Web 2.0 Goodbye Post

In my final vanity search, I didn't see a difference in my digital footprint. The one thing I did this time added a ñ to my last name. When I searched the first time I used Montano, not Montaño. Adding this to the search did add my education twitter to the list. I think your digital footprint is important as an educator because there will always be a parent out to get you. I hate even typing that but its the truth. Having a positive digital footprint allows you to be viewed in a positive way from the first time a parent googles your name. 

I have really enjoyed exploring new tools in this class. There are so many advantages of using WEB 2.0 tools with students. The two most important advantages are student engagement and achievement. Using these tools also gives students new opportunities to learn. These tools allow for student collaboration and creativity. The pitfall of WEB 2.0 tools is the cost to keep new technology in schools. To properly use apps and devices a school district must have trained personnel to handle software and hardware requests. They must also have teachers who are willing to step outside of the box and try new things. The one thing I want to avoid when it comes to WEB 2.0 tools is my fear to use them with my kinder babies. Sometimes I underestimate or lack the patience to try these tools. 

Web 2.0 For Life

A challenge for educators is keeping up with technology trends due to budgetary constraints.  As I continue my career in education I plan to keep up to date technology in my classroom by applying for grants from both the McKinney Education Foundation and outside resources. To ensure I stay up with Web 2.0 advances, I plan to use social media such as Twitter and Instagram to follow fellow educators. My professional learning network helps motivate me to be a better teacher. I am glad this class has introduced me to new Twitter users to grow my professional learning community.

Twitter and Instagram Must-Follow List

• Teach Outside the Box- Brooke Brown 
• True Tales of a Teacher- Kori Markussen
• Hello Literacy- Jen Jones 
• Teaching with Appitude- Kami Butterfield 
• Elementary Shenanigans- Hope King 
• Mrs. Richardson's Class- Amanda Richardson 
• Mrs. Jump's Class- Deanna Jump 

Social Bookmarking Adventure

During this week's adventure, I found Diigo to be very user-friendly. Well... the only I struggled with was getting my picture to move away from the default picture. I haven't used a tool like this in my personal life or in the classroom. I find this tool geared towards research papers and maybe even science experiments. I am not sure I could use this tool next week with my kinder friends but I think with some out of the box thinking it would work. When I tried to upgrade my account to an educator account I was prompted to enter a unique code for McKinney ISD. I plan to reach out to some teachers at other campuses to figure out how they use Diigo with their teams or students.

Adventures in Aggregating Pages

My adventures in aggregating pages this week was one of my least favorite technology adventures to date. I started the adventure using Netvibes and that lasted about five minutes before I decided to give Protopage a try. I am so glad that I did because it was user-friendly and took around ten minutes for me to set everything up. I was unable to add my YouTube playlists directly but I was reading that multiple students had the same problem. Moving forward I don't see myself using this technology as a Kindergarten Teacher. But if I was in charge of social media for a company or school district I see the aggregating pages as a huge benefit.