BP15_2009103_Reflective Media Asset NGAkids Art Zone

The National Gallery of Art kids' zone.

Images from http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/zone.htm

BP14_2009103_Comment on Boz's Blog

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2009

BP12_2009103_Web2.0 Evaluation_SurveyMonkey.com

I have seen SurveyMonkey on several occasions, as my school system will frequently utilize it for staff development feedback, or other matters requiring feedback from a large number of personnel in the county. I have found my first use for it in the new computer programming club I am starting at school. As we do not have such courses in our school system, I am using the online survey to get personal info, and computer interest/exoperience information from the students who have expressed interest. Although I have a particular platform in mind for helping to teach computer programming, if I don't cater to the club members' interests there will be no club. A similar welcome survey could be used in my math class setting during the first week to gather info as well as introduce students to the form of the online survey.

Getting started on a free-service survey

A survey program could serve several purposes in a classroom setting. For my math classes, an assignment that includes the accumulation of data could take advantage of such a method of data collection. SurveyMonkey's customizable templates can be suited to nearly any form of data. Surveyors can collect numerical data, demographic data, user input data, and even have users give rated feedback. The online survey could be used to reach a larger audience with less work, producing more data for a better math lesson. For the purposes of the instructor, feedback from multiple courses could be easily compiled into a single survey during a given time window. The instructor merely has to make the survey available to those being surveyed.

Sample survey page: demographic information

images from http://monkeysurvey.com

BP13_2009103_Web 2.0 Brushter

The concept of abstract art is difficult for young kids to understand. I, myself, sometimes have to force another style from my hand, and brush away those pretty lines. Practice is the only way to improve on the different abstract styles. There is often not enough time in the classroom to set up materials and have enough practice time before getting ready for the assignment.

According to the National Gallery of Art, “BRUSHter is an online painting machine for all ages” (2009). This is why I have looked into BRUSHter as the third Web 2.0 tool from NGAkids Art Zone (http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/brushster.htm). Not only does this “online painting machine” contain a variety of over forty brushes, it includes several added effects to blur, smudge, fragment, spread, and ripple the artwork (National Gallery of Art, 2009). It begins with a blank canvas in which the online artist can use any brush and any color. There is no need to worry about the mess or starting over with a different design. The undo and erase options are there to use at the students’ discretion. I have included a short video below showing the many options BRUSHter permits in brush size, effects, and color.

NGAkids Art Zone provides an online book titled Teaching Art Since 1950 by the National Gallery of Art in Washington (http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/artsince1950.pdf). This book includes the major artists and art that affected abstract expressionism from Jackson Pollock’s Lavender Mist to Elizabeth’s Murry’s Careless Love. The resources alone are great instruments for young artists interested in abstract work. Several Art History lessons can be learned through this tool.

Jackson Pollock

Number 1, 1950

(Lavender Mist), 1950

Oil, enamel, and aluminum on canvas,

2.210 x 2.997 m (87 x 118 in.)

Elizabeth Murray

Careless Love, 1995–1996

Oil on shaped canvas,

2.705 x 2.527 x 0.686 m

(1061/2 x 991/2 x 27 in.)

I am aware that the students must not only practice how to create abstract work through simulation in BRUSHter, but must use actual brushes and canvases in the art classroom. By simulation, students will better understand control and strokes and hopefully knowing more about their skills and limitations.

References

National Gallery of Art. (2009). NGA kids brushter. Retrieved October 18, 2009 from http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/brushster.htm

National Gallery of Art. (1999). Teaching art since 1950. Available from http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/artsince1950.pdf

Images from http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/artsince1950.pdf and http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/brushster.htm

BP12_2009103_Web 2.0 Still Life

Creating a Still Life is one of the very first lessons I have my students do because it shows them the basics for creating any work of art through shape, proportion, color, arrangement, and all the elements of art. It is very difficult to get my students interested in drawing or painting a Still Life, yet I know it is necessary for them to learn this. I have tried live fruit, and something always happens to these objects as they get handled by several classes a day and end up rotting or in the trash. Fake fruit has worked, yet also somehow goes missing or dented in the process. I think my students would very much enjoy creating their own Still Life online in a quick and simple way.

