Group items tagged

"Software Carpentry helps researchers be more productive by teaching them basic computing skills. We run boot camps at dozens of sites around the world, and also provide open access material online for self-paced instruction. The benefits are more reliable results and higher productivity: a day a week is common, and a ten-fold improvement isn't rare. " Also has many online video lectures.

A session on TESOL Technology Standards: Why, How, and for Whom. This explanation of the new TESOL Tech Standards explains how they were developed and where to find them online. There are many good lesson plans in the Standards, demonstrating how good technology can be embedded in good practices at many levels and with many levels of technology access.

A great explanation of how and why to use screencasting, with many examples and video tutorials. From Modern Lessons. "The fundamental advantage of screencasting is that it allows educators to provide an easily created video resource for their students that essentially acts like a private tutor. It gives students a way to explain themselves through drawing, typing, voice narration, and video, allowing you, as the educator, to demonstrate a process, concept or skill. Through published screencasts, students can access content in and out of class in order to learn at their own pace. However, we also want to think about having our students act as creators of their own screencasts to demonstrate their problem solving, tell a story, explain a sequence, diagram a concept, or illustrate a concept."

"HOW TO USE MAKEBELIEFSCOMIX.COM TO TEACH ESOL "Comic strips provide a perfect vehicle for learning and practicing the English language. Each strip's three or four panels provides a finite, accessible world in which funny, interesting looking characters go about their lives. And students with limited reading or speaking skills are not as overwhelmed in dealing with the size of a comic strip as they may be with a book of many pages." A good addition to a nice comic strip starter/creator.

You may not be aware, but Google Docs also has a presentation program feature. So if you can't afford Office, but have Internet access, this is a great tool. (Also check out the drawing program.)

"Web 2.0 is about revolutionary new ways of creating, collaborating, editing and sharing user-generated content online. It's also about ease of use. There's no need to download, and teachers and students can master many of these tools in minutes. Technology has never been easier or more accessible to all." Discovery Channel always has good videos and other tools for classroom use. This site has a huge collection of links for free tools.

"Create free educational games, quizzes, activities and diagrams in seconds! Host them on your own blog, website or intranet! No signup, no passwords, no charge!" You enter data once and student can choose from 5 different types of games to play. Many templates and files already created by other teachers are accessible here. Premium membership is ad-free, and you have your own Web area to organize your favorite resources; can also be used on an interactive whiteboard.

Discusses why a study in Romanian seemed to indicate that introducing computers LOWERED test scores in math. One answer is the type of statistics analysis used. Another, perhaps more accessible, is that children were given a "bare-room" Windows PC--no educational software, which though available, had to be self-installed. For novices at or below poverty level, how was this to be done. And without educational/pedagogical infrastructure from the school, why would it be done.

"Sites is Google's free tool to create custom websites. Similar to a wiki, you can develop the site by yourself or choose to collaborate with others on the creation and content of the pages. Then, you can decide on the level of sharing you would like to permit. You can determine who the owners are, whom you would like to give permission to edit and revise the site, and whom you would like to give permission to view the site. You can limit viewing your site to a small, private group or you can choose to publish it so that it is accessible to anyone in the world."

"Create a timeline! xtimeline is a free web-based timeline. Easily create and share timelines with pictures and videos." Looks very adaptable, and many presentations are already accessible at the site. Searchable by category: biography, arts, history, scienece, etc.

"OnSugar is a hosted publishing platform that is based on what we use to publish PopSugar, FabSugar, and the rest of Sugar. Key Platform Features: * 11 different post types: (text, gallery, layout, poll, look, quiz, quote, link, chat, video, & audio) * Free access to a hundreds of thousands of Getty Images® * Fun drag and drop layout tool. Create your look with thousands of fashion images from hundreds of online retailers through ShopStyle, e.g. ShopBop, J. Crew, Net-a-Porter, and others. * ShopSense: Make money by linking to products and retailers NEW * Build your audience of followers with automatic notifcation of new posts * Follow your favorite sites and view an aggregated feed of your followed sites * Post by email NEW * Automatic update of your Facebook and Twitter status NEW * Multiple sites per account * Multiple authors per site * Easy import from Blogger, Wordpress, & Typepad * Full domain support * Free Key Site Features: * Drafts/Timed Publishing * Search * Archives * Pages (e.g. About Me, Galleries, Videos, etc) * Widgets for highlighting content from your site or around the web (e.g. Popular Posts, Latest Comments, Latest Tweets, etc) * Completely customizable themes" Looks like an up-to-date blog tool that allows for lots of different social networking interfaces, and has drag-and-drop tools for layout and adding media. Somewhat commercial, but might appeal esp. to teens.

