Wow…how did I not know about slideshare? This is an amazing resource for publishing and sharing presentations! With SlideShare, users create a free account and can begin uploading PowerPoint, Keynote, or PDF presentations immediately. The presentations can be made public, for sharing, or private for limited access. It’s incredibly simple to navigate and the content is uploaded quickly, making it quite efficient. Not only is it an awesome resource for sharing projects, but it’s a great way to locate presentations created by others.

As I was exploring the vast library of presentations on SlideShare, I came across some very interesting, very humorous, and very insightful presentations. One really interesting and informative presentation I encountered was titled, “Did You Know That?” In this presentation, the author shared numerous, little-known facts about a variety of subjects. Who knew that elephants can’t jump? That all polar bears are left handed? That a duck’s quack doesn’t echo? Did you know that the body’s strongest muscle is the tongue? All of these quite interesting facts came from that presentation…lots of learning! The funniest presentation I discovered was “Funny Interview Answers,” which shared absolutely hilarious responses to a variety of interview questions. Reviewing this project was a welcomed escape from my grad school work! Finally, I came across a quite informative presentation on the History of Mathematics. In this presentation, the author shares the vast historical roots of mathematics. I learned a lot about the base-ten and base-twenty numeration system from this presentation. In browsing SlideShare, I realized that not only does it have a wealth of resources focused on specific topics; it has a wide variety of resources (covering so many different topics and subjects.)

I think SlideShare is going to be a great resource to use in the classroom. First, I can see this website as being a great place to locate content specific presentations. I am always looking out for websites that have presentations that can be used to enhance student learning. Whether finding a presentation to use in a lesson or finding a presentation that students can access for independent research, this could definitely be used to enrich instruction. I can see SlideShare being used to locate, review, and share professional development presentations. Educators have the ability to instantly access a vast array of presentations focused on specific learning topics. Not only is this convenient, but it offers a variety of topics and information. I also think this would be a great way for students to share their learning with others. My third graders frequently create PowerPoint presentations to share their learning. With SlideShare, they can upload their work (with privacy settings) and share with other students, the teacher, or their parents. It provides a platform for true communication of knowledge and sharing.

Excited to discover this awesome Web 2.0 tool and can’t wait to use it in the classroom!!! Check out my first SlideShare project, Exploring Glogster.

If there is one Web 2.0 resource that I could not live without, it would definitely be Google Docs!  This amazing, and completely free tool functions as a word processor that allows for simultaneous collaboration among users. In Google Docs, a user creates a document and has the opportunity to share that document with others, who can freely interact with the document (add elements, edit, revise, delete, etc.) at the same time. I find Google Docs very easy to use and incredibly convenient. Leave it to Google to create the most popular, free, Web 2.0 word processor…I would expect nothing less.

Google Docs has been very helpful to me as a student and as a teacher. As a student, I use Google Docs to generate the majority of my text-based documents for assignments, projects, and blog posts. Being able to access these documents from any computer at any time has been a major convenience. More importantly, however, I have been able to use Google Docs to collaborate with fellow students. Whether it is engaging in collaborative research projects or developing/maintaining coursework calendars, having the option to simultaneously update the document has been so helpful. As a student, this is one of very few web-based tools that has been helpful individually and collaboratively. In addition, Google Docs has been helpful to me professionally. One way I have used Google Docs is to create a grade level spreadsheet of students and their quarterly benchmark assessments. My team members and I can access this spreadsheet from any location, on any device, at any time. We have also created documents with lists of resources (like links to FlipCharts and PowerPoints) that are constantly being expanded and edited. It promotes collaboration by allowing us to share/pool our resources. Again, the ability to simultaneously update has proven to be invaluable with these practices.

One of my technology goals this year is to engage students in collaborative editing of writing. With Google Docs being so easy to use, I felt that this would be the best resource for the task. For the past several months, my students have been exploring collaborative editing through Google Docs. While the content and quality of their editing and revisions isn’t of the highest caliber, it reflects their growing comfort with this web tool. I look forward to further expanding the usage of this resource with students.

Social Media is a rapidly growing component of educational technology. The number of connections being built among educators and students, on social networking websites catering to education, is increasing at an astonishing rate.  As a frequent user of Twitter and Facebook, I was excited to learn about another networking site, designed specifically for educators, Classroom 2.0. This website hosts over 45,000 users from across the globe with a focus on educational technology. Not only was this site very secure (it required account approval), it was easy to navigate and user friendly. In browsing the discussion forums, I came across many topics of interest. In one discussion, I read the dialogue between users about Interactive White Boards. The debate focused on which device, Promethean or Smart, was more effective and efficient. I found that every participant contributed a valid point and an interesting perspective. Sometimes, on discussion forums, users encounter irrelevant, emotion-filled comments. This was the complete opposite. Users were engaged in productive and meaningful discussions. I was definitely impressed by the quality of the collaboration and ideas exchange. As a teacher, I see this as being a great resource for professional learning. Not only is it a place to gather and share ideas, users can browse topics of interest for learning. Classroom 2.0 provides a safe place for educators to unite in collaborative practices related to educational technology.

Edmodo is another social media site that I have been using recently. Like Classroom 2.0, Edmodo is designed for education. Edmodo, unlike Classroom 2.0, unites students and teachers on a safe platform for communication. For the students, I have found that this is a far better use of social media than Facebook or Twitter. Because this is a more secure platform, and it allows teachers to control content, it seems like a great way to connect students and teachers beyond the classroom walls. As more of my students begin to join Edmodo, the interest and excitement with this social networking site seems to be growing. I think usage of this site will continue to expand, and I look forward to a time when using Edmodo is a common practice for all students.

