Website Creations and Connected Education

I really like the step-by-step video on Weebly, and plan on referring back to this while creating my final project. The video gave good ideas on different pages on the site and rearranging the page. The video literally gave almost everything that you need to know about Weebly, from creating column layouts, which is a good way to organizing your page, to pictures for entertainment and reinforcement of your points. It was cool to see how to create images as hyperlinks with short descriptions and opening them into a new window for the visitors on your website. There is so much to creating a website on Weebly, and this tutorial is extremely helpful in organizing information when learning how to use the tool. This video, as well as this slide show allows you to see the process and final product, and it makes me excited to create my own website!


I enjoyed this site as it gave ideas in education on using Google apps. It is important to integrate this into my classroom when I become a teacher in order to keep students engaged while keeping my classroom costs low, as Google apps are FREE! They are easy to use, but these sites give teachers more direction as to how to use them in the best way for their classroom.

I liked this slide show because it went along with my other class, Instructional Technology for the K-12 Teacher, really well. We learned how to use Google sites in education in that classroom, and this gave me more insight to the subject. I can use Google sites to allow my students to express themselves through words and pictures in an organized way. For the younger students, it is a great way to organize blogs, and for the older students to make a portfolio.



Wix seems like an easier tool to use for younger students, which are the ones I want to work with. I think that it would be easier to use with my class and that they would have more fun with it. Sometimes it is hard to get kids involved in something new in technology because it is something they have never tried before. With employment options moving more and more to technology-based job availability, it is important to educate our students at a young age as to the importance of technology use.

It is easy to get a website started, but many people have a hard time maintaining it (this goes for my professional Twitter usage--Sorry to all my followers!!!). I think that this list gives people who are new to technology a real chance to make their educational page thrive! The article would be useful for anyone, as it gives tips such as to plan ahead and how to stay organized.

In The Connected Educator (2012), Nussbaum-Beach and Hall made a great point that teachers are not effective unless making a neural schematic connection in the lives of their students. This includes integrating new information into prior knowledge to develop a connection within the brain. Without this, learning does not occur (pg. 140-1). As teachers, we must take the time to learn new things in order to truly educate our students. Anybody can stand in front of a classroom reciting notes and writing information on the blackboard. It takes an effective teacher, a connected educator, to get through to students and teach them new things. If you want to become a teacher for the right reasons, you want to help students reach their full potential. You want to push students to their educational limits and to show them that hard work pays off. You cannot get this through traditional ways of educating. Being a connected educator means communication between you and your personal learning network, taking time to learn new things in your spare time, and sharing your new information with your students in order to enrich their lives.

After taking this course, I have a whole new perspective on education, and becoming a "connected educator" is a new goal of mine. Not only do I want to stand out in the crowd in my career, but I want to help my students reach their full potential and learn new things both in- and outside the classroom. I want to show them how to explore the world in a safe way, and how to handle all of the technology that is being thrown at them. I want to touch the lives of my students and have them graduate from my class as a better learner.

Tag It

I had a fun time with the "Tag It" and "Map It" activities in our textbook. The map activity was interesting because it was so surprising to see how many people from around the world are doing the same thing that you are doing. There were people as close as five minutes from me, to people on the other side of the world. It's amazing to see how many people are becoming connected educators, and it is another indication of the online support system a teacher has to those looking at the map. The Diigo activity was cool because you can go to the archive of the tag used and see all of the websites and resources that others have posted. Having these resources available is important when getting started in connected education. These are lifelong resources available to teachers, and future teachers, that will help guide the journey into being the best teacher that person can be. Coming into class this semester, all of the talk about integrating technology into my classroom in the future seemed far off. It was not something I was used to or ready for, and I truly did not even know where to start. That was really scary for me. But by using resources such as my PLN on Twitter, blogging, and my textbook, I have become more comfortable and confident, and am now looking forward to becoming a connected educator. These resources will stick with me throughout my career, rather than learning subjects in other classes that will soon be outdated.





