Entry #12

Online Conference Experience

Using web 2.0 tools to teach "The Outsiders"
I loved how he uses technology to help students struggling with English. It was cool how he used google maps and street view to help the students get a better understanding of the setting of the story "The Outsiders." The photo presentation was a very interesting idea to get the students to understand the culture of the book. Oftentimes when I am reading a book, I have a tough time getting an image of what is going on in the book. I had never thought of researching the culture and setting of the book before and during reading it.

Ways Of Working
I liked how this showed that there is so much more to research than typing something in google and looking at the first site that comes up. It is cool that you can learn so much more by reading blogs, watching videos and pictures on flicker, google maps, and signing up for information on google news. I like the idea of using the fact that children are constantly taking pictures and using technology on their phones. You can have your students upload their pictures, where they were at and what they learned. Comiclife.com looks like a fun thing for students to use to tell stories.

Around The World With Skype
I never thought of the possibilities of having your class skype with professionals and authors that you might never get to have come to your class. You can also have classes skype with classes on the other side of the world! Teachers that are traveling could also contact their class through skype and give them some cool experiences from other locations. I would love to get my class to be more culturally aware by having skype tours around the world. This was my favorite!