Thing #18 Web-based Apps: Thumbs Up & Down

I'm sure it's due partly to my ineptitude, but I had a hard time trying to get Zoho to work... I'm giving it a "thumbs down". Google Docs, on the other hand, seemed a lot more "user-friendly"... "thumbs up" for it. There was even a special category of templates called "Students and Teacher", which had items such as calendars, research papers, book reports, and grade and attendance records. I played around with photo albums, spreadsheets, calendars and documents.

Carol also pointed out a neat site called "Google for Educators" which extends far beyond word processing to many other applications that they provide free for the classroom... cool!

Here's the website:

http://www.google.com/educators/index.html

Thing #16 & 17 Wiki Wonderland

Sure, wikis have their downfalls, but overall I think they're a wonderful thing. Last October, while flying on Southwest Airlines, I read an article in their in-flight magazine that featured a discussion between the president of Encyclopedia Britannica and the founder of Wikipedia. (I wish I could access that article now, but SWA doesn't offer a "search" feature on their magazine's website... the nerve!) Anyway, the debate between these two men was a great example of "Learning 1.0" and "Learning 2.0", and I must say that Britannica came down very hard on the side of intellectual elitism. Anyway, I think that a classroom wiki would be fabulous, in that it would facilitate the "community of scholars" approach to which I aspire. I would just need to hold some sway over the content... guess I'm not ready to be completely democratic!

Thing #15 Learning to be a Web 2.0 Learner

I think I'm finally moving beyond rebelling against the idea of HAVING to use Web 2.0 in my classroom, to thinking about HOW I will continue to use Web 2.0 (after this class is complete!) to enhance both my learning and my teaching. I visited all of both David Warlick's and David Richardson's sites, and love the title on David's: "CoLearners". That's what it's all about: learning right alongside of our "students" (in this brave new world of education, do we need new terms for ourselves?). I also appreciated Will Richardson's homepage for it's bulleted format, great categorization, and multitudinous links. It's a comprehensive overview, from many different viewpoints, of how Web 2.0 is affecting the world.

Finally, as a humorous example of how Web 2.0 is calling us to a higher level of accountabililty: I was going to include a quote from the top of Richardson's website in this post, since it was attributed to Darwin and thus fits neatly into my Biology background. However, a quick check revealed that the quote was misattributed... OOPS!

I bet the California Academy of Sciences wishes they'd figured that out before they etched said quote into their stone floor. For a photo and the story, see this link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cpurrin1/3163273537/

Thing #14: Wasting Time in the Blogosphere

I can't say that Blogs strike me as the most edifying aspect of Web 2.0, but they certainly are entertaining. How else would I have found out about Susan Boyle? Once I settled down and actually completed the assignment, I did find some sites pertinent to Biology education, but most of them were free videos and lectures, rather than blogs per se. As far as using the various modes of searching, the "Tag" feature was the most helpful for finding blogs specific to Science. The "Technorati Tour" video was a little aggravating because (as far as I could tell) the current homepage does not match the one used as a demo on the video, making it impossible to actually follow along.

Thing #12 Rollyo: an exercise in frustration

Sorry, but I don't like the "Rollyo" website. It has sucked up huge amounts of my time and turned me into a raving lunatic. I keep going back to it (have been for a week) because I think that this is my problem, but it aggravates me that when I look at other people's search rolls, their links do not work. Also, I'm not impressed with the quality of the websites (I'm looking specifically for those pertinent to teaching Biology) that I have found here. Carol's suggestion to search "Public Domain eBooks" finally yielded some results, with the discovery of IPL, the Internet Public Library. Yea! I finally found some fantastic life sciences resources. Here's a lovely diagram of several molecules of water, a ubiquitous substance that we take for granted, but which is absolutely essential to life.

Thing #13: Yummy!

I've only spent a little time on del.icio.us , but I can already see that it will be a useful tool. I've entered my most commonly used bookmarks, and I love the idea of being able to access them from anywhere. Since I'm all over the place as a substitute teacher, this will allow me to use my planning periods more effectively... yea! A search for "Biology" yielded some websites that merit closer investigation, so I'll check those out and add them to the list of teaching resources that I'm accruing for my return to the classroom.

Thing #11 Bibliophiles Unite!

Once again frittered away far too much time having fun. "Add at least 5 books to your library" instructed Carol, and this was my honest intent. But the "Add Books" feature on LT is so addictive that I ended up entering most of the books that I've read for the past 7 years. For even more entertainment, I added an LT widget to my blog.

Thing #10 Generating Fun

SCIENTIA SAPIENTES DEFENDIT

"Knowledge protects the wise". I have always liked the idea of wisdom as being the ability to make good life choices, based on what we know. In other words, the acquisition of knowledge, while admirable, does not impress me in a person who does not seem to be living their life with wisdom. So... I used the "Latin Motto Generator" to create a life motto for myself. To create your own motto about life or anything else, go to:

http://www.inrebus.com/latinmottogenerator.php

Next, I went to "Wordle" to create a Word picture of terms having to do with "Cells". Since Biology is such a vocabulary-rich subject, I thought it might be fun to use some of that vocabulary in a creative way. Click on the thumbnail of the wordle below to see it in a "read-able" size.

Happy Distractions

I spent last week in Naperville, IL helping my sister after the birth of her fourth child. Naturally there were many chores to be done, but in addition to those I had a blast visiting with Nancy, caring for baby Natalie and hanging out with the other 3 children. All that work and play didn't leave much time for "homework"... now that I'm home again, I need to catch up!