Andy and Reuben

Who knew that things like this could be done?

Week 4 Continued

So, I'm couldn't figure out how to post my blog site on the Learning 2.0 recommended site, so I just made my own Wiki. You can find it here: http://amyislearning.pbwiki.com/

I'm not sure that I did this right and I realized that Wikis don't look like blogs. My Wiki doesn't look great, but the information is there. Maybe one of my awesome classmates will add an edit to this Wiki.

Week 4--Wiki-What??

So I admit, I've only really had one experience with a Wiki. On an amazing episode of The Office, Michael Scott is trying to negotiate his salary and he has no idea how to go about doing such a complex task. He goes to Wikipedia and finds information. This information would probably be useful to anyone except Michael. He uses much of the information incorrectly and manages to try salary negotiation while wearing a woman's pantsuit.

If The Office can use Wikis, I can too. I really didn't have any idea about a Wiki, but I've liked what I see. I really think that Wikis could be really useful to people who are in the same large workplace. Company policies, memos and announcements could be posted and reworked at this location. Of course in a library, there are endless possiblities. Students could add or edit information about book lists, or they could even make their own book lists and descriptions on a Wiki. I really enjoyed looking at The Book Lovers Wiki. Wikis like this are really appealing and easy to read. The Wiki that dealt with the ALA conference would be really helpful to people attending that conference. Wikis allow many people to get information posted without the bother of e-mail delivery problems.

Week 3 Photo Sites

I had no idea that so many photo sharing sites existed. I love using Shutterfly and Snapfish, but I didn't know about Flickr, Mappr, or Montagr. These sites are so amazing. I used Flickr to make the slide show of Reuben on the left of this page. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I actually had to go on another blog and find directions about how to make a slideshow. Then I had to copy the html code to my blog. The hard part was adjusting the html code to make the slideshow fit in the narrow space on my blog. I'm so grateful for the help sites on blogger that tell me how to do these things.

I'm actually really excited to see Mappr. I've been using Google Earth with my classes a lot this year. We read a lot of world stories and it's nice to find those on a map and then click on pictures that actual images of these new places. My students love it. I am trying to think of ways to integrate Mappr with the concepts I have used from Google Earth. I'm excited to keep exploring and clicking until things work out the way I want.

I found this picture on Flickr. I love this site because people take much better pictures than I ever do. This is Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. It is one of my favorite places to be in San Francisco, but I could never caputre it like this photographer did.

Seven and A Half Steps to Lifelong Learning

This slideshow really made me think about the process of learning. I think that I'm probably the best at using technology to my advantage. I love to discover new technology that will help me and my students. Usually when I master this technology and give it to my students, they already know about it and don't need much training.

The hardest step for me is viewing problems as challenges. I like to "get" things right away. When I don't, I tend to give up on them. This slideshow motivated me to think about the challenges I face in learning and overcome those challenges.