Video sharing is an amazing concept! With a few clicks of a mouse, individuals have access to a constantly expanding database of videos. With numerous video sharing sites, like YouTube and TeacherTube, users can sort through videos quickly and easily and can pull out specific segments.  As a teacher, I find the concept of video sharing especially valuable. I use video clips on a daily basis to enhance lessons and to increase engagement. One challenge that I frequently face is that I find meaningful video clips on sites that are blocked by the school network. I often have to download the video, save it to a secondary device, and reload it on the computer. Not only is this process lengthy, it is not always successful. For this reason, I primarily use the smaller video clip databases of TeacherTube and United Streaming.

Zamzar is a revolutionary website that allows you to convert files online, for free! Not only is it a free resource, it doesn't require users to download any software. The discovery of this awesome site is certainly going to help me bring more of these YouTube videos to the classroom. I have now successfully converted a video using this program (and it was really easy!!) The timing of finding Zamzar is impeccable! On Friday, we went on a field trip to the Vulcan Rock Quarry in Kennesaw, Georgia. The students got to venture into the giant pit as we explored mining, aggregates, and excavation. We actually had to leave the facility slightly because they were planning a large explosion in the excavation process. Because no visitors could be on the premises when the actually detonation occurred, the students only got to see the set up and preparation. They were all disappointed about not getting to see the actual explosion. When we returned to the school, I tried, unsuccessfully, to find a video clip of the rock excavation explosion. I knew there would be video clips on YouTube, but with such restricted usage, I was unable to access it at school. So, I have now converted this YouTube clip, using Zamzar and will be able to show it to the students on Monday. Thankful for the perfect timing of this resource!!

Check out the video that my students will see. It's an underwater rock excavation explosion. Unfortunately, because I don’t have WeeblyPro, I can’t actually embed the video clip here… but I can link it! Enjoy!

Podcasts are an amazing form of informative digital media. With vast diversity in topics and perspectives, podcasts present focused, content specific information to a wide range of users.  Users can access these audio and video podcasts online to listen to/view immediately or to download onto other device (iPod, MP3, etc). The process of locating and accessing podcasts is very simple, with many websites and programs being devoted to hosting podcast databases.

I must admit that, until this course, I have not accessed podcasts related to education. While I tend to enjoy researching instructional strategies, techniques, and ideas, I have not yet used podcasts as a source for teaching information or perspective. In the past, I have accessed podcasts prepared and released by my church. These podcasts, released weekly, reinforce that which is taught on Sunday and offer additional thoughts and perspectives. Through this assignment, my eyes have been opened to the extensive educational podcasts that are available. 

I started my survey of educational podcasts through the Learn Out Loud website. This website is designed for podcasts that can “teach something.” Initially, I came across a podcast titled Tech Teachers Podcast (perfect for someone studying Instructional Technology, right!?) Unfortunately, I found this podcast to be disjointed (lots of unrelated information) presented by two people that seemed unprepared. While at times, they offered interesting insight, I kept wishing that I could just read the information. The presenters were spent time verbally stalling and often talked in circles. Next, I decided to explore NPR’s Education Podcast. Here I found more relevant and useful information presented in a clear and coherent manner. Because I enjoyed this podcast so much, I subscribed to the feed using iTunes. Now, I will be able to access these podcasts quickly and easily each week, straight from my iPod or iPad. 

I am very excited to begin subscribing to educational podcasts that will entertain me when reading isn’t an option! 

                Delicious, the Social Bookmarking Website, brings a remarkable convenience to users across the globe. Through this online resource, users can digitally bookmark resources and material and can access them from any internet-enabled device, anywhere in the world. I have found Delicious to be incredibly convenient. I can locate instructional materials at home and can easily access them at school, through my Delicious account.
                  The idea behind Delicious is simple, but brilliant. With the click of a button, a user can create a digital “bookmark” to a specific resource. Traditionally, digital bookmarks are stored on one device, a single computer or tablet. With Delicious, the bookmarks are stored online, which can be accessed from anywhere. As opposed to e-mailing a link, using a flash drive, or copying/pasting, users can access their links with one mouse click. Delicious goes even farther with an innovative way to categorize a library of bookmarks. Users can organize their links into “stacks.” Specific stacks, or groups, can then be built and extended to incorporate a vast amount of commonly themed resources. Going further, each resource can be “tagged” to a specific category. These tags are one word descriptors that represent the content of the resource. Tags then group commonly themed resources together. The method of tagging bookmarks and sorting them into stacks provides far more flexibility than traditional folders for “Favorites.”
                  Despite being very new to the world of Delicious, I found it very easy to use. From the first stack I created to the tags for my newly developed bookmarks, everything seemed simple. I was very surprised at the simple, yet innovative nature of this resource. As a teacher, I was happy to see that this resource would be easy for students (even early elementary aged) to use. As I was exploring this resource, I created several stacks that I wanted to share with my students. I set the stacks to “public” for sharing purposes, so that my students could access the resources. When tagging resources, I found common threads within the resources that I had not previously noticed or recognized. I look forward to sharing Delicious with my students next week.
                  One way that I am really looking forward to using this website is with student research projects. Realistically speaking, researching specific concepts, for third grade students can be a bit of a challenge. With the inability to access many websites at school, I often find myself searching for links and complex URLs that I had accessed at home. With Delicious, I can find meaningful and accurate websites at home, and can instantly share them with my students. In addition to cutting down on the amount of time my students spend “browsing” for information, it ensures that the students have access to safe and appropriate online sites. Professionally, I am looking forward to using the stacks and bookmarks of other educators to locate valuable online resources. The internet is such a vast library of material that sometimes it is hard to filter through the information. With Delicious, you can view what other people have determined to be meaningful and relevant, and can instantly access it.


There are so many uses for Delicious in education. I am looking forward to further exploring this great resource.