Finish Line!

I have made it- an enjoyable journey with ideas to be explored for the future. Some programs worth looking at might be online house design applications, etc.

Blogs & Wikis have a future in my teaching/learning.

To all, have fun!!

Nev O'Brien

#22 and #23 Downloadable Media

There are several ebook hardware readers available. Audio books are very useful for young children to have a book read to them. Websites that have free ebooks for download but the choice is limited in titles & file type- it would be great if all were in pdf format. Places like Amazon etc have both free & for sale.
After further investigation it seems Project Gutenberg has over 100,000 free ebooks.

Whilst I have tried several ebooks, they are very hard to read while in bed on a cold winter's day- and don't forget the need to charge batteries. Good idea coming on line more in the next few years.

#21 Youtube and Teachertube

Youtube has been a great hit to socially share private videos as well as tutorials for many of the popular programs. Probably if it's not on Youtube it has not be captured on video - yet. A part of the problem for schools using Youtube is its restrictive copyright- eg yes use the video but it must be live over the school internet connection. This can cause slow video, dropping of connection, etc. But if you want too use a particular piece of video it is a way to go. I would like to see an updated search function on the site. Full length movies are now appearing on Youtube (limited number, but a start).

Teachtube is much smaller in number of videos but has different copyright conditions & the videos are educationally based. Teachers/students need encouragement to post their videos here.

#20 Podcasts

Podcasting is a convenient way of automatically downloading audio or video files to your computer. You can then play this audio or video on your computer or transfer the files to a portable MP3 or video player. Of course, anything has further development & whilst 'Podcast' generally refers to audio, 'Video Podcast' (or 'Vodcast') refers to the distribution of video files in the same manner. With the use of electronic recording hardware becoming easier to use both audio & video (as per on most mobile phones) the students can record items & utilizing the Podcast programs to produce something that parents could download from the school website.

#19 Rollyo

Rollyo - create an individual search engine/roll. Seems easy enough to use.

#18 Wikis

Wikis seem to combine several Web 2 services into one application. One problem I see is one that  Wikipedia had & still has trouble in some areas (depends on who does the data entry). In the well visited areas, the data is becoming more accurate as area specialists corect/improve the published data.

Wikis are useful in the classroom as many students can add data & it can be checked by the teacher before being released to others (I know there are arguements against that review but in schools it appears to be needed). Many school based application managers have the Wiki written into them as part of the program.

In summary, Wikis are simple web pages that groups, friends, and families can edit together.

#17 Delicious

Delicious is a part of a suite of Yahoo. According to Delicious blog the bookmarking site will continue, into the foreseeable future, as an entity by itself. The idea of a secure personal web based bookmarking list is an item one could use. However, security on the internet is sometimes lax & anyone grabbing a list of bookmarking would be a great target for advertising- of course no company worth its salt would do that would it? At least, Yahoo ia up front about the adverts. Sorry, good idea but not for me.