Learning and Teaching in the 21st Century

Tips for Teaching with Media

2009-10-06T00:48:00.006-04:00

Edutopia has published a very good resource, Ten Top Tips for Teaching with New Media. The technology suggestions are good, but what makes the publication most helpful are the specific suggestions for using the technology with your students.

Use VoiceThread to establish the idea of collaborative, productive activities early in the school year. Teach students how to use a start page such as iGoogle that they can access anywhere there is Internet accessibility and that will enable them to have their productivity tools available. Show students how to use Wordle to analyze their own writing. (The image posted in this blog is a Wordle of the blog's text.)

The suggestions continue. Download this PDF and see which ideas will work well in your classroom.

Photography Resolution Amended

2009-10-06T00:39:00.004-04:00

St. Francis of Assisi is considered by some to be the patron saint of animals. His special day in the church calendar is October 4. In our church we have a special blessing of our pets on that day. This friendly bunny was one of the pets blessed in our service this past Sunday (October 4).

Photography Resolution Amended

2009-09-30T02:17:00.003-04:00

No... I'm not confused about what season it is. I was at a museum that displays many of their items to sell... regardless of the season!

Be Creative with Your Photos

2009-09-30T01:25:00.003-04:00

I found an interesting way of telling a story... or illustrating a story... or several other fun ways to share information with text and photos. It's called scrapblog (http://www.scrapblog.com/). Their blog describes the product well...

Scrapblog is a free, web-based service for creating and sharing digital scrapbooks.

There are templates to help you start with simple contextual sets of instructions as you go through the building process. You can watch videos, too.

You get to play with photos, stickers, backgrounds, text and balloons, shapes, video, and frames. I used only the free ones, but some of the others were certainly tempting. After making choices of photos or stickers or shapes or whatever you can change your mind and revise your scrapbook. You are not locked into your choices.

I found many articles about the company and the product on the web... and they all seem to be positive.

An online scrapbook would be an interesting way to summarize and then publicize a field trip or a school year. A digital scrapbook would be a great way to invite parents to an open house or a school play. Whether you and your students are into scrapbooking or digital storytelling or just having fun with photos and video and audio, this application is worth investigating.

Photography Resolution Amended

2009-09-21T01:15:00.004-04:00

My daily photo resolution has turned into a weekly photo resolution. Maybe I'll do the daily photo next year. :) This photo shows a restaurant which has played an important role in the history of its town.

Access Music and Sound Clips for Multimedia Projects

2009-09-21T01:03:00.007-04:00

I have checked several options for finding sound files to legally use with multimedia projects... without much success. SoundSnap (http://www.soundsnap.com/) looks like it might be the answer. It has 100,000 sound effects and music loops... and was visited by more than 3,000,000 people last year.

I like the fact that SoundSnap is an online platform, so I don't have to download an application. If you consider using SoundSnap, be sure to check the terms of use with respect to age. This is an application for teachers and students 18 or older.

You must create an account to use SoundSnap. With the free account you can download up to five clips each month. There is a charge to download more; however, special rates are available for educators.

The sound files are organized in categories: animals, comic and film, exteriors, house, human, industry and machines, interiors, multimedia, music loops, music samples, nature, science fiction, sound art, sports, transport, and unreal ambiances. You can also find sounds you want to use through a search feature.

As I've tried other sources of sounds and music, I've found it challenging to find sounds and music that I like. Maybe it's my taste! But, it's been frustrating. I like what I'm finding at SoundSnap.

Check this music: click here!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shankarmenon/ / CC BY 2.0

Finding New Web 2.0 Websites

2009-09-14T02:39:00.003-04:00

I love shopping in office supplies stores. It's fun to find colorful, useful tools to use when working. Nowadays we often do our shopping online... and some of my new "tools" are web 2.0 websites. I have favorites (and I may list them in a future post), but I always enjoy checking out new sites.

If you, too, enjoy looking for new tools, you may find Web 2.0 Tools and Applications a fun... and useful... place to explore.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/toofarnorth/ / CC BY 2.0

Photography Resolution Amended

2009-09-14T02:34:00.005-04:00

I couldn't resist taking a photo of these two horses who were enjoying a Sunday afternoon as we were on a Sunday drive. They stood as still as statues except when you saw a tail swing at some insects!

Prepare for Constitution Day

2009-09-07T00:40:00.004-04:00

Constitution Day is celebrated in the USA on September 17. If you're looking for useful materials about the Constitution, you will be pleased to know that TeachersFirst has reviewed a very good site which provides Constitution resources for educators. You'll find lesson plans and activities in the links for teachers and students of all grade levels.

This site was created by the National Constitution Center, so it should be accurate and filled with good ideas! You'll find realtime and virtual activities, free materials and others that you can buy, games, lesson plans, and podcasts.

Check out this site at http://www.teachersfirst.com/single.cfm?id=10246

Constitution Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fl/ / CC BY 2.0

Fields Still Amaze Me

2009-09-06T23:12:00.003-04:00

I grew up in the city. So, large fields that seem to stretch on and on still amaze me. I haven't figured out yet what this particular crop is. It seems to have lots of little white blossoms. I didn't do anything to adjust the photo. It was just a bright sunny day and great for taking pictures.

One thing I've noticed as I've started taking photos again... I'm not going to be taking photos everyday for the remainder of the year as I started back in January. That was fun, but I have too many other projects going on to do that at the moment. So, for now, it's once a week.

Returning...

2009-08-31T22:26:00.005-04:00

Hello! I've been looking forward to returning to writing, sharing, and taking pictures. The time away has been busy with teaching workshops and working on a variety of projects.

Fall semester started today and I met with my first class. We're beginning the semester by learning how to use Inspiration in the classroom. It's a great product... and one that's useful for just about any grade level and any subject.

After class Phil and I drove around the area looking for interesting subjects to capture with a camera. We both took turns with the camera. He took some great shots of red barns. My favorite of the photos I took was this tree. I think you can see how the sunlight made it sparkle!

Where in the World is...

2009-06-07T22:02:00.015-04:00

Just a short note to my friends...

I'm in the midst of a six-month hiatus and will return before the end of August. I will be back with more ideas for using technology to help our students learn!

Jo

Classroom Management and Project-Based Learning

2009-02-23T01:17:00.006-05:00

A very useful article about classroom project management at Edutopia.org led me to an exciting fourth-grade web site. Terry Smith is the teacher of a class at Eugene Field Elementary in Hannibal, Missouri USA.

The classroom management article is well worth reading. The focus is on how you manage all the activity of both the students and you, the teacher, using techniques from industry, so that you can accomplish your goals. The techniques discussed do work. I can testify to that based on our use of them in the school district where I used to work. We used these ideas for everything from the classroom to the cafeteria, teachers to technology.

The article links to a Learning With Projects web page for Terry Smith’s class. This page links to projects pasts and present. Projects include class blogs, wiki pages, Taiwan, video conferences, Internet chess, world problems, using the XO – OLPC, Landmark project, monsters on the net, Monarch butterflies, coral reef project, an international writing project, and many more. Global friends that the students have made while working on these projects live in Taiwan, UK, Japan, Pakistan, Canada, South Africa, and the State of Washington. The home page for the class this year can be found at http://www.smithclass.org/index.html. You must explore this page to truly see these students’ projects.

“Kids use their thinking skills and communicate, plan, problem solve, create, and evaluate.”

If you want your students to learn and to think on a higher level, look at these ideas. If you want to integrate technology in the curriculum that you teach, start here. But, don’t think that these ideas are limited to the fourth-grade. Similar ideas can be used at any grade level.

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/gaelic-arts/234996346/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Photo Resolution... Day 46

2009-02-15T17:24:00.002-05:00

Pathway into the woods.

Journaling + Reflections + Technology = Thinking about Teaching

2009-02-14T23:37:00.006-05:00

An online resource for language arts describes several different ways to use journaling in the classroom.

Metacognitive Journal
Double Entry Journal
Reflective Journal
Dialectical Journal
Journal Activities
Response Journal
Learning Log
Synthesis Journal
Speculation About Effects Journal

The site provides ideas from which we can choose appropriate strategies for our own classrooms. As I examined the various descriptions, I saw ideas close to what I do in my classroom.

