I’ve read some interesting blogs and viewed some thoughtful videos this week. I think you’ll find taking the time to look at them worthwhile.
CLASS PROJECTS...
When I read David Warlick’s blog (http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/index.php), I was excited to see some very interesting examples of student and teacher use of digital skills (e.g., distance learning, video, spreadsheets) and Web 2.0 applications (e.g., wikis, social networking, blogs) in the same lessons. Check David’s blog entries from March 23 and March 24, 2007 to read about several teachers and their students who are teaching and learning using today’s tools.
A brief sampling of what I found…
… a grade eight class was delivering reports to a class in a rural part of the province… used Wikispaces for the presentation and the multimedia, including links to video and spread sheet files.
… Chad… posted the information on the class wiki, pointed his students to it and then assigned them to work in teams and invent their own political party. They were required to have a platform, to write speeches, have a mascot and logo, and to present their party to the class, and to utilize all of the vocabulary words and political concepts in the process.
… several of the students created a party web site, using Piczo, which is a social networking site that seems to be favored by youngsters in Canada…
TEACHER VIDEOS...
While I was at David Warlick’s blog, I discovered TeacherTube (http://www.teachertube.com/index.php)… YouTube for teachers!
Teachers, administrators, students, parents, anyone can watch videos on TeacherTube. You can join video groups to network with others who have similar interests. You can save favorite videos or create playlists. You can integrate TeacherTube videos on web sites. When you upload your own videos, you can choose to make them public or private. TeacherTube is a free service.
Some of the videos you might want to check out are…
Survivor: The Middle School Classroom (http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=4bf8ce0ff2ec19b37151&page=3&viewtype=&category=mr),
Technology Fear Factor in Education (http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=d9fe611d5a8e90fefdc9&page=2&viewtype=&category=mr),
Learning in Hand: Administration (http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=75530d9583c34fd356ef&page=4&viewtype=&category=mr),
Inspiration Software with Math Instruction (http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=c49e5a833517c45d3107&page=2&viewtype=&category=mr),
Make Classroom Posters with Microsoft Excel (http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=a121ce581499d7b70166&page=1&viewtype=&category=mr),
… and the list goes on.
21st-CENTURY SKILLS
At Will Richardson’s blog (http://weblogg-ed.com/), I learned about the Did You Know video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHWTLA8WecI) created by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod. Watch the video… and then ask yourself… and your colleagues… what it tells us about using and preparing our students to use 21st-century skills. There’s not one “correct” answer to that question. This is a topic we all need to discuss.
Have you investigated some of the resources available on Microsoft’s web site for education (http://www.microsoft.com/education/atschool.mspx)?The web site provides resources in five categories:• Lesson plans for K-12• How-to articles• Virtual classroom tours• Product tutorials• Computer science curriculumGeared, of course, for using Microsoft products, many of the resources can be modified to use with Macs as well as with Windows computers.Lesson Plans for K-12You can find the lesson plans at http://www.microsoft.com/education/lessonplans.mspx. A typical lesson plan includes a description of the lesson, information about the lesson plan, a teacher guide, resources and web links, student activity, and ways to extend the student activity.Lesson plans are available (at http://www.microsoft.com/education/lessonplans.mspx) in these areas:• Geography• History• Language arts• Mathematics• Science and technology• Social studiesHow-to ArticlesAt http://www.microsoft.com/education/howto.mspx, you can learn how to use Microsoft software (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, MovieMaker) in the classroom with these how-to articles.Excel techniques include creating a timeline, displaying fractions, and making charts and graphs. PowerPoint tips include animating chart elements, creating movie-style crawling credits, developing mini lessons, and showcasing photos. Applying special effects, creating a monthly calendar, designing a bookmark, and using hidden text are among the Word “how-to’s.” Introducing your classroom and an open house movie are listed in the Movie Maker tips.Microsoft Virtual Classroom ToursThese downloadable PowerPoint presentations (http://www.microsoft.com/education/InTeachersVCT.mspx) are creative and constructivist-based. The tours are interdisciplinary. Content areas available include language arts, mathematics, science and technology, and social studies.Microsoft Product and Technology TutorialsMicrosoft software tutorials (http://www.microsoft.com/education/tutorials.mspx) include techniques for using Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Windows XP, and Windows media. Special guides for educators include using accessible technology and using digital media with Windows XP.
