Journal 2

The articles “Join the Flock” By Hadley Ferguson and “Enhance Your Twitter Experience” by Shannon McClintock both give advice on how to use Twitter as a tool for teachers to become lifelong learners and create their own Public Learning Network. Both Ferguson and McClintock give great examples of how Twitter has given them great ideas on how to use technology in the classroom. Both articles give advice on how to use Twitter and get the most out of it. Ferguson’s article is more about how to use Twitter and how to build a PLN. McClintock’s article is more about how to enhance your use of Twitter and make it easier to use. McClintock gives several specific examples of how to manage a Twitter account and make it easier to use such as using bookmarlets and organising tweets using tweetdeck and hootsuite. Overall, both Ferguson and McClintock highly advocate the use of Twitter to teachers that want to continue to be lifelong learners and use technology in their classrooms.

Q. What is the best advice given in either article?
A. I really like Ferguson’s advice on re-tweeting and how it shows someone that you thought what they tweeted was interesting. I have since done it on a Yahoo article that I thought was really interesting about George Washington. It was very easy and makes you feel like part of the twitter community.

Q. Why should educators use Twitter?
A. Although I have only recently started using Twitter I can already see how much knowledge can be obtained so easily. I think every teacher should commit themselves to becoming a lifelong learner and Twitter certainly is a way to learn from other teachers on things such as technology, lesson plans, controversial subjects, ETC. Even though I am just a young Twitter user, I plan on using it more and more into the future.

  McClintock, S. (2010, July). Enhance Your Twitter Experience . In Learning and Leading . Retrieved March 4, 2011, from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/20100607?pg=16&pm=2&fs=1#pg1

Journal 4

The article “It’s Time to Trust Our Teachers with the Internet” is a question and answer format with Meg Ormiston, a advocate for bringing technology into schools. Ormiston addresses many issues such as bandwith problems and funding, but her primary argument is that school administrators and IT people simply do not trust teachers and students with the Internet. Ormiston argues that the same people who are certified to educate our students in a classroom setting are being stifled by increasing Internet filters on public school campuses that limit access to useful tools such as social networking sites. Ormiston also believes that teachers are simply just giving up with using technology because of the massive amount of work it takes to actually get administrators and IT people to approve websites (Schaffhouser, 2010). Of course Ormiston believes that filtering should occur with pornography sites and even Facebook, however other blogging sites are very useful tools. Another site that Ormiston believes should be given greater access to in Youtube. Of course there are inappropriate things on Youtube, but Ormiston believes that teachers can educate students on what is appropriate use of Youtube and what is not. In summery, Ormiston wants to see school districts and administrators trust their teachers more with the amount of access they allow them to have at school so that teachers can use technology to enhance the learning of their students (Schaffhouser, 2010).

Q. What are some ways you can get greater access to the Internet in order to enhance student learning?
A. I really liked when Ormiston said that teachers should get the administrators on their side and show them the pros of using social networking sites and Youtube in education. I think that certainly is best way and if teachers can get the administration on their side then greater access will inevitably be given and teachers will be able to incorporate more technology tools in their lessons and students will benefit from it.

Q. Why do I think such little access is given to teachers with regards to Internet sites?
A. I think a lot of it has to do with buerocracy. Ormiston recalled many times when teachers would simply give up trying to open up a site because it would take up to two weeks to get a response and often times the response was ‘no’. I think it is sad that teachers give up on using technology because of these issues and I myself will try not to let beaurecratic nonsense stifle my attempts to bring greater access to site such as Blogger and Youtube. 

