Thing 24 - I Thought There Were Only 23 of These

Overall, I've found this blog assignment to be useful. I''ll admit that I'm skeptical of some of the Things discussed previously, but I have found a few new resources I can use in the future as well as some new uses of old resources I use everyday. My two favorite Things in this blog were the entries in which I explored the variety of Google applications and YouTube. I enjoyed losing track of time viewing videos in YouTube while  performing "research" for my entry. Still I feel that a couple of the Things could be replaced by other Things that are more relevant to education in the classroom. For example, I'm unconvinced that I'll ever have a use for Facebook or Twitter even in a modern classroom. The 23 Things would probably be improved if that one was replaced with a Thing more relevant towards today's education.

I'm uncertain as to where this blog will go from here. Perhaps I'll dust it off from time to time whenever I have something relevant to add. Or perhaps this will be the last entry I'll ever write for it. Maybe I'll accidentally stumble across it twenty years later and reflect on how far I've grown as an educator since I wrote these entries. Only time will tell I suppose.

Thing 23 - Creative Commons

According to the APSU 23 Things page...

Note: This project is loosely based upon the website 43Things (which allows you to set and track personal goals) and the Stephen Abram article titled 43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year (Information Outlook - Feb 2006). 

After reading more about Creative Commons, I have a greater understanding about online intellectual property and copyrights. Creative Commons gives anyone the ability to search for materials that have various copyright protections. Some materials may allow for alteration from the original product, while others may have stricter guidelines on how that material may be used. Even if a user allows for modifications and alterations it is still essential to give credit to the source. In the future I can use Creative Commons to safely search for appropriate material to use in my classroom. For example I can enhance a PowerPoint presentation with an image that has a copyright permitting use for non-commercial means as long as I give credit to the creator of the image. Even with this resource available I will still need to be careful as different materials may have different copyright protections. It will be imperative that I familiarize myself with them before I use those materials in my classroom.

Thing 22 - LiveBinders

LiveBinders is certainly an easy way to keep track of the various resources we as teachers find on the Internet. It seems to be somewhat similar to some of the other organization 'things' we've done for this blog, and I can't exactly say that it does it any better or worse than the ones we've explored previously. I think I found a couple of interesting resources I hadn't seen previously though, so in that case the assignment was worth my time and effort. I created three binders - an algebra binder, a calculus binder, and a statistics binder. The one I will display is my calculus binder.



LiveBinders seem to be most useful in organizing various lessons plans and ideas for a class. One could break down binders by subject as I chose to do, or perhaps even more narrow like topics within a particular field. As I gather more resources and begin to develop and finalize my philosophy of teaching, websites like this could prove to be more valuable to me than they may be at this point in time.

Thing 21 - Animoto

I'm somewhat surprised to admit this, but I enjoyed creating a video in Animoto for this assignment. The subject I chose was basic - essentially a vacation my brother and I took to Cleveland, Ohio in 2010. Animoto was easy to use and it practically does all the work except for picking out the photos and song for the video. I'm not sure of the applications that Animoto has in the classroom, but it is a fun way to reminisce about vacations.

Try our video maker at Animoto.

Thing 20 - YouTube

I can't remember the last day I didn't visit YouTube at least once. I visit the website for a variety of reasons, but the most common ones are to enjoy my favorite sports clips, listen to music, or to look for video game guides. You know, real professional stuff. In fact I became sidetracked and spent the next ten minutes watching big football hits. It may prove to be difficult to complete this assignment for that reason alone.

There's not a lot I can say I don't like about YouTube. I suppose I could complain that I spent twenty minutes watching Ohio State's comeback against Purdue this season, but if I complained about that then I wouldn't exactly be truthful about the situation. In a more professional sense, YouTube could have a place in an educational setting if it is allowed in schools. Users can create playlists which can group appropriate and related videos together in one easy to access spot. Unfortunately my "misuse" of YouTube while trying to complete this assignment is probably reason enough that many schools have the site blocked. It's way too easy to find yourself distracted and let half an hour pass by with nothing accomplished.

The video I chose is one of my favorite videos to watch. It's impossible to NOT get goosebumps after watching this. Unless of course you were rooting for the Soviet Union. USA! USA!

Thing 19 - Other Social Networks

TeacherPop is a social network that allows both future and current teachers to interact and share ideas. At the moment it appears that traffic is limited - as of now the traffic seems to consist of students creating profiles to fulfill the requirements of this assignment. If it reaches the point at which it becomes a thriving community it would be of substantial benefit to us as educators.

As mentioned in the previous post, I do have a Facebook page. Other than that and my pending application to join TeacherPop I haven't been very active in social media thus far. After exploring a few of the social networks provided to us I'm pretty sure my answer on that front isn't going to change. I've been to sites like Yelp! previously in order to get restaurant reviews in the Clarksville/Nashville area, but I have little to no desire to sign up for an account and post my own views. Other networks like the Classroom 2.0 Ning can be of substantial benefit, but it is more likely that I would browse for information as needed rather than join and become part of their online community.

Visit TeacherPop

Thing 18 - Facebook and Twitter

Here's a link to my Facebook account. I don't have a Twitter account, but there are a few people I "follow" without actually going through the process of actually signing up. Considering I'm pretty sure I'd never 'tweet' I don't really see the point. Anyway, both of these sites are good at what they do. Twitter is an excellent application for quickly spreading information to vast amounts of people, and some people and corporations may keep tabs on the site to see what is "trending." Facebook is great at creating a platform for friends to interact with one another, and it allows for a greater potential to allow people to share in one's life if one chooses to put that information out there for consumption. I enjoy and use both sites but for different reasons.

I'm uncertain of the role these networks have for educators. Perhaps schools could have pages on Facebook for students to 'like' or join, but it would be unwise at best to add any students as friends to a personal Facebook account or to follow them on Twitter. A teacher could perhaps have a Twitter page devoted to posting information from the classroom like homework assignment and test reminders, but it seems there are better alternatives out there that we've explored previously to send those messages.