Thing 45--Cloud Computing

I have already, on rare occasions, “remoted in” to my work computer from my home computer to grab a file I had there, or to use a program I don’t have on my home computer. But so much of what I now do on the computer IS web-based, that I rarely need to link to my own computer. I check email, read my feeds, etc., from whichever computer I have access to. I guess I already use the cloud more than I realized.

While I haven’t made regular use of GoogleDocs, my son in High School has. He was encouraged by his school librarian (YEA!) to use it. She allowed students who were printing from GoogleDocs to print for free. He was immediately sold. He also took a creative writing class last summer that used the program to share and read and comment on each other’s writing. So I recognize the potential, even if I personally am still a dinosaur.

My only concerns about the cloud revolve around security. I don’t mind having what I choose to be public be public—I just don’t want other things to become public without my permission. A concept that is harder and harder to control…

Thing 22 – Planning Ahead

I find that I will miss the demand of 23 things. It’s easier for me to meet a challenging deadline than it is to make time for things I want to do. But I am glad that I am being asked to create a plan—I do have the capacity to create a plan and stick to it. (Sometimes, anyway…)

So here goes—

1. I have signed up for Web Junction and subscribed to the Crossroads newsletter. That will get me to look in at specific times.
2. I am already enjoying getting emails from the Ning sessions that I commented on. I plan to stop there when I have an occasional question or to see what people are talking about.
3. I have made “iGoogle” my home page, so that I check the feeds I subscribe to on a daily basis (at least). I also can check my Yahoo mail there with a widget and I subscribed to technology and education news sites so that I frequent updates.
4. I will be using many of the early tools on a regular basis. I have already used Flickr and Big Huge Labs for signs, I will be using them for a student project soon, and I will be exploring podcasts in the not too distant future. We will also be considering having our students use Blogger to correspond with our partner school in Israel, since Blogger is Hebrew capable. How cool is that?
5. Given that I am a former writing teacher, I think I will be able to make time for blogging. My only fear is that no one will read what I write. (That is what Site Meter has suggested lately.) Still, that never stopped me before. I may, however rename it or create a new one. If I do, I will put the link into my 23 things blog.
6. I will share with my fellow teachers. One of the best ways that I have discovered to sharpen and to retain my skills in any given area is to share what I have learned. I plan to offer opportunities for the teachers at my school to learn some of what I have learned during this course. They may not be sure at first, but…
7. I plan to teach students how to use some of the tools we have been exploring. I especially want to show them Google Docs and the power of Wikis, the value of using a Research project calculator, and the wisdom of using something like ELM.

I have benefited greatly from the experience of doing these things. I look forward to looking forward to Library 2.0 and counting!

Curriculum Planning and 23 Things

While I am still firmly in the middle of my learning from 23 Things on a stick, I am finding that this progam is helping spur my thinking in how to improve the curriculum for library and technology at my school. Our students (K through 8) need to know these skills to succeed in the world that awaits them.

My technology colleague and I have already thought of many ways to use what I have learned so far.

For example:
* blog in Hebrew with their Israeli partners (Blogger is Hebrew-enabled)
* podcast songs and other materials to help students learn
* compare and teach how to use bookmarks on the desktop vs. del.icio.us
* use wikis or Google Docs for collaborative work

This program has done a great deal to help us think of interesting and fun things to do to bring our classrooms into the 21st century. Thanks for providing me with this opportunity.

Thing 8 Overview

It’s wonderful that we can now use on-line resource for drafting a presentation like a PowerPoint, or using one for allowing drafting that can be opened through web browsers, or even the slide shows and photo tools. These tools will increase the ease with which students can collaborate with one another without worrying that they are using the same versions of programs, or that the system will somehow fall apart when they are trying to do a presentation.

I found Picture trail, Google doc, Thumbstacks all easy to use. I will try to do more personally with eFolio, but I didn’t have most of my information handy when I was working on it.

What I am curious about is how easy it would be to incorporate the html from one of these sites into my section of my school web page. Something for a time I have that mythical free time…