Thing # 20

I love YouTube, you can find a video of just about anything. I'm subscribed to this girls videos, she comes up with really neat ways to mix math with art, and is a pretty incredible sharpie artist.The only thing I dislike about YouTube is their comments section. Most of the comments are completely irrelevant, or become very hateful. My idea for the libraries to use something like You tube would be to create a narrative, or short description of any particular book...this might help the students more apt to read.

Thing 15

This proves why professors say that Wikipedia is not a valid source. Anyone can go in and edit any of the information. I really enjoyed reading poeples sentences that had obviously been edited so that they no longer made sense...wikis could work really well as a place that students can edit and review the work of their peers.

Thing #13

I loved Zoho writer, it works better on my Kindle Fire than Google docs does so I use it more often....https://writer.zoho.com/docroll/cladd1988/10 & the fact that it's free makes it pretty awesome too. Instead of paying for Microsoft Office updates, it would be cheaper to use Zoho or Google docs. Both of these sites allow you to make spread sheets, upload pictures, music, collaborate in chatrooms and access blogs. As well as many other options.my picture from google docs. Students would be able to collaborate with each other using the private chatrooms that both of these sites offer, as well as using the spreadsheets, writer, presentation creater, and video tools to find creative ways to use with group projects.

Thing # 18 (School)

 For this 'Thing' we were to answer the following questions about the top two social networking sites, Twitter & Facebook...
-Why is it important that educators know how social networking works? 
I believe it is important for educators to know how social networking works, and to be involved with it. Facebook actually has it's own site for educators to learn about it, and to find ways to become involved. http://facebookforeducators.org/educators-guide
According to this site, 
We also believe that Facebook can be a powerful tool to help you connect with your colleagues, share educational content, and enhance communication among teachers, parents and students. (We explain more about these topics later.)


The site goes on to list several convincing ideas on different positive ways that Facebook can be used by educators.


-What new insights did you gain about these popular sites? 
Honestly, Twitter annoys me. I admit I have a twitter account, but I hardly ever use it. Compared to Facebook, Twitters abilities are incredibly limiting. In fact, I think that the most interesting thing Twitter does is the 'Trends". 
Facebook however, has so many different pages, groups, and people, pictures, games, applications...etc. it's hard to ever be bored with Facebook. 


What did you like or dislike about each of the sites you explored? 
Twitter is boring. 
Facebook offers endless amounts of entertainment.


Which site had the most useful features? Facebook.


Can you see a classroom or school application for any of these sites?
For Facebook, yes. I can see using it to collaborate with students by making private groups. They would even be able to collaborate with other students across the globe. Which would be great for a geography class.

"Facebook in the Classroom

In our conversations with teachers, many have told us that they are looking for ways to better understand students’ emerging digital learning styles. Educators have also expressed that they are interested in learning how to integrate Facebook into their lesson plans to enrich students’ educational experiences, to increase the relevance of the content, and to encourage students to collaborate effectively with their peers.

Facebook can provide students with the opportunity to effectively present their ideas, lead online discussions, and collaborate. In addition, Facebook can help you, as an educator, to tap into the digital learning styles of your students. For example, it can facilitate student-to-student collaboration and provide innovative ways for you to involve students in your subject matter.

Thing # 12

For thing # 12 we had to "explore Google". At the beginning of this whole "blogging" ordeal I created a google account, which I've become highly addicted to. I have a public iGoogle account and use the google calendar, which is great because you can get it to send you a reminder message to your cell phone if you have an appointment that day. Also, Google Wallet is awesome it's like a virtual account that you can upload your credit card information onto and use it instead of carrying around a wallet. I've never used it, but I have a freind who has and they told me it was neat. Google Docs I love, I can use that app on my Kindle Fire and use Google Cloud to connect to a printer. If you'd like to view my iGoogle just go to Google + You and type in Caitlin Ladd!

Thing # 11

For thing # 11 we were supposed to subscribe to different blogs using search tools like Google, Topix and Technorati to find ones that interested us. Topix & Technorati were confusing to me, so I played it safe and stuck with Google because I already knew how to use its blog search tool. I subscribed to various cooking blogs including one for homemade dog treat recipies, which I ended up making & my dog loved.http://homemade-dog-treat-recipes.blogspot.com/ I also subrscribed to a couple of wedding blogs, which had wonderful ideas...some of which I stole, and plan on using. :) http://www.stylemepretty.com/ I've really gotten hooked on blog searching, there is a blog for just about everything. Including picking your nose! They even have 'nose cups' and a blog for it...http://nosepicking.wordpress.com/

Thing #10 (School)

For Thing # 10 we were supposed to set up a google account and subscribe to different blogs using the RSS reader app. I LOVED this. Instead of pouring over page after page trying to find something interesting on the blogs that I had chosen, they all popped up onto one single page that I could scroll down. No more typing in different sites into the search bar, no more jumping from tab to tab, they were all there on one page. This made things SO much easier. Pictures included. This would be a fun idea to use for the parents of the children in my class, they can create their own blogs, subscribe to different ones and each others and shuffle different ideas, thoughts, opinions around.