Fini

I am done. I have completed my tasks.

Thing 23

1. My favorite exercises were finding del.icio.us, web 2.0 awards, wikis, and Flickr. I will utilize these more than any. They are user friendly and fun,too.
2. 23 Things have opened up new worlds of technology that I didn't previously know existed. In order to keep abreast of all that's out there, I really appreciate the way the Library 2Play was set up so I could take advantage of all the new sites.
3. I found that some of things were more challenging than others. The podcast and video were difficult but once it was done, I was so proud of it. I really like putting pictures on my blog. I think it adds more interest.
4. The only thing I might recommend would be better instructions. I found that in some cases, there were steps missing that I think people take for granted that I know. I really need to be walked through every step or I get confused.
5. I would participate again. I like being able to work from home and I was able to complete things on this activity that I thought I couldn't do.It was time consuming, but I surely am glad to get the 18 hours under my belt.I estimate I doubled the 18 hours or more spent on this activity.
6. 23 Things will take you places you never dreamed possible.
7. I have commented on others' blogs and will continue to do so this summer. I am also anxious to see all the completed blogs. There are people out there with a lot of new technology skills.

Thing 22

What a funny made-up word for an adult substitute for Facebook and MySpace. I don't know how people come up with all these names for things on the internet. Now I know that a "ning" is a social network where people can easily create networks around specific interests ; people like me with limited technical skills. I read the 3 nings suggested on the 23 Things site. The teacher ning is more relevant for me. However, there are slim pickens for Family and Consumer Science. I only found 2 for this area. One was from a person just finishing college and was needing assistance. I gave her my blog address because I have links she can use. At this time, there are about 220,000 networks out there. This can and is overwhelming but I think if you look for tags or clouds or enter specifics into the search bar, a ning can surely narrow down what you are searching for. I can see that a ning can be useful for students who might want to learn more about their school, teachers, curriculum, extra curricula activities, etc. from other students. I can also see that teachers from the ssme school or district could utilize this instead of email. A ning could be similar to a wiki in some ways. There are many alternatives on the "net" for communication with others. A negative might be that there are so many people to communicate with. I see how some people are on the computer a lot in their spare time. I think we have to be careful not to spend too much time doing this.

Thing 21

I completed my podcast which is me reading a poem and a recipe . It is linked below to a switchpod account.

http://www.switchpod.com/users/robersos/cookingpoem.wav

Thing 20

There are many, many choices from teachertube and youtube. I found this cute site for kids'videos called "Lazy Town". It is probably too elementary for middle schoolers but it is just an example of the numerous videos available on the web that I can use with my Family and Consumer Science classes.

Thing 19

The Web 2.0 awards are awesome! I just keep finding all these fantastic things on the internet that I never knew existed. I could use so many of the sites listed. I chose http://www.imcooked.com . This site has so many special tools. There were at least 76 cooking videos( I'm so excited) . Within the site they tell how to "Cook it", "Film it", and "Share it", by using Windows movie maker. I had been planning on filming my students cooking a particular recipe sort of as a "Next Top Chef" type competition. I have also planned to film myself doing a cooking demonstration. So this site will help me complete this activity. This is a web community for video recipe sharing. It has groups, tags, and I can invite friends to view this site. There is a place for my videos, favorites, play lists, and groups. I also like to show cooking videos through my computer projector as opening sets for my cooking classes. Libraries could use this site for training purposes.

Thing 18

After studying both open office and google docs, I think that google docs would be the best suited for my needs and purposes. Google docs are simpler to use . I have utilized them in the past because I use gmail. Open office is great if you are in the business world or have to do spreadsheets, office documents, etc., which I don't have to do. I also am pretty satisfied with microsoft office,too. In order to use open office, I would really have to use their tutorials and practice a lot, to familiarize myself with all the options they have. For me, the simpler and quicker, the better.