'All Thing Work Together for the Good of Those Who Love God and are Called According to His Purpose'   Rom 8:28
 
I had the chance to explore some online productivity tools and although I am quite the novice at this point I can see how many of these tools would be beneficial as I get more acclamated to what I am doing in developing my online skils. I did however take a look at a few sites that could help me now as I am interested in being more organized and efficient. I found ZOHO DOCS on LifeDev which really helps to manage a variety of things for you. I used to run a driving school business for a couple of years and this program would have really helped me. It offers online office applications, document management, online file sorage, online collaboration and mobile applications. 
On the 'Best Online productivity Tools 2012' I found tools that could help me with my to do list as I always have something going on: Remember The Milk. This is a great resource if you need a good 'to do' list as you try to stay organized and on top of all the things you need to get done.  Another tool that I think will be good for future reference is the Evernote that helped with bookmarking. Nothing worse than forgetting where you have travelled online and then cant back to it in an efficient manner. Wikispaces is a great tool to use for collaborating and for your personal listening enjoyment I would recommend Pandora on Life Dev. Listen to any music you like and stay relaxed with whatever music you enjoy.
 
I hope to one day teach and coach at the college level and this class is giving me the tools I need to one day effectively teach and communicate with my class through the use of teachnology. I am currently taking two online classes and I was impressed with the way each instructor created a vidoe and a podcast to explain the syllabus and the expectations of what it would take to be sucessful in class. Sometimes just reading over the syllabus is rather boring so to getsome additional insight using that format was beneficial.  
I'm really enjoying exploring the different sites that we have been given to learn about. I can now add many of these sites to my personal library to use when doing additional research or when I assign students in my physical education class written coursework. I spent some time in RefSeek's guide to the best 25 online resources and I found  an incredible amount of information that can be used to explore. Some of the sites such as Internet Archive, ITunes 4, Schooltube and Videotag will be good resources for me in the future. I also took a look at Lifehacker and in time will explore more of the Podcastalley.com to better familiarize myself with this type of technology.
 
 
The article about Dr.sailor takes me back to my time in college at Fresno State when I too had my tape cassette out on my desk recording the lecture from the professor. There was no room for error because you could be tested on anything and often times when taking notes there was something left out. Then when I was almost done with my teaching credential classes students could see their professors give lectures via satellite. Instead of driving to Fresno from Visalia I could go to the satellite center and watch the lecture at the center. I even took a couple of weekend classes and I was in a room all day at the center while listening to the lecture. Now we have the internet , ipods, podcasts and all sorts of technological advances. You can watch movies on your computer, see highlights or scores from the sportsworld and even download music to ipods and mp3 players.

It appears the more successful podcasts become with professors the more it will impact student learning. Its very hard to break traditional learning systems, but educators are very innovative and creative and I'm sure many will expolre whether its the right fit for their teaching style and delivery.
 
I found this article to be very interesting as I related to many of the students who like me, began the class with no prior experience with ipods and other technology gadgets. I have been out of the classroom for a long time and I certainly dont feel I have the exposure or experience my fellow classmates have when it comes to using technology through social media, classroom instruction or personal gadgets. I am beginning to gain better insight through these types of readings as well as the assignmnets given by Dr.Sailor introuducing me to a new and innovative ways of learning. I certainly come from a time of traditional learning so I am excited about the new technological advances being taught in the classroom.
The article covered many important factors regarding why Professor Deborah Vess used ipods in her curriculum. She states in her opening address, "When applications are based on solid learning theory and designs with appropriate outcomes in mind, they can transform the educational experience for students, build communities of learners, promote more active engagement of materials, and achieve the learning outcomes essential for the study of history." Her use of ipods enhanced her students abilities to give better oral presentations, being engaging rather than passive in the learning environment, increased their ability to research through the internet, allowed students to stop and start podcasts as to ascertain the information better and freed up more time from the classroom so their time was better spent preparing their projects. Students said they had to be more discipline, stay on top of the work and not do everything at the last minute. It seems to me that using ipods in the classroom and creating podcasts are beneficial to students overall educational experience. The exposure to new technology and the outcomes it provides enhances student learning, ultimately improving the quality of
 
