Thing 22 Reflection Embedded video

I've really enjoyed learning how to add and embed videos to my posts. I found this sketch from the old Carol Burnett show. This clip is a true classic, and features Tim Conway and Harvey Corman.



I can't imagine being in Harvey's position and trying not to laugh.

Thing 21 Reflection

I've been a fan of YouTube for a long time. I currently have an account just to manage the favorites that I've seen. I also subscribe to several users and get notifications when they upload new videos. I have not yet uploaded my own video, basically because I haven't felt that I'd created anything to share.

On my personal blog, rhoevin.blogspot.com, I have links to YouTube videos with some performers that I enjoy. I have added a YouTube section in the left hand column that currently shows performances by a group called Young@Heart. Their performances are moving and very entertaining.

YouTube, like so many other wonderful sites that we've discovered on 23 Things, is not allowed on our district system. I'm trying to brainstorm to determine ways that we may be able to bipass the filter system, or perhaps download videos on a laptop and sharing at school. I'd love to hear the ideas from some others.

Thing 20 Reflection

What was once a scary and unknown icon on some websites has now become a quick and easy tool to keep me updated on many sites that I rely on. In addition to the education and music links that I subscribe to I've found that my hobbies and interests are much easier to track and follow.

Bloglines is very easy to use and keep current. After going through the items in Thing 20 I went and quickly realized exactly how many items I subscribe to. I also quickly saw that there was nothing that I wanted to delete, or even reorganize. I did have one subscription that needed to be renamed, and that was just as easy as described in your video feed.

Thanks for sharing this invaluable tool!

Thing 19 Reflection

This is a continuation about del.icio.us bookmark networking. I easily set up the account and installed the icons onto my desktop (I use Firefox most often) and started searching for sites. My first entry was for the tag "choral". Surprisingly there were thousands of sites available. More surprisingly these site links actually worked! (I've always hesitated looking at "Links" on sites simply because most of them don't work anymore.)

After scanning the list I found several that I thought were interesting and visited them. The ones that I didn't care for I left, but saved several. It was good to see the suggested tags available, and I chose many of them, and occasionally added one or two that I thought I'd find more specific. After trying several other searches I quickly found a number of sites that were exactly what I could use and had no clue that there were sites out there in cyberspace, just waiting to be tapped. Within moments I easily had added 13 sites to my list.

I also watched many of the additional videos and learned how to add people to my network, and personalize the privacy for my links and the people on the network I'll create. Importing bookmarks onto the site will also be incredibly easy, but I'm not sure that I'd want all of my home and personal sites online (although the privacy options would keep them from being seen).

I also tried accessing the site from school today, and of course it was blocked? So my question to everyone is: How do we educators get our administrations to see that there are tremendous opportunities out here that our colleagues and students are missing?

Thing 18 Reflection

My first thought about social bookmarking was that it was just like COWs (Classroom on the Wall). The idea was that teachers should share ideas, lessons, etc. with their colleagues by posting things on a bulletin board centrally located. Others could see, modify, or add to the idea. Of course it sounded like a great plan, but the logistics of the information didn't make it conducive for success. Social bookmarking makes the whole plan workable and expands the possibilities for ideas endless.

How well would it work in my school system? I think accessing the site would be the first question and then giving the less pc literate teachers a short professional development lesson would be the only pitfalls.

I may take the bull by the horns on this one, experiment and present it to my building administrators to see if they're interested. I'll keep you posted.

Thing 17 Reflection - Slideshare

Music Technology & Innovation

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Presented at the 'Air & Amplified Music Conference', Hobart, Tasmania on 15 March 2008. The presentation was designed to take a snapshot of the way in which digital promotion and distribution is currently affecting the music industry, what it means for existing models and practices, and to examine ways in which musicians particularly can take greater control of their affairs in the new landscape.


SlideShare Link

This is a Slideshare presentation on Music Technology. I embedded this into this reflection because it talks about many of the ideas and uses of Web 2.0 that we're learning about in 23 Things. Slideshare allows everyone around the world to share ideas and research knowledge, bringing us closer together. It's very easy to use and embedding this presentation into the blog spot is rather easy to do. A very useful tool, IMO.

Thing 16 Reflection

Geesh, did I really spend three hours working on this one? Where did the time go?

I explored the 30 Boxes widget, the online calendar. It's very easy to use, easy to link to your Flickr account as well as your blogs and wikispaces. You'll see that I've added a small badge in the left hand column of the blog. I also added the embedded calendar into a page on my wikispace.

This is another great gadget that will help sharing information with students, their families and the community. I just hope I can keep all of these accounts and names clear. I have not yet discovered how to separate business info from personal info that I want to keep on the calendar. I'll probably have to create a separate calendar for home and one for school.

I hope to explore other tools and widgets soon.