Web 2.0: Enhancing Education Through Technology

EdTech: Focus on Higher Education has surveyed the web and found what we believe are the 50 best IT blogs in higher education. These blogs - including well-known names and some who are less familiar - cover every aspect of technology, both in the classroom and behind the scenes. Learn from tech experts and IT peers at colleges who are in the trenches. Dig into the very best the web has to offer.

Higher Education Blogs is the source to see what's on the Dean's List for classroom integration. Educators reap rewards.

"The taxonomy accurately classifies various types of cognitive thinking skills. It certainly identifies the different levels of complexity. But its organizing framework is dead wrong.  Here's why." I don't think I'm buying this rethinking, but it's worth a read.

Six technologies that soon could be in your classrooms Game-based learning, personalized learning environments, augmented reality are coming soon, says a new ed-tech report Looking into educational technology's crystal ball for the fourth time, the annual Horizon Report for K-12 education has listed six emerging technologies that schools are likely to adopt in the near future. How much of these are key components to your school?

This article shows how students will be using their creative thinking in order to learn the curriculum. Ideas like game based learning and augmented reality is not only reaching diverse learners but requires a creative mind.

This article just states the importance of these tools and why we should all be using these technologies in our classroom.

Business IBM Faces the Perils of "Bring Your Own Device" After letting its employees use their own phones and tablets for work, the company confronted a flood of insecure apps from the open Web.

Pioneering Flipped Educators Launch 'Flipped Learning Network' Non-profit network helps educators successfully implement Flipped Learning Washington, D.C. (May 24, 2012) - Flipped Learning pioneers Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams have launched the Flipped Learning Network™, a non-profit organization for teachers interested in the Flipped Learning ideology.

An interesting article since the Flipped Learning pioneers are trying to clarify all of the information that is out in the public about the flipped classroom. They will hopefully make a profit on the book they have written, which can be used for their non-profit "Flipped Learning Network" which will allow teachers to do Vodcasting and have a Ning site as well. It was very informative.

This article introduces a contest which promotes reading and media skills that began in 2008. It is sponsored by major publishers such as Simon and Schuster and Scholastic and 5 regional libraries, The contest is for students in grades 1-6. The students need to create a storytube on a book they have read. It is important to point out that teachers are not replacing a written report or are using this to enhance the report. I reviewed some of the winners and it is so great to see kids excited about what they read and using technology so easily. With students creating video media at such an early age and being so comfortable doing it only leads me to believe that when these students reach high school the work that they will create will be fantastic.

This article originally appeared in SLJ’s Extra Helping. Sign up now! By Jennifer Pinkowski -- School Library Journal, 07/09/2008 Funny accents, strange wigs, and spoiler-free plot summaries are the common elements in the winning videos made by contestants in StoryTubes, a new contest for kids that promotes reading-and new media skills-by capitalizing on the popularity of YouTube.

This link explains how libraries are using the power and popularity of YouTube to promote learning, literacy, creativity and technology. StoryTube is a great project idea that uses the power of the contest as a wonderful motivator.

So you've been using google apps at school for years and now your school is jumping on the iPad train (because everyone else is). When you want to use google docs on this new iPad, be ready for a surprise.

Discusses how to enhance the classroom by using a discussion board in a skills-based course by allowing students the chance to use information literacy skills.

This article offers insight into the process of appropriately constructing class discussions online. It cautions that discussions should be based on critical thinking than on sharing facts or answers. The author notes that problems can result if a student posts incorrect information and then other students respond thinking that it is correct.

November 11, 2010 Making Online Discussion Boards Work for Skills-Based Courses By: Rob Kelly In this article, an accounting teacher described how he used online discussion boards for study groups in his course. I appreciated this suggestion...online "study groups" could be a great way to motivate students to study and also for faculty to monitor their studying. Teachers could step in to clarify information a group appears to be confused about based on their discussion strand.

Jane Hart gives a preview of her list of the top 100 tools for learning on the web.

With the advent of Common Core for writing skills teachers need to better learn how to communicate the expectations to students via rubrics. A new PD tool, called FineTune supports teachers in the creating of these rubrics, which align to common core.

"Creativity and innovation are the keys to continued advancement in business as well as education (Sharda, 2010)."  In this article, Sharda discusses how e-learning systems based on digital storytelling can enhance creativity and innovation.

Great resource fir everything from General Math to Calculus. Online CAS (Computer Algebra System) that will do derivatives and plot graphs.

Powerful ideas for all lovers of personal and political freedom - Freedomain Radio is the largest and most popular philosophy show on the web, and was a Top 10 Finalist in the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Podcast Awards. Topics range from politics to philosophy to science to economics to relationships to atheism - and how to achieve real freedom in your life today. Passionate, articulate, funny and irreverent, Freedomain Radio shines a bold light on old topics, and invents a few new ones to boot!

Content Area/Grade Level/Course Title/Activity Type: English/Language Arts/High School/Literature/Student Activity Topic/Lesson Name: Literacy Circle Book Report

Ben Miller, a teacher at the University of New South Wales, wanted his students to build learning materials for his course. He decided a wiki was the best platform to capture the group's work over the semester. Ben chose to create his wiki on UNSW's Wikispaces Private Label site as it gave his students a university-branded environment for their academic work. Students loved the wiki and after several weeks, were building most of the content for the site - summarizing theories on free speech, arguing their viewpoints, and highlighting censorship cases that they wanted to further explore. The final product was a rich body of knowledge that helped the students prepare for their end-of-year exam. We encourage you to check out this wiki and listen to Ben's discussion about his wiki project.

"Insects 4th grade"