Week 9 Thing # 23 (copywrite, creative commons)

Copywrite is a difficult concept to teach and some time to understand. When does something fall under fair use when doe it not? Creative commons sounds a lot like fair use but it is even more confusing. May be it is just me. How do you know what rights are reserved under a creative commons. The movie was a very entertaining and educational.

Week 9 Thing # 22 (ebooks and audio book)

I love audio books. They are a great to listen to on long trips. Audio books are also very useful with students who have difficulty reading. Allowing a student to follow along with a print book while listening to it gives them the chance to hear what the words they are looking at sound like.
Before this I had not had much experience with ebooks. Ebooks do not hold much appeal to me for pleasure reading, however, I can see the advantage of them in low budget schools or as text books. An etext book would allow students to have access to their text books anywhere there is an internet connection. There in point however lies the problem. The need for an internet connection. In rural towns one can not expect all students to have internet let alone a computer.

Week 9 Thing # 21 (podcast)

Podcast are a great way to share information. In college a one of my professors recorded all lecture and posted the pod cast online after class. This was a great resources. If you missed something in class or just miss class all together you can go back and listen to what happened.
Podcast could be used for if you knew you were going to be absent for a day. This would be especially useful if you were in the middle of a project which is hard to explain.

Week 9 Thing # 20 (youtube)

I have used youtube for many diffrent thing in the past. Youtube is great for any number of things from finding your favorite songs, looking up vacation sites, educational videos, and just plain funny videos.
One way youtube could be used in school is reenactments. Instead of students video taping their reenactments and bringing them into school they could do at home and post them on to youtube. They could also be use for instructional videos. I thought this was a fun video and a great example of how youtube can be used for education.

Week 8 Thing # 19 (Library Things)

This is a fun way to talk about your favorite or least favorite book. It would be fun to create a group for the teachers at school. We are always sharing books and having them online would be fun because we would know who has which books and it would make sharing them a breeze. It would also become like a book club where we could all share our thoughts on the books after reading. Book clubs are a lot of fun but it is hard to get a group of people to read the same book in the same amount of time. Having a group and being able to post discussions on LibraryThings would be great.

Take a look at my library by visiting
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/punxsyphill

Week 8 Thing # 18 (online productivity)

I've used these tools before. They are great because they can be accessed no matter where you are. They would be great to use in schools because the students can access their projects on any computer anywhere. Once students have learned how to use the tools, if they don't already know how to they can start a project at school and finish it at home or vice versa.
They are also great for teachers who travel often. I go between schools and though I have a lap top online productivity tools would allow me to back up my material so even if my laptop is not working I can access my lesson plans and worksheets.

Week 7 Thing # 17 (PA Curriculum Connection wiki)

I was not able to get this to work. I could not create an account with out and invite key and did not know the invite key. Am I the only one to have this problem?