This interactive infographic would be a powerful tool to use as you discuss where wind energy can best be harnessed in the US. It is an interactive wind map of the US. Great tool.
Like everything else on the Internet, trying to find images is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Without the right tools for finding science and math images on the web it is often an impossible, or at least mind-numbing, task. What is needed are search engines which make the job easier.
This is where the tips and tricks provided below help this seemingly impossible task by using the top search Web 2.0 search engines and tools available today. These are valuable resources for both you and your students when trying to find just the right image for lesson or project involving digital media.
NEACLASS ia a new blogging tool, safe for students, (requires a login to view), probably would be a good tool to use for class/parent/teacher communication.
Lecturing individual students is a common classroom management practice-just another tool in a teacher's tool belt.
But it's a colossal mistake, born of frustration, that does nothing to curb unwanted behavior beyond several minutes.
The reason?
GOt this letter from Pownce today:
"We are sad to announce that Pownce is shutting down on December 15,
2008. As of today, Pownce will no longer be accepting new users or new
pro accounts.
To help with your transition, we have built an export tool so you can
save your content. You can find the export tool at Settings > Export.
Please export your content by December 15, 2008, as the site will not
be accessible after this date."
I predict that 2009 will be the year many Web 2.0 apps were "left behind." Export that data -- bye bye lots of stuff.
This is a site built by Jackie Gerstein from Arizona. She told me "I began developing a website to showcase different Web 2.0 tools that students can use. I provided some examples but plan to have my upper elementary students add to it as we explore and use other tools."
She built this using synthasite and it is a great thing to show elementary teachers to showcase some of the best tools out there. Great job, Jackie!
FACEBOOK, MySpace, YouTube and Wikipedia are considered valuable educational tools by some who embrace the learning potential of the internet; they are also seen as a massive distraction with no academic benefit by others. Research in Nottingham and Notts suggests split opinions over the internet in the classroom. Some 1,500 interviews with teachers, parents and students nationwide showed the 'net was an integral part of children's personal lives, with 57% of 13 to 18-year-olds in Notts using blogs in their spare time and 58% in Nottingham. More than 60% of Nottingham teens use social networking sites. They are a big feature of leisure time - but now the science version of You Tube, developed by academics at The University of Nottingham, has been honoured in the US this week. The showcase of science videos shares the work of engineers and students online. However just a quarter of teachers use social networking tools in the classroom and their teaching, preferring to leave children to investigate outside school.
Students, administrators and teachers at Gilbert Classical Academy have a new tool to express themselves that is rarely tapped by schools as a teaching aid: blogs. Blogs have been available on the Internet for years, offering Web users an opportunity to opine on various subjects and post images in a personal journal that anyone on the Internet can read. But schools have generally not utilized them as a classroom tool because officials have such worries as: What if inappropriate messages are posted? What if a hacker steals personal information on a child or staff member?
"We need to create places where teachers can take chances," Honeycutt says. “Every district needs to anoint some teachers to play with Web 2.0 tools in a safe, hypothetical environment. I call it taming the tool. Teachers need time to consider, 'Under what conditions would we allow this tool into the classroom?'"
“We realized that students don't see these as impediments, but rather as challenges,” Canuel says. "Students find ingenious ways to go around them." Rather than fighting to stay a step ahead of tech-savvy pupils, the district emphasizes online safety and digital citizenship.
Instruction in digital citizenship needs to start early,
In the still-evolving Web 2.0 era, anyone with Internet access has the power to create and publish content online and interact with content others have created.
Content filters and firewalls are great for keeping kids away from pornography, as required by the Children's Internet Protection Act, or preventing them from updating their Facebook status during class. But the same filters can stop teachers from accessing cutting-edge widgets and digital materials that have enormous potential for expanding learning.
This I Believe in the Classroom
Hundreds of teachers around the country-in almost every state-have embraced This I Believe as a powerful educational tool. Many have told us that our project was the most enriching writing assignment they have given in many years of teaching. To help teachers guide students through exploring their beliefs and then composing personal essays about them, we offer the following tools: