Blogger Review

Maria Knee blogs with her kindergarten class at http://thekinderkids.edublogs.org/. "A Skype Call to Afghanistan" was one of the last blogs of the year the class did. During this blog there was a video of the class talking to an Australian soldier via Skype, they then read a children's story about how families long ago used to bake these special cookies for their soldiers, and then they tried to bake cookies and send them over to the soldier they spoke with along with some pictures the drew. I thought this was a great way to introduce the class to a current technology that many students probably use or could use at home to connect with loved ones. Whether it be someone they know in the military, a grandparent, or a parent away on a business trip. I had never heard of Anzac biscuits or been exposed to the Google slides application prior to this blog. Pedagogically speaking this was a great example of  how a teacher can weave together current technology, classic read aloud story telling, and a hands on activity that the kids could get actively involved in. I liked that this blog was not really the teacher's personal opinion on how she liked to use technology in the classroom but more of a working example. That way many people benefit, the students who have a hand in many of the posts, the parents can actively participate, and other teachers or educational professionals can get ideas and use ideas for their own class. This site is managed or run through http://edublogs.org/. I have no previous experience with this company but feel that the website was very easy to follow. There was lots of links and information on the side bars. I think Maria does a wonderful job at demonstrating technology in action at the kindergarten level.



Jeff Utecht blogs at http://www.jeffutecht.com/. "I'm being pulled to Google+" was the perfect blog to read at this point in the course! Chapter 2 was all about developing a connected learning model, and Jeff introduces us to some great tools in starting your own PLN. I had never heard of Google+, I logged on and browsed some of the post. I linked to an "Artifacts Teach", website that seemed similar to the webquests that we are starting to work on. There was also a free PDF file on  using Blogs as web-based portfolios, which I had seen on Maria's class blog at http://thekinderkids.edublogs.org/. I thought Jeff's website was very "infotaining", it definitely grabbed my attention, and had lots of links and information to share not just about education but life in general. I think this type of blog is one that you could pull up and read daily, for fun even if you were not vested in it directly...while the first blog I talked about not so much. Jeff's blog is a great way to show that if you make information entertaining, or put a little creativity behind it, it may just be the best way to get people to learn or stay engaged long enough to get your idea across. Technology makes this happen and it is an idea that you can take into the classroom to better engage students and keep them learning or coming back again wanting to learn on a daily basis.


Richard Byrne blogs at http://www.freetech4teachers.com/. "The Antarctic Food Web Game" was another blog that fit in well with what we were doing in class. The game, which had an "ocean" theme, was create and hosted by PBS and is very similar to the webquest I would like to create for our class project. Students read about food chains and food webs, how they are used in science, and how the are created. They then got the chance to create a food web with previously selected animals that were in the side bar. The one major difference between this "game" and our webquest is that all the information for the game seemed to be on the site itself, it did not have any links to other informational sites. This may be a better format for a younger group of kids then I am targeting.
Richard's website was packed with tabs and links to resources he felt were beneficial. One of my favorites was    

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/66326425/The%20Super%20Book%20of%20Web%20Tools%20for%20Educators

He also seemed to have a large portion of his web page taken up by ads, which I did not like. I feel that when you have ads so prominent on your web site you lose a little bit of trust from your audience. They start to feel as if your opinion can be swayed by money and whether or not you truly feel this is beneficial to your readership. I'm not sure what the prerequisites are for advertising on his site but there seemed to be quite a few.
Richard's blog was a great way for educators like myself to search out information that will help us integrate technology into the classroom. The link I provided above was a great tool for me as a teacher with little experience, in helping me focus on what new tools or programs I should learn first. With so much out there it can be a little overwhelming, you get the feeling of "I don't even know where to begin!"