by Kathy Shrock

Regardless of how you feel about textbooks in this brave new world of open curricula and academic sharing and supereasy digital publishing, this may be the best time ever to be without them. The classroom texts (or courseware) that many of us may be unaware we are building have potential beyond the power of ordinary text. Here are textbook-growing strategies and portals for selecting text-y resources.

Classroom 2.0 Live Binders sessions with guest binders

Life in the 21st century provides a whole new world of opportunities for self-directed, passion-driven, personalized learning. Educators who are ready to move on from teaching the way they were taught, and have administrators who will let them, can begin supporting students using tools and strategies available to the 21st century learner. 

Tools Focused > Instruction Focused > Learner Focused

A list of tools that can be embedded in a wiki or blog

"The Starter Sheets are resources for the classroom teacher. The intention of each sheet is to introduce a tool, technology or activity that could be easily adapted for use in the classroom. Each sheet is created to a template design and should have the following features: * must be two pages * must have pictures that illustrate process and outcomes * process must be straight forward * must be simple to read and understand * must have clear benefits for the teacher in the classroom, the exemplar should be easy to adapt to a variety of classroom settings * must have an alternative - web based or application * must be linked to Bloom's Digital Taxonomy and Sensory learning styles using VARK"

It's not clear why Google doesn't treat Google Tasks as a standalone service: it's integrated with Gmail, Google Calendar, there's an iGoogle gadget and a mobile version, but no standalone interface. The most recent update is that the iGoogle gadget has a canvas view that's displayed when you maximize the gadget.

How to Make an Interactive Lesson Using Youtube