The next Web 2.0 tool that I would very much like to use in my art class is NGAkids Still Life. This tool contains a Composer in which students can choose what items to add to their still life via a menu under the screen. It starts with a template of an apple and table. These items can be removed and replaced with anything from the menu. The menu includes small wooden animals and people, apples, vases, books, bowls, fabrics, flowers, fruit, mirrors, papers, shells, tables, and the background wall. All of these items can be manipulated and moved around to create any Still Life.

Once the student has created a still life, the student may switch over to Painter. Through Painter, students have the option of choosing a painting style on the left side, then applying it to the Still Life. There is also an option to save the painting when completed.

The website, http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/stilllife.htm, also contains a slideshow of the famous works that inspired the program along with a checklist of which artists created which paintings. An entire Art History lesson could be formed from this program.

Like Photo Op, the option to save and continue working after the browser has been closed is not there. My students would then probably have to print their work before the class is over and start anew the next day. However, I think I would have them use this Web 2.0 tool to get the idea of what a Still Life is and how to paint one. Once they print a design, they can then use actual paint and canvas to create their very own Still Life painting. They results may turn out much better this way.

Images from http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/stilllife.htm

BP11_2009103_Web 2.0 Photo Op

For this blog and the next two blogs, I’m going over a few of my favorite Web 2.0 tools from The National Gallery of Art Kids Zone website (http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/zone.htm). It contains many Web 2.0 applications ready for online use with the aid of Adobe Shockwave which is also free to download. One of my favorites is Photo Op, http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/photoop.htm. Photo Op is free and has many of the tools necessary to learn about Digital Photography and Photoshop. The first part of Photo Op allows students to play with digital photography using the Snapper. This is specifically set up for a beginner photographer as the panoramic landscape is already in place. Directional arrows allow students to move to any desired spot in the landscape for a photo opportunity. Focus, aperture, and speed are located under the camera. Students can then move the focus, aperture, and speed to see how each one changes the snapshot. Snaps are taken by clicking the button on top of the camera just like you would on a regular camera. Snapshots may be viewed on the left column or in the section on the camera that says Pix.

Once a good number of snapshots have been taken, roughly ten to twelve, students may click on a snapshot and the screen immediately changes to edit mode. If the student wants to edit another picture, clicking on the snapper icon will take them back to the snapshots and they may choose another photo. The editor has several options for effects lined up on the left-hand side. Adding to these effects are options at the bottom of the screen to blend, change or add colors, brush styles, cropping, and collage for mirror and multi effects. Once a desired effect is achieved, the photo is saved by clicking on the “save” button. The saves can be edited again and again and it holds up to eighteen saves while the student is working.

The only thing I don’t like about Photo Op is that it will only allow you to work and save while the browser is open. Once the browser is closed and refreshed, all work is lost unless you have saved a screen shot on your computer. Photo Op also does not allow you to upload photos that have already been taken. Each lesson must be started over. This is why it is mostly a beginner learning tool for the basics of practicing how to use a digital camera and edit a photograph. If I had Photoshop on all the school computers, I would use Photo Op in conjunction with it so that students can attain the basic information first before saving and editing.

Images from http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/photoop.htm

BP10_2009103_Flickr Lesson Plan

I found a very basic lesson from Korson at St. Mary’s.

https://www.msu.edu/~korsonm1/Images/year%202/Flickr%20Lesson%20plan.pdf

From this lesson plan, I noticed it began with the very basic information of starting an internet favorite photo search. If I were to use a lesson involving Flickr, I would start with this one just to see what photos my students are interested in. It gives me some background information to start from without knowing anything about them.

In the last class, EDE, our group (DesignPros) created a website using experiential learning for the Digital Photography 101 student which included lessons in iPhoto.

http://sites.google.com/site/fsodesignpros/

On the 4^th day of the lesson, there is section which shows students how to share their photos. Posting to facebook, email, and mobileme gallery are the few areas shown to students. Flickr is also a sharing option on iPhoto, yet was not explained because I did not know how to use Flickr. On day 5 of the lesson, students are invited to Ning to share their photos. Flickr would also be a great option in which the instructor can set up a discussion and sharing session with students as well. I think it would be a great critiquing method for beginner digital photography students.

