Thing #23 - The End or the Beginning?

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

There were a lot of Things I enjoyed, but any that involved playing with something new. Some of the things I had used before, but there were several where I learned a lot. Thing 20 stands out in that area.

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

Technology changes fast! And it is not always bad like I tend to think! This class helped my realize the importance of staying current so that I am able to be in touch with our culutre, harness the power of new tools, and engage my students in a language they understand.

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

There were many little surprises, but none that stood out.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

I love the way this class was set-up. Exploring each item one at a time was great. I also love the self-pacing. I wouldn't change much at all excpet for updating "things" as they change.

Thing #22 - Audiobooks

I'm glad to see libraries partnering in this new era of technology. It is cool to see all the audiobooks you could get in connection with our local library. I usually prefer to read books that are actually books that you hold in your hands and are made of paper. But, I am excited to see what audiobooks I could get to listen to on some road trips this summer. We use ipods in the car, so downloading a great new book is an awesome way to make the trip fly by!

Thing #21- Podcasts

I have been trying to use podcasts to learn Spanish. Actually, that is something I started about 3 years ago and still cannot say a single word because I never have the time to listen to the podcasts. It is great to have a spot to look for podcasts. Before this Thing, the only place I knew where to look was on iTunes. Similar to YouTube, I could use this with my students. But, I think podcasts would be more useful for something like learning Spanish. Doing math problems is a lot easier when you can see someone doing them as you listen.

Thing #20 - YouTube

YouTube is great. I would love to use YouTube as a tool to help kids with homework. I could video myself working a few math problems and post them on Blackboard. It could be an awesome tool.
Here is an awesome video that I love!

Thing #19 - Web 2.0 Tools

This is a cool resource. I like that I can go and see many high quality applications for many different areas. I naturally checked out the education link and found I place where I might start to learn Spanish. I was pleased to see there were some winners that I was familiar with, but it is also cool to see so many that I have never heard of. I will look forward to trying them out and see if there are any that I could apply to the classroom setting.

Thing #18 - Web Based Apps

Zoho is awesome! This could be the most useful and exciting thing for me. I even made a simple ZOHO show an uploaded it to this blog.

Okay...that didn't work, but the power of this application is awesome.

Thing #17 - PBWiki

Although this assignment was just to play, the PBWiki page was a little hard to navigate. It took me more time than usual to get things figured out. I managed to add a favorite restaurants page which should be cool if people add to it. It was fun to actually participate in a Wiki for the first time. I'm not sure how much I will use this particular "thing" though.

Thing #16 - What's a Wiki?

I've been a little weary of wikipedia. That was the only wiki I knew of. Know I realize that wikis can be a powerful colloboration tool. It seems like bias and slants can be leveled out since wikis can be edited and contributed to by many users. That is a good thing. But what if the group of contributers is small? What if they are misinformed? I suppose that's where others come in to edit, but I could go around in circles about this. I keep thinking of the 30 Rock episode where the writers play a trick on one of the dimwitted actresses. They tell here to check wikipedia to research her role as Janice Joplin. They go in and edit content so that the actress believes the legendary rockstar speed walked everywhere and was allergic to denim.

Thing #15 - Learning 2.0

As I have said before, it amazes me how fast technology is changing. After being out of high school only 12 years I have seen the rise of email, the Internet, and cell-phones. Email is already almost out of date. I really appreciated David Warlick's perspective. I value his experience as an educator and his desire to help educators and students move forward. Since the world my students live in is so different than the one I grew up in, I need to find new ways to relate to them. It will be a consistent growing to keep up with all the changes. The concept of web 2.0 and learning 2.0 is awesome. Why keep everything to yourself? With the technology available, amazing colloboration opportunities exist to keep us moving forward. It gives a whole new meaning to "standing on the shoulders of Giants."

Thing #14 - Technorati

It is amazing how many blogs there are out there. It is nice to have a site like this dedicated to blogs specifically because many of them do not show up on Google. The use of titles versus tags is really nice. I had only been familiar with tags for photos up to this point. However, it makes me wonder how many blogs out there are really worth reading? Blogging is a great tool and it seems like technorati can help you sort through what will be worth your time and what to pass on.

Thing #13 - Del.ic.cious

Sometimes working from home is a must. Ususally I am grading papers, but sometimes planning and researching for lesson plans. This would be an awesome tool to use instead to keep bookmarks in one place. I often copy and paste bookmarks into an email and send it to my school account. Not like that is difficult, but this tool could save some time. I could also create an account to share with my math students. They could access it through Blackboard and have more resources if they get stuck! Pretty sweet.

