Sharks Presentation

I chose the topic of sharks because it has been something i have been interested in for so many years now! I think they are so fascinating and it is so cool to me to learn about the all the different types. Did you know there are over 18 types of sharks? It is so weird to me that we not only have beasts on land but in the water.

Sharks

My Petcha Kutcha about sharks

Screencast

Here is a screencast using twitter and screenr on how to make a google map.

Orientation in Second Life

In the video "Orientation in Second Life" is about using a system called second life to have users live in an alternate world. But it has become very confusing for most users. It seems that users come and visit the site once but become confused and never revisit. They have made guides to help the avatars find their way through the space. This works with educational organizations to improve orientation for new users. This is still an ongoing experiment.
My biggest take away from this video was the fact that this would be a good tool to use for communication and technology use. It would give people a chance to become better users of technology. It is also a fun way to explore and talk with people. I've never been much of a technology person so to see neat stuff like this is so fascinating to me. It would be neat for students to use something like this to explore technology and to communicate to each other.

My Google survery

We created Google surveys for class today here is the Link to mine if you would like to take it. I will include my results when i get them. Here is the link to my results. It seemed like the only reason someone wouldnt want a dog or a cat was because of allergies. The other result i got said they would choose a dog over a cat.

Digital Youth Portrait : Sam

This video we watched for class was about a girl named Sam and her use of technology and digital media. Its cool to see her life outside and inside of school and how she incorporates technology into both. As a teacher i know i need to be open minded to my students using technology both in my class room and outside it. This is great because it opens up assignments i may give them. This video shows how she is using technology to communicate and gain social skills through it. I think in the future cell phones wont be banned in the classroom for most schools because of that. Sam uses her skills to help her friends which is also gaining social skills and motivates others. The greatest takeaway i got from this video was the fact that she used her computer and found a website that had a virtual piano that showed her the notes to play and she could then go down stairs and practice them on her real piano. Its amazing how far technology has come!

Parallel Play or Collaboration

We watched a video called Parallel Play or Collaboration–Leveraging the Wiki Platform for High Quality Work it was about a women named Paula White and her experience with Wikis. She went on to talk about how she wanted to get students engaged with Wikis and how wikis could be used for high level work. This is very informative for the world of wiki. It makes me think that wikis could be a very useful tool for my future students. As a future teacher i could see myself using wikis pretty often. Its a chance for students to self direct, and work with others.