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!!!!!!!!!!!!