Saturday, December 12, 2009
BP13_20091203_PeerReviewCoast
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2009
BP11_2009121_ReflectiveMediaAssets
I just love Spanish Pod! Here is my video to prove it!
I was super nervous to make a video commercial. There is a lot of pressure to really sell the product. This is a great tool and I hope to be able to use it in my classroom. If you are interested in using Spanish Pod for your classroom here is the link to it. Have fun and above all else "¡Hazlo todo en español!"
Friday, December 11, 2009
BP12_20091203_Tool#6 (Gaggle)
"Gaggle.net is more than just another Web 2.0 tool. It is a software suite for elementary and middle school students that is totally protected from potentially harmful images, suggestive text, and can be monitored by school staff for bullying and other inappropriate behavior. As Gaggle’s slogan states, “Putting student safety before everything else”.
So what makes gaggle.net so great? The software suite includes student email accounts that can be monitored, safe blogs, safe chat rooms, safe profile pages, safe message boards, and safe digital lockers. These make school to home and home to school possible without forgetting your thumb drive. It makes student collaboration and communications easier." (Gaggle, 2009)
“Gaggle’s new Velocity interface is based on the AJAX (Adobe) framework, giving the appearance similar to Microsoft Outlook, but it is inside a web page. Bother teachers and students can use Gaggle’s web-based interface and get the same productivity they would find in regular POP3 email clients. With Velocity, messages and folders load almost instantly, with significantly faster response time than traditional web based email.” (Gaggle, 2009)
"The Gaggle digital lockers allow students to save documents online for use at home and at school. The locker feature allows teachers to share files with students. The locker allows students to collaborate with fellow students and facilitates group projects much like the ones online courses require at higher levels of education. Bottom line, the digital locker prevents viruses, and other malware, from ever having a chance to enter a school system because each document is scanned online before it leaves the digital locker. In addition, Gaggle is CIPA compliant." (Gaggle, 2009)
"The message boards allow for careful and effective differentiated instruction and can also motivate students who do not like to write with pen and paper. The message boards promote collaboration because they are teacher monitored.
Finally, the biggest feature to sell this website to a community is Parent Accounts. Parents can read their children’s email, help facilitate parent-teacher communication and aid in the restrictions established by the school and district.
Each student is allowed 100 megabytes of storage so even large presentation files can be accessed at school and home without purchasing external drives. Gaggle uses a Web 2.0 interface, has attachment filtering and can translate to other languages." (Gaggle, 2009)
I am recommending this to school districts that require higher levels of student security while allowing each student to learn about Web 2.0 and utilize the educational value and productivity.
BP12_20091203_Tool#5 (Read the Words)
A useful Web 2.0 is one that speaks text from the written word. Both Macs and PC's have internal voices that get old after a short while. Read the Words offers 15 different voices in English, Spanish, and French, to read text from just about any document. This is very useful for students who struggle reading, students who need to learn new vocabulary, students learning a foreign language, and anyone looking for voice dubbing or ducking for videos or other presentations. The creation of a downloadable mp3 file is great because the user can then embed the file in PowerPoints, Keynotes, iMovies, GarageBand files, and host of other applications. If the user does not profit, he/she can also embed the mp3 in a web page, similar to the visual message below.
It sort of makes Fred and Alex jealous (they are standard voices on an Apple Macintosh). Please listen to our new friend, Elizabeth, as she briefly describes this Web 2.0 tool.
Read the Words is located at:
http://www.readthewords.com
Thursday, December 10, 2009
BP12_20091203_Tool#4 (Noodle Tools)
Noodle Tools
If you don't like citing your sources, then this message is for you. APA Style is the required format for citing sources at Full Sail University. Noodle Tools is being used by educators, students and others to create bibliographies and resource pages. Many middle school, high school and college students use this Web 2.0 tool every day. Some schools have subscription accounts so all students enrolled can utilize the formatting required for documents. A brief history of Noodle Tools follows along with short biographies of the co-founders of this great Web 2.0 tool. Our 1-minute visual media message follows. We have attempted to make a clear and concise video using a number of Web 2.0 tools we have discovered along the way to here. We hope you find it educational, entertaining, and enjoyable.
