Thing 8

I LOVE flickr. It is a dangerous site for myself! And it is making me ask myself why I spent hours on a scrapbook for my son, cutting, pasting and placing into the wee hours of morning!! It is such an easy tool to use to record pictures. In the classroom students can use this tool directly with writing and learning how to choose a theme/staying on topic/ relating information to each other... The list could go on. This is a site that can encourage people to view the world in a completely different way that they would maybe not have thought of on their own. Flickr is cool!!

Thing 6

Nings...Wow! From appearance it seems to be very similar to other sites such as myspace and facebook. This is another tool that can be used to build/develop a social network in which individuals can commmunicate across the world. A person may want to blog in a ning versus a blog because they are wanting to respond directly to the ning in which they belong. There are different nings for ANYTHING ANY person would ever want to follow. I'd be more impressed to discover a ning that doesn't exist ratehr than all the varieties already offered. It seems like there is NOTHING left in the world that has not been explored!!

Thing 7

Flickr looks like a really cool tool to use in the classroom and personally. At home, it would make sharing family photos with family that don't live nearby extremely easy and convienent. Family are always asking to see updated photos and attaching them to an email takes a long time and I don't always attach a lot because it takes too long. In the classroom, the kids would love to work with pictures online and be able to use them as a tool for the units we are studying and working on. They would be able to use pictures for different assignments rather than the common pen and paper. This tool would definetly engage the students.

Thing 5

I think google reader is user friendly and an easy way to keep up with things going on in the world. Being able to pick and choose the topics of interest that appeal to me makes me more likely to use the tool. Professionally this tool makes it much easier to share teaching strategies and tips. Personally this tool makes it easier for me to stay up to date about things going on around me that interest me, such as sport scores, and the news.

Chapter 3

I really enjoyed the information presented in this chapter. Some was very surprising and almost shocking. The fact that MFA's are now more desired than MBA's I thought was very interesting. I completely support this idea. Anyone can create an assembly line with the smae product being made over and over and over again. But who can take this product and sell it or differentiate it from the norm? Also, the fact that more American are working in the arts field rather than in the business field I found very surprising. But then I also considered the amount of reality shows that are currently airing and was less surprised! LOL!! I was also completely thrown off on the question regarding IQ's. I did think that a higher IQ would overall lead to higher career success but I was wrong :( With the information we have been presented with thus far I truly think for Americans to survive here in this country and in the world, we are going to have to start thinking outside of the box and using creativity to keep us competing with the rest of the world.

Thing 4

I like being able to give my opinion or hear other people's opinion about what has been written/read/ or said. I do think it could become a sensitive issue when someone disagrees with my thoughts. I will have to remember to not take comments personally. It's exciting to get comments on my page. It shows someone has thought of me! :) Commenting is communication. Therefore if the purpose of blogs is to communicate then commenting becomes essential. For students sharing their writing, commenting can help give them ideas, corrections or other points of view that they may not have previously considered. Yes, I have become a member of an online community!!

Thing 3

I added my photo as a widget. I like to see pictures and I think people like to see who they are talking to. Other widgets I saw were games, videos, calendars, EVERYTHING!! You name it and it can be found as a widget! The process was a little nerve-racking. There was a lot of copying/pasting/editing. It could get real annoying real fast. I think the process is one that after lots of practice it will become easier. From what i saw of people I was following they had widgets but not an overwhelming amount. I can see where they could get to be a little obnoxious though.