Journal 3

100 Things That Make James Raymond Clinger Happy

1. God
2. The USA
3. Family
4. Hanging with the homies
5. Playing guitar
6. Singing in the shower
7. A good book
8. A sunny day
9. Snowboarding
10. Country music
11. Rock N’ Roll
12. Going to a concert
13. Sleeping in
14. Zeta Beta Tau
15. Road trips
16. Beer
17. Whiskey
18. The National Geographic Channel
19. Watching sports
20. Jeopardy
21. TVO
22. Soccer
23. Football
24. Tailgating
25. The History Channel
26. Fireworks
27. The World Cup
28. The Olympics
29. Snow in the mountains
30. Going to the river
31. Comedians
32. Cheeseburgers
33. Chinese Food
34. 67’ Camero RS/SS
35. Family videos
36. Old pictures
37. XBOX
38. Netflix
39. Atlases
40. Dr. Pepper
41. Potato Chips
42. Snow cones
43. Homemade meals
44. sporcle.com
45. Cow girls
46. Rodeos
47. Anaheim Ducks
48. Anaheim Angels (not the LA Angels)
49. Adam Sandler movies
50. Watching a crazy soccer goal on Youtube
51. National parks
52. Pool Days
53. A comfy couch
54. Sunsets over the Pacific
55. National monuments
56. Christmas
57. Manchester United
58. Disneyland
59. The Zoo
60. Hand crocheted beanies
61. Wakeboarding
62. Smores
63. Bagels with extra crunchy peanut butter
64. Corduroy pants
65. Flannel sheets in the winter
66. Bonfires
67. Dollar menus
68. Civil war reenactments
69. Foosball  
70. Nerf guns
71. Super soakers
72. Memories of the 90’s
73. Sledgehammers  
74. Wireless controllers
75. Blenders
76. When the Yankees lose
77. Living away but still somewhat close to my parents
78. Collecting beer bottles from all over the world
79. New Years Eve
80. Mini-fridges
81. Suspenders
82. Costume parties
83. Four-Loko’s (before they took out the caffiene)
84. California burritos
85. Las Vegas
86. Karaoke
87. 80’s hair bands
88. ping pong
89. A full tank of gas
90. Finding money I didn’t think I had
91. Bottomless fries at Red Robbin
92. Jack Daniels sauce
93. Those fillets with the bacon wrapped around them
94. Talk Radio
95. Shopping online
96. WWII documentaries
97. The coffee cart guy
98. No cover charges
99. My assortment of ties
100. Tuna Sandwiches

Journal 1

Summary

The article “Do Web 2.0 Right” by Daniel Light offers current and future teachers ideas on how to use technology in the classroom, specifically Blogs and Wikis. Based on research done by by Light and collegue Deborah Polin the article argues that there are three criteria that should be taken into account when trying to create a positive technology based learning environment; Daily Practice, Audience Matters, and Appropriate Behavior (Light, 2011).. Focusing primarily on Blogs, Light gives us examples of how teachers have used Blogs successfully and unsuccessfully. The article also gives great insight into how students feel about their work being published on the Internet and what discussions work well. For instance, Light has found that private interaction between teacher and student is a very useful tool and shows the teacher how a student feels about a subject and his or her progress. Light also found public debates to be useful so long as the question gives the student a chance to incorporate their opinions and thoughts in a respectful manner. For instance just listing three of your favorite foods in a foreign language did not get students creative juices flowing and was seen as “no worse than any other homework”. But a debate on whether the famous Alaska Idirod dog race was animal cruelty allowed students to research and form their opinions (Light 2011).

Q. Why would the use of blogs be a useful tool in enhancing student creativity and learning.
A. The use of blogs can help students express themselves privately which in turn allows for them to express ideas they otherwise would not have shared in class because of shyness or fear of being wrong. Blogs also offer a vast amount of customization possibilities such as; formatting, linking interesting sources, color schemes, custom sound and videos. The uniqueness of each students blog shows each students unique style as well as their demonstration of their knowledge and opinions.

Q. How can cyber-safety and cyber-ethics be addressed by using blogs?
A. Before the use of blogs in the classroom it is imperative to have a lesson on what is appropriate use of blogs and what is not. Also, blogs allow the teacher to monitor student posting content and mediate debates that may become “hostile”.

Light, D. (2011). Do web 2.0 right. International Society for Technology in Education , 38(11), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Feature_Article_Do_Web_2_0_Right.aspx