Through the experience of blogging I’ve connected to a few people. None of these connections were extremely intense or mind boggling, but they were all positive. Through creating one of our weekly assignments on our blog, a friend saw one of the tools I used, he then used it on his blog, and within a few days a friend of his used it as well. So that was a defined path that I could visibly see happening through my contribution on my blog and it was through a non-educational circle of friends,  so I know that my reach extends past the ordinary classroom walls. My work is not something that I usually share so it’s different (in a good way) to see how something I do on the web can have such an impact on others.

There’s been an average of about 2.5 comments on each of my posts that I have created, so I really thank all of those classmates who took the time to come by and browse or comment on my ideas. I appreciated all of them. 

Throughout the 6 weeks I have tried to visit everyone’s blogs and comment when I was intrigued. I think I still sort of take that back seat position when it comes to blogs. I’ve had conversations with other people talking about how they hate it when people will read their blog, not comment, and then bring it up in person. Not that it’s bad to have a conversation in person, but that they are trying to create an additional online community and their visitors aren’t contributing to it at all. I am sorry to say that I’ve been that person, but I think that there is value in the fact that the conversation in person happens. It is because of that online idea that a real life conversation can take place. Both sides of the story work out well because a connection is made.

P.S. I create the image using wordle.net. It’s a great tool to create a simple image.

Well, my final project was finished on Monday but I didn’t bring the original file home with me, (I was creating it on my work computer) so I wasn’t able to post it until now. And wordpress only allows embedding of video if you get an upgrade, and, well, I’m cheap. So here it is linked from my newly created YouTube account. I know this must seem strange that I, a media production graduate, only just now created a YouTube account, but that’s just how I am. I only do things like this when absolutely necessary.

I think my final project went fairly well. The only thing that I really don’t like about it is how I seem to contradict myself from the earlier post I created. I had stated that I don’t like when people use cell phones in class because it is a distraction and it doesn’t seem respectful, and then in this video I outline all the positive things about the use of cell phones in class. (I supposed I just don’t like when they aren’t supposed to be used in class and people use them anyway for texts and calls. In class, they should only be used for class purposes.)

There’s also a whole other aspect of using cell phones that I didn’t even touch on and that is the safety of their use for young children. I’ve heard about other reports that cellphones can be dangerous for people under the age of 20 because of the waves that enter your brain, and there is no long term evidence to say that they are safe because no children have used them for that long. We’ll have to wait years before there can possibly be any conclusive data on the subject. So it’s recommended that children use headsets or speakerphone so that the phone isn’t held right to their head, and they are to refrain from using them in traveling vehicles, and you’re supposed to switch ears each time you speak so that one side of the head isn’t submitted to a heavier dose of radiation. There are many different issues surrounding cellphones, classrooms and children, so I suppose it’s up to the parents to educate their children to the best of their ability on the subject and hope that their decisions are the right ones.

Hope you enjoy the video!

Borrowed from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/prasan-naik/356299634/

Throughout the course of this class I’ve become a lot more acquainted with different web 2.o tools that I can definitely see myself using in a classroom in later years. There are so many tools that incorporate video, images, and audio that students could use to create presentations, and so many ways that students would be able to create their own online content that they could refer back to in later years, and also get feedback on it from all over the world as they are working on it. 

I really liked our class when we heard from the 3 teachers in the prairies that are including these tools in their classrooms. Their students are able to learn in many new ways that didn’t exist when I went to school. There are new tools that may help  with getting their attention, because they could be more involved in the creation of the class and aren’t just sitting there like an empty vessel. They can then be active participants in the content of the class.

Some of the students were creating their own wiki’s, and class blogs, and children as young as 5 were making videos. I think that all of these tools could be added to any classroom at any age level. With different grades you could just up the complexity level of the content. There’s also the opportunity for the students to connect with another classroom across the country or around the globe. 

It was inspiring to learn about all of these online opportunities and I hope that when I have my own classroom that I remember how to use these tools, and also that I am brave enough to incorporate them into my everyday plans.

Shot of Computer Screen with my Final Project

Well, my final project is underway, and I’ve added a quick screen shot of my video. I’m still far from done it seems, but I’ll keep on trucking. There’s quite a bit of info out there on cell phone use in the classroom, but there weren’t too many hard numbers on their use. I suppose I will just live in the edit suite for the next few days, since I haven’t shot anything and am actually creating everything from scratch, from my sketches to computer tweaking. Hopefully the result is something fabulous. Back to Photoshop for me.

Overall, I’m fairly happy with the results. I don’t come off as inappropriate or offensive, which is always good to know, but who knows what else may appear under my name that doesn’t reference me but a different person with my name? That’s the only thing that sort of bugs me about online content. I’m fairly comfortable with using online services and purchasing things online, but it’s the possibility of unauthentic content that worries me. I don’t see it happening yet, but there are many years left in my life during which content will be created. Nevermind after my death. Will my great-great grandchildren google me and find information that is not correct or inappropriate? It’s an interesting question I think.

borrowed from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobeirasa/1800433372/

One Post : http://www.flickr.com/photos/si_b/729379816/

I’ve always thought that being able to keep up a blog was a lot of work. To keep people reading it you have to post often and post about new interesting things all the time. And to me, that’s not the easiest task. Apparently, I’m not alone in this thought, and there’s plenty of evidence out there of blogs that were started that didn’t continue. And now that Twitter has become the most recent online phenomenon there are a lot of people that start to Tweet and don’t continue. I personally don’t have a Twitter account, but who knows, maybe one day I will. I found this article when signing out of my hotmail account and thought it was interesting and only proves that, for some people, it just doesn’t continue.

borrowed from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zoomar/2265202595/

I’ve never listened to a podcast before in my life. I’ve definitely heard of them. I’m not living under a rock or anything, but I didn’t even know that iTunes had free stuff too. iTunes is on my computer and I have used it to store my music but I’ve never purchased any music because I don’t have an account. Therefore I’ve never browsed the store, which where you find the free stuff as well. Anywho, the podcasts I’ve looked up have included some home renovation how tos, which then failed in their download, but my next search was for comedy. Who doesn’t like a good laugh? The ones I’ve been listening to are from Comedy Central and each are only 1-2 minutes long. So it doesn’t take much time away from anything, but provides a moment or two of some giggles, so I hope you enjoy.

Grand Opening Cake

Well, over the weekend I was crazy busy. I went home for my sister’s grand opening of her salon. I was making a cake for the occasion to feed appoximately 200 people. I always stress out like a mad woman just because it takes so much time to create, so that’s why there was no online activity during the 3 days I was out there.

borrowed from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bensheldon/212159782/

I’ve been trying out more tools from the list of Alan’s 50+ web applications. I created a short blurb on Xtranormal, which was actually a lot of fun. The characters are pretty funny. Some almost inappropriate for school type work, but I liked how you could use cameras and actor movement in different ways. It was a bit limiting since the only thing you provide is the dialogue, but there were multiple options regarding the setting, characters, and audio. Here’s my intro to the other project I did on VuVox Collage.

Then I also tried out PhotoPeach, which wasn’t nearly as exciting. It was so basic and boring. Well, that’s my opinion anyway. Maybe I should have taken more time to look through it to see if I could do more complex things with it, but it seemed to push you through the motions and I didn’t even realize I was done until I was already there. I thought I’d be able to do more as I went along. For people that might want to create that absolute basic wedding slideshow in a hurry, this is definitely the way to go. Upload photos from an album in facebook and it’s pretty much done in 10 mins. Here’s my slideshow of my salamander.