Thing 10 wikis and wikipedia

Wikipedia has its place.  I actually saw a student art teacher use it last year as a basis for a project in her class about different architectural styles.  In that case, it saved some time and helped the students concentrate on the general material about the style they selected.  However, like any encyclopedia, it's a jumping off place, not the sole source for a project.  

I edited the 23 Things wiki and added a picture of my hometown library.

Thing 9 online collaboration tools

I've used Google documents before at school, but not Zoho.  Once I get permission to edit, we'll compare in a future post.  Just having seen the HBO series John Adams (highly recommended to you by the way), much of which focuses around the writing of the declaration, I'd say it would have made Thomas Jefferson's job that much harder, since everyone could get in on the act.  And it was hard enough just as it was!  

Later (July 24)-well I can see HOW it works in both Google docs and ZOHO, but I can't actually get into the document to change/add anything at this point with either one.  So, since vacation is coming up, I'll put this aside for now.

Thing 7 communication tools

Email is the basis of how I communicate with other staff in the district and building.  I almost automatically go to to email first, before voicemail.  Email definitely favors those who prefer writing to talking, which is me.  Online reference or reading guidance using text messaging could work; right now though it's very limited in our situation by lack of proper software, hardware and support.  In this, the institution lacks behind the users (students).  

Thing 8 mosaic scenic views

scenic views, originally uploaded by maryelliott123.

An illustration of what could be done to add pictures to a web page perhaps. Created using Mosaic from Big Huge Labs.  I'd recommend this to others to try, especially if you have a certain subject in mind.

Thing 6: Online images

Where in the world is, originally uploaded by maryelliott123.

Whew! I did it-it took awhile. I was able to link it to a map also. That's a fun thing, and could be very useful for teachers. An issue is of course, copyright and fair use, as well as how to find a picture in the first place. For convenience, I used a personal photo from our collection, but when you're working with photos, images found in a Google search, that's another matter.

Thing 5: mashups

I've gotten somewhat bogged down in Flickr-I have to consciously think about how to get what's on Flickr onto the blog correctly.  I did like the Big Huge Labs site though- everything in one place.  I can see using the map for example to show where students are from for example.  I think without careful instructions though, Flickr & Big Huge Labs would be a little difficult for a whole class to use.  Teachers though could use it very creatively.  In a virtual world where most error messages consist of "Error 401" or Sorry, can't do that, Splashr's gentle, humorous messages stand out; "You need to enter some tags, a user id or a photoset id.  I can't find anything without some parameters.  Mmmm, parameters."  ;-)