Web Applications

ThinkFree

I had no idea that a program like ThinkFree ever existed. I was amazed at how much the program resembles Microsoft Word. It took me only about five minutes to set up an account. All I needed to enter was an email address and password. In order to activate the account, I had to open a special email from ThinkFree and click on a link which then activated my account. Overall, not only is the set up very simple, but the program itself is overall very simple and easy to navigate. The only minor issue that I encountered was the time that it took for me to create a new document. It took approximately 2 minutes for the page to open where I could create a new word document. Saving took approximately the same amount of time. However, the tradeoff between the amount of money one would pay for Microsoft Office and the little extra time it takes to create and save new documents seems well worth it.

Not only can you create and save documents on and to the web, but you can also share your work with others. This opens up a whole new world for group work and collaboration. I can see this feature coming in handy if students were ill and had to miss school, or if they were unable to meet to do a group project outside of class. This feature could also work well in the English classroom- especially in creative writing where publishing and celebrating work is a natural part of the writing process.

Overall, I think that ThinkFree would be an excellent tool to incorporate into the school system. Not only is it free and easy to use, but it allows students, teachers and the community to view and comment on student work. The only drawback seems to be the little bit of extra time needed to create and save documents, but this seems like a minor issue in the whole scheme of things. The only other minor issue involves the idea that if students only save documents to the web, then they must have Internet access to retrieve them. Therefore, I would have students save in multiple locations if possible. Overall, it’s a wonderful application!

Picnik

Again, I had no idea that a program resembling PhotoShop was on the web free of charge to users for the basic package! Wow. What a great program. It took me only about 2 minutes to set up an account. All that was required was a username and password and in an instant, one was created for me. In less than five minutes, I had easily uploaded a photo and began editing it with no problem. Again, the features are extremely user friendly and easy to find. With the different buttons offered by the program, I was able to not only “auto-correct”, but also to manually correct the photo using features like, rotate, sharpen, color adjust warm, color adjust cool, red eye, etc. This software reminded me of the photo kiosks that are in major shopping centers like Meijer and Wallmart.

In addition to editing with Picnik, one can easily share their work by emailing to a friend.  I emailed a photo of our daughter to my fiancée. It arrived immediately in his inbox and we were able to view the edited version of it on his computer. In this sense, it is much easier than photoshop because the program does the emailing for you. Once you have edited the photo and saved it, you don’t have to open different software in order to email, etc. You are already online and can do it right from Picnik. The application also offered links to Twitter and Facebook for easy sharing, among other programs.

Because of the fact that the program is free, easy to use and allows photo sharing and collaboration, I would highly recommend this application for use in the schools. While it is not a “professional” photo editing suite and thus may not be appropriate for yearbook, etc., it gets the job done for other simple projects and student assignments, and could be a useful tool for teachers to use in communicating photos with parents and the greater community. Based on what I experienced overall from the application, I would suggest it to anyone interested in basic photo-editing, sharing and printing.

I have included a photo that I edited using Picnik. What do you think?!

My Website

Here is a link to my new website. A work in progress, this is a rough outline of the site that I would like to develop more intensely when I have more time. I designed it with my two-week summer intensive course in holistic health in mind. It is meant to be a resource for students, provide daily announcements in order to keep them informed, and to connect them with outside resources related to integrative health studies. I included a special place for this loaded with pdf files from the NCAMM website. I am working on the final project for students, and simply need to decide how to integrate this piece. Perhaps each student will choose one CAM modality (NCAAM article) and present on it. I also included a "Meet your instructor" page to create a warm and friendly environment for students and to create some space for personal connection with them.

I really like this tool and appreciate how simple it was to create a basic website. Albeit, it took a number of hours to get the hang of it!

Choices in Living Website

Concept Map

This is a concept map that I made surrounding the area of Complementary and Alternative Medicine for my holistic health class at WMU.

Since students are so used to the Western, reductionistic paradigm of medicine, they are not often familiar with complementary or more traditionally "Eastern" practices of medicine and how they work together.

