EST430

"Using Google Search is making us believe we are more knowledgeable and intelligent than we actually are. That's not necessarily an easy idea to swallow, but sometimes the truth hurts. The harsh reality is that although search engines enable us to find out all sorts of information in a very short period of time, this is not a marker of our intelligence. We are not the only primates who have learned to use tools to our advantage."

"However, the current focus on initial teacher education as the be-all and end-all of teacher education ignores the importance of ongoing professional development. This should take place not only in the first years of teaching, but throughout teachers' careers. As a comparison, medicine graduates study at university for five or six years, then still need to undertake an internship of one year before being allowed to register for general practice. Most go on to undertake a further two to three years of residency before beginning specialist training. Perhaps we should be taking our cue from medicine, and treating our graduate teachers in a similar manner to medical interns and residents. Learning to teach is a process that begins at universities, but continues for an entire career."

"Did you know that the fastest and easiest way to add new features to your blog is by adding widgets into the sidebar?  Widgets are also a great way to personalize your blog and help it stand out from all of the others. Here is a list of the 42 most popular and most useful widgets used on class blogs, student blogs and personal educator blogs. We've set up a Widget Demo blog so you can check out most of these widgets in one handy location to see how they look in action!"

"This series guides you step by step through the process of class and student blogging. Each step includes links to class blogs being used by educators so you can check out how other educators use their blogs.  Many of the examples are from primary grades but the same principles apply regardless of student age including adult learner. The activities can be completed at your own pace and in any order!"

This chart was created by Richard Byrne to help teachers quickly identify the blogging service that meets their needs.

"Some excellent educational content can be found on YouTube. However, many teachers cannot access YouTube in their classrooms. Therefore, I compiled a list of other places to find educational videos that don't rely on YouTube. "

"I've heard many reasons as to why people who enjoy engaging with blogs, don't blog themselves. For some they don't know what to share, for others there is the issue of time, while there are those who  simply enjoy reading and are confused about what they can add. All valid reasons, but I think that what is missed is what actually constitutes a blog in the first place."

"I bought Minecraft for my 7 year old son and asked him if he needed help with it. "No, I just looked it up on YouTube." We all know that YouTube is a great source for tutorial videos. Did you know that YouTube is the #2 search engine? Students are very likely to look up information on YouTube, it has become part of their culture. Here are 5 things you can do with YouTube:"

"Published on 13 Mar 2015 Have you heard fellow educators rave about the connections they've made on Twitter, but you don't feel that connected? Or do you have an account, but aren't really sure how to make those connections to like-minded people? Are you overwhelmed by how "busy" Twitter feels? This video tutorial is for you! "

"For me, Edmodo continues to be a staple in my web-based apps diet. Yes, they have changed it a lot since it first debuted, and yes, some of those changes haven't been for the best (the iPad app continues to be dodgy!). However, its main functionality is the same, and I continue to find it super reliable and user-friendly for my students. I'm thankful that the school I'm now in sets all students up with Edmodo right at the beginning of year 7. This approach normalizes the use of technology in learning, and means students aren't messing around signing up in class etc."

"In classrooms all around the globe, educators are introducing new and exciting technological tools to engage their students in learning. Many educators are successful when integrating these technologies, but unfortunately many are not for a variety of reasons."

"On March 21, 2006, a simple messaging service was born with a five-word tweet. In honor of the 140-character limit per post on Twitter, here are 140 things you didn't know about the service."

"The way we share our thinking and reflections nowadays has burgeoned with so many different creative platforms. Blogging is one of the original social networks and has been a cornerstone in my professional life for many years now. Take a look through these reasons for reflective posts on your blog and commit to the future of your writing space."

"As I shared last week, Photos for Class is now available as an Edmodo app. With Photos for Class installed in your Edmodo group your students can search for Creative Commons licensed images and download them with citations attached to them. In the video embedded below I provide a demonstration of how to install Photos for Class. The second half of the video demonstrates a students' perspective of using Photos for Class within Edmodo."

"I guess given its title this blog post could come under some criticism but it's not really about that. These are just some things that I think help. I hope you concur."

"Clearly, ThingLink is becoming a popular interactive visual image editor for educators across the world. So it is truly no surprise that ThingLink for Video can be just as powerful for transforming classroom instruction and augmenting videos. "

"The integration of third party services is one of the things that makes Edmodo a good system for organizing and sharing content with students. The single log-in aspect of Edmodo gives your students access to excellent tools without having to keep track of separate user names and passwords. Whether you're thinking about using Edmodo in the new school year or you're simply looking for new apps to try, take a look at the following seven free Edmodo apps."

"On August 23, 2007 Chris Messina started something so small, he would never know how it might change the world." Both George Couros and Steven Anderson have great posts on hashtags in education. How they function, why we should use them, and some ways to get started immediately with hashtags. As I looked at the "big list" of educational hashtags I wondered if any other field had as many hashtags as education…

""Librarian and blogger Megan Egbert suggests a redirection of how we perceive the word 'cyberbullying' and how it can positively effect our fight against this horrible crime.""

The ThingLink Challenge is a sponsored list of suggestions for using Thinglink. This is the showcase of final products. Participants can get inspired by the growing channel of interactive images submitted by other participants by revisiting the blog.