Nelson’s notions

I was actually glad to revisit Google Docs.  I messed around with it about a year and a half ago, and found it cumbersome to navigate.  So…I gave up.  I recently saw some articles on how easy to use Goodle Docs had become.  I think I can use Google Docs in a variety of ways…Word doc where teachers add ideas for using their SMART Boards, spreadsheet where teachers indicate who would like to attend what presentations, and a way to help the instructional aid that is responsible for compiling articles for the monthly newsletter.  She will LOVE this.  It will make it easier for her.

Youtube videos…Love Youtube!! I look at videos all the time.  Here is a cool How To:

I also found lots of videos on using SMART Boards, etc.  I can see having teachers and students use this as a project to explain something…a concept in math, some event in history, some current world event, etc.

I have used iTunes for a long time.  I enjoy watching/listening to podcasts on my computer.  I don’t always put them on my iPod, though.    I looked at The One Minute Tutorials and the Tech Teachers podcasts.  These were pretty cool.  I have yet to come up with how I would want to use podcasts in my job.  I have thought about “how to’s” for the teachers, but I am not sure they would take the time to watch the Podcasts, especially when they won’t read a short “how to”  that was sent in email.  I am continuing to work through this…I see so many things I can use, just have to figure out the best ones!

Library Thing…  I played around with this site for a while.  I kept trying to find a reason I would personally use this.  At this point,  a reason has escaped me.  I may be in Web 2.0 overload…Not sure.  I will suggest it to the librarians I work with, but that’s the extent of my plans to use it.

I have had a Delicious account for about a year.  I like that I can acess my bookmarks from anywhere and share them with anyone.  Just recently, I was talking with a workshop provider and he wanted a few links I had.  So, I sent him the link to my Delicious account.  Makes for a great way to share!

One of the items in my Google Reader is the New York Times Technology section.  I read with interest how Barack Obama is wanting to bring the Oval Office into the 21st Century.  He plans to have a laptop on his desk.  The flip side is that he may have to stop using his Blackberry to email because of security reasons.  This is the kind of current event that needs to be shared with kids.  They don’t understand much about the scrutiny that public figures must face.

I explored Mnemograph.  I really think this is something cool to show the Social Studies teachers I work with.  They do lots of time lines with Kansas History.  This allow them to put in pictures dates and info.  Very useful!

I visited “Video-Conferencing It’s Easy, Free and Powerful“.  Two things really impressed me.  One, a few students in this video did not speak English, but learned their parts so they could be in the video.  That goes to show that technology may be the way to inspire kids to learn!!  The second thing that impressed me was that the class was very excited at sharing their class with the student who was home-bound.  They wanted to make sure she was included in things.  Very cool!

I really enjoyed finding pictures of butterflies to make my slide show.  Thanks to SouthernView‘s butterfly set.  These are beautiful pictures.