Group items tagged

This is such a great little video that hits on so many possibilities of Pinterest. It may seem a little tempting to merely think of this tool as a bit lightweight compared to other collaboration tools, but I think this informercial may change some minds. Pinterest - to my mind hits on so many of the buzzwords beginning with "c". It is creative, communicative, collaborative, colorful, curative (is there such a word?!) and it is definitely cool!

Introducing Guided Search: Find what you're looking for and make a few discoveries along the way.

This is a great site for collaborative tools categorized under: "Collaborative Documents", "Collaborative Spaces", "Collaborative Videos", "Collaborative Notepads and Graphs", "Transferring Files", "Blogs, Wikis, and Social Networks", "Templates for Blogs", "Virtual Meetings and Chat Rooms", "Collaborative Tools", "Collaborative Annotations and Highlighters", "Collaborative Drawing Boards", and "Multimedia Posters and Pages".

I absolutely love this site! Great find Sister! I am going to write a blog entry about it. Check it out!

A mega-collection of Web 2.0 tools organized by purpose. More than one could ever ask for (or possibly master)

Wow! what an extensive use of organization at our fingertips! Thank you for finding and sharing

I have this site already bookmarked in my Diigo account but I have to say that it is one of the most extensive collection of AWESOME web 2.0 tools that I have ever seen. Thank you for sharing it here.

This is a Prezi presentation created by a science teacher all about how she uses her blogs (and wow it looks impressive!) in her classes and other forms of technology to improve the student learning.

I think I'll be sharing this with my science department. Nice find, Katy!

A great article about how it is actually quite easy to use many of the web 2.0 tools to collect and analyze quickly, the current media and create connections between it and your classroom, or at least ideas to which you teach. This teacher did a great job of doing what so many of us try to do everyday. Finding current events and relating it to our classroom. But by having more feeds connected to one site, she was able to quickly narrow her search to whatever it was that she was teaching at the time. She also made it a point to observe the news feeds with her students and ask them to try to make the connections. If there was a story that made sense or got them intrigued and interested, they researched and read it together. A great way to teach young students how to filter the information that they are being exposed to, and to seek out credible references to initial questions and information.

This site looks at information literacy and looks at the 5 different "minds". They relate them to ethical, disciplined, synthesizing, creative and respectful minds when talking about students using web 2.0 applications.

Interesting article that discusses how our brains change when using Web technologies. The term "partial attention" is explained as "a state of constantly scanning for information." Insightful description of how our world has changed significantly now that technology is here to stay.

This article from eLearn Magazine discusses how neuropsyhcologists are studying the effects of using new media and Web 2.0 tools on our brains. Their results show both positive and negative findings. Some of the benefits include certain areas of the brain being worked harder and making strong neural connections allowing us to process and evaluate large amounts of information quickly. A downside is that we are not retaining information for extended periods of time and we are losing the ability to communicate with feeling because we are not always in face-to-face contact with others. The article also discusses Psychologist Howard Gardner's "Five Minds of 2.0 Learners." These are higher order thinking skills he believes individuals need in order to be successful in the digital world. These include disciplined, synthesizing, creating, respectful, and ethical minds. This is an interesting read and could start a great classroom discussion about technology use with your students.

An important component of information literacy is finding 'good', reliable information. When students become skillful at research, they can create amazing products and apply the knowledge learned. As Clive writes, "better to concentrate on important underlying concepts and principles".

"Social media may have started out as a fun way to connect with friends, but it has evolved to become a powerful tool for education and business. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter and tools such as Skype are connecting students to learning opportunities in new and exciting ways. Whether you teach an elementary class, a traditional college class, or at an online university, you will find inspirational ways to incorporate social media in your classroom with this list."

Great list from Online University with ideas for using social media in the classroom.

This blog entry references an article and describes how Coldwell Banker provides training for associates and finds that giving them social connections and letting the associates drive the learning works better than designing instruction for them. Learner centered!

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.

I really enjoyed reading this article about making appealing and intriguing powerpoint slideshows using images that attract attention. The article is brief but they offer several sites to obtain images from and then they suggest some editing elements you can do to alter the originals and use them as talking points before during or after a presentation. The most impacting piece I got out of it was when they asked the question - would you sit through your own presentation? Yeah, no kidding, how many times have you sat through a dull presentation with nothing to keep your eyes and attention sharp and interested.

Some great tips - especially like the list of places to find images instead of the common google. Randy

This teacher makes a really strong argument that you should not feel that you have nothing important to say. This is the way to make some strong networked relationships. I like her quote "This has led to many great conversations with other educators about teaching issues." Blogging has connected her to peers throughout the world. I find that being an online educator is lonely so this may be the way to go to share resources and to discuss with others that share our online world.

I really enjoyed reading this article because I'm feeling the same excitement as the author did when she first began blogging. While I'm just learning how to "officially" blog, I have been using Edmodo with my students as a way to connect with my students outside my classroom. It allows us to communicate and ask questions to one another outside of normal school hours, yet in a more structured classroom like forum, unlike Facebook. But because it works similar to Facebook, the students love it and don't mind logging on and doing their assignments. One day when I was out sick, I was able to log on an have real time discussions with my students. If they had questions about the assignment they were able to ask. They can also turn in their assignments via Edmodo instead of waiting for the next day/week. My feelings are if the students are into it, then it's something we need to be doing as well to keep up with them. Teachers who use Web 2.0 tools such as blogging have an advantage over those that don't because these are the social networks that students know and are familiar with. Also, the author of this article points out the fact that teachers have a new way of connecting to each other and share ideas. From what I remember when I was younger, the traditional teacher's only way of communicating and sharing ideas or concerns with other teachers were via phone or before/after school meetings. I don't know how often that actually happened, but now with blogging you can share your information any time with any body.

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.

From ways to find the best youtube videos for the classroom to tricks to make youtube videos more appropriate to use in the classroom.

Effective 21st century assessment reaches beyond traditional testing to look at the broader accomplishments of learners. Assembling an e-portfolio, or electronic portfolio, is an excellent method for assessing students' progress toward school, state, or national academic standards, as well as 21st century skills. An electronic portfolio is a purposefully limited collection of student selected work over time that documents progress toward meeting the standards.

Eporfolios would be great for the current teacher to view the strengths and weaknesses of their students. I can find the grade my students received last year but since each teacher grades so differently it really does not give much information.

A discussion of e-portfolios and their use as assessment.

Exploring wikis has been an adventure. But before I embark on this journey for a classroom assignment, I just have to cover all the basics. Being able to objectively assess this environment is important. This resource has provided a decent, comprehensive rubric

Great find Kae! I sent it to Diigo! for future use!

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