We’ve completed our last day of Tech Camp 2008 but I know I will continue to digest everything we were shown and all we discussed for quite awhile.  So many new sites and applications were introduced that it was impossible to completely get into everything in just three days.  (Although I certainly attempted to go without sleep in order to do so.)

Memphis City Schools is blessed with an incredible Ed Tech team.  Anyone who has the opportunity to take advantage of their vast knowledge base should do so as often as possible!

Thank you for an incredible Tech Camp experience!!!

By the way, I’ll be on vacation, catching up on my reading the old fashioned way (book in hand) for a bit but will blog again upon my return.

You may have noticed in my last post about the Universal Edit Button that I cited the source of my information. Contrary to popular belief, all librarians are not capable of scribbling down the proper structure of a citation off the top of their heads… at least, I’m not. We do, however, appreciate the importance of citing our sources.

As we all know, getting students, or anyone for that matter, to cite or properly reference their sources is difficult. We need to emphasize the importance of this both early and often with our students. It becomes increasingly important when they reach high school and college but will come more naturally to them if we stress it in middle school and even elementary school as well.

If you’re not familiar with NoodleTools, particularly NoodleBib Express, you should check it out. It will create properly structured citations (MLA or APA) based on the information you provide. You may then cut and paste the completed citation into whatever document or application you choose. It includes citation formats for traditional (journals, books, etc.) as well as online sources (wikis, emails, music videos, etc.). NoodleBib Express does not require a user to sign in. However, other NoodleTools applications do require a username and password.

A number of wiki providers have collaborated (go figure) to come up with a standard icon that will indicate if a wiki is editable by the public.  Clicking on the icon will link the user immediately to the wiki’s edit page.  It’s currently available though Firefox but it’s likely other browsers will adopt it as well.  The following excerpt explains it much better than I can.

“The Universal Edit Button is currently a green pencil icon in the URL bar that indicates a web page is editable…  …The Universal Editing Button (UEB) will allow a web surfer to more quickly recognize when a site may be edited. It will be a convenience to web surfers who are already inclined to contribute, and an invitation to those who have yet to discover the thrill of building a common resource.”

Source:

Dilley, Mark. Universal Edit Button. 19 June 2008. 19 June 2008 <http://universaleditbutton.org/

     Universal_Edit_Button>.

BLOG THOUGHTS…

BTW…  The wiki was developed by Howard “Ward” Cunningham (NOT Richie’s father on Happy Days) when he was the ripe old age of 45.  This is a refreshing tidbit for those of us who thought all web-based innovations were created by teenagers in college dorm rooms.

I can already see that, if I’m not careful, having a blog might consume more of my time than it should.  I’m going to have to get over the urge to edit, re-edit, then re-edit again.  I’ve already edited my last post, deciding that I got a bit too chatty.  Maybe late-night blogging isn’t going to work for me. 

I’ve also added and deleted a number of widgets.  After adding a widget that looked pretty cool to me at first glance, I realized it wasn’t quite what I thought it would be.  If I had read the comments made about that particular widget at www.widgetbox.com, I probably would have given my choice alittle more thought. It’s a learning process, right?

I’m really excited about learning more about wikis tomorrow.  Prior to the start of this next school year, I’m going to be working with a number of our teachers to find and develop resources for our school-wide themes.  I’d been thinking I would have to draft something initially, distribute it to the team via email, and then edit a master copy upon getting their revisions.  Although I knew about wikis, I didn’t feel like I knew enough about how they were created and administered to actually use one for this.  Now I realize how ideal a wiki will be for this cooperative effort.  I’m excited about the possibilities.

I really should have done some brain stretches prior to Tech Camp.  So much brain activity after a period of relative inactivity is alittle overwhelming.  I’m not complaining, though.  Day 1 of Tech Camp was full of “wow” moments and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.  I’m really looking forward to the school year (that may be a first) so I can share these great tools with our faculty and staff at South Side Middle!

If, as Felicia said this morning, frustration just means you’re learning, I’ve learned alot tonight.  Some things worked just the way I thought they would and some things didn’t.  I worked through all of but one of my blips.  I could not get my LinkedIn account to open in Firefox.  I disabled the Pop Up Blocker, thinking that might have been the problem.  It didn’t help.  I was able to open my account in Safari, so I just accessed it there and left the Firefox problem for another day.  I welcome any insights.

It’s gotten late.  How did that happen?

Why is this so scary? Well, maybe it’s because I reread my emails over and over before I press the send button. I tend to rewrite things to the point of being ridiculous. (I just rewrote that sentence four times.) Obviously, this is my first venture into the world of writing blogs. Once I get past the initial fear of nobody being interested in what I have to say, I think it’ll be alot of fun. OK… I’ve dipped my toes. Now it’s time to dive in…