Thing 13

Insert a Google document, spreadsheet, or drawing into a post.  Discuss how Google Drive is useful in the classroom, and how students might be able to use Google Drive.  Compare and alternative to Google Drive, and discuss personal preference.

Google Drawing - Classroom
https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/17QNnBPnncMLK4rGyii2XDmdk9MHaml8XqWDbaQNr0HQ/edit

Google Drive can be used by every student in a class, teachers can share resources and documents where each student has access to through a shared folder.  This could also be utilized by group assignments/activities that require submission of documents that each student can access and alter.

Zoho.com has many products that are available to their users.  There are business apps, collaborative, and productivity apps.  Browsing around I noticed that the collaborative apps had mail, documents, etc. that make Zoho similar to Google Drive.  As a personal preference to using Google Drive and its tools, I have a level of comfort-ability.  I like to live life under the philosophy "If its not broke, don't fix it."

Thing 12

Choose two Google tools.  Create a post about your experience with these tools, and include a link to your creation.  What uses could these tools provide for teachers?

https://translate.google.com/#en/el/The%20Odyssey%0ABook%20I%0ATHE%20GODS%20IN%20COUNCIL%E2%80%94MIVERVA%E2%80%99S%20VISIT%20TO%20ITHACA%E2%80%94THE%20CHALLENGE%20FROM%20TELEMACHUS%20TO%20THE%20SUITORS.%0ATell%20me%2C%20O%20Muse%2C%20of%20that%20ingenious%20hero%20who%20travelled%20far%20and%20wide%20after%20he%20had%20sacked%20the%20famous%20town%20of%20Troy.%20Many%20cities%20did%20he%20visit%2C%20and%20many%20were%20the%20nations%20with%20whose%20manners%20and%20customs%20he%20was%20acquainted%3B%20moreover%20he%20suffered%20much%20by%20sea%20while%20trying%20to%20save%20his%20own%20life%20and%20bring%20his%20men%20safely%20home%3B%20but%20do%20what%20he%20might%20he%20could%20not%20save%20his%20men%2C%20for%20they%20perished%20through%20their%20own%20sheer%20folly%20in%20eating%20the%20cattle%20of%20the%20Sun-god%20Hyperion%3B%20so%20the%20god%20prevented%20them%20from%20ever%20reaching%20home.%20Tell%20me%2C%20too%2C%20about%20all%20these%20things%2C%20oh%20daughter%20of%20Jove%2C%20from%20whatsoever%20source%20you%20may%20know%20them.

Google Translate
I inserted the first paragraph of Book I from Homer's The Odyssey into Google Translate.  I added it into English to translate into Greek.  This tool allowed me to hear, a close to, version of what it might sound like to hear in Greek.  The Odyssey would have been an Oral Tradition in Greece, not written for many generations.  This tool could also be used by teachers for students where English is a second language.

Google Calendar
I inserted a schedule that I would go off of for the following week.  Google Calendar could be used be teachers and schools that do not have the budget to have an active website.  Google Calendar, Drive, Gmail, etc. could be used to allow all the students access to timelines, assignment due dates, etc.

Thing 11

Which method of finding feeds was the easiest when doing searches?  Which was the most confusing?  What useful/un-useful feeds did you find?  What were other methods did you find feeds?

I found it easiest to conduct my searches straight from Feedly.  When I went outside sources it was much harder to find the same results by adding quotations, timelines, keywords, etc, ergo more confusing.  My feeds that were the most useful were #history, #edtech, #teach.  I found the same methods through my iPhone as well.  Different search engines, such as Bing and Dogpile, with the same keyword searches yielded the same results as well

Thing 10

Create a Feedly account and subscribe to five feeds.  Describe what you like about RSS and Newsreaders.  How would you use this technology in the classroom, and how can teachers use RSS Reader?

American Historical Association
I joined the AHA to follow on Feedly because I have been on their website to gather information about what they do for history teachers, found links to resources and information, and they have conferences/seminars that are available to members.

Smithsonian
The Smithsonian has one of the largest historical collections available in world.  They provide information, references, guided online tours, etc that can be useful for history teachers.