"NoodleTools, Inc., a California company incorporated in 2002, was co-founded in 1999 by mother and son team Debbie and Damon Abilock. NoodleTools' flagship product, NoodleBib, has emerged as the leading bibliography software on the Internet, transforming bibliographic instruction methodologies in thousands of subscribing schools and libraries. The NoodleTools team offers expert help and unparalleled customer support to the students and professionals who depend on NoodleBib and other award-winning tools in the NoodleTools research suite." (Abilock, 2009)
"Co-founder, President, Director of Technology. Damon worked with several software and biotechnology companies in the San Francisco Bay Area after graduating with a B.S. in computer science from Duke University in 1996 and an M.S. from UCLA in 1997. Damon is responsible for the original design and implementation of the NoodleTools Web site and now oversees new product development at NoodleTools.
Co-founder, VP, Content and Products. An Internet pioneer in developing online educational applications of technology, Debbie is widely known for innovative curriculum design and Web projects that teach habits of mind and critical thinking. She authored NoodleTeach within the NoodleTools suite to provide resources and services to educators who are implementing inquiry-based curricula teaching the new literacies. Editor of Knowledge Quest, the journal of the American Association of School Librarians, Debbie has over 25 years experience in education as a teacher-librarian, director of a unified Library, Technology and Curriculum Department, curriculum coordinator and school administrator. She consults, writes and speaks on curriculum design, integration of technology, and the teaching of 21st century literacies." (Abilock, 2009)
Resources
McCurdy, M. (2009). TRP Sep 09 soundtrack #2-Joan (audio) [Digital]. Retrieved December 10, 2009, from personal collection.
NoodleTools, Inc. (2009). Smart Tools, Smart Research. Retrieved December 9, 2009, from http://www.noodletools.com
Week 3 - Discussion Board - Virtual Worlds
Virtual Worlds Discussion
What is Second Life?
Second Life (or SL) is an on-line community for social networking. Unlike on-line games such as World of Warcraft, there are no monsters to fight or princesses to rescue. SL is designed to help people meet other people. SL is a world, an environment in which you can engage in role-playing games, commerce, artistic pursuits or just about any other activity. You can set your own goals or just wander around. SL was designed to be open source so it is possible for people to build things such as businesses or buildings within the environment.
Is it safe?
As safe as anything is on the Internet. Take your usual precautions – don’t give out your real name or any other personal information. Say no to anything anyone offers you if you’re not sure or if you don’t know him or her. Move away from anyone who’s giving you a bad time.
Traveling
There are three modes of travel: walk, fly or teleport. To walk, just use the arrow keys on your keyboard. It can be awkward at first but in a short time, you’ll adapt and move around with ease. To fly, click on the Fly button on the bottom tool bar. To stop, click the same button again (it now says Stop Flying). Teleporting allows you to jump to a whole new place.
Etiquette in SL
• Speak to people who speak to you, even if it’s just to say, “no thanks.”
• Check the area before removing clothes. It’s rude to undress except in changing rooms or a few other paces that allow nudity.
• Watch your language in PG areas.
• Say hello/goodbye if you enter/leave a gathering spot.
• Don’t ask people about their RL (real life) unless they bring it up.
The above information was retrieved from the SecondLife web site on December 8, 2009.
Let’s review my first – hand experience with SL. My real life does not need a cat-5 cable or wifi; SL requires a reliable Internet connection. SL requires learning a whole new way of living, I am struggling with my first life right now and really don’t need the hassle of #2. Even though the minimum age is 13, anyone can login to inappropriate scenes as I did many times in September. Many SL educational sites have warnings about no weapons, no sex, no caging, no orbiting, and of course, no littering. SL is not free, in fact, to produce anything worthwhile; it becomes quite expensive very quickly. The Adult Content Policy is now in effect. I logged in and this announcement popped up even though I logged in as a 13 year old. While roaming around as a 13 year old, I was approached by many avatars with inappropriate names (and no way to tell how old they were). Depending upon your Internet connection, teleporting may be disabled. Avatars show up in strange places with next to nothing, or nothing on, and most have inappropriate names. Somebody named Red Spy Vixix Core even shot me on September 22, 2009. There are many things to keep track of like animations, body parts, calling cards, clothing, gestures, landmarks, objects, sounds, textures, and more. There are lots of SL rules that apparently not many people read. Finally, if all that was not enough, I got email solicitations from the partying hipsters in NYC, a Thai beach and an alpine forest.
How were any of these experiences educational? They taught me to avoid SL. There are too many other educational Web 2.0 tools out there to waste time in SL. I do not recommend this for any educational purpose. If I need to exist in a virtual world, I will be MobileMe Man in Winamac with my friend, Little Tommy.
