Thing 1 - What is Web 2.0?  

"Common Craft has created several videos that help explain some of the new Web 2.0 technologies in a humorous and less technical format. They make complex ideas easier to understand. They focus on simplicity, creativity and clear explanations to create videos that stick. Learn more about RSS feeds, blogging, wikis, and social bookmarking through these short 3-5 minute videos."

Pay Attention - YouTube
While I'm not ready to abandon books (their smell, their feel, their weight, their value), I do tire of hearing teachers complain about their students because they "aren't what they used to be," they "won't sit still" and "can't learn." Students are evolving. Are their teachers?

A Day in the Life of Web 2.0 - David Warlick
What lucky students to have teachers (plural) who are using technology in such powerful ways. Particularly impressive is the curricular integration for the benefit of the students... and the teachers. Wow.

Things 2 and 3 - Blogging

Become a Blogger
Blogs in Plain English Video - CommonCraft
How to Create a Blog with Blogger - YouTube

Bloggers in Education
Blogs on Educational Blogging
33 Ways to Use Blogging in the Classroom...

Juxtapositioned in our world of technology, I embrace, yet am uncomfortable with this powerful tool of creativity and communication (Blogs). What are we sharing? Who are we exposing? What information are we passing along naively? I'm not necessarily afraid of the Big Bad Internet Predator but I do believe in protecting children. Are we all being safe and what do you think "safe" means, exactly?

Things 4 and 5 - RSS

Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary
Creating a Bloglines Account
Creating Folders in your Bloglines Account
Adding RSS Feeds

With more than 13,800 web results for "Bloglines vs. Google Reader," I imagine there is no clear dominator among aggregators. Although I am glad to have experienced Bloglines, for me this just means one more place to log in. I'll stick with Google Reader.

Things 6, 7 and 8 - Photos and Images

Online Photo Sharing in Plain English
Newbies Guide to Flickr
Exploring Flickr

MikeRyu's photography, which can be found on Flickr, evokes a warm feeling deep in my chest. Of particular interest is this photomosaic of an indescribable place.

Create Your Flickr Account
Upload Photos to Flickr

It certainly would be nice if Picasa was as advanced as Flickr. With my love for "one-stop shopping" as is Google, I might be swayed by Flickr. So many of the photographs are rich and have a professional look. As well, some functionalities, such as the drag-and-drop batch organizer, seem unique to Flickr. I wonder if anyone does enjoy Picasa more?

Recently our class took a walk and photographed our environment. With some electronic file trouble, I was careful to back up the files continuously. With these photos of inanimate objects, Flickr would have been the perfect storage solution. I imagine the logistics of student accounts management could be cumbersome. Of course, there are privacy issues to consider as well.

Flickr Mashups
Spell with Flickr
Flickr Color Pickr
Sudoku with Flickr
Flickr Montager
Flickr Memry

Image Generators
Big Huge Labs
ImageGenerator.org

Using Flickr, I cropped the photo to full face. With the Warholizer "connected" to Flickr, I uploaded the photo. In a couple of seconds, the above was produced. In each of the Flickr Mashups, I found the processes to be intuitive and the finished products to be as promised.

Things 9 and 10 - Online Video

YouTube
KeepVid
PWNYouTube
Zamzar

A student I know uses the Algebra tutorials, such as those produced by Rebecca Newburn. Take a look. What do you think?

Recently, to be certain there would be no technical glitches (large file emails, bad zip drives, etc.), another student uploaded a video bookshare to YouTube. I was given "permission" to view (and show) this private video, which of course I muted (the video view) until it was playing in full screen. (Subjecting students to the advertisements, video and otherwise, is irresponsible.) Watching the YouTube bookshare in class peaked the students' interest and kept them captivated. They loved it!

While YouTube has the potential to be an excellent source for teaching, learning and sharing, there certainly is a lot of garbage to be found, which makes it necessary to monitor/supervise school and home use.



I cut and pasted the code...and it worked! How fun!
This is a former student and his guitar teacher. Modest and bright, he works hard and plays well. Enjoy.

Things 11 and 12 - Building Community

Blog Commenting
Lifehacker's Guide to Weblog Comments
How to Write Intelligent Comments on Blogs

Blog Comments Still Matter
How to Disagree

Once upon a time not receiving any comments (as I haven't) (later... oh, silly me, I just discovered some comments that needed to be approved and "published") would have been something to give thought. Now, busy and in this for the journey, not the back patting, I'm not concerned. Leaving comments, however, is quite satisfying. In particular I enjoyed leaving a comment to the narrow-viewed blogger who portrayed technology as something of a poison. Important to keep in mind is that there is a fine line between acting like a know-it-all and offering one's ideas and opinions.

