Final Evaluation

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

I would seriously have to say that my favorite discoveries were Zoho.com, GoAnimate, Google.doc, and PhotoPeach. These are all tools that I didn't even know existed before this assignment began and are tools and websites that I will be using with my students in some capacity.

 2. How has this type of program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

This assignment has assisted me in that it has given me knowledge about and practice with many online tools, most that I didn't even know existed until experimenting with them and blogging about them within this assignment. Since being introduced to them, many of these tools, like Zoho.com and Google.doc, I will be using consistently personally and professionally long after this assignment is turned in; continuing to learn new things about each tool.

 3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

    I think one thing that I took away from this assignment is just how many tools are actually available and accessible for free online!  I never would have dreamed that there were so many tools that one could use to make life simpler, more organized, more fun, and more creative.
    Another thing that stood out for me was that there were many times in this assignment where I got lost or stuck while learning about a new tool. Being alone at home or the library, in the past, this would have brought about panic or sheer terror!  But feeling more confident about my skill and knowledge about being online, in most cases, I was able to work my way through and figure out what to do on my own.  Without really thinking about it, I am becoming more proficient in navigating online because of assignments like this.


 4. What could I do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

Since I found the whole assignment to be so beneficial, I'm not for sure if I can recommend anything to improve upon. The whole purpose of the assignment is to introduce students to many different tools found online and I think you definitely accomplished that goal! Well done!

Thing #16: PhotoPeach

"The Blessing of Transportation!" on PhotoPeach

What a quick and easy way to create a video without much hassle!  This would be great for students who are putting together a video report on an assigned or chosen instrument; giving information on the specific details of each reported instrument. I have to also say, I just figured out how to embed a video in my blog! And just to think I was about to give up because of the lateness of the hour!!! I'm so proud of myself!!!

Thing #15: Things Like Skype

   So, I set up Skype on my laptop and on my iPad...all connections and test calls went along just fine except for my test call on my laptop. It kept saying that something was wrong with my microphone on the laptop.  So I struggled to get it to work but couldn't, so I, instead, opted to use face time to call family in California. It works very similarly to Skype except it's designed by Apple.  This is how we always communicate with extended family in California since purchasing my iPad and my purchasing hers last year. It is a great way to see each other without physically being there.  I will continue to try and solve the "great" mystery of the non-working laptop microphone. I have this feeling deep down in the pit of my stomach that it's one minor thing or oversight that's keeping it from working. I'll keep you posted!
 
     I could possibly see something like Skype being used in school similarly to video conferencing where everything is in realtime even though those connected can be miles and miles away from each other.

Thing #14: Podcasting and Bookmarking

   In iTunes, I found a podcast titled, "Voices of  Texas History".  This particular one minute segment was part of a series where voices from notable Texans today would read historical accounts of Texas past and bring to life the events that shaped this great state of Texas into what it is today.  This particular reading was by Governor Rick Perry who read the historical letter written by William Barret Travis at the Alamo in 1836 desperately requesting reinforcement or else be over run by the superior Mexican Army. He stated in his letter, having only 150 men, that he would never  give surrender or give up.  He would rather die fighting as a true soldier would. I think this would be a very interesting and engaging audio to play for your students while doing a unit on Texas history or a study on the Alamo.
   In general though, there's so much information available on this iTunes U! It is a virtual collection of universities with information on such a vast number of topics, from science, geology, history, to math, engineering, technology, and the arts.  There really are no more excuses for ignorance.  If you have the time, then knowledge awaits you!

