colorful her blog is and commented on a site she put up for heritage in her history class because I really liked the idea. I also chose Tiffany Allemand’s blog because I really like how it is set up. I even received a pointer by just reading through it on how to add different backgrounds to my blog, so I commented on how helpful that was. Next I chose Brandi Trice’s blog and read about the teacher blog she comments on. I wrote a response to that and also about something we had in common. The last classmate I chose was Sarah Azcona. I like the way her blog is set up, plus she’s following my blog. I left a comment about one of the pictures she chose because it really caught my attention and she mentioned using it to catch parents attention of students that she’d be teaching.