Sunday, November 22, 2009

60 Second Recap

60 Second Recap | Romeo and Juliet

60 Second Recap | Of Mice and Men

Learn more

Using Mixbook for Education

Mixbook http://www.mixbook.com/edu
Looking for a way to get your students more engaged? Mixbook is proud to present Mixbook for Educators, a program that allows educators even easier access to the most powerful suite of digital storytelling tools on the web.

| View Sample Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book



Wednesday, November 18, 2009

What is WatchKnow?

http://www.watchknow.org/
What is WatchKnow?
Imagine hundreds of thousands of great short videos, and other media, explaining every topic taught to school kids. Imagine them rated and sorted into a giant Directory, making them simple to find. WatchKnow--as in, "You watch, you know"--is a non-profit online community devoted to this goal.

Web Widgets


More http://newtoolsworkshop.wikispaces.com/Assorted+Widgets

Animoto.com

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Attending Classroom Live session WIDGETS

Widget Workshop and Resources: Creating Widgets for Instructional Purposes
November 14, 2009, 12:00 PM
Classroom 2.0 Live
Buffy Hamilton

Sample widget from EdTech
http://web.me.com/timholt/Intended_Consequenses/Ed_Tech_Widgets.html

Links
Favorite Widgets and Widget Resources
Examples of Instructional Pages with Widgets
Examples of Students Embedding Widgets
Video Tutorials/How Tos

Thursday, November 12, 2009

VoiceThread Demo

Keeping up with Student Culture: Preparing Higher Education for Web 2.0 and Student Conduct Online

Popular internet technologies are interacting with higher education communities, creating new opportunities and challenges. Faculty and administrators can prepare through this session's discussion of practices at diverse institutions.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Google Teacher Academy - Apply Now

Google Teacher Academy Application
Applications are now open for: GTA DC - Location: Washington, DC
Event Date: December 9, 2009
Applicants will be notified whether or not their application has been accepted on or before November 18, 2009.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Social Media

Social Media http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8

Backchannel with Coverit Live

I am back to testing Coverit Live as a backchannel and linking to my blog. CoveritLive: Live Blogging 2.0 is a web based Live Blogging tool that allows you to broadcast live commentary to your readers.
Link http://www.coveritlive.com/index.php?option=com_altcaster&task=playaltcast&altcast_code=54898d5174

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Interesting ways to use Technology

Interesting ways to use technology, Tom Barret's ICT in the Classroom blog
21 Interesting Ways To Use Google Docs in the Classroom
42 Interesting Ways To Use Your Interactive Whiteboard in the Classroom
24 Interesting Ways To Use Google Earth in the Classroom
40 Interesting Ways To Use Your Pocket Video Camera in the Classroom
40 Interesting Ways To Use Wordle in the Classroom
27 Interesting Ways To Use Twitter in the Classroom
10 Interesting Ways To Use a Wiki in the Classroom
13 Interesting Ways To Use a Visualizer in the Classroom
23 Interesting Ways To Use a Nintendo DS in the Classroom
34 Interesting Ways To Use Search Engines in the Classroom
17 Interesting Ways to Use Voicethread in the Classroom
5 Interesting Ways to Use Prezi in the Classroom

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The Networked Student

Watch this video to view what the networked student of the 21st century looks like. We should all be working towards using the vast amount of resources the web provides us. This video outlines a few tools such as RSS, aggregators, and social bookmarking to help organize and share tools and links.



From YouTube: “The Networked Student was inspired by CCK08, a Connectivism course offered by George Siemens and Stephen Downes during fall 2008. It depicts an actual project completed by Wendy Drexler’s high school students. The Networked Student concept map was inspired by Alec Couros’ Networked Teacher. I hope that teachers will use it to help their colleagues, parents, and students understand networked learning in the 21st century.”

Monday, October 12, 2009

Glogster

I am using Glogster.edu http://edu.glogster.com
To create multimedia posters. This glog is about building a Personal Learning Network PLN. link http://mmarotta.edu.glogster.com/pl-mm/

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Blog versus Ning

I have been using a blog along with a wiki for several years to delivery Professional Development. I decided to use a ning first by joining a few nings, English Companion Ning, The TeachLibrarian Ning, Seedings Ning, Classroom20 for online PD, just to mention a few.

I was reluctant to move away from a blog but after using with a group of high school students and for a professional development class this semester, I am sold. I love using the ning, it incorporates images, videos, blogs, chat, apps and more.

