Exploration - Week 7Exploration

Exploration:

This week there was a lot of exploration of applications that have "questionable" educational value. I enjoyed exploring and understanding these apps better as I feel that understanding these explorations help me to connect with the kids that I teach and also those that live with me! :)

Facebook surprised me as I have always thought of it as a sort of "stalking" site. Being able to connect with some friends and also to make professional contacts has been fun. Although my own children have decided not to "friend me" , and I'm ok with that, I was asked to join the Upton teen group and accepted. Other librarians are part of this group as well and it is monitored by the children's librarian. http://www.facebook.com/home.ph

Myspace seems like a great place to promote your music or business. I did have a myspace page before this class and use it primarily with my daughter as she likes to leave me messages there instead of being friends on facebook - a good compromise. http://www.myspace.com/

LinkedIn has a much more professional look and feel to it and could be a good way to network with others in the same field or to scout out new employment. http://www.linkedin.com/

Ning has a good potential for groups with a cause to get together in the same space to communicate about topics within that cause. http://www.ning.com/

Second Life I had previewed Second life before and found it difficult to navigate and also a very interesting concept with potential for classroom/school use. http://secondlife.com/

GaiaOnline http://gaiaonline.com/

World of Warcraft http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/index.xml

Ragnarock http://iro.ragnarokonline.com/

The last apps were interesting and I could easily see that they would have addictive qualities to them. I'm not sure they would have education value at this point but do understand how they could be incorporated into the curriculum if they had games that covered standards.