Pinterest is an exciting tool that is useful to just about anyone! Teachers are using it now as a way to connect with other educators in order to better develop their teaching styles, classroom environments, and lesson plans. It is a neat way to physically see what other teachers are doing. Most teachers pin ideas of their own, which means that other teachers will be able to stick to a cheap budget when taking another's ideas. I also like the idea of using Pinterest here from a student's point of view to organize projects and other assignments.

I enjoyed using paper.li in our class the other day. It is a simple way to organize information from social media websites when you don't have the time to be on all of your sites. You can also follow specific subjects and have that information on your summary, and it is really helpful when you want to learn more about a topic. It is really difficult sometimes to get to a computer, and checking this will allow you to figure out what you've missed in a matter of minutes. Like this site says, sharing your paper.li with other friends is a great idea to get others to be connected like you are.

IFTTT is an easy way to stay connected. You can create a recipe from your favorite bloggers and connect social media websites while really just creating simple recipes. It is important to keep in mind that technology is not flawless, and sometimes there will be issues. Like Cool Cat says, we should probably keep ourselves from the "automatic" features on some sites.

Digital Storytelling

This week's assignment was really difficult because of the limitations we had by not going "premium" with Animoto. I couldn't use Toontastic because I do not have an iPad, and the only other story telling website that I could get to work was Voki. I did not like Voki because it is too boring and plain, and it limits you in the amount of things that you can say. Animoto looked really fun, and I used an app like this in another class that I have. I would have used the other app (iMovie), but, like I said, I do not have an iPad. It is neat that you can upload your own photos and videos and then add effects to them. With Toontastic, I thought that the coolest thing was that you could create emotions throughout the scenes. I wish that I was able to look into it more on the iPad. With Storybird, I liked that the Hangout was saying that students feel like a real author. This seemed to be the one I had most trouble with though, because it would not let me go from one author's artwork to another, and the other artwork on the first artist's page did not go along with the theme of my video. With Voki, all that you are able to do is record your own voice, or make your avatar speak by typing words. I thought this was cool, but other than dressing the avatar the way you like, this was all that you could do on the site. It also stopped me from typing more about Stockton.  
This is my Voki about the education program at Stockton College. Xtranormal from livebinders also looked like it would be fun to use, but it is not free and they have discontinued their service. I like that this blog tells teachers that they can use Voki to explain directions to their class about assignments, and this seems like a more realistic way to use it, rather than to tell a story.

Overall, I think that more practice with digital storytelling is what would help the most, because it is difficult to get used to. However, it is important because our students are going to be relying on technology by the time that we become teachers, and normal storytelling will be outdated.

Building a Collaborative Culture

"In a culture of collaboration, learning thrives" (Nussbaum-Beach  and Hall, pg. 58). As educators, we need to be sure to work together in order to help our students grow and learn. I liked when it was said how important relationships are, and how closely related in-person interaction is with online interaction. You can say many of the same things in person as you do on Twitter to open up a conversation. The difference between congeniality and collegiality is that congeniality is the day-to-day collaboration and discussions between each other, while collegiality is the partnership between people. Trust that is built through these relationships allows a more welcoming environment for students, which, in turn, makes students thrive more. I really like that the author suggested blogs in our book because it can be hard to find good blogs to follow. We need to remember that it is important to leave a positive digital footprint to keep a positive online reputation. This trust is important to establish within your PLN because they will help you further your career if you reach out and gain trust with them.



So far, with my experience with my PLN, I am enjoying reading other peoples' articles that they are posting and am happy with the type of communication so far. Multiple people have messaged me directly letting me know that I can contact them if I need anything, and it is nice to know that there are people there who are supporting what our class is doing. I know that if I have any questions regarding opinions, school, or education in general, I will have multiple people getting back to me quickly with great advice. I was surprised when I was engaged in the chats because people actually reach out to you as a student individually. My thought was that professionals would see a college student as not being serious, and would disregard any input. Instead, I was tweeted at, retweeted, and welcomed to the group. I really enjoy being on Twitter for this reason because it makes me feel like I have people to rely on and that I am in a safe environment.