I would like your feedback on using the blog (from class one) or the ning from the current class.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Edutopia new guide Ten Top Tips for Teaching with New Media

A great review of many of the materials we have covered in class.
Edutopia has created a new guide for the new school year. Ten Top Tips for Teaching with New Media is a free PDF download that offers some very solid advice.
A quick summary
Tip 1 - VoiceThread as an ice breaker with related links to use in the classroom
Tip 2 - Surveys (surveymonkey, zoomerang) I have been using google/docs and forms for surveys
Tip 3 - Blogs, wikis for organization and customizing igoogle pages
Tip 4 - Think Globally use nings (globaleducation.nin.com) use skype, google earth and epals
Tip 5 - Making your classroom into an inviting space, reuseable materials and links
Tip 6 - Making meaning from Word Clouds wordle.net
Tip 7 Collaboration, Work Better, Together (Google Docs for Education) and wikis
Tip 8 Open a Back Channel, think of it as a private chat room for your classroom. Students can pose questions, make observations while watching a video) Tools to try (twitter.com, chatzy, coveritlive and edmodo.com)
Tip 9 - Make it Visual Photos, video clips and other illustrations have expanded in recent years. From using projectors, interactive white boards, tablet pcs, document cameras, etc. these technologies make it easier to use visuals to inspire curiosity, generate brainstorming and enage diverse learners. Visuals also show the connections between math or science concepts and real life.
Tip 10 - Use the buddy system Teachers can take advantage of a variety of communication tools to share ideas and strategies with colleagues. The faculty lunch room offers one spot for face-to-face conversation, but you can expand your options by joining social networks that meet your professional interests. Many educators along with organizations are now using twitter to send out information.
Download the guide to learn more.
I also posted in the class ning.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Assignment for Class Two - 10/7

Hi Everyone -
Just to recap from last class. Please complete the following:
1. Create and upload a SlideShare with a link to Audio or YouTube
2. Go to the VoiceThread post below and enter a combination of text, audio and if possible a web cam/video comment on each slide as reflection of Web 2.0 Tools. Also post a comment on the VoiceThread post. More information on Voicethread in the class wiki
3. Flip Camera - If possible share the camera with your colleagues. See Dr. Brady's email. Install the Flip camera software that is on the camera and pull the video into your computer. You could also post to flip or youtube as a sample. We will also cover this in class if you are unable to access. tip sheet for flip
4. Create an edu account on Glogster http://edu.glogster.com/ class size 50 or more. We will use at a later date. Remember your username and pw.
5. Class Ning http://techdi.ning.com/ - Explore the Ning as a social networking tool
Optional: Articles/videos
6. NEA Article on using Nings http://www.nea.org/home/35939.htm and more 21st Century Literacy: Classroom strategies and additional resources

Post a comment before by October 5th and let me know how you are doing.

Monday, September 21, 2009

VoiceThread for Reflection

Please post a comment, audioo ir webcam video on each slide before our next class.
Remember to log into VoiceThread.
Link to view outside of blog


More information on VoiceThread in the Class wiki
Link to the class ning http://techdi.ning.com/
After you have reviewed your colleagues comments, post a comment in the blog below and let me know what you think of VoiceThread.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Applying Web 2.0 into the Classroom - Post a Comment

Welcome back! We will begin our next venture of using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom next week. Please make a post by the end of the week and share how you have been using some of the tools covered in our previous class.

Also, post a recent book you have read or one you would recommend to your colleagues. I will try to pull this information together for a VoiceThread book review (see sample)

Dates: Fall Course - Part II
1. September Monday 9/21 3:30-7:15 /online work 5-6 hours online tota/month 9-10 hrs
2. Oct 7th Wed - 9hrs. 3:30-7:15 pm
3. Nov 4th Wed - 9hrs.
4. Dec 2nd Wed - 9hrs.
Total of 40 hours
Rubric and course outline draft http://integrating.wikispaces.com/A+Web+2.0+Class+II

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

SlideShare add YouTube to your presentation

I uploaded my presentation to SlideShare and used a new feature to link a YoutTube Video with my presentation. We will cover this is class.

Did You Know V4 - Video Fall 2009



Promote the updated Did You Know version 4 video.
Three years, 20+ million online views, and many, many face-to-face showings later, the Did You Know? (Shift Happens by Karl Fisch/Scott McLeod) video still is going strong. Here is version 4 fall 2009 update.
Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8


Next, I will see if I can link this video to my SlideShare presentation.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Using Video in the Classroom - Articles and Examples

Article from edutopia
Use Online Video in Your Classroom
How teachers can bring the best of YouTube to your students.
Online Interactivity for Educators: A Teacher's Tour of YouTube
Need some inspiration and ideas? Go to the TeacherLibrarianNing and explore videos,
Great link to wiki with lots of examples for library and reading.
Doug Valentine, an elementary librarian in Texas, creates booktalks with his students using: a self-portrait, a booktalk script written by the student, and Crazy Talk software a free 15 day trial and then you pay. I plan on taking a look at Blabberize as it is free.
He then creates a glogster poster to showcase the work.
Crazy Talk Tutorial (YouTube)

Here is a sample of the book review

Find more videos like this on TeacherLibrarianNetwork

Friday, August 14, 2009

Day 5 Closing comments

Please add your comments to group 1
http://techdi.blogspot.com/2009/07/closing-comments.html
Link to the class back channel
http://www.chatzy.com/499283145387
I hope to see all of you in the fall.
Thanks for a great week!

I will see you online in twitter and skype!