Archaeology Magazine
The field of history is constantly changing based on new evidence found in archaeology.  Since archaeology is the field work for historians, this magazine is a tool for teachers going into either World History or U.S. History.

This Day in History
I subscribed to This Day in History because it often times draws its information from History.com and can be a fun bell ringer for history classes.

New York Times - Education
I subscribed to the NYT-Education because there is always news related to education, and this resource will provide live-time feeds of relevant information.

Free Tech for Teachers
My eyes have been opened finally for the technologies that are available online during this class, Educ5540.  I am going to have to continue to research technologies that can be used in history classrooms, as well as assistive technologies for students with disabilities.

Thing 9

Create an image in Image Generator, describe the process, upload and provide a link.  Describe how Image Generator could be used as a resource in the classroom.

I used Image Chef to design and create this Word Mosaic of the words:  Salem, Witch Trials, Massachusetts, 1692, Hysteria/Panic, Colonialism, History, Witchcraft.  I have never created a Word Mosaic, nor have I used most of these technologies in the past.  This assignment was fun to tweek around and see what words, shapes, patterns, and colors would provide.  I based this Word Mosaic on words from the Interactive PowerPoint and WebQuests that I made for this class, Educ5540.  They are based on the Tennessee State Standards for 8th Grade U.S. History, Colonialism Era (Salem Witch Trials).
As a teacher I would use this as an activity to fill any additional space before a class period is over, or a bell ringer assignment before class to get the students focused on the days lecture.  This technology should be geared towards use in the lower grade levels.

Thing 8

Using Flickr Mashup, create and upload something to your blog.  Then post how Flickr and Flickr Mashup can be used in a teacher's classroom.

http://bighugelabs.com/
Using Big Huge Labs I was able to create a jigsaw puzzle of an image of the Hiroshima Castle, Japan.  There were many other tools available such as Mosaic Maker, Movie Poster, Magazine Cover, Map Maker, Wallpaper, etc.  These tools are fun, and creative.

Flickr can be used to find images that are licensed under Creative Commons to add into PowerPoint lessons.  Flickr and Flickr Mashup tools can be used by students, primarily in K-6, to use content material from lessons to make creative images and activities.

Thing 7

Write a post describing Flickr, and my personal experience searching.  Provide an image to select, download it, cite it, and provide a link to the original.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jb912/7190313554/sizes/m/

I enjoy searching through Flickr for images.  However, when I began finding images that I might use they were unable to be downloaded by the original artist.  This is the problem where Creative Commons alleviates.  Besides for the search toolbar, Flick can also narrow the search by selecting a category of Sort, Search, and License.  By changing the License to Creative Commons license I was able to find only images available for downloads, and once I had the search entered I was able to find the images and image size that I wanted to select.  This tool is valuable for teachers because we can find images to incorporate into our lesson plans without violating copyright infringement.

Thing 6

Write a post about a Go2Web2.0 tool and site.  Provide a link and describe the tool and why you like/dislike it.

https://www.gojee.com/discover/food

Gojee is a food recipe tool similar to All Recipes.com.  Gojee has categories for breakfast, lunch, dinner, vegetarian dishes.  You can do a search for food or drinks, browse new, popular, and recipe collections.  Doing a search for a recipe is easy:

Search for vegetarian dishes provides individual full-screen images of items, where the ingredients and cook times are provided to the side toolbar.
Navigating through the recipes I found one that I was interested in, Pearl Couscous with Stewed Tomatoes and Vegetables.  The calorie information is provided along with a link to the full recipe.

http://soforkinggood.com/2013/04/pearl-couscous-with-stewed-tomatoes-and-vegetables/


I like this tool because it can be an alternate resource for me when I am planning my weekend Reserves menus for my dining facility.  We create the main meal in Afmis Web online, but the menus do not provide an alternate vegetarian dish.  This tool will come in handy in the future, both as an Army Reserves cook and personal cooking at home.

Thing 5

Write a post about reflections on the Web2.0.  What does School2.0 mean to you?  What does it mean for schools of the future?

There were a lot of valid points made in the article.  First of all, I think that there was the Internet and then Web1.0 was when social media began.  The stage that we are at now is Web2.0, this is where networking can be tasked and linked from different resources.  The constant flux of information is constantly increasing, and yet it can be stream-lined down to easy searching when properly and skillfully done.

