Response to Digital Goonies Blog

After reviewing a few of the blogs on the list I decided to read more on the Digital Goonies page. I appreciated that the writers not only introduced dozens of resources on the web that I’ve never heard of, but they also gave ideas on practical classroom applications for a lot of them. (And I love their humor!)
One of the resources I like is Voki. I think having a cute bear or another cool-looking avatar talking about a topic would be much more engaging for students than having their teacher talk about it (sigh). As a Media Specialist, I imagine that one could create avatars that look like the characters from books. Let’s say that I created a Harry Potter-like avatar. I could then have Harry introduce himself to the students and give them a little summary of what his book is about and why he thinks they would enjoy reading it. On the other hand, the Digital Goonies warn against letting this become a high-tech dress-up session. Used correctly, by an educator, I think it could be a very effective teaching tool.
Another resource that stuck out to me was rubistar.4teachers.org. I can remember trying to create a rubric by hand because I didn’t have Microsoft Excel or anything better to help me create the boxes. (This was seven years ago.) I would draw the lines using a ruler; type, print, cut, and paste the words into each box; and make photo copies. If only I had this back then! When I get back into a school I will definitely use this. I think it could be especially useful for a Media Specialist who does not see all of the students often. Each time the Media Specialist meets a class she can focus on four or five different students to assess, and then fill out a rubric for each at the end of class. This would help give her a more complete picture of each child when report card time comes. The assessment wouldn’t be all from memory.
I’ve read blogs before (mostly those of friends) for the fun of it, but until today, I truly did not see how useful they could be. I will be looking at blogs differently now.