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Mary

Google Form Survey

Please take the class survey.


Fall Course - Part II

Integration Web 2.0 Into the Classroom (Part II / Advanced) Fall Course
This course will focus on applying Web 2.0 tools in the classroom
along with extending tools focusing on presentation an video.
Suggestion Dates to Dr. Brady ..

1. Sept... start later Monday 9/21 ?in class 4 - 5-6 hours online) 9-10 hrs
2. Oct 7th Wed - 9hrs. 3:30-7:15 pm
3. Nov 4th Wed - 9hrs.
4. Dec 2nd Wed - 9hrs.

Total of 40 hours

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Thursday Day 4 - Review

Here is a link today's agenda in the class wiki

Morning - Review of tools covered this week.
(RSS/igoogle/Google Reader, Blog posting (SlideShare, YouTube along with RockYou, ProProfs).

Introduced Google Sites (Wikispaces), Weebly for webpages and School Portal overview (School Center, Edline, Nashoba SharePoint, etc)

Afternoon
- Google Sites
- Nings (join a ning in your content area) suggestion on class wiki/ning
- Lab time

Have a good evening.
Part two of course schedule and agenda for fall (first Wednesday of the month? and online). See Dr. Brady for signup.

Web 2.0 Class Review

Rockyou slideshow

slideshow


SlideShare presentation on Google Forms

Watch the presentation below

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

What are you learning today?

Please post a comment before class tomorrow indicating what you worked today. Many of you have been active in the Chatsy discussion along with skype sessions and seem to be exploring all the tools.

Here is in interesting tweet that referenced an article from the NECC conference last month. Educators take Web 2.0 to school http://ow.ly/jfEk. The article also refers to real time blogging using Chatzy.

I hope you enjoyed your day of online learning. We will discuss your experience in class tomorrow.

Day 3 - Working online

Good morning!

As outlined in class yesterday please work on the following today:
1. Connect to class backchannel http://www.chatzy.com/499283145387 . Give updates during the day and connect with members of the class.
2. User Twitter and/or TweetDeck to expand your personal learning network
3. Monitor this Blog and post comments when requested
4. Visit the class wiki http://integrating.wikispaces.com/A+Web+2.0+Class to review videos and materials from class.
5. Work on your class blog (add content, video, slideshare, etc).

Other Options:
1. Class wiki articles and bloggers to follow http://integrating.wikispaces.com/Articles
2. Skype with a colleague
3. Explore sites from class, SchoolTube, TeacherTube, SlideShare, Wordle, etc.
4. Looking ahead... we will learn about Google Sites, Wikispaces and nings this week.
to learn more go to the class wiki and click on google sites
Read, learn and explore Web 2.0 possibilities for your classroom and professional learning network.

Here is list of bloggers to scan ....
http://supportblogging.com/Links+to+School+Bloggers

I will post again, later this morning. I hope you are enjoying this hybrid model of learning.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Day 2 Recap

Recap Day 2
- Class Backchannel with notes http://www.chatzy.com/499283145387
- Subscribe to RSS feeds in Google Reader
- Blog Post YouTube/Teacher Tube Video to blog
- Blogger setup protections on site add gadgets to layout

- Skype Session 2 focus on Twitter and personal network
- Twitter or Tweetdeck using columns and filters
- Skype - download on home computer and connect with a classmate
note: you may need a microphone to connect or type to chat.
- iTunes and Podcasts (SMARTboards) example

Other Topics
- SlideShare
- Wordle
- Glogster

Link to class wiki materials and support.

SlideShare presentation

Find a presentation in http://www.slideshare.net/ and link to your blog.

more wordles

Wordle

Wordle: Web 2.0

Wordle


Picture

my video and my piciture

SMARTboard Playlist

a selection of SMARTboard videos ...

how sure are we that students who graduate from high school are literate ?

Below is my YouTube Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoUKSdHfMOg

Just how sure are we that students who graduate from high school are literate in information technology?

Monday, August 10, 2009

Watch the tutorial on blogger and homework

Watch the tutorial on blogger to review directions covered in class.



Day one
1. Post a comment to the class blog using your google account.
2. Create a blog
3. Add a Youtube Video to your blog, link and image
4. Post a link in the class backchannel indicating your blog url
5. Homework, access the following from home
- igoogle
- RSS feeds in google reader
- Your blog
- Class Blog, wiki and backchannel
- Twitter or Tweetdeck - post a tweet
- Skype - download on home computer and connect with a classmate
note: you may need a microphone to connect or type to chat.

Link to class wiki materials and support.

Tools Day1

Post a comment below regarding day one.
What was your favorite tool?

RSS
igoogle
google reader
skype
Backchannel http://www.chatzy.com/499283145387
twitter TOGETHER WE'RE BETTER Twitter can be like a virtual staff room, where teachers can access in seconds a stream of links, ideas, opinions, and resources. www.techlearning.com/article/20298
Blogger
Note: All topics covered in class wiki http://integrating.wikispaces.com/

Class Google Presentation

Friday, August 7, 2009

Back online and reading

Over the summer I have continued to follow professional development topics on Twitter and the ISTE vision channel from the NECC conference I attended in Washington DC. A great tweet from Dennis Richards today post

I just finished reading Outliers Outlier" is a scientific term to describe things or phenomena that lie outside normal experience.

