I'm movin' on up!

Got the best Christmas gift ever! I'm now blogging on my new 20 inch iMac!! It's great to get a new computer not only because of the new "technology smell", but also because I can reorganize all the "junk" from my old computer. When prompted to connect a firewire and pull in all the files from my old computer, I opted not to because I think this is a great opportunity for me to start fresh and new and only use the things I need. I'll slowly weed out things that are necessary from the old laptop and hopefully, in the end, I'll be left with a nice new computer free of clutter.
Just to let you know how behind the times I was, I am going from a 60 gig macbook to a 500 gig iMac! My macbook was so full, I couldn't save a single thing to it. Now, I have so much space, I don't know how I'll fill it! (I'm sure I will).
Although it's new and exciting, I am finding I have to learn a new operating system (which I think I'll like) and a new Microsoft Office Suite (which I also think I'll like). So, I'll be busy for the next few days, playing with my new toys!

Now entering the land of slow technology

I'm heading home to the great state of West Virginia for the holidays. Now, you know I love the place. It's beautiful in any season and has some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. However, as a technology geek, I struggle with my visits. My mom has dial-up. No high speed here. Don't even think about looking at pictures, let alone virtual worlds! So, going home for the holidays is becoming down time for me. I'm leaving my internet addiction at home and enjoying time with family for a few days. I plan to come back nice and refreshed, ready to enjoy the rest of my break....online! See you then.

Wanted: Technology in Action

I am starting to plan for a multimedia room at my school. My plans for this room include a podcasting booth, an animation design center, a video corner with green screen and a full working lab. Before we get too far into planning, my principal asked me to do a little research and see if I could find a school with a similar (or maybe even a better) situation. We want to make sure we're spending the money appropriately and we want the room to be top notch for our students and staff.
So, this is my challenge to you! Think about any school you may know of that has a similar situation and email me: mrslachance@gmail.com (or post a comment to this entry). We'd love to visit the school to see their resources in action.
Or, if you think there is something different I should be doing, please feel free to comment or email me as well. I'm accepting any ideas at this point.

Share it all with Google

I recently discovered a neat little tool called Google Sharing. It allows you to put a button in your browser and easily share the website that you are viewing with friends. There are several sharing options once you press the button. In one way, you can simply email the link to someone. Another allows you to post to popular social networking sites and the final way is to post to your Google sharing page. With all options, you are asked to enter a brief description of what you are sharing so the recipient knows how it can be used.
Yes, this is very similar to social bookmarking, but the ease of use in my opinion is fantastic! I think that this would be a great option for sharing sites amongst the staff at my school. Once you create your page, all you have to do is share your link!
Happy Browsing! My google shared site

A look into Second Life

I've been exploring Second Life for a couple of weeks now and have learned a lot! I've spent most of my time on ISTE island, which has been great for helping me to learn new things about, not only education, but also how to navigate the program.
Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the program and have become a bit addicted. I'm one of those people that has to completely immerse myself in something until I learn it.
Upon first entering the program, I was pretty pleased with how easy it was to get started. Successful at navigating and changing my appearance, I headed over to ISTE Island. After a few nights of visiting, I met someone there that invited me to watch a class at Western Carolina University's Island. This class was a group of students that were presenting lesson plans they had created. It was amazing! I knew this kind of stuff happened, but it really took seeing it to totally grasp the concept.
After that night, I started having problems with the program crashing. It wouldn't let me in but for maybe a minute or so at a time. It was becoming more of an annoyance at this point. It took me about a week but I finally figured out that the problem was the video card in my computer. So, I tried it on my Mac last night and it worked fine.
I think this could be a great option in high school for not only staff development, but for classes as well. Now that I know that so many universities and businesses use this, I think it is important to either use it as a school district (you can buy your own island). Or at least talk about it to students so that they will have at least heard of it by the time they have to use it.
My Second Life name is Julie Sugarplum.