I ask my students to write reflections about various topics that we discuss. Our reflections have three parts: (1) description of the topic, (2) how the student will use it in his/her classroom as a teacher, and (3) the pros and cons the student sees in using the described topic.

In past semesters, these reflections were standalone assignments. Now, however, I ask the students to write these assignments in their blogs. If I were teaching high school students, I might ask them to post their reflections in comments to a blog that I maintained.

Julie Reed and Christopher Koliba in Facilitating Reflection: A Manual for Leaders and Educators state that

Journals are a written form of reflection in which students consider their service experience in light of specific issues, such as those contained in course content. Students can examine their thoughts and experiences through journals, and further the learning they have done in relation to the service.

I’m asking my students to reflect before they use these ideas in the classroom. And, of course, I hope they also reflect afterwards!

Before instructing students to complete journals, one must consider the learning objective that the journal is intended to meet.

I hope that my students discuss the ideas they learn in class with others in addition to thinking about the ideas themselves. By posting their initial reflections in their blogs, they are opening a door for communication and discussion with other educators (and pre-educators) throughout the world. They are also learning to be transparent. And, hopefully, this experience will set the stage for their involvement in collaboration with other educators.

Melissa Kelly, in an article about journaling for About.com, lists benefits of journaling, including

Sort out experiences, solve problems and consider varying perspectives.
Examine relationships with others and the world.
Reflect on personal values, goals, and ideals.
Summarize ideas, experience and opinions before and after instruction.
Witness his academic and personal growth by reading past entries.

I think that by writing the types of reflections that my students do in their blogs, they are learning about the topics, thinking about them before use, and doing so in an open manner that invites others to discuss the topics with them.

This method of journaling is not confidential. However, it is a good start for students to learn how to think through ideas before trying them in the classroom. And being able to comment on their blogs allows others and myself to discuss these ideas with them. I like the extra benefits that technology adds to the journaling/reflections assignments.

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/chrstphre/3141019947/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Photo Resolution... Day 45

2009-02-14T22:51:00.004-05:00

Corn crib.

Photo Resolution... Day 44

2009-02-13T19:24:00.002-05:00

Tree-lined drive. As a photo this should be lighter. As a study in colors and patterns I like the darkness.

Photo Resolution... Day 43

2009-02-12T23:40:00.002-05:00

Late night stop at Starbuck's

Photo Resolution... Day 42

2009-02-11T20:59:00.002-05:00

An evening ride on the new drive on campus

Photo Resolution... Day 41

2009-02-10T23:37:00.001-05:00

A pleasant surprise!

Photo Resolution... Day 40

2009-02-09T22:18:00.002-05:00

Hmm... can an artificial dracena be called a virtual dracena?

Photo Resolution... Day 39

2009-02-08T21:33:00.001-05:00

Can you buy buffalo burgers in your town?

EduHound... Lots of Resources for K12

2009-02-08T16:17:00.005-05:00

EduHound (http://www.eduhound.com/) is a site that has many collections of useful information for educators. I found lesson plans, games, toolkits, research, rubrics, templates, and more. I also found a few deadends, but not many.

A section on differentiated instruction includes planning suggestions, practical tips for the classroom, lesson plans, resources, sample units, learning styles, and explanations on the theory behind it all.

The inventions area has a variety of options including games for students. I did beat the computer at Brain Drain, but I had to work at it!

A communications toolkit is available for those working with Adequate Yearly Progress.

Data-Driven Instruction includes information from CoSN, NCREL, and others.

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Literacy section has maps to help you integrate ICT into the core subjects in addition to rubrics and research that indicates what works.

Lesson plans, an interactive tour, and related materials are available in the immigration area.

Lesson plans and resources from Maine can be found for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Free templates for PowerPoint are provided.

The section on Project-based Learning includes links, lesson plans, professional development, checklists, and student projects.

EduHound is a source for resources in these categories…

Administration
Adult Cont. Ed.
Arts
Back-to-School
Business
Culture & Religion
Early Childhood Ed
Educational & General
Employment
ESL & Foreign Language
Family
Grants & Funding
Guidance & Psychology
Health & P.E.
Holidays
Home Schooling
Kid Sites
Language Arts
Lesson Plans
Mathematics
Multimedia
Museums
Organizations
Publications
Reference
Safety & Security
School Supplies
School/Playground
Science
Seasonal Resources
Social Studies
Software
Special Education
Standards & Testing
Student Resources
Substitute Teaching
Teacher Resources
Technology
US Depts. of Education
Virtual Explorations
Vocational & Technical
WebQuests
Worksheets

I do lots of searching on the web for information. Sometimes I like to see what someone else thinks is the best of the many web sites available today. EduHound is a good tool for that.

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/and1/2615231317/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Photo Resolution... Day 38

2009-02-07T18:01:00.002-05:00

Trees. I can't wait to see leaves on these trees!

Photo Resolution... Day 37

2009-02-06T14:47:00.004-05:00

Shadows.

The geometry teacher in me loves lines and patterns.

And the photographer that is developing in me loves blue skies!

Photo Resolution... Day 36

2009-02-05T23:51:00.005-05:00

Desks in a one-room schoolhouse

Photo Resolution... Day 35

2009-02-05T00:01:00.001-05:00

A mouse for my utility photos.

And posted after midnight again. :(

Photo Resolution... Day 34

2009-02-03T23:38:00.003-05:00

There are times when I need photos of everyday objects for one purpose or another. I guess I might as well take them myself! So this numeric keypad is my photo of the day.

I learned this morning how to make a Flickr badge. It's really easy! The badge I posted this morning (lower right of the blog) has the January photos from my New Year's resolution to take and post one photo each day this year. At the end of February I'll add February's photos.

Thanks to Miguel Guhlin for the link!

Photo Resolution... Day 33

2009-02-02T23:10:00.005-05:00

A movie theater... and a blue sky!

Searching Strategies to Teach... Elementary and Older

2009-02-02T01:09:00.003-05:00

I've recently come across several helpful sites about teaching search strategies. Some of the ideas are best for elementary students; some, for secondary students.

(1) Web Searching Strategies for Elementary School Students

How can we help elementary students learn to search the web… safely and effectively? Silvia Tolisano shares some very helpful advice to help us consider appropriate tools, terms, and resources to help our elementary students learn about searching.

Thanks to Tim Lauer for sharing the link to this site!

(2) Site Specific Search

A Real Simple blog provides a simple (of course!) explanation of how to use Google’s site command.

(3) Teaching Internet Search Strategies

Richard M. Byrne shares several resources which help students learn how to use Boolean Logic when searching. Some resources are more appropriate for elementary students and some, for secondary students.

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/wwworks/2786242106/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Photo Resolution... Day 32

2009-02-01T22:22:00.006-05:00

It's amazing how some sunshine and warmer temperatures can make the snow look better!

Photo Resolution... Day 31

2009-01-31T11:43:00.001-05:00

A rare visitor to Ohio in the winter... the sun!

Photo Resolution... Day 30

2009-01-30T22:35:00.003-05:00

I've been wanting to experiment with the collage feature of Picnik... and tonight is the perfect time. I took several photos from the parking lot of a local church... and I wanted to use all of them as "the" photo of the day.

You can see the moon and Venus, three sides of a peace pole, and the temperature. I played with some of the features of the collage option. It's fun. And -- even in the free version of Picnik -- you have several choices of how you want to set up your collage.

I chose the background color, added a frame, decided how many photos I wanted to include, the layout, and how "kooky" (tilted) the photos should look. Fun!

Photo Resolution... Day 29

2009-01-29T18:58:00.010-05:00

Photos of snow-laden trees often don't look as lovely as they really are. The reason? White snow against a white sky. Now... if the sky were blue... But then we wouldn't have the white snow if the sky weren't white, also.

So, I decided to experiment. I did my usual tweaking with Picnik, but I couldn't figure out a way to turn the sky blue. Then I tried Photoshop Express. I had previously used Photoshop Express to turn a blue water lily purple, so I knew I could play with color.

You can see the result above. The first photo is the original after tweaking with Picnik. The second photo shows what happened after I used Photoshop Express to pop the color of the sky. (I also cropped the photo a bit.)

The sky is more blue. But the snow is, too. I think the result looks better. I wish I could turn the sky more blue without changing the color of the snow... and without paying the cost of Photoshop, of course! What do you think?

