Thing # 10- Second Life

Wow! I have never heard of Second Life. I knew there were virtual games out there such as The Sims, but Second Life sure is high tech. I enjoyed making my person. I can see how people can get caught up with changing the appearances. As I was walking around exploring, I went to the mall to buy some new clothes. I was shocked to see inappropriate pictures. I was wondering how they new I was an adult but I remembered entering my age when I signed up. If I was using Second Life in my classroom, I would be a little cautious and worried. I would hate from something inappropriate to pop up. I tried exploring but got bored after awhile. Maybe I'm just not a virtual kind of person.

I don' think I would use this in my classroom. I would be too worried.

Thing # 9- SlideShare

I just discovered Slideshare this summer. I did not know you could upload power points or other documents . Slideshare allowes you to upload and share your power points and other documents. I think Slideshare is a great tool for students to use. Most students know how to do power points. When I think about it, it seems like teachers try to think up new creative things for students to do besides doing another powerpoint presentation. By uploading power points for everyone to see, I think students will get more excited about creating a power point slide. I think Slideshare is a great way to show parents what they're working in class. Teachers could upload their powerpoint or other documents on the school website so parents can see.

I made a powerpoint this summer about Shelfari. Below is the power point I created. If you are not familular with Shelfari, please looks at my older posts.


Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

What is shelfari

View more presentations from Erica Finley.

Thing # 8- Screencast

I am very familiar with screencasts especially with Jing. I had to use Jing for my masters class a couple of weeks ago. I made a video discussing how to use a feature on a Mac computer. I thought Jing was very easy to use. What a great idea. I think this tool is very useful for a librarian or techonology coach. I know there are several times when teachers need to do a certain task on a computer and they are at a lost at what to do. The librarin or technology coach can use this tool to help other teachers. I think teachers can use this tool to help students as well. If a techers assigns a project for students to do but require certain steps before they start the actual project, then the teacher can use Jing to show students step by step what to do.

I made a video discussing the accessibiltiy features on mac. I chose to focus on Simple Finder which is on a Mac computer. My video is below. Sorry it is not the most exciting video.

Thing # 7

I am somewhat familiar with Hulu and other video resource sites. I never thought of using them for educational uses because I think
of using the video resources when you miss a show on t.v.
I was able to explore Totlol. I really like this site because I know a lot of kids like to get on Youtube although I think there are too many inappropriate videos that kids can stumble upon accidently. If kids go on Totlo, it's just like Youtube although they have videos that are parent approved. I feel safe having my students use this site.

I did find a useful video through Hulu. I found a video of the Tropical Rainforest. The second graders at my school do a rainforest project every year. The teachers could show the video as a introduction to the project or the librarian can show the video during library time.

I found another video about Davy Crockett. Davy Crockett is part of the third grade curriculum. We found out last year the history books do not provide a lot of information about him. It would have been nice to show this video to the class. I now have a video to share with students.

All the video resources are great to use in the classroom. Sometimes it can be a search though unless you're just looking for popular tv shows.

Thing # 6

It's been awhile since I've visited my blog. Sorry about that. I'm taking two classes this summer for my master's program and I've been pretty busy. I am not fortunate to have an I-phone or I-pod touch. As soon as I get a chance to play around with one, I will get back to this post.