As for the students, even our 10-year-olds comment, albeit through threaded discussions. Their opinions and expertise are of value to their peers and these young ones enjoy contributing and being "heard." (Don't we all?) Most rewarding for the teacher is reading the online contributions of the quieter students and the subsequent contributions by their peers. For a teacher, this is great place to learn from and about the students.

Embedding a Widget
Polldaddy interactive polls
Miniclock mini clock
ClustrMaps map of visitors to the blog or website
Voki speaking character
Google Gadgets Google widgets
Widgetbox widgets
Widgetbox: Education list of education-related widgets
The crazy thing about this (ad-free!) spider is that s/he draws you in. Does anyone else find themselves wanting to watch it? Odd. (Just discovered: if you put your curser in the box, s/he will walk to it.)

Embedding Code
Embedding code is fascinating and I've had to invent (discover?) some tricks to help. For example, I really have no idea where in the "Edit Html" area I should embed the code. To help with this, I go to the "Compose" area and leave a long string of "ssssssssssssssss" where I want the code (widget, etc.) to be. This way, when I go back to "Edit Html," I can paste over the "ssssssssssssssss" (which is easy to spot) to be sure I embed in the right place. Maybe this will help someone else?

Online Communities and Relationships
Continuing to resist Facebook and its ability to suck one are is important to me. On the contrary, my curriculum teaching partner and I have Twittered for about two years. This has allowed us to communicate without more formal meetings.

When questioned if relationships formed online are as meaningful as face-to-face relationships, I would answer that this is up to one's personal perception or truth. For me, relationships have been enhanced and others have survived because of online communication. One example is that without online communications (email), the relationship I have with my students' parents would be diminished. My understanding their support level, their perspective, lifestyle, hardships, etc. all happen because of these communications. Come to think of it, the relationship I have with my students is enhanced because of the information shared online.

With "kids" today, there is a definite magnetism to social networking sites. The psychology of what exactly sucks them in is beyond my scope. With some (people) more desperate than others to engage in this medium, I find myself having the most respect for those who have power over their computer, and never let it win. For all that it is, and all that is has, it still can not touch your skin to warm your heart.

Things 13, 14 and 15 - Social Bookmarking

Social Bookmarking
Social Bookmarking in Plain English
7 Things You Should Know about Social Bookmarking

Tagging
What is Tagging? What's a Folksonomy?
Tag This - Examples and Overview of Tagging and Folksonomies (Commoncraft)
Thirteen Tips for Effective Tagging

Organizing your digital resources through tagging is an advantageous way to keep track of the hundreds (thousands?) of sites one peruses and then hopes to find again someday. Tagging takes a lot of pressure off of the search process, thus making the search enjoyable again. Keep in mind that your tags are public and that this can be a disadvantage. Labeling your strange neighbor's turtle blog with "weirdo" or some other derogatory remark could come back to bite you. Also important to remember is that your public tags can provide very personal information about you, your interests, your favorite vacation spots, etc. Someone is watching and if you think "they're" not, you're fooling yourself.

Delicious
Searching Delicious
Create Your Delicious Account
Adding Bookmarks to Delicious

My Delicious

Seeing all of the Delicious advertisements disguised as tags was disappointing. Yuck. Registering and having to rework my password recipe was a pain, too. Mundane, well-known passwords were allowed but nothing obscure that included letters from my name, like "K." Yuck, again.

Two things come to mind when thinking about how social bookmarking can be used in teaching. With older students, where exposure is less critical, it would seem that "tag clouds" (a visual representing the occurrence of tags) could be used to show an archive of information for a particular research topic. With youngers, provided exposure could be limited, a classroom Delicious (so happy not to have to type de.li.cious, or is it del.ici.ious, or del.i.cious? anymore!) site would allow both students and teacher to contribute to an efficient use of the internet with enhanced productivity. Surely, there are 100s of uses in teaching.

RSS Revisited
News (and other) Feeds

• BBC
  
• Cooking Light
• NPR
• Washington Post

Subscribing to Tags
Organizing Feeds
RSS Feed Creation Tool

While I enjoy this aggregated information, remembering to check my feeds has not become a habit or an obsession. But when I'm there, I organize because I don't like "messy" technology. Understanding RSS is a relief and the benefits many.

Things 16, 17 and 18 - Online Productivity

Google Docs
Google Apps Training from Google - fantastic!
Teach Collaborative Revision with Google Docs - Google for Educators

The beauty of Google Docs is having access to several different functionalities from any computer. I fell in love with this instant access a few years ago and now have 50 or so spreadsheets and documents. Some are edited by family members and friends (i.e., beach vacation lists). Editing spreadsheets as a class can also be a valuable experience. In the past I've mentioned to students that I would be "on" at 7:00, for example, and they get so excited to see that I've entered.... "Hi Mrs. K!" with repeated glee shows the enthusiasm that students have for this type of interaction with each other and with their teacher. The edited documents, which no longer seem like work to the students, are a positive outcome.

