Thing 21

Try the slideshow maker at Animoto!

I really enjoyed making my video on Animoto because it was easy and fun! All I had to do was chose a the style I wanted, choose music, and choose the pictures and Animoto did the rest of the work. The only downside of Animoto is that if you want a video that lasts longer than 30 seconds then you have to pay for an upgrade. In the future I might decide to do this because I think I could use Animoto to pay a slideshow of pictures for open houses or classroom parties or projects, among other things.

Thing 20

I absolutely love Youtube! It's such an easy website to search for and watch videos that interest you. Most times I watch music videos for funny videos or news stories that interest me. I found this video about the roles teachers can play in students lives. It made me a little emotional to think about the impact I could have on a student's life by encouraging them and that is what makes me look forward to becoming a teacher!



This video is about the importance of teachers knowing how to use the Internet because it is the future; it's not just a fad. I thought it went along perfectly with our instructional technology class, plus the little boy in it is pretty adorable!



I also explored Teacher Tube. Both of these websites could be used in the classroom to show video clips or something that could enhance the lesson. I've had several teachers in the past do this. It's refreshing to watch a video occasionally instead of just listening to a lecture, plus there are a lot of great educational videos out there!

Thing 19

In addition to Twitter and Facebook, I have also joined the social networks TeacherPop and Craftster. TeacherPop is appealing because it is specifically for those networked to APSU. This network is a place for teachers to communicate and share ideas about common interests, which is teaching and education. I also decided to join Craftster. It is a social network for people who enjoy doing crafts and making art for a hobby. On the website you can find out how to do just about every craft imaginable. There are articles, pictures and videos. My favorite part of the website is the tag cloud. The tag cloud has hundreds of different tags of things such as, Halloween, Christmas, children's books, and different crafts that go along with each tag. I think I could use this later on in the classroom to find crafts for students to do that could enhance the curriculum.

Thing 18

I can say with confidence that I use facebook more than any other website. Whether I'm procrastinating homework or waiting for class to start, there's a good chance that I'm on my facebook page! Educators should know about social networking because it can help them communicate and learn from one another. When I joined twitter for this project I followed a couple of educators and while reading through their tweets I learned a lot about different technology and government programs and things I had never heard of. I personally like facebook more than twitter because it is simply more personable. However, if I were to use social networking in or for the classroom, I would probably get one separate from my personal facebook or twitter. Both of them could be used to share things such as classroom news and projects with parents. Because they, like me, probably use social networking quite often so it could be an easy way for them to stay up to date. With facebook, you could also share pictures. Facebook or twitter could also be used to network with co-workers or other educators to receive and share advice or resources.

Thing 17

While exploring Delicious, I found it to be a great way to find and share websites. It is simple to use and it is very similar to Diigo. You can find websites by searching for tags that interest you. I think the best thing about social bookmarking websites like Delicious, is that you can access the websites from any computer. Teachers can use social bookmarking to find and share helpful websites with each other. Teachers could also use it in the classroom to share websites with their students. It also might be a good tool for students so they can share websites with each other, for if maybe they're all working on the same project.

Thing 16

For this "Thing," I actually did not make a start page, because I already have one! I have my own personalized iGoogle for my start page right now and I love it. I also already have a calender on there too. It's awesome because every time I turn on my computer, I'm reminded of all of the week's activities, events or assignments. I also explored all of the to do lists, and honestly, I could not see my self using any of them. It seems like a lot of work to log onto a certain website just to see the things I have to do when I could just use an app on my phone or a written list instead. Of all the tools I have explored, I would recommend iGoogle. The calender to countdown clock and to do list on there can help you stay on track and organized. The best thing about it is that everything is all in one place!

Thing 15

I had no idea what wikis were until I was preparing to present my website of the day and I had to create my own. I didn't edit it so I still didn't really grasp the concept if wikis until I edited the APSU 23 Things Sandbox Wiki. I was surprised by how easy it was to use. It was as simple as clicking edit and save. It is a great tool to use to learn from your peers or collegues. Wikis could be used in the classroom as a way for students to collaborate on projects or share ideas. However, I could not see myself using this with six or seven year old students in my future first grade classroom.