Kelsey


 * Kelsey's Reflections**

Chapter 8 Wiki Reading this chapter was pretty informative to me considering we have worked on a Wiki. I got the concept but it was not easy to do. I think if I was invited to a Wiki and received and email on specifically what to be responsible to do, than is would have been easier. The chapter notes many benefits of Wiki that I do agree with. This way of research and education is very beneficial and offers a place to go to be able to collaborate with specific people about a specific topic. It is a form of education that has a specific purpose and once on the site is it is much easier to follow through with a thought because all pages and topics are linked to each other.

One problem I do find with a wiki is that is may not always be information that is correct. People are able to make pages, edit pages and add to pages using strictly opinion rather than fact. This is often seen in an often used wiki “Wikipedia”. I do use this site often to find the common knowledge idea of what something-anything may be. This means anything from cutting your pets nails to the French Revolution so it is helpful but it should be a common knowledge that once you look at this site, further research needs to be done especially as an educational resource. Also, I had an understanding that Wikis were only meant for members, but apparently it is not. Depending on the form of Wiki that you use dictates who can see and edit the information.

Weekly Reflection Chapter 7 Virtual Envionments

This chapter was interesting to me because I stand on the fence when it comes to internet medias in education. The idea of a student having a second life on the internet is commonly used in colleges already. To add that to the younger children could have positive and negative effects, depending on parent supervision and the child’s desire to learn. After going through the websites homepage and only scratching at the surface the idea behind it, I found that I would be more than distracting for somebody like me. I am a student who has no attention span at all, when you take education and add online activity that includes socializing, shopping, and whatever else not relevant to learning, you get literally a “second life” to have to maintain. It is enough for a student between 1-12 grade to focus on their daily tasks at hand, now having the ability to socialize through a supposed “educational” second life is just not easy for many to do. It is very similar to many social medias that have been around for a while, but just as Facebook could have educational uses, it is rarely used for that purpose. I find that if I have a question about an educational topic, I email. Blackboard is an online educational based system that allows the interacting, allows videos to be posted, notes to be passed on, blog areas, chat areas, grades, and everything else you can possibly need for education. I do not find that it is needed to have a “look” behind any time of educational media. Students have enough insecurities to battle through, they don’t need another media that may add to the added stress of identifying yourself as a person.

Visual aids in education was discussed in chapter 6. It talked about how visual media adds extra to the learning experience by allowing students to have a visual understanding of what is being discussed. My personal opinion is that visual tools are extremely helpful and add extra interest for students because a student has the ability to see what is being taught. An example of a visual tool could be the use of powerpoint or prezi or even just having the internet to be able to upload and watch videos that go into further depth about a topic. Visual tools can be utilized in every way possilbe. In every subject there is a use for it. Smart board is another visual educational tool that allows interactive learning. In this program you are able to draw just as though it was a blackboard but you are able to save it and refer back to it at any given time. I do think that visual tools may be distracting to some students that loose focus when attention is pulled away from the Non-visual learning. For the majority, it keeps students interested. Something as small as counting or as large at plate tectonics can be explained though showing the actual process rather than a teacher drawing it on the board. These visual aids can show a animated projection of a certain area of study that doesn't leave the student wondering what the teacher attempted to draw on the board. For
 * Chapter 6**
 * Visual Aids in Education**


 * Chapter 5**
 * Social media**

My first thought was that it was a terrible idea to use a social media for any type of school projects. Once I began reading, the author was able to show me the different ways that a teacher could use a social media in education such as using it amongst teachers. Also, I did begin to realize that using a social media can be regulated. By this is mean often child and teen bullying occur over the internet. Ever since these social medias became the new way of socialization in an epidemic proportion people have used it as a way to bully. So that was by far all I wanted to think of it. Aslo, as a mother my reaction was justified to me because I wouldn’t have initially wanted my child to have to participate in a setting like that. Once I got past the idea that there was no way to regulate, I was able to see that most of the social media sites have privacy settings that allow blocking of specific others. Using Facebook as an example, a teacher would be able to make a site that only the people who are part of the group can view. Also, the teacher can have each student block every one that is added from the school on their own page. Tagging is also a positive. Allowing what is tagged to be shown on the others pages automatically.


 * Chapter 4**
 * Productivity Applications**

I love the GTD acronym! Get things done! The tools that were gone over were very insightful. I have bare minimum knowledge about productivity tools available on the internet. Google docs seemed extremely useful and I even started an account with it. I don’t know how to use it and I am sure it will take figuring out but, it looks that it would be well worth the hassle and confusion to learn. I like the google docs also because you are able to share it and let others correct or add to it the knowledge that they have on the topic. It is good for grade keeping, attendance, projects and so on. Other prod. Apps that were mentioned were Insta-paper, e-fax and Scan-r. These were three that I also liked for different various reasons. I like e-fax because I often find myself needing a fax machine and mine being broken or out of ink or whatever the situation may be. I like Scar-r because I don’t have a real scanner and this application allows you to use your phone as a scanner. Instapaper because it will store the paper after you press “read later” and making an account is very easy. This, so far, has been the best chapter. Or should I say the most informative because it showed me several different and new productivity applications that can come useful in the classroom and at home for homework use.