As such, I decided to create a visual concept map that highlights just that. For class, I could easily incorporate this with assignments and having students map their own notes regarding assignments that may be "out of the box" for them. This program would help them to organize their thoughts and to "see" things more clearly while engaging with the material.

Go WMU Email Tutorial

This is the online tutorial that I have made for JING. It highlights for incoming Freshmen in the HOL1000 course where students can find some info on emailing section instructors and teaching assistants.
This is my favorite program so far!
TechSmith Screencast.com, online video sharing, Email_Tutorial

Google Map

This is a link to the Google Map that I just created for our Holistic 1000 course. This map is intended to provide students with a basic walking route around the campus of Western Michigan University. In our class, we require students to incorporate fitness into their lives, and really encourage them to walk daily. We have set a goal of 10,000 steps per day for students, and believe that by simply walking this route daily, students will be well on their way to achieving this goal. Included in the map are resting areas around the way, highlights of particularly dangerous areas, restrooms, and other significant areas on campus. Not only will this help students achieve their personal and class fitness goals, but it will also work to help them become better acquainted with Western's campus.

3.5 mile Walk Around Campus Map

Prarie Home Companion Podcast

This is a pod cast of, "The News from Lake Wobegone"- a segment of the show, "Prairie Home Companion" hosted by the infamous Garrison Keilor. Just listening to a few minutes of the show immediately puts me at ease. It is relaxing, funny and heartwarming, and there is always something unexpected. It's great for the whole family, and a perfect pass time for a lazy Sunday afternoon. While it is not explicitly educational in nature as our assignment called for, it fits nicely into an English Education classroom. Garrison Keilor is the quintessential American storyteller, an excellent model for students of English composition!

Prairie Home Companion Podcast

If you choose to subscribe, enjoy! And let me know what you think.

Sting - Shape Of My Heart

Hahaha

View Larger Map

This is my baby girl in her favorite place!

My Flikr Site

Here is a link to my photo sharing site! What a cool tool. Love this one.
http://www.flikr.com/photos/KatieSummers

My Social Bookmarking Link

Here is a link to my new social bookmarking page. Love this tool!
www.delicious.com/KatieESummers

Link to my Wiki

Here is a link to my Wiki! It is a work in progress, but for this class- I think I've gotten the job done!

Discussion Two

My initial perceptions about using the blogging tool in this class were mixed. On the one hand, I was very curious about what blogging is like- I have never “blogged” before, but I have heard a lot about it. But on the other hand, I was a bit confused about the whole process. It was difficult to wrap my brain around the fact that all of this personal information that I am putting out there can literally be read by countless people. However, I am not sure exactly why they would want to read my blog. On a professional note, I am always a bit concerned of sharing too much that might possibly be miss interpreted. With technology, it is so difficult to use humor, for example, because one doesn’t have the opportunity to experience the non-verbal communication that occurs when two people sit fact to face- or the inflection of the voice that one can detect from a phone call. I am a bit worried that this is the new wave of the future. I say that I am “worried” because I do value the face-to-face interaction. I value being present with another human being, and the vulnerability that goes along with sharing intimately in this way. Technology seems to erase that vulnerability to the point that more risks are taken and perhaps the consequences of those risks are not really felt in positive ways.

The RSS feeder had me really confused. I never new what an RSS feeder was until I completed this assignment, and I am not absolutely sure what one is even now. I understand that it is a way to organize media that one might be interested in, but couldn’t you do that by bookmarking your favorite websites. I am not sure what the value is in having to keep up with an RSS reader every day. I suppose it is good at giving you a “snapshot” of the day’s headlines- but what good does that really do? To me, it just seems to promote that fast-paced lifestyle that is so common today. We don’t all have to know everything that is going on in the world. In fact, why would we want to dwell on the negativity that the media so often portrays? It’s not good for us. It’s not good for our health. But if that is what one values in life, then yes. RSS readers and blogs are for them.

