Therefore, I am including the text of my Voicethread for the second slide here:

“I have been introduced to so many valuable tools that it’s difficult to choose just one or two! The tool that I have used the most, and will continue to use, is Del.icio.us. I love that I can view my tagged sites from any computer. The other great thing about Delicious is that I can view and add other peoples’ sites with the same tag. This is a much more efficient search tool than just ‘googling’, because these sites are already reviewed and approved! My second favorite tool is Pageflakes, which I have chosen for my homepage. It has all the resources I need on one page. I really love the fact that it is customizable, and again, available on any computer. Pageflakes ties together all we learned about RSS feeds, widgets, and organizing webpages.”

I have learned so much through this course, and am empowered with so many useful Web2.0 tools! Initially, I explored and reviewed tools as if I were continuing in my current teaching position. Now that I have a better idea of what I plan to do as a teacher–begin my own business as an educational consultant to home-schooling groups–I have a new outlook on these tools. I’m looking at them as a way to develop curriculum, organize, and advertise my business.

I really wanted to share what I learned with my colleagues at school this year, but they weren’t very receptive. When one asked if she should take the course over the summer, I enthusiastically recommended it. I hope she will implement the tools in the fall with the incoming fifth graders.

I hope to continue this Edublog as I move in this new direction. I hope to also be able to connect with other teachers who are “freelancers.” The world is changing, education is changing, and I’m determined to keep up with it!

While we can’t control what students do at home, we can restrict what they do at school. Schools can and should encourage social networking on an approved safe, legal venue. Whether the network is within the school or worldwide, the educational value of networking is enormous.

Ning’s Classroom 2.o  is a relatively new social networking site that has great potential. It’s a great way to share teaching ideas, review and troubleshoot technology, and just connect with other educators in your field. I have never heard of this site before, so hopefully more schools will consider recommending it to their teachers and staff.

I searched for home school groups, educational consultants, and tutors, and came up empty. So far, there are no networks covering these areas within Ning. This is now the area to which I am moving, so I will search other social networking sites to find such groups.

As a consulting educator, I could provide enrichment curriculum to home-schoolers. My passion has always been developing interesting and engaging curriculum, and this just could be my outlet for that.

So where does Pageflakes fit in? I can create pages for each group I work with, or create pages for each unit I teach. One unit that would lend itself perfectly to Pageflakes is Environmental Education, an area I have been heavily involved in with my current position. I can embed different news feeds, videos, and blogs related to various aspects of this topic.

As with many other tools we have explored in this course, Pageflakes can be accessed from any computer simply by logging on. This way I can pull up the page from my own or a client’s computer. I can share the page, posting instructions to students on a notepad flake.

I only encountered one problem with Pageflakes. It sometimes wanted to default to the Little Rock, Arkansas, location, and I had to change settings again. I couldn’t find a history of revisions tab so I could revert to a previous setting that I liked. So I wasted a bit of time reinstalling feeds a couple of times. But I definitely recommend this tool to anyone who would like everything accessible from one page. It is now my homepage when I pull up the internet!

I also explored the features of the word processor in my document “Playing With Google Docs.” This tool seems adequate for basic applications.

The best features of Google Docs are that it is collaborative, is available from any computer with an internet connection, and users can view revisions.

I could use this program to:

• Create surveys for my students
• Make a class presentation where groups or pairs create a slide together
• Create a continuing story that students can revise and edit

TeacherTube is superior as far as teaching materials is concerned. The content is safe, and is oriented toward education. I found many videos made by students. I would love to have my students explain the causes of the Civil War using photographs and their own illustrations. Another idea is for them to act out idioms. I found a couple of videos like this, and I think fifth graders could get very creative and do a fine job.

My favorite video is this one, which shows how not to use PowerPoint:

Download Video: Posted by jmcmahon at TeacherTube.com.

The best way to search if you don’t have a subject in mind is to look at the highest rated videos, which is how I found that one.

My husband and I spent a frustrating hour trying to get a microphone to work. Again, technical difficulties are a major reason why I avoid doing things like this. I have an older computer, so I guess it’s time to upgrade. I finally called in my podcast on my telephone, which worked great! On the Evoca site, I was able to edit my recording, assigning tags, adding a picture, and making the podcast public.

I would recommend Evoca as an easy to use tool for recording podcasts (especially if your microphone works)!

The sites I viewed to find podcasts were Educational Podcast Network and Learn Out Loud. From the first site I subscribed to two feeds that I added to my Google Reader. One is a geography and travel lecture, and the other is lectures on the Revolutionary War. Learn Out Loud didn’t seem to have any subscription options. I found some interesting history lectures and primary sources, but they were single recordings. I also subscribed to Wired Science from PBS through iTunes (not available through Google). I prefer Google because iTunes launches through a separate connection from Firefox.

I don’t think I would use podcasts in my teaching. It is difficult to find anything relevant for fifth graders. Maybe I’m just not searching far enough. The only thing I would find useful would be primary sources for history, and they are available as documents rather than as podcasts generally.

I think this site would be helpful for those who need cheering for their goals. I find that I can accomplish my goals if I really want to do them. For example, I lost 45 lbs. last year and have kept them off. I really worked at it, and didn’t do it for anyone but myself.

As far as cheering others goes, I prefer to encourage those I have a personal connection to rather than perfect strangers on the internet. That means so much more.

I doubt I would use this site in teaching, as some material is inappropriate for children. It would be better to set up a similar forum within the class instead.