Web 2.0: Enhancing Education Through Technology

This article is an intersting take on how two teachers at Burlington High School in MA are on a mission to integrate technology into the curriculum. It's not directly related to creativity, however, I feel that these two teachers are taking a very creative approach in how they want their students to learn.

Another web-based screencast option.

Another one? Wonder if it makes sense publishing to start-ups. They might be gone tomorrow, so will your work. Great that there is a YouTube option.

Get tips and ideas every day in May for Teacher Appreciation Month on how you can thank your favorite teachers -- and support them throughout the year! Credit: Illustration by Walter C. Baumann Tip # 19: Do a Presentation of Thanks Using PowerPoint-Karaoke Thank your teacher by organizing a fun improv class activity.

Collect, curate and share your ideas, inspirations, and projects! Popplet is a place to engage in visual conversations on any topic of your choosing, quickly and easily, with your friends, family and colleagues on both the internet and mobile web.

Popplet is an app for the web and iPad, where you can collect, curate and share your ideas, inspirations, and projects.

Popplet is the universal tool available to educators. The app gets students thinking outside the traditional scope of a poster and can collect pieces along the way. Perfectly inspired!

Activities & practices for online instruction.

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.

I found a link from the Newstand that connected me to an article from mashable.com, which discusses a new educational program from the people at TED talks. The program allows teachers to turn any YouTube video, including TED talks into a lesson. The article aligned this new tool with the phenomenon of flipping classrooms. To flip a classroom means to prepare a lesson that students can complete at home. The pedagogical foundation of flipped classes is connected to project-based learning. The proponents of this approach believe if students can cover lessons at home, then classroom time could be used for collaborative student projects. The new TED-Ed program allows for teachers to create a unique URL, where student can access the video as well as a series of questions. The types of questions vary from multiple choices, to short answer, to more high order thinking questions. These HOT questions expand the ideas from the video into high order thinking akin to Bloom's Taxonomy. The TED-Ed team is also producing their own educational videos, which are a collaboration between educators and animators. At this point there aren't many of the TED-Ed videos produced, but the ones I explored are quite interesting. The mashable.com article has links to TED-Ed. I am not the biggest proponent of flipped teaching, but I am intrigued by TED's involvement.

This article explores ways to enhance online communication between students.

Rob Kelly discusses how to he used online discussion boards in a skills based course. This concept could be followed for any type of study group. Given students learn best when they not only teach the information but share and collaborate with others, this idea enhances the learning process.

I'm the only Accounting teacher and have been teaching for 2 years at the high school level. I feel this article does a great job not just on how discussion boards can help and guide deeper levels of thinking among Accounting students, but provides the opportunity to take baby steps including technology in the classroom and push critical thinking. I can appreciate this article greatly because I believe we all learn through experience and as Gee mentions, some of the students have worked in the field and may be able to offer their peers another insight.

Just heard about this game creator, never tried it. Looks interesting though.

Hi Sterling, I have used game maker and it's a great tool once the students master the concept.

Google has outdone themselves again. Google docs has just added the ability to open a research pane directly within your document. Find information, cite your sources, and add pictures without ever really leaving your document. Great tool for teachers who want to make researching easier for students.

This is the first of three shows in which talk about Howard Rheingold's new book, Net Smart, How to Thrive Online.

Motivate and Engage Students with Web 2.0 Teaching Tools Hook even the most reluctant learners with Web 2.0 teaching tools. Boost your students' academic achievement with these Web 2.0 applications. Revitalize your lessons by integrating these instructional technology tools into your teaching plans.Web 2.0 sites come and go.

We might try this for making info graphics for our student newspaper

Great way to show data in a technology class. Appears to be very easy and user friendly. I might use this for our school webpage and suggest for online newspaper.

Four years ago we toured the Portland HS. They were all warm and fuzzy about their new 1:1 student laptops. We asked about blocking sites and they stated they were teaching responsible use over locking everything down. We must teach responsible use but everyone needs to realize that the lure of wasting time on connected devices is too much for many of them.

/we began our 1:1 initiative 5 years ago and each year we have a different image for the students. We have several eBooks and programs which are used for curriculum. Deep freeze was installed to prevent "distractions" and DyKnow is used by teachers to keep students on track. The district filters based on the State guidelines. Teaching guidelines really doesn't work, neither does locking the system--it prevents so much education using Web 2.0 tools. I'm not sure there is a happy balance unless the students are mature enough or afraid of consequences. Taking the tablet away hasn't helped either.

University students create videos for younger, k12 students to help inspire future computer science students. This is two fold. The process of creating the video also reinforces topics mastered while benefiting society.

This is amazing on so many levels. Thanks for sharing. For us- great teaching resources, but also a great learning tool for the MIT students.

" I know now the secret to using any piece of technology in the classroom is to begin with clear learning goals and intentions that are based on "big understandings." Once students know what they need to learn, they will often find a way to express their ideas. Providing tools such as iPads for students enables them to use the items and skills they use outside of the classroom to communicate their knowledge. Furthermore, they are building the skills and learning how to use the tools that they may be required to use in the workplace."

Textbooks, encyclopedias and newspapers are educational resources of the past. Today, students seek answers from the sky -- specifically, the clouds. A new way of using the Internet is making data limitless. It's called "cloud computing," and it's allowing educational institutions, businesses and individuals to keep more information at their fingertips than is possible with even a room full of computers.

Author Bernard Luskin indicates that most of today's literature refers to the physical changes in technology but as we learn more about human behavior and how people learn, it will dramatically impact the way we teach globally. The author provides 'key takeaways' from the article which all relate to media literacy. He explains that this new 'exploding' environment will impact the future of learning for all levels of education as the media, learning psychology, technologies become popular tools for learning. As we learn more from research and studies about media and how it relates to human behavior, it will increase the effectiveness of the ways technology is used in education. The author states that the 'big "E" is for "exciting, energetic, engaging, extended learning". He explains that E learning has and will continue to grow as a key in media literacy and the way people learn, study, individual behavior in society, and products that are produced. This interest in technology, media, communications and how humans learn has actually developed a new field of study, Media Psychology. The author supports the need for people to enter this field and recommends that we learn what e-learning is about and go beyond the electronic gizmos and gadgets.

The exploding new media and communications environment has implications for the future of both K-12 and adult learning as media, technology, and learning psychology increasingly become tools for learning in and outside the classroom. The new research area of media studies, i.e., the study of media effects, includes media psychology because an understanding of human behavior is vital to the effective use of technology in education.

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.

A very cool site that matches up iPad apps with learning objectives.

There are so many things out... some good, some bad, so when I find a resource that has done some of the leg work for me, I'm always interested.

Wow, What great tools? We are thinking about incorporating apps into the Web Development class next year. Very excellent sources and information. Thanks for sharing Sterling!