Thing # 16 Learning a Language

Livemocha http://www.livemocha.com/ is a tool that I will surely use. I can envision this being a fabulous site for students, it is the closest thing to immersion short of living with a native speaker. It is very user friendly and I look forward to further exploring French and practicing my Spanish. I found the Rosette Stone site as this is a program we used in the elementary computer lab years ago. Having to purchase the software and not being as interactive as LiveMocha is a drawback.

Thing # 15 Audiobooks & eBooks

Driving to Papillion Nebraska for 30 years has made me a fan of audio books. There is no better way to pass 10 hours than listening to a good book interpreted by someone with a fabulous reading voice. I have a hard time with eBooks as I don’t do well reading off a computer screen for any length of time. I checked out http://www.freeclassicaudiobooks.com/however, you must have an ipod to download the books, I haven’t one, so can’t use this site. Online books http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/ has a great banned books section. It is impossible for a school library to own every banned book, this would be a useful site for teachers participating in banned books week. It is costly to maintain an up to date non fiction section, especially in the areas of technology, science, political science and history, ebooks and online may be a solution to the fast paced changes that we are experiencing.

Thing #14 Podcasting

I can envision so many applications for podcasting in the educational setting. The first thing I see is, of course, book talks. I would so love to have all our bookworms sharing their favorite reads on a podcast. Those could be incorporated into our library web site. It might be a bit of a challenge getting some of them over the “is that really how I sound?” but I think it has great potential. It was interesting to read about all the colleges that are using podcasts for their lectures, some only have students in the first class, mid terms and final exams. This could potentially free up much needed space and students are still accountable for their learning. At the high school level this would be a very effective tool for athletes, often they miss several classes traveling to participate in their sport. If they could listen to the lessons on the bus it would be a very wise use of that time. For our English language learners this would be a great way to practice their oral skills. Truly, the possibilities are limitless. I recorded a message on Voki, http://www.voki.com/, was shocked at how bizarre it sounds, but I do believe that is how I sound, so be it.

Thing #13 Google Apps

I have had Picasa for a year, not knowing it was a Google App. Following his son’s wedding my friend Dave set it up on my daughter’s computer for photo editing. Have it on my own computer now and really like it. I just need time to really explore all the features.
I installed SketchUp and hope it will enhance my husband’s kitchen, deck, and cabinetry designs. I wish this would have been on my computer when I was plotting our landscaping. The tutorials seem informative and easy to jump right in and use the App.

Thing #12 Open Source Applications

I opened a Google Docs account and uploaded a blog I had been writing. The one thing I did not like about Google Docs is that they do not have a dictionary, thesaurus or grammar check. That said I do see the worth of having docs saved on the net, one being ability to access your docs from any computer. I like the security feature and especially like that when sharing files you can be assured that there are not multiple versions circulating via e-mails. I am not sure I want my docs to be public, however, if I want them to publish to my blog, they must be public.
I shall now attempt to fetch my blog from my Google Doc file.
ARGGG, I am frustrated, I was unable to publish this from my Doc, so I have done the 'student thing', yup, copy and paste.

Advice

If you could have a “do over”, who is the one person in your life whose advise you would follow?

Mine would be the man who advised me to pursue a career in computer technology. This was in the fair year 1968. The first drawback to following his advice was "what are these computers?" My thoughts ranged along the line of "computers are the size of a house and he expects me to believe they will be how important in our future?" Then the next hindrance in accepting his advise came from living in a small rural town where girls grew up to be great mothers, waitresses, teachers, nurses, secretaries, and the occasional bank teller. ” But sir you want me to consider being a computer whozit?” Oh yeah, “programmer”. I did not take his advice; I was set on becoming a medical technologist (that is another story). Today I seem to be constantly challenging my brain to keep up with the computer technology. I paused during a recent workshop conversation to remember the man who had advised me to get out of the mindset of small town America. I wonder where it would have taken me, had I be courageous enough to take the advise of a young teacher. But as I reflect, I must say that I am very satisfied with my life, I have enjoyed my journey. Because of my position in a high school library I am working with three of my favorite things, books, kids and computers. As I said earlier I zip along and try to stay one step ahead of the students in computer technology. I do wish I could thank Mr. Killian for his encouragement and his counseling. I would delight in knowing that he is still of this earth and that I might be able to shake his hand and show my gratitude for all he taught me. I would also tell him that I did take some of his advice and I consider myself a very successful contented human being. I leave tonight with this view from the ridge; that of a young math teacher with a vision regarding the importance of something called a computer and counseling students to look in that direction for careers.

Thing #11 Wikis

Wikis, now this is a web item I will use. I have set up a wiki to help the Beaver Creek Muzzleloaders plot the July 2008 Gore Range Rendezvous. At school I plan to invite the retirement committee to plan our principal’s celebration using a wiki. Yes, I will have to do some explaining, but I think it is such a great tool, and easy to use that each group will see how helpful the Wiki technology can be in planning events. Like Myra, I will use the Common Craft video to illustrate the wikis. I used wetpaint for the Rendezvous wiki and wikispaces for the retirement committee.