It does appear that the "new way” to bookmark is much better than the current way. I have often found myself at school wishing I had the bookmarks that I saved on my home computer and vice versa. Using Delicious will take care of this, which is a great advantage. The article on tagging was also helpful because it explained how to do it. When I was trying to tag photos on Flickr a while back, I was doing it by trial and error. Tagging with Delicious will also allow me to share bookmarks with others and see what others are using. I guess it replaces sending people links to good bookmarks when you find something. It may take some time setting it up initially, but once organized, it might be very helpful.
I do agree with Jim about the tag cloud. They look like a collage of words to me that might get the attention of some of the kids because it looks different, but I am not sure about their usefulness. Maybe someone can point me in the right direction. I tried to make a tag cloud from a few things... using a URL and trying to import a word document. Each time, it made no sense, so I ended up copying and pasting the text of our science syllabus/course introduction to make the tag cloud. I did notice that it does not keep phrases together either. Critical thinking and problem solving came out as separate words. Perhaps I can display this tag cloud image at open house next year while I go over the syllabus with parents. I am open to other suggestions about their use.
acceleration atmosphere charge circuits circulation circulatory composition continuing critical digestive diseases dissection earth electricity experiment forces frog fronts function genetics immune inheritance laboratory law life-cell magnetism methods momentum motion movement muscular noninfectious nutrition problem reproduction science scientific sheep skeletal skin society solving structure study system technology text thinking third weather
created at TagCrowd.com
I don't think that the course is meant to be a "here's the tools that we think you should use" kind of thing. It's more of a "here's a bunch of stuff that is out there and, for the most part free, that you should be aware of because you might find a use for it at some point". That coupled with a "this is what your students view as we view a toaster or a TV" so you should probably be aware of it" kind of thing.
ReplyDeleteYou never know what you are going to find a use for. I have been using Prezi, a presentation tool, to demonstrate the concepts of found poetry and shape poetry. You never know what you will find a use for.
Thanks, Skip. I was not sure if I was missing something with the tag cloud, that's all. It seemed like the words should have linked to something and they didn't... I wondered if I had messed something up!
ReplyDeleteYou are right- all of this technology is second nature to the kids and it is good to be familiar with it. Some will definitely be valuable in the classroom, and others just to know what kids are talking about. I just checked out Prezi briefly and it looks pretty cool. I need to explore it further. Thanks for the tips.
I have found that Delicious and Diigo (another social bookmarking site that allows you to add digital post-it notes and highlights on the webpages) have been a wonderful tool. Tag clouds are out there for your reference. Many teachers use them to have students summarize key concepts. You would be surprised at how much you can determine about your student understanding of a concept when they are forced to choose 30 words to describe it.
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