YouTube

My previous experience with YouTube was primarily entertainment. During my exploration I found an excellent video promoting Ft. Collins as the Best Place to Live in the US. I also listened to Obama videos (comedy and serious). A favorite video is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZobdcwO_c8U This video is about reading strategies. I searched "Guided Reading" and found several excellent clips. These could be used for staff development and also for personal ideas to improve instruction.

Web 2.0 Tools

For this activity I first chose a geneology website that intrigued me but then decided to change my selection because it required a download. My second choice was "I'm Cooking". This website contains cooking videos from around the country. I found it very easy to use. It provides an area where you can add friends, post comments, rate recipes and gives you the opportunity to share with others. I thought it was a great site and more casual than the Food Network or other more well known commercial sites. Several guys in our family love to cook and it would be fun to post a family video and share with others who live at a distance.

ZOHO Writer

The possibilities of ZOHO are endless. I was especially impressed with the ability to create documents and have others collaborate and edit with you online. As people's schedules have become more harried this option will be very valuable. I can think of times when serving on a state committee that this would have been very useful. We spent so much time e-mailing documents back and forth before final agreement could be reached. ZOHO would have simplified this project immensely.

PB Wikis

Creating a wiki for a school would be an amazing opportunity for collaboration. Each grade level could have their own folders and ideas could be shared. Teachers who work with multiple grade levels could have access to the appropriate files. It would be a great time saver--fewer meetings AND better knowledge about what is happening in various classrooms. This would help with integration of subject matter across departments.

I was not able to locate the Rocky Mountain 23 wiki but will keep trying.

Wikis

Roaming through the various wikis was another neat experience. When I explored the SJCPL wiki I was surprised to find that Patricia Polacco lives in St. Joseph County, Michigan. She is a featured author at this years CCIRA conference in Denver. I'm looking forward to hearing her speak. Also enjoyed reading the book reviews on the Book Lovers Wiki.

I share the concerns expressed in the wiki discussion. It is difficult for adults to determine what is actually accurate and what is not. Recently I viewed papers written by a 6th grade class and found them filled with inaccuracies. My best guess is that they did Internet research and found links that didn't match their research but they had no way of knowing that what they had found was incorrect. This will be a substantial challenge for educators.

Library 2 and Web 2.0

I found the information and discussion on Will Richardson's blog very thought provoking. I agree with the comment that youth using new media often learn from their peers, not teachers or adults. That makes our current curricula less and less relevant. The amount of information is infinite and overwhelming. However, the standardized tests our students are required to take are still based on content.
How do we teach our students to make sense of a much more complex literacy? As adults, we too, need to be cautious of who to trust as authoritative sources. We can no longer be "just readers" we must also "be editors". It is not as much about content anymore as it is about context.

Technorati

I spent lots of time exploring Technorati. When I searched Learning 2.0 I found 30,329 posts, 1.413 blogs, a gazillion photos, etc. My favorite article was by David Warlick (2Cents Worth). He states the obvious...21st "Century Literacy Skills are not really new skills. What has changed is that collaboration, self direction, innovation and technology are now entry level skills in all professions." My comment: Teachers beware...our students come to us knowing far more than we do in the area of technology....we need to keep up or be left behind!

Delicious

Another amazing way to gather information. I especially enjoyed reading the comments left by bloggers in the education link. Good to hear the humorous comments related to all the data we need to collect these days and connecting everything to standards. Helps keep the perspective in place.

Rollyo

I must admit at first I was skeptical as to how I might use this tool. Now after playing around I have found it a most interesting device. I decided to choose Food and Dining as my subject. (Can't always be doing the super educator thing, right? Teachers need a life outside the classroom!) Just for fun I added Wine Spectator as a site and typed in Cabernet. Ah, Chilean cabs were discussed. This could be addictive.

Library Thing

I continue to be amazed at the vast variety of tools that exist online. Library Thing would be great for book clubs. It would also be a great way for teachers to post books they have read as read alouds and allow their students to post comments. The parents would also be able to be partners in their children's education by viewing what is happening in the classroom.

TEXT GENERATORS

Playing with the Wordie text generator was awesome! It would be an amazing tool to use with students. They would have a blast. I wish I had more time to PLAY. This site could become addictive!