Wikipedia is my new friend

If there has never been a time I could use the information about wikipedia, I have learned wikipedia is my friend.  Up until now I had always looked at it as a joke or a quick way to get some of the most incorrect information.  But I must say I now understand the function and the make up of wikipedia and most of my fear of it is gone.  It is a wonderful tool when used the right way and now I can pass that information on to the students in the class.  Being educated about something thought to be so full of the untruths.  It has really surprised me how the information is produced and it is in some cases the most current information.

Learning Together

Worldwide Web friends,
Some we know who they are because we see them in public or are our relatives, some we only know them by their screen name.  If we post we need help, they will answer the call and point us in the direction needed.  We share our ideas, thoughts and opinions with easily over a thousand people, and will ask "what do you think" while waiting for a respond.  Who would have ever thought it was so important for someone else to know what you are doing almost ever moment of your life if you tweet it? It sort of holds true to when my grandmother would tell me "a little bird told me....." was that considered tweeting?
Now if I collect sites that have something in common and bookmark them, and someone else has sites that have the same thing in common with the sites I bookmarked, they can bookmark theirs and combine them with mine and we can view the entire collection and pick from the file which topic we would like to explore.  Is that organization skills of a professional, making the entire search process a lot more stress free.  This one for sure is a keeper for a long, long time and worth passing on to others.  

Yesterday Powerpoint/ Today podcast

Podcasting has to be the most engaging type of collaboration for a student or classroom to be involved in.  This to me is one of the best examples of 21st century creativity allowed in a classroom presentation  being done by the student or coming from the teacher.  It combines many different types of digital processes that once only happened in film production studios.  In the web 2.0 video that talked about the podcast and what it is, plainly put it is only one of the many things our digital learners need in their toolbox for them to succeed at putting their presentations together, powerpoint does not enhance or engage at the level a podcast does.    

Social Networks/Epilogue

What a wonderful way to close out a book about blogs, podcasts and wikis which make up our networks we use to collaborate with those we know and don't.  I like the way in chapter nine it pulled together the appetite our students, kids and yes even our older generation has developed a taste for the networks.  If this is the beginning what will ten, no five years from now look like in technology?  and this will be called "old or out of date".  I can imagine there will probably be paperless classrooms and instead of students looking for pencils they will be looking for outlets oops! they are doing that now.  And like Mr. McHale in the epilogue takes care of his technology processes in the morning before he even has entered his classroom, lets consider how many people he has connected with or notified, it has to be hundreds within a matter of minutes.  As time goes on that is the way many teachers day will start and i'm sure will end with some type of technology sign off process, I just hope it never removes the most wonderfull greeting of "goodmorning" or the sign off of "goodnight"

~JLove

Is Chatspeak Destroying English?

Students know the difference and before I go full range let me state this "when I say students I mean at the school where I am located. I have on more occasions than I want to remember encountered papers that students wrote and used many of the same spelled words that would be used in a text and believed it to be ok! of course not. Never is it, Never will it be an acceptable way of writing and spelling.  This new way of communicating must not infringe upon our English Language
If all students were responsible for there learning and contributing to getting in a college ready state of mind, the questions would never have to be addressed.

Can Nintendo get its Mojo Back?

Is this for real ? don't we already have enough video game platforms from which to play the many games? all the wonderful things that microsoft and sony has done, how did Nintendo get poor marketing?  enough of me asking question on top of question.  There comes a time I think in the video world of games, systems and yes even the hero's they have to say so long and good by! and now is Nintendo's chance to slip out the back door.  It can join the ranks of remember Atari and Colecovison? I hope I spelled that one right :~)
I thought they would never leave the scene, couldn't imagine life without Centipied, but it happened and the next day came. Nintendo bid us good buy and thanks for the funtimes

I read an article about how Microsoft does not support open stock software because they felt it puts the user in too great of risk.  I understand their concern and all, because I recall visiting "The Geeks" so I  could even get a screen again after downloading something that ultimately shut my computer down.  But I had to pause and think for a moment........the put out free software also :~/ and it doesn't seem to shut down computers when downloaded.
 Now my question to ponder is this, if Microsoft can do it why cant everyone else create software that can be utilized without the many dangers and we all not have the extra burden of installing something and then wait with bated breath for the pop ups to start.