This list of web sites begins with some sites that are interesting no matter what or whom you teach. The list closes with a few specialized sites for language arts and mathematics. Many of these sites are interactive and will work well with a SMART board or other interactive whiteboard. Enjoy!
Web Sites for Everyone…Exploratoriumhttp://www.exploratorium.edu/explore/online.htmlThe Exploratorium was one of the first science museums to build a site on the web. (Don’t let that stop you if you’re not a “science teacher.” This site will capture your interest no matter what you teach.) The award-winning site has more than 18,000 pages exploring many different topics. The Explore section has activities to guide you to explore a variety of topics such as frogs, global climate change, language, and robots. On the Tools for Teaching page, you can watch the dissection of a cow’s eye, try some hands-on activities, access an extensive digital library, and more. You can also purchase some interesting gifts at the online store. (This site was difficult to evaluate and annotate because I kept becoming involved in the activities!) A brief description of this web site does not do it justice. This web site is definitely a “must visit”!Lexicon of Learninghttp://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/menuitem.4247f922ca8c9ecc8c2a9410d3108a0c/Finally… a dictionary for “educationese”!Project Based Learning Checklistshttp://pblchecklist.4teachers.org/With project based learning, students participate in projects and practice skills from the academic content areas. This site provides checklists for project products. The checklists are easy to customize and to use.I am certainly ready for spring… for fresh air and warmer temperatures! With that in mind, these next three sites certainly caught my attention!AccuWeather.comhttp://home.accuweather.com/index.asp?partner=accuweatherEnter a city or zip code to find what meteorologists think the weather will be for the coming week. Choose a state and see an animation of the changes in the weather.National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administrationhttp://www.noaa.com/This site provides long-term forecasts (eight days).USA Today Online Weather Almanachttp://www.usatoday.com/weather/wresources.htmThis site provides monthly climate data for cities around the world. Find average monthly high and low temperatures, rainfall, and snowfall.Old Magazine Articles - Reference & Research skills - grades 6-12http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/This searchable archive of PDF images of old magazine articles is mainly from the 20th century, but there are also 19th-century entries. The articles include pictures that illustrate the time period. There is some emphasis on the early 20th century among the topics. This primary document site has many useful resources for social studies teachers. (This site is fun to browse even if you have no need to research.)Librivox - English - grades 0-12
http://librivox.org/newcatalog/You can download audio recordings (read by volunteers) of books and poetry in the public domain. Search for works by category (fiction, poetry, non-fiction, dramatic works), genre, author, title, or reader.Web Site for Language Arts…Basketball Season Vocabulary - English - grades 6-12http://www.vocabulary.com/basketball.htmlVocabulary.com has added a themed area for March Madness. Interactive activities use basketball-related vocabulary words. The themes available on this web site can help to make vocabulary development more fun for students.Web Sites for Mathematics…Pattern Blocks - Exploring Patterns with Shapes - Mathematics - grades 1-5http://arcytech.org/java/patterns/This site permits students to “manipulate” pattern blocks online. The activities work well with an interactive whiteboard.Thinking Blocks - Mathematics - grades 3-8http://www.thinkingblocks.com/This interactive mathematics web site has video tutorials, interactive activities, virtual tutors, and more. Topics include addition/subtraction, multiplication/division and ratio word problems. Blocks represent numbers within each mathematics problem. Each lesson includes eight questions, so they can be completed during one class period. There are six lessons in each area.SAT Math Pro - Geometry - grades 6-12http://www.satmathpro.com/Practice.htmlThis interactive web site provides video tutorials and practice for students who are working with mathematics concepts (number properties, ratios and portions, percent, probability, data analysis, algebra, word problems, circles, lines and angles, Roman numerals, triangles, quadrilaterals, solids, coordinate geography and multiple figures). The site has received some very good reviews.