Web2.0 is the future of the world's education, with "one click away."  School2.0, I think, is how the American education system and teachers will find infinite ways of using Web2.0 to better their knowledge, and how they teach students by incorporating technology into the classrooms and lessons.

Schools of the future will be a continuous advantage then it's predecessor.  Once schools begin to improve their technology and resources available, based on budge, will yield the results in better education and practices.

"The answer to information overload is produce more information."  This quote from the article is an important point to consider for Web2.0.  However, the next part of the article is how to manage and teach content production.  Content production will greatly increase the knowledge and quality of students' understanding of material, how to use it, and develop new ideas and new information.

Thing 4

Explain why commenting on blogs help create a sense of community and interaction

By having an active blog, users can strengthen their followers (community), post information that might be useful for other educators, and

http://www.thenerdyteacher.com/
Failing Loud and Proud is a post by Nicholas Provenzano, telling us a situation where he had his class submit an assignment on Google Classroom.  This was his first time going onto this tool, and had difficulty explaining it to the students.  Nicholas Provenzano explains how it is important for teachers to have possible failures, we are human, but also important to be able to overcome from those failure in front of the students.
My comment was related to this idea that by overcoming failure is what makes teachers a success in the eyes of our students.  By allowing the failure to break us down would lower their opinions.

http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/
Here I looked at Teaching Tom.  He is a preschool teacher, where I am entering into Secondary Education.  However, it could be a useful blog to get insights into a different perspective/grade level of education

http://www.frogblog.ie/
I looked at the Frog Blog, but unfortunately it is closing down.

http://annmichaelsen.com/2011/03/16/using-the-film-%e2%80%98gran-torino%e2%80%99-teaching-english-social-studies/
I read Ann S. Michaelsen's post about how to use the film Gran Torino in her classroom.  I did not agree with it's purpose in school, I did enjoy the film and understand how its focus could be used to identify the barriers to diversity, stereotypes, and levels of society.  However, I agreed with one of the comments that I felt that the content and language of the film was not appropriate for the classroom.

http://www.classroomchronicles.net/2014/09/30/creative-commons-with-kathy-schrock/
Kathy Shrock's post was about how to use Creative Commons as a resource for teachers to avoid plagiarism when using Flickr accounts, etc.

http://www.ctrlaltteach.com/catching-fire-new-year-hunger-games-pop-culture-teaching-tools/#.VDb3db0o6Uk
This blog was about how to use Catching Fire and other pop-cultures in the classroom.  This is important to take in since student's #1 focus is normally not on education and the lesson.  Teachers must find a motivator to relate material or gain their focus.

http://primarytech.global2.vic.edu.au/2013/06/02/creative-commons-infographic/
I read this post by Kathleen Morris about Creative Commons.  This post's content was similar to the class discussion on Creative Commons in Educ5540.  Students and teachers need to be familiar with this standard and abide by its regulations on citing and what resources to use from sites.

Thing 3

Register blog, write a post about ways to use blogs in you future classroom

I can incorporate blogs into my Social Studies/U.S. History/World History class.  In the past I have chosen to stay isolated, as far as, my inclusion and acceptance into the new technologies that are available.  I can see now that there are many technologies that can be used in classrooms such as Google Earth, advanced scholar search engines, blogs, etc.  Blogs can be used to post assignments and the syllabus to students and teachers.  Blogs can also be used to share research and resources with fellow educators.

Thing 2

Setup blog, add an Avatar & write first post

I have enjoyed this course, 5540, and have learned invaluable knowledge mainly on the various technologies that are available.

Thing 1

Which habit is easiest?  Which habit is the hardest?

I have strengths in many of the 7.5, but I would have to say that my strongest habit is begin with the end in mind.  From my experience in the military, I can understand a task from start to finish and visualize how I need to get there.
I would have to say that my weakest habit is using technology to your advantage.  I find this to be my hardest because I have only used emails and Microsoft Office at this point during the military and my education, have not had the need or ambition to use Twitter, blogs, Flickr and other technologies.  This class, EDUC 5540, has better prepared me for my future classroom experiences in teaching with how to better prepare and incorporate technologies into practice.