As for my own classroom, I would use Flickr in a few different ways. I want my students to take photos of their artwork, then post to a class group in Flickr for critique. The other lesson would be involving art as digital photography and having students research professional photographers and photographs. The students would then post a photo that belongs to a professional, titling and giving credit to the professional’s name of course. Then students will take actual digital photographs posting them next to a professional’s work to see how they compare after an extensive lesson in digital photography. It would be interesting to see how the students’ work compared to the professionals’.

BP9_2009102_Google Reflective Media Asset

My all time favorite Web 2.0 tool!

Images from http://www.google.com/

BP8_2009102_Response to Nick's Blog

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2009

BP6_20091010_Web_2.0_Tools_popscreen.com

How many times have you found a riveting video on youtube.com and want to share it with your class or fellow teachers? What would you normaly do to share this new knowledge? If you are like me, you probably copy the url, create a new email message, send an email to yourself or your peers and if you can remember, bookmark the video for future use. Inevitably, after you send the email with the link, it gets lost for ever in your sent mail. Teachers come back and ask you if you can resend the video from months ago or even worse, you loose track of it and end up trying to research for the same video and never find it again. Today I found a tool that helps elevate some of the stress associated with bookmarking videos you find on the web.

Popscreen.com is s a way to bookmark your favorite videos found on my popular video sites including all of these sources. Currently, popscreen is in private beta which means you must be invited to join the site. So without having the ability to test out all of its features, the following is what the site claims can be done.

As a user, the huge advantage of popscreen is the ability to bookmark your favorite shows or webcast from many sites into one online location. After you have booked marked your videos, they are then all attached to your account and stored into one location. This removes the problem of having to go back and search for that great video you watched a couple of months ago. Popscreen also has a feature to allow you to share videos amongst colleagues and friends effortlessly. They also provide a feature that allows you to forward an email you receive from a colleague referencing a video and they will attach it to your account.

You may be asking yourself, self how can I use this in my classroom? Again, if you are anything like me, I utilize some of the great videos that are found on youtube daily. My biggest problem is that I always forget to save the url or bookmark the url for future use. This service would definitely help someone like me manage all of the rich media that is available for free online.

For all the positives that popscreen.com offers, the only negative I can see at this moment is that it is in private beta.

Ashley said...

Hi Nick!
I like this idea of having all my videos in one place. I have the problem of bookmarking a video on my home computer and then having to transfer it to my school computer in which I also forget where I have saved it on my home computer in the first place, so I eventually have to search for it again on my school computer. I’m more of a mess than you are. This would be a great help to me if I had more organization.

I agree that the only negative is the private beta. I went ahead and put in my email address and was sent an invitation to join Popscreen. I’ll let you know how it works out. Thanks for the info!

BP7_2009102_Web 2.0 Listhings

I have always been a sticky note person. I like making lists of what I need to get done for the day or writing random thoughts as they pop into my head. The problem with this is that all my information is scattered everywhere on sticky notes. I especially don’t like those last minute important bits of information given to me by phone in which I am scrambling around trying to find a pen and paper. This usually happens when I need a confirmation number or phone number. I always have a pen and paper handy when I don’t need them. Regardless of the matter, I still have sticky notes all over my desk. I read the about section on Listhings.com and was pleased to see that it’s a Green Site.

I can’t imagine how much paper I waste through actual sticky notes. I have only used Listhings for two days and have already crammed each page with virtual sticky notes. I have so many things to remember in one day, that it’s hard to keep track without some sort of written documentation.

Using Listhings is very simple. It is just like having your own bulletin board on your computer screen where you can stick the notes. After signing in with email address and password to listhings.com, you can begin adding virtual sticky notes with the “add” button on the right. Different pages can be created as well by clicking the plus symbol on the top left. Currently, I am using Listhings for my own personal benefit of keeping order and not wasting paper. I have two tabs each representing a different day. The tabs can be used for many things other than days. I would like to create one just for phone numbers.

I also use sticky notes once every two weeks with my art student critiques. Each student takes a stack of sticky notes and writes a positive note about others’ artwork, then sticks it on or around the artwork. They really like this form of critiquing. However, I do realize that they are using quite a bit of paper and some kids really want to keep their notes. By the end of the critique, half the notes are on the floor and stepped on.

As students must walk around the room to each art piece, through using Listhings they can walk to each students’ computer and post to the virtual bulletin board so it will still be almost the same. However, the process will include less mess, and students can keep their positive comments for as longs as they wish. I really want to try this improved method of critiquing and see how it works.

