"The mission of the Library of Congress is to make its resources available and useful to Congress and the American people and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations. The goal of the Library's National Digital Library Program is to offer broad public access to a wide range of historical and cultural documents as a contribution to education and lifelong learning.
The Library of Congress presents these documents as part of the record of the past. These primary historical documents reflect the attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs of different times. The Library of Congress does not endorse the views expressed in these collections, which may contain materials offensive to some readers."
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EtherPad
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EtherPad is the only web-based word processor that allows people to work together in really real-time.
When multiple people edit the same document simultaneously, any changes are instantly reflected on everyone's screen. The result is a new and productive way to collaborate on text documents, useful for meeting notes, drafting sessions, education, team programming, and more."
Upload and share your PowerPoint presentations, Word documents and Adobe PDF Portfolios on SlideShare. Share publicly or privately. Add audio to make a webinar. Take a tour or Start Uploading!
"Take your productivity to the next level with these simple online services. Easily create forms and surveys, electronically sign documents, store files online, or send large files easily-from any place with an internet connection."
"Facilitate fantastic discussions
Replace your paper newsletter
Get your students blogging
Post videos, podcasts and documents
Create a class publication"
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Consistent with BOR Policy IV-3.20, the UMUC Library has developed guidelines for the use of copyrighted materials. These guidelines address library and educational fair use as well as fair use exceptions for research and scholarly work. The purpose of this document is to help UMUC faculty understand copyright and fair use in the classroom, and it may be useful to UMUC students as well."
"On October 12, 2011, iNACOL released the National Standards for Quality Online Courses, version 2.
The standards selected are based on the original standards, the results of a research review and survey of online course quality criteria. These quality standards were evaluated and assembled into an easy to use document for evaluating online courses with common benchmarks. "
The California K-12 High Speed Network (K12HSN) is offering a comprehensive set of tools to support teaching and learning in California classrooms.
Calaxy, this free suite of tools, includes blogging, videoconference scheduling, wikis, an asset management module, as well as Moodle-an online course management system and a file sharing system where educators can upload videos, podcasts, images and documents. Thousands of Thinkfinity resources are also available in Calaxy.
Calaxy is an excellent tool to share lesson ideas, upload student learning objects, disseminate best practices, and more! Messaging and social networking functionalities help you connect with other educators in the K12HSN Trusted Community.
Make sure you take advantage of these free resources provided by the K12HSN and the California Department of Education.
With VoiceThread, group conversations are collected and shared in one place from anywhere in the world. All with no software to install.
A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate pages and leave comments in 5 ways - using voice (with a mic or telephone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam). Share a VoiceThread with friends, students, and colleagues for them to record comments too.
Users can doodle while commenting, use multiple identities, and pick which comments are shown through moderation. VoiceThreads can even be embedded to show and receive comments on other websites and exported to MP3 players or DVDs to play as archival movies.
"One of the exciting things that leaps out to me when reading the new Common Core standards for Mathematics is that the spirit of inquiry and curiosity is back, hardwired into a document that will likely form the basis for mathematics teaching and learning for a long time. "
A company known for helping clients in the media and retail sectors digitize their publications has launched a version of its publishing platform for converting PDF-based books into interactive texts that can be accessed on multiple platforms for the education segment. YUDU Media has launched YUDU Education, which allows publishers to create course materials that can be optimized and delivered for Macs, Windows-based PCs, and Android and iPad tablets. The same technology can also simultaneously create an accessible edition of the same materials for users who use assistive technologies.
Read more at http://thejournal.com/articles/2012/10/10/digital-conversion-service-publishes-accessible-multi-platform-textbooks.aspx?admgarea=News1#HUs7FcTbx8BE0aL9.99
"Visions In Education-
FREE Training Materials for educators!
Welcome to the Google Docs for Education training site! This resource is designed to help educators and staff learn how to effectively use Google Docs in the classroom and district office. Here you will find information on the six chapters we will cover as well as schedules, resources and the latest announcements. Don't hesitate to contact on of the Google Certified Teachers on our training team should you have any questions. "
"Whether it's called eLearning, virtual learning, cyberlearning, online learning or online education, providing academic content online is gaining momentum in California and across the nation. The California Department of Education (CDE) has created several useful resources related to online education that you will find here:
California Directory of Online Schools and Programs (CDOSP): This Web page features a map of California showing county boundaries. When a county is selected, a list of schools or programs offering a minimum of 30 percent of instruction online in that county will be visible. Information on each school will include grade levels served, accreditation status, programs offered, curriculum, and more.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Related to K-12 Online Education in California : A useful resource for teachers, administrators, county and district staff, and others interested in online education.
Glossary of Terms Related to Online Education: A listing of the most commonly used online education terms with a definition of the words as used in the CDE Web documents."
Six Ways to Look at Badging Systems Designed for Learning
Initiated by Barry Joseph, Global Kids, Inc.
Written by Barry with scores of others*
Background
For over four years, Global Kids has developed badging systems within, after and outside of schools. We are currently designing a badging system for dozens of civic and cultural institutions within the Hive Learning Networks in New York City and Chicago, as well as throughout our organization. We have had a frontline view of the growing interest which has emerged over the past year in the development of badging systems across a wide range of formal and informal learning environments. We have also followed the rise of opposition, and sometimes confusion, about what digital badging looks like or is designed to accomplish. In this context we felt it might be useful to delineate the various interests we see aligning themselves with badges, or make distinctions amongst the different goals people have for them.