“How about some good web sites for primary grades in reading and math… connected to the smart board… thanks.”This request from a friend who is a second-grade teacher led me to four web sites (three, actually… but you’ll see) that have some very good lessons that primary teachers can use. The unexpected blessing is that these sites also have good lessons for other grade levels in K-12!The first two sites come from Amphitheater Public Schools in Tucson, Arizona. Their teachers (K-12) have written some high-quality lesson plans that help them--the teachers--to embed technology into the curriculum. Some of the lessons involve ways--both innovative and effective--for students to use the Internet, and others use higher-level thinking along with technology integration.They also list other useful resources. For example, I found the Literacy Center (http://www.literacycenter.net/lessonview_en.htm#), an early literacy site for primary teachers. It has games that can be played on the SMART board.http://www.amphi.com/departments/technology/whiteboard/eleminteractivesites.htmlhttp://www.amphi.com/departments/technology/edtech/lessons/second.htmlThe next web site comes from Hillside Elementary School in Needham, Massachusetts. The Cyberventures page (http://hillside.needham.k12.ma.us/cyberventues/index.html) contains a variety of information worth examining. However, the web site I chose for this blog entry contains activities (K-5) especially for SMART boards.I had fun with the Virtual Geoboard (http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/frames_asid_277_g_1_t_3.html) and I like the chart (http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Interactive.aspx) that maps web sites appropriate for use with an interactive white board based on subject and age group.http://hillside.needham.k12.ma.us/cyberventues/smart_board_activ/smart_board.htmThe last web site I’ve chosen with SMART board lesson plans and activities (K-12) is from the pdtogo web site that I mentioned in a previous (December 8, 2006… http://teaching21c.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html) blog entry on SMART boards. These pdtogo podcasts began in January 2006 and still continue. The URL that I’ve bookmarked for you is the lesson archive page. It allows you to look over the entire list of podcasts up to this point… or to examine them based on categories such as “math lessons” or “reading lessons” (see the right-hand column). These podcasts are fun to listen to and/or watch and they include bits of other useful information in addition to SMART board lessons.Two examples of the lessons available from pdtogo include these literacy lessons for primary students. SMART Board Lesson 56 has a SMART Notebook file (chickachicka.notebook) that can be downloaded for a primary lesson for matching sounds, pictures, and letters. Lesson 62 includes a file for a jeopardy-style game for an early years lesson about letter sounds. Both of these lessons were developed by a kindergarten teacher in Canada.http://pdtogo.com/smart/?page_id=28As I examine lesson plans from each of these sites, it is obvious that they are designed by teachers who know well both their students and the content they are teaching. The web sites are chosen especially for the fact that they contain good lessons for the primary grades. However, the quality doesn’t stop there. Check out these sites even if you teach other grades.
I have been researching to find some ways to effectively share what the Web 2.0 is.
I browsed through some YouTube videos to see what I might find interesting.
These were two separate actions, but one proved to be the answer for the other.
I have collected a half-dozen videos from YouTube that have been posted in the past year… and which provide some interesting insights into Web 2.0. Some of them are designed for educators; some, for business. Together these videos can help us understand the Web 2.0 better.
Note: If you choose to show any of these to students, please review the videos first to be sure all the language used is appropriate.
Web 2.0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsa5ZTRJQ5w
Added March 08, 2006
The purpose of this video is to teach educators about Web 2.0 tools using Wikipedia’s information on Web 2.0.
Power of Web 2.0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6SefbFbixI
Added April 30, 2006
Web 2.0—with its blogging, podcasting, and video sharing—has enabled any one of us to become a broadcaster and to have a global audience.
What is Web 2.0? Short Version documentary
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9JPcno2cJgc
Added August 10, 2006
Some startup executives discuss the Web 2.0, business models on the web today, and publishing in a user-generated world.
What is Web 2.0?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LzQIUANnHc
Added September 10, 2006
The Web 2.0 is defined with a focus on how it's changing the Internet.
Web 2.0 Summit Opening Session
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8QS5OmsbWw
Added December 07, 2006
Tim O'Reilly and John Battelle look at their original ideas about Web 2.0. They also preview some sessions scheduled for an upcoming summit.
Web 2.0 … The Machine is Us/ing Us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE
Added January 31, 2007
A professor responds to the Web 2.0.
