Week 9 YouTube, Poscasts & E-books

YouTube
I spent the last two weeks on and off looking at all sorts of things for this assignment. I'll say it again this is too much "information overload". There is just way too much out there and it can be so mind boggling sometimes. Sticking with the assignment I spent time on Youtube and found a number of usable videos on using Gimp which is a free program and works like Adobe Photoshop. The first video was a very simple basic video although I had to laugh because the speaker says the word Gimp wrong. He says Jimp and it is actually a hard G.


Another I found was
I hope to work with Gimp myself so that I will be able to share with my students. Purchasing Adobe is not an option but Gimp is free and works similar to Adobe Photoshop. Thus I can see using YouTube to help me learn other programs.

I want to use GoogleMaps as my lesson for this class. The first video I found showed me how to set up a Google Account instead of a google email. I am going to try to use this with my lesson. I just haven't figured out the particulars as yet.


Next I went to TeacherTube and again found another of usable videos.

Google Maps Basic Tutorial

This is a nice explanation on using GoogleMaps. I want to use GoogleMaps and have the children create a walking tour of Beverly. This video helps me get started to use GoogleMaps myself.

Podcasts

First of all, I am going to be brutally hones. I have covered podcasts in a number of classes and I continue to feel the same way. I am a visual learner and need to see something as well as listen. I have search podcasts for the last two weeks and could not find one that was beneficial to me. I went to the education podcast network first. I went to the Technology podcasts. Most I opened did not work. Others were dated 2 and 3 years ago. Next I went in the Elementary Education direction. The website I tried first became locked up and wouldn't load. I had to close the whole window and start again. After reloading I went to middle school. I clicked on Technology Teacher and the last update was in 2008. I did get this podcast to work. I chose Google for Educators. It was only 1:30 minutes. I just don't get how this is useful to me. At this point I must admit that I am not a fan of podcasts. Someone is really going to have to convince me that podcasts are worth my time and energy.

E-Books
I have e-books for a few years. I go to NobleNet and download e-books from the library. My most recent was a Jody Picoult book "Harvesting the Heart". I like to listen to e-books especially when I am at the beach and/or in the sun since I find it hard to read a book at that time. I became hooked on audio books when I first discovered Harry Potter on tapes. My husband and I both listened to all the books on tape. Sometimes we overlapped and had to encourage the other to finish a tape so we could move on. With e-books I don't seem to need a visual. It is so relaxing to kick back and listen. The narrator Jim Dale did an awesome job. I was amazed at the number of voices he created and kept track of through all the books. I have considered getting an electronic book reader such as a Kindle. It will probably be my next step.