The Little Things

I've been falling slightly behind on posting about all the fun things I am learning in ICT. Yes I said it. ICT, not computers. It's an odd concept to me, but I do not actually know what the letters "ICT" stand for. I am taking a class and have no idea what it is called - how ridiculous is that? I'll look it up before my next post. As for today, I will be posting about some of the little things I have been doing in class over the past few weeks.

First of all, I learned how to search the internet for pictures I can actually use in my classroom or on assignments and they are obtained legally. Sites like Flickr.com or Compfight.com have a "creative commons" button for their pictures. This button allows anybody to use the image they find as long as they give credit where it is due. I never really understood the importance of using 'legal' photos until it was explained to me in a presentation. Technically it is against a copyright law and I could be fined for it. I doubt that would ever happen, but none-the-less I have been trying very hard to stay away from Google images.

The second thing I want to share is a site called Pixlr.com. I learned about Pixlr in a presentation from Winnipeg school employes and their site unplugd.ca. The two presenters taught us how to credit our pictures when we are using them on websites, in assignments or in presentations. They explained that when we don't credit the original photographer it is a lot like plagiarism in an essay. This Pixlr site has proven to be the most useful thing I have learned so far. I have used it for a poster presentation, a lesson plan and other ICT assignments. I will attach a picture at the bottom of this post that I have used by editing it with Pixlr. But first, I need help uploading it. Stay tuned for an update.

Lastly, I was taught how to use Wall Wisher, which is an online corkboard. This is such a great idea for teachers to put on the classroom website or onto their teaching blog. It is a place where parents and students can ask questions or post comments for all to see. If I were to use it for my website, I would create screen names to keep all of the posts anonymous. I think that would really help keep a trusting relationship with parents and students, and there would be no embarrassment when asking questions or posting comments. I will also attach an example of a Wall Wisher. Much like my Pixlr picture, this will be updated too.

It just boggles my mind that there is such a huge amount of resources I would have never thought existed. I think I need to be more like a kid and just jump right in. They are fearless when it comes to technology, and that's how I should be.


NB: In class just right now my professor asked if we knew what URL stands for... Uniform Resource Locator. Who knew?!

  

Creating a Blog

You would think that this post, Creating a Blog would have been earlier on this month. I didn't even think about the fact that I was learning something while I was writing my last two posts. I remember sitting in class when we were told our final assignment would be our choice. My professor gave us a list of ideas and I immediately chose to write a blog. A wonderful teacher in this faculty once told me "work smarter not harder". I definitely had this playing in the back of my mind when creating a blog. I figured, the more experience I gain now writing a blog, the easier it will be when I have my own classroom. My reason for blogging is simple. Blogs are such an important tool for education and are useful for teachers, parents and students. Blogs are great for creativity, reflection, learning from others and connecting with many people from all over the world. Teachers can use blogs to update information from the classroom so parents are always in the know of what their children are doing, homework assignments, or other classroom/ school events. They can link resources such as online articles, helpful tips, and educational sites to who ever follows the blog. Although this post is about writing a blog, I think that other aspects of social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Skype are also beneficial in education. I know many teachers who have their students write weekly blogs and use 'kid friendly' twitter accounts as a way to monitor and observe what their students are learning. These various types of social media also help teachers, and parents, learn more about the interests, likes and dislikes or their students/children.

Back to writing this blog...  After choosing to create a blog for this class I logged on to a website thinking it would be really easy and guide me step-by-step through it. Wow, was I wrong. I could not, for the life of me, figure out how to set up this stupid blog. All I could do was create a blogging address. After hours (literally, hours) of trying, I gave up. Story of my technological life. I went to class the next morning very frustrated and asked my professor for help. When I told him which site I was using, he suggested that I delete that blog immediately and try using Google Blogger. Right away I logged on to the classroom computer, and did as he suggested. I deleted the blog and opened a new one on blogger. Holy Batman was this much easier. As soon as I set up an account (name, password, etc...) there were directions neatly labelled on how to create a blog. I set up this blog within 10 minutes (that's probably exaggerating). It was so easy to find a design and format this blog, that I began my first post right away. As you may have read, the first post was all about my hatred for computers. Given time, and with every post, I become more confident in my blogging skills. That's something I never thought I would say. 

Creating a Wordle

During the first week of classes, first thing in the morning, my professor told the class that we would be doing our first technology assignment. At 8:30 AM I was less than enthused because I could only foresee trouble and frustration. The assignment given to us was to create a wordle. I was thinking "it's the second day, is this guy nuts"? For those of you who don't know what a wordle is, you should! Wordles are tools used to create word clouds, also known as a word splash. This tool is my new favourite thing. I have actually used it in a few assignments for other courses since I was taught in class. For this assignment we had to title our wordle Technology in Education. The first step in creating this wordle was to brainstorm a list of things I associate with technology in education. I won't lie, I 'borrowed' some from the girls who sit in front of and beside me in class. As I have mentioned, I do not use technology often so I was unaware of the things we can do. Moving on, it is important to remember to create your list in a word document because they don't save on the wordle website. Let me tell you, I have gained much experience in typing, retyping and then typing again my word lists because I consistently press the wrong button and lose my wordle. After you click 'go' and the wordle is created, you can randomize the design. There are so many different designs that sometimes I find myself continuously clicking to see what will come up next. Ultimately, I use the same design every time. Wordle lets you change the colour and fonts of the design but I haven't mastered that yet. I just always end up losing my wordle and have to start again. Story if my technological life. Anyway, I have attached my wordle from class for you to see. Enjoy.


 NB: This post should have been posted last week on January 17, 2013 but I am having difficulties uploading the picture of my wordle online. Stay posted for an update (hopefully later today)!

Here it is! I created this wordle in class using some words that I feel describe Technology in Education while others are just words associated with technology. If I had more time I would have added other words, but this is a good start.