Week 4- Free Choice

Well, much like Mr. Parson's post I had some difficulty deciding what to write about. Due to my conundrum, I decided to focus on two topics. One being Audible and the other being VocabGrabber's Visual Thesaurus.

First, Audible is a website where you can subscribe to a monthly program, or pay as you go, to download books directly to your ipod or mp3 player. I was instantly in love with this concept. At first it took a little bit of time to get used to hearing the book rather than reading it, but once you get used to it, it makes the mundane aspects of life enjoyable. Washing the dishes or vacuuming the carpet are no longer mindless tasks, but instead something to do while you listen to the book. Also, taking walks (which for me was boring unless I had someone to talk to) are fantastic because now I can go for miles and miles because there's something to occupy my mind. One of my current favorites is called The Help, it's the story of three women (two African-American maids and one southern white girl) who try to change the minds of the people of Jacksonville, MI during the Civil Rights Movement. One thing that makes the book so great is that each character's point of view is read by a different woman, who's voice is dead-on with what I pictured.

Not only is Audible great for chores, but it's also great for school. I've used some books that I've downloaded for a read aloud with the students. I've also downloaded some books that struggling readers would like to read, but the book is above their level. Using the download the students are now able to read along with the story. One example would be The Looking Glass Wars, this book is written at a level that is above many of my readers, but they are able to enjoy it with it on audio.

My next topic of conversation is VocabGrabber. This website allows you to type in a word or sentence and then search for words with similar meanings. However, unlike a Thesaurus, VocabGrabber provides you with a visual of the words and how closely they are alike, and to what words they are linked to. Here's an example of beautiful.

Another great feature of the program is that you can type in a sentence and then after you've clicked search, you can see individual webs for each word in the sentence. This program has great uses in the classroom. My students often have a difficult time understanding that some words are a bit of a stretch to relate them to the original word, this program provides a visual for them to see which words might not work. Another bonus is that it could be both used in the classroom as well as at home.

Week 3- Media Sharing

Media Sharing... well I guess I never really thought of the idea of Facebook, Snapfish, and Flickr with the title of media sharing. However, that's exactly what it is (I kind of had a DUH! moment there). I've used these websites for quite a while and just kind of thought they were a good way to connect with friends. Much easier than attempting to print out a million pictures and deliver them, or getting those phone calls that drag on and on from friends, when all you really want to find out was what's new. I guess that makes me more of a digital native than I thought. Now, the term doesn't strictly apply to me, because we didn't get computers in our school till sixth grade, but I guess I've been using them for most of my life. Wow, I never really thought of it that way.

Anyway, back to media sharing, I think the idea of media sharing is great. The ability to catch up with people, share photos, and just peek in to see what's going on in their lives is great. It's not invasive and you don't have to get caught on the phone for an hour when you really just wanted to see how they're doing. However, like everything on the Internet, I think it's great with moderation. People who use web cams and document every iota of their lives open up some dangerous doors. For example, I'm listening to a book right now (I download as many books as I can on Audible and listen to them while I do things around the house or walk. It makes chores so much more enjoyable!) called Roadside Crosses. In the story, one of the recurring themes is that the killer is able to track down his victims and know their greatest fear from the information they post on the web. Although I recognize that this is a fictional book, it does have a point that we need to be careful what we post on the web. Actually an interesting side note with this book is that the killer is tracking people through a blog.

Although I really enjoy media sharing, it's something that isn't possible within our school. I would love to be able to use it, for example if I were to have students take pictures at home, upload them to snapfish and then have them use them in a project. However, sadly this is not a possibility; these media sharing sites have been blocked by our tech coordinator. Now, I understand why, but I wish we could find a way to use them, they would add so much and provide accessibility to our projects.