Three websites I like

Katie’s website is very colorful and well organized.  I like the inspirational sayings that she has added on the different pages.  She also has links to a lot of fun projects for the kids.  Her website can be found here http://scatcat.fhsu.edu/~krwatson/index.html

Ashley’s website is visually appealing to me because it is simple.  I like the navy blue and white together.  She has a lot of pictures on her site that make it more personal.  Here is her site http://www.ashleyconnolly.com/index.html

Last but not least,  Marci’s website is awesome http://www.marciedgington.info/ It is so pleasing to look at and click through to the different pages.  She must have figured out how to do backgrounds a little better than I did.  Her site is simple to understand, yet very complete.  Well done Marci! 

5 Things that made me go WOW!

The whole web 2.0 thing was news to me.  I had never heard of it before this semester so I was very impressed with all the tools out there on the internet that people can use for free.  I loved Googledocs.  We won’t have to buy Microsoft Office any more will we? It is neat that people can collaborate on a document or power point from clear across the world.  Voicethread is probably one of the easiest assignments that I did this semester with some of the most impressive results.  Adding voice to a project really personalizes it.  I loved the virtual fieldtrip assignment too.  I am truly proud of my blog about Meade and feel like it can be useful to anyone that wants to know more about the town I live in. Even though I got really tired of listening to all of those podcasts from the K-12 online conference, I’m glad I did listen to them and document some of what they said for my future reference.  The things those speakers talked about are the wave of the future of technology and a lot of them make our lives easier and more interactive with others. 

My website

Wow!  What a learning experience.  I got my website up and running on the web.  It is not complete or beautiful because I’m afraid if I add stuff to it I’ll mess it up completly.  I learned alot by making a website, not the least of which is that it can be very time consuming.  I am kind of sad that it isn’t complete and perfect with all the hours I spent first trying to figure out how to FTP, then figuring out why my Ezedia page looked different than my web page even after I had FTPed a hundred time.  I like being able to link any other web page to mine with those “go to” buttons.  Computers are amazing!   The thing that I would change is the background.  I did not figure out yet how to get a neat background off the web or out of that zip file that came with Ezedia (it’s not because I didn’t try:).  I agree with the text book that the different pages with similar backgrounds is a good way to keep your website looking cohesive. Here’s a link to my website http://www.fairpoint.net/~ksstockton/Sharon%20Stockton%20Website/

My favorite podcast presenter

Even though I learned tons of new information from all of the many podcasts that I listened to this semester, my favorite is Kevin Honeycutt and his Driving Questions in Education podcast.  Mostly the reason that I like it is because it is so down to earth.  He’s just another person out there, but with great ideas that can help all of us teachers.  I especially liked that podcast when his truck broke down a mile or two from his house and he had to keep stopping to put water in the radiator and in between his mechanical troubles he would talk into the little webcam in his truck.  For those of you who don’t know who I’m talking about, here is  his website.  http://kevinhoneycutt.org/ 

Tools I will personally use

I’m sure that voicethread.com will be one place that I will continue to visit.  I have two young children (ages 9 and 12) that are just now old enough to appreciate all the wonderful things a computer can do for them.  I think we will really enjoy making memories together by adding photos and our voices to new voicethread digital storytelling episodes.  I will also definately use teachertube.com and youtube.com both for entertainment value and for learning new knowledge.  Who knows?  Now that I have a new camcorder maybe I’ll even get brave enough to put my own video on there some day.  Googledocs will sure come in handy if I am on a computer that doesn’t have Microsoft Office.  Googledocs makes it easy to collaborate on a project with someone else anywhere in the world.  I am sure I will be listening to podcasts from iTunes in the future too.  They’re free!  They are also the wave of the future since pretty soon everyone will own an Ipod or MP3 player of some sort.

Tools I will use in the future

I have learned so much about all the different Web 2.0 tools that are out there that it is almost overwhelming.  The first thing I learned this semester and maybe the most important, was the social bookmarking sites.  Del.icio.us was easy to start using, and the most useful part of it for me is that I can bookmark a site there so that I don’t forget it, then go back to it later to delve deeper into it when I have more time.  Google docs is probably the wave of the future.  Do you think that Power Point may become obsolete some day with all of these online applications that are popping up?  Voicethread was a very useful thing to learn also.  I love digital photography and voicethread.com is a way for me to get my pictures on the web and explain them in my own world.  Voicethread can be used in the classroom in  connection with a field trip or other special event so that the students can share their experience with their parents or even far away relatives.  Gcast is a tool that will allow students to call in from any phone and make a podcast out of it.  It can be very useful in a variety of ways such as book reports or audio broadcasts. 

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