Photo Resolution... Day 28

2009-01-28T15:22:00.003-05:00

Around here folks call friends who spend the winter in Florida snow birds. I caught a different type of snow bird when I took pictures today.

I used a green arrow from Picnik to point out the snow bird in my photo.

Photo Resolution... Day 27

2009-01-27T23:21:00.002-05:00

End view of new dormitory

Photo Resolution... Day 26

2009-01-26T23:45:00.003-05:00

These critters occupy a local pharmacy.

Moby Dick and Language Education Conference

2009-01-26T00:05:00.007-05:00

Meg Guroff and Howard Vickers have shared information about activities with which they are involved... an annotated Moby-Dick and a conference in Second Life for language educators.

Power Moby-Dick, the Online Annotation
http://www.powermobydick.com/

What a great way to read a book… Read the text and have links ready for you to click for the words and phrases for which you would like explanations! Meg Guroff shared with me her web site about Moby-Dick. I’m impressed!

Guroff has annotated the entire text of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. In addition, there are several resources available, a message board, current information and photos related to Moby-Dick, a glossary, and notes on the text.

You can visit the site’s FaceBook page or follow it on Twitter.

If you teach Moby-Dick or you just enjoy the book, be sure to explore this site!

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/fdecomite/2985890153/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

SLanguages 2009 Conference
http://www.slanguages.net

Howard Vickers of Avatar Languages sent information about an upcoming conference for language education in virtual worlds. This is the third year for this free virtual conference that is held in Second Life. Check the Slide Share presentation (below) for more information.

SLanguages 2009 Conference - 8&9 May 2009

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: tesol tefl)

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/grahamstanley/468512050/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Photo Resolution... Day 25

2009-01-25T15:54:00.002-05:00

I needed to make some background elements disappear in this photo, so I played with Picnik a bit, including adding a frame. I use Picnik frequently, but usually just to tweak photos to make up for something I did not accomplish with my camera. After playing this afternoon with Picnik, I think I need to explore some of the many other effects possible with it.

Photo Resolution... Day 24

2009-01-24T20:27:00.004-05:00

Getting ready for a birthday party

Photo Resolution... Day 23

2009-01-23T23:16:00.003-05:00

This small pond outside a business in a nearby town is lovely in good weather when the fountain is working. At the moment it is covered with snow and ice. What caught our attention, however, are the large spots of lichens on one of the rocks.

Photo Resolution... Day 22

2009-01-22T21:18:00.006-05:00

More experiments with night shots.

Photo Resolution... Day 21

2009-01-21T20:47:00.005-05:00

This evening I experimented with taking photos at night. And then I played with Picnic to see how I might enhance them.

Photo Resolution... Day 20

2009-01-21T00:26:00.004-05:00

I am drawn to books on shelves... both because I like to read and because of the geometry teacher in me. I love all those parallel and perpendicular lines!

Note: I'm posting after midnight again... my USB connection glitched. :(

Photo Resolution... Day 19

2009-01-19T23:12:00.008-05:00

Phil and I drove through a couple parks today, looking for subjects for my photo of the day. I took more than two dozen shots... a flag, lots of geese, a Mallard duck, a bridge, and the McKinley Monument. Several of the photos are interesting. My favorite, however, is this one because it shows families playing and enjoying this winter day while paying respect to a former president of the USA.

Google Reader Videos Explain Basics

2009-01-19T01:30:00.005-05:00

Using Google Reader is an easy way to keep up with blogs and other web sites. Read the news, read blogs, share items with others… all for free. It’s so much more efficient to have the content you want to read pushed to you rather than your having to search for it.

Are you just beginning to use Google Reader? Or are you teaching someone about it? You have some help now.

Google has begun posting videos that explain some of the basics. Upcoming videos will also cover some advanced features.

You can access the videos through Google Reader’s help section. The three that are available now are Getting Started with Google Reader, Reading Feeds with Google Reader, and Sharing Items with Google Reader.

I’ll take advantage of these videos a week from now as my students begin to use Google Reader as part of their personal learning network.

Thanks to Josh Lowensohn at CNET News for sharing about the Google videos.

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/pandemia/457723666/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Photo Resolution... Day 18

2009-01-18T23:24:00.004-05:00

Old iron bookend... Abraham Lincoln

Photo Resolution... Day 17

2009-01-17T21:32:00.002-05:00

Rick's painting

Photo Resolution... Day 16

2009-01-16T17:56:00.001-05:00

Icicles outside the front door... on a very cold day.

Photo Resolution... Day 15

2009-01-15T23:44:00.002-05:00

Cold and snowy winter day.

Photo Resolution... Day 14

2009-01-14T22:03:00.002-05:00

Another of our cats. This one likes to show off as a "cute" cat. Even though she has gorgeous green eyes, her name is Blue because her eyes were a pretty blue when she was a kitten.

Photo Resolution... Day 13

2009-01-14T00:54:00.003-05:00

This photo was taken on the 13th (honest!), but posted on the 14th. I teach in two... well, actually three... separate labs. This is one of them.

Photo Resolution... Day 12

2009-01-12T23:03:00.004-05:00

This is my first attempt to shoot a statue. I was close enough that the detail should have looked good. But it doesn't. So, I need to find out more about taking this kind of photo.

Photo Resolution... Day 11

2009-01-11T15:05:00.003-05:00

We just had a two-day snowstorm. Not as much snow as forecasted, but enough to make even a bald cypress look pretty in the winter.

Photo Resolution... Day 10

2009-01-10T15:36:00.003-05:00

Bromeliads have vibrant color. I think this photo captures that.

Update: These flowers belong to a Christmas cactus rather than a bromeliad.

Technology Integration in the Classroom

2009-01-10T00:18:00.004-05:00

Classrooms@Work, Tools@Hand is a site designed to share examples of technology integration in the classroom.

The lesson plans are described from the planning process to the actual integration. You can read or view a complete overview, learning goals, student group work, technology strategies, assessments, content standards, and more.

The following lessons are shared:

• Animal Research Report presents Char Soucy's 1st grade classroom where students build reading and writing skills while learning about an animal they choose.
• Travel USA presents Jane Krauss' 4th/5th grade classroom where student travel agents prepare a travel itinerary for a German family coming to the USA.
• It's a Wild Ride presents an 8th grade interdisciplinary science, math and language arts project where students design an ultimate roller coaster to save a local theme park from bankruptcy.
• Global Challenge presents Peter Knowles' 9th grade Social Studies classroom where students take on a research challenge related to Latin America.

In addition to using these model lessons to gather ideas for your own teaching, you may want to use them as part of a professional development opportunity. The site provides suggestions for that, too. I plan to share this site with my students when we discuss technology integration and with teachers when I present workshops.

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/editor/2667559103/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

History of the Internet

2009-01-10T00:02:00.003-05:00

The history of the Internet is interesting. Defense, research, communications all played a role in the Internet’s beginning. Rather than just read about this history, you can now view a fascinating presentation. This documentary was created by Melih Bilgil as part of his work toward earning an advanced degree in graphic design. Click here to go to Stewart Mader’s blog where he shares the story.

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/mwichary/2202513987/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Photo Resolution... Day 9

2009-01-09T23:52:00.003-05:00

This may look like an unusual photo to choose as the one I want to share today. The reason I'm excited about it is because I was able to catch the fire engine as it sped by our car. The shutter lag that my camera usually displays is frustrating. I'm trying to learn to set up the focus and point toward where my target will be... and then complete the shot when the target is in view. I succeeded in this shot! Yay!

Photo Resolution... Day 8

2009-01-08T19:28:00.005-05:00

This schoolhouse was renovated by the local historical society with the help of the community. It is used by the school district to teach students about local history. This shot was taken on a snowy afternoon.

Photo Resolution... Day 7

2009-01-08T00:01:00.004-05:00

Old business files in a museum... taken on day 7 but posted just after midnight!

Photo Resolution... Day 6

2009-01-06T21:31:00.003-05:00

It's been an icy, snowy day... and not very sunny. The red berries on these trees on campus looked very pretty against the light of the sky.

Photo Resolution... Day 5

2009-01-05T16:06:00.002-05:00

I was curious how well a snapshot of the monitor's screen would work. Actually, it's not as bad as I expected.