I started The Element, by Sir Ken Robinson. I would like to incorporate as a reading assignment in one of my Web 2.0 class. The book offers readera a series of mini-biographies, the life story of people who have become successful in spite of the education they received in the schools they attended. As Robinson explains the process, they have found their way to their Element, “the meeting point between natural aptitude and personal passion.”

Sir Ken Robinson On Transforming Education from Dennis Richards on Vimeo.


The Power to Transfrom by Stephanie Pace Marshall is also on my list to read.
A few more videos from following Twitter today.... Escalator Temporarily Stairs
Clay Shirky: How social media can make history | Video on TED.com
Dr. Seuss - The Zax

Technology Integration Matrix with Videos in Florida Schools. Great way to model best practices!

What are you learning this summer?

Friday, July 24, 2009

Closing Comments

Feel free to post a comment and advice to the next group of teachers that will take the Web 2.0 course next month.

Also, let us know if you are interested in a part II of this course, google docs or both. I will pass the information along.

It was great having you in class!

Web 2.0 Class Review

Web 2.0 Day Five

Class backchannel http://www.chatzy.com/583508728324

Nings - Learn more http://integrating.wikispaces.com/Ning

Nings to try this morning
NECC Ning http://www.neccning.org/
Classroom 2.0 http://www.classroom20.com/
SMARTboard Revolution http://smartboardrevolution.ning.com Teacher Librarian http://teacherlibrarian.ning.com/
KinderBlog Ning http://kinderblogging.ning.com/

2009 Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference
"I Touch the Future, I Teach"
The Radisson Hotel Nashua
Nashua, New Hampshire ~ December 1-3, 2009
http://www.nhcmtc.org/
Tuesday: Joyce Valenza

Coveritlive backchannel

test

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Chatzy - Backchannel from class

Our notes from today
http://www.chatzy.com/583508728324

Feel free to review links recommended by your classmates.

See you tomorrow.

Voicethread for Assessment

http://voicethread.com/share/566549/


To learn more about Voicethread go to the class wiki
Overview of Voicethread

Web 2.0 Day 4

New Back Channel tool Chatzy
1. Click on the link below
http://www.chatzy.com/583508728324
2. enter your name and pick a color
3. click join chat
4. let us know you are online.

To learn more about backchannel go to the class wiki

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Google Picassa and Random Pictures

Google Picasa 3
Watch Youtube Video Watch a video introduction
Learn more in the class wiki
Note: You must download Picasa 3 http://picasa.google.com/ to your computer

Sample pictures/web album


Picasa Official Site http://picasa.google.com/
Organize, edit and share photos, create CDs & more.

Wordle for Word Clouds and more

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends/ Go to Wordle - click on create and enter your words... and click go.. (note you may have to check allow active X in the toolbar and have the latest java applet installed.
SlideShare on Wordle in the Classroom
Learn more .. Worde and Tagging with Wordle by Bob Sprankle Link
I will demostrate in class tomorrow!

Staying connected today

Hi -
Please make sure you stay connected in the class back channel aka .... live blogging ....
link http://todaysmeet.com/room15

Connect in Twitter and send out a tweet. Please use #NMPD in your tweet so we can have our own group. This seems to be working when I used Tweetdeck and did a search. It added all of Gaye's tweets in a seperate column!

I hope everyone is enjoying working online and collaborating with each other.
I tried to get http://www.wordle.net/ working on my tablet today and had problems. I had to install a new java update. IT's now working so I am going to try to make a new image and change my background in twitter.

Twitter in the Classoom

Interesting Video and Artilce on Twitter in the Classroom (higher ed)
To do .... Watch, Read and Post a comment



Article from Higher Ed Website

Signup for Tech & Learning Magazine Subscription -
TOGETHER WE'RE BETTER Twitter can be like a virtual staff room, where teachers can access in seconds a stream of links, ideas, opinions, and resources.
www.techlearning.com/article/20298

Web 2.0 Day 2 review

Topics from day 2 for review from the wiki
See you on Twitter, skype.

PLEASE use the back channel http://todaysmeet.com/room15 link this morning!!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Web 2.0 Class - Day One (review)

Welcome to Class -

Here is a link to the my PD Wiki for Web 2.0 and the outline for the Web 2.0 Course

Backchannel link http://todaysmeet.com/room15

Topics covered today
1. Google Account, igoogle and Google Reader and RSS
2. Google Docs (presentation introductions linked below)Shared with class via google account.
3. List of Blogs
4. Blogger Basics - Google Blogger and tutorials
Create a Blog, post, upload an image, hyperlink and add a YouTube video
5. Class Blog - post a comment here for practice

See below to view your google class presentation.



