Gissel

==== This chapter I find it helpful as a tool to look back in the event I need to refer back in any of the tools discuss in this book. In other words this chapter is a summary of book. what I like about this chapter was the fact that the author finally acknowleges that there are flaws in the book. ====

11/30 Chapter 10- Specific Tools
I found this chapter very informational. There are some websites that can be very helpful to use in the classroom environment. What makes some of these sites so "provocative" is that they are user friendly and free.
 * ** Audacity ** - is a tool I have used myself and became very handy for some PowerPoint presentations, it is a music edit program in which you can select the part of the song that you need, thus avoiding the usage of the entire song helping time management at the same time.
 * ** Delicious ** - serves the same purpose as your favorites with the difference that you can access your favorite sites from any computer not necessarily your own.
 * ** Diigo ** - what I like the most is the fact that you can run it like a power point presentation with live interaction in social media.
 * ** Drupal- ** is a low cost software that creates a website and because of its low cost and easy to manage tool many school districts use it to create their own sites as well as educators.
 * ** Evernote ** - I think I can best describe it as the "cliff notes" of the internet it has the capability to save research data from the internet saving the hustle of printing tons of paper.
 * ** Google Earth ** - (I'm guilty user) I love this application. It gives you a "live" picture of a specific place you 'Google' its free and easy to use but it has a little downfall the pictures are not always "live" some of them are old because the server hasn't been updated.
 * ** Google Forms ** - I feel these are only practical for collecting data. The beautiful thing about it is that it automatically generates results.
 * ** Google Readers ** - it is the "rumor weed" it collect data based on your likes and centralizes your engine search based on that. Personally I’m not too funding of this app.
 * ** Issuu ** - I like this app because I believe it engages the students to put more effort into their work. And when an essay becomes a published essay it sounds more serious.
 * ** Moodle ** - it is a cyber circle time. With this application instead of having the students come to the carpet and have their teacher read a story per class it is now one teacher reading to many classes a once. I guess this tool can be useful when students from different classrooms are taught the same thing by various teachers. This tool enhances collaborate teaching.
 * ** Netvibes ** - I feel it just like Evernote "cyber cliff notes."
 * ** Skbl ** - with the use of the smartboard I personally don’t feel this tool is needed in the classroom. But it may be a way to have students have interactive learning when smart boards are not available.
 * ** Skype ** - it is a face-face video chatting in real time it is the global telephone pole.
 * ** Timetoast- ** This is a cool interactive timeline tool. This tool (I feel) makes children want to do their work.
 * ** TodaysMeet ** - I feel that this tool can be a bit distracting if use during a lecture. But it also makes school available 24/7.
 * ** VoiceThread ** -it is video/text/and chatting blog combine into one screen in which multiple feedbacks is given at once. If not used carefully it can lead to cyber bulling I feel.
 * ** Voki ** - I don’t agree with creating avatars in order to enhance communication. Students’ understandings on a subject should be done in class not by an avatar.
 * ** Webspiration ** - I like the fact that it breaks things down to the minimum level in which students can better understand the topic at hand.
 * ** WizIQ ** -it works through videoconference that related to a classroom environment. This program works best when the full version is bought.
 * Wordle- ** Creates abstracts pictures from a series of words. Personally I don’t see how this can work as a learning tool in the classroom.

11/5 Chapter 9- The future of the Web?
The future of schools seems to be threatening by the increasing power of the Internet. If the future web is to lower the cost of books by having them accessible on line for free then does that mean that no more books will be written? How are authors to make money of their books? Also by having all students' information lingering on line are we really protecting the privacy of all individuals involve in the education of our children as well as the students’? This all sounds great in paper however, where is the warning label. If students are to learn from handheld devices while streaming on line then why would they need to go to school or have a teacher when they can just learn it all by reading it on line? I believe that by making everything so easy we are just hindering our kids’ thinking and communication process. There will not be any more trial and error process. The need to think for oneself will no longer be needed. I believe that we are becoming too dependent on technology and I find a bit scary that we are leading into a world where the streaming on computers will do all the “thinking”. Take a look at our kids today and compare them to those that were not so computer depended and tell me which one have a better thinking process? At this rate we will not be able to function and a perfect example of this was the recent hurricane we face. With the lost of power no one was able to function. Too much of this development can actually cause nothing but detrimental damage to our society, if we are not careful.

11/2 Chapter 8- Wikis
I think Wikis is a good tool to use when is use for group research papers and/or project(s). Because of its 24/7 availability students and teachers have more of a lead way when it comes to time management. When students are require to work in groups on a research paper(s) to some students it is very difficult to meet with their peers. Through wikis they can all work individually but yet together at the same time on their own time. This way it alleviates the tension that group work can create at times. However, I do not believe wiki should only be use in the educational setting it should be use in the professional setting as well. I say this because wiki is a good communication tool and nothing else, it doesn't teach.

11/2 Chapter 7- Virtual Learning
May be I am too old fashion and perhaps that is the reason why I cannot grasped this idea of this virtual living/teaching. How can this book tell me that children are more prompt to learn this way? Because some research studies say so! This chapter aggravates me. NYU presented a study in 2010 that claims, violent video games are good for children to play because they have better attention...here is the link to that article ([]) I believe that if we allow our children to study in virtual world we are going to create nothing but detrimental damage to our children. Their “real” social skills (the interaction with real humans not avatars) will be lost forever and what is going to become of them. I think technology has great advantages but we need to take a step back. We have almost eliminated all our books, soon there will be no libraries. We are becoming too computer depending children are not learning anymore they are lost if they don’t have a ‘gadget’ in their hands. I don’t think this should be the way to teach our children. If we only condition our children to interact in a virtual world how are they to learn to speak to a person? What’s next? People won’t leave their homes because everything will be done virtually? Lets get real.

10/26 Chapter 6- Visual Learning
For some students it is easier to learn through visual stimulation and for that reason videos have always been used in academic settings. Many teachers choose to show videos in the classroom to better explained the subject at hand. But, now days the videos utilized in the classroom have taken a different route, and instead of showing videos that are already made students are making them. This is a great tool to get students involved and to reduce segregation among students in the classroom. Technology has taken education to a higher level and students are learning and understanding more from other classmates than from the actual books. Videos and photos are a fun and interactive way of learning. However, I don't believe that videos and photos can be utilized in every subject for example the book describes how a chemistry teacher used it for students to get to know each other and her but it does not describe how the students learn about chemistry. I do feel that visual aids are great tools to implement in the classroom when they are properly used.

10/19 Chapter 5- Social Networks Social media started as a trend of communication for people to find people for various reasons such as, finding loves ones and/or people that shared the same thoughts/ideas. Today, as technology continues to take over our means of communication, social media is expanding to the educational field in a global level. Social media in education can be very beneficial when it’s properly used, but just like everything else, it has its down side as well. The positive effects that social media has in today’s education is the ability for teachers to share their ideas globally, cross-cultural tool, increase peer interaction that aides with the understating of the material. The information that is shared among these websites is endless and at times very beneficial. The negative effect on social media is that not all children have the ability to own a computer and when used globally we cannot assume that third world country schools will have the same equipment at hand (internet access, laptop, etc) also will children really do their work or will they based their answers solely on what other students wrote on the blogs? I find very hard to believe that the studies presented in this chapter are in fact accurate. I don’t believe children are using social media mainly to discuss homework? Personally, I find pretty surprising the statement a woman made in this chapter in which she claims that she has learned "tremendous" amount of information from her twitter account followers. Social Medial when use correctly can be very resourceful and although we have come far there are still many negative things about it.