Online Productivity Tools
30 Boxes online calendar
bubbl.us free concept-mapping tool
Knowtes create virtual flashcards
LibraryThing personal book list
Remember the Milk task lists
Trailfire creates a website trail
Zoho Show online presentations

Jott - "voice-to-text services [that] let you capture thoughts & reminders, send emails & text messages" and more. Try this with your iPhone but be prepared to be wowed.

Knowtes,
What worked?
Virtual flashcards can be an effective study tool and eco-friendly, too. With the proper site, flashcards can be shared and accessed by several. Technology is still a motivator and students love to be required to have "computer time" at home. In the classroom, especially with a SMARTBoard, the flashcard tool can help assess information learned.

What didn't work?
With the "invitation" to join and "311 public invitations available," this seems to be a platform that will not last. We are too finicky and the market is too big for the obscure. Instead, here is a friendlier, student-suggested option for flashcards - ProProfs, "The Knowledge FREEway."
(Thanks Taylor!)

Slideshare
Slideshare Quick Tour
Shifthappens

Integrating the Internet into the Social Studies Classroom

The Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies has ranked Slideshare as a one of the 25 FREE tools every learning professional should have in their toolbox.

25 Tools

Information access is a key component to diminishing work load and augmenting curriculum. Slideshare allows for access to self-created slide presentations as well as access to prepared presentations, some of which have the potential to meet the needs of the classroom.

(Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow! I just discovered that when using Google Chrome, you can SEE what you've embedded in "Compose" mode! You can EVEN flip through the slide show while editing your posts. Wow.)

Things 19 and 20 - Podcasting

Learn About Podcasting
You Don't Need an iPod video/music
My Podcasts - unusual, yet interesting interactive guide (BBC)
Podcasting in Plain English - CommonCraft

Podcasting 101 - How Educators Can Use This New Technology

RESA's Tech to Go
Great Educational Podcasts - Part 1
Great Educational Podcasts - Part 2

Anything you want to hear, any niche, any subculture, any interest... it's out there! After perusing the winners of the PodCastAwards.com ("The People's Choice"), and listening to far too many podcasts, I realize that I would not use them at school. The time listening and censoring the material would not be worth the benefit/s. However! Using Audacity to create classroom podcasts would be worth the investment of energy, time and effort.

Finding and Subscribing to Podcasts
Search Tools
Education Podcast Network (EPN)
Podcast Alley

Using iTunes
Get Podcasts Tutorial (Apple)

In trying to keep internet use centralized (trying), iTunes suits me as the best Podcast search tool. There is certainly enough to keep me occupied and satisfied. For those of you who enjoy language and language change, have a listen to The Word Nerds.

More on iTunes
Just yesterday, after a few days of hunting down (no time for NetFlix), a particular movie that my daughter was required to watch, she decided to search iTunes. She was able to rent this 1940's movie for $2.99. After downloading, she had 30 days to start it and then 24 hours to watch it. This turned out to be a great solution.

Things 21 and 22 - Wikis

Explore and Learn about Wikis
Wikis in Plain English (CommonCraft)
7 Things You Should Know about Wikis
Examples of Educational Wikis

Inspiration

The I-9490 Directors wiki is a nice example of pooling together and centrally locating information to serve a specified purpose. The title is nebulous but the tabs and resources are useful. With the I-9490 Directors wiki in mind, I dumped my social studies content expectations into a wiki to share with my department.

Hurdles

Noticeably, I tend to lean on the conservative side. Information and exposure are always something in which to exhibit caution. We hear technology leaders in my educational community tout the use of less-secure technology mediums but in the end, the teacher is the one with ultimate responsibility. (No union here.) I'm a fighter for sure but for this, I will sit back and watch for a while before involving children.

Edit and Create a Wiki
Wikispaces - Creating an Account (RESA)
Adding Content to a Wiki (RESA)

While my curriculum partner and I can edit a content-related wiki, a blog offers less flexibility and is not intended for this purpose. Visit my wiki for a look at including content expectations that can be shared among teachers.

Thing 23 - Wrap Up

During a recent five-year journey, my thinking about technology to support learning made its major transformation. After this time of discourse, research and active learning about learning theories and styles with a keen eye on the place for technology, I immerged with a fancy piece of paper with a fancy border. While an accomplishment, this master’s in educational technology was by no means a finale but rather a beginning, again.

Although I could not describe a learning experience to keep me thinking and current, 23 Things is exactly what I hoped to find. With all of the components of solid teaching and learning (including human, 23-Things interaction here at school), I was required to participate, to think, to reflect and to support others. This has been another positive journey and I have gratitude for the 23 Things “staff.” Their kind manner and academic support will have a lasting effect on the participants and of course, their students.