Session 3 Blog Entry

Online File Storage

There are many benefits of using an online file storage website rather than saving to your computer or USB drive.  First of all, when you have an online file storage account, you can access your files from anywhere as long as you have internet access.  There have been many days as a teacher that I either forgot my USB drive at home or did not save a file to my USB drive.  Secondly, online storage of files protects you if your USB drive or computer stops working or if you lose them.  This use to be a nightmare situation for teachers, but won’t be the case anymore if you have an online account.  Lastly, online storage sites make it easier to share files with others.  Rather than having to attach files to an email to share with others, most online storage websites make it very simple to share with others.

In October, I attended a district inservice explaining how we are transitioning from using district servers to save files to an internet based storage system (live@edu).  At the start of next year, the “cloud” will be the place teachers or students will have to save files rather than their “home” drive.  When we first learned about Google Docs, I wished that I created all of my worksheets using Google Docs rather than Microsoft Word because it would be very simple to share worksheets with students.  Then I remembered that we will have this capability with the live@edu.  Also, through your live@edu account, everyone will have access to the Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Web Cameras

As a math teacher, I do not see a ton of uses for web cams in a math classroom but I did research some general ways they can be used in the classroom.  Students can take online field trips to places that stream online video.  This link gives a list of online web feeds that could be used as online field trips (http://www.atlanticava.org/WebandCamSites/WebcamTeachers.htm).   Also, students can have a guest speaker or presenter by having a video conference, especially if that person does not live close.  I could also see students having a video conference with a teacher if they have questions on what is going on with class.  

How Class Activities Can Be Used In My Classroom

Social Bookmarking

Before taking this class, I already had a diigo account from my masters program two years ago.  When I created my account, most of my bookmarks were for my personal life rather than for school.  Initially, I thought it was really neat to have your bookmarks available on any computer, but I stopped using it because most of the sites I go to I either know the web address or they are easy to find by using Google.

After our last class, I feel that my diigo account could be very beneficial for myself and my students.  For the last couple of years, I have advertised a few websites to students that they can view if they have questions about topics covered in class.  I have these websites posted on my wiki, but very few students used these websites as an additional resource.  I am curious if students would be more likely to view these if they had their own social bookmarking account or if they had access to my bookmarks.

Another thing I really like about social bookmarking is being able to highlight parts of text and being able to apply sticky notes.  As a teacher, this would be a great way of making sure that students focus in on certain parts of the text, especially if it is a longer article. 

I found an article that explains the essential skills that social bookmarking allows teachers and students to practice (http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/12/22/using-social-bookmarking-in-schools-and-with-students-part-one/).  In addition, I liked the quote they used to support social bookmarking (“Getting information off the internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant”).  This is definitely a benefit of having access to others’ bookmarks.  Also, this website (http://webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com/Social+Bookmarks) lists some ways schools can use social bookmarking, especially in a school’s Library Media Center.

Web Browsers

I have not done the assignment on the different web browsers yet, but I am interested in learning the pros and cons of each kind of browser.  In the past, I know we have had some issues with Infinite Campus and Compass Learning not working correctly with certain browsers.  Hopefully, the assignment may shed some light on these types of issues.