Images from www.listhings.com

BP6_2009102_Web 2.0 Google

I have just recently become more familiarized with Google through last month’s EDE Full Sail course and this month’s ETC course. Google is a highly used search engine as Levy (2002) states, “Not only does Google dramatically speed the process of finding things in the vast storehouse of the Web, but its power encourages people to make searches they previously wouldn't have bothered with.” Google is also one giant Web 2.0 tool, and it was a my fingertips all this time. Google contains so many Web 2.0 tools, it can be the most beneficial portal to web-based instruction in education today. This is also one site that is not blocked at my campus. With all the features Google has to offer, I have barely even begun to scratch the surface of the capabilities Google can create for teaching.

The best part about Google is that it contains your own personal learning environment as well as shared and public online environments. With Google, the educational benefits are almost endless. English teachers are able to view students’ papers through Google docs, correcting and adding comments when necessary. If students are assigned a group essay, the teacher may be the main collaborator sending invites to the Google doc so that he or she can view who is contributing to the work. Anyone can use Google Earth as History teachers can explore historical imagery with audio tours, Geography teachers can map out any place with satellite imagery and terrain, and Science teachers can view the ocean floor and collect data from marine experts.

I use Google Earth for personal everyday knowledge of how to get to places or to see how many miles I’ve accurately run on the canal banks. I recently started using it to map out cross country routes for my athletes. I am constantly amazed with Google Earth.

Tara Calishain (2004) talks about the Web 2.0 tool Google Alerts and using Google at any time and from any location. Calishain (2004) further explains that “Everything in Google is also accessible through a Palm PDA and Internet-Enabled cell phone.”

With full communication through Google, I can post and search whenever I want to, also communicating with my athletes and students. If I really get ahold of all the tools Google offers, I can have art students managing and collecting art data, visiting locations where famous artists and movements began, and linking videos and images to all art lessons. My cross country runners can collaborate and create running logs while searching new routes and mapping upcoming race courses. It could turn out to be an extremely valuable resource for everything.

It seems like Google is now running the world. At least that’s how I am beginning to feel.

References

Calishain, T. (2004). Google Everywhere. PC Magazine, 23(20), 86. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=14837716&site=ehost-live

Levy, S. (2002). THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GOOGLE. Newsweek, 140(25), 46. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=8637555&site=ehost-live

Images from http://www.google.com/

BP5_2009102_Web 2.0 Sketchfu

My art classes create a lot of artwork during the year. They also show me artwork that they create outside of class such as doodles. I see how they use doodles to communicate daily. I never completely thought of doodling as an art form until I saw the sardonic and comedic work of Don Hertzfeldt in the animated video, Billy’s Balloon.

What doodling does is create a simple art form to convey a message. Doodling can also be used as a sketch or idea for final drawings. At the young age of 12 and 13, my students are still developing their hand-eye coordination. Doodling is simple and does not require any art skills. I chose Sketchfu as a Web 2.0 tool because it is easy and fun to use. It shows students the process of drawing step by step along with adding color. When they publish the drawing, it plays out each step they did creating an animated doodle. To get ideas, there are several examples and students may click on “browse drawings” or the “best of sketchfu” to locate more examples. Students will also be able to see which friends are online and may share and send sketch animations to friends. There is a quick post option that allows users to post to Myspace, Facebook, Friendster, LiveJournal, Blogger, Xanga, Tagged, and TypePad.

I can better use this tool in my classroom by incorporating it with each assignment as a starting point or critique element used for communication through doodling. Students can send each other quick doodles commenting on each other’s art. It will be like sending notes in doodle form.

When students familiarize themselves a little more with Sketchfu, it can then be used as a starting point for animation and more complicated doodles. This is the main reason Sketchfu is a Web 2.0 tool of very high interest to me. I like seeing the student interest develop their drawing skills into more advanced criteria.

Images from http://sketchfu.com/ and www.youtube.com

BP4_2009102_Social Bookmarking

Social Bookmarking is used for a variety of things ranging from personal to educational purposes in which there is no set way to categorize your information. This makes the possibilities to search and share almost endless.

