The Significance of Online Reputations

     As many of us know, what we put on social media could affect us in many ways. I didn't realize how much this was true until I finished my social media etiquette project. After learning about Stacy Snyder, a college student and student teacher at the time, and her Myspace post, I realized how social media can turn your life upside down. Snyder was in school to get her teaching degree yet she put up a picture "promoting alcohol." Teachers are held to a higher standard and what Snyder did did not meet that standard. Due to the post, Snyder was denied her teaching degree. It is so important to be mindful of what you put on social media because it can reflect badly on you and have serious consequences.

Stacy Snyder's Myspace Post

     In Chapter 5 of The Connected Educator, we learn that there are many tools that support connected learning. These tools are for documenting and archiving learning, connecting and collaborating, and extending student learning. Social bookmarking, which is a useful and fun way to organize info while connecting with friends and colleagues, is one tool for documenting learning. Blogs, websites that are continually updated with journal-like entries or posts, is one tool for connecting and collaborating. A great tool for social networking is Ning. Ning allows anyone to create a specialized online social network for a few dollars a month. A tool for extending learning in the classroom is TeacherTube. TeacherTube is an online community for sharing educational videos made for teachers by teachers. These all come into play with managing your online reputation. Some tips for that include sharing your insights and tracking yourself.

All About Augmented Reality Apps

     This past week in GEN 2243, my class and I participated in our second App Smackdown. The app that I chose was Teacher Kit. Teacher Kit is great for teachers of all grade levels. It is the perfect app for organizing. It allows you to store grades, attendance, and behavior of each child in your class. I definitely recommend it for teachers all over!
   

     In class we also discussed apps that involve an augmented reality. The Space Needle app adds 3D items to a "target" and brings the target to life. ZooKazam puts animals on a target. This app makes it look like a life-size animal is actually in front of you. Here's a tip to keep in mind for these apps... Use a bigger target because the bigger the target, the bigger the animal/ item. Elements 4D allows you to see scientific elements in their raw form. Also, Google Cardboard is great when wanting to travel without actually traveling. Simply put the special cardboard binoculars on and you will be transported to the destination of your dreams!

     So, what is an augmented reality? According to Drew Minock, an augmented reality can be compared to the pictures that hang in the walls of Hogwarts. These pictures are alive and interactive. Another example is The Night at the Museum. During the day the exhibit is normal, but at night everything comes to life! An augmented reality brings education to life. Augmented reality is a game-changing tool and the future of educational technology.

     If you're wondering "How To Use Augmented Reality In Education", check out the following. Project Glass allows kids to do digital scavenger hunts, find classmates, or learn more about their environment using the AR glasses. MITAR Games involves simulations games that combine real world experiences with additional information supplied to them by handheld computers. One of these popular games is Environmental Detectives. Star Walk involves holding your phone up at the night sky and seeing more than 200,000 stars, constellations, and more. There are plenty of more ways besides these, to incorporate augmented reality in education.

     If you're considering incorporating ZooKazam into your classroom, consider the following amazing components of the app. Simply print out the targets, open the app, and an animal will magically appear. Children can take photos and videos of the animal, as well as add weather and lighting affects. There are over 40 animals, including dinosaurs, to choose from. This app is great when teaching about animals or simply to spark creative writing prompts.

   

Digital Storytelling and Presentation Tools in Action

     This past Wednesday, my class and I were lucky enough to have a Google Hangout session with Abigail Harrison, also known as Astronaut Abby. At the age of 18, Abby hopes to be the first astronaut to Mars. She has accomplished so much already such as writing for publications (NASA) and watching space shuttle launches. She has started a nonprofit called Mars Generation which aims to inspire students to be leaders. Some advice Abby has offered when using social media to develop a career includes minimization and keeping private pages private. She also strongly recommends to use the 24 hour rule which involves contacting a person you meet within 24 hours on social media and reaching out. Abigail's most beneficial social media tools are her website, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

     In class, we also discussed a variety of presentation tools other than ordinary PowerPoint. One tool that I personally found interesting is Office Mix which is a free add-in for PowerPoint. It allows you to screenshot and even input a video recording of you talking. Sway is also interesting because it allows users to easily build a story board by dragging information. Emaze allows users to create amazing 3D, walk through presentations unlike anything else. Some Digital Storytelling websites include Animoto, Pixton, and GoAnimate. My personal favorite is GoAnimate which has built in templates making presentations extremely easy to create.

     In "5 Reasons to Replace PowerPoint with Google Slides", 5 top reasons to make the switch to Google Slides are discussed. Reason one is that slides is built for collaboration. Slides allows users to easily share and simultaneously edit a presentation. Reason two is that Slides encourages simpler presentations which in turn creates cleaner presentations. The Google Slides app makes it possible for users to access Slides offline. You can even access these presentations from any device. The final selling point of Slides is that you can easily publish and share your slides on the web.

     In "Things I Like about Animoto for Education", likes and dislikes of Animoto are discussed from an educator perspective. Animato offers many free themes and styles to choose from. Animato makes it so easy to create detailed presentations within a short amount of time. It is cloud-based so students can work on their projects at home or in school. The best feature of Animoto is that it forces students be concise with their information and not fill the screen with words. Some problems include the lack of autosaving, how long it takes to preview your video, and there is no way to share video projects with different accounts.

     In "Xtranormal for Education", Scott Little goes in depth about Xtranormal and the components it contains. The tag line states "if you can type, you can make movies" and Little agrees with that. You start by choosing from actors and then either typing or recording what the characters are going to say. Users control gestures, backgrounds, and different angles. The cost is $10 a month for teachers and $.50 a month for students. Teachers then create assignments and control many aspects of the movies. Xtranormal allows students to demonstrate their knowledge in a more creative way.