Skype

Skype is a free application that allows you to call people from all over the world using the internet. When you call another user that has Skype you talk or chat for free. Best of all you can tell when another user is online and what their status is so you know if they are available. To set up Skype on your computer you need to download and install it from here on Skype’s website. Once installed follow the instructions to set up your Skype account. For talking I like to use a Logitech USB headsets because the system easily detects them without any issues.

Educational blog websites

There are a number of educational technology blogs that are worth looking at.  Kathy Schrock has created a list of them at: "http://kathyschrock.net/edtechblogs.htm" .

Value of a PLE

 Knowing how to use a blog was the most important aspect of creating a PLE.  I now feel almost as comfortable using a blog as I do reading a recipe.  I want to use my other blog as an online journal, and place to keep my thoughts.  I also intend to use one for the purpose of journaling for myself, and also I want to use one with my future Elementary classes.  

I would like to create a picture slide show on my blog but haven't quite figured out how to do that yet.  But I'm not afraid to play with it or ask questions if I have to.  I thought creating the layout was not very intuitive at first.  Thanks for a great semester.  I probably learned more than anyone else.

Internet Safety

I found an article by Elder David E. Sorensen called "You Can't Pet a Rattlesnake."  He talks about a time when he was a boy and almost petted a Rattlesnake that he thought was asleep.  His father fortunately caught him and said "David, my boy, you can't pet a rattlesnake."  That is good advice where pornography and other negative influences on the internet are concerned.  Elder Sorenson said: "..build fortifications in the form of personal ground rules to protect your priceless virtue.  When you're on a date, plan to be in groups and avoid being alone.  I know men, young and old, who have simply determined not to turn on the TV or surf the Internet anytime when they are alone.  Fathers, it is wise to keep computers and televisions in the family room or other high-traffic areas in your home--not in children's bedrooms.  I also know of fathers who while on business trips, wisely choose not to turn on the hotel television."  There are spiritual poisonous snakes out there and we need to wisely avoid them.  As a parent and grandparent I intend to be very open with my children about the subject.  I was especially taken with the article on "Technology and a House of Learning."  My husband and I discussed our roles of preside, provide, protect and nurture and their meaning in a modern world of poisonous snakes.  I also want to have a dialogue with my siblings  to sensitize and empower them on these issues.  I have already sent out an email to many of my family guiding them to several of the articles we read in class.  I also teach the 16-17 year old Sunday School class and plan on including some wise information in one of my lessons on this subject.  The URL for this article is found on lds.org.

Kerpoof.com

I went to Kerpoof.com to check out some of what is available for educators there and found it to be quite interesting.

Kerpoof provides free multimedia software that can be used directly from any browser, on any computer with Internet access and an up-to-date Flash player. While Kerpoof offers paid, premium services directed to at-home, entertaining use of the site, all basic content directed to in-school use is entirely free.

Kerpoof can be used to create original artwork, animated movies, and stories, among other things. All shared content is carefully reviewed by trained moderators before it appears on the site.
Kerpoof publishes a free monthly electronic newsletter that describes new features on Kerpoof, new lesson plans published on the Kerpoof Teacher's page, and gives ideas for using Kerpoof in the classroom. We want the newsletter to be a great resource for you and welcome feedback for improvements and also encourage you to share idease for using Kerpoof in the classroom. Kerpoof can be used to help as a creativity starter for writing. Or ask them to write a fictional story about a scene. It can help them with reading comprehension, social studies (you can use the Mt. Fuji scene to teach about Japanese culture), or study the life cycle of a caterpillar using the Butterfly Pavilion scene.

Are you teaching about the food chain? Our Northwest Territories scene (sponsored by Northwest Trek in Tacoma, Washington) can be the perfect place to create illustrations of several food chains. We've got plants to be eaten by deer and bears to eat the plants. We've got toads to be eaten by rattlesnakes and bald eagles to eat the snakes. There are insects, small rodents and reptiles, larger rodents, and several types of ruminants. Then we have all kinds of beasties from higher in the food chain, bears, wolves and birds of prey to name a few. And they're all real inhabitants of the Northwest Trek wildlife preserve. Students can even have math experiences. You can use any of our nature scenes to create intricate worlds that will test your students' powers of observation. Can they identify and describe a list of animal types you describe? Can they find fourteen yellow fish swimming in and around the sunken ship? Turn it into a math lesson by asking them to categorize and graph difference groups. Kerpoof even offers you sample lesson plans. It's a great resource.

You can find an archive of all past issues of the Kerpoof Scholastics e-newsletter online: Kerpoof Scholastics News Archives.