Here are the professional networks that I joined this past week.  Just click on the name to check them out.    

LinkedIn 
Plaxo
ResumeUp 

After reading the articles, I think podcasting has many advantages in 
education.  More and more college level teachers are recording lectures for students to listen to on iPods, computers, or other devices that allow it.  With lectures prerecorded, students can access them whenever they want to and also play back portions that they want/need to listen to again.  One article specifically mentioned the notes application in iPods, which allows for text to be included along with the podcasts.  Instructors can include lecture notes that can be read on the iPod, along with the lectures.  Podcasts also can be listened to while students are driving, exercising, or other another activity in which reading the material is not an option.  They also can be very beneficial for students who have auditory learning styles.  One disadvantage that I can see is that the student does not necessarily need to be present in class for lectures, which limits collaboration with fellow students in a classroom setting.  

I think it is great to see teachers embracing new technology to connect with 
students.  As a teacher, I do like to use technology in my classroom.  However, I it is important to me that the technology is easy to learn, works correctly, and helps enhance student learning.  

There are many technologies in this course that I can seem myself using in the my current and future job situations.  As a classroom teacher, I already use technology quite a bit, but there are some new things I am excited about using next year.  Podcasting seems like a good way to engage students in topics and could also be used as an assessment tool.  I am thinking of using it for specific assignments (maybe book report) and also creating a podcast that everyone can contribute to that would be updated monthly, maybe even requiring interviews.  Blogging might also be a good way to get students interacting with each other on different topics.  Google Docs, as I mentioned in an earlier post, is another application I will use next year.  I usually have students create PowerPoint presentations, but they have to work on them at school (unless they have a flash drive).  Google Docs will allow them to work from home, if they have Internet.  The programs is also very user friendly.  All these ways help students get more familiar with different technologies that they will be using as they get older.  The important thing is to break them in slowly and be consistent with usage, so they do not forget how to us it.  

As a future athletic director, there are several technologies that I can see myself using.  I have created a Facebook fan page, that has been visited frequently by alumni and player families.  It is a great place to post video, schedules, practices, and other information.  Twitter would be good to use to give game updates of the different sports in the department.  I am going to see if I can get one of my coaches or parents to do game updates of our road games next year.  I also want to use iMovie much more to edit game film.  Google calendar is another service that I began using this year for my summer ball schedule. It seems like a great way to keep families informed of schedules and for athletic departments to keep game schedules and facilities use management...and it's free.  I can also give multiple people access to the calendars and access to update as well.  

Here is a basketball video that my sister sent to me last week.  Enjoy!

I created a practice plan template in Google Docs that I can use for planning my basketball practices.  I found the program to be very user friendly.  It is just a simplified version of Microsoft Office (including spreadsheet and presentation programs).  Currently in my classroom, I have been teaching my students to use Microsoft Office software.  One of the things about using Office that has created a problem at times is when my students want to take their work home to finish.  In order to take it home, they have to email it, save it on a flash drive, and also have the program on their computer at home.  Google Docs makes it so this is not an issue.  All they need is a computer with Internet access to work on their document or presentation.  

I also like the easy file access because documents are saved in the cloud, not on a certain computer.  The file sharing options are another bonus, making it easy to share your document with others.   Best of all it is free.  The only disadvantage I see is that it is a very basic program and does not have all the bells and whistles that Office or iWork have to offer.  If you need to create a simple document, spreadsheet, or presentation, it gets the job done.           

Here is a link to the practice plan template I created.

Many of the things we have done in class up to this point, I have some familiarity with.  However, the class has allowed me to take more in-depth look into them.  There are many features about this applications that I did not know about (and still more that I have yet to discover).  It has been fun to start and maintain a blog these past weeks.  I think that it can be a good learning tool and I am already thinking of ways that I can utilize it in my fifth grade classroom.  I think it is a great way for people to interact and the best part is that it is free.  

I have also discovered that Twitter and Facebook are great ways to promote and relay information about the basketball program I am in charge of.  After the investigation of Facebook fan pages this week, I have more ideas of how I can improve my existing page to the intended target audience of players, families, and potential families new to the school.  

Lastly, I had fun experimenting with the photo editing online programs.  I did not have much experience with these previously and it was fun to try several of them to see what I liked about each.  Many of the programs were very user friendly, which makes experimenting with it more fun.  

Last summer, myself, my wife, and her family went on an Alaskan cruise at the end of July.  We had a great time on the trip, sailing into many different ports along the way.  The picture above is of the Marjorie Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park.  Our ship was able to sail into the Bay and right up next to this glacier (closer than this picture shows).  We sat there for a while, and about every ten minutes or so, the ice would calve off of the sides of the glacier into the water.  When the ice hit the water, it sounded like a gunshot.  It was one of 
the most impressive things that I have ever seen.  

Here is a link to my Flickr photo sharing site

This post is a reflection on the use of blogs as devices for learning in higher education.  The study participants were from Harvard Law School and the Brisbane Graduate School of Business.  These grad schools used blogs as part of their programs.  Students responded to questionnaires on how they felt about the use of blogs in the program.  Most participants felt that blogs were beneficial to the learning environment.

Blogs were seen as a space where interactivity between students took place.  It was a place where students can learn from other students, besides just the teacher all the time.  Students can debate, interact, and leave comments with each other on topics to facilitate learning.  Topics can also be archived, so that at any time, students can go back and look at prior posts or discussions.  Assessment might be tricky…maybe participation is a good way to grade the blog portion of the class.    

I think blogs as a part of higher education can provide a good way for students to learn from each other.  It would provide the instructor to see the thoughts of students in an informal setting.     


Reference:
Williams, J. & Jacobs, J. (2004).  Exploring the use of blogs as learning spaces in the higher education sector.  Australasian Journal of Educational Technology. 20(2), 232-247.    

There are benefits to microblogging.  It helps you to keep up with what family/friends/people are doing at a given time.  I like to follow Twitter feeds of sports bloggers...especially ones that Tweet during the games.  I have also found that it is very convenient for me as a coach because I can post practice time adjustments and most of my players get the information quickly.  If all my players check their Twitter and Facebook, many times this is a much faster way for me to get the word out to them than to call them.  A couple negatives that I see... once you post to Twitter, you cannot delete the comment.  I also do not feel like communicating what is going on in my life frequently through the day.  People do not need to know what I am doing every second of the day.    

I have multiple friends that blog on a regular basis and blogging is something I thought might be fun to do sometime.  I never got started with it because I thought I would never have time to be consistent with it.  It will be interesting to how this goes the next several weeks (and possibly longer).  I hope everyone enjoys reading the blog.