By the way, Shakespeare didn’t like it. The very first chunk of video (Kaneva) presented by Gary Hayes in his video “2008 Metaverse Tour – The Social Virtual World’s a Stage” has a scantily clad rather developed female dancing on a stage with wings on her back and 4 other female forms dressed inappropriately as well standing near the winged dancer. Next our staff “hero” encounters a female in blue jeans and an open top as she “struts her stuff” so to speak.
Unless this is a class on how to get propositioned, I find no social or educational value to this.
After a short visit to YoVille, a quote is beamed to us that states, “We all live every day in virtual environments, defined by our ideas.” (Crichton, n.d.). Next we watch a guy approach a girl in RocketOn as they walk across a screen in iGoogle. Another quote follows, “We’re going to be spending a lot more of our time in virtual reality environments.” (Kurzwell, n.d.). Quickly, some guy in a suit waves and then we see a guy with wings crossing a street in Prototerra. We then follow the suit as he walks down a street laden with shops.
Then we go to Gala Online which looks like a girl place. It’s an irl thing. Another quote follows, “Invisible threads are the strongest ties.” (Nietzsche, n.d.) then some guy is walking toward a beach and then starts flying in Hipihi. He checks out a girl and then still another quote, “Personality is more important than beauty, but imagination is more important than both of them.” (Taylor, 1887-1946).
Next we are in a run-down kind of place in Google Lively and we see a girl crying at a desk while some guy makes his way off the floor. Naturally, another quote, “There are more than 300 million registered participants in non-game Social Virtual Worlds.” (KZero.co.uk, n.d.). The Habbo Hotel follows. By the way, this is only the first minute and forty-five seconds of the video. Should I continue? I don’t think I have to at this point.
If virtual environments are dreams, creativity, invention, and communication, then I truly hope all of us spend more time in virtual environments. If personality is more important than beauty, then why aren't there ugly avitars? The virtual world is a stage for all these people to strut around like they would never do in real life. If invisible threads are the strongest ties, then why don't I feel connected? Shakespeare also said, "To be, or not to be, that is the question." I choose to be.
Friday, December 4, 2009
BP11_20091202_OneMinuteMessage1 (MobileMe)
MobileMe Gallery
MobileMe is a service from Apple Computer that pushes new email, contacts, and calendar events over the air to all your devices. So your iPhone, Mac, and PC stay in perfect sync. No docking required. And that’s just one of many ways MobileMe simplifies your life. At work, at the library, or at a friend’s house. You always have easy access to everything you need — email, contacts, calendars, photos, and files — all in one place. MobileMe web apps look and feel so much like the desktop applications you already use, you might forget you’re using a browser.
Introductory Release
Episode 1
Little Tommy Cannot Share
Episode 2
The Dark Cloud
Episode 3
What Day Is It?
Episode 4
Can't See The Trees
Episode 5
Big Files Don't Cry
Episode 6
eMail, iMail, meMail, myMail
Resources
Apple. (2009). MobileMe. [Image]. Retrieved November 30, 2009, from http://www.apple.com/mobileme
The Beatles. (1965). Yesterday. Retrieved December 6, 2009, from personal collection.
Easy Beats. (1964). I’ve got friday on my mind. Retrieved December 6, 2009, from personal collection.
Elton John. (1977). Saturday’s all right for fighting. Retrieved December 6, 2009, from personal collection.
Four Seasons. (1964). Big Girls Don't Cry. Retrieved December 26, 2009, from personal collection.
Kastner, E. (2009). Spell with flickr. Retrieved December 6, 2009, from http://metaatem.net/words/
Klatskin, L. (1951). Adventures of superman. Retrieved December 3, 2009, from personal collection
The Mamas and Papas. (1966). Monday, monday. Retrieved December 6, 2009, from personal collection.
Moody Blues. (1967). Tuesday afternoon. Retrieved December 6, 2009, from personal collection.
Rolling Stones. (1966). Ruby tuesday. Retrieved December 6, 2009, from personal collection.
Scott, W. & Blackwell, O. (1962). Return to sender. Retrieved December 28, 2009, from personal collection.
The Who. (1968). Christmas. Retrieved December 6, 2009, from personal collection.
Williams, J. (1980). Empire strikes back imperial march. Retrieved December 6, 2009, from personal collection.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
1 COMMENTS:
Wow! While it goes by fast, it is very informative. I didn't know some of your highlights and have been enlightened (friended). Thanks for the informative message.