About Diigo

This video is great for explaining what Diigo can do. I have embedded it here for future reference.

Thing 12

Tagging is certainly much more efficient than bookmarking or creating favorites on your own computer. Already my list of favorites is so long that it is difficult to find the site I am looking for. In addition, if I don't visit the "favored" site often, I usually forget what is on the site, or why I "saved" it in the first place. Tagging would eliminate these problems. Tagging is sort of like "googling" information that you have already spent the time to find. Advantages: (1)saving time re-searching for information that you have researched before; (2)having access to other people's searches; (3) access to your resources from any computer. I can't think of any major disadvantages.

Assigning tags should be done carefully--make them clear, efficient and truly helpful. Don't be too vague or broad with tags, avoid run-together tags and investigate to see if others have used the same tag (or a different version of that tag,)and how often.

Thing 11

I seemed to have the same trouble with these widget things that I did way back when we were supposed to put some on our start page! I did manage to get two on my blog page: a mini-piano that can be played, and some swimming fish that follow where the mouse points--which I thought young kids would like. When I tried to embed Art Painter, (one of the widgets on Google's list,)I got an error message when it was published on my page. I think maybe the code was not copying correctly. I deleted this widget, but may try to embed it again later. I think Art Painter would be a good addition for my students to interact with. They could create pictures and put them directly on the web.

Thing 10

I think for me, that Twitter would be a colossal waste of time. I already use Facebook, and the 3 or 4 times a week that I use Facebook keeps me in "enough" touch with those people that I want to keep "connected" with.

I explored 3 of "The Best of the Web 2008:" ColorBlender, DonorsChoose, and CocktailBuilder. CocktailBuilders was the most "fun." I spent quite a bit of time listing all the ingredients in my home bar, then reading and copying all the mixed drinks that I could "build" with ingredients on hand. I can hardly wait for my next party! Seriously, though, I don't think this site would have many educational applications unless you needed to work as a bartender while putting yourself through school.

DonorsChoose was very interesting. School teachers from all over the country list "projects" that they would like to do with their classes, and donors can click to donate any amount to help that teacher. Donors and the teacher-recipient can also post comments back and forth. When the teacher's "project" is fully-funded and completed, photos and "thank-yous" are posted online. Donors can go back to the site and see how the fund raising is coming along, and donate additional amounts if they choose. This is a great resource for teachers in under-funded districts. It could also be used to teach students about sharing whatever resources we have with the greater community.

Thing 9

The Disney video, although clever and probably a lot of work, was difficult to listen to, and was not much help. The comic book by Duke Univ. Law School was full of information--but much of it was irrelevant to me in my job. The Creative Commons website was very confusing--with all the "letters" and no explanation of what these letters actually referred to. The short YouTube video was better. While on 2 of these sites, I clicked on links and found that Flickr had the best explanation of the Creative Commons licenses. I also found a link to a document put out by "The Center for Social Media," a part of the School of Communication at American Univ. in Washington, DC,that was an excellent guide that identified five principles that represent the media literacy education community's current consensus about acceptable practices for the fair use of copyrighted materials. This document was titled, "The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education."

I definitely see teaching and learning becoming more technology-based. But whether this is necessarily a good thing is not truly clear. Of the 6 emerging technologies discussed in the "Horizon Report," the grassroots videos is probably the one technology that I would see using in my classroom. Tutorial videos and art process demonstation videos would definitely be helpful and probably reduce my planning and prep time for certain lessons. The collaborative webs and collective intelligence are two things that I could see using in the future--but I have the feeling my career may be over before these technologies are commonplace.

Elementary art students are rarely expected to do research, and opportunities to teach about the ethical use of interactive resources would also be rare. But as a user of someone else's work, I must remember to set a clear example for students by acknowledging the creator/author of anything I use in my classroom. I feel fairly confident that the use of copyrighted materials in my classroom, would definitely meet the "fair use" standard.

Thing 8

I have listened to this video over and over again, and I never get tired of it. Aretha Franklin has always been my favorite female vocalist, so that is why I put her name into the Search box when I was first exploring YouTube. I was really surprised to learn that she had performed operatic music, and was awe-struck at what a moving rendition she performed. Hope you all enjoy this video as much as I do!
PS--I never realized embedding videos was so easy!

Amazing Performance by Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin, with only 22 minutes advance notice, filled in for Pavarotti with this opera piece--infusing this famous piece with her own unique style.