I quickly learned to turn off the flash. Left on, there was a large reflection in the middle of the photo.

But, I truly cannot think of a good reason for taking this type of photo. Skitch does such a good job! Oh, well. It was an interesting experiment.

Teaching about Phishing in Two Steps

2009-01-04T23:42:00.007-05:00

How do you help folks to avoid being fooled by a phishing attempt?

In an earlier posting I recommended using CommonCraft's video which explains what phishing is. That's a good start.

However, this evening I discovered a good follow-up to that.

Hot Hardware shared news of a phishing scam that hit Twitter. The article also provided a link to Anti-Phishing Phil, an interactive game that helps players learn to recognize phishing URLs.

Playing Anti-Phishing Phil is a very good second step to help learn how to avoid being fooled.

So, when I teach about phishing this semester, I will...

share the CommonCraft video on phishing and
encourage my students to play Anti-Phishing Phil.

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/cnbattson/3092362396/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/deed.en

Photo Resolution... Day 4

2009-01-04T20:25:00.003-05:00

As you can tell from the last few postings, I’m having fun with my New Year’s resolution to take and post at least one photo per day.

I’m trying to see mindfully as Bud the Teacher (and D’Arcy Norman) have suggested.

In fact, after reading BTT’s comments, I realized one reason why my husband is such a good photographer. He is much more aware of detail than I am when he looks at anything. He’s also very creative. He sees mindfully.

BTW, today's photo is a parchment poinsettia from our church's Christmas decorations.

SMARTBoard Blog Shares Many Resources

2009-01-03T23:18:00.006-05:00

I have been reading some of the blogs that won EduBlog awards for 2008. Some will join my Google Reader list and some will become popular with my spring semester instructional technology students as they read and comment on blogs. One of the blogs —Teachers Love Smartboards— will become popular in another course I teach and in which we use a Smartboard. The archives go back to August 2007, so I have a lot to explore! Topics include art, games, history, language arts, logic, mathematics, science, lesson plans, tips and tricks, training videos, social studies, and special education. Blogger James Hollis shares the purpose for his blog…

The mission of this blog is simple. Share information and resources so teachers will utilize their SMART Boards in a way that increases learning in the classroom. That's why I end each of my posts with "Sharing is Caring!"

Hollis shares many resources for Smartboards on his blog. Frequently, he summarizes what he has written in lists... lesson activities, lesson resources, 2008 top five lists. Those lists and his categories make it easier to find ideas to use in the classroom.

If you use a Smartboard--or will soon be--this blog should be a good resource!

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/barretthall/2870833301/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Photo Resolution... Day 3

2009-01-03T19:35:00.001-05:00

Wreath (created by Phil) in my office at the university

Photo Resolution... Day 2

2009-01-02T16:29:00.003-05:00

Die Kotz, the oldest of the cats

A New Year's Resolution Begun!

2009-01-01T20:47:00.004-05:00

I don't usually post during the week, but I just had to share the first instance in one of my resolutions for the new year. I resolved to take and post at least one photo every day in 2009.

Keturah, one of our cats, is the subject on this first day of that resolution.

Only 364 to go!

Reaching Toward Goals for 2009

2008-12-28T15:23:00.003-05:00

It’s time to start making New Year’s resolutions. My first is to take at least one photo each day during 2009. I read of a similar resolution by several bloggers last year. So, this year it’s my turn. I plan to post the photos on Flickr! and/or this blog. The idea for this resolution comes from the question — “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” — and its answer — “Practice!” I figure that the more photos I take, the better I’ll become as a photographer. We’ll see if I’m correct.

My second resolution is to maintain zero inboxes for email. I’m pretty good at doing that for my RSS reader, but not so good with my email. So, that means I have between now and December 31 to clear out my email inboxes. I think I’ll be busy!

Those two resolutions will require that I develop new habits. A third resolution will be a lot more fun. I want my students to become networked students with their own personal learning networks. (See here for my blog entry about this topic.) I’ve begun working on this one. One of the early projects for some of my students during spring semester 2009 is to create a movie of photos rather than of video clips. I’m so used to viewing this type of movie that it always surprises me when I’m reminded that many of my students have never seen movies created with only photos. Last week I created a short “photo” movie that explains briefly what we’ll be doing and also serves as a model of the first movie that I expect the students to create.

These three resolutions are going to keep me very busy this year!

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/paulworthington/82648702/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Sometimes the Most Detail is Not the Best Choice

2008-12-19T23:54:00.005-05:00

When I first learned about posting photographs on the web, another educator with whom I was working objected when I said that she should save her JPG photo at an 8 out of 10 quality. She wanted to know why she shouldn’t save it at the “best” quality of 10 out of 10. I needed to explain why the “best” wasn’t really the best choice.

When students—and adults—learn about posting photos on the web, there are several topics they need to understand. File format and size, pixels, thumbnails, photo resolution, scanning, JPG quality and compression, cumulative distortion, and design guidelines are issues that should be discussed.

I know about these things, but I didn’t use my knowledge recently as I was trying to quickly post some photos on a wiki for a community group. You know, of course, what the result was… good pictures… once they loaded. I wonder if any of the community folks hung around long enough to see the result after the photos did finally load!

Thank goodness for Dennis Benson, a friend who was working on the wiki with me. He modified the photos so that they had both quality and speed. And he shared with me a web site — http://www.zyworld.com/webphoto/pages/print.htm — that I’ll use with my students to provide very simple guidelines for posting photos on the web.

What do you use to help your students take and use better photos?

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/2087094553/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Tech Savvy Awards Deadline Extended

2008-12-17T14:35:00.002-05:00

One of the blogs I follow is that of the National Center for Family Literacy. (Note: If you're wondering why you don't see it listed on this blog, that's because my blog listings and my RSS feeder listings have each taken on a life of their own. Maybe I'll get the two listings coordinated during Christmas vacation!) This organization has an interesting awards program in progress that you may want to investigate... and they have extended the deadline. Meg Ivey of this family literacy group wants to share information of this awards program and its extended deadline with as many folks as possible... and asked me to share it with my readers. I'm glad to help, Meg!

The National Center for Family Literacy announced today that it is extending nominations for the national 2009 Verizon Tech Savvy Awards until Jan. 12, 2009. NCFL extended the deadline in recognition that so many education programs are struggling with reduced budgets, which makes the award money even more important.

The Tech Savvy Awards are the first national awards to honor programs that improve parents and children’s understanding and use of technology. Four $5,000 regional awards and one $25,000 national award will be presented.

For a copy of the 2009 Verizon Tech Savvy Awards nomination form and a map of the regions, visit http://www.famlit.org/techsavvyawards . The deadline for submissions is midnight EST Jan. 12.

Students and Their Personal Learning Networks

2008-12-15T06:35:00.000-05:00

As teachers we’re learning to build personal learning networks, but are we teaching our students to do the same? I just viewed a video on Steve Dembo’s Teach42:Education and Technology blog that will help me do that next semester. Check it out here.

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/purpleslog/516283902/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Learning about Literature, US History, and Poetry with Shmoop

2008-12-06T23:57:00.000-05:00

This evening I wanted to stop what I was doing and read a book. In fact, I wanted to re-read The Old Man and the Sea. And then I wanted to read about the Great Depression.

What led to those ideas? I was exploring shmoop’s web site.

Shmoop focuses on the relevance of literature and history to today’s students, middle school and above. They say that their mission is to “make learning and writing more fun and relevant for students in the digital age.” In my opinion, students aren’t the only ones who will find this site interesting and fun.

Even their blog is fun to read. Recent entries are titled “Why Should I Care About…” followed by the name of a novel that they relate to people and popular culture that today’s students recognize.

In the literature area, they expand upon 115 novels at this point. You can sort the novels by author or by title and view them as a list or by cover flow. After you choose a novel, you can choose to read and learn beginning with an introduction (“in a nutshell” and “why should I care?”) to the novel, and then a summary, themes, quotations, plot analysis, study questions, characters, literary devices, did you know, and best of the web.

Fifty US history topics are covered. After you choose a topic, you can read an introduction, an in-depth explanation, a timeline, people, did you know, best of the web (books, movies and TV, music, photos, audio and video, historical documents), and citations.

