Things 8 & 9: Photo Sharing, Customizing Blogs

We're halfway through the program! Give yourself a pat on the back and a big high-five for making it this far. You'll now have over two weeks before Things 10 and 11 are posted, so hopefully you can catch up and catch your breath (I know I will- I've been trying to keep at least one step ahead)! I've already been hearing some great things that people have been doing with some of these tools- keep it up and spread the Word! One of the goals for this program is to extend the skills and knowledge of our faculty and staff, so those of us in the program can pass along some of these Web 2.0 tools to our colleagues.

Thing 8: Photo Sharing

You may already have an account with an online photo sharing site, or perhaps you've had friends or family send you a link to their online albums (I subject my nearest and dearest to monthly Shutterfly.com updates). Photo sharing sites have progressed beyond being warehouses for photos, however: many let you edit, crop, organize, share, add comments, tag, create photo groups, and even apply cool effects to individual photos. We're going to be exploring Flickr, which is one of the most innovative photo sites around. You'll be creating a Flickr account, uploading some photos to it, tagging those photos, and then posting a slideshow to your blog (Customizing Blogs is Thing 9). "She's crazy!", you might be saying. But I'm not, trust me. You can do it! I chose this Photo Sharing Thing to occur right before the break so you'll have time to take some pictures you'd like to share with us (and borrow a camera, if necessary). If you don't have access to a digital camera, you can talk to the AV department here and request to borrow one over the break.

Your goal for Thing 8 is to create a Flickr account and upload at least THREE photos, one of which should be a picture of you doing something related to teaching/technology/reading/chewing- something specific to this program, basically. The other 2+ photos can be of anything, but ideally would be taken specifically to share with the group. You should then TAG the photos with keywords and tag at least ONE of the photos with the keyword "17 Things" (to use a two-word tag you have to put the phrase in quotes). Make these photos PUBLIC (you have to check a box making them public), so that we can search for them on Flickr. You should then write a blog post about your experience with Flickr and make sure to include your Flickr name so we can find your pictures.

Here are some resources to get you started:

• Flickr Tour
• Flickr FAQs
• "Classroom" groups on Flickr (school-related photo groups that have been created by teachers)
• The App Garden (these are cool apps that Flickr users have created- there's one called FlickrPoet where you paste in the text of a poem, and Flickr pictures are matched to the text- so your poem becomes a poem in photos)
• BigHugeLabs (lets you do fun things with your photos like make them into movie posters, photo booth pictures, add comic book captions, etc.)

To complete Thing 8:

• Create a Flickr account
• Take and upload at least 3 pictures, one of which should have something to do with the 17 Things program
• Tag your pictures, and make sure at least one picture is tagged "17 Things"
• Make your photos public
• Write a blog post about your experience
• Post your Flickr account name
• Search for and check out other participants' photos on Flickr! My Flickr name is "mrsduelllibrary", and you can see my first few pictures in the "Slideshow" feature on the sidebar of my blog.

Just for fun (optional): Create something fun using one of the Flickr third party applications or mashups and include the results in your photo stream or post into your Thing 8 blog post.

Thing 9: Customizing Blogs

One of my favorite things to do with my blogs is to add little gadgets and widgets to my sidebar, which gives your blog a more personalized feel. Your task for Thing 9 is to customize your blog by adding at least THREE gadgets or widgets to your sidebar. These can be found in the "Layout" tab at the top of your blog editing screen. Just click "Add a Gadget" in the sidebar, and choose a few things from the list of choices. One of the gadgets you choose should be a SLIDESHOW, which will then let you link to your Flickr photostream, displaying a running slideshow of the photos you uploaded in Thing 8. So cool. Other gadgets you can choose to add include a poll, a video, some HTML/JavaScript, a list of your favorite links, or even just some text.

To complete Thing 9:

• Add at least THREE gadgets to the sidebar of your blog
• One of the gadgets must be a SLIDESHOW that links to your Flickr photostream

Things 2 & 3: More With Blogging, Social Bookmarking

Congratulations on making it to Things 2 and 3! I hope everyone is as excited as I am about all of the fun and exciting tools we're going to explore during this Web 2.0 journey. Before I go on, I wanted to point out the "Tracking Spreadsheet" on the sidebar to the right. This is how I'll be keeping track of who is in the program and who's already completed which Things. If you notice that I'm missing something for you, just email me.