This is the video I showed this morning and a demonstration linking to class blog.


Homework
1. Log into igoogle from home
2. Check the class blog and wiki
3. Go to your blog you created in class.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

My summer PD with ISTE Vision

I continue to watch presenters from NECC09 using ISTE Vision
http://www.istevision.org/channels.php

Effective Leadership in an Era of Disruptive Innovation... watch by Scott McLeod blog

Tammy Worcester - Tammy's Favorite Technology Tips, Tricks...
Using Today's Meet for chat/back channel and encourages use with students. Tammy's blog.
Tools and links being discussed in presentation, click here
Voice recording http://vocaroo.com/
Type Text and read vozMe http://vozme.com/
Tammy also did a session on cell phones and Totally Cool Google Tools (Hands On). and links.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Posting a Slide Show

This is a test

Back Channel using CoveritLive

test link



Today's Meet http://todaysmeet.com/ seems easier for wide open connection. CoverItLive might be better with students.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Google Docs and more review

Here are a few links to review today.

  1. Google class site http://sites.google.com/site/igdintotheclassroom/
    (links to igoogle, docs, presentation, spreadesheets, forms, sites and more)
    Several videos to review class concepts.
    A Quick Review from Class video A review of Google Docs
  2. Lesson Plans Explore and locate grade level and content specific to share with class.
  3. Practice Google Site (inviation sent) from class yesterday
    http://sites.google.com/site/helpmelearntechnology/Home
    Sigin in and make an edit ....

  4. Other links will be posted.
  5. Post a comment or two to this blog and let us know what you are working on!
    I have also emailed all of you this morning with the email addresses used in class.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

NECC 2009 - Washington DC

I attended my second NECC conference last week in Washington DC. This was my first trip to D.C. and I was able to get lots of sightseeing in over the weekend.

I found the NECC Ning and Classroom 2.0 ning to be very useful prior to attending the conference. I made a point of attending Steve Hargadon's presentation/Birds of a Feather on Web 2.0 and found lots of great information and new tools to try. I made time to attend sessions on the exhibit floor at SMART and new Google links (NECC presentations/and lessons) and a few other vendors. I enjoyed the poster sessions on various topics (PD, Web 2.0, ICT, student work, etc). Check out ISTE's new video station and watch the keynotes and many of the sessions at http://www.istevision.org/

I found myself using twitter (and tweetdeck with a cusomized NECC2009 Column). I had never used this feature! I found twitter a great way to stay connected with other users and actually showed to a few people while attending conferences. My tweets are on the sidebar of this blog. I particularly enjoyed watching the keynote debate interact with the audience using twitter. I found backchannels a great way to capture thoughts, questions and links during the presenters presentations. I hope to incorporate into my PD sessions this summer. I think it would be interesting to use during a staff meeting and hope to be able to deminstrate to my teachers when I return to school.

NECC will now be called ISTE 2010 and held in Denver June 27-20th. I enjoyed the conference and it was great to connect with so many great educators.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Intel Teach Elements: Project-Based Approaches - Free online course!

Intel Teach Elements: Project-Based Approaches
Are you looking for free, just-in-time professional development that you can experience now, anytime, or anywhere? Take our first course in a new series of high interest, visually compelling short courses that provide deeper exploration of 21st century learning concepts using:

Animated tutorials and audio dialogs to explain concepts
Interactive knowledge checking exercises
Offline activities to apply concepts
http://www.intel.com/education/elements/index.htm

Explore ideas and try new project-based approaches for your classroom in this self-paced, interactive course.
Link http://www.intel.com/education/video/pbl/ (note: it takes a little while to load the course) you may have to take pop blocker off.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Teacher Presentations

I enjoyed attending the Lunenburg Staff portfolio presentations yesterday afternoon. It was great to see so many teachers using blogs, wikis, jing, slidehares, videos, twitter and other tools covered in class. As a stood in the background I heard one of the teachers telling an assistant principal "in January I had never heard of these tools and now look at how I am using them in my classroom, my students really like it" For those of you that presented using Web 2.0 tools, please share your experience and advice for the next class! I already had several teachers ask me "what should we learn next, I love this all the new tools we learning in class". I would have to say, the Lunenburg staff is a group of life long learners and I am so happy I was part of this professional development experience!
Images Courtesy of Alec Couros

Harnessing the Power of Social Networks in Teaching and Learning

Harnessing the Power of Social Networks in Teaching and Learning
Great professional development video. Alec Couros delivered the closing keynote presentation at the 2009 Summer Faculty Institute program at the University of Delaware on June 5, 2009. This wonderful presentation lasts 70 minutes and will give you an overview of what's new on the social networking front and how it applies to teaching. Link http://beyond3rs.ning.com/video/harnessing-the-power-of-social

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

The Educational Value of Comics - Pixton

A web 2.0 tool that will allow you to create, publish, share and remix comics!