More than 200,000 people have used Backpack to create “to do’s” (more than 8,000,000) and notes (more than 1,200,000). The New York Times says that Backpack is “a cool organizational tool. How very cool.”What does this web-based service do? How can you, your colleagues, and your students use it? Make “to do” lists to help you get things done. Organize your photos and share them with others. Set reminders that you can receive by email or on your cell phone at predefined times. Keep your calendar online and access it from anywhere. Upload files that you can access from other locations. Collaborate with others in your team on a project.Backpack is a web-based service with which you can make/store/access to-do lists, notes, files, and images. Email lists, notes, files, and images to Backpack. Backpack can email you the content from a Backpack page. Set up text messages and email alerts to be sent to your cell phone at a time and date that you set.How can you use Backpack? Keep track of your “to do” list. Plan your next vacation. Organize your next project. Gather information for a research project. Collaborate with others on a project. You can share your pages with others. Keep your schedule online. Access it from any computer… anywhere. Share calendars with others.You can sign up for a free account. And then you can upgrade at any time… if you wish. (Free accounts do not include files, images, or calendars.) The cost of Backpack ranges from free to $5/$9/$14 per month. Plus and Premium Backpack plans are SSL secure. The Basic plan is not. All plans are password protected. Internet Explorer, Safari, and Firefox are compatible with Backpack. (Backpack doesn't work with Internet Explorer 5.x.)"It's perhaps the most convincing Web answer yet to the power, flexibility and simplicity of a spiral-bound notebook." -Khoi Vinh
Here are some of the possible uses as listed on Backpack’s web site…- Plan and organize a wedding or special event
- List items for sale
- Organize and prepare for a meeting
- Post book reviews, product reviews, whatever reviews
- Store canned emails
- Publish and organize guitar tabs
- Plan for your holiday greeting cards
- Organize a craft project
- Comparison shop and research a product on a Backpack page
- Organize a business trip
- Organize rebates, coupons, and special deals
- List your favorites in your city
- Use Reminders so you don't forget the little things
- Present color palette options
- Collaborate on new feature ideas, brainstorms, and screenshots
- Create quick access to numbers you need
Do you have some items you want to sell? Upload photos of the items, determine prices, publish the “for sale” page on the web.Are you planning to purchase a product, but you need to research different options? A camcorder? A computer? A car? A house? Store the prices, vendors, photos on a Backpack page to keep your research organized.Going to a professional conference? Keep track of the sessions you want to attend… session titles, speakers, locations, and descriptions. List your expenses--travel, hotel, meals--to make it easier to complete the paperwork when you return.Are your students researching a subject in a team? They can collaborate by sharing a page that each team member can access and edit. Are you and your colleagues working together on a project? You, too, can collaborate by sharing a page which each of your colleagues can access and edit. (Each person who accesses your page must have a Backpack account. The accounts are free.)“Hot site of the day.” -USA Today
“Emphatic usefulness! It's perhaps the most convincing Web answer yet to the power, flexibility and simplicity of a spiral-bound notebook.” -Khoi Vinh, Subtraction
“Everything you used to scribble down on sheets of paper can be replaced by Backpack's functionality, combining weblogging, to-do lists, and calendars all into one simple-to-use interface.” -Wholesome Goodness
You can use your Backpack home page to keep track of everything that you need to handle. You might want to use it as the home page for your browser. That way you’ll see it every time you open your web browser.Backpack (http://www.backpackit.com/) is a simple, free, and useful web-based service that can be used by you, your colleagues, and your students.
I looked on the Internet for design ideas for PowerPoint presentations for education. My goal was to find some simple ways to make the presentations more effective. I hoped to find some rules--do two of this… or three of that--to help make the design elements easy to remember. I did find a couple rules and quite a few recommendations.I’m sharing these ideas with the hope that they will be useful as you work with students who are learning PowerPoint… or any other presentation tool.
