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Web 2.0 Adventure in Reflection

What a perfect class to have been involved in during this crazy time of online EVERYTHING. I feel like this was the best time to be in this class as we were all researching, using, experimenting with these tools as a matter of survival. We were able to bounce ideas off each other and gain knowledge not just in a "what if" sense but by ACTUALLY utilizing these tools. I hope that we will all continue to have adventures in new (and sometimes not-so-new) tools as they come along and make well-informed decisions about whether or not those tools need to be added into our repertoire - OR perhaps even replace something. I think this is where the potential pitfalls lie....so many of these tools are good - great, even. BUT are they what is best for what we need, what the students need, what the class needs? I think having a rubric that applies to the content we are teaching will help greatly in this manner. We need to look beyond whether the tool is FUN to use and just a way to fill ti...
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Web 2.0 Vanity Revisited

Newsflash: I am not interesting! Not in the sense that I'd be a popular result on Google anyway! I retraced my exact steps for the initial vanity post and - even though we've been assigned things that may have produced some results for others - mine remained EXACTLY the same. Well - one search turned up an image a bit earlier....but besides that? Nada. Zilch. Nothing different from before. I actually think that having a minimal presence like this is a GOOD thing in education. I feel like it means that I've nailed down my parameters in a way that any person doing a random search for something inflammatory is NOT going to find it. My profiles on the different platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) are all private enough that you have to go through ME to get to them. (Unless you're skilled in the art of hacking - and then, more power to you. I'm STILL very uninteresting - posting only things that I would be ok with my parents reading/seeing) I also feel that ...
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Web 2.0 Adventures in "GROWTH"

I saw a meme the other day that said something about "You survived April. Welcome to Level 5 of Jumanji". Ha! Boy, doesn't that about sum it up! We have experienced so much upheaval, confusion, change, disappointment, pain, bizarre behavior, and plain old chaos in the past month that it's easy to forget some of the things that we've gained. Many of us have had to slow down as our extra-curricular lives & schedules came to a screeching halt. Many of us have been able to see our families more and appreciate what they add to our lives. Some of us have been blessed to be able to still work and contribute to society and to bless others in return. And some of us (like teachers) have been asked to stretch and grow in ways that many might not have ever expected to have to stretch and grow. Do I think that distance online learning is here to stay? Long story short? Yes. Maybe not as the sole platform for instruction and education....but I don't think it's going...
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Web 2.0 Adventures in "Social Bookmarking"

In light of all the chaos and uncertainty surrounding current events, online tools are becoming more of a necessity than a convenience. With the requirements of social-distancing, self-isolation, remote learning, and everything else entailed under the mandates by government officials, we find ourselves resorting to our tablets, phones, laptops, and other devices more than ever before. I've wished for ways to communicate with my colleagues and to share with them things I'm finding out - and while we have each other's phone numbers, emails, and social media, those are just not great platforms to share easily. E-mail is probably the best choice among those since it puts the information in a place where the recipient can easily find and access it - but it does have some drawbacks. We have dozens - hundreds? - of emails daily with updates and new information and questions. If somehow the link or resource is shared inaccurately, there is now an additional obstacle to overcome bef...
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Web 2.0 Adventures in "Aggregate Pages"

I have to admit - I was very skeptical of this assignment. I had no idea what an aggregate page was or how to put one together! In reading the instructions, it sounded like this was a "Pinterest" of sorts...a place to keep all your ideas about stuff in one place....almost a replacement for the toolbar at the top of your screen. After I played around with both NetVibes and Protopage, I realized that this is actually a pretty cool idea. If I wanted, I could make my "aggregate page" my HOME page - and instead of having to click on 14 tabs or search for 14 sites, I can have them all ready to go and right in front of my face. That's kind of nifty, if you ask me. Of the two sites we were to experiment with, I initially thought that NetVibes looked more simplistic, less flashy, and easier to read. I think this still may be the case, but when I started playing around with NetVibes, I was turned around so backwards that I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to ...
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Web 2.0 Adventures in YouTube

"Mom! Can I watch YouTube?" This is a frequent question that I hear from my daughter. I'm always torn. I trust my daughter. I trust that she will not visit or search for any unsavory videos or subjects. But do I trust YouTube? Not really. YouTube for me has always been this big unknown. I usually only visit the popular site if a link from elsewhere takes me there, OR if I have a specific video I'm searching for. Otherwise, all that "chance" of seeing or hearing or experiencing something I don't want to is too big for my anti-risk taking ways. All that being said, I embraced this adventure because I realize that I live in the 21st century. Like our professor says - THIS is what kids use the way we use Google. Do I like it? No. That doesn't change the fact that it IS a fact! Also, my husband had just set up an account channel for me to record videos for my library students - so I was looking forward to playing around with that a bit more. What did I...
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Web 2.0 Week 2 Adventure with Twitter

Ah, Twitter. 280 possibilities to express what's on your mind. (Note: This is new. The limit used to be 140.) Except for when someone takes 10 "posts" to express their long rambling thoughts. Um - Hello! That's not what Twitter is meant to do! Get on Facebook, Instagram, or - hey, I don't know - BLOG about it! I've actually been on Twitter (meaning, I created an account) since 2015. I never really embraced its use. I'm still not sure that what I'm doing now would be considered an "embrace" of Twitter either. However, last summer, I began using Twitter on a more regular basis after attending a Scholastic Reading Summit. I wanted to be able to follow some of the authors I met and learned from and this was the best way to do that. Subsequently, I jump on Twitter once or twice a week. Since the authors are basically the only ones I follow it's not a long feed to scroll through to see if I've missed anything interesting. I appreciate tho...
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