Catching Up!

After the "journey" there is always so much catching up to do, even if you do have jet lag :-). So let’s do a little assignment housekeeping:

Sharing Part 1: Delicious and Flickr.
Here is a link to my Delicious account (I actually think I prefer diigo – I know they aren’t exactly the same, but diigo works best for me) and I really do not have the time or brainpower to divide between two bookmarking sites – unless it’s really going to benefit me in some way –so there are just a few bookmarks there. (Sorry I know that in the world of social bookmarking that seems a selfish attitude, but really it’s a survival technique) And here is a link to my Flickr account (with a few seemingly random pictures to be explained later).

I liked this post from a (no-longer-updated) blog about "homework-casting" (or rather file-casting). I like it, because it’s one of those instances where someone figured out a nifty way of using an attribute of a technology for a (probably) unintended use. I’m not sure how much the idea has caught on though. But is it because the idea isn’t good, or because there aren’t many teachers that are technologically savvy enough to know about it or use it, or (this is the one that I would go with) maybe it’s because most teachers can’t assume that all his/her students have access (much less equal access) to the technology. And...where is the incentive for a teacher to create multiple ways of assigning homework? One answer might be the draw of the "cool" factor for the students, but I’m not sure that trumps extra teacher time – especially for those teachers who may also be a bit "technology resistant".

Another post gives teachers handy tips about how to organize their delicious bookmarks for use in their classes, and also has some interesting links to a few teacher’s delicious accounts to browse.

As far as educational uses for Flickr I noticed that on Nikon’s site there is a link to the digital learning center on Flickr. While I was there I found these interesting posts: one on silhouettes and one on photo humor . So those two subjects were the motivation for the 7 photos I uploaded to Flickr for this assignment. They were all taken on a trip we took in 2005. I have a fascination with odd or funny signs – and somehow they are so much more noticeable the farther I am away from home. The most amusing picture I took of a sign I can’t find anymore!! (arghh – too bad I didn’t know about flickr and photobucket two years ago!) It was in a little round-about near Bath, England, and it was a sign for a grog (elderly people) crossing, complete with a silhouette of little bent old man and old woman – it would have been perfect for this group of pictures! Read More......