Michael Fowler

2010-05-12T06:39:00.000-07:00

I have really enjoyed this course as I have learnt about programs and applications that I had never heard of, or had heard of but never tried.

It would be great for these links to stay available to us, as there are many areas I would like to explore further but haven't had time.

Thanks again for an informative and useful course.

2010-05-12T06:27:00.000-07:00

#22 Ebooks & # 23 Audiobooks

Ebooks will be one of those things that will become much more common. My wife works in a book store and I believe they are now getting an in-store machine for customers to purchase e-books. It seems the world of books is changing!

I can see the advantages of students accessing e-books, although it would depend on what books are available. Will it end up like online music? Will school libraries end up as a bank of e-book viewing screens?

2010-05-11T07:57:00.000-07:00

#21 Online Video

We have already used YouTube in class to enhance the students knowledge of things such as mind mapping and our theme work. I will explore Teachertube more thoroughly as I believe I can use it to further enhance the students' learning.

I love this Rowan Atkinson sketch about teaching!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiWJWLCoH2M

2010-05-11T07:44:00.000-07:00

#20 Podcasts

This would be useful if I wanted my class to follow a current affairs theme. I can see the benefits of them having audio as another learning medium.

2010-05-11T07:05:00.000-07:00

#19 Rollyo

This was ok, although I don't know how much I would use it. It may be useful for creating lists of sites for my students to research for projects.

http://rollyo.com/index.html

2010-05-11T07:00:00.001-07:00

#18 Wikis

Wikis are one of the things that I was most interested in when starting this course. I am considering starting a Wiki for my class and it was good to get some background information. Plenty of research to go on this before I start.

2010-04-24T01:07:00.000-07:00

#17 Organise yourself with Delicious

This seems like a great idea! I had briefly heard of delicious before but not known anything about it. I can see great benefits in teachers sharing sites, as this is something we already do but not in such an organised way.

2010-04-24T00:55:00.000-07:00

#16 Subscribe to some blogs

Linked to the blogs suggested and they were interesting. I can see though that the more you subscribe to the more updates there are to read, some more than others. Is there time?

2010-04-24T00:39:00.000-07:00

#15 RSS Feeds

After looking at the articles and linking a site, I'm not sure i'm any wiser to the benefits of RSS. I understand that they give you updates of sites you nominate but I don't know if I need constant updates. I still need to be convinced.

2010-04-07T23:26:00.000-07:00

#14 Facebook

I love Facebook! Having had a Facebook page for about 6 months now I am starting to know all the different things it can do.

Good points about Facebook: keeping in touch with friends I don't see regularly (even got a wedding invite through it), being up to date with Facebook happenings (particularly as my teenage daughter is on it) and Farmville - although many people tell me I'm lame for having a farm.

Bad points about Facebook: Having students send me friend requests (not appropriate!) and online bullying - my daughter has just been through this and it got very nasty.

As a primary school teacher I hear about many children opening Facebook accounts that are not old enough or mature enough to cope with it.

2010-04-07T23:08:00.000-07:00

#13 MySpace

Having looked at a few of the MySpace sites and links I am still trying to work out what the difference is between it and Facebook. Speaking to a couple of other people I get the impression that MySpace is not as interactive as Facebook. The only way I could tell for sure would be to open my own MySpace page, but as I already have a Facebook page having both isn't really useful.

flickr

2010-03-18T05:58:00.001-07:00

waves5
Originally uploaded by chooktheteacher

#12 Flickr

This was quite easy to set up

2010-03-18T05:26:00.000-07:00

#11 LibraryThing

Having just looked at (and created an account in) Librarything it seems like a useful and interesting site. I uploaded some of my books and it will be interesting to see how many people have similar interests to me.

As a tool for school, I could see it being used in conjunction with the Premiers Reading Challenge with students able to share their opinions and recommendations about books on the list. Not sure about the practicalities yet, but it is something to think about.

2010-03-17T05:22:00.000-07:00

#9 Virtually Online

Virtual worlds such as Second Life or World of Warcraft seem so foreign to me. I get the impression they are for people with WAY too much time on their hands. As a primary school teacher I would hope that my students (Year 3's) would not yet be interested in this sort of technology and would be concerned if they had detailed knowledge about it. I am sure there are people who believe in the benefits of existing in a virtual world but it is the balance between the virtual and real worlds that needs to be kept (although this could all be hypocritical from me as I have a farm on Facebook!).

2010-03-17T05:02:00.000-07:00

The sites 'custom sign generator' and 'image chef' were interesting for adding text to a whole range of pictures. I only looked at the basics but they seem really good.

Web addresses:

http://www.imagechef.com/

http://www.comicstripgenerator.com/

Link to comic strip generator site

2010-03-17T04:57:00.000-07:00

2010-03-05T17:31:00.000-08:00

#8 iGoogle

I have used iGoogle a bit before, so it is not totally new to me but I had never looked at all the extra gadgets. When I added a few of the gadgets some of them didn't load properly onto the page but that may be more to do with my internet connection than iGoogle. Google looks like a pretty interesting place to work. I like that they value employee input so much, it relates well to my teaching and the way I try to engender self-management and responsibility in my students.

2010-02-24T05:40:00.000-08:00

#7 Google Book Search

I can see the uses for Google books. It may be that students could go on to it to research an author, find a book and read a preview to see if they like it before they borrow it. I wonder though how useful it will be if only a portion of the books listed have read previews. If children can see the book and read part of it online will that make them keener to borrow the real thing? Do Microsoft and Google serve the same purpose?

2010-02-24T05:21:00.000-08:00

#6 Google Maps

I think Google maps are great! I use it often (most recently last Saturday to get to cricket - I could look where to park) to get greater detail than you can see in a street directory. I find it helpful to print out directions even though I have a GPS, as sometimes that can lead me astray. I didn't even know about Whereis so it was good to compare.

2010-02-23T05:37:00.000-08:00

#5 Google Docs

At first when I looked at google docs, I thought it was just a basic version of Word which was a bit disappointing. Then I watched the Youtube video about the advantages of google docs and realised how it is different to Word. I'm not sure how much I would use it at the moment, but it's good to know about it.

2010-02-23T05:16:00.000-08:00

#4 Web 2.0

It is interesting to read the articles on Web 2.0. I had heard the term but not really known much about it. Now I know it is many of the things on the web I already use. The concept of library 2.0, with 2-way communication would be valuable to me, as I never seem to get to a library (except the one at school!)

2010-02-15T04:30:00.000-08:00

Set up my blog, seemed quite easy.