I had read about animoto in Joyce Valenza's blog. Looks like a great service and should be an easy enough transition for students who have been using Photstory. Animoto was certainly easy to use and I like that it has links to copyright free music. Here's a quick video with some pictures from our trip to Chicago in June:
I haven't used a lot of these sites for online picture sharing. At home, our digital photos are nicely organized into albums on the Mac, using IPhoto. I always think I'll spend more time playing them then I actually do.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Random Things
Two items from a recent American Library Association newsletter that might interest the Twitter users . . .
Discovering The Truth About your Twittering
Marshall Kirkpatrick writes: “How do you really use Twitter? Do you retweet a lot of other peoples’ content, share a lot of links, and respond to direct messages? A new service called Twit Truth will tell you the cold, hard facts about your own use of Twitter. It might sound trivial, but you could also say this service is an example of the kind of conversation data mining that will define some of the most exciting innovation in the future of the web.”...ReadWriteWeb, July 6
10 Ways to Find People on Twitter
Josh Catone writes: “Twitter is all about facilitating conversations, but until you’re following some people, it’s just a blank page. Once you find people to follow and talk to, however, Twitter becomes exceptionally useful. You can share thoughts, ask questions, get updates about news, music, brands, and businesses, and discover helpful links and information. Finding good people to follow can be a bit daunting, though. Thankfully, there are a number of ways you can find people on Twitter. Here are 10 sites you can use to locate tweeps to follow.”...Mashable, July 2
Discovering The Truth About your Twittering
Marshall Kirkpatrick writes: “How do you really use Twitter? Do you retweet a lot of other peoples’ content, share a lot of links, and respond to direct messages? A new service called Twit Truth will tell you the cold, hard facts about your own use of Twitter. It might sound trivial, but you could also say this service is an example of the kind of conversation data mining that will define some of the most exciting innovation in the future of the web.”...ReadWriteWeb, July 6
10 Ways to Find People on Twitter
Josh Catone writes: “Twitter is all about facilitating conversations, but until you’re following some people, it’s just a blank page. Once you find people to follow and talk to, however, Twitter becomes exceptionally useful. You can share thoughts, ask questions, get updates about news, music, brands, and businesses, and discover helpful links and information. Finding good people to follow can be a bit daunting, though. Thankfully, there are a number of ways you can find people on Twitter. Here are 10 sites you can use to locate tweeps to follow.”...Mashable, July 2
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Thing 36: Comic Relief
Fun to play with the various image generators. We've used some this past year at school including Wordle to make signs for displays and Book Club posters. Also, reccomended a couple of these sites to some students who had to generate movie posters for a class assignment. Photoshop was proving too difficult and these image generators made completing the assignment easier. The only hurdle I can see for teachers is the email account, for some of the sites want to mail things. Creating comics is a higher order thinking skill (have to apply what you know, include humor, etc.) and would be a great summary activity for a lesson or unit.
Here's my Dewey classification. Is it ironic that it matches my astrological sign? I didn't include my birthday.
Sara Swenson's Dewey Decimal Section:
714 Water features
Sara Swenson = 91819354954 = 918+193+549+54 = 1714
Class:
700 Arts & Recreation
Contains:
Architecture, drawing, painting, music, sports.
What it says about you:
You're creative and fun, and you're good at motivating the people around you. You're attracted to things that are visually interesting. Other people might not always understand your taste or style, but it's yours.
714 Water features
Sara Swenson = 91819354954 = 918+193+549+54 = 1714
Class:
700 Arts & Recreation
Contains:
Architecture, drawing, painting, music, sports.
What it says about you:
You're creative and fun, and you're good at motivating the people around you. You're attracted to things that are visually interesting. Other people might not always understand your taste or style, but it's yours.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Thing 35: Books 2.0
Lots of fun book sites to explore in this "thing." Some I knew and some were fun to discover and I look forward to playing with them a little bit more as we determine what to read for book club in the year ahead.
This year at school I noticed an uptick in students reading for fun . . . it was terrific to see! Students also used blogger for their book journals and by having to comment on others blogs, I think their interest in other books was picqued!
(MW--this might be the lamest post ever. Apologies!)
This year at school I noticed an uptick in students reading for fun . . . it was terrific to see! Students also used blogger for their book journals and by having to comment on others blogs, I think their interest in other books was picqued!
(MW--this might be the lamest post ever. Apologies!)
