Week 3 - Thing #7 - Anything Tech

Today in my e-mail I received an article from the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) encouraging administrators to "Think before you ban." Susan Brooks-Young says, "The use of Web 2.0 technologies is all about information, she said. These online communication tools extend learning beyond the regular school day and let users share ideas for group projects and other tasks; for example, students and teachers can have anytime, anywhere access to projects or assignments with Google's free Documents tool."

Some web tools she highlights are:
SchoolTube
VoiceThread
Jing Project and
AirSet

I'm off on another journey of exploration.

Week 3 - Thing #6 - Flickr tools...

So many options...so little time. I spent a lot of time browsing the tools of Fickr and each lead me to a reinvention of an activity that is done in the classrooms of our school.

Mappr is a great addition to a project that our 7th graders do when they are given $500 (Monopoly) dollars to plan a family trip highlighting adventures in Massachusetts.

Splashr is a great tool for language arts classes that discuss themes in literature. Teachers have told students to find magazine pictures that show a theme. This web 2.0 tool is a great new upgrade.

Bubblr is a great tool for practicing vocabulary.

And on, and on, and on...

Week 3 - Flickr and images

Flickr (and other image services) are interesting. I certainly find them useful when sharing my pics with family and friends far away. But, on the other hand, I find myself more likely to read someone's blog than I am to look at a collection of photographs. I guess I'm basically a word woman even though I find myself with my camera all the time.

Week 2 - Things 3 and 4 - My Blog

I have used blogging a lot with students. A former music teacher engaged students in discussions of forms of music that they didn't usually listen to. A former Social Studies teacher had his student discuss current events in Blogger. In the library, students used a blog to recommend 'great reads' in various genre. I have access to most of the links if anyone is interested.

Hmmmm...I'm noticing a pattern here. Most of the blog users I've worked with are former colleagues, I wonder if there's a significance here. :-)

Week 1 - Things 1 and 2 - Pointers from Lifelong Learners

I am a living, breathing life-long learner and do not find any of the habits to be difficult. With that said, I did like the tutorial. I liked that the objectives were clearly set at the beginning. This is a practice that all teachers/presenters should practice. The tutorial was a well articulated explanation of what I have believed in and practice professionally for 37 years. I have taught web-based classes in the past but never used anything as powerful as the technique. I checked out the slideshow and found that it was created in Presenter™ by Articulate Software http://www.articulate.com. I’d love to find something similar on the Mac platform.