Pixton http://pixton.com/ is a global community where people of all ages create, publish, share, and remix comics - without having to draw! Example of a Pixton™ comic promoting literacy. Students are assigned to remix the comic, correcting all spelling and grammatical errors. http://pixton.com/schools/features

Here is one a colleague made regarding our upcoming senior banquet. Nice job Mrs. Landry.


The Educational Value of Comics
The comic medium – the art of combining words and images – is a powerful form of visual communication, and when placed in an interactive learning environment, becomes an invaluable tool for teaching and learning.

Pathway to literacy
Instantly capture students’ attention and motivate them to learn, using a familiar medium they understand.

Building skills for the future
Accelerate reading and writing, spelling and grammar, conflict resolution, storytelling, and creative thinking.

Collaborative environment
Foster peer-to-peer interaction. Make sharing easy and effective.

Visual learning
Reinforce your lessons through the associative power of words and images.

Lesson Bank
Share and exchange authentic lessons with other educators. Browse by subject area, level, or region. A great source of ideas and inspiration.

There appears to be a school version that does more but costs money, however there is a 30 day trial.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Nine Reasons to Twitter in Schools

The May edition of Tech&Learning Magazine came today, the cover "How to Spend Your Stimulus Bucks, link to online magazine. There was an interesting article on Twitter. It touches on several of the reasons we talked about in class yesterday. The cover also shows the Intel Classmate we reviewed in class last month. Sign up for a free subscrption, this will help you stay current with technology topics.

Twitter in Plain English

Nine Reasons to Twitter in Schools
TOGETHER WE'RE BETTER Twitter can be like a virtual staff room, where teachers can access in seconds a stream of links, ideas, opinions, and resources.
www.techlearning.com/article/20298

1 TOGETHER WE’RE BETTER
Twitter can be like a virtual staff room, where teachers can access in seconds a stream of links, ideas, opinions, and resources from a hand-picked selection of global professionals.

2 GLOBAL OR LOCAL: YOU CHOOSE
With Twitter, educators can actively compare what’s happening in their classrooms with others on different continents. GPS-enabled devices and advanced Web-search facility allow searches that tell you what people are tweeting within a certain distance of a location, so if the other side of the world isn’t your bag, you can stick with your own patch.

3 SELF-AWARENESS AND REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
Excellent teachers reflect on what they are doing in their schools and look at what is going well to maintain and develop it, and at what needs improvement in order to make it better. Teachers on Twitter share these reflections and both support and challenge each other.

4 IDEA WORKSHOP AND SOUNDING BOARD
Twitter is a great medium for sharing ideas and getting instant feedback. You can gather a range of opinions and constructive criticism within minutes, which can help enormously, whether you are planning a learning experience, writing a policy, or putting a job application together.

5 NEWSROOM AND INNOVATION SHOWCASE
Twitter helps you stay up-to-date on news and current affairs, as well as on the latest developments in areas of interest like school leadership and technology.

6 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CRITICAL FRIENDS
One of the best things about training days is the break-out time between sessions, when teachers can get together to talk about what they are working on or struggling with. Twitter enables users to have that kind of powerful networking capacity with them all the time. It’s just a matter of finding the right people to follow.

7 QUALITY-ASSURED SEARCHING
Trust the people you follow. Hone and develop the list of people whose insights you value. Once your Twitter network grows past a critical mass, you can ask them detailed questions and get back better information than a Google search would generally provide.

8 COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE
Expressing yourself in 140 characters is great discipline. You can become better at saying what needs to be said in your professional communications with less waffle and padding (even without txtspk).

9 GETTING WITH THE TIMES HAS NEVER BEEN SO EASY!
Twitter is anything but complicated! You simply visit Twitter.com and create your account. A little light searching using key words for your areas of interest will soon yield a list of interesting people to follow. There are plenty of Web sites offering advice on getting started and how to avoid a few common beginner’s faux pas. Your biggest challenge is likely to be getting the twitter.com unblocked on your school network if your main use will be at school.

Here is a the tool I used in class showing how to manage your tweets.
TweetDeck is your personal browser for staying in touch with what's happening now, connecting you with your contacts across Twitter, Facebook and more. ...
www.tweetdeck.com/

Enjoy!

Summary/Reflection - due 5/13

Reminder as discussed yesterday, please submitt the following:

Summary/Reflection, please email to me by next Wednesday.
1. What have you learned in this course?
2. What tools did you try?
3. Share a technique or lesson you tried with students?
4. What would you change about the course?
5. Are you interested in an additional technology course? - If so what topics?
6. Any other thoughts?

This was a great session and I enjoyed working with all of you and watching you integrate Web 2.0 tools into your classroom and personal life.

Keep up the good work!

Social Bookmarking - using Delicious and Diigo (web highlighting)

As a follow-up to last night class on Social Bookmarking... and a few other topics

Delicious, Keep, share, and discover the best of the Web using Delicious, the world's leading social bookmarking service.