"Abstract: The course management system (CMS) reinforces the status quo and hinders substantial teaching and learning innovation in higher education. It does so by imposing artificial time limits on learner access to course content and other learners, privileging the role of the instructor at the expense of the learner, and limiting the power of the network effect in the learning process. The open learning network (OLN)-a hybrid of the CMS and the personal learning environment (PLE)-is proposed as an alternative learning technology environment with the potential to leverage the affordances of the Web to dramatically improve learning. Author Name(s): Jon Mott David Wiley"

"MEET & PRESENT Give presentations, host webinars, or conduct team meetings. Leave content available for access over time. REVIEW & ANNOTATE Upload, create, and collaborate on content with your team or customers. EDUCATE & TRAIN Create and upload course content for real-time and anytime collaborative learning. "

If you are an iMac user and have been frustrated by not being able to access the iPhoto or iMovie databases directly, this Browser is helpful. In addition to the iLife media, you can browse bookmarks from Safari, et al., and drag and drop any folder to the source list to add it to your library. Works with a small window, so it is fine for smaller size monitors.

"Use this site to write, learn to write, take writing classes, learn about our campus writing center, and access resources for writing teachers. ToolsLearn to Write. View our extensive collection of instructional resources for writers, including writing guides, writing activities, and writing links. FeedbackGet Feedback on Your Writing. Learn how you can get help and feedback on your writing. SitesVisit Related Sites. Visit other Web sites that support the teaching and learning of writing. ToolsWork on Your Writing. Learn how the Writing Studio's tools - blogs, wikis, ePortfolios, bibliography, among others - can help you work on a writing project. ClassesView Your Writing Studio Classes. More than 5,000 classes have been created to support writers. Is your school using the Studio? TeachingTeach Writing. Learn how the Writing Studio and our other teaching resources can help you and your students. Writing CenterVisit CSU's Campus Writing Center. Visit our campus writing center, located in beautiful Eddy Hall, Room 6 (in the basement along the north side of the building). Our writing consultants will provide feedback on your drafts and help you with your writing and research strategies."

An interesting article on student "addiction" to social media: ""The students did complain about how boring it was [to] go anywhere and do anything without being plugged into music on their MP3 players," says Moeller. "And many commented that it was almost impossible to avoid the TVs on in the background at all times in their friends' rooms. But what they spoke about in the strongest terms was how their lack of access to text messaging, phone calling, instant messaging, email and Facebook, meant that they couldn't connect with friends who lived close by, much less those far away." "Texting and IM-ing my friends gives me a constant feeling of comfort," wrote one student. "When I did not have those two luxuries, I felt quite alone and secluded from my life. Although I go to a school with thousands of students, the fact that I was not able to communicate with anyone via technology was almost unbearable." The student responses to the assignment showed not just that 18-21 year old college students are constantly texting and on Facebook-with calling and email distant seconds as ways of staying in touch, especially with friends-but that students' lives are wired together in such ways that opting out of that communication pattern would be tantamount to renouncing a social life."

"Make your own WebQuest or Adapt a WebQuest with our "Short-cut WebQuest Authoring Tool" Lots of teachers would like to have specific resources for their curriculum requirements that would encourage higher order thinking in their students - WebQuests fit the bill perfectly. However, do most teachers have the time or skills to create a WebQuest using Website creation programmes like FrontPage or Dreamweaver or to work with HTML? Or to then have it uploaded and hosted with easy access for changes? The answer is that they don't have to! WebQuest Direct has created a simple to use Authoring Tool or template/proforma that allows you to create your own WebQuest or adapt an existing WebQuest to suit the needs of your students. You will only need to know how to type or copy and paste - it is that simple! You can readily come into the authoring tool make changes and press save! Your WebQuest will then be ready for your class to use!"

Newsy.com is a multi-source online video news site that monitors, analyzes and presents the world's news coverage. In an increasingly connected world, access to multiple sources of news is in demand by global citizens. News sources are abundant yet redundant. Newsy.com delivers context with convenience to help keep you better informed. Through short video segments available on the web and mobile devices, Newsy.com offers a way to accelerate your global understanding of a news story. Newsy.com takes a step back to show how the world's news organizations are reporting a story - providing an unprecedented global and macro point of view. You'll find CNN right next to Al Jazeera, the BBC right next to ABC. Newsy.com also covers major newspapers, news magazines as well as top blogs from around the world. Like FORA.tv, this site presents current news, but with the added feature of allowing students to compare various news sources.

Karenne Sylvester's blog for teachers of Business English is a huge respository of good Web. Articles are also attractively laid out and easy to access.

"Many people don't realize that The New York Times can be quite accessible for English Language Learners. Due to its focus on current events and news, using The Times to learn vocabulary and practice reading can be much more inviting and rewarding than a textbook. And NYTimes.com has some extra tools and features that are particularly useful for language learning. Here are 10 ideas for using The Times to teach and learn the English language."