I Need a Google Doctor!!

I was so excited when I read the info about GoogleDocs - WOW - a "place" for everything and everything in its place. That's how I function the best - and now I could have it all!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, but wait - all is not as it seems........

Here's my dilemma: I have a laptop and an older desk top, with one older, but perfectly functioning laser printer. My new laptop does not have the ability to hook-up to my printer. Bummer. They have a cord/usb thing-y that will work, but of course, they don't have any left. That was May 5th, it's now July 12th, and still no cord/usb connection. Why did I just type all of that?? Well, here's where the GoogleDocs seemed revolutionary - I did not need to continue to transfer my data to be printed from my laptop to the older computer (with outdated software) to print - I would have my document on-line and then just pull it up from a website on my older computer to print - NO MORE USB STICK!! No more guessing as to which version I was actually printing!!!!!!!! Yahoooooooooo!!!!!!!!

All giggly this morning to try this out, I bring up my syllabi for Biol 3715 on the laptop - save it to GoogleDocs, then....use my older computer to print!! But it was not to be............The formatting was ALL wrong :( Now - I am sure there is a way I can fix that..........I'll keep looking!!!!

Twittle-de-de

Ahh – the sweet smell of summer……!!

Twittering is interesting – like all of the activities in this course. I can see what Bono, Oprah, Sue, and my sister are up to (or thinking) daily and what's the breaking news on CNN.

So - who should my students follow…..there is much to choose from!!

The accessiblity to great ideas and techniques out there is getting easier. Being “armed” with as many as possible is a great asset. This newest technique is again giving us such opportunity to expand our teaching-related experiences. A big "Hurray" for Twitter!!

This is 'licous!!

So, I am trying my best to catch up on the weekly activities because I am DYING to twitter ASAP - I am one of those "people" who has to go "step by step" without jumping ahead.

Today - Social Bookmarking. I must say, I had to re-watch the common craft video a few times to "get" everything as I worked through the activities. I felt like my mind was completely cluttered. But I managed to clean things up, as my hubby took the kids out to the playground - thank you Steve! - arrgh, I wrote too soon, he's back with the rascals!!

So, a quick rundown of my take on social bookmarking, aka Delicious:

CONS:

1. Realizing that you have to press "Tag" instead of the "Bookmark" button to bookmark?

2. It was not as easy as I thought to maneuver about the webpages, (being at the desired webpage and then back to delicious) but I think I will get the hang of it.

3. I have not yet figured out how to make the tags public, or how to do the "social aspect" of the bookmarking.

PROS:

1. Subscribing to the feeds of the website for updates (I hope it will work the way I think it will), because I may never think to go back to the site, especially since I am in the infancy stage of learning to tag!

2. When I figure out the social part of bookmarking!

3. The bookmarking being accessible on any computer......seriously, that is a great, great thing!

TEACHABILITY:

It will be a useful feature for a course - to be able to put up the bookmarks and get the students to add their finds as well. Sharing/collaboration - that makes it fun.

The STAR WARS world is just awesome :)

Oh my - just in case any of you enjoy Star Wars - here is a neat Discovery Channel version I found earlier....

A way to use this as a teaching tool, there is, hmmmm?

You are very welcome :)

The world is just awesome!

Wow – now my technological inabilities are becoming painfully apparent. It has taken me all day to figure out how to get this video downloaded and “put” anywhere. My computer won’t read a mp4 or flv…..arghhhhh. Just when I think I’ve made a major breakthrough with the “how-to” in a list in front of me……there goes three hours of tinkering around to get it to work. Could I stop after 1 hour perhaps….no, just a little more tinkering. Could I stop after two hours…….no, no, no, just one more try. Please, no one say I’m not persistent. I wonder will this video work? Why this old video to post you ask – because it is the one my kids like for me to play nonstop – and - ‘cause the world IS just awesome :)

Podcasting – Apparently it’s what I’ve been missing!!

I always seem to begin my blogs with something to the effect of “wow…..” Podcasting did not let me down either: Wow – this stuff is great!!! I feel like a kid in a free candy store!! What has really helped me enjoy all of this new-found web technology is my new IPod Touch…………………ahhhhh - a very sweet “thank you” to my PDA, Chair and Dean. I have new “lingo” to catch up on, like my “apps” – sometimes I think my head will explode if I …try..to…squeeze…anything…else…new…into…it….but I will keep on trucking anyway!!