Delicious/help/learn



Another tool covered in class was Diigo - http://www.diigo.com/ Web Highlighter and Sticky Notes, Social Bookmarking and Diigo is a powerful research tool and a knowledge-sharing community.
Diigo V3: Highlight & Share the Web! Social Bookmarking 2.0


More on Google Google Apps for ePortfolios
How to create an electronic portfolio with GoogleApps (by Dr. Helen Barrett) (includes Dr. Barrett's GoogleDocs & Page Creator Tutorials PLUS Google Sites) ...
electronicportfolios.org/google/index.html I thought this looked interesting...

Monday, May 4, 2009

And the learning continues.....

This class will be ending soon but there will always be new and innovative tools to use with your students, I hope you continue to expore Web 2.0 long after this class ends. Last month a few of you talked about using Facebook and I wanted to make sure I showed Ning, a social networking tool that could be configured to support any topic.

What is Ning?
Ning is an online platform used tp create your own social websites and social networks (more)

You can create a Ning Network for your own class, group, project, or event: Ning has a trial program for grades 7 -12 students (ad-free).

7 things you should know about Ning
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7036.pdf

Here is an example of classroom 2.0 ning http://www.classroom20.com/ .

This summer I will be attending NECC (National Educators Computing Conference) in Washington D.C. They now have a NECC Ning, a community network around the conference.

I also use and teach classes on SMARTboards and belong to the SMART ning. Ning is similar to a "facebook" application and you can create one on any topic. When you start or join a ning it will allow you to expand your personal network and connect with other educators or topics of interest.

These are just tools that allow you to make connections and expand your community so it becomes an integral part of what you do in the classroom. We need to teach students to use these tools to expand their learning outside of the classroom.

Will Richardson blogged this week that we have to be able to model these connections for students to understand them in ways that are meaningful to our own learning practice.

I hope you continue to expand your learning long after this class ends.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Blue Ribbon School Conference, Reading MA - April 16-17th

I had the opportunity to attend a Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence conference today in Reading, MA.
Blueprint for Educational Excellence National Institute Attendees
Reading, MA
.

On day one, we had the opportunity to visit elementary, middle, or high school classrooms and see first hand how teachers use 21st century technology. Here is a video from the opening session video that may inspire you.

I was very impressed to see so many teachers on the same page using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. The new building was beautiful, with every room equipped with SMARTboards.

I asked the Reading teachers how all of this was possible. The teachers were part of a year long PD graduate class, "Expanding the Boundaries of Teaching and Learning" which was delivered by the district's Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, John Doherty. It is obvious that the administration simply "gets it". Mr. Doherty is part of a doctorate program, and was able to deliver a course to 40+ teachers, using blogs, wikis, google docs, twitter and more. The teachers and students focus was collaboration. One of the teachers indicatesd this came together because of districts leadership and ability to get everyone on board.

Here are some of the topics covered in the conference:

Teaching Diverse Students
Social theoretical concepts that will help explain the needs of diverse students and suggest teaching strategies to benefit all children.

SMART Content Creation
SMART Board interactive whiteboard users learn skills to design and create highly interactive lessons in Notebook v.10.

Literacy
New reading instruction models and best practices for promoting a strong foundation of skills and strategies.

Integrating technology and 21st Century Skills
Expand the boundaries of teaching and learning by understanding 21st century technology applications, such as blogs, wikis, and podcasts

Successful classroom applications
We visited high performing classrooms and the teachers shared lesson plans, activities, technology applications, and programs targeting successful educational initiatives.

I attended a workshop delivered by a group of teachers on blogs, wikis, ustream, google docs and twitter. Here is the seminar wiki http://readingtechnotes.wikispaces.com/

Day two was kicked off by Will Richardson once again a very inspiring keynote. If you have not seen Will present, make a point of checking out his blog and wiki.

The Reading School System, teachers, administration and students did an outstanding job sharing their success with over 200 teachers from other districts. I am grateful I had the opportunity to see firsthand a school district make use of advanced technologies in the classroom.

I learned about a new technique called backchannel (Knittechat) which creates a transcript of the session.

Knitter is an XHTML live chat based on the XMLHttpRequest ObjectKnitter is an experiment in the use of backchanneling in instructional settings. It was developed by David warlick, using opensource code created by ... knitterchat.com. I loved how the audience was connected to each other an commenting while David was presenting. I notice he was using a new presentation tool and the chat discussed that he was using Prezi http://prezi.com/ ... so much to learn...

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Mixbook

I am working with a group of students that want to make a senior memory book and I came across a site today on a blog http://www.mixbook.com/
Mixbook was started with the idea that friends should be able to create books together. Though Mixbook software makes book creation easy and fun, it also allows groups of people to build books together.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Working with students... Poetry Projects

I am working with a group of sophomore's this week using MovieMaker to create poetry presentations. Students are collecting images and are addind text, sound, narration and music. I showed them Picnik, http://www.picnik.com/ a website that allows you to edit your images/photo and then incorporate into the project. Some of the kids already use the site to edit pictures and add them to facebook. One of the students took all the words from the poem and used wordle to create an image to incorporate into the project. When they are finished the projects I will upload a few so you can view.

