Thing # 21 Animoto

Liv


Making an Animoto video was fun and easy. I took a bunch of old pictures of Olivia that I had on my desktop computer and put them into Flikr after realizing that my hard drive is almost to maximum capacity with all of the photos I have taken. Taking them directly off of the pc resulted in failure after downloading the 6th picture. It was much easier to upload them to Flikr, then send them to Animoto. 

I love to do anything with photography. I am actually lamenting the fact that I have been running all day because, despite the rain, the autumn colors are perfect today and I should be trying to capture them. 

It would be fun to take pictures of class projects and make slideshows with them. Because this is something that is so easily shared, it would be intrinsically reinforcing for the students to create and show their families what they have done. My stuff video has miscellaneous photos from home... the horses, the creek, my fat cat Calista Rae, and the goats. I like the presentation on this one because it rains pictures down like rose petals. This would be something that I will have fun playing with in the future--obviously! 
Animoto is a pretty cool way to organize photos and present them thematically!



stuff

Youtube is mytube Thing #20

For those of us without subscription television, Youtube brings us the crap on television that the rest of the world takes for granted. I was introduced to Youtube in 2006 when it was Time's Person of the Year. Now, there is little you can't find there. I was looking to see whether I could find anything about my favorite teacher turned author, and I found an excerpt from his retirement celebration. On the same channel I found a video circa 1985 of two of my classmates mocking the baseball coach, Mr. Pranzo. There are is a lot out there that has been buried for years, and even more that should be. I love Youtube-- where else can you find the original mah na mah na , Wonderama, Honey Boo Boo, Robot Chicken, classic Saturday Night Live episodes, and Gee! Your Hair Smells Terrific commercials all on one website? I could do without the commercials, but  somthing has to pay for it. 

Youtube is a great source of information for teachers and videos that can be used by teachers. I chose Keith Hughes video, Teaching for Dummies, based on the title, but I found the "facilitator of learning experiences", Mr. Hughes, quite energetic and engaging. His point in this particular video, to communicate with our students using examples that may be relevant in their lives, was one that is often overlooked. We talk at our students, he claims, and often, when speaking to our students in our academic discourses, we sound like aliens. We need to "create a bridge" for communication if we are going to teach them anything. 

I would definitely search for informative videos on Youtube, as well as on teachertube, to incorporate on my classroom blog. I think it would be helpful to have it accessible for students who are absent, or those who want to review. It is so easy to embed videos, and there are so many videos that incorporate humor, music, and are truly engaging. And to think we had to watch the Saturday morning cartoons to see Schoolhouse Rock! 

What I love about this is that it is just so easy!

It would be fun to make our own videos and start our own channel, just because it is so easy! 

I did explore Kideos, which had a lot of childrens' videos. I chose this one because it had a lot of funny animal videos, as well as many classics. This can be a source of some guaranteed clean fun-- I don't think we ever grow to old for the Muppets, Ninja Baby, or baby animals. 

Everyone loves videos. Incorporating this media into our practice is guaranteed to engage our students. 

Thing #19-- Social Networking Beyond the Big FB

When I think about Facebook, I, think about the initial fascination I experienced when I friended my first contacts-- friends, family, people from high school-- how cool to see who was doing what, but better yet, to spy into the lives of others, the friends of friends that one would never friend personally. Hours spent stalking those people we would not actually click the add button for, knowing full well that they would probably accept a friend request anyway. 

I think about a few of my friends that I seldom speak with. Those that will post about what's in the crockpot, how strong the coffee came out today. How they are contemplating what color socks to wear. Really? Does America need to know? Do you think your friends love you so much that they care about these trivial things? Then I think about the crazy people out there, who have Facebook accounts for their cats. And those who still write from those accounts after their namesakes have crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Freaky...

Then there are the good things. The amazing fact that the needle in the haystack half-brother I hoped to someday find messaged me one night last August. The favorite teacher of all time that my father told me 20 years ago that I should contact and thank-- who accepted my friend request yesterday. There are warm fuzzies that validate my favorite social media although there are silly addictive games that make it waste even more of my time. 

But, for more productive purposes, there are other social networking sites out there.  
Finding like minded people in similar situations from other communities, that is what it's all about. I see value in joining another social network that is based on one's vocation for the purpose of enriching oneself. Forums on  classroom2.0 supply a wealth of other information for teachers, beyond pedagogy, such as 8 tips for teachers who have a passion for not cooking and 5 of the biggest mistakes I made as a new teacher. These personal expressions of experiences are valuable. Likewise, there is an abundance of information on Google+ education community-- discussions, resources, success stories and a help needed section.  I joined both of these communities because I think they can be helpful in my future. 

I found both of these sites appealing because it would probably be quick and easy to find information on them. Members will probably be more concerned with sharing valid ideas than a play-by play of breakfast preparation. The purpose of these sites is to share insights and search for help. I expect to use both of these sites when I am stuck on something and need another opinion or two, or another perspective on an issue. 

I have never used another social media site other than a few message boards that I have  commented on or consulted for help with animals or other issues. What I liked about the two I discovered is that they are both fairly straightforward, no drama that I could detect, and information was fairly easy to glean. 