Thing 2: Doing More With Your Blog

Blogs are great for keeping up to date with other people, so for Thing 2, you'll be commenting on and following some of your colleagues' blogs, in addition to tagging the posts you've created so far. First, choose at least five of your colleagues' blogs (see the sidebar on the right), and comment on their first post or on their video. Commenting on blogs allows us to ask questions of one another, make suggestions, or simply to reply to what has been written or posted. I will be commenting on various blogs throughout the 17 Things to Chew On program. Once you've commented, you should then "follow" those blogs. Oh, and "follow" this blog (17 Things to Chew On), too. As you can see in your own blog, I have "followed" you- so you can now see my picture on your blog's sidebar. Now when I log into my blog and look at the Dashboard, I can see what's been updated on the blogs I'm following! Cool, right? Let's try to share the love, so if you notice that someone's blog has not yet been "followed" by anyone but me, you might choose to follow them. Also, let's "tag" the posts you've created so far. Tagging allows you to categorize your posts, which is really helpful if you blog regularly. If you look at my Bulldog Banana Bread blog, you'll notice on the sidebar to the right that I have a bunch of different keywords listing all of the different subjects my posts have been about. That's because I tag each post with relevant keywords. What keywords will you use? Finally, write a blog post telling us who you're "following" and also what tags you created for your first several posts.

So, for Thing 2:

• Comment on at least 5 people's blogs
• Follow the 17 Things to Chew on blog AND the other blogs on which you commented
• Use keywords to tag the posts you've created so far
• Write a post about about who you're "following" and what tags you've used so far

Just for Fun (optional!): Upload a picture to your profile. It can be a picture of you or of something else you want to represent your online self. Having a picture makes your blog a little more personal!

Thing 3: Social Bookmarking

The next Thing we'll be looking at is social bookmarking using Delicious, which will help you organize all of your favorite websites (this was my part on the Web 2.0 Fairy video!). Watch this explanation from Common Craft and then sign up for a Delicious account. When you first look at Delicious, check out some of the "Fresh Bookmarks" and "Popular Bookmarks" to see how they have been tagged.



Once you've created a Delicious account, add and tag some of your favorite websites. Post your Delicious username on your blog (mine is mrsduelllibrary), then, once other people have started posting their Delicious usernames, add a few of your colleagues to your network. You can add me first just to see how it works. When you're finished, create a post and relect on your Delicious experience. Do you see this as a useful tool? Would you actually use this? How could it be helpful in a school setting?

So, for Thing 3:

• Create a Delicious account and add websites
• Add me to your network (mrsduelllibrary), then add a few of your colleagues
• Create a post about your experience AND post your Delicious username

Just for Fun (optional): Add the Delicious buttons to your toolbar on your HOME computer (it won't work on your school computer- it will just get removed when you re-boot). I tried it and it was pretty simple, plus now it's even easier than ever to bookmark new websites! Just click on "Help" at the top and find the "Need Tools?" section and follow the directions from there.

Welcome to 17 Things to Chew On!

Welcome to 17 Things to Chew On! This is a 9 week overview of what Web 2.0 is really all about. Some of you have a good idea, but haven't seen a few new tricks. Some of you haven't got a clue and are sick of hearing about all this tech gobbledygook! Whatever your reason for joining, I hope you gain a better understanding of how this concept is changing the way we work, play, and even educate.
If you feel any of the tasks are easy, please offer your help to others. If you are lost, please ask for help. Partnering up with someone is another great way to work through this. If you have questions, please ask anyone in the group!

THING 1

Part 1:
Set up your own blog & add your first post. Your first post can be a simple "Hello" or a paragraph on the video (see below). Once you've completed this step, email me your blog link.

Part 2:
Assuming we all agree that technology is changing education and teaching (for right or wrong)... support that idea with a video. Place that video on your new blog (either as a link or as embedded video).

Example video:



Some keywords for searching: collaboration, "24/7 education", "open learning", "web 2.0", "school 2.0", edtech, connectivity, social networks+schools, "personal learning networks, "education+think tanks", "21st century skills", "flat schools", "creative education", "new schools", "student centered learning", remix

Just for Fun (optional!):
Watch part of or all of this TED video ("Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity") and comment here on my blog.