Group items tagged

Skypecasts are large (up to 100), hosted calls on Skype. They are free to host and free to join.

Skypecasts have a history of being 'invaded' by undesirables who come, produce mayhem, and go quickly. They also tend to drop all connections frequently. As a consequence, most of us do not use them anymore.

As a teacher, using an RSS reader can help you stay informed and up to date on new information related to your content area and practice. People often ask me how I find so much information about new technology resources, the answer is simple, I scan roughly 600 updates in my RSS reader every day. Obviously you don't have to subscribe to as many websites as I do to stay informed, but my RSS addiction does demonstrate how much time a person can save and how much information a person can find by using an RSS reader. If I didn't use an RSS reader there is no way that I could find so much information in a couple of hours each day. (As a side note, I'm going camping for six days without Internet access when I get back, I'll have thousands of items to scan through). If you maintain a blog or website for your classroom, having your students use RSS readers is a good way to keep them informed of new information you've posted. For teachers that address current events in their curriculum, having students use RSS readers is a good way for them to track developments in news stories.

PR: With greater capabilities and ease of use in mind, Mikogo launches its new version with several new features backing up its cost-free solution to online meetings. Meeting scheduler, session recorder, whiteboard toolbar, and a conference call service are just a few of the new features offered in Mikogo v2.02

Book clip art All clip art, about English and Language Arts, in Discovery Education's Clip Art Gallery created by Mark A. Hicks, illustrator. Teachers are allowed to download up to ten images if the follow the copyright directions.

Whether you're a high school or college student, a small business owner looking to set up a new business plan, or someone who wants to be better organized with your errands, goals and regular to-do lists, there are a variety of tools to keep your notes and tasks safe and filed away online. These 50 tools and tricks will revolutionize your note-taking by introducing you to techniques and websites that let you share ideas, store your thoughts directly on a web page and more.

Technology needs to trickle up, she said, not down. We need to give the most powerful tools to the most vulnerable populations because they are the ones who need it. "Young learners, non-readers," she continued, "need high-speed access, they need animation and graphics and sound. And that's the truth." According to Lovely, and education technology consultant and speaker at the FETC 2009 conference in Orlando, FL in January, it was the recognition of those needs that led her to develop a "top 10 list" of go-to technology tools to help inspire young students and empower under-funded teachers. "The important thing to remember here," she said, "is that this isn't about simply providing you with 10 links. It's much more important to ask, 'What are you going to do with these things? How are you going to use these tools?' That's why we're here," she said. "So I can show you not only what's out there but also how other educators are using these resources to teach their students right now."

Play actually appears to make kids smarter. In a classic study published in Developmental Psychology in 1973, researchers divided 90 preschool children into three groups. One group was told to play freely with four common objects--among the choices were a pile of paper towels, a screwdriver, a wooden board and a pile of paper clips. A second set was asked to imitate an experimenter using the four objects in common ways. The last group was told to sit at a table and draw whatever they wanted, without ever seeing the objects. Each scenario lasted 10 minutes. Immediately afterward, the researchers asked the children to come up with ideas for how one of the objects could be used. The kids who had played with the objects named, on average, three times as many nonstandard, creative uses for the objects than the youths in either of the other two groups did, suggesting that play fosters creative thinking.

Today at our Saskatchewan Curriculum Renewal workshops we were introduced to many of the new concepts and philosophies of the new curriculum. The intent of the curriculum is to reduce outcomes, provide common language for all curricula, focus more on learning than on teaching and focus on depth of understanding instead of only breadth. There was a lot of talk of big picture thinking and encouraging teachers to reflect on why they teach what they teach. Early on someone mentioned the goals of education. With some recent discussions on the purpose of education, I thought it pertinent to look up the 9 goals of education for students in Saskatchewan.

By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY SAN FRANCISCO - "What are you doing?" That question is the rocket fuel for Twitter - a hot social-network service that lets you tell people what you are up to at any given moment of the day - via cellphone, instant messenger, or the Web. Never heard of it, you say?

Information overload is a topic that keeps coming up, especially among users of social media services. Now you can search across your PLC with Delver.

A simple way to communicate that stays up when Twitter is down.

Key Principles: Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions. Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources. Learning may reside in non-human appliances. Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning. Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill. Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities. Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision.

Alexander discusses methods for keeping up with the future of technology and its use in higher education.

Are there any particular Google services you don't understand or can't see using in your classroom? Thinking of a particular unit coming up in your curriculum and would like to implement a web-based utility?

"Record and playback digital recordings up to 5 minutes long which can then be posted on" to your personal Audioboo profile page. You can record your "boos" by phone, with the iPhone app or through your web browser. AudioBoo is iTunes ready making it the easiest way to begin podcasting.

White Paper on 21st Century Skills Learning Environments:\n\nThis white paper has been created to provide an overview of research and expert opinion on 21st century learning environments, one of the four support systems in the Partnership‟s 21st Century Skills Framework. Its purpose is to offer a descriptive view of the places, tools, people, and policies that make up 21st century learning environments and, we hope, inspire its readers to work towards their realization.

VUVOX gives you the power to create one of a kind stories in an instant. All you need to do is provide whatever cool content that you have. Take pictures, video, audio and text. Mix it up. Choose backgrounds, colors, textures that create your vibe and then you are ready to share your piece with the world.

Web 2.0. Youth virtual worlds - Ross Todd, Library mash ups, Future of Libraries, Literacy