In the poetry section, I looked for Carl Sandburg among the 30 poems, but unfortunately they don’t have any of his poetry yet. I’ve not read much by E.E. Cummings, so I read about one of his poems. After you choose a poem, you can explore an introduction, the poem, summary, technique, themes, quotations, study questions, did you know, best of the web, and how to read a poem.

Once you’re in shmoop, you can put Stickies, Clippings, or Paper Outlines on any page and access them in your Folders. A dictionary is available to define words you select on the web site. You can also enter into a discussion (asynchronous) with others.

The literature section has a guide to help you write a paper. A free cram sheet and aids for review are available in the US history area. In the poetry area you can search for words that are displayed in a word cloud.

Launched on November 11, 2008, shmoop is beta. In fact, they state that they “still have miles to go.” But, it looks like a great start for a web site that both teachers and students can use as they work with literature, US history, and poetry.

It will be interesting to watch what new subjects they add.

Name Your Files So They Can Be Found

2008-11-28T15:04:00.006-05:00

Erin Doland shares a good idea for naming computer files on a recent Real Simple blog.

Doland suggests that the combination of consistently- and appropriately-named files/folders with a good desktop search program such as Google Desktop will allow you to find whatever file you need.

Doland uses file names such as 081125-project-client. I like the use of the date in the name. By using a year-month-date approach, the files will sort chronologically. I use the date as part of some of my filenames, but I use 20081125 (all four digits of the year) because some of my files are pre-2000.

I find that I use the date as part of the file name for (1) files that refer to events that occur on an annual or otherwise recurring basis and (2) photo albums. So, I have files such as Fireside Chat 20080313 and Fireside Chat 20080626 for a community organization. My photo albums name the event and the date… Thanksgiving 20081127. I plan now to consider using the date in other filenames as well. And I might begin the filename with the date rather than end it with the date. That would assure the chronological ordering even better.

So, how do you name your files?

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/librarianavengers/413762956/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Print a Web Page as You Want

2008-11-24T00:46:00.002-05:00

Did you ever want to print a web page, but didn’t want to waste paper on all the ads and portions of the article that you didn’t need? Or you could print just the portion of the article that you wanted… except that it printed in narrow columns with big areas of white space?

While reading Tim Lauer’s blog (http://timlauer.org/) I discovered Print What You Like.com (http://www.printwhatyoulike.com), a site that lets you save as a PDF those portions of a web page that you want… and then you can print the PDF.

Try it. It’s easy. It’s free. And it works!

Professional Information and Weekly Address

2008-11-17T00:16:00.001-05:00

Professional Information

The TeachersFirst site is always a good source of sites to use when teaching. However, it also provides other useful information. When you follow the trail Professional > Staying Current > Outside Sources, you find links to all the State Departments of Education (USA) and the state education standards. At the same spot you can also find links to many professional education organizations and current information on grants and contests. This is certainly a good site to bookmark.

Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com

Weekly Address from President-elect Obama

Http://change.gov is the official website during the transition of President-elect Obama and his team. News, events, and announcements will be available here during the transition period.

Weekly addresses will also be found here—and on YouTube, AOL, Yahoo, and MSN—in addition to being broadcast on the radio. It appears that the transcripts are also included. These weekly updates will continue during the transition period and then also from the White House. This is the first time that a weekly update has been released as a web video.

Current events should be much easier to discuss with this new source.

Field Trips Too Expensive This Year? Try a Virtual Tour!

2008-11-10T01:28:00.001-05:00

Do you and your students want to travel to a museum, a city, a country, the solar system? How about a virtual tour? Would you like your students to create their own virtual tour?

Here's a few of the sites available for virtual tours:

Franklin Institute Science Museum
Museum of Science and Industry
American Museum of Natural History
Worldwide Museum of Natural History
American Red Cross Virtual Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Vanderbilt Museum
Easter Island
The Nine (8) Planets
The Whitehouse
The Virtual Cave
Dark Ages
Poet’s Pantry Tour
Africa

Dianne Krause of the Wissahickon School District in Pennsylvania has created a list of virtual tours which includes many that I have not seen elsewhere. This list is definitely worth exploring!

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/striatic/19839430/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Common Craft Video Explains Phishing

2008-11-02T23:11:00.002-05:00

No Phishing

Information literacy is one component of digital citizenship. Included in information literacy is the ability to recognize dangers online... and one of those dangers is phishing.

Common Craft has produced a video--Phishing Scams in Plain English--which does a very good job of explaining phishing.

I have embedded the video here for you to view. It can also be accessed at YouTube.

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/62327186@N00/2538390229/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

About Me

2008-11-02T06:03:00.002-05:00

Hello! My name is Jo Schiffbauer. I believe in lifelong learning. With that in mind, I designed this blog as a series of technology tips for educators—tips that provide ideas for learning, teaching, and using digital skills.

Students should be actively involved in their learning and they should have authentic audiences for their work. The use of technology—especially many web 2.0 applications—supports this type of learning and teaching.

I am a former teacher (mathematics and computer science) and director of technology. Currently I am an adjunct instructor in instructional technology for preservice teachers at a local university and I teach graduate workshops for teachers. With Ohio’s Project Discovery I provided professional development designed to reform both the teaching and learning of mathematics education. I have presented to local, state, and regional groups about mathematics and technology education and I have served on the boards of local and state mathematics and technology education organizations.

If you would like to contact me, I am available at Jo.Schiffbauer@gmail.com.

Thank you for visiting Learning and Teaching in the 21st Century.

FiveThirtyEight... electoral projections

2008-10-26T08:39:00.002-04:00

FiveThirtyEight: Electoral Projections Done Right.

If your passion is elections (USA), polls, or statistics, then this site will most likely interest you!

Here’s an example of what the folks behind the site do…

"The basic process for computing our Presidential projections consists of six steps:
1. Polling Average: Aggregate polling data, and weight it according to our reliability scores.
2. Trend Adjustment: Adjust the polling data for current trends.
3. Regression: Analyze demographic data in each state by means of regression analysis.
4. Snapshot: Combine the polling data with the regression analysis to produce an electoral snapshot. This is our estimate of what would happen if the election were held today.
5. Projection: Translate the snapshot into a projection of what will happen in November, by allocating out undecided voters and applying a discount to current polling leads based on historical trends.
6. Simulation: Simulate our results 10,000 times based on the results of the projection to account for the uncertainty in our estimates. The end result is a robust probabilistic assessment of what will happen in each state as well as in the nation as a whole."

You will see maps, charts, graphs, and commentary as you check out today’s polls, pollster ratings, Senate polls and projections, and electoral history. This site will be interesting to follow during the next ten days.

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/sskennel/381727973/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

iTunes U has Many Good Resources We Can Use

2008-10-18T01:03:00.000-04:00

Have you examined the resources available at iTunes U? To navigate there, launch iTunes. (It’s a free download.) Then click on iTunes U in the iTunes Store.

Several options are provided for us to search for content.

On the left side is a list of categories (business, engineering, fine arts, health and medicine, history, humanities, language, literature, mathematics, science, social science, society, teaching and education). We can explore through the offerings in each category.

Educational providers are listed in three types: universities and colleges, beyond campus, and K-12. (Beyond Campus consists of educational providers such as the Brooklyn Museum, Edutopia, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, WETA, and the New York Public Library.) We can wander through the offerings in each of these three types to find some great resources.

Some examples of what I found follow.

In the K-12 type, I found these interesting podcasts:

Paradise Valley USD: Information Literacy > The SMHS Media Center > How to use our library for 9th-graders
(book) … A Day No Pigs Would Die > circle map > main character
Tempe Elementary Mathematics > Quantitative Quandries > description of a unit for students strong in mathematics
(student work) Conexiones > Catch the Dream opening video > community outreach program for children in under-served communities, K12 outreach of Arizona State University
Maine > Inquiry in Science > PD enhanced podcast
… Teaching and Learning with Digital Text > PD enhanced podcast

As I wandered through the categories, I found these:

Meet the Author: Interviews with Children’s Books Authors and Illustrators… video interviews / audio interviews / transcripts…
Nanotechnology… University of Oxford… explore the nanoworld… look at the research…
Indianapolis Museum of Art… American Art… the earliest art of the Americas with approximately 200 more recent works…
The Great Depression and WWII… short video clips with audio lectures… discussion of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the New Deal, and World War II… links to Great Depression resources including primary source documents, learning tools, visual aids, and resources

Some of the podcasts I found were simple without sophisticated techniques… and still they managed to serve their purposes. Others were quite impressive and instructive and used very skilled techniques. Having access to these podcasts and videos for free allows us to supplement our courses with some outstanding resources. This is also a great way for us to keep learning!