As stated by Amanda Etches-Johnson (2006), “there is no such thing as controlled vocabulary here, no hierarchical relationships, and certainly no faceted classification.” This quote was in reference to tags. Etches-Johnson (2006) went on to explain where social bookmarking is going in education, specifically for libraries that connect user-defined tags to existing subject headings.

Barbara Fiehn (2008) discussed social networking and using OPACS (Online Public Access Catalogs) in school libraries. Fiehn (2008) mentioned Amazon.com as the leader in using Web 2.0 tools and social bookmarking for some time now as it contains a variety of features providing reviews, ratings, and suggested lists.

Feihn (2008) found the following: The first school library automation system to integrate such features was released this past July by Follett Software Co. Destiny Library Manager v8.5 Destiny Quest provides an online searching interface designed to catch the attention of students used to using the internet. The standard search interface combines with social networking in a colorful graphical environment allowing students, teachers, and staff to give star or text ratings to books and submit text, audio, or video reviews. The school community can recommend books to each other, suggest items for purchase, and request additional copies. Destiny Quest also improves the ability to upload digital objects to MARC records. This upgrade also provides Destiny users with a free, 65-title ebook collection.

Feihn’s (2008) final thoughts on the matter after her discussions with library media specialists were “ I think these latest enhancement will be engaging for the students, and also for the teachers. I can see many applications for book reviews and recommendations, which would provide a way for teachers and students to communicate beyond the school setting and school term. I say, Bring it on!"

In addition to the uses of social bookmarking for library use in education, multiple applications in education can benefit from it. Laura Gordon-Murnane (2006) breaks down the process of using social bookmarking in which the learner, educator, or anyone else is able to: keep found sources through individual collections, share collaboration through folksonomy, discovery through serendipity, and portability through multiple web access at any time and place. Gornon-Murnane (2006) also lists the growing number of social bookmarking sites available including Delicious, Furl, Magnolia, Simpy and many others.

Through all of these, the possibilities for higher education are endless. Social bookmarking can really lend itself to the new generation of tagged library catalogs taken to a whole other level.

References

Etches-Johnson, A. (2006). The Brave New World of Social Bookmarking: Everything You Always Wanted to Know but Were Too Afraid to Ask. Feliciter, 52(2), 56-58. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=20673319&site=ehost-live

Fiehn, B. (2008). Social Networking and Your Library OPAC!. MultiMedia & Internet@Schools, 15(5), 27-29.http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=34689396&site=ehost-live

Gordon-Murnane, L. (2006). Social Bookmarking, Folksonomies, and Web 2.0 Tools. Searcher, 14(6), 26-38.http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=21269127&site=ehostlive

iGoogle ETC page

This is my iGoogle ETC page with a Halloween Theme for the month of October.

iGoogle AR/CBL Page

This is my iGoogle AR/CBL page.

iGoogle Home Page

This is my iGoogle home page.

BP3_2009101_GoogleReader

As an assistant high school and middle school cross-country coach, I need to stay up to date with the best runners, coaches, rule changes, results, and any news regarding the sport of cross-country. I have three subscriptions on Google Reader to help me stay connected to the running world. Once a week, the head cross-country coach (Hector Gandara at Edinburg North High School) and I ask our athletes to provide any news or insights they have found about their sport. I can’t be caught off guard not knowing about the sport that I coach. Results and up and coming runners are constantly changing along with meet event schedules and UIL regulations. Flotrack posts information daily with videos and interviews of the best runners and races in the world. Flotrack also contains updated workouts used by colleges. TXrunning.com is my results resource allowing me to view the latest cross-country meet results in order from most recent as there are cross-country meets held every Saturday. The U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association shows collegiate and high school information ranging from Division I - DIII to 5A – 1A high schools. Having these resources in Google Reader will help me save a lot of time searching and compiling all the information I need to be a better coach.

I am also an art teacher, and like to keep up with new developments in art. For this, I have subscribed to Education Art 21 Blog. Art 21 is a television series that provides opportunities to increase knowledge of contemporary art in the 21^st century. It is great resource showing what real artists are doing today. To make my art class more relevant to my students, I need to talk and show them what artists are doing now and not what they did years ago. I also subscribed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art Special Exhibition Podcast. The MMA changes exhibitions regularly. Listening to current podcasts from the exhibition curators makes me feel like I am there in the room experiencing a live tour. The up to date tours help me keep tabs on what and where the exhibitions are going. I can also use the podcasts in the classroom when explaining a lesson using that particular artwork, style, or time period.

