I created a one minute message about Tabzon. Enjoy!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
BP5_Comment on Kiylise's Blog
Follow this link to see my comments to Kiylise's Blog. This is an example of a picture I could jazz up with Smilebox.
Friday, July 16, 2010
BP4_Penzu
My Web 2.0 review is on a great tool called Penzu. Penzu is an online journal that has many uses and features. There are two ways to use Penzu: Free and Pro. I think that the free one has plenty of features so I’ll be discussing my three favorite features in this review. Those features are security within Penzu, start up on Penzu and saving entries in Penzu.
Feature one: Security within Penzu. The privacy and security features on Penzu are pretty high. Not only are your entries secure with a password for your account but you can have password protection each entry. This feature gives more ownership to an individual's entries.
Feature two: Startup on Penzu. Sometimes the main thing that prevents us from using a program is just the process to get started with it. After you complete a simple sign up for Penzu Free and go to penzu.com it opens straight into the journal entry page. Below you can see the home screen of Penzu after registration. Everything is ready to go, you can get much better then that!
Feature three: Saving entries on Penzu. Penzu auto-saves your entries. Sometimes you can write an entry you can get distracted. You can have peace of mind that your entry will still be there for you to complete later or that it will be logged and saved for review.
Earlier this year I was inspired from a speaker that I heard at a conference and I feel this tool really could have been useful. I was interested in having the girls on my hall refocus on the positive things in their lives and create gratitude journals. Every morning they would spend about 30 seconds to 1 minute and record five things they are thankful for. I was thinking it was going to be a pain to find the time and go to the store and find 25 journals. Now I know this can be really easy implement with Penzu. The girls can use their school laptops and journal away. What a wonderful find!
Feature one: Security within Penzu. The privacy and security features on Penzu are pretty high. Not only are your entries secure with a password for your account but you can have password protection each entry. This feature gives more ownership to an individual's entries.
Feature two: Startup on Penzu. Sometimes the main thing that prevents us from using a program is just the process to get started with it. After you complete a simple sign up for Penzu Free and go to penzu.com it opens straight into the journal entry page. Below you can see the home screen of Penzu after registration. Everything is ready to go, you can get much better then that!
Feature three: Saving entries on Penzu. Penzu auto-saves your entries. Sometimes you can write an entry you can get distracted. You can have peace of mind that your entry will still be there for you to complete later or that it will be logged and saved for review.
Earlier this year I was inspired from a speaker that I heard at a conference and I feel this tool really could have been useful. I was interested in having the girls on my hall refocus on the positive things in their lives and create gratitude journals. Every morning they would spend about 30 seconds to 1 minute and record five things they are thankful for. I was thinking it was going to be a pain to find the time and go to the store and find 25 journals. Now I know this can be really easy implement with Penzu. The girls can use their school laptops and journal away. What a wonderful find!
Friday, July 2, 2010
BP3_Tabzon
Tabzon - http://tabzon.com/
Where is Austyn? Where is Katherine? Where is Brenda? Where is Ms. Kim? Tabzon to the rescue!
Tabzon has the possibility to be an incredibly useful tool in my professional environment. It is an online in-out board that assists in keeping track of group member’s independent whereabouts. This could be used in the Hockaday Residence Department exclusively for the staff or to take it one step further, with the girls. Anytime a House Director leaves their office or floor they are asked to write an update on the whiteboard outside of the door. I think that this tool takes the whiteboard up a notch because it is something that all the girls and other staff would have access to on their computers from anywhere. A common question that I am asked while working is “Where is “someone”?” I always wished there was one place I could look to find that information. We do use a sign in/sign out logbook for the girls but to find an individuals information can be frustrating at times. Anytime the girls leave our department they are required to sign out and provide information that includes their destination, the name and contact information of the person they are leaving with and etc. Sometimes when the girls sign out they may scribble something down that cannot be read. I do not see Tabzon replacing the logbook system that we have in place but I could see it working in concert with it. While I am working I have huge responsibility of managing a floor with 25 teenaged girls. Most of the time the girls are all over the place, visiting friends, going to the mall, participating in extracurricular activities and etc. and I am required to know where each girl is located at all times. I am confident that Tabzon would help with this task. I tried this tool out and it is easy to register, no software downloads and has an ease of use that anyone can figure out. Tabzon is a fantastic way to streamline the communication of a resident student’s activity in the Hockaday Residence Department.
Where is Austyn? Where is Katherine? Where is Brenda? Where is Ms. Kim? Tabzon to the rescue!
Tabzon has the possibility to be an incredibly useful tool in my professional environment. It is an online in-out board that assists in keeping track of group member’s independent whereabouts. This could be used in the Hockaday Residence Department exclusively for the staff or to take it one step further, with the girls. Anytime a House Director leaves their office or floor they are asked to write an update on the whiteboard outside of the door. I think that this tool takes the whiteboard up a notch because it is something that all the girls and other staff would have access to on their computers from anywhere. A common question that I am asked while working is “Where is “someone”?” I always wished there was one place I could look to find that information. We do use a sign in/sign out logbook for the girls but to find an individuals information can be frustrating at times. Anytime the girls leave our department they are required to sign out and provide information that includes their destination, the name and contact information of the person they are leaving with and etc. Sometimes when the girls sign out they may scribble something down that cannot be read. I do not see Tabzon replacing the logbook system that we have in place but I could see it working in concert with it. While I am working I have huge responsibility of managing a floor with 25 teenaged girls. Most of the time the girls are all over the place, visiting friends, going to the mall, participating in extracurricular activities and etc. and I am required to know where each girl is located at all times. I am confident that Tabzon would help with this task. I tried this tool out and it is easy to register, no software downloads and has an ease of use that anyone can figure out. Tabzon is a fantastic way to streamline the communication of a resident student’s activity in the Hockaday Residence Department.
Reference
Rhodes, M. (2010, April 22). Online In-Out Board - Tabzon.com [Video file]. Video posted to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrouIg0p3lQ
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
BP1_Google Reader
All Girls, The National Coalition of Girls' Schools
I chose this feed because I currently work at an all-girls private school. One thing that I have learned while working at The Hockaday School is that an all-girl environment is like no other in education. It has many unique benefits and characteristics. I am sure there is much for me to glean from this blog.
Digital Education Blog, Education Week
This was a great blog that I stumbled upon while searching for information on the Online School for Girls. I was impressed by this blog because there are categories that include Curriculum, Instruction and Online Learning (three things that I am interested in). There is also an archive that I am interested in exploring that goes back to September 2008.
November Learning
Alan November came and spoke at Hockaday for Staff Development last year. When he spoke it was like a lightbulb went off in my head in regards to education and technology. All the girls at Hockaday have school issued laptops but I have observed that most of the girls in my department are not too excited about them. It's kind of a love/hate relationship because they are constantly having technical problems with them.
After hearing Mr. November speak I felt like the Residence Department could be doing so much more with the technology that we have at our school.
Spotlight Blog on Digital Media and Learning
This blog highlights people and projects that receive funding and support from the MacArthur Foundation. There were a couple posts that discussed "girls, technology and learning". The MacArthur Foundation recognize that the projects that they support are shaping education now and in the future.
The Young and The Digital
This blog interests me because it's main focus is on teens and social media. The girls that I work with are so connected to everyone and everything. I am excited to read some of these posts because there is some data that explains this recent phenomena.
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