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/15319336@N07/2060971197/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

K12 Online Conference 2008: Amplifying Possibilities... It's Now!

2008-10-13T09:25:00.000-04:00

The K12 Online Conference 2008 begins today.

Don't miss it!

http://k12onlineconference.org/

IAE-pedia Resources

2008-10-11T10:37:00.002-04:00

David Moursund’s IAE-pedia (http://iae-pedia.org/Main_Page) provides a variety of resources for educators. I’ll list a few of them here, but you’ll want to visit the site to see more.

A List of Five-Minute Workshops (short videos)
topics include Second Life, Google Docs, PowerPoint, the last day of class, embedding resources in wikis, eClips, virtual office hours, a vision of students today, learning styles, podcasting

Creating short hybrid videos (slides with voice-overs)
short hybrid videos might be described as a subset of a project page or of a curriculum page unit

PBL (Project-Based Learning)
good instruction and resources are available

MathNEXUS
good resources for mathematics education
dedicated to increasing achievement, especially with a diverse population
new resources are added weekly for…

Problem of the Week
Quote of the Week
Statistic of the Week
Website of the Week
Math Person of the Week
Resource of the Week
Golden Oldie of the Week
Calendar: Events and Birthdays

Note: don’t skip this section as just another “problem of the week”… these are really good!

David Moursund (free) books
Twenty-six of David Moursund’s more than 50 books are available free

The IAE-pedia is a project of Information Age Education, a non-profit organization created by Dave Moursund, and of the Science Factory, a children’s museum and planetarium in Eugene, Oregon.

Clip Art: http://www.pppst.com/clipart.html

Teaching and Learning in Style

2008-10-05T14:41:00.004-04:00

Are you a proponent of learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) as a concept we can use to improve both teaching and learning for many individuals? Whether your answer is yes or no, you will find some good ideas in Heather Johnson's article.

The Art of Learning Better: 101 Tips to Find and Fit Your Learning Style provides suggestions for preservice and inservice teachers as we’re learning new ideas. Ideas presented encourage us to use our personal learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) as we learn. That’s a great idea. However, we can also use these recommendations to help us reach students with different learning styles as we teach.

For each learning style, Heather Johnson provides ideas for organization, in class activities, studying, and using other learning methods.

Visual learners understand better when ideas are represented visually: pictures, drawings, graphs, charts, even text. Johnson recommends the use of color coding, making lists, sketching, creating a timeline or an outline, watching videos, creating mind maps, using the computer, keeping things quiet, and many other ideas.

Auditory learners prefer hearing new ideas; so, sounds work well for them. That includes music and talking as well as other sounds. Tips for auditory learners include creating auditory cues and leaving yourself audio messages, participating in discussions, asking for things to be repeated, studying with others, using audio books, creating oral stories that include the ideas you want to remember, creating songs, watching videos, listening to podcasts and music, using headphones, creating rhymes, and other tips.

Kinesthetic learners need to learn with hands-on opportunities. Interactive computer programs or web sites as well as labs or demonstrations work well for them. These learners benefit from using notebooks with distinct surfaces, being active, using the computer, interacting with teachers and other learners, chewing gum, typing notes, going on field trips, taking lab classes, studying in short blocks of time and with others, participating in role play, drawing, creating models, tracing letters, moving while studying, making learning aids such as quizzes or flash cards, and many other ideas suggested.

I can’t help but think about ideas previously discussed in this blog as I look at some of Johnson’s suggestions…

Audio Books: LearnOutLoud
Audio Messages: Odiogo.com
Charts: Gliffy
Creating Songs: GarageBand (Mac only)
Drawings: Comic Life, Kerpoof!, Glogster
Field Trips: National History Education Clearinghouse, search for field trip at the top left of the blog web page and click Search Blog
Graphs: LearningScience.org, TimeForKids.com
Music: GarageBand (Mac only)
Pictures: Creative Commons, check the clip art label to the right, Kerpoof!, Dumpr, LunaPic, Picnik
Podcasts: Gabcast, check the podcast label to the right for many resources
Quizzes: ClassTools
Timelines: HyperHistory Online, Xtimeline
Typing Notes: Word, Google Docs, many others
Videos: Kerpoof!, LearnOutLoud, TeacherTube, YouTube, UnitedStreaming
Web Sites: check the web sites label to the right

BTW, there are two ways to search for ideas in this blog. First, you can simply click on any of the labels listed in the right sidebar below the listed blogs. The second way to search for an idea is to use the search box at the top left of the page. Type what you want to search for in the search box and then click on Search Blog.

These tips for working with learning styles are found at Teaching Tips, a web site for both preservice and inservice teachers.

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/lindah/329179351/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Clipping the Web

2008-09-26T23:30:00.007-04:00

I have enjoyed and learned much from the online courses in which I have participated. I have appreciated being able to access the courses at times and places convenient for me. I like the fact that I can send communications to my instructors at whatever time works best for me… and my experience has been that they respond to me quickly.

I recently read an article in Education Week about online learning. I wasn’t interested in bookmarking the entire web page. However, there were a few quotations that I thought I’d like to keep for use in future discussions of the subject.

Clipmarks.com (http://clipmarks.com/) allows me to do just that… to save text clippings or even images and videos on a web page. So I clipped some comments that I wanted to keep and posted them to Delicious so I could access them later. I could also post them to FriendFeed, Twitter, Facebook, iGoogle, or a Netvibes home page.

I can view my clipping on my Clipmarks page. If I choose to make my clippings public, I can view them on the public Clipmarks page. I can post them to my blog—several blogging platforms are supported—or email them to friends or print them. Here’s the clips I posted to this blog.

clipped from blogs.edweek.org

One must have a level of maturity that usually only comes with chronological age to engage in such a responsibility.

Overall, I found the experience GREAT! I believe it helped me to grow intellectually in the way of technological intelligence and in my abstract and critical thinking.

But I don't miss at all the distractions, the unavoidable traffic and parking, the need to make an appointment with a professor who is only available 3-5 pm twice a week.

In order to use Clipmarks, I installed an extension for Firefox. Extensions are also available for Internet Explorer and Flock. To clip, I first click the green clip button. Then I highlight what I want and click the clip button to select it. When I have finished clipping, I click Done Clipping and choose what I am going to do with my clippings—save, blog, email, or print them.

I can follow someone by choosing him/her as a Guide. That way I can see what that individual clips.

I can place a widget of my clips to a MySpace page, blog, or other site. I chose to put a widget on my iGoogle page.

Why would I—or you—want to use Clipmarks? The testimonials listed on the Clipmarks page suggest these reasons:

archive information
store information that interests me
stay up-to-date on a topic
share ideas that I think are important
clip and save part of a page
clip and save text, graphics, and YouTube videos
save directly to your blog
e-mail something you just read to a friend

I particularly like the fact that I can save my clippings to Delicious. That way I can access the information I clipped to use it for future work. And the ease of posting clippings to my blog is useful. I haven’t succeeded in posting to my wiki automatically yet. I would like that!

I also like being able to save portions of a web page to my Delicious account. When I pull up the information later when I’m researching a particular topic, I won’t have to re-read the entire page to find the information I wanted to keep.

K12 Online Conference 2008: Amplifying Possibilities

2008-09-20T23:14:00.001-04:00

The K12 Online Conference 2007 provided some of the very best professional development that I experienced last year. My understanding of personal learning networks increased as did my perspective on using cell phones as classroom learning tools. Liz Kolb shared so many great ideas about using cell phones in the classroom! And thanks to Vinnie Vrotny I tested the waters of a professional learning network. I began using Gabcast for my work and introduced it to my students. I learned more about Web 2.0 and understood more about using it in the classroom.

It’s almost time for the K12 Online Conference 2008. Considering how much I learned last year, I want to very strongly encourage you to participate in this year’s conference. Educators (all volunteers) have designed this conference for educators. I expect that the presentations and conversations from this year’s conference will do the same that last year’s did: help us incorporate new technologies into the teaching and learning processes.