I subscribed to Teacher Magazine and EdWeek to stay connected with Education News at the National and International levels. I am usually not aware of the whole spectrum of Education at those levels, and am hoping to become more familiar with what our Nation is doing to improve Education for students, teachers, and communities.

BP2_2009101_Anti-Teaching

"As most of us know from our own experience, the best learning almost always occurs in the absence of a teacher, for it is then that learners are free to pursue with great passion the questions that are meaningful and relevant to their own lives" (Wesch, M.). I pulled this quote from Michael Wesch's article on Anti-Teaching: Confronting the Crisis of Significance, because it summarizes the current goal in education. Personally, going through college courses and even using CMS tools like Blackboard, I did not feel like I received a meaningful education toward life. Only through expanding my personal knowledge after college have I really come to appreciate learning. I believe this comes from my own paced learning and personal interests.

I also watched the YouTube video "A Vision of Students today," that Wesch described in the article. Seeing all the students completely bored out of their minds in a lecture class, holding up papers or notes on their laptops stating what they are actually doing in class, which was anything but the assigned reading or paying attention, it was made more apparent as to how educational systems need to increase knowledge and awareness of the students' personal learning. As Wesch stated, students need to find what is relevant to them to want to answer those unanswered questions in life.

Through learning about Multiple Intelligences and Brain-Based Learning, I have found a new understanding of how everyone really does learn differently. A teacher cannot sit down and write a personalized lesson plan for all 100 students. This is where CMS helps to manage the course and student participation. PLEs and Web 2.0 help students expand on learning themselves as well as collaborating with peers.

However, I don't think the technological tools are enough to suffice all learning. A structure must be kept in line to ensure quality experience is taking place. Even a CMS and PLE can get unorganized. Monitored progress by the teacher should still allow for personal exploration with a more structured approach.

What I have experienced in my school district is that they want to create a virtual learning environment that is the same across the board. I do concur that the CMS should be the same for the district, but that teachers may be allowed to add Web 2.0 tools as they wish, many of which are blocked right now by the district. Virtual communication for students is also blocked. More accessibility is a must and I think districts are afraid of developing too much freedom that it is so far from the traditional learning techniques. For 21st century schools, a new structured design must take into effect that teachers are learning how to teach in the 21st century. Once accommodations for the teachers have been made, it is easier to facilitate and monitor the learning of the student. So many times, I have heard my students actually understand the concept after they have taken the test or completed the project. I think many teachers go through this. Using technology and monitoring their progress virtually allows for more insight into what students are actually accomplishing outside the classroom, and that is "learning beyond the test."

BP1_2009101_Educational Uses for Blogs

Ebscohost lent itself to a great resource article called Educational Uses of Blogs and Wikis. It was a one-stop-shop as Flierl and Fowler addressed several sites open to educational online communication. I will elaborate on two sites described in this article. I checked out blogsavvy.net. The home page consists of featured posts, a quote of the week, and recent posts. There are also blogging resources found on this page for different blogging needs and uses. By clicking on the Blogging for Education link, many blog resources and user comments are shown about using blogs for education, such as the multi-user blog tools like Drupal, Elgg, Manilla, and WordPress. As an educator, just learning that these tools are out there can be very helpful. Another site listed by Flierl and Fowler was Teachers Teaching Teachers at http://teachersteachingteachers.org/. Teachers collaborate on this blog site to provide insight and feedback to other teachers about their own findings in the classroom through blogs, podcasts, and webcasts. Categories for these blogs and teacher stories are listed on the left-hand side of the website along with archives. Any teacher may join EdTechTalk and participate in the topic of conversation held every Wednesday. The discussion is then posted as a podcast to the blog on Teachers Teaching Teachers. This is a community building network of teachers that want to share and expose others to their findings. I was thoroughly impressed with what these teachers have done and it’s very inspiring, which helps other teachers want to get involved and stay active in the learning process through constant reflection and feedback from peers. I believe this to be the main purpose for using blogs in education.

FLIERL, R., & FOWLER, H. (2007). Educational Uses of Blogs and Wikis. Phi Delta Kappan, 89(3), C3. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=27362905&site=ehost-live