Thing #12 - Rollyo

I played around with Rollyo for a while. I created a custom search for backpacking since I am excited to do that this summer. I assign a project to my students where they pick a topic that interests them and then they have to research how it relates to math. They present their findings in a poster. I have gotten some amazing posters for students. I think Rollyo could be a great tool if students created a custom search for their topic. Yet, I have to say that good old Google would be my go-to for a search.

Thing #11 - Library Thing

Since graduating college, I have developed a love of a good book. I find a lot of enjoyment in reading and am always looking for new things to read. I have also realized that I don't like to read everything, but more non-fiction. Librarything can help me find new books that I might be interested in. What a great idea? I think it could be a powerful tool for students in a literature class. You can check out my library thing here:
http://www.librarything.com/home/robbreshears

#10 - Playtime

Thing #10 is awesome! I used a group of pictures we scanned in. We took these pictures in an old photobooth in Denver. We were trying to figure out something fun to do with them and here we go. I used FD Toys to do this. Unfortunately, I tried this once before and it was unsuccesful. Here's to success and fun!

#9 - Ahead of the game

I guess I jumped the gun on number 9. Once I set up an RSS account, I added several feeds. I explored a few more sites I usually look for and like finding the icon. Blogs are a great thing to follow as well. I have a feed for my sister in Texas and one for my wife's business. I'm just wondering how long before my life is too dang easy!

RSS rules

I have been wondering for a while what this "Google Reader" my wife is always using was all about. Now I see how useful and easy it is to use. With so much information on the Internet, a RSS feed can help break down the information you are looking for into easy and digestible chunks. I bet there are some cool ways to put this to use in a classroom. I'll have to play and explore some more to see.

Thing #7 - Technology

I cannot believe how fast our world is changing. In 1996 when I entered college, I had never used email. Now it is almost obsolete. It is a bit scary how fast things come and go, but I guess it is a good thing. At times I feel like all this technology is somewhat evil and is making our lives too easy. How soon will it be before virtually all of our problems are solved by technology and we just lay around like blobs? I have realized that most of the new tools arriving everyday can serve a great purpose. Over winter break, I finally caved into pressure from friends to sign up for Facebook. I am actually quite impressed and am enjoying catching up and staying connected with several people. I just need to be open to trying new stuff. Otherwise I will end up like the old lady who was always asking how to program her VCR.

Thing #6 - Befunky

Wow. There are some pretty cool and amazing tools out there. I played around with Montager, but I couldn't get it to work like I was hoping. Maybe I need to play with it more. This is our dog Lucca when she was a puppy this fall. I know what you are thinking - that is the cutest puppy I have ever seen.

Thing #5 - Flicker!

This is an image from Flickr that represents some of my wife's work. She has a graphic design company and specializes in letterpressed cards, invitations, and stationary. She designs everything on her computer, has a metal plate made of the design, and then presses them onto paper with her 75 year old press. I am pretty proud and amazed by what she does so I decided to use her image. Flickr has been a great resource for her business. This powerful picture sharing site has opened new doors and opportunitities for her. If you are interested in learning more, feel free to check out her website.

www.redtandemstudio.com

Thing 4

The concept of using a blog for this class is great. It is awesome to use new technologies and to see how we might be able to incorporate them into our classrooms. I have already looked at a few blogs from others and look forward to seeing more as they come along. Commenting is a great way to interact with others and gather feedback from your own posts. It will be great to read the comments people leave for me on this blog.

Thing 3

I love blogging! This is the second blog I have under one blogger account. My personal blog I started to help keep in touch with family and friends. It is a great way to share pictures, thoughts, and what is happening from day to day. It can seem intimidating at first, but they are quite simple to set up and manage once you learn the basics.

7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners

Learning the habits of lifelong learners was encouraging and a great way to gain perspective. I would say that I generally match up with many of the habits, but some are surely more of a challenge.

Habit 3 (See problems as challenges) is probably the hardest for me. I encounter several problems throughout my day and week. It happens everyday and I don't know why I am always surprised to see it glaring in my face. My instinct is to get frustrated or discouraged, but I am learning to take a step back, breathe, and look at it from a new perspective. When I am able to do this, I often find that I am excited by the challenge instead of beat over the head and stressed about a problem.

Habit 1 is probably the easiest for me because I am wired to think of the big picture. My thoughts are often in the future thinking of what could be. This can often be a good thing while at other times it is tragically annoying (just ask my wife). I have also come to see the importance of habit 2 over the past few years. No one will take responsibility for it, so I better step up!

7 and 1/2 is probably the best habit ever. Two thumbs up.