In this artice podcasting is defined by wikipedia as online publishing of files in a way that allows for the subscription-like syndication and distrubution of files as they become available. Most posdcasts are audio in MP3 format, syndicated through RSS protocol (Wikipedia, 2005) I like Mengs explanation a better because the explanation is more understandable to me. Meng says, "the process of capturing an audio event, song, speech, or mix of sounds and then posting the digital sound object to a Web site or "blog" in a data structure called an RSS 2.0 envelope or feed)". Podcasting is considered by many educators a teaching tool that is used to assist the instructor in presenting lessons through e-learning. Podcasts allow students to learn through listening. It allows moblie learning to take place anywhere and anytime. In this type of learning environment podcasts allows for student who do not like reading to listen through the downloading of listening materials to devices such as mp3 players. Podcasts also assists in the learning process for the visually challenged student.
Many instructors in the college setting have begun to use audio recording and podcasting of live lectures to present information to students that prefer to learn with this type of teaching model. It is important however that instructors who us podcasts as a teaching tool have learning objectives built into their lessons. In the article Cebeci and Tekdal say, "the design of podcasts as learning objects should enable its effective inclusion in learning content manangement system (LCMS) in order to assemble the lessons or courses for various purposes. This will also provide personalization to meet individual learning style of each learner."
Technology has become a strong influence in classrooms across America and the world. As humans continue to evolve the learning and teaching capabilities seem to be endless. Preparing students in the classroom for a ever changing world is critical and it is important to utilize creative and effective teaching strategies for learning achievement. Certainly this article has opened my eyes to how instuctional strategies can be in the forms of many different approaches. In all things their is positive and negative, strengths and weaknesses, but more importantly is undertsnading we all learn differeently. 
 
I do not have extensive expericences regarding social networks and social media. The extent of my expericence is using e-mail and surfing the web for research, watching youtube videos and entertainment purposes. Until I took this class, I was not a participant in facebook, twitter, my-space, shutterfly, weebly and other social media sites. When I was in college 20 years ago attending Fresno State we did not have the accessability to information at the tip of our hands like we do today. I can now access  the university school library and do research without ever stepping into the library. In many respects technology and the pursuing of knowledge through the internet is an important advancement in our society.
The article "Social Networking in Undergraduate Education" by Nicole A. Buzzetto-More concluded through a survey of management students from U.S. Mid-Atlantic minority-serving university in 2010-2011 that used Facebook as an instructional tool and the students considered Facebook a valuable tool that helped to strengthen interpersonal relationships, build learning communities and engage students. (Buzzeto-Moore p.64)  I teach at a the high school level and I see an ever increasing reliance of teaching becoming computer and internet based.  The new 'Always On Generation' is exposed to, "new technologies such as blogs, wikis, multiplayer online games, social networking technologies, video and music dissemenation reshaping social practices. Literacy has now come to mean a rapid and continuous process of change in ways in which we read, write, view, listen, compose, and communicate information." (Coiro, Knobel, Lankshear & Leu, 2008, p.5)
As educators it is important to understand that to be stagnant is to not be progressive. I see all around me the technological advancements in all phases of life and you either get on board or get left behind. Educators, students and society in general need to continue to make advancements in all areas of life to sustain culture and mainatian a high quality of human life.
 
 
 
This new generation of online users is much farther ahead in there academic life than I was at their age. To have so much knowledge at their disposal and the ability to connect with people around the world is an amazing thing. I grew up watching the Jetsons where everything was computerized and you could have anything you wanted in a moments notice. This generation of online users seems to have access to whatever they want at a moments notice. There are some concerns to instant online information and gratification and the issue is debatable from both sides of the issue.

Many well respected educators and researchers believe the Generation Always-On users will have increased problem solving skills by working in cooperative groups, the ability to search effectively for information, to discern quality verses veracity of information and increased awareness and concentration.(Elon University-Dan Anderson)  Its an exciting time for this future generation and the world is hopelessly expecting bright and amazing people to emerge on the scene to change the world for the better. But they have to be mindful that at the end of the day not to try and' fix what's not broken. 'We are people and not computers and the human element to life is always the most important thing at the end of the day.

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    My name is Darryl Hardwick and I teach and coach at Redwood High School in Visalia, Ca--Just finished 20 years of teaching...what a ride...Time flys when your having fun!

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