DIIGO: It's An Application, My Dear Watson.

Through our Diigo activity, it gave room to think about the "business" side of being an educator, and exposed me to apps that can help in that business. I was really impressed by the PowerSchool application, if used properly it can quickly serve as a one-stop-shop for much of the businessy side of being a teacher. I thought that it's interface was impressive and seemed to be easy to use; as a future educator it may be something I try one day.

#6: I want an Oculus Rift.

 

Viera High School presents a series of options to view classes and clubs, including my favorite, the Viera High School Instrumental Music page. Much of the information on the site is public, including costs and calendar details, class expectations, photos and videos However, things such as volunteer sheets and addresses are hidden. This site is useful to all grade levels at VHS.

Using technology efficiently in the classroom would be most immediate for finding alternative ways to convey knowledge. Using alternative instruction enforces understanding and secures students in the material. 

While, it terrified me, my favorite piece of technology in the Sandbox was the Oculus Rift. I can see where immersion is a PHENOMENAL way to teach information in the literature setting, especially when literature is an immersive experience. Immersive video means looking at the scenes in a novel. For example, a Frankenstein's lab, or Edgar Allen Poe's Tale Tale Heart. The Rift brings to life that which we imagine in our heads!

I would like to see a variation on the types of videos available and how far can the rift go? Can I walk down streets? Can I pick things up? I am excited to see where this technology may lead. 

A Snapshot of Life: ILP

PARTICIPATION

During the course, I was able to increase my minimal knowledge of photography. The introductory course gave an overview of different types of cameras, lenses, how to shoot, what to shoot, and how to edit, share, and manage. 

Each portion gave an overview of the basic terms to know and a variety of aspects of photography, and explaining their relation to the creative connection. The notes recorded are condensed for the Prezi attached.

DESIGN

I chose to do a Prezi because I felt it was the most clear way of displaying the information, realized after trying several other methods. For comparing all of the different options within the world of photography, infographics (my first idea) was too small, while Prezis are still visually stimulating, but clearly layout the multitude of information. 

Link to Prezi!

TOOLBOX: Voice Thread Errors, incomplete. 

DIIGO Pt. 2

In the Diigo activity, we were able to explore the Web 2.0 options, furthering my understanding of what Web 2.0 is. But, what's made the Diigo activity most interesting is the social aspect; there were several resources I would like to explore and potentially implement one day.

#5. "I walk. I prefer walking..." in Augmented Reality

Experiencing Web 2.0 tools in our EME courses have exposed how useful interfaces such as blogs and twitter can be. As a future educator, I can see a future in using blogs because of the writing platform, but also its shareable content. The podcast references the concern of student safety, but I feel as though we deal with this issue by having a teacher moderate what we post on the blogs. This is the same type of implementation I would like to use in my classroom. Contrarily, I could see where using accounts like twitter could be dangerous. Twitter does automatically sign up for a variety of accounts with a variety of mature content and opinions, and for young students this could be alarming, even with the precautions presented in the podcast (common classroom account).

In addition to blogs, I could also foresee using an account such as Scribd to enhance our classroom. Scribd is a digital library and e-book and audiobook subscription service that includes one million titles. In addition, Scribd hosts 60 million documents on its open publishing platform. This would create easily accessible materials as well as a place where students could publish a project they've worked on either in groups or as an individual assignment. These aspects are especially useful inside of an English classroom. 

In an ideal world with unlimited funding, I would love to one day use Meta Virtual Glasses for an interactive experience. I really love Victorian literature, so the idea of using augmented reality to be able to walk the same streets as Charles Dickens or get a street view of war-time England would be fascinating! It's traveling the globe without ever using our classroom. 

Title Quote: Jane Austen's Persuasion

Diigo Review

Through the Diigo activity, I was able to experience an informal setting where classroom tools are being shared. Tagging the websites creates a streamline view of a plethora of resources, but the Diigo site creates an interface that allows the content to be shared skillfully and without confusion.