THREE Guidelines for Design…1. Determine the Purpose of the PresentationHow you approach the presentation…Do you want to entertain, educate, or persuade? Considering the topic and the audience, should your approach be formal or informal? The answers to these questions will help to determine the fonts, images, and backgrounds that you choose.How you use the presentation…Are you designing the presentation for the screen, the web, or for printing… or for a combination of these? Dark backgrounds with light fonts display well on the screen; however, they do not print well. You may want to format the slides with one color scheme for display and another for printing.2. Keep the Presentation SimpleUse TWO font families…Using two font families (in the whole presentation) serves most presentations well. You may want to try light-colored fonts on dark backgrounds. Your audience will find it very easy to view.Use ONE photo / image / chart…One photo, image, or chart is usually the most you want on each slide. That, of course, does not include a school or district logo that you might use.Use SIX words / SIX bullets rule…Use white space generously. In order to have white space, you must keep the number of words on each slide to a minimum. I’ve read—and tried—several different combinations of how much information you should display on each slide. In my experience, six words per bullet and six bullets per slide are pretty much a maximum. Cliff Atkinson, author of Beyond Bullet Points, says, "When you remove interesting but irrelevant words and pictures from a screen, you can increase the audience's ability to remember the information by 189% and the ability to apply the information by 109%."Keep the file size SMALL…Try to keep the file size of the presentation from growing too large. Compress photos. Use built-in PowerPoint features--tables, charts, AutoShapes—rather than embedding and importing objects as much as possible. There’s no magic number for how small the file size should be. Just keep in mind that LESS is MORE.Follow the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint…* ten slides* twenty minutes* no fonts smaller than thirty points.Ten concepts is more than enough to learn in one setting… and twenty minutes is more than enough sitting time. And your audience will certainly appreciate that the font size is readable… even from the back row.Put LOTS of information in the handout…Create a handout for your audience. Put as much information and detail in it as you want them to know. And tell them at the beginning that you will give them a handout after the presentation is finished so they don’t have to take notes and can, instead, listen to you and watch the presentation.Use FEW special effects…Special effects can distract people, so they should be used sparingly. Sounds, especially, can be a problem. If you’re showing the presentation from your laptop, any sound effects may not be well heard by members of the audience beyond the first couple of rows because laptops are not designed to project sound far.3. Choose Consistent ElementsUse the same… fonts, colors, style of photos, style of images, animations, slide transitions, and templates through the whole presentation.Final CommentsThe slides are an aid to your presentation. They are not THE presentation. So, the words on the slides should support the words you say."Right and wrong do not exist in graphic design. There is only effective and non-effective communication." — Peter Bilak, author of Illegibility
KAPPA DELTA PIhttp://www.kdp.orgKappa Delta Pi, an international honor society in education, includes professional growth via programs, services, and products as part of its 2006-2007 goals. As part of that goal, the organization has recommended some web sites for teachers. I am sharing four of their recommendations.TEACHERVISIONhttp://www.teachervision.fen.com/TeacherVision provides more than 12,000 pages of lesson plans, printables, newsletters, and other resources for PreK to grade 12 that can help teachers save time. There is a yearly subscription cost for most items, but a short free trial is available. Subjects include reading, language arts, literature, mathematics, science, social studies, history, art, music, drama, health, and safety. TeacherVision is a teacher site for resources that save time and make learning fun. (As I describe what's available at this site, please remember that in most cases I have listed just a few of the items in each category.)
Ideas are available by grade level, subject area, or theme. There are ready-to-use items (graphic organizers, class management forms, …), assessment resources (rubrics library, quiz library, assessment strategies, …), resources for diverse student needs (assessment accommodations, ADD/ADHD, …), and ready-to-print books (Baseball Math (Gr. 4-8), Daily Writing Prompts (Gr. 1-4), …).Classroom management resources cover a wide variety of professional development topics… multiple intelligences, Bloom's Taxonomy, elementary teacher survival guide, differentiated curriculum, and professional portfolios.Ideas for increasing high-stakes achievement test results and other assessment strategies can be found… assessment forms, portfolios, rubrics, report cards, and journal assessment.Resources for behavior management, classroom organization, and teacher/parent collaboration are also available.The amount of content on this site is impressive. As an example, check out the new content added in January 2007. The topic is Twentieth Century History for grades 5 to 8. Here’s a partial list of what’s included…Twentieth Century Fact Sheets: Overviews of the decades of the 1900s, Facts and Figures, Famous Firsts, Important Births and Deaths, Election Facts and Figures, World History, Writing Prompts and Literature Ideas... each available for almost every decade in the 1900s.Twentieth Century Topics: About the Great Depression, An Extraordinary Bus Tide: Rosa Parks, Berlin's Wall, The Civil Rights Movement, End of Apartheid, Events in Vietnam, First Lady of the World: Eleanor Roosevelt, Gandhi, The Great Contralto: Marian Anderson, …
Twentieth Century People and Events: Japanese Internment, Just So: Rudyard Kipling, Labor Reform: 1910s, Lyndon Baines Johnson, The Nobel Prize, Richard Milhouse Nixon, The Tomb of Tutankhamen, William McKinley, A Woman's Place: Margaret Chase Smith, …This site truly has a wide variety of resources... and many of them!CEP: Character Education Partnership: Leading a National Call to Characterhttp://www.character.orgThe Character Education Partnership’s aim is to help young people of good character become citizens who are responsible and caring. CEP serves as the leading resource for integrating character education into schools and communities. It emphasizes effective practices and provides a forum for exchanging ideas. Character education helps children understand, care about, and act upon core values in school and beyond.CEP has developed eleven principles that help a program in character education work well. Some of these standards are “provides students with opportunities for moral action,” “engages families and community members as partners in the character-building effort,” and “evaluates the character of the school, the school staff's functioning as character educators, and the extent to which students manifest good character.”Resources provided by CEP include implementation strategies, web sites, published materials, seminars, a blog, recommended books, and a database of articles and other documents concerned with Character Education initiatives.