   For my social bookmarking tool, I chose to revisit Delicious.  I remember setting up an account our first or second semester of the grad program but I really didn't have a thorough understanding of what it was and what it could do at the time. After taking a little bit of time finding my username and password, the first thing I noticed was that they had changed the whole design and look of the webpage which took more time to figure out where everything was located or "re-located". Being that I am much more experienced and comfortable with figuring out my way around a webpage or online tool, I quickly became adapt to the webpage environment.  I even made some updates since last year! I uploaded a new pic for the webpage!  I also added a couple of new links by copying the URL address from the desired webpages clicking on "Add a Link" on the left panel of the Delicious page, and then pasting the URL to the Delicious page and submitting. One was a craigslist for musical instruments and the other with a music theory page from a college. Since revisiting and having a far better understanding of what Delicious has to offer, I will be adding my links to all of the websites and webpages that I visit consistently now so that they will be right there in an organized fashion with tag categories to assist in quickly finding all related webpages with common topics.  After looking at some of the tags I used last year, I probably will have to go back and re-tag some because some could stand to use a little "tweeking" and help. I really like the convenience of finding webpages Delicious offers.

Things #12 & #13: Discovering and Using YouTube

YouTube is a great tool to find awesome tie-ins to your lessons.  They can serve as great attention "grabbers" or introductions to your lessons.  Students can also use YouTube as a way to post their
completed projects, whether it be original song compositions or group video reports, it's a convenient way to show and display their work.
   Of course, like everyone else has mentioned, teachers and students alike have to be very careful and selective in searching for videos because of the many inappropriate videos that can come up. Also, it can be addictive and one can easily find themselves way "off-track" because of all the interesting videos you may come across; videos that have nothing to do with your research!  (Actually, this is one of the reasons why I've spent way too much time on this "Thing #12 than necessary!!!)
   I selected the YouTube video below because it is one of my favorite songs and I love how it flows and speaks to my heart every time I listen to it!  It reminds me to keep moving forward, not looking back at past mistakes, past regrets, past failures...but, instead, looking ahead to the present and future, looking ahead to what Christ has in store for me...it's my reminder to not stand still but to keep moving forward as I follow His lead!!!



O.k., I literally stressed, worried, fell asleep, woke up, pondered, etc...over this one YouTube video uploading!!! Finally, I think I may have gotten it correct!  Let's see what happens when I press "Update"...holding my breath!!! (or maybe I shouldn't!!!)

 

IT WORKS! IT WORKS! I'M JUMPING UP AND DOWN RIGHT NOW! (at least on the inside...I'm in the library right now!!! :o)  )

 

 

Thing #11: Web 2.0 Tools

     I chose to explore the Evernote tool.  I've heard the name before and knew of its general use for note taking but knew little more than that.  After playing around with it, although I understand the basic value of such a note taking tool, I still don't really understand what makes this note taking different than any other note taking tool. I do like the fact that it constantly saves and logs date and time of notes taken automatically so that you don't stand the risk of accidentally losing unsaved notes (which has happened to me before!!! Definitely frustrating!!!)   I also liked how easy it was to transition to new notes just by the click of the mouse.  The screen set-up, initially, was confusing to me.  I did not readily recognize the fact that the middle column was the "running" saved history of your notes taken until I had taken several different notes and noticed those same notes in that column. Being that I can gain access to my notes from anywhere because of the use of the cloud, it expands your options and versatility because of the fact can check your notes from your Smartphone or from a tablet or laptop.
   This tool can be very useful in the classroom when taking important notes from a lecture or special instructions from a teacher.  Students could also use this in recording data notes from group projects that will need to be accessed at a later date.  In terms of benefits to the teacher, I think being able to organize all of your notes in one place helps save time and energy when retrieving information is necessary.

     For my second tool exploration, I experimented with Goanimate.com.  This was a fun and cool tool where one can create an animated story using the site's characters and backgrounds.  It took a while for me to figure out how to even start the creative and development process and by viewing my short little animated video, it's quite obvious that I will need much more time to reach suitable video creation proficiency status!!! I tried to embed the video but not sure if it worked or not...

