LizzyB23

Digg and Stumble response

2009-02-13T06:44:00.000-08:00

Well, this is a little unnerving. A lesson that is labeled with the word stumble feels like a predictor of my capabilities.

Thing 6: Social Bookmarking

2008-10-16T12:16:00.000-07:00

Once again I have proved to myself that I am old fashioned. I like the concept of being able to access your bookmarks from anywhere and from any computer. The thing is, I don't have book marks or favorites. This just isn't a tool I've ever really used. I get how it works, and why, I've just never bothered. I just don't spend much time researching on the web. I still prefer card catalogs and these dusty, musty old things called books.

That being said, I totally understand the feature of social bookmarking. I love the idea that I can look at someone else's research. Sometimes the most useful part of a book that I find when researching isn't the book itself, but it's bibliography or works cited page. From there I usually find amazing things.

I'm a little worried that delicious isn't the right social bookmarking tool for me. I didn't find a lot of other people who were bookmarking OMC web sites or card making and basic scrap booking stuff. I played with Furl, but it made me angry, so I stopped.

I'm not sure how I'd use this in the classroom. I don't think it's something I'd use with kids. I think if I were to use this regularly, it's something I'd use with other teachers. It's another way for us to collaborate and share stuff.

I really like the concept of PageKeeper. I think it would be an excellent way to help organize a media literacy unit for class. It's not as convenient as delicious. I don't just have an icon that allows me to tag something. I have to cut and past the URL address. Not a big deal, but in my world one extra step means one extra place to screw up. Again though, the idea that I can access this list from anywhere is very appealing. This means that if we're in the media center I can pull up my list and use it. That has potential.

Thing 5: Educate yourself

2008-09-14T14:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, now I'm getting frustrated. Everytime I think I'm understanding something, I try doing a thing, and it doesn't work. The worst part is, usually I'm doing something that should work. I'm going to the web sites, clicking on add feed, but then it's not showing up on my RSS. What am I doing wrong?!

Thing 4: Making life really simple

2008-09-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

Well, color me surprised. Turns out I already have one of these and just haven't been using it. I have one on Google due to the fact that I have my email account through there. Now that I know it's there, it seems like a really good idea.

What I like about it is one of the things the article mentioned. There's so much info on the web, and so many things I can do with technology, that it usually just overwhelms me. This simplifies things in many ways. I even called Maria and had her help me turn my google reader into my home page. I'm loving that. Everything I want pops up everytime I get on the internet. Yeah!

As usual, I'm not 100% sure how I'd use this in the classroom. For me the most logical would be when the kids are doing research. If they set up a reader, they could keep track of all the places they'd been on the web. Then, they wouldn't have to try and remember what they'd typed into their search engines, or the web addresses of places they'd been. If I was somehow linked to their readers, I could montior their research.

For my personal life, it simplifies things. Period. One of my boxes contains the web sites I visit often, which is good 'cause I foget stuff and can never find my way back to these.

The tools that were easiest for me was the box for web sites and the box for email.

As far as newsfeeds go, I'm still a google girl. I can search on google, find the thing I want, then add it to my web pages list. Perfect.

I don't know if everyone needs to add these, but I like to use the local newspaper pages, NPR and some of the bigger newspapers. I'll add their links in case anyone else wants them.

www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress

http://www.startribune.com/

http://www.nytimes.com/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/

http://www.minnesota.publicradio.org/

http://www.npr.org/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/

Thinking about Blogging

2008-09-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

There's something a little too free about blogging for me. I mean, I feel like just anyone can listen to my conversations which make me paranoid that I'll say, or blog, the wrong thing. I know that probably sounds weird, but I'd rather have a little more of a fixed format. Maybe the right thing for me is a web page. I'm not really sure.

I think part of my hang-up is the one that I've always had when it comes to technology. It feels distant and false to me. Blogging is like journaling about a specific subject, except that others can respond. If I'm going to put my thoughts out there, and others are going to respond, I'd rather do it in a face to face setting, preferably with coffee.

1st time's the charm?

2008-09-07T19:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here I am blogging.

Our first assignment was to blog about the 7 1/2 habits of highly successful learners.

Which is the easiest habit for me and why? Hmm . . . I can start with goals; I can accept responsibility for my own learning; I can, and do, believe all challenges are nothing more than possibilities (heck, if I didn't I wouldn't have gotten anywhere in life); I know what I need in my toolbox; I use technology to my advantage (just not as much as others might like me to); I love to teach and mentor others; and I consider playing my second job. So, I don't think I have one absolute easiest.

All that being said, I definately have a hardest. I lack confidence in my ability to learn certain things, especially anything involving technology. I know that I can learn it. It's just that for me learning technology takes time, and the one thing I lack in life is time. Technology does not seem to me to always be the fastest or easiest way to accomplish a task. If I can communicate without technology, what's the point? I get that this reaches people. But to me it's always seemed like the spoonful of sugar with the medicine. No matter what, you gotta take the meds. The sugar is optional. It will make the experience more pleasurable, sometimes, other times it'll just give you a bellyache. But, if I gotta dig around in my cabinet to find the sugar, or god forbid run out and buy some, then it's not worth it anymore, just swallow the meds already.
Besides, I find technology failable. It freezes. It stops working. It gets funny viruses and worms. It never completely does what I think it's going to do. I know I sound old here, but it goes back to the confidence piece. If it's not going to work the way I think it will, if it's going to take longer, if it might possibly not work at all, it saps my confidence. And I don't have time to complete my tasks and try to bolster my own confidence. I'd rather just go with what I know will work.
So, why am I doing this? I'm doing this because I can work at my own pace. I can walk away from anything that's not working for me. I can honestly say I tried, and it was or wasn't a fit. And, because I want to learn moodle and play some more with web design. At least this way, if I fail, it will be with things I was playing with instead of with tasks I needed to complete. For now, the necessary stuff will still be done with pen and paper, or simple pieces of technology that I'm confident about.