I do love my Facebook though. I don't spend as much time wasting time as I used to, and I try to be more careful about what I write, but I'm not giving it up anytime soon. 

Thing # 18, Hashtag Social Media!

#tweetingabouteducation? #Isthatwhatteachershavecometo? #Howmuchinformationcanweconveyinatweet? #arewethataddictedtoourdevicesthatwemusttweetabouteverything?
#canItweetmyAPAresearchpapertoyouforreview? (in several tweets, of course, as we are limited to 140 characters).
#istheconceptoftwitterineducationabsurdorisitjustme?
#IlovetechbuttheonlythingIlikeabouttwitterisfollowingLadyGaga

Can anything truly worthwhile be conveyed in a tweet? 

I really think that as social media goes, Twitter will be an unlikely candidate in my classroom. Why? I am trying to keep an open mind. I am trying hard. I know how to hashtag things-- well yes, I have illustrated my own mockery of the concept. I tried using an education hashtag, and I did get results, but my mind simply will not accept the validity of a 140 word tweet as a rich source of information. There are so many other methods of delivery that are laden with information.

I am not a Twit-- my poor cell is usually in the glovebox where it often dies of neglect until I need it and recharge it. There is a time and place for research, learning, and sharing, but it is not on one's mobile device. Imagine the guy next to you, swerving into your lane, fervently tweeting his position on Common Core-- #scary.As much as I love technology, I love to get away from it. I hate to think that my children are so obsessed that each must have a mobile device with them at all times and cannot let go. How on Earth did I enjoy my childhood without Instagram, memes, and Grumpy cat? 

I will now list the few situations in education in which Twitter could be useful:

• Little Johnny's parents will not let him go to homecoming unless he passes his pre-calculus exam. Little Johnny tweets to Professor Logarithm, asking for his grade. Professor Logarithm tweets back that Little Johnny got 70%. Go Johnny!
• All of her students follow Professor Semicolon. On Friday she tweets about the paper that is due on Monday. Looks like Professor Semicolon just trashed more than a few weekends. 
• Students are working on a collaborative project in Dr. Who's physics class. They tweet each other suggestions and compile the project online. Sadly, they never meet in person although they sit in the same lecture hall every Wednesday afternoon for three hours. 
• Dr. Partyanimal is feeling a bit under the weather. She rolls over and tweets to her students that she has the flu and class is canceled for the rest of the week,then heads back to happy hour. 

The only Tweeting Kabuki is fond of is the one that she--oops--just ate!

 These examples would probably only work in a college or university setting. Twitter is a constricted social media site. I,quite obviously, would have trouble getting anything done in 140 characters. And, If I can't put a picture of a kitten in a fez, why would I use it? Oh, except for watching Lady Gaga's tweets. 

Thing #17: So they Say this is Delicious

Tagging, tagging, it's all about tagging. What I have discovered about tagging is that sometimes its useful, making things more findable, but other times-- well, not so much, it just provides you with a proverbial stack of things to go through.

My first impression of the Delicious-- really. Is this it (so basic)? So how does this work? I did have to search for the the bookmark button. I really thought that would be easier to find! Once I did, realizing yes, this was what I was looking for although it didn't match the button on the Common Craft Video, I added it to my toolbar.  When I typed in educational technology, as instructed,  I did get a huge collection of information. There were some relevant, interesting links available. I tried a few more tag searches and most of the results were valid, although there were some bizarre mashables that showed up when I typed in Nigerian Dwarf, just to see how it would work on something that is not commonplace.

My fear about tagging is that people will tag quite liberally, resulting in a massive list of irrelevancies. A tag for kids is likely to yield this:

Kids, Copernicus and Antigone, enjoying a sunny afternoon

I certainly find value in being able tag and share information with a group of people searching for similar information, such as teachers in a school. Whether I would share with my social media friends, which range greatly in interests,  and are composed of childhood friends, currents friends, work and school associates, neighbors, friends of friends, gaming friends, my mom's friends, my 78 year old aunt and uncle, various cousins, sisters-in-law is doubtful. It would be useful to share in a contained group for educational information.

Having an actual classroom bookmarking website account would be useful. I also looked at Digg and stumbleapon. I liked the setup of the Digg website. Although I didn't sign up, there were many interesting stories displayed, so I believe it would be a good place to find information worth bookmarking. I did sign up for stumbleapon. Based on 5 interests I chose: education,  animals, nature, alcoholic drinks, and coffee, I was able to randomly stumble upon several irrelevant websites. I was shown several funny cat sites, a PETA site, Jimmy the Bartender, a general education website showing other ed websites that I was aware of, a website trying to sell a tech college, and A Funny Collection of Misspelled Names Written on Starbucks Cups. My impression of stumbleapon  is that it's stumbleapon button is about as random as they come.

I think these bookmarking sites can be useful for people with a lot of time. My 70 year old  mother could spend all day there. I think it is a good idea to be able to bookmark and tag useful sites, I just don't know if doing so saves time.