Thing 34: Online Answer Sites
Customer service . . . seems that libraries which are flourishing in these tough economic times have embraced a solid model of customer service, which includes taking a look at how reference services are delivered. Professional magazines have lots of advice and I've been an outsider looking in as MHS has contemplated how to evolve their reference services. This past spring, the focus of Minnesota Library Technology Conference was on creating useful library spaces for students who were unfamiliar or uncomfortable with traditional libraries. The keynote speaker, Stacey Greenwell spoke of a space she created at the University of Kentucky. The Hub, is outside of the traditional library and really seems to be a large rumpus room with WiFi, comfy furniture, large white boards and is staffed by a young librarian. It's quite popular with students. In a way it seems like a way to meet students halfway, acknowledging that computers are how they do their research now and by getting them into the library, the librarian can help make the bridge to research strategies and finding quality materials.
The question for me after the conference was how to incorporate some of these ideas in a high school. Staffing is limited and in fact, cut back for the next year, but I would like to update our webpage with a variety of different sources, hoping that students will take advantage of what is offered there.
It was fun to explore the online answer sites, many of them reminded me of what long time librarians would call a "handy file" . . . the place where we keep answers to commonly asked questions. Was surprised to see About.com on the list however, that site rarely seems to have what I am looking for . .
The question for me after the conference was how to incorporate some of these ideas in a high school. Staffing is limited and in fact, cut back for the next year, but I would like to update our webpage with a variety of different sources, hoping that students will take advantage of what is offered there.
It was fun to explore the online answer sites, many of them reminded me of what long time librarians would call a "handy file" . . . the place where we keep answers to commonly asked questions. Was surprised to see About.com on the list however, that site rarely seems to have what I am looking for . .
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Thing 33: Travel 2.0
In our household, we had a Web 1.75 experience in planning a recent trip to Chicago. As a birthday treat, Husband treated me to a getaway to the Windy City. Our planning involved a computer, various web sites and of course, several books.
An Ode to our Trip
With husband was at the keyboard and I at the book,
we quickly planned our trip including chatting up a celebrity cook!
Using Hotwire, we found a room at the Palmer House
And from Frommer's printed guide, we did learn of a grouse
(Spot on!)
For certain we knew at Topolobampo we'd eat
And meeting Chef Rick Bayless was no mean feat!
For fun, we tried another spot in The Loop
Blackbird in Chicago, for it would be fun to tease our friends about this fancy pigeon stoop!
Eating is not all we did,
Rented bikes and saw a museum filled with kids.
All is all a fine trip was had,
Planning done with both computer, book and paper pad.
Two things are for certain, we know by far . . .
Computers help with finding good prices and books with maps are best in the car!
An Ode to our Trip
With husband was at the keyboard and I at the book,
we quickly planned our trip including chatting up a celebrity cook!
Using Hotwire, we found a room at the Palmer House
And from Frommer's printed guide, we did learn of a grouse
(Spot on!)
For certain we knew at Topolobampo we'd eat
And meeting Chef Rick Bayless was no mean feat!
For fun, we tried another spot in The Loop
Blackbird in Chicago, for it would be fun to tease our friends about this fancy pigeon stoop!
Eating is not all we did,
Rented bikes and saw a museum filled with kids.
All is all a fine trip was had,
Planning done with both computer, book and paper pad.
Two things are for certain, we know by far . . .
Computers help with finding good prices and books with maps are best in the car!
Thing 32: Google Maps and Mashups
Google has a long memory. When I clicked on "My Maps" it brought up the map I made last summer, showing the locations of my extended family. Husband and I have been using the real estate map ALOT this summer as we hunt for a house.
As far as school goes, I can see using this map with a variety of English and Social Studies classes. For example, last spring an AP English teacher and I talked about having her students create a sonnet map using Google Maps, tracking places in a city where sonnets have been written. Unfortunately the idea didn't get off the ground.
For this assignment, I used the timeline feature in Google to get a timeline of the explorer Marco Polo's travels. There was conflicting information about his birth year and birth place, so before I could even create my first placemark, I had to confirm the information in a third source (great research activity for students). I can see this sort of map making activity being a decent activity for a Social Studies class as it incorporates reasearch, geography and computer skills not to mention employs writing skills as students would have to write a description for each placemarker.
Marco Polo map
As far as school goes, I can see using this map with a variety of English and Social Studies classes. For example, last spring an AP English teacher and I talked about having her students create a sonnet map using Google Maps, tracking places in a city where sonnets have been written. Unfortunately the idea didn't get off the ground.
For this assignment, I used the timeline feature in Google to get a timeline of the explorer Marco Polo's travels. There was conflicting information about his birth year and birth place, so before I could even create my first placemark, I had to confirm the information in a third source (great research activity for students). I can see this sort of map making activity being a decent activity for a Social Studies class as it incorporates reasearch, geography and computer skills not to mention employs writing skills as students would have to write a description for each placemarker.
Marco Polo map
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