BP2_iGoogleScreenShots

This post is to share information about my new personal learning environment or PLE!

iGoogle--Home

iGoogle--FSO page

iGoogle--AR/CBL 

Action Research & Challenge Based Learning

iGoogle--ETC page

iGoogle--Resource page in progress

This week was the beginning of month 4 in our EMDT program--wow--it will be a busy month. The course is called Emerging Technologies in a Collaborative Culture and we have been introduced to blogs, RSS and a whole myriad of new acronyms.  We quickly learned what these various terms meant with our new vocabulary related to technology. Concepts such as class/course/learning management systems, (CMS, LMS, LCMS) and virtual learning environment (VLE), which is what our online course is.  All these new concepts relate to a digital learning environment and the management of them.  For someone brand new to blogs and maneuvering in a digital environment it has been an interesting week.  Intense as new technology is being learned, but amazing at the same time to learn about and how these new tools are able to help us manage the digital information we are gaining knowledge to. 

My iGoogle site is composed of 5 pages, or tabbed areas, so far that have additional organization tools and gadgets. My Google reader is on a few pages, along with clocks and calendars to keep me on track.  I've also added a "To Do" list along with Link boxes which I have set to give me a quick link to favorite sites I want to visit, or have handy access to. I have links to my Gmail and important FullSail sites, and resources.  I especially like the links for the quotes, and technology tips of the day.  I even placed a "count down" calendar for important events and due dates.  The pages I've included here are; Home, FullSail Online, Action Research and the ETC Course.  Eventually I will build a Resource page with additional RSS feeds as well as a page for my personal and La Serna Family information to be included.  What a great way to organize everything in one spot.   

BP1_GoogleReader

As a newbie beginning my journey with ETC, the 4^th course in our EMDT program I’m learning how to create a PLE or Personal Learning Environment, along with learning how to blog and create websites. Learning how to organize and manage this new environment was scary at first, but I’m discovering that it is made easier with Web 2.0 tools available through the Goggle platform.  Google Reader is one of these new tools I am becoming more familiar with. 

GoogleReader helps organize useful sites you visit frequently and helps organize them in a way that eliminates the need to search, because it delivers the content of the sites and their latest information directly to you.  We were asked to identify 5 RSS (real simple syndication) feeds that are used to link frequently updated published works such as blogs and favorite websites one uses and may want to recommend to others as useful sites. 

I found the following tutorials on YouTube to be most helpful with understanding what GoogleReader is and how it is used, along with Blogging help.  

GoogleReader

Sharing any webpage on GoogleReader 

Blogger Help

Getting Blogger Help 

From my collegues I’ve learned more about the following educational sites, and some great ways to use them in the classroom.  I like Michael George’s idea on Friday’s he features a “Big Idea Day” where he shows clips from TED and has a follow-up activity—great idea I’d like to borrow!  More educational sites I plan to explore include:

TED 

Education World

DiscoveryEducation

Tech & Learning

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My action research will be involving my students participating with an online mentoring program called icouldbe.org, so I will be interacting on a regular basis with their Blog as well. 

Through my Literature Review I’ve discovered additional resources such as eschoolnews, which offers a weekly newsletter, which is easy to sign up for.  They've recently featured a story about the e-mentoring program icouldbe.org, my students will be participating with, which was exciting to read about the positive impact the program is making on young people.

Press Release: E-MENTORING STUDY TOUTS THE BENEFITS OF ONLINE MENTORING 

Stay tuned for my journey is just beginning.