Online Portfolio presentation audio

You can listen to my online portfolio presentation last Tuesday. It's quite embarrassing to listen to.

Copyright

I learned so much in class on Tuesday. It was very exciting to know that there are so much free material I can use in my future classrooms and even now for personal or academic purposes.

The most important thing I learned regarding the use of images, copyright, mashing, etc. is that there are many creative people out there that is willing to share their work for others to use. I've always used just images online without knowing the copyright laws, etc. Although I am not using any of the resources I find on the internet as commercial use, it is still against the law. Like Fei described in class, most people just ignore it and I was one of those people. Now that I know that there are so many great material out there from site like FlickrCC, Creative Commons, Animoto, etc., I do not have to use the mediocre copyrighted material from search engines. Another thing I learned that I think will be very helpful for teachers is that they can have access to material that they can modify for their own classroom. For me to be able to use my own images is very important. Teachers can make their own video or slideshow with their own photos, alter pictures they find on sites like FlickrCC or Creative Commons, etc. The possibilities are endless. I also think that being able to my own images or the images my students create in a class to make something new using one of the programs we have learned about in class can create more personal projects.

I think with so many options these days, it would be a challenge to help the students learn all the programs. They may be overwhelmed with how to approach all the material they are finding. I also think that teaching the different types of copyrights there are could also be a challenge. For example, which images they can alter, which ones they have to cite, etc. If I were a teacher trying to teach my students how to use images more critically, I would teach each program and copyright type at a time so that they wouldn't be overwhelmed.

Animoto

This is my first attempt at animoto. The photos are from my digital photography creative process class from my sophomore year.

Google Desktop

As I was skimming through my Google Reader, I came across an interesting update from Geeksugar. It was about adding desktop gadgets to your Google page. To my understanding, this is only for mac users. Basically, you need Google Desktop. Then you can add desktop gadgets on your iGoogle homepage from the iGoogle Content Directory.

This is sort of like all the new applications you can find on facebook (eg. horoscopes, quote of the day, etc). Is it all useful? Not really. But it is fun to personalize your google desktop. I have yet to try it.

How I would use Bookmarks and Calendars

As I learn more about bookmarks and calendars in this class, I begin to see the great value and potential it has more my future teaching career. There is a lot of opportunities where I can think of that bookmarks and calendars could considerably benefit me as a teacher or personal use, for students, and for parents. I know I will definitely use these technologies as a teacher, because it has made my life a lot easier as a college student and frequent internet user. Below, I listed how I would use bookmarking and calendars for my own personal or professional use, for students, and for parents.

Personal/Professional Use:

• Social bookmarking can allow me to give students valid resources that I think would help them for my projects/assignments.
• Social bookmarking can allow to me to see what other teachers' ideas are and I could modify their lessons for my class.
• Calendars can let me check my schedule anywhere I have internet access. It would allow me to see important dates (school meetings, holidays, events, due dates, etc.).
  
• I can create a calendar that reflects my students' schedule so I know where and what they are doing.
  
• Personally, I can add other calendars to notify me when an event that provides something I am interested in is coming up such as, concerts, art fairs, etc.
• If I was planning a personal event, I can see my friends and families' schedule on public calendars to decide on the best date/time.
  

Students' Use:

• Students can check their schedule on online calendars.
• Calendars can help students organize their priorities.
• Students can check to see what upcoming events are at their school (sports, shows, etc).
• Students can use social bookmarking to see what the teacher suggests as valid resources for research projects.
• If the students want to learn more about a certain topic being discussed in class, they can see if the teacher has anything for them to read online. If they find some themselves, they can share it with the class.

Parents' Use:

• Parents can use Calendar to check on when upcoming Parent-teacher conferences are.
• They can also see what their child is learning in class through bookmarking.
  
• Parents could also see the students' schedule and volunteer on special events.