Came across this resource today in a tweet from Tom Barrett who I am proud to say is a member of my PLC.  This slideshare has some great tools listed.  Check it out.  I'm sure you'll find at least one thing that you'll want to take for a test drive : - )

 
Curriki 08/25/2008
 

Came across this site today and was immediately intrigued.  When I was in the classroom, I constantly worked at revamping my lesson plans and tried to keep them fresh and current with what was going on in the field of Marketing.  Maybe I left the classroom just a little too soon.  I'm always coming across something that makes me think...wow, this would be neat to use!

 
 

My summer class met for the final time last night. As I was shutting down computers and packing up to leave, it seemed to be a little bittersweet.  On the one hand, the pace of a summer class can be exhausting.  So, I can't say that I'll truly miss the 14-15 hour days that included a full workday and then four hours of class.  With that said, let me talk about what else I won't miss.  The interaction with educators and students from around the world.  Want to know why I won't miss it?  Because I don't have to.  Many of these people are now members of my personal learning community.  I won't miss interacting with them because I now have a direct link to so many of them...be it through Twitter, Skype, Plurk, or simply reading their blogs.

Which leads me to my next point.  Before this class started, I was somewhat reluctant to approach any of the folks who I considered to be the "big name" educators I encountered on Twitter or at conferences and strike up a conversation with them.  I suppose I felt that I wasn't truly on the same level as these fellow educators, or that I really didn't have anything to bring to a conversation with these people that would be of interest to them.  I see now that I was wrong.  Every educator who I have come into contact with during the course of this class has been COMPLETELY approachable and more than willing to talk and answer questions.  This revelation has not only totally changed my student experience, but also my professional life.  As an academic technology consultant for the University of Memphis, I feel like (as Kevin Honeycutt stated) that I now have access to this awesome think tank of brilliant people.  Not only do I have access to it, I get to participate in it as well!

As Dr. Mims stated in class last night, IDT 7078 has forever changed the way I view the classroom and the student experience.  Learning is no longer confined to occurring within four walls.  As proven by our class, it can truly be a community experience as well as a global experience. 

I think I can conclude this post with a quote from Dr. Rick Van Eck that was originally written in reference to gaming and simulation, but I believe can appropriately be applied to what we are now seeing with Web 2.0 technologies.  "If we learn from our past, and if we focus on the strengths of the medium and provide the support and infrastructure needed...we may well be present for a true revolution." 

What an exciting time to be a student and an educator!  I can't wait to see what technologies Web 3.0 will bring to the table : - )

 
Using Paint.net 08/14/2008
 

I'm not an artsy person...but paint.net really captured my attention about a year ago.  So, I'm going out of my comfort zone and talking to my fellow IDT 7078 classmates about this tool. I've included examples above of pencil sketch, emboss, and the oil painting features of paint.net.

 
 

What a busy four weeks it has been!  My summer course, IDT 7078, will be over next Friday.  We've covered so much ground, and we've worked really hard on developing our class wiki site.

I'm amazed at how much my PLC (personal learning community) has grown in this short amount of time.  The number of people I've met and added to my network who are all interested in education and technology surprises me.  My PLC has become very important to me, and I will definitely continue to develop it LONG after this summer course has ended.

And the Web 2.0 tools....wow....I don't think I'll ever get around to testing out all of them that I've come across and been intrigued by.  I keep a "to do" list of tools to check out.  Mostly my list continues to grow instead of getting shorter.  For a geek at heart, I guess that's a good problem to have though!

 
Webjam 08/05/2008
 

OK...so I feel a little guilty about posting this here because it's like I'm talking smack about weebly.  BUT...I've found another Web 2.0 tool that has captured my attention.  Webjam is a nifty little tool.  I was able to set up my own webjam pretty easily.  I like the features, easy of use, and cosmetic appearance of the site.  I also plan to give my IDT 7078/8078 class a quick demo of Webjam. 

So... why do I feel like I'm cheating on weebly? : - )