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A simple little article but I really liked some of the ideas that were included. For example, to help with teaching purpose and tone there is a site for making greeting cards - while this could be aimed towards the lower grade levels I think it could also be incorporated into high school literature courses by having characters write greeting cards to other characters. I also think that some of the suggested sites could be utilized across departments.

Most city councilors in Auburn, ME agree that the iPad is a wonderful piece of technology, but at $500 an iPad, is it worth it?

This was the article I decided to blog about, and let me sum up my feelings by quoting myself: "...placing (an iPad) into the hands of a five year old is akin to letting your preschooler play with a set of keys over an open sewer grate; in other words, you don't.

A school librarian has worked to bring Kindles into the classrooms of the school she serves. Because of the success of the program the school district purchased Kindles for every eighth grade student.

This looks very interesting as well as promising. Furthermore, placing such devices into the hands of older students help mitigate the fears of lost/damaged property. I was unaware a Kindle had a text-to-voice option, something a few students I know would find immensely enjoyable. "The bottom line for me is the Kindles have generated a love of reading among those students who would not have otherwise picked up a book."

Find out how schools are using iPads to provide special education students and their families a lower cost device that can assist them with communication and much more. Specific app titles are suggested for use.

Taking notes is an everyday skill in education but often overlooked. Technology -- and more specifically, the Internet -- has rendered paper and pencil passé and allowed educators and students to raise note-taking to the next level. Most of the following sites use some form of the "post-it" or "sticky," but with the integration of Web 2.0 technologies.

I have used this type of program at Springfield College and it helped a great deal in not only monitoring students but knowing who needed help.

An article as the title implies that is in favor of using projects int he classroom to enhance learning

This article is about the Big6 and how to use it with Web2. They talk about how to use the Big6 with email, online discussions, real-time communications, desktop teleconferencing and collaborative writing. It fits into the Research and Information Fluency Remixed. I liked the format on another site http://www.librarymediaconnection.com/pdf/lmc/reviews_and_articles/featured_articles/Eisenberg_May_June2010.pdf but found I had to put the address into Google in order to access it. The URL did not work.

A study showing how social networking is contributing to cheating.

There is so much information available now to people that plagiarism is easier and more tempting.

"Plagiarism is cheating, it is dishonest, and it is unethical." The first way to avoid students from plagiarizing is to set clear expectations in a written format that provides concrete examples. There are programs such as Glatt Plagarism Services that can be used to detect plagerism. By giving students a good background on the importance of citing ideas, topics, and quotes and providing them with how to cite correctly, they will be less tempted to plagiarize. As educators we can take many steps to provide support for our students so that they do not plagiarize.

This post reviews a digital resources that could be used to assess students prior to or during a lesson.  

A librarian uses web 2.0 tools such as RSS and bookmarking to incorporate a real world event into the curriculum to enhance information literacy.

Use Web 2.0 tools to take the students from the classroom into the real world.

This article provides a number of new tools, but also explanations regarding their practical usage in any classroom. Newer ones include Ipiccy, Easel.ly, Infogr.am, InfuseLearning, BigHugeLabs, SignGenerator, Delivr, Aurasma, TheNounProject, and WeVideo. Others that are more commonly known are: Padlet, Thinglink, & PollEverywhere

Blogger Raleigh Werberger, a high school history and humanities teacher, describes a PBL unit that flipped a class from 'just good enough' to creating a working business model and seeking funds to launch a startup. The creative approach to teaching students on multiple levels, including how to market a start-up, and how to make sure students have genuine vested interest in success shows a great way for students to be engaged in their own learning. As the article points out, "[Students'] social media use took on more significance and had a more authentic stake for them, as students began communicating with web journals and community organizations to expand their online presence and gain 'endorsements' for their products." This is a great way to bring students together for a project that demonstrates real life lessons.

Collaboration is key to establishing an effective learning environment. The teacher and the students share the responsibility of creating an environment where optimal learning can take place. Students are often unaware how their behaviors do or don't contribute to learning. Teachers may not be aware how they need to modify their own behavior to meet their students' needs. Teachers and students need to work together in identifying the characteristics of an effective learning environment and then in making their shared vision of the classroom a reality.

This article focuses on why it's so difficult to find good mobile computing apps that foster education.