This is a good site to gather ideas about character education... and to discuss those ideas with others.
CHADD: Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorderhttp://www.chadd.orgCHADD’s goal is to “improve… the lives of people affected by AD/HD." CHADD is a national organization for education, advocacy, and support of individuals with AD/HD. CHADD maintains an informative web site. They also publish a magazine, a resource guide, a newsletter, and other publications. Volunteers work with parents, educators, and professionals through the 235 local CHADD chapters. Currently, CHADD is operating a multi-year campaign to educate policymakers, the media, and the public about AD/HD. This is a good place to gather ideas and find support for those involved with AD/HD. FUNBRAINhttp://www.funbrain.com/This web site certainly invited me to participate immediately. I couldn't resist playing a game of Sudoku before I checked out the rest of the site!The FunBrain web site has an area for children. This section of the web site has a mathematics arcade (25 arcade-style mathematics games), a reading area (web books and mad libs), a general arcade (games for free times), a playground (activities for moms and kids), and an area just for games (Funbrain’s Kids’ Center).Another area of the site is just for parents. Available in this area is the Game Finder. Parents can find “the perfect game for your child to play.” They can search for this game by age, subject, or game name and they can identify the skills used in each game. Games are available for mathematics, language arts, science, history, music, geography, and art. Some of the other parenting resources include information on child development, help with homework and school, and gifted and LD tips.The teacher resources at the web site include a game finder for the classroom, tools to help you choose games appropriate for the curriculum and standards, and flash cards. This site is helpful... and fun... at the same time.ASSOCIATION FOR SUPERVISION AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT (ASCD)http://www.ascd.orgThe Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) is an organization of educators interested in using research-based strategies to improve learning in their schools. They recently recommended a web site designed for professional learning communities. These communities can be a major factor in the effort to help our students learn more.ALLTHINGSPLC: All Information, No Commercehttp://www.allthingsplc.info/Professional learning communities (PLCs) have helped to create education reform in schools and districts in the United States and Canada. This web site is a place for educators who want to use PLCs to enhance student achievement to collaborate with each other.Educators involved in PLCs usually agree on three ideas...* We must ensure that all students learn. So, we need to develop a strategy to provide timely intervention for struggling students.* No longer can educators go into their classrooms and shut their doors. Rather than collaborate only for operational policies (tardiness, recess supervision), we need to share best practices, work together to solve problems, and determine together how to improve individual students’ achievement and the performance of the whole school.* Educators need to identify current student achievement levels, establish goals, work together to accomplish those goals, and provide the data to illustrate that the students have succeeded and the goals have been met.This web site provides research, articles, data, and tools about Professional Learning Communities. You will find timely and useful information about PLC concepts and practices. A blog provides insights from leading practitioners. Research and articles about PLC concepts and information about schools that have used PLC ideas are available.
This site could prove very helpful as educators work to improve individual students' achievement and the performance of the whole school or district.
The last time that I did a study on the use of podcasts in education was about a year ago. That's a long time in technology! It's time to examine again how teachers and students are using podcasts. I have decided to do this study in chunks. First, I want to look at some podcast directories. Although some directories include resources and advice on producing podcasts, my interest is to listen to and/or watch actual podcasts which are being used.
I have listed some directories in this blog entry. A few comments and some listings of podcasts are shared for each directory. Two additional comments need to be made about each directory. First, a comment on one or two podcasts in each directory cannot come close to illustrating the richness of these directories. Each one deserves some time exploring its podcasts. Second, if you choose to use any of these podcasts with students, be sure to listen to and/or watch it first to be sure it's appropriate for your students. Remember that many of these directories contain non-educational podcasts and are not censored.
