Inspiration

Inspiration is definitely something I can use and benefit from in the classroom. I think Inspiration is a great resource for any teacher or student to invest in. There are many ways in which Inspiration can used in a classroom. Here are 10 ways in which Inspiration can used in an art classroom:

1. A concept map is great way for students to study for a quiz
2. Help students learn the steps for that day's art project.
3. Showing how two colors mixed create a 3rd color using venn diagram
4. A flow chart that shows how discipline will be handled
5. For comparing to different cultures for a cultural project
6. Help teacher organize the art lesson for the day
7. Chart to show what materials each table will be responsible for during cleanup
8. Helping students to learn and define the vocab
9. Help to show what certain materials will be used for in that lesson
10. Showing deadlines for certain projects for the class to see

Out of the many web resources we used in class I have a few favorite. I really liked wordle.net, polleverywhere.com, 4teachers.org, and the discoveryeducation.com. The ones i would use the most in my classroom would be 4teachers.org and discoveryeducation.com.  I would use 4teachers.com for many reasons, particularly using rubistar to make rubrics for my students and their projects. I would also use it for the students to have computer lab time where they can play the online games to recognize their material. I really love discoveryeducation.com because it has so many amazing educational documentaries that i can show the students as an intro to a lesson. If there is a snow day and there is a bit of time left in class then this is perfect for the students to watch a brief video. Students can also jot down ideas for their next lessons from the videos. 

Social Bookmarking

Social Bookmarking does have an application in my classroom and can be used in numerous ways for it.

Ways Social Bookmarking can benefit me as teacher and students

There are many ways social bookmarking can be used for a teacher and his or her students, here are some of the ways:

• teachers can organize and bookmark resources for their students
• teachers can use a common tag to share resources of interest for all students 
• teachers can use it to collect sources & discuss the information together with students
• teachers can categorize bookmarks for specific classes, projects, or lessons

•  students can create a greater sense of community within the course  
• students can share items of interest with those in their networks. 
• great way for students to communicate with one another
• students can collaborate with one another on research

 Social Bookmarking can benefit me now in some  ways:

• Its a  fast way-for me to visit any webpage
• I can create links to my content area
• I can share content and links with others
• I can organize the tags the way i wish

GoogleApps

I really like GoogleApps, I think that it is very beneficial for students or anyone. I enjoy using gmail and google docs because they let you collaborate with another person on ideas or discussions.Google docs lets you create documents that others can change or manipulate. This is great for organizations that are creating a constitution for their group because it allows other members to contribute ideas. Overall GoogleApps is really useful and has many advantages, but it also has some disadvantages. Here are the advantages of GoogleApps over Office apps:

• Since there is no software or hardware needed, it saves big versus any office apps
• It filters out any spam
• secures information by asking for a longer password to insure security
• Message threads help to save time
• There is more storage than the regular office apps
• great way to interact with members of an organization

There are also some disadvantages:

• can be difficult to plan for upgrades
• some documents are not supported
• Google isn't liable for lost data
• Having other students manipulate the information isn't always good
• Google has a limit of 100 email addresses

Blogs in the Classroom

Ideas for including Blogs in the Classroom from teachersfirst.com:

• Students can write about their sports game and their experience
• If there is a long break then students can write about their vacation and what they did
•  On snow days students can update their blog for extra credit
• Students can write about a field trip that the class went to 
• Have students post suggestions to make the class or learning better
• Students can post up study hints for extra credit
• Students can use the new vocab words to write an essay blog post

There are many advantages to using Blogs in the classroom, but there are also many disadvantages as well. Some of the advantages are the following:

• It is a great way for students to collaborate on ideas and discussions 
• It is a good way for students to practice typing and reading online text
• It is a way for students to participate especially the students that don't normally participate
• Great way to motivate students
• It is accessible for students at home, at the library, or at school

There are also disadvantages to this form of technology in the classroom:

• For teachers, responding and giving feedback to each individual student can be time consuming
• Some students may not feel comfortable or open to sharing their ideas or thoughts
• The links and posts that students post up may be viewable to the public and password safety might be cautioned
• Some students still don't have access to technology
• Younger students may need parental permission or safety when using the internet

There are many disadvantages, but i think that blogging has more beneficial and that there are solutions to the disadvantages.