Thing 11.5 of 11.5 Evaluation

Interestly, this summer was both more rewarding and more frustrating than last summer's 23 Things. It was frustrating to keep turning the SBVPN off to access You Tube and knowing that we cannot access it from school. But, some of the things in the 11.5 Things were amazing and I am so glad I was able to explore them.

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I loved Wordle, Glogster, and Bookr and will definitely use them. My other favorite was the Screen Cast.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
The 11.5 Things has "forced" me to explore things I never would have attempted on my own. Some things I will use, some I will not, but at least now I know about them.

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
Again, I am just overwhelmed by the things available and wish there was time to collaborate and plan lessons for the new tools we have seen.

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I would not really suggest any changes. Although there were some things that I really didn't care for, those same Things may have been someone else's favorite!

Thing 11 of 11.5 Digital Citizenship

I found a definition of digital citizenship that I like: "Living, safely, civilly, and effectively in our increasingly digital world". A citizen works FOR and benefits FROM a larger society. To me the first issue is always personally safety. We need to stress over and over that you can pretend to be ANYONE of ANY AGE on the computer. The second most important element is determining the validity of information found. Most of us (including me) like to just stop once we have found what we are looking for and not spend much time verifying the information on multiple sources. Below is a list of what Digital Citizenship encompasses.
Digital Access
Digital Commerce
Digital Communication
Digital Literacy
Digital Etiquette
Digital Rights and Responsibilities
Digital Health and Welfare
Digital Security

Thing 10 of 11.5 Virtual Worlds

I think Virtual Worlds such as Second Life are rather creepy. I don't see the advantage of creating an alter ego and living life through it in a make believe world. Also, since I am at an elementary school, even the Teen Life (ages 13-17) will not be appropriate. Also, according to high school age and young adults, Second Life is on its way out of vogue.

Thing 9 of 11.5 Things SlideShare

How does anyone keep up with all of the new things we can use?? It is overwhelming sometimes. I like SlideShare. It is free, portable, doesn't rely on server access and is a great resource. The students can create slideshows from either free software or PowerPoint from anywhere they have web access. They can then upload the slideshow and access it a school or anywhere later!

Thing 8 of 11.5 Screen Cast

This is AMAZING. I can think of so many ways to use it. Instead of using Word and Screen Shots to send instructions out to the campus, I can make a video. Only downsize..I hate to hear myself!

Thing 7 of 11.5 Video Resources

Teaching with video has been around for a LONG time (even when I went to school, we occasionally watched a video). It is such a valuable tool. We use United Streaming frequently to introduce or enhance a lesson.

Thing 6 of 11.5 iTouch Apps

Research is a great use for the iTouch. There are also several app I have read about at IEAR (evaluates apps for education). Here a few I liked for elementary: (1) Brain Quest is a fun way to review grade level curricular area material. (2) Just Fractions allows students to add, subtract, and find the least common denominators for fractions. They also plan to add the capability to show each step to successfully solve the problems. (3) The translate app also looked interesting for our students whose first language is not English.

Thing 5 of 11.5 Microblogging

Before today, I never had a Facebook or Twitter account. It is a little weird to have a Facebook due to the fact that my children and all of their friends have accounts. I think I will probably delete my account...but who knows, I may decide I like it. I am not really fond of Twitter (I really prefer NOT to know what everyone is doing every minute of their day), but again, I may be surprised by Twitter. Without talking to others, I'm really not sure of the role of microblogging in the elementary setting, but if any of you have some great ideas, please share! Backchanneling would be a good tool in the secondary setting; instant feedback on lectures, etc.

Thing 4 of 11.5 YouTube, TeacherTube, and SchoolTube

Teacher tube is an excellent resource that provides and online community for sharing instructional videos. As always, it just takes time to find the ones that are useful. As far as uploading student created videos, it is something I want to consider for next year and I plan to start searching for ways other elementary schools have used it.
Below is my YouTube video:

Thing 3 of 11.5 Skype

I can see Skype being useful in the classroom for our students to communicate and collaborate with others from many different places. We will need to buy some web cams in order to fully use it. I wonder if the new student Dell laptops have built in video cameras??