<a href="http://goanimate.com/videos/0yCUGI-vAs40?utm_source=embed&uid=0JpogLm1vERs" target="_blank">What Happened to My Jacket?</a> by <a href="http://goanimate.com/user/0JpogLm1vERs"


...or the URL is: http://goanimate.com/videos/0yCUGI-vAs40?utm_source=linkshare

Thing #10: Online Productivity Tools

     I really like the idea of having access to a document tool that I can use anywhere and send and save to whatever device I want. Honestly, I didn't even know such tools existed until now!  This is an awesome option; especially since my current laptop does not have Microsoft Word on it and I've been having to inconveniently find and use computers that have it installed on it to create my documents! It sure makes life a lot easier!  For whatever reason though, I still have a "trust" issue with this "cloud" concept and trusting my files to always be there "in the cloud" when I need them. I'm so used to carrying around my USB  to have a copy of my documents if I ever need them for whatever  reason. The features of Zoho.doc and Google.doc are very much like the standard document tools you are accustomed to using; which makes the usage transition to these web-based tools very smooth and user-friendly. I, definitely, will be using these document tools immediately for personal as well as professional purposes!!!  :o)

Thing #9: Play with Wiki's

     It was great to see all of the other awesome ideas from fellow students and teachers!  It also was also a great feeling to know that I was contributing my own ideas to a list of other great ideas and that they would be read by others!  I've always been such a private person so this feeling is very different for me; exhilarating yet scary; what will the "masses" think of my "very own" ideas and original activities?
    I really thought the Learning 2.0 Favorites Wiki was pretty fun.  I liked the idea I could add on to the various "Favorite" lists and share my own experiences, thoughts, and opinions; and to know that they will be read by many.

Thing #8: Wiki's

     The whole concept of wiki's is totally new to me.  I've heard of Wikipedia and was aware that content found there was a collaborative effort from various contributors.  What I did not know was that the idea of Wiki's was so popular and extensive.  Originally, I felt the idea of having random people contribute to a particular topic was unclear in purpose.  Now, I do see the benefits of such interaction and collaboration, especially in certain instances like student projects, business and professional communication, and public institutions such as libraries and county offices.  
     I thought the Book Lovers Wiki was interesting and unique.  Contributors can write and post a book review on the latest book that they have read and rate it.  They had numerous postings on countless books from various reviewers.  This can be very useful if one is considering reading a book and wants to get an idea of what a the book is about and if it's a possible "good" reading.  Although the reviews are subjective, it still could serve as a viable point of view to seriously consider.
     I also viewed several of the teacher's blogs from the Educator Wikis.  This is a great tool to use for teachers to share and find great ideas for their classroom from other teachers.  One that I thought was fascinating was "100 Names" where a teacher was collecting 1000 names so that her students could visually see what 1000 actually looks like.  It seems like the wiki was so popular that people kelp adding to the list until it surpassed its original target of 1000 and was on its way to reach 3000!  This, I think, is a great tool to use when soliciting participation from viewers. I could possibly use a wiki in the classroom to do a lesson on instruments by asking students to add to a list their favorite instrument.

Thing #7: Image Generators

O.k...the possibilities are, quite literally, endless with these fabulous image generators.  I've never  tried any of these previously, but after having played around with a few, my creative mind is "swirling" with ideas and thoughts about how these could be used with my students in the classroom.

The first one I explored was the Tagxedo tool.  I typed in a brief description of what music is and chose the shape of an eighth note to display the words contained in that paragraph.  I also explored each of the tools to the left of the design screen which included buttons for changing the font, color, arrangement of words in the design, shape, and source of text. Below is the resulting design I created.

 

What's really "cool" about Tagxedo is that by clicking on each word found in the design, each term becomes highlighted and enlarged!  Amazing!  This tool could be used to re-enforce vocabulary and musical terms discussed in class as well as explore the various instruments found in each music instrument family.  A different shape of a particular instrument from each family with instruments of that family included within the design could be a great visual tool to re-enforce student's understanding of instrument families.

