Thing #10

Thing #10: Online Image Generator

I made this truly inspiring panel with Comic Strip Generator.
















This site makes mock "For Dummies" book covers.





















Redkid.net has a wide array of message generator templates, from cartoon characters to words spelled out on a hot dog with mustard.












Finally, Wordle makes word clouds out of any text or blog. This is what Perdu Dans La Toile looks like as a cloud:



No surprises there.

So how do these tools pertain to the classroom? At the kindergarten level, I can see using them as hooks, basically. Kids that age love to see their names in print and to be a part of a story --- well, basically they crave any kind of recognition. So something along the lines of the "For Kinders" mock-up I made, above, would be used to help fan the flames of attention. The image generators with personalized content are all great attention getters; I can also see them inspiring kids to copy the ideas, for example drawing a sign or a hot dog with their own message. And anything that gets them writing is good.

Thing #9

Thing #9: Useful Library-Related Blogs and News Feeds

As an aside: I find that to add things to my Google Reader, it is just as easy to Ctrl-C the URL and then add it to the subscription list manually as it is to push the little orange button and follow all the steps to get it added.

I find Google Blog Search to be the easiest and most relevant of the search tools. (The list of quality winners from the Edublogs awards was handy, though that's not really a search application). I found Topix to be irritating, visually confusing, and unhelpful. Technorati is also visually unappealing, and when I entered the search term "Library2Play," it returned four results, none of which were actually that blog.

I found a few good teaching blogs, which I added to my reader. This is one of my favorites. I hope it will inspire me to steal use some of her ideas, not least more educational videos. Like this one! CUTE! (Not that I'd put mine on the web.)

Thing #8

Thing #8: RSS Feeds and Readers

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication? I never knew that! If "simple" is in the name, why, even I must be able to do it!

Today I started a feed on Google Reader and added some blogs both by people I know personally and ones I know only by e-reputation, including:

23 Tech Time
Library2Play
This Is the Stuff Adventures Are Made Of
Education Wonks
NYC Educator

...and some others.

So, now that I'm an RSS adept, I'm in a position to answer the Big Questions. The first being, what do I like about RSS and readers? Well, the obvious benefit: the updates come to you rather than you having to search out the updates. Or, more commonly, having to remember that there are updates in the first place. It's a great way, in short, to ensure that all your favorite and most useful blogs and news don't just gather metaphorical electronic dust, forgotten in the terabytes of data rushing down the information superhighway.

Now, how might I be able to use this technology in my school or personal life? The latter is easy: I read a lot of blogs and news sites and am prone to overlook some sources as the reading pool gets wider. Professionally, my answer is that, while RSS is obviously helpful simply as a time saver on an individual level, it would be a strategy-changer if a single school's administration and faculty were all on board with blogs, or there were a list of suggested education news web sites, or something of that nature. For example, if for example our tech guy had a blog, and everyone had him on their Google Reader, he could post non-urgent updates, suggestions, and observations to anyone who wanted to see it. The same goes for an admin blog, grade blogs, etc. That's how I see an RSS feed making a huge difference in my professional life. As the Library2Play site says, sharing information is the key here.

Finally, how can teachers (and others) use readers or take advantage of this new technology? ...Er, didn't I just answer this?

Thing #7

Thing #7: Cool Google Tools

Google Maps is the best. True dat! Double true!

I already have an iGoogle page set up. I get the weather and news feeds on it, as well as word of the day and random quote of the day.

I looked through Picasa, but didn't see that it has any obvious advantage over Flickr.

I set up a Google Calendar. Right now I have mundane quotidian tasks on it, but I may use it during the upcoming school year. After creating it, I embedded it in my iGoogle page.

The find I'm intrigued by most is Google Docs. Having a text, drawing, or presentation (the program seems to be a kind of low-battery PowerPoint) independent of any one PC, and available wherever there's an Internet connection available, can be invaluable! It is true that at our school we have an intranet of teacher files, so (for example) a substitute can access an absent teacher's saved document, but this goes beyond the school building itself.

Here is a worthless web document I made to start. (The option to let others edit the document implies a host of learning and creative opportunities. It appears to me to be the perfect medium, for example, for older kids to create an ongoing and collaborative text.)

Thing #6

Thing #6: Mashups and 3rd Party Sites

Well, before I started this Thing today, the only definition I knew of "mashup" was for this kind of thing.

I'm glad to have my horizons broadened already! I had a lot of fun exploring the App Garden (a page showcasing the various mashups available through Flickr). I know I'll be sharing a few of the links in my classroom, including this one, Color Pickr. What a terrific way to visualize shades and hues!

I thought Bookr would be also nice for the kids to explore on their own. It develops fine motor skills, sorting skills, and technology skills all at once, as well as giving kids a way to make creative decisions.

I am very happy to find Picnik, a free online photo editing app. There's always a lot of image use in the classroom - in Mimio activities, PowerPoint presentations, and so on - and always had one or two images that would have been perfect if I'd just had a way to tinker with them a bit.

I bet I am the only nerd doing 23 Things who knows the card template from Big Huge Labs is based on Magic: The Gathering. I'm so ashamed

Thing #5

fossil frog
Originally uploaded by kevinzim

Thing #5: Explore Flickr

I accessed Flickr with my Yahoo account, the same one I set up to make my avatar in Thing #3.

So, I poked around a bit; read up on groups; learned the difference between Attribution license and a Non-Derivative license, etc.; and linked Flickr to this blog.

To the right is a terrific example of the kind of photo we could use in our dinosaurs unit. Instead of an impersonal picture in a book, this is a Creative Commons photo taken and uploaded by a scientist who wrote a few lines on Flickr about what it is and where he got it. It's the real-life context that makes it more accessible, I think.

Also: I received email notification that I am now an official player. Huzzah! Later on I'll check out some of the other 2010 blogs.

Thing #4

Thing #4: Register Your Blog

I emailed the Library2Play team. I will note here when I get a reply.

Nineteen Things to go! What will be next? Oh, how the future is enshrouded in mystery.