Overview/Introduction
We've been waiting a long time for computers to dramatically change education, but for
the most part, that promise remains unfulfilled. Unlike in the business world, where
the computer quickly became a fixture on every desk and transformed both day-to-day
tasks and the business landscape as a whole, computers have not transformed the goals
of educators, or even the methods used to achieve those goals.
Technology and education are pretty intertwined these days and nearly every teacher has a few favorite tech tools that make doing his or her job and connecting with students a little bit easier and more fun for all involved.
GroupMe is an instant chat room developed by an individual of the group. The individual can seen a request to all individuals whom they would like to be involved in the the group. The individuals has to accept the invitation and then they can communicate within the group.
I have used Poll Everywhere, Padlet, Google Docs/Forms for checking students' group work in class, but I've always wanted a simple tool that takes a second for students to complete and another second for me to check their completion but a tool where students don't get to "cheat" by peeking at what other groups are writing because they can't see what other students are typing until they post their answers!
I use Padlet all the time in my class for a quick sentence or paragraph-level group writing activity - it's easy to share with your students and you can embed it very easily!
http://padlet.com/salinmiso/8tihmalkbcyl
List.ly, according to co-founder Nick Kellet, is "true social curation with lists as a metaphor." List.ly is all about creating and curating lists. You can create lists of tips or lists of websites or lists of anything you can think of that your potential clients would be interested in.
List.ly is an excellent tool for curating web resources. You can then embed these lists into your blog, wiki, or content pages in your institutions learning management system. Other list.ly users can even request to add resources to your curated list. You can sign up for list.ly and it's free.
I am using VoiceThread for students to create digital stories to share about their research projects. Other students will peer review, comment, and write a reflection. Use VoiceThread Search Box terms "online teaching" to find Projects created for Online Courses.
The article discusses the paradigm shift in learning styles and approaches using the web resources. Personal learning environments and internet sifting for content is discussed as well.
Creative Commons licenses provide a flexible range of protections and freedoms for authors, artists, and educators. It provides educators with access to images, videos, music, and graphic all with less restrictive rights for using the material. For example, you go right from Creative Comments to Flickr images that you can use. The one caveat while searching for content, be careful not to use a different search term, because you will be searching in the regular libraries. When want search for a different, go back to Creative Commons and search from there.