Where do they fall on the  cone of experience? I suppose that creating blogs and RSS readers would fall in the “experiential” realms. However simply visiting them everyday and reading what they have to say would perhaps be in the integration piece of things. You simply are reading what is already out there. However, mixed with that is a bit of media, interactivity, etc.

As far as the “imaginative” use of the blogs and feeders, I would say that they could be used creatively to express oneself. In the realm of middle school, for example, where many students are seeking the answers to the questions- “Who am I? Where do I fit in?”, they could use the tools to express themselves in healthy and appropriate ways. By selecting feeds to subscribe to that both enhance and uphold their identities and maybe even push them outside the box a bit, and by creating blogs that do the same thing, students have the opportunity to share pieces of themselves that need to be heard, and my not be listened to  otherwise.

Overall, I am still a bit skeptical, but can see the inherent value of the two tools, if not used to extremes. I look forward to working with these technologies more in order to gain a deeper understanding of them.

Discussion One

The readings for this week seemed like a great way to open a class about implementing technology in the schools because they really forced you to examine your own philosophy of teaching & learning. Honestly, I don’t think that more contrasting articles could have been chosen for this assignment, which makes the process of reflecting on what they had to say very interesting.

I read the Reigeluth article first. As I read, I was surprised at the weight placed on technology in how effective schools are. I appreciate how the authors noted the traditional means of how we sort and educate students in primary schools. It seems that what the author was trying to say is that it is not fair to group students by age into designated grade levels, when some students are far more advanced intellectually and some are behind. The article placed a high value on “performance based” learning, and this sounds great, but I wonder about the value of separating students from their cohorts- as this may take away from the diversity of the cohort and  social learning opportunities.  

I appreciate that the article mentioned the need to assist students in their development on a number of levels- not just intellectual. It mentioned “…developing methods that should eventually result in quantum improvement in meeting our children’s educational needs. These needs include not just intellectual development, but also social and emotional development, which we are just coming to realize are every bit as important as intellect” (Reigeluth & Joseph, 2002). I agree with this and feel as though school is a place where students should be inspired to learn intellectually, but really grow interpersonally. School affords students leadership opportunities, and chances for students to really become involved citizens of the world. While I feel that technology can help to accentuate this process, there is nothing like the value in learning through teamwork. So, it really left me wondering how technology will achieve this goal. Sounds great, but what exactly will it look like?

Approaching learning from a holistic perspective, I also question whether the shift to greater technology is doing students a favor on all levels. If we are really going to reach students, we must be sure that their needs are met first. Children (like adults) not only have intellectual needs, but also spiritual, social, emotional, and physical needs. School should be a place where children learn to balance those things and to put healthy practices in place first. When this is achieved, then deeper intellectual gains can be made. With this as my core, approaching education from the way that the second article did resonated both positively and negatively with me.

I appreciate Postman’s honesty regarding his feelings about computers in the schools. He seems basically indifferent. He suggests that while computers may be a great enhancement for teaching and learning, they certainly are not the fix. I tend to agree with this. While the first article mentioned them as a means to shift education into a “performance based” model, this author clearly doesn’t value technology to this degree. He even goes as fart to say that they can be a hindrance. Fundamentally, I also agree with this. I believe that students first need to gain the interpersonal and intrapersonal skills necessary to negotiate the world. Without those skills, they may acquire all of the intellectual knowledge that can be obtained, and still not be successful in life. We all know intellectuals who have no commonsense. As I mentioned before, students need to balance all of their skills. In addition, if we become too reliant on technology, we risk investing in that more than in human beings. This shift in value of what is important, seems to run the risk of humans being used by the technology they use, and not the technology used by the humans who operate them.

Overall, these two articles really got me thinking about my philosophical orientation to education. I think that I fall somewhere in the middle. While in my view, technology certainly should not be the answer to all of our problems, I do place great value in its ability to help us work creatively toward a better future. Ultimately, I don’t want to see technology take the place of the creative human spirit.