Digital Texts

Digital texts can anything from electronic books, online publications or digital libraries. There are advantages and disadvantages to digital texts. E-books save money on printing ink and can contain pictures, recordings and videos. It can have abridged materials like summaries, graphic organizers and so on. With our technological advanced society, digital texts are becoming more popular. On the other hand, a student would not be given the opportunity to experience holding a book, smelling the pages and enjoying the full experience of a book in hand. I think an environment with a balanced mixture of e-books and books on a book shelf would give children an opportunity to see and understand both types of literacy and technology.

I created two digital texts through Tar Heel Reader. One is on frogs (since my classroom theme is frogs) and the other book is about school. Check them out! Click on the links below...enjoy!

http://tarheelreader.org/2008/10/20/frogs-frogs-frogs/
http://tarheelreader.org/2008/10/20/what-is-a-school/

Facebook vs. MySpace

The talk of the country lately....Facebook vs. MySpace. Both have pros and cons, but isn't that with anything in life?! So what is all the fuss about? Why do so much people join each website? What is this craze? Well for me, these websites are about social networking and keeping in touch with family. I have a military family who live both in and out of the States and it is a great way to keep in touch with them. My uncles and cousins have MySpace, so we are able to send messages and view each other's pictures for free. It is much cheaper than using the telephone and it's a quick line of communication considering we check it on a daily basis.

My friend originally created my Facebook account after college. It was more or less created as a joke. However, when I realized how many of my friends were actually members of Facebook, I updated my account and created it to be all about me. It was nice to view my friend's friends because then I could connect with these college friends again. I still use it for that reason today....4 years later. Facebook is a good connection with friends from all walks of life and allows me to stay informed and updated on their lives.

I created a MySpace account about a year ago. At that time, I dated someone who was in the military and was about to be deployed. He was already a MySpace user and I promised to join to keep the communication lines open. It was a great way to keep in touch when he was so many miles away. Again, like Facebook, I reconnected with old high school and college friends. I found new features on this website and I personalized my page with a background and music.

Between the two, I do not have a preference on which one I like more. There are different qualities that I like about each one. I like that Facebook seems more private and secure. However, I like MySpace for the music that can be uploaded and the personalization features. To this day, I use Facebook and MySpace on a daily basis. However, I do not think I would ever use this form of technology in my class. I feel like it is too much for a classroom of first graders. I do not feel that these websites are appropriate for that age.

Social Bookmarking on Delicious

Social Bookmarking was a term that was totally new to me. When I realized it was just websites listed under "My Favorites" that could be accessed from any computer, it made more sense. Since learning about social bookmarking, I created a list of social bookmarks on delicious. Some websites listed are websites I use in my classroom on a regular basis. Other websites I tagged are websites that were suggested by my school's computer/technology teacher. I asked this teacher if she had ever heard of social bookmarking and when she said "No," I was caught off guard. I told her all about it and she said she was interested in creating one for her computer classes. Since then, I have showed her my social bookmarks, or should I say "my work in progress" of bookmarks, and she mentioned that she would share her list once organized. I also would like to link my social bookmarks to my school website in hopes that students and parents will access this and use at home. Parents often come to me and ask about websites and other resources that they can use at home and I tend to suggest the same websites. Through this assignment, I realized that I have an opportunity to suggest my social bookmarks list of numerous sites to help their child. With regular updates and additions, this will a valuable tool in my classroom.

Click here to see my list of social bookmarks: http://delicious.com/appgal05