"Twitter seems to be here to stay. As one of the most popular ways for teachers, students, and the general public to communicate, it's becoming a must-have tool in almost every teacher's toolbox. However, numerous recent studies have shown that education in general has been slow to adopt social media.
In an effort to speed up this adoption process, below you'll find a boatload of resources on the past, present, and future of Twitter in education as well as some helpful guides to using the tool in the classroom.
This guide is by no means exhaustive and is meant to be added to on a regular basis. To do that, Edudemic needs your help. Just share your favorite resource(s) on the Edudemic Facebook page and it'll get added to this Ultimate Guide."
"From Edudemic: an effective chart that actually ranks education apps according to a few critical criteria. The visual from Grasping For Objectivity details 29 different 'edutainment' apps that are both free and paid. I like how each one is laid out and ranked accordingly. The apps are each given an overall score and it's based on a plethora of criteria:" The chart looks at iOS apps but the criteria can be used for any app therefore to work out which Android apps would work for your classroom too.
Edudemic post "Symbaloo created by user lcobbs detailing 50 great classroom tools that are all easy to implement into just about any classroom. From Animoto to Prezi to Dropbox to Stixy (wait what?), there's a lot to check out."
From Edudemic "Research involves a lot of information and data which have to be easily and efficiently managed under tight deadlines and time restraints. The following steps will offer you a bit of insight into how you can become a better researcher using some simple web tools like mind maps and bookmarklets."
This is a freebie from Edudemic looking at how the iPad can be used under three columns, consume, collaborate, produce. Interesting as a starter document.
This handy infographic explains the different characteristics of the digital footprints left by boomers, millennials and Generation X. Each generation interacts with the digital world in a different way: for millenials, its the internet, but for boomers, its video. Keep reading to learn more.
"Education is a powerful driver of development and one of the strongest instruments for reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity. Although there has been great progress in recent decades in getting children into school, evidence shows that many children and youth leave school without having learned the basic skills needed for life and work. Check out this handy infographic from the World Bank that addresses what challenges we face in bringing education to everyone."
"Wikipedia can be a nightmare for a teacher, or it can be their best friend. For those teachers that have papers handed to them by students that are clearly copied from another source, Wikipedia tends to turn up early in the search and show that the students have indeed, been checking out what Wikipedia has to say. It's no wonder that teachers often have questions about what is good about the tool and how it might benefit their students. Today, we're taking a look at some more general facts and figures about one of the world's largest free, collaboratively written encyclopedia. Which is a pretty awesome concept, if you ask us. The handy infographic below will let you in on some interesting facts that you probably weren't privy to - and some of the numbers are pretty staggering! Keep reading to learn more!"
"Technology has evolved at a neck-snapping pace. We see it every day as we all learn about new web tools, apps, startups, and ideas in the education technology arena. We have bright eyes staring toward the horizon and we're all hoping for a bright future for our students. But it's important to look back. I've found you never truly know where you're headed until you understand where you've been. In terms of education technology (emphasis on technology), we've come so far. Let's look at an interesting image that I came across whilst browsing the ol' Pinterest:"
"The progression of where online learning started and how it has grown is really quite staggering, especially since it has only become a discussion staple for most of us pretty recently. The handy infographic below gives us an interesting timeline of digital learning, shows some of the different categories that digital learning comprises, and offers up some interesting statistics on the number of people participating in online learning and the growth that it has seen over the years. Keep reading to learn more."
"If you've ever visited a website that handles even the smallest bit of your personal information, there's a good chance (hopefully) that it's asked you to read through a privacy policy or two. Rather than pour over the details, many of us simply click on 'I AGREE!' and proceed with using the application. Even the companies and websites involved understand this and make it as easy as possible to satisfy lawyers as well as users.
What's the harm in essentially ignoring that privacy policy? While the majority of the time it's harmless, there are some ne'er-do-wells that may gather your personal information and sell it to marketers, advertisers, or spammers. While terrible, it's not unheard of."
@chickensaltash posed a simple question to the PLN and there has been a huge swell of support as hundreds of people have jumped in to answer the question about which 5 Web 2.0 tools teachers are using in classrooms.