This year’s conference uses the theme Amplifying Possibilities and begins with a pre-conference keynote during the week of October 13. That is followed by two weeks of presentations, October 20-24 and October 27-31. There is no cost for participating in the conference and conference materials are covered by a Creative Commons license. Are you busy with other projects those weeks? You can view the presentations later in online archives. In fact, there are 82 past presentations archived and viewable from the K12 Online 2006 and K12 Online 2007 conferences.

This year’s conference has four strands. Quoting briefly from the conference materials, these strands and their purposes follow.

Getting Started: Everything you wanted to know about getting started with web 2.0 technologies for learning but were afraid to ask.
Kicking It Up a Notch: This strand amplifies ways new technologies can be used to transform classroom and personal learning.
Prove It: What are “best practices” for teaching and learning with the new participatory media?
Leading the Change: Presentations in this strand will both showcase successful strategies as well as amplify critical issues which must be addressed for innovative learning methods to be adopted by teachers, librarians, and administrators on a more widespread basis.

Mark these dates on your calendar and join me at the K12 Online Conference 2008!

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/aliedwards/2054506662/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Dumpr Creates Unique Photo Effects

2008-09-13T02:29:00.000-04:00

Create your own Rubik's Cube

John Evans posted some interesting sites on Leader Talk recently. I haven’t investigated all the sites yet, but I had fun with the one I did visit.

Museum by dumpr.net

Dumpr (http://www.dumpr.net) is a utility for photos. You select one of several effects, upload a photo, and Dumpr creates a unique product using your photo.

You may create as many effects as you wish. Most of the effects are free; however, some are available for Pro users only. You don’t have to have an account to use Dumpr. But, if you do register, you can add titles and descriptions and re-use recently-uploaded photos. Dumpr supports JPEG, GIF, and PNG formats. Users must be at least 13 years old.

If you do sign up for a Pro account ($12 yearly), you can use some effects that are not available for free accounts, you see no more ads, and you can embed directly to blogs and some social networks.

Check out the photo effects that I very quickly created.

Create your own Easter Egg at dumpr.net

Annenberg Produces Multimedia Mathematics Series

2008-09-13T02:01:00.002-04:00

I am always impressed by the products that Annenberg Media produces. Mathematics Illuminated (http://www.learner.org/channel/courses/mathilluminated/) is no exception.

Mathematics Illuminated is an interesting series about key themes in mathematics. The content is geared for adults, including high school teachers. As I examined the series, I also found sections that can be used effectively by middle school teachers. I would have loved to have this series available when I was teaching mathematics! The goals for those participating in the course are that they:

"recognize the fundamental role of mathematics in all intellectual and artistic pursuits"
"appreciate that mathematics can help us illuminate, define, and predict the world around us"
"develop a better understanding of the nature of mathematics"

Units in the series include primes, combinatorics, infinity, topology, symmetry, geometry, game theory, networks, and chaos. Learning is accomplished with videos, online textbooks, interactive web activities, and group and individual activities. The videos provide historical background for the concepts, interviews with experts, animations that explain the concepts, and real-world applications of the concepts. Mathematicians of both the past and the present are included in the course materials. And national and local standards in mathematics are referenced.

Some of the additional resources include video transcripts, a glossary, and a timeline of mathematical concepts. Components in the series may be used individually or as part of the entire course. The facilitator and participant guides are based on an inquiry-based model in which participants become active explorers. The course materials may be downloaded as PDF files.

If you teach middle school or high school mathematics or just find mathematics to be fascinating, you definitely want to examine Mathematics Illuminated. And when you visit, be sure to check out the interactive web activities!

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/chrisbrenschmidt/733753262/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Create CD and DVD Labels That Look Great!

2008-09-06T19:46:00.002-04:00

When I recommend software, I usually try to suggest free programs. I also make sure that anything I suggest works with both Windows and Macintosh operating systems. However, I am currently using a Macintosh program which is not free ($35.95), but which I love… so I thought you might be interested in learning about it.

DiscLabel (from SmileOnMyMac) is inexpensive software for Macs which you can use to create and print labels for CDs, DVDs, and jewel case inserts. And… best of all… the labels and inserts look professional!

My husband and I created DVDs of family photos and movies as Christmas gifts for our family last year. I played with several designs for the DVD labels. I've posted one of them here.

Some of the features of DiscLabel are:

works with multiple layers
can apply effects (blur, sharpen, distort, color, stylize)
use circular text (multi-line, if you wish)
import playlists and track art from iTunes
import albums and pictures from iPhoto
can use direct-to-disc printers
drag and drop images from Finder and Photoshop (PSD) files
can copy and paste images

You can use one of many provided templates or create your own design. More than 1,300 clip art images come with the program for you to use. DiscLabel is available in English, Japanese, German, Italian, and French.

Technology allows both teachers and students to create projects and to share stories. Sometimes the best way to distribute these creations is by posting them on the web. Other times a CD or a DVD that you can make available to parents or the community is the best choice. DiscLabel can help make those CDs and DVDs look professional!

Resources for Blogging... for Teachers, Administrators, and Students

2008-08-30T16:33:00.006-04:00

Are you considering blogging… as a teacher? As an administrator? As a student activity?

If your answer is yes to any of these questions, you will probably want to examine some helpful resources. The Moving Forward wiki -- administered by Dr. Scott McLeod -- lists resources dealing with moving into the 21st century. One section of this wiki -- http://movingforward.wikispaces.com/Blogs -- contains resources for K-12 blogging, including real-life examples for students, teachers, and administrators. You’ll find helpful information here whether you’re beginning a blog for the first time or you’re an experienced blogger.

Resources include a list of the reasons why blogging is such a good tool for teaching as well as reasons why administrators should blog. Guidance is provided for teachers who blog and those who use blogging as an instructional tool. A workshop from TeachersFirst for teachers who are starting blogging in the classroom includes safety suggestions. A variety of tools for setting up blogs either for an individual blog or for a classroom blog can be examined.

Links to many examples of blogs are available. You can read blogs from elementary classrooms, elementary teachers, secondary classrooms, secondary teachers, principals, central office personnel, librarians, and counselors. There are also blogs focusing on music education, K-12 computer science, and special education.

I am convinced you will find lots of ideas at this site to help you in your blogging activities.

If you would like to listen to this blog entry rather than read it, select play on the Gabcast player below.

Gabcast! Learning and Teaching in the 21st Century #11

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/spadgy/313251515/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Make Free Games with ClassTools

2008-08-24T00:31:00.001-04:00

I discovered a cool tool at Vicki Davis' blog recently. She told about ClassTools.net, a site where you can create games, activities, and diagrams which you can host on your blog or web site. And using the site is free!

You can create several different types of arcade games or create a timeline or analyze sources. (Look at the list I've posted to see what the various options are.) The site is easy to use. Samples of each option--with comments--can be viewed. You can save your creations as well as post them. You might even have your students create the games.

Try my matching pair game about polygons!

Click here for full screen version

Classroom 2.0 is a Great Resource

2008-08-17T23:01:00.005-04:00

I’m busy preparing for the courses I’m teaching this fall. One is new to my schedule and I’m excited about teaching it. I think its content is relevant and will be interesting to my students who will be fulltime teachers before too long. The other course is one I’ve taught for several years. This fall I’m changing the teaching process in this course to allow the students to have more opportunities to collaborate, to communicate, and to be creative. I’ll probably write more about some of these changes in the next weeks and months.

As I’ve been thinking about this new school year, I knew that I’d like to share in this blog something that would be valuable to you throughout the whole year. The first thing that came to my mind was Classroom 2.0 (http://www.classroom20.com/).

Classroom 2.0 is a social network for educators who are interested in effectively using technology in education. What might you do at Classroom 2.0? You can…

watch a video or chat with hosts or explore on your own to become familiar with Classroom 2.0,
search the web site for information about programs that particularly interest you,
go to the forum to ask questions,
read blog posts,
add one of the live web meetings to your schedule, or
find interesting discussions via tags.

