Online Collaboration and Wiki's

I really enjoyed the readings on collaboration and wiki's. I have done several projects that involve collaboration. When I think of the word collaboration, the assignment we had to complete during the presentation comes to mind. Each member in my group had to work together completing each of the assigned chores.
Disclaimer: I was video conferenced in by my wonderful instructor Dr. Z who has been very supportive during my time of recovery. The problem I encountered was the sound. It kept going in and out.
Confused
Using google docs, I created my own group and then proceeded to add people to my group instead of adding people to Steve's group. Sarah came over to check on me and told me she would call me on my cell because the sound kept going in and out while using the videoconferencing site mebeam. She explained my task in detail. I then joined Steve's group.
Frustrated:
My other task was to invite Sarah and Dr. Z to Steve's group, I became frustrated because I could not find the invite tab anywhere. Steve had to change the settings so I can invite others. I was unaware of this, so I sat at home annoyed thinking I did something wrong, going from page to page looking for the invite tab. I am quite sure Steve was unaware of this because we were all in different locations. Sarah came over to check on me. I told her what the problem was and she immediately came to my rescue. She had to find Steve and ask him to change the settings so I can invite others. She came back to the computer and told me I was able to invite. I did so and continued on with the other task. In the end it worked out really well.
Relieved:
During our break Dr. Z switched videoconferencing applications. We then started Skyping. I really liked Skype because there were no problems with the sound. I felt as if I was right there in class. I even chimed in and answered a question or two. I love technology!

Response to Second Life

Second Life

This is in response to Patrick's post on second life. I also had a wonderful experience with my classmates in second life. The first time I enter second life. I had a hard time trying to get off the training island. For some strange reason, I could not pick up any objects or even sit. How weird was that? As Patrick stated, "I have went to other links at different sites and have enjoyed far too many hours looking around." I have done the same thing. I look forward to using Secondlife as an instructional tool.

Response to "18yr old's YouTube video lands him an Ad"

18yr olds Youtube video lands him an Ad

This is in response to Derek's blog. I am glad to see the 18yr old British student land an ad in a commercial. All from a YouTube video. I am not one who loves to be in front of the camera talking, but it is a cheap way for people to be discovered. YouTube is has lots of online video, and is a place where I go to watch original videos. I have used YouTube upload and share video clips on www.YouTube.com and on my blog.

Click here to view Nick Haleys iPhone commercial

Response to My Blog at School

This is in response to Sarah Levenduskys' Blog. Mrs. Levendusky is making use of blogging in her classroom. I would have to say it is a great tool to use. I would have to say that students are the same in any part of the United States. She teaches in Iowa and I use to teach high school in Louisiana. And the response of the parents during conferences are the same when asked what has their child told them about the class? She said the parents states nothing. I would receive the same response. She states that students finish most of the work during class, but she still updates her classroom blog. I can tell that Sarah has a passion for teaching and that her primary interest is her students because of the statement made in her post.

" Since most of the work we do in the class must be done at school, for a variety of reasons, I don't foresee that the blog will be used too much for missing work. However, even if one student a week can use the information to help keep up with the class, it will be worth my time to update it." Sarah Levendusky 2007

Way to go Sarah! I wish you the best of luck with your blogs. Your students will love the technology you are integrating in your class.

I know that she is well aware of the fact that most students do not have a computer or probably can not view the blog as frequently as she would hope, but she still constantly updates her blog. She also described how blogs are used in reference to Learning Outcomes, Information, Reflection, Interaction and Assessment.

Click here to view Sarah's Blog.

Click here to view Sarah's Computer Class Blog.

Response to Religious YouTube

Religious YouTube?

This is in response to Megan's Post on Godtube. This is great. As Megan states, you can subscribe to this site the same way that you can to YouTube. There are groups, ministries, videos and channels. You can also subscribe to the site free of charge. Compassion in Politics also blog about Godtube. Compassion explains what Godtube is and mentions featured videos such as funny Mac Parody and reading of Psalms 23 by a young girl, which has received over a million hits. I wounder who has the most hits psalms 23 by young girl or evolution of dance? You decide!!!

Everyone I know fell in love with dance evolution, but the reading of psalms 23 by a young video was too cute. She stumbled along the way but the guy filming helped her out. I guessing he was her father. I really enjoy learning about Godtube. Thanks Megan.

Response to "High Tech or What?"

High Tech or What?!

This is in response to Regine's post on an article found on CNN titled "Google at the gas pump . Google maps are now on the gas pumps? WoW! I can not believe it is in color and on a small screen. Well, I can believe it. I will never be able to catch up with technology. It is always evolving. Every time I look around something new is coming out. Motorist are able to print a copy of the directions to local landmarks, hotels, restaurants and hospitals selected by the gas station's owner.
I would have to agree with Regine.
It is a "good device for those of us who like to take road trips and need to make sure we are on the right track".

I can understand why Google has decided to make maps available at the gas stations because it is where most people stop to get directions. Would anyone agree?

Widget helps adult visual learners

Hello everyone,

I am really excited about my new widget called Snap Shots. It gives any user a fun and interactive experience on my blog. It also works on websites. You don't have to leave my blog. Just read the text and when you get to a link, pass the mouse over the link and you will see an image of it. This holds true for podcast, blogs or website. This is a great way to incorporate images.
This a great tool to use in a classroom that use technology to engage learners. The students who would benefit the most are visual learners. Wikipedia describes visual learning as a teaching method in which ideas, concepts, data and other information are associated with images and represented graphically. Graphic organizers, such as webs, concept maps and idea maps, and plots, such as stack plots and Venn plots, are some of the techniques used in visual learning to enhance thinking and learning skills.
It will save readers time because you don't have to worry about clicking back and forward between links. This is a technology I would use while teaching adult learners. If anyone is interested in using snap shot just click on the link and sign-up. You must have an email address and url.
Have fun.

Technology Integration in Haiti

WoW,
I really enjoyed listening to Regine's Podcast on technology integration in Haiti. The use of sound effects really added kept me interested along with all of the research based information. I have learned that technology use in Haiti is really limited and there is a need to integrate technology in the Haitian Classroom.

Mobile Phones Used in Class

The first completely open mobile phone:

I was on youtube and ran across this video. There are open source computers, and now there is a open mobile phone. It is called openmoko. OpenMoko is a GNU / Linux based open software development platform. Developers have full access to OpenMoko source and they can tailor their implementations to underlying hardware platforms. You will also have access to many different free applications, all have been tested. The applications will not damage your phone.

Good reason to use. If I had an open mobile phone it would sense conversation is going on in the room and would automatically turn the ringer silent. I think that is totally awesome. I know for a fact there are a number of people out there who cell phone has rung during a meeting, class, or at work.
Leaving you with feels of shame, or saying to yourself "I can not believe my phone is ranging". With openmoko you will not have that problem.

Some government agencies are going to use them to track things, such as forest fires. This technology can also be using in an adult education class. There are many adult learners who have jobs, families and many other activities that are done during the course of the day. With this phone everything thing needed is compact into a small device such as this. Homework assignments can be done at the students convenience. Students can use cell phones as an educational tool in a number of ways. There are many students using cell phones as a handheld scanner, reminder list, and instant blogging. Those are just a few named on a wonderful site called Think Mobile Phones for Learning.