I found a new tool I think you will all enjoy. It is called paper.li and basically, you link your Twitter account with this site, and each day, it will create a newspaper based on the tweets of the people you follow. Every day you will receive an email with a link with a new newspaper summarizing tweets for that day. My favorite thing about it is that it organizes tweets into different topics, like education, business, or photos. Also, it displays graphics that twitter doesn't. Check out mine below -

My Tagxedo

If you notice, with my Tagxedo, if you put your mouse over any of the words, they become larger. If you click on one of these words, it will link to a Google search of that word. I didn't know about this feature. If you would like to make one like mine, first download Silverlight (through the Tagxedo website) and then FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS.

REDBOX DVD PREZI

Here is a Prezi I made for my Marketing Research class. My group is researching RedBox DVD Rentals. I'm excited to show my group what I have done!

REDBOX REPORT 1 on Prezi

Accouting YouTube Videos

These are the top four videos for Cathy West's Accounting class. This was an extra credit project. Enjoy

1.


2.


3.

And this one won't let me embed, but here is the link to the video that won the semester before mine.

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsEViuo8ClY&feature=related

-As a side note, Professor West's husband owns Bueno y Sano burritos, hence the references.

Accounting Video

This is a video for my Accounting class. I wrote the song, but had someone else sing.
Some of the other videos are great and I would recommend them. It was a lot of work, but a unique project that required students to get creative. Everyone enjoyed it.

Weebly Site

This was my first Weebly site.

http://www.rickerskinderkamp.com/

I made it for the camp I work at during the summer, and they have added to it and updated.

Thoughts on Twitter

I'll admit, at first I was a little hesitant to make a Twitter. I used to have one that I used with a group of my friends at school. We all had tweets sent to our phones, and usually it was something like "dinner at 6" or "UMass hockey lost again". We used it as mass text messages. It got annoying after a while, and one day I logged on to deactivate my phone number. I realized I had about 500 followers/requests from people I didn't know (even with privacy settings), so I just decided to delete my account all together.

So, I made a new Twitter for this class, and at first, like I said, I was a little hesitant. Who would I follow? Who would want to follow my education tweets? My friends don't want to read my tweets about education, and I don't really want to read theirs about Charlie Sheen #WINNING. I've realize now, that's the point of Twitter. You read about what you want to read about. On FB people can't read what you are writing about and you can't read about them unless you accept each other. On Twitter, it's not really about connecting with WHO you know but connecting based on what you want to read about. Unlike my Facebook newsfeed, my Twitter isn't cluttered with people from 8th grade talking about the Oscars and their exams. Also, I used to use Twitter as a way to talk directly to my followers (all 15 of them lol) and FB to post on my friends' walls, but now I find myself just putting out a message for anyone to read, knowing the people following me are actually interested in what I am sharing, so that's new to me too.

Overall, I have to say, Twitter is far less awkward and far more beneficial than I expected. It's not like Facebook. Twitter is one of the tools I will definitely continue to use after this class.

One More Post About QR Codes

I found this link on Twitter and re-tweeted it, but if you don't follow me, or didn't see it, I think this is definitely worth checking out:

http://theohiobloke.edu.glogster.com/qr-codes-in-education

It's a Glogster about QR codes in Education

Powerpoint....

Since starting this blog and looking at ways everyone is incorporating technology in their classrooms, I'm starting to get really jealous! All of my professors are stuck on Powerpoint. Every single day, in every lecture, its the same exact thing, a Powerpoint presentation. They present to us using Powerpoint, and expect us to give our oral presentations using Powerpoint. This week I had to give 3 oral presentations, all three were group presentations using Powerpoint. I have suggested using a Prezi, or even Google Presentations, but every time I get the same response "that's too complicated" or "that wasn't the assignment". It's starting to get really frustrating. So, to anyone still reading this rant, as a student: PLEASE, NO MORE POWERPOINT!

QR Code

So tonight I was eating dinner at the Blue Wall Cafe, where I usually go for dinner and I noticed a pamphlet on the table where we were sitting. What caught my eye wasn't the big picture of Mickey Mouse, or the information about spending a semester at Disney, but the huge QR code on the bottom of the page. I asked my friends at the table if they had ever heard about or seen one of these, but they hadn't. I took our my iPhone to show them how it works. I scanned the code using the QR code scanning app, and it brought us to a video, however, the video would not play on the iPhone. I think it seems like a great idea, and it got me to look into it more than I would have without the QR code, but there seems to be a glitch. I suspect the format of the video isn't compatible with the iPhone. Maybe it was just my phone, because I'm sure they tested the codes before printing tons of pamphlets.

Regardless, everyone agreed it seems like a cool idea.


I took a picture of it, so try it out for yourself - and please let me know if it works for you!

If you don't have a smartphone or a QR reader, here is the link:

http://wdwcollegeprogramecard.com/_assets/mp4/college.mp4

Wiki

I am currently taking a Marketing Management course at UMass, and we are starting a major project this week. The class broke into smaller groups, and my group is responsible for creating an effective Business Plan. We were given a brand new product that is not yet on the market, and we have to make a plan for our potential investors. If our plan is accepted and implemented, the product will receive a large amount of funding. My group has nine people, and for everyone to communicate, it can be challenging. As part of the project, I created a wiki, using pbworks. This will allow all group members to communicate with each other, our professor, and the two inventors. Everyone will be able to see our progress and discuss any concerns.

Wiki

Snapfish Collage

For the past couple of weeks I have been trying to think of a way to create some type of album or collage with my pictures from my recent trip to Italy, so I browsed Google for some ideas. I decided to go to snapfish and create an account to upload my pictures. Then, I selected the photos I wanted and I was able to create a poster collage. I used 27 pictures, and the poster will be 30 x 20, so rather large. I paid about $25.00 for it and it's being shipped to my house! It's a perfect way to remember my trip. I can't wait to see it!

This is also a really neat tool that can be used in the classroom too, not just for personal use.


PS. check out the video tab of my blog.

Post 1

This is the first post to my new MESPA blog!