Wrapping Up

I have learn so much in this course. Now - just to find the time to go back and use everything. I have so many ideas floating through my head.

working on my CMS project

I have found this fairly easy to use (Moodle). I am going through the list of requirements and am a little stumped on if I meeting everything.

What a great tool!

www.talkr.com

Check it out. It converts text from a blog site to audio for free.

class coming to an end

I just got done looking at the descripition of the CMS course project and I am looking at the timeline for completing this course, I feel like I can't breathe. The time has flown by and I feel like I have learned a lot but I know I still have so much more to learn! This course has been a series of first for me. I have never created a web quest, podcast, wiki, website or anything else. I have enjoyed the challenges and I am looking forward to including some of my new tricks into my current instructional practices but for now just getting everything done on time is my goal. :)

Good comparisons

Heres ia a link to a site where the author of a story used 50 different web 2.o tools to tell the same story. He compares them to each other and lists the stength of each tool. I found this to be amazing!!

http://cogdogroo.wikispaces.com/Dominoe+50+Ways

Using wiki's in education

I was doing some searching for examples of what people have done in the educational area using wiki pages. I do believe there will be a huge shift in how information is presented in a traditional classroom as the generations of people who grew up with computers begin to enter the teaching field. I am not sure that all the seasoned teachers will make the shift but there will be some that look at the computer as a wonderful tool and begin to explore ways to use it.

It is amazing what is out there, anyway, I ran across this site and thought it was great

http://teaching-with-technology.wikispaces.com/Wikis+in+Education

getting back into action

After being out of town for a week I am trying to get caught up. While in Austin I was lucky enough to stay at the Dristill Hotel with an unbelievable history behind it. The hotel engineer gave our group a tour one night in search of Col. Driskill's ghost, many in our group swore they smelled his cigar, I wasn't so lucky but it was still a very interesting story. You can check out the history behind the hotel at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driskill_Hotel. We were also fortunate enou to tour the capital building and watch the famous bats fly out from under the Congress Street bridge. The confrence sure required a lot of hard work (which not all of them do) but it was a good trip and I came home with some fun ghost stories.

Can we live without the internet?

The last two days I have been in constant contact with my boss and the state ODE office gathering the data I need to complete the project that I have to present tomorrow at the NRS confrence. The beauty of it all is I didn't have to pick up the phone once or carry a ton of reports to gather the information I needed or receive feedback from Ohio. I was a little nervous about being the sole representative from Ohio here and it has been a lot of work but the internet made the end result possible. I think the presentation is good and I am comfortable saying - yes this is reliable data I am presenting. Without the internet, my presentation would not be possible. I would be able to put something together with the data I have but it wouldn't be as relative as what I finalized today.

worki ng from the airport

I arrived at the Columbus airport today expecting the usual long lines and crowds. Boy was I wrong! I was the only one at the check in counter and there was only one other person going through security. This leaves me with a lot of time at the airport that I wasn't expecting. I have finally gotten the wireless network connected but it is giving me some problems. I was not able to log into Second Life. The computer would think about it for a while. Show the screen then freeze. I am thinking it must have something to do with the connection here. I am also not able to send emails :(. I am going to try to work on the Wiki page, hopefully I can get something productive done while I wait for my flight. Wish I were going somewhere cooler - Austin is going to be very hot this time of year.

podcast

I have been working on my podcast. I have listened to it many times and inserted music in the middle where there is a pause. With the information that I am presenting (how to create a query in Access), there isn't much need for music. Although I still do not like the sound of my own voice, I can see where this could be a helpful teaching aid.

podcast

I found it very helpful to listen to feedback on my webquest while looking at the quest. This was more beneficial than flipping between email (text) and the quest. I can see where I could use this in conjunction with my webquest, since my students will need to submit a presentation to me. Just need to get over not liking the sound of my own voice :)

pod cast

I am very excited about the use of podcasting in conjuction to what I do. The biggest problem is I don't like the sound of my own voice. I am hoping to find someone in our department that has a better voice and won't mind doing some for me.