october 27, 2008

back up is critical to using technology
technology is not always reliable
many class frustrations with the midterm fortunately I did not have any problems, though I was a stress case about it
computers and software have their limits
you have to understand the logic to feel through the tech mess
its not that flexible (tech)
important message: YOU INFLUENCE TECHNOLOGY
being to tense or stressed out, technology won't be working for you, don't take it personally
new susan fridie on keyboards and mice
wiki can be great for organization and group work
intro to educational challenge assignment

Form Pilot Pro

Form Pilot Pro enables the user to fill out scanned in forms, scanned in as an image with a computer, without altering the original.
http://www.colorpilot.com/typewriter.html

Ergonomics and me

With the help of the Cornell University Website on Ergonomics:
http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/ErgoTips2002/workstation/workstationmain.htm
I found out just how bad my own ergonomics are, many of the issues can be seen in the photo of my work station.
1st, apparently my keyboard should sit low on my lap, with the mouse right next to it. The mechanics of my desk do not permit this to happen.
Perhaps if I had this desk with adjustable keyboard height, I could practice proper ergonomics.


This desk would also allow for my elbow to remain close to my body as opposed to my usual, outstretched arm.
From what I understand, my firm, wooden chair is less than ideal, I should be in a padded chair with lower back support with a slight backwards incline, a chair more like this one...

The final area which my computer center and habits are lacking is my foot placement. I have a habit of placing my feet anywhere BUT flat on the ground. This is the only area which I have full control over to change, and I will try.

On a more positive note, I have all of my other office supplies, such as paper, pens, paper clips, printer, etc., within an arms reach. I guess I was doing one thing right.

Bookmarking and annotation

Social Bookmarking stores, organizes, searches, and navigates bookmarks of webpages on the internet. Can also provide webfeeds and lists of informative links to patrons. links to popular social bookmarking sites: http://www.kaboodle.com/
http://www.clipmarks.com/
http://www.diigo.com/
http://www.esnips.com/

http://www.stumbleupon.com/
http://delicious.com/
http://ma.gnolia.com/

Web annotation is something added to an existing resource without changing the resource, for example, adding a rating system on top of what is already there.

kaboodle.com/sfridie/bookmarking-services.html?m_ep=jk for Susan Fridie's top picks and positives and negatives

Susan Fridie Lecture on Bookmarking bookmarking is for organization, to organize links frequently used or interesting, the three elaborated bookmarking tools are all accessible from any computer with internet access, your details are available online at the bookmarking program's main site
kaboodle
with kaboodle, you can bookmark whole pages, the details and title of the bookmark is taken straight from the bookmarked site. after having created an account, right click on desired page, select "add to kaboodle", you can add comments and place in appropriate folder
clipmarks
with clipmarks, you can clip and save selected pieces of web pages after signing up, you click the paperclip icon on the top of your screen, highlight the desired text or images, you can then save it, send to a blog, or print it. for this program, you have to create your own title and comments to identify what you have clipped
diigo
diigo combines whole page and selection bookmarking right click, select diigo option you can also make sticky notes attached to certain pages of a website

Dana Unger

Instructional technology consultant
working with school for the deaf
center for tech and school change
teach teachers how to integrate tech
start with example of student work then help teachers show kids how to use tech

Bringing the Outside In by Dr Sara Kajder
addresses what the kids are doing outside the classroom and hook reluctant readers and writers by bringing "the outside in"

visual think-alouds

what we know about reading comprehension:
reading comp is a highly visual process
invoves creating mental movies for what is happening in the text
reflects on what students bring to text
involves reflecting on how students interact with the text

visual think alouds:
students find visual images for reflections
use images and reflections to create short movies
can be about what is happening in the text/in student's mind/both

www.microsoft.com/photostory

Sample timeline
day 1 teacher model think aloud
2 students use post-it notes to ID "sparks" for what they think of during line (no right or wrong)
3 storyboard with sparks and begin script
4 complete scripts and begin collecting and arranging images
http://images.google.com
www.pics4learning.com
www.surweb.com
www.alltheweb.com
www.images.clusty.com
www.freeplaymusic.com
www.bringingtheoutsidein.com

make sure you save the project(to edit it) and the windows media file(to show it)

Power Point

Scoring Power Points

by Jamie McKenzie

The Educational Technology Journal

Vol 10|No 1|September|2000