 

The second image generator tool I used was the Voki. This was interesting because it gave a visual to the printed text and audible voice chosen for the Voki avatar.  This could be used in the classroom to introduce a new lesson in music like the treble and bass clef and note names. below is a link to an avatar created as I experimented with avatar character selections and design.

 

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=8660210&height=267&width=200 

Thing #6: RSS & Newsreaders

The more I "played around" with RSS, the more I could envision the possibilities of its use; although for me personally, I could also possibly find myself "wasting" hours upon hours reading the various news articles that has nothing to do with research for classes or specific needs at any particular time which would, inevitably, work against me and my very "limited" time schedule.  I must say, though, that it is very convenient to have everything in one place, without having to go from website to website to find what you are looking for.  The multiple dashboard concept based on specific topics, was a RSS feature that I think could be very beneficial; especially when doing a research on a particular topic or looking for the latest news on a specific theme.  At the same time, it seemed to be a bit overwhelming with all of the multiple features and display "windows".

For whatever reason, the readers club review feed would not work for me...not for sure if was just me or if the feed was not available.  I would be very interested to find if others had the same challenging experience...

This is my URL to my Netvibes public account  http://www.netvibes.com/musicmandblack

Thing #5: Flickr Mashups

After exploring several mashups, I decided to play around with the Jigsawed.  It literally tranforms your photos into a jigsaw puzzle! I thought this was very clever and fun; especially since I totally "love" putting puzzles together! Some of the others I explored, like the Flickr Color Pickr, didn't really appeal to me. I guess you would use it if you were looking and searching for a specific colored photo for a project or to decorate a room...otherwise, I didn't understand the true purpose for this particular mashup.

Thing #4: Flickr Exploration

IMG_0047, a photo by musicmandblack on Flickr.

This is a photo of my youngest daughter, Destiny, having fun and posing on the Amtrak train ride to California! This whole process of setting up a Flickr and Yahoo account, exploring Flickr website, and uploading this photo to my blog was sort of a "trial-and-error" experience; yet fun and insightful.

Thing #3: Uploading Photos and Images

Thing #2: Blogging

Setting up my Blogging page was fairly easy and straight-forward.  I just followed the steps given and made decisions about my address name and template design.  I, originally, made a mistake in my Blog title and instead of typing "Mr. Black's 16 Things", I typed " Thing #1".  It took me a little time to figure out how to go back and find the edit button to make the necessary change to correct my mistake.
   It seems like I will get the hang of this Blogging idea as time goes on.  This is my first time EVER using Blogging and setting up an account, so I feel rather proud of myself!  I set this up ALL by myself! I guess I'm growing up technologically...I'm no longer a tech toddler!!! :0)

Thing #1: Lifelong Learning

   Viewing the short tutorial on "7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners" really prompted me to think and reflect on my own learning throughout my life as well as my current learning habits. As I reflect, I've come to the conclusion that "attitude" IS everything when it comes to positioning one's self to learn something that is new and, sometimes, even challenging and difficult.  "I will...I can...I do", as stated in the tutorial, is ultimately, the attitude one needs in order to succeed and grow in your learning development.

   In terms of the easiest habit for me mentioned in the tutorial, it would have to be Habit #1: "Begin with the end in mind."  As I prepare to complete a task, project, or assignment, before starting, I always envision what I want the end project to look like.  Even if I'm not sure how to get there, this is always my starting point.  I can literally see it with my "mind's eye" before I ever write one word, draw one line, build one structure, or take one picture.

The most difficult habit for me to master would have to be Habit #4: "Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner." There have been many times, even in this grad program, where I've felt that I know so little about a particular topic, or in the case of being in this program, knowing little about technology.  It's at those times that I've had to give myself a mental pep talk and remind myself that "I can do ALL things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me!!!"  Amen! Then I've been able to move forward.  I'm getting better at this one though!  :0)

Attached, is the link to my "Learning Contract".
Learning Contract