Inspiration

Inspiration is a tool that is made to create webs.  For someone whose brain works in web form, this program is like a dream come true.  The system allows the creator to organize the web in whatever way he or she desires.  I used a variety of colors and shapes to make my web easier to follow.  My web is based on musical time periods, covering 5 major groups of time.  These spread to composers and sound that was specific to each time.  I also added notes to several of my "bubbles".  The notes appear in the yellow boxes on the right side of the screen.  These notes can be hidden and reopened by clicking on the bubble that it is titled.  I also added two blue boxes to the right of the web to show the educational standards that I implemented in this web.  Although I did not use images in this particular web, (I felt it would be slightly overwhelming visually) images are very easy to format into this type of document.

Digital Collection

In our TPTE class, we have learned about various ways to obtain digital images. The following images were obtained by using a digital camera, a google image search, and a screen shot.  Other ways to obtain digital images are by scanning or using a CD collection.

The images I am using are keyboard instruments.  As a music educator, I will most likely teach a general music or piano class at some point.  This is an example of how to introduce the keyboard to my future class.

Typical Keyboard Instruments:

Web 2.0 Lesson 3

Picnik:

Picnik is an online photo editing program.  Using a picture from your computer, Facebook, or other source, you can edit and add a variety of "extras".  You can change the effects of the pictures in a variety of ways, including black and white, sepia, 1960s style, portrait, and pencil sketched to name a few.  You also have the option to add text, stickers, or other "extras".  This is a fun way to spruce up ordinary photos into something interesting and eye catching.  It would be great for sharing photos of an event - you could add captions right onto the photo.  It would also be nice if you were doing a digital scavenger hunt because you could circle the answers on the photograph so that students could easily check their work, or find answers themselves.

Smilebox:

Smilebox is a program that creates digital invitations, greeting cards, scrapbooks, etc.  It is a great tool for teachers to attach something in an email to parents or a blog for the community.   I like this tool especially because there was a very wide range of available settings. There were options for holidays, birthdays, or just because.  This would be a great thing to add to a class website to keep things interesting, or to clearly post information about an event or activity.

Web 2.0 Lesson 2

Wordle:

Wordle is a source which creates virtual word clouds.  You can manually enter words that are related, or you can copy and paste a paragraph into the text box.  The most frequent words are the largest.  This is a great tool for introducing a subject, presenting a spelling list, or creating a visual aid.  We also learned about Tagexdo.  This is a similar tool, however, it allows you to use your text to create a shape or image.  I preferred Tagexdo over Wordle, because I feel it was more versatile.  I used the text from my personal blog ( jennydarden.blogspot.com ) to create the word cloud below.

timetoast:

Timetoast is tool that creates timelines.  This tool would be great for educators when teaching a subject that is very chronological.  You can create a time span and add dates that include facts, pictures, or other important information.  This tool would be especially helpful in a history class, but could easily be adjust to format a wide variety of subject matter.

Web 2.0 Lesson 1

Delicious:

Delicious is a website that allows you to organize the websites that you use regularly. It is essentially an online bookmarking system. I believe that the concept of Delicious is good, but I do not know how much I would utilize this tool. I know that personally, I would not use it - it seems like more work goes into setting up the "stacks" (categories) than it is worth. I doesn't seem to simplify things too much. The only time that I believe I would use this tool would be if I was organizing a research project for my students. I would create a stack of approved sites, articles, or other online resources for my students to reference.

Glogster:

Glogster is a online tool similar to that of a blog. However, rather than presenting information in a paragraph or essay type of way, it is actually like creating an online poster. I truly loved this tool. I would use this personally, in my classroom, and in any other type of setting where I would be sharing information. In fact, I created a glogster last week. I work at Church Street UMC as the youth intern. I am in the process of starting a middle school girls' bible study. Click here to view my glogster post (it is still a work in progress).