WHAT IS A WIKI?

A Wiki is a free website in which people can collaborate their ideas. Anyone can edit it! It reminds us that no one is as smart as all of us. I am hopeful to create a wiki with my teammates for our third grade pod.

I created a wiki for students.

Check it out at http://erikadobson.wikispaces.com/

Really Simple Syndication is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works. Most importantly the information comes right to you. You no longer have to spend time surfing the web. I set my RSS up through Google reader.

WHAT IS A BLOG?

A blog is a website in which you get to be your own reporter. An individual can write about anything. It reminds me a lot of journaling. Events or ideas are blogged in reverse chronological order. I hope to have a blog in which my students can follow. The blog I started right now I set-up using a tool through Google called blogger. I plan to blog about my encounters working as bartender in Philadelphia.

http://thelifeofabartender.blogspot.com/

OTHER WAYS TO BECOME A WEB PUBLISHER

Unlike my school days of book reports and posters. Children can now make awesome projects and become their own web publisher. My two favorite new tools are Voicethread and Animoto.

Voice Thread is a tremendous tool to share images, documents, and videos. I felt the tutorial for the program gave step-by-step directions. I enjoyed commentating for the first time. Please check out my debut at:

http://www.voicethread.com/#u1001380.b1239492

Animoto turns photographs into video slideshows in minutes. I couldn’t believe how is easy Animoto was to use. Adding music truly customized my video. An added plus is that Animoto promises to never make two videos alike!

http://animoto.com/play/tzjmMyz8C12frfnNWxaLyQ

WHAT TOOL IS MOST USEFUL?

As always this question is always the hardest to answer. When you learn so many useful tools it is really difficult to decide which will ultimately become the most useful. For me, RSS will definitely save me the most time because the information will be coming to me rather then me searching the web. However, blogging will benefit my students tremendously.

S U C C E S S E SWow! Since this is my fourth class with Rich, I definitely am 100% more confident then a year ago. The moodle is easy for me to maneuver through and I feel a bit tech savvy. I am grateful for all the resources I gained and will be able to share with my students. Moreover, I use so many of the tools for personal use. I have videos and digitals stories of my children which I would not have if I didn’t take these classes.

C H A L L E N G E S

Of course success doesn’t come without a step or two backwards. My only road block occurred when I couldn’t share my RSS. After a few emails with Rich, as always I reached SUCCESS!

ONLINE LEARNING

I love online learning. I do not have the time to travel to a facility and sit for two entire weekends. I enjoy the flexibility of completing assignments at my own pace in my own environment. When I have questions, Rich has always gone above and beyond to help me out.