Presentations and Google

I was so impressed with all the presentations last week! I hope all of you were able to learn from each other and continue to try new techniques with your students.

I continue to be impressed with the collaboration features in Google Docs
http://www.google.com/educators/p_docs.html How Students and Teachers can use Google Docs --- Google Docs' sharing features enable you and your students to decide exactly who can access and edit documents. You'll find that Google Docs helps promote group work and peer editing skills, and that it helps to fulfill the stated goal of The National Council of Teachers of English, which espouses writing as a process and encourages multiple revisions and peer editing.

I have been using a wiki to pull information together for classes and recently explored Google Sites, an easy way to make information accessible, it appears to be google's solution to a wiki. I found a link on using Google for student portfolios Presentations (Google). How to create an electronic portfolio with Google Page Creator (by Dr. Helen Barrett) ... http://electronicportfolios.org/google/index.html

Sunday, March 22, 2009

What are you working on this month ? Next Class - Wednesday April 1st

What are you working on this month for your online portion of the class?
Some of the options were to create a jing (screencast), work with google/docs, explore VoiceThread and continue to work on your blog, wiki and other Web 2.0 tools covered in the class.

When we meet next month I would like to have each person present(ten minutes) to the class showing your blog or wiki (any tools proprofs, jing, etc)that you have been working on and any activities integrated with your class. Here is a link to the CLASS WIKI with your names/blog/wiki links. Please view each other's work.

VoiceThread

A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to leave comments in 5 ways - using voice (with a mic or phone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam). Share a VoiceThread with friends, students, and colleagues for them to record comments too. More about VoiceThread.

Learn more about VoiceThread in Education Ed.VoiceThread is a web-based communications network for K-12 students and educators. Simple, powerful and safe, Ed.VoiceThread is a place for creating and collaborating on digital stories and documentaries, practicing and documenting language skills, exploring geography and culture, solving math problems, or simply finding and honing student voices .. learn more http://voicethread.com/share/36941/

VoiceThread was covered in Part One of the Web 2.0 course. Here is a link from last summer using VoiceThread as an assessment/reflection for the summer class.

Learning to Change/ Changing to Learn: Student Voices

Learning to Change/ Changing to Learn: Student Voices


Learning to Change/Changing to Learn: Student Voices
Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHSehFV98TY&feature=player_embedded
Learning to Change/Changing to Learn: Student Voices, a new video public service announcement launched today from the Pearson Foundation and The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), spotlights students as they share their thoughts on the power of technology in their daily lives, from video production equipment to laptops to cell phones.

Watch and post a comment before our next class.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Mashups in the Information Technology Classroom

Last week I showed a google docs spreadsheet with a lookup function for presidents and inserted a google map. A professor from Bentely, Mark Frydenberg demonstrated this at Professional Development session last fall. Below is a slideshare with several lookup functions (on slide 29). Some of the examples include cities and townn, chemical compounds, planets, etc. Try creating a few in google spreadsheets following the same technique as the jing demonstrated in class.

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Have fun!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Google Docs lesson recorded using Jing

From Class using google docs and jing to record, uploaded to screencast.com



more steps to follow

Monday, March 2, 2009

The convertible classmate PC

I plan on bringing this device to class this week a great K-8/K-12 device.
The convertible classmate PC is a fully functional laptop that can be converted from clamshell mode to a writing tablet with a variety of education-focused software applications designed to take advantage of this unique design (similar to your tablet pc's). The writing tablet is able to recognize handwriting, so notes are easily converted to digital letters and numbers.
This is just another example of Intel’s long-term commitment to education.

Here is a link with videos to learn more about the Classmatehttp://intelpr.feedroom.com/

If would like to learn more about tablets and integration there is a free conference next month,http://www.guide2digitallearning.com/events/ April 2nd in Newton, sponsored by HP/Intel.
Experience the power of cutting-edge education technologies at a unique interactive forum brought to you by HP and Intel Corporation **SMART is a partner in this conference and it relates to material covered in this class!
DATE: Thursday April 2, 2009 TIME: 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. PLACE: Boston Marriott Newton2345 Commonwealth Avenue Newton, MA 02466
To register, go to: http://www.guide2digitallearning.com/events/

Moving on ... with screen caputures using Jing

I plan on showing Jing this week. Jing allows you to capture anything you see on your computer screen and share it instantly...as an image or short movie.

If have a tablet, please download the file prior to class so you can make a screencast.

Please continue to post comments to the class blog and share with with other members of the class. If there are other items you would like presented to help you in the classroom, please post. In class this week we will discuss your project that you will be presenting at the end of the course.

I hope everyone is enjoying yet another snow day!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

TECH&LEARNING

Here is a link to a great resource TECH&LEARNING that I have referenced in class. You can subscribe to get the magazine, add an RSS feed to your igoogle/google reader, or view in a new online format.

Here is a link to an interesting post
What are the pros, cons, and safety aspects of social networking? By Terry Freedman