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Awesome Web 2.0 Tools page on Professional Development site.

Technology has made it possible to take learning process a somewhat greater leap where students and working professionals equally explore the finer possibilities of learning experience.

"...creating new models for professional development by combining live, interactive webinars with a social networking community."

Some useful strategies for creating effective presentations.  While the audience this writer is addressing is creating presentations for adult professionals, there are many useful strategies that can be integrated by any teacher. This post covers not just how to create the presentation, but also strategies for delivery as well.  It could be useful for helping teachers learn how to overcome the "traditional" Powerpointless presentation.

I found the suggestions useful but also really liked the link to places to get photos to use in presentations. Much more professional then google images.

From the makers of Gronckit the collaborative, social, online learning and test preparation company comes their latest venture Learnist. Learnist is a continual learning and professional development platform kind of like Pinterest, but with more features. Learnist is a community geared for creating, sharing, communicating and improving collective resources.  I signed up for an account and started to follow @LearnistTweets on Twitter.

A 'challenge' for every teacher to step up and finally embrace the tools that enhance learning.

Great article about iPads and collaboration with professional development and Google docs. Google is a perfect tool to increase the level of communication and professional development in every school.

I agree Google is a perfect set of tools for collaboration and communication.

If you are trying to envision ways to utilize G Apps in school, this offers some helpful info.

Thanks Sterling, This is a great resource. I just watched the "32 Ways to Use Google Apps in the Classroom". It's got a great video embedded in it where the students are all working together to write an election speech for their classmate.

Hi Sterling and Colleen, Thanks for sharing, I have been to various Google Professional Development Classes, but this really sums it up in a nutshell.

This entry highlights the way, Adobe, the power-maker in the area of professional design and graphics, is making access affordable to the 'touch technology' generation. It is providing Android based (and soon to be OS) tablet type apps available for as little as $10. The article highlights a few of the apps that would be accessible and appropriate students as young as 6th grade to learn to use. This brings professional type graphics power and creativity within reach of School children...something very dear to my heart!

A rudimentary attempt at a text based protocol...not a great example, but I feel that there is great potential.

Google+, another social networking app, is more for professionals as depicted in the article. People can share and connect through G+ just like the way they do in Facebook. Also, it provides features that Facebook does not have, such as "Hangouts" and "Sparks",etc. It's about connectedness and a good platform to practice our media skills.

This is an awesome example of how to use a wiki for professional development. Thank you Neal.

February 21, 2013 By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching and Learning Almost everyone agrees that student presentations benefit the presenter in significant ways. By doing presentations, students learn how to speak in front a group, a broadly applicable professional skill. They learn how to prepare material for public presentation, and practice (especially with feedback) improves their speaking skills. (Much of what we want for our students is to work, respect, support, find the good in one another, have fun and use web tools together! Highlighting the peer evaluative piece was one I am doing my best to work on. Great resource!) ~Tara

Tara, Good find. A nice way to get more students engaged. An interesting, approach to student presentations. The author does a nice job of describing advantages, as well as disadvantages, to requiring students to critique their classmate's presentations. The image of the "comatose" classmates in their seats as yet, another presenter tries to impress the teacher is comical, yet accurate. The students doing the critiques also had a vested interest as it represents a portion of their grade. A significant statistic was that," Seventy-three percent of the students agreed or strongly agreed that completing the evaluations made them pay more attention to the presentations. " A final point of interest is that students were clear in not wanting their classmates critiques to have an impact on their grade. Tom

Information Literacy- What is it?  Why is it important?  How will I use it? All important questions.  This site provides a great into to the answer to these and many more ?? regarding information literacy.  This is Module 1 of 7.  

This is a resource that explains that students who can only read text but not analyze, synthesize and utilize that information are still considered illiterate! The resource reviews a program that was put together called Digital Youth Network (DYN) and how this organization empowers young people with critical digital literacy skills that make them academically and professionally competitive.

Have you ever thought, "Gosh, I wish I had time to learn more about Flickr, wikis, or (enter your Web 2.0 tool here)?" Well, this is your chance to take the time to focus on your personal and professional development around Web 2.0 tools. It's fun to explore these tools and figure out ways to use them in the library, with your personal Web sites, or in other ways.

I will give Zoho a look. We use google docs at my school now. Each staff member and student was given an account with the same extension. With so many sites to choose from it takes time to see which ones you lke. Google docs seems to show up in many articles.

Zoho Writer looks interesting as you need to be invited to participate. Google Docs are used extensively within our school, though I only used them for our NGY Ning project last year. We also use Google Docs for attendance in our after school programs.

This article lists some interesting statistics about the pervasiveness of social media. According to this post, 96% of students with internet access use social networking technology, and 56% of those talk about education-related topics while they are online. Educators say social networking gives them access to a professional community, and it encourages collaboration and the exchange of ideas. Parents say it helps them become more involved, helps them understand the teacher's expectations, and increases student-teacher communication. Social media helps students learn collaboration and develop important workforce skills. It also gives them a positive view of technology, stimulates engagement, and increases academic networking. Interesting statements, to be sure.