This is a great tool! I love it and think that this would defiantly be an asset to use in the classroom. I think that I could use these images in the classroom for things such as newsletters as well as teaching students how they can create their own images. I really thought that the Image Chef was very easy to use. It had several categories to choose an image from. I also was able to view several other sites that allow you to create cartoons. I love the one that had the Peanuts, I kept getting an error message. I am going to continue to work on it and plan on posting to my blog as soon as I am able to get it up. I think that if image generators are going to be used in the classroom it is very important that the site has already been censored and that that the teacher is definite that there is nothing that is inappropriate on the site. Some of the image generators that I looked at and played around with had some questionable things on them. As a teacher and a parent I think that educators would have to be extreamly careful.

Thing #8

Over all I am not really thrilled with sharing photos online. I will share photos online occasionally with family but I still get somewhat concerned about the whole online and privacy thing. I do not like for my childrens pictures to be online and do not think that it is a food idea for teachers to post the pictures of their students online. Although I had fun with turning one of my photographs into a puzzel I do not think that it is something that I would use often to incorporate into my classroom. I think that it might be a nice "prize" or something that the students might enjoy getting a puzzel of themselves or of the class.


In looking at some of the other mashups I think that some of these might be more fesable for my classroom. I like that you can use images to spell words. Why not use nature photographs instead of pictures of students? I think that there are many ways around not using the student pictures on the internet and don't get me wrong, I think that all of these tools are great and I do plan on using some of them but I do not think that I will use them as often as I will use other tools that I have found with web 2.0.

As far as my personal life goes- well I think that these are great and would lvoe to add some of the personalized pictures to scrapbooks (on line srapbooks) webpages and send them to family and friends so that they can enjoy them as well. I see that I would use tools like this more in my personal life than in my professional life.

Thing #7

I have never used flickr for my personal photos. I have always used picasa. I found that while searching flickr it was very easy to use. I love the fact that you are able to search pictures, I could have stayed on the site forever just looking at different photographs and wishing that my pictures would only turn out half that good! I have taken some pictures that are still on my camera at school that I need to download and I think I might try using flickr for my school pictures and see if it is going to be as user friendly as I think it will be. I tend to be a creature of habit.

As far as the picture goes that I chose, I tired to upload a picture of me and my daughter (although it is not recent) I was able to upload the photo but still need to figure out how to attach it to the blog. I am following the directions that are given but I am not able to see it. I think that this tends to be why I am a creature of habit. I think that I will like the flickr but I also think that at this point I am looking at so many different web 2.0 tools that I am a little overwhelmed with all of the information.

Thing #6

Google docs gets my vote. I think that it is great that you can create live documents that allow you to collaborate with others. This tool defiantly as a place in schools. Think about the possibilities that are made possible when students are required to work on group projects. Think about how teachers could use this to plan together. I have had the opportunity to create a few documents in google docs and was extremely impressed with the security and privacy of the docukments as well as the fact that the site is user friendly. Users are able to invite others to view documents as well as only set the documents to private.


https://www.docs.google.com

Thing #5

I think that web 2.0 is a very overwhelming. It is very intimidating to me. Web2.0 is being up wiki's, blogging and even the idea of school 2.0. All of these things are new to me and I am not comfortable with them at all. I had never created a blog until this graduate class. I did some with myspace in years past but not must at all. I finally canceld the account. I have participated in wiki's but only through graduate school, and I had gotten my feet a little wet with teacher pop but also only becasue of graduate school. I think that web 2.0 is pushing for more technoly but at the same time I feel as if it will allow for more creativity to be brought into the classroom.

As far as schools and the future of schools with web 2.0 I think that it is important (although sad) to remeber that with all other things the schools that have the most money will be able to implement some of the technolyg sooner than schools that are not as fortunate. I think that it is very sad to think of the schools that are smaller and that do not have the funds to educate children in the field of technolgy. Technolgy is the future, if we are to educate the children for the future does this not mean to educate them with and through the uses of technology.

Thing #2

This is the first blog that I have ever created and I must say that I think this could be addicting! I think that the blogger webstie is great for someone who has never created a blog. It is very simple and extreamly user friendly. It walks you through each step of the process of creating the blog. I think that it is very exciting and I am very interested by the entire thing. I had a great time choosing my background. I chose the pokadots because for anyone who knows me it fits my personality. Discovering a name that I could post with I did not put much thought into I thought that it was very fitting that my last name and the word blog both start with B. It gives it kind of a catchy ring. I could play with creating avatars all day long, I loved the fact that I was able to add earings and I would have added a bag if I could have found one to go with my outfit. I loved that I could change my eye color as well as the shade and tone of my skin. I choose to make my avatar with an outfit that I might wear to work. Also I added the classroom background, the background options werer great. I could definatly become addicted to this site.

Thing #1

Listening to what is meant by a lifelong learner was very interesting to me. I would have to say that I am a lifelong learner but never really put much thought into everything that is truly meant by the term life long learner. I think that the trait that is related to life long learning that is the hardest for me to do is to look at every obstacle as a challenge. It is very hard sometimes for me to have a positive attitude and to look at things as a challenge, often times I look at problems that come up at a hindrance. I think that this has always been a down fall of mine. I tend to lean more toward the glass being half empty and not half full.
On the other hand I think that the most fascinating trait that I 100% can relate to is the trait was described as using technology to make things easier. I am very good at this and love learning new things about technology. I think that it is fascinating what all a computer can help us to accomplish and what time a computer can save us when we are completing a task.
Over all I would have to say that there were more trait that I could realte to dealing with lifelong leraning than traints that I could not.