Thing #16 Wikis

Very cool! This is a tool that could be very useful. At the moment I am not coming up with a place to insert it into my curriculum but will definitely keep it in the back of my mind. Sure wish I had known about this last summer when we were working on writing curriculum.

Thing #15 - Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the Future of Libraries

The statement in the video "When I graduate I will probably have a job that does not exist today." really stood out for me. It is something that has been mentioned at several of the PLTW professional development meetings. As an educator that is a scary idea and really drives home the importance of teaching the kids to think. We need to be careful to use technology as the vehicle to get to a destination - not as the destination. Teach the process not the program because the reality is whatever technology we have now in our classrooms will be a dinosaur when the student hits the workforce - if it isn't so already.

I love libraries. They were my preferred playground as a child. Being surrounded by books and the ability to peruse the titles, read a little here and there to find just the right book is a wonderful tactile experience. I would hate to see that experience be lost. It reminds me of a Star Trek scene were they were discussing the luxury of owning a paper book. The fact is change happens and the library of my childhood is vanishing. I think modern library should be like a well designed home, containing enough items from the past to keep it familiar, warm, and comfy but with enough modern stuff to make life easier.

Thing #14 - Explore Technorati and learn how tags work

Tagging appears to be very useful and a wonderful way to index the web. I think it is one of those cases of a little more work on the front end making things much easier as time passes. Technorati looks well organized and a great tool for searching blogs.

Thing #13 -Tagging and Discover Del.icio.us

What a great tool. I have heard great things about Del.icio.us and kept meaning to sit down a figure it out. This was time well spent. I love tagging - I have always struggled with organizing my bookmarks and folders because of cross-over. Tagging takes care of that problem.

Thing #12 - Creating Community through Commenting

A common theme through the commenting etiquette was the need to be polite. Actually the advise given could pretty much apply to all types of communication. A lot of damage can be done with just a few words. One of the issues I have with blogging is that it is too easy to type first and think later.
My eyes were opened to how when the basic commenting rules are followed and the contributers added comments with relevance and depth the whole blog was so much more meaningful. If only it happened more often.

Thing #11 - LibraryThing

I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed this. As a voracious reader I am constantly looking for new authors and with my eclectic preferences the best seller list doesn't really cut it. I found the groups interesting and a really neat way to get leads on new books and by seeing their library selection get a good feel for matching tastes.

Thing #10: Online Image Generator

The generators were very simple to use and if I am ever working on a project that requires graphics there were lots of places to search. I posted one of the word generators that I played with. To be perfectly honest I do not see a lot of use for this in my curriculum and projects. While it is nice to know these are out there (I did not realize that), I hated this assignment because I could see no practical application to my daily life and felt decidedly uncreative. I keep trying to think what necessary skill set use of this tool adds to my curriculum and coming up blank. I could see how you could use these to spruce up presentations but after tracking down video clips, simulations, and typing in formulas that actually add to the skill set - finding just the right graphic is not a priority. Sorry to sound so negative - I really am trying to keep an open mind but this activity almost had me tossing in the towel. After abandoning the generator search to look for something useful, I did stumble across a great site (http://phet.colorado.edu/teacher_ideas/index.php) that had a ton of useful simulations with suggestions on how to best implement them in an active classroom.