What might you find? How about other teachers who are using…

blogs, calendars, collaborative documents, collaborative idea maps, collaborative spreadsheets, course management, gaming, google earth, interactive boards, instant messaging, internet telephony, mapping, microblogging, online meetings, photo sharing, podcasting, presentation, rss and readers, screencasting, social bookmarking, social networking, social notetaking, start pages, video conferencing, video sharing, virtual worlds, webmail, wikis…

or who teach…

art, biliteracy-bilingual education, biology, chemistry, English, English as a foreign language, English as a second language, foreign languages, geography, history, math, music, physical education, religion, science, social studies…

or who are interested in…

acceptable use policies, administration, assessment, collaboration opportunities, computer labs, cyberbullying, elementary, gifted, inter-classroom collaboration, internet safety, middle or junior high, online education, open source software, parents, philosophy / pedagogy, pre-K, professional development, secondary or high school, software and service reviews, special needs?

Are other teachers using this social network? There were 10,687 members when I last checked (on August 17).

A (very) few of the many groups that you can join are…

DigiSkills
The Inclusion Revolution - Technology in Special Education
John Dewey's Import on Education Reform
Second Life
Elementary School 2.0
Implementing Instructional Technology Innovations
Professional Development
elearning for music
Elementary Reading Teachers
Online Educators
Assistive Technology Now
ArtTeach
Exchange Teachers
Five Minds for the Future: Discussion
Secondary Social Studies & Technology

Check out these Classroom 2.0 links…

Classroom 2.0 Social Network (http://www.classroom20.com/)
Classroom 2.0 Wiki (http://www.classroom20wiki.com/)
Classroom 2.0 Good Links (http://groups.diigo.com/classroom20/bookmark)

I think you will probably agree that Classroom 2.0 is an excellent resource that you can use throughout the entire school year.

I hope your school year is a great one for both you and your students!

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/surfstyle/310247551/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Use Olympics data for student graphs and an RSS illustration

2008-08-14T23:43:00.003-04:00

Are you enjoying watching the Olympics? Your students probably are, too, so use this interesting event to help you teach.

Gather some data from the Olympic Medal Tally, a gadget for your iGoogle page, for your students to use to create graphs. If your students are in school before the Olympics are completed, their graphs can also illustrate the changes from day to day.

Vicki Davis suggests using the Olympic Medal Tally to illustrate RSS to students in an interesting way.

GOOGLE ELECTIONS VIDEO SEARCH

2008-08-09T11:05:00.001-04:00

Would you like a quick, easy way for your students to hear the presidential candidates talk about various issues? Check out a new gadget from Google. It’s called the Google Elections Video Search.

You enter a term to search. I tried education, of course. Then choose whether you want to see and hear all politicians or McCain or Obama. A list of videos from YouTube’s political channels is then available for you to choose. Each one has a title, how long ago it occurred, how long the clip is, and how many times your search term is used. When you look at the video, you can see yellow annotations where your term is used in the video timeline. Videos are ranked by frequency of search term, date, and source.

How does this work? Google Elections Video Search uses speech recognition software to create transcripts of the videos. Google’s blog states that some of the transcripts may not be 100% correct, but that Google is working to make the transcripts more accurate. The blog also points out that

Candidates can control the videos that appear in the gadget by managing the content they upload to YouTube.

You can choose the Google Elections Video Search as a gadget to install on an iGoogle page. To learn more about this gadget, go to http://www.google.com/educators/videosearch.html.

Electing the President in the USA

2008-08-03T23:18:00.000-04:00

In the USA we talk about "one person, one vote"... yet that is not how the president of the country is chosen. And sometimes that's a bit difficult to explain.

CommonCraft--the company that produces the excellent "in plain English" videos--has created a video to do the explaining.

Check it out!

NASA Provides Their Images for Public Access

2008-07-28T00:28:00.002-04:00

Whether you teach science or are just fascinated by our amazing universe, you will enjoy these recently-released photos. NASA and Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) are working together to provide access to NASA's images.

Their new site is located at http://nasaimages.org/index.html.

Most of the images at NASA Images are not copyrighted. (Read the details concerning using these images at http://nasaimages.org/Terms.html.)

Search for images by keyword or by timeline.

The image that I have posted--One Shepherd Moon--is from the NASA Cassini-Huygens Collection. This image shows the unlit side of Saturn’s rings. It also includes Pandora, the small shepherd moon.

Publish Student Writing with KidPub

2008-07-18T23:57:00.002-04:00

What’s the best way to improve your writing skills? Write.

With that philosophy in mind, KidPub (http://www.kidpub.com/) is a web site designed to be a safe place for children to publish stories. It is not designed as a site where “experts” criticize or evaluate the stories. The goal is simply that children write and publish.

Students may join the KidPub Author's Club at a cost of $12.95 per year. Members post stories they’ve written, comment on stories they have read, enter writing contests, and add to “never-ending stories.” The published writings are of many types: adventure, chapter books, mysteries, poetry, and book reviews. There are, in fact, more than 49,000 stories in KidPub’s database.

Teachers and classes may join KidPub Schools for $24.95 per year and find a worldwide audience for their students’ writings. With a KidPub Schools page a teacher can post students' stories, poems, plays, whatever they have written. The teacher can also edit, hide/unhide, and/or delete student work. Stories appear on the KidPub page and on the class page.

Older stories (way back to 2001!) are available in the stacks. Click on any title in the stacks to read the story.

Also available is KidMud, a text-based adventure where KidMud members can build a fantasy world. Members can operate within the world or—if they learn the programming language—they can create new objects. Writing options are available, too (e.g., write for the newspaper or read poetry at a show).

For insight into a student’s perspective on KidPub, be sure to check out Wes Fryer’s interview with a 14-year-old member of KidPub.

You may find that KidPub is just the site to help your student writers improve their skills.

Image: http://flickr.com/photos/coyotejack/2566090619/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Classroom Blogging

2008-07-11T23:54:00.000-04:00

I just spent a week with a group of teachers as they learned about blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other Web 2.0 tools. They read blogs written by others. They created their own blogs and wrote some interesting entries for them. They planned how they might use blogs in their classrooms. And they’re excited about the possibilities.

One resource they may want to explore is the TeachersFirst Blog Basics for the Classroom (http://www2.teachersfirst.com/getsource.cfm?id=6808).

The series begins with a definition of blogs and a brief description of different types of blogs. Several uses for classroom blogging are shared. After a reference to safety, TeachersFirst then lists many more ideas for blogging in the classroom. Steps to take to prepare for involving students in blogging activities are included and then links to successful classroom blogs are shared. A half-dozen tools that the teacher and students can use for blogging--some gated--are listed. Settings (who may read or comment or post or see the author’s name) and rules (agreements) are discussed. Suggestions for evaluating and continuing the process are made.

The information shared and the recommendations suggested are very useful and well organized. The TeachersFirst series on classroom blogging is worth reading.

Image: http://flickr.com/photos/edelmandigitalbootcamp/2302366991/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

NECC 2008 Conference in San Antonio

2008-07-06T17:07:00.002-04:00

I love to attend conferences! Sometimes, however, I can't attend one that I know is going to be very valuable. Well, that was the case with the NECC 2008 conference (http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2008/) in San Antonio, Texas this past week. However, nowadays I don't have to miss an entire conference because I often can attend at least parts of it virtually.

I've been reading blogs about the conference to learn about new technologies and about new ways to teach with technology. Some of the bloggers covered selected sessions live. Some shared ideas they picked up from sessions or from networking with other attendees. And the folks who organized the conference have provided webcasts of some keynote addresses and of some other sessions (http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2008/program/video_on_demand.php).

Check your favorite bloggers and the conference web site to attend this conference virtually. Next year the conference is in Washington, DC. Hmm... that's a bit closer!

Some blogs to check...
David Warlick http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/
Kathy Schrock http://kathyschrock.net/blog
Vicki Davis http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com
Scott McLeod http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/mcleod/2627442820/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
Blogger's Cafe, photographed by Scott McLeod

Interactive Periodic Table

2008-06-27T21:57:00.001-04:00

If you and your students use the chemistry periodic table, I think you may find this interactive periodic table (http://www.touchspin.com/chem/asppages/index.asp) quite useful. Don't, however, just mouse over the table. Be sure to read the FAQ to learn about all the information available.

This photo shows part of the table (http://www.touchspin.com/chem/DisplayTable.html).