After a week of movers…moving….packing and unpacking…I think I will settle down now with my boys on the couch with my ity-bity IPod screen and we can all watch some discovery shows they crave….they know how to download from the iTunes store, too – cause Daddy showed them first! The technological competition is fierce in this house!!

Wiki Me!!

Sometimes I feel like I am 5 years old – excitedly trying to do something new but not really knowing the ramifications of what I’m doing. Will I get a time-out???? Yikes!

Wiki vs Blogging. I think blogging is great – wish I had more time to do it, actually. Wiki seems to be a spot where a lot gets accomplished quickly with various sources of input and you don’t have to get off your chair!! Holy Toledo!! How fantastic is that!!

Personally, I think that Wiki is not a great spot for sourcing. Primary literature will hold that niche for a long time to come. I do not think I would accept a source from Wiki in a paper from a student at all – I’d have them re-do it or take marks off. Obviously I would now let my students know beforehand that a wiki source is not acceptable. BUT they could use a wiki site to share information sources for their papers!!!

I’m sure as I get more comfortable with Web 2.0, I may feel differently about much of this - I still feel so very technologically challenged.

Flickr Reflections

There are a few things about flickr I’d like to share. One –a lot of people are really talented at photography. Two – It was hard waiting those couple of days before you could view what you uploaded for the first time. I was not sure I had done it properly and was waiting to see mistakes!!! Three – It could be quite useful in teaching applications, photos of dissections and specimens come to mind for Biology – and this method would ensure that everyone has the same resources to use (not every student has a camera/phone to take to lab, and I witness the glaring that occurs when a student is lucky enough to have one!!!). If you have a field course component and students needed to record what they saw and submit a “photo journal” – this would be another way of doing that.

For personal use, this could be great. You do not need an account to view photos, so family members could look up photos of relatives whenever they felt like it without having to create yet another account. I know my Mom would appreciate that!! Down fall – you would have to let them know how you tagged each new set of pictures, or how would they know you added new photos. Maybe there is an easy way to do that – I just have not figured it out.

I’m a bit behind – off to catch up on the week of Wikis!!!!!!!!!!!!

Take me home......

OK - so I was using flickr to look at a multitude of pictures, I was ahhhing every second...then, like everything, you get sensitized to all those perfect pictures posted. That got me thinking about which one would I like to download for this blog entry...and I could not find one that I liked "just that little bit extra". Then I thought I might try refining my search...........to Newfoundland - not surprizing as my nickname for my blog is "Newfie Girl". I found ALOT of nice photos of my home province.........then I got greedy and refined my search even MORE to the little, ity bity town where I was born...........I was not disappointed!!!!! There were 7 pages of pictures!!!! And if I ever get time, I will upload my own pics to the site and add about 7 more pages!!! The pic featured here is taken from "Joey's Lookout" atop the hill above my town. The hill is named for Joey Smallwood, NL premier who brought NL to confederation, and this was his birth place. This particular picture is not fancy or containing the usual "WOW" factor that most people look for, but it does show the Church on the left (halfway up) that I attended my entire childhood, where I was married, and where each of my three little boys were Christened. That is a powerful photograph for me.

So, what are my thoughts on flickr and teaching?? I have some more digging to do to find potential options - I'll update you on what I find later!

In about 6 weeks I will be making the yearly three day drive (each way), with my family, to see the grandparents in Newfoundland. Priceless.

Blogging uninterrupted!

Having three little ones and trying to get a complete thought typed is quite the challenge. The littlest one is waking up and letting me know it!! So, let’s see what I was thinking: I think I have figured out the RSS feed – the updates from the blogs I follow show up on my site so I don’t have to go looking – that is handy for sure!! The students will be able to keep track of some good “conversations” I am hoping they will have related to course work. Students can use their blogs to ask questions for feedback among themselves and I can monitor it – quite handy as they study for the midterm and finals or just completing lab write-ups. I believe this can be done in Blackboard – but I did not try it with that application. I think the students will enjoy this!! Oh – wait a minute – what about plagiarism?? Ah…something to think about later….Off the get the babe!!

Would students feel open to commenting?

Blogging...eh? Interesting. Be patient....it's my first time ;)

Seriously, though, it certainly is another method to gain comments/feedback from students. Could we pose a weekly question during a course and then let the students give their thoughts on it? Would they be open to it? Have people found blogging effective in teaching? How could we evaluate its effectiveness?

I have so much to learn about this......