Chapter 3
 * Pod/Vodcasts**

After reading the chapter on Podcasts and Vodcasts I seemed to be thinking mostly about the different topics that are available. I think that the most interesting part of a pod/vodcast is that you have the availability of hearing or watching any topics you can possibly think of. The author hit on the topic of being able to follow scientist as they follow animals or projects that they are working on. That brought me to the idea of being able to do research as a student through the episode types of downloadable files. I also like the idea of being able to be updated on a podcatcher when a new post is made. It is downloadable to a temporary file on your computer so if you are in a spot where there is no internet connection, you still have the option to open it and use it to study. This is a huge positive in the teaching world because you can assign these as a homework so it reiterates what was taught in class. Or, you can even use them in class and the students have the option of going home and using it as a reference to be able to study or do further research from. Everybody studies differently. Being so, this allows every student to learn at their own pace and it also can allow the option of seeing a visual representation of what is being taught. **Chapter 2** **MicroBlogs** Microblogging is a form of blogging but in a quicker, smaller, less informative way (the informative part seems to be more of my opinion than anything). Examples of Microblogging would be using Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. These types of micro blogs are a very social way of blogging information. Ok, so maybe saying less informative is wrong. Because I do not use Facebook for research by any means towards schooling. BUT I certainly use it to see how my family is doing, or how the concert my cousin was in went, pregnancy watch, being able to see your family grow while not seeing them in person is my favorite part about it. Although not at all educational, I believe that micro blogs have brought families and friends closer because there is a medium in which the two people can converse over and not feel obligated to sit on the phone for thirty minutes at a time. Bringing this back to education, if a professor makes a FB page, they have the ability to teach the students how to let the class page only see the information that was posted to the students personal pages but using the settings. Micro blogging is different the blogging in the sense that you have the option to choose who sees your blog. It is more of a specific chosen group that you blog with rather than anybody who stumbles across in on the internet. Mostly, you have to be requested and accept the request in order to see and join. BUT again, there are options to let others from outside the group see the blogs but not have a way to add their own input. This is a reason I can see Microblogs being used for in class work. It is a short and fast way to get an answer about homework, projects or even class cancellations. **Chapter 1** **Blogging** Blogging is a way of people being able to talk about a specific topic of interest. A blog is instant in comparison to textbooks and people can come together to collaborate ideas and further the research or information about the topic. A blog can be made by anybody on any topic at any time and can be found at any given time. There are many advantages that a blog provides the educational world. As a student I personally DO like blogs. I know that it is my words and work for the world to see and criticize, but it allows for others to give me their input back to me within minutes or even years as the world evolves. I also have an understanding that a blog is not some bodies research necessarily but rather it is what they think they know off the top of their head. Sometimes people do look up information but more than likely you are going to get responses from people that you should always double check the facts. Blogging has some negative effects but mostly positive. Blogging is lighter to carry, cheaper that buying encyclopedias (because it is free) and has an unlimited amount of linked information because all you have to do it click one more time. But some of the negative effects of blogging in education is that if done in class, the student can easily become very distracted. Also, some students may be blogging to a specific audience if it is for class and may be hindered by the idea that so many people can read their work. Although in turn they are more likely to review their work to a higher standard. **Introduction** While reading the introduction chapter in the Web 2.0 How-to for Educators text, I seemed to find that it talked a lot about the definition of what "Web 2.0" meant. Being that I didn't even know that term existed shows the technology background that I have. My mom currently works as a QA Director at Computer Associates and has worked with technology since I was a baby. Working for Northup Grumman designing the technological systems that would operate the planes she was assigned to over 15 years ago and to this day she still has more knowledge than I currently have in technology. This introduction alone taught me even just that basics of some of the new technologies. More importantly I feel like that some of the topics that were hit upon were the ones that talked about the pros and cons of "web 2.0". Teachers having to take classes on the new education tools because students come to class with a pre-knowledge of these new technologies and the teachers are being taught by the student rather. It talked about the lack on real life experiences and interactions, and also talked about the availability of new and relevant information only clicks away. Old technologies seems to wither as the future becomes more important. My opinion is that the "web 2.0" generation is learning to focus on how to make the future better by using technology but not thinking about how it got there, what its purpose is, or how to relate one thing to another. When you learn something knew, a new technology tool, you don't think about how it got there, you think about what's next. Without being able to look backwards and understand why this tool has the potential to help learning it becomes a task which then can become distracting.