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Monday, February 28, 2011

MESPA Group - Daily updates Diigo Group Classroom 2.0 - Topic Evernote

I have a Diigo Account and subscribe to a few groups, today I received an update from Classroom 2.0 http://groups.diigo.com/group/classroom20.  If you have signed up for the account I would suggest you subscribe to this group.

Today's topic/post was from the blog Stump The Teacher: Evernote 101 .  Please watch the video tutorial on using Evernote (digital binder mobile device for notetaking, more on the education series).  You can link twitter to Evernote as well.  Link to move video tutorials from Stump the Teacher.

Enjoy!

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Social Learning Handbook

I just read the Social Learning Handbook by Jane Hart.  The book was a great review of many of the sites we use in our Professional Development and graduate class.  Jane does a great job connecting the "tools" with the role and desire to learn. A quote from the book regarding social media
 "This is an essential and defining point about social media; It has turned the concept of "learning" on its head. It's no longer about waiting to be taught or trained, but about individuals having the power in their own hands to deal with the learning problems much more quickly and efficiently than before."
The book looks at both theory and practice. In the first part of the book there is a focus on the worplace and learning the difference beween training and social learning.  The second part looks at many of the key social technologies and how they can be used to work smarter.  (More on the contents )
Below is a presentation to support the book and links to the the site http://c4lpt.co.uk/  

Webiste http://c4lpt.co.uk/ and Top Tools
Jane on Twitter: @C4LPT  her pick of the day http://janeknight.typepad.com/

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Quabbin Day 2

Having a great day wtih teachers from the Quabbin School District

More links to come... Glogster link
Wordle.net

Monday, February 21, 2011

Quabbin 2.0 Class

Welcome
- Registration (FSU Form)
- Google Accounts 


Demonstrating Blogger and Google Docs to class.

Creativity and 21st Century Learning
Sir Ken Robinson - Video ASCD -  http://bcove.me/yvs3hoob Time 17:40
More on TED http://www.ted.com/speakers/sir_ken_robinson.html

Sunday, February 20, 2011

CoSN Releases Guide to Help School District Leaders Rethink Internet Use Policies

CoSN releases Guide to Help School District Leaders Rethink  Internet Use Policies

Please take the time to review and comment on the your schools districts policies around Web 2.0, Social Media and mobile devices.  We can further discuss and compare our districts in class.

The growing emergence of Web 2.0 and mobile devices has rapidly increased Internet use in schools across the country. Consequently, this has added to schools’ responsibility for dealing with safety and access issues,” said Dr. James Bosco, Principal Investigator for CoSN’s Participatory Learning in Schools: Leadership & Policy initiative. “This trend has also increased the need for district-level leadership to set policies that prevent potentially harmful and inappropriate Internet use, while also striking a balance with allowing access to these technologies to promote innovation in teaching and learning.”

More on Social Media Guidelines
http://socialmediaguidelines.pbworks.com/

I look forward to discussing with you in class.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Nashoba wins the ACFTL Video Podcast!

Nashoba's French III students are the winners of the ACTFL Video Podcast Contest.
They won the popular vote and judges vote.
Newspaper Article on Nashoba
The year's theme for the Video Contest - Why I am a 21st Century Learner" 
Vimeo link https://vimeo.com/18011416

Or click here to see the video.
Thanks to all my twitter friends that supported Nashoba students!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Edchat

MESPA Weekly Chat topic on #edchat.
Watch the Animoto for more details about #edchat (Tuesday's @7:00 PM)
Did you participate in twitter #edchat discussion this evening?
Much of the conversation this evening focused around textbooks and e-readers.
I always enjoy videos produced by (Dr. Michael Wesch, assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University). Here is another interesting video that connects to the #edchat discussion this evening.


Enjoy the video and learning between our weekends.

By the way, I was in Best Buy yesterday and noticed there were QR codes on most of the products and flyers with directions to use with your phone.  Here is a video I found online showcasing Best Buy and QR Codes.

Post a comment and share what you are exploring this week.

Mary

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day - Using Word Clouds from your blog

Word Cloud using Tagxedo 
Word clouds can be used for a variety of activities, including advance organizers, summaries, and text analysis.  If you click on the image it will bring you to the website and show the words from the blog. Tagxedo is a word cloud site but in order to use you may need to download Silverlight to create clouds.  I entered my blog address, picked a shape and created the heart for Valentine's Day.



  And one more...
 


Reminder
#EdChat for Tuesday's twitter conversation. 
What is #edchat hashtag on Twitter? Who are the moderators? 
What are the details? How do I join?  Watch the Animoto and more details.
#edchat on Twitter
 
     







Have a great day! 

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Blogging with MESPA (and Bloom's Taxonomy with Web 2.0)

Showing Google's Blogger to my MESPA Class and 21st Century vocabulary using wordle.
Here are some tutorials to Blogger to help you set up your blog and get started blogging. You will post two topics to your blog each week and incorporate some of the Web 2.0 tools into the Google Site and/or blog.

Below is an image with a collection of Web 2.0 tools organized into an interactive pyramid of the Bloom's taxonomy levels of Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, and Creating.   I am familiar with some of the tools covered in the pyramid.  I found it to be a good visual reminder of both the Bloom's levels and Web 2.0 tools.   We have been exploring several Web 2.0 tools as part of this class.

In the 1990s, one of Bloom’s students, Lorin Anderson, revised the original taxonomy. In the amended version of Bloom’s Taxonomy, the names of the major cognitive process categories were changed to indicate action because thinking implies active engagements. Instead of listing knowledge as a part of the taxonomy, the category is divided into different types of knowledge: factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive. This newer taxonomy also moves the evaluation stage down a level and the highest element becomes “creating.”

Bloom’s Taxonomy can be used across grade levels and content areas. By using Bloom’s Taxonomy in the classroom, teachers can assess students on multiple learning outcomes that are aligned to local, state, and national standards and objectives. Within each level of the taxonomy, there are various tasks that move students through the thought process. This interactive activity demonstrates how all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy can be achieved with one image.
In order for teachers to develop lesson plans that integrate Bloom’s Taxonomy, they write their lessons in the language that focuses on each level. The United States Geological Survey provides a list of verbs for each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy for teachers to use when developing lesson plans. (Although the list is designed for environmental science teachers, the examples will work for any discipline.)  I thought the review of the pyramid along with the Web 2.0 tools covered in class would be helpful in planning your activities.

Enjoy exploring!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Twitter as a Learning Tool

Recently, I have been trying to explain why twitter matters as a tool for teaching and our own professional development to a group of administrators.

Follow Jane Hart's blog, pick of the day http://janeknight.typepad.com/ and came across a post "Twitter as a Learning Tool for surgeons" she has a link to the episode of Grey’s Anatomy that showed the use of Twitter as a learning tool for surgeons, here are some clips on YouTube.
Doctor Bailey introduces Twitter as a learning tool to broadcast surgeries over the internet. The chief on the other hand, is not very happy about the idea. At least not at first.

Enjoy!