blog, blog, blog…

I Love Google Reader!

I’ve been using Google Reader for about a year now so I had a leg up on this assignment. I will admit, I have become addicted to my Google Reader as well my iGoogle page (that’s a topic for another day). Some of the best feeds I’ve personally found are through newspapers. The NY Times has a feed, or two, in almost any area of interest. Of course the AJC keeps me updated on important matters such as Georgia Tech sports and the Braves. I have subscribed to Tech Learning magazine for tears now that they have a blog I can have their articles sent directly to my reader, scan them, and read the ones that interest me. Two of my favorite feeds in my reader are Patrick Crispen’s blog, a tech guru who speaks plain english, and David Pogue’s web page, a very humorous NY Times tech guy, both are informative and enjoyable. When you have the time watch some of Pogue’s videos, they are great. Anyway use your reader, fall in love with your reader. The key is to find feeds that interest you, and educate you. Don’t give up they’re out there.

Another word of advice: As you begin to overload your Google Reader with numerous feeds, like I have, take the time to create folders and organize your feeds. Just look for the manage subscriptions link on the bottom left.

Blogs in Education

Wow, who knew there were so many educational blogs out there. It is great to see the way some schools and teachers are putting blogs to use.

Blog reading is a somewhat new area to me. I am just beginning to get my feet wet in the realm of blog reading. Reading blogs is very different from the reading we were accustomed to in the 20th century. We’ve all read newspapers, magazines, and journals in various forms for various reasons. As the web was born and grew we read these same newspapers, magazines, and journals online. We have been until recently reading the same types of things, just in an online form; professional articles written by professional writers. With the birth of the blog there began to be available a whole new source of information available on almost any topic imaginable. It is however a very different form of reading. You are not reading what the paid writer has to say, but what the average person has to say. This is not to say that there isn’t a lot of valuable information to be found, you just have to know where to look. Some bloggers are experts in their field, others have valuable insights and experiences to offer in their field, and yet others still may bring a totally unique perspective or opinion to the table that you may have never considered. The key to getting something useful out of blogs is knowing where to look and being willing to do a little searching for those hidden gems. Fortunately there are many sources out there pointing us in the right direction and doing the leg work for us.

I particularly enjoyed the Extreme Biology and the Students 2.0 blogs. They were both good examples of how a blog can be used by a individual teacher or class. The problem I noticed with several of other educational blogs is that they were great projects, but they were not updated. Mark’s edtech blog is a good blog by a third grade teacher sharing his various experiences. The only problem I noticed was he had a great post about SSR 2.0 (Sustained Silent Reading), where he observed how his students were becoming more involved in reading when it’s web based, but he never replied to any of the comments, or did a follow up or conclusion to the project. I would love to know his thoughts on this project now that it’s been over year since he first implemented it.

Reflections on The 7.5 Habits of Highly Effective Lifelong Learners

The learning habits that are both the most important and challenging to me are habits 5 and 6. The desire to create a learning toolbox and using technology to my advantage, go hand in hand for me. I am now working in my tenth year in the Woodward technology department and the one thing I have seen as a constant is that technology is always changing and evolving. One of the many things I learned from Chuck Hixon, our former department head, is that you have always got to look ahead and plan for the future or you won’t stay current. I am beginning to realize the importance of gathering as much information as I can to form a learning toolbox. The biggest challenge for me has always been organization. That is where I am starting to really use technology and Web 2.0 to my advantage. Not only is there a wealth of information out there, but there are now the tools available to organize your “tool box” and have the information readily available whenever you need it. Ain’t technology great!

I think the learning habit that come easiest for me is #3, facing problems as challenges. This is especially true for me when it comes to technology. I will tackle a problem until I can figure it out. When I can’t solve a proble, it absolutely drives me crazy. I will figure it out, or learn how to fix it if I can’t.

Thoughts About Web 2.0

How many of us knew what Web 2.0 was 2 years ago? How about 1 year ago? How about before you started this course?

Web 2.0, we maybe not know what it means, but it’s the way our students are living, interacting, functioning. Especially if you teach MS or higher. If the stats from last weeks videos didn’t open you eyes the you weren’t paying very close attention. I found the Shift Happens video especially interesting. Are we preparing our students for jobs that don’t even exist yet? Are we training to think in new ways, to solve problems that we don’t even know what they will be? We have to start teaching them how to use this web as their global learning community. It has become their social doorway to the world, but how can we help them take advantage of these tools to prepare them for this future full of possibility.

Okay everybody here we go, Off to Neverland, or perhaps it’s through the wardrobe for us. Whatever the case I’m ready, are you? Off to the magic kingdom of Web 2.o!