Jeffco Teachers

Yesterday, I received an email notice saying that a few of my Flickr photos had been favorited. These particular photos were of my children, mostly of my daughter. Every time this happens, I go to see who the Flickr user is, and most of the time, it is a family member, a close friend, or someone I know through Twitter (or other social network). I did not recognize the user in this particular case, and when I went to see their photos, the Flickr message alerted me that none of the user's photos were available. Seeing as my photos had been favorited, I went to see what other photos had been marked as favorites by this user.

Great article about how some teachers are really using Web 2.0 tools to enhance learning and education

Anchors Away is a place where educators can add educational games and activies that students with laptops can do when they have finished their regular classroom assignments. Feel free to request membership to the space and add your own resources. Give this page to your students!

Google just announced that it will gradually phase out Google Notebook and many people are looking for alternatives. Here is a brief side-by-side comparison of Google Notebook and Diigo:

Example of using PicLit as a vocabulary building activity- a slideshare example

a flowgram that defines web 2.0 in an interesting, easy to read way

very nice wiki on how educators can create PLNs with web 2.0 tools

Barack Obama has only four years to save the world. That is the stark assessment of Nasa scientist and leading climate expert Jim Hansen who last week warned only urgent action by the new president could halt the devastating climate change that now threatens Earth. Crucially, that action will have to be taken within Obama's first administration, he added. Soaring carbon emissions are already causing ice-cap melting and threaten to trigger global flooding, widespread species loss and major disruptions of weather patterns in the near future. "We cannot afford to put off change any longer," said Hansen. "We have to get on a new path within this new administration. We have only four years left for Obama to set an example to the rest of the world. America must take the lead.

2009 Horizon Report the web version * Browse Comments o by Commenter o by Section o General Comments * Contents o Executive Summary o Technologies to Watch o Key Trends o Critical Challenges o The Horizon Project o One Year or Less: Mobiles o One Year or Less: Cloud Computing o Two to Three Years: Geo-Everything o Two to Three Years: The Personal Web o Four to Five Years: Semantic-Aware Applications o Four to Five Years: Smart Objects o Methodology o 2009 Horizon Project Advisory Board * Recent Comments o Four to Five Years: Semantic-Aware Applications Semantic UMW in the NMC 2009 Horizon Report - Semantic UMW says: [...] practices, and ideas that could be significant for education. This year's re[...] * Links o 2009 Horizon Report (367k PDF) o 2009 Horizon Resources (tagged hz09 in delicious) o Horizon Project Wiki o NMC Horizon Project Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary (0) 2. Technologies to Watch (0) 3. Key Trends (0) 4. Critical Challenges (0) 5. The Horizon Project (0) 6. One Year or Less: Mobiles (0) 7. One Year or Less: Cloud Computing (0)

Based on extensive research, Cisco, Microsoft, and Intel concluded that most education systems have not kept pace with the dramatic changes in the economy and the skill sets that are required for students to succeed. These skills include the ability to think critically and creatively, to work cooperatively, and to adapt to the evolving use of information and communications technology (ICT) in business and society.

The Collins Writing Program utilizes a "five types of writing" approach and is backed by several studies for its effectiveness.

Checking out Vocaroo today for a possible segment on PalmBreezeCAFE and thinking about the possibilities for it's use in the classroom. Once you record your audio, you can share the link, embed the sound file (see below) or download the file (.wav). I was able to create my Vocaroo without creating an account.

Quick: what was the most widely-used form of media in 2008? If you guessed Internet news sites, blogs, or social networks, you'd be way off. Network TV news (NBC, CBS, ABC) is still used by the highest percentage of adult Internet users, with local newspapers and local TV news occupying the 2nd and 3rd positions, respectively, in a recently released survey from Ketchum. While old media is still on top, the trends in the survey, which has been conducted each of the last three years, point to a familiar story: media consumption habits are quickly changing. That said, some forms of new media are performing much better than others. For example: - Blogs are now used by 24% of Internet users, up from 13% in 2006 - Social networks are now used by 26% of Internet users, up from 17% in 2006 - Videocasts are now used by 11% of Internet users, up from 6% in 2006 Slower growers include: - RSS feeds: growing from 5 to 7 percent - Podcasts: growing from 5 to 7 percent - Business news sites: flat at 8 percent