EPN: The Education Podcast Networkhttp://epnweb.org/The Education Podcast Network is designed to provide podcast resources for teachers to help them use 21st-century tools when they teach. Educators have produced most of the podcasts in the network. Readers / listeners are encouraged to share their podcasts with others through the network.The directory lists these contents:Education: 21st-century tools* Professional Philosophy & ICT (133)* Strictly ICT (20)Student and Class Podcasts * Elementary Grades (50)* Middle School (35)* Secondary School (36)Subject Specific Podcasts* Computer/Technology Skills (70)* Dance Education (6)* English Language Arts (97)* Healthful Living (46)* Information Skills (19)
* Mathematics (7)* Music Education (36)* Science (60)* Second Languages (61)* Social Studies (78)* Theatre Arts Education (16)* Visual Arts Education (24)* Career Development (33)* Current Events (55)* Miscellaneous (107)EPN provides directions for finding a podcast in the directory and for subscribing to a podcast. The directions for subscribing to a podcast are very specific… great for a beginner!
One of the podcasts I checked is from a teacher in Bangladesh… complete with photos. Very interesting. Another well-done podcast is from a high school mathematics teacher. Another section of the directory lists many podcasts, including quite a few produced by persons whom I recognize as excellent bloggers. This directory is worth spending some time to find useful podcasts.Podcasting Newshttp://www.podcastingnews.com/forum/link_6.htmThe directory for Education at this site lists these categories:Higher Education (121)Audio Classes (31)Do It Yourself (How-to's, DIY, tutorials) (28)Homeschooling (homeschooling, unschooling, free learning, lifelong learning, for learners of all ages) (13)K-12 Education (Pinckney Community Schools) (114/11)Language (Chinese, English, Esperanto, Japanese, Spanish, Tibetan) (38/96)Music Education (26)The site is designed to facilitate the sharing of news and information about podcasting. Features such as registration, forums, polls, announcements, and sticky topics help make the posting of news easier. Administrators, moderators, and usergroups keep communications working.Registration (free) gives you access to features such as private messaging, emailing to fellow users, and usergroup subscription. The site recommends that you register. Forums are available (usually for registered users). Polls are easy to create. Announcements and “sticky topics” often contain important information and should be read as soon as possible. Administrators control board operation, including setting permissions, banning users, and creating usergroups or moderators (and their capabilities). Moderators look after the daily running of the forums. Users can belong to more than one group.Available podcasts that I looked at / listened to included one on ADHD and another on music. There is a large variety of high quality podcasts on this site.Resource pages that are available include:* iPod* Mactel Podcasting Applications* Mobilecasting - Mobile Podcasting* MP3 Players* Podcast Directory List* Podcast Hosts* Podcast Software (Clients)* Podcasting FAQ* Podcasting Glossary* Podcasting Resources and Services* Podcasting Software (Publishing)* Podcast-Legal Music* Podcasts* Press Info* Promote Your Podcast!* Syndicating Podcasting News* Video iPod Software Links are provided for:* DopplerRadio* Feed Validator* IndieFeed* iPodderX* iPodLounge* jPodder* Nimiq* OpenPodcast* Podcast Feed Debugger* Prime Time Podcast* RSSRadio* Video Podcasting News
Podcast Alleyhttp://www.podcastalley.com/index.phpThe goal of this site is to be the “biggest and best directory of podcasts (podcast directory) available on the Internet.” News and tutorials are included on the site. The site currently has 28,208 podcasts with 144,030 comments on 1,226,752 episodes. In the Education category, there are 1,224 podcasts.Checking out the podcasts at this site, I found a podcast for digital photographers, a one-minute how-to podcast, an audioblog about media literacy and technology and how they will change education, the complete works of Shakespeare (one act per podcast), and an opportunity to have stories read to the listener.Categories* Podcast Alley News (23)* Podcast Promos (39)* Podcasting News (223)* Random (16)Websites of Interest* PCA Blog Homepage* PodShow, Inc.* PodSafe Music Network* PodcastAlley Homepage
ed-cast The Higher Education Podcast Repositoryhttp://ed-cast.org/Ed-Cast is a repository for higher education podcasts. It contains international higher education lectures, conversations, speeches, and podcasts. Although designed for higher education, K12 educators will find interesting content at this site.I’ve listed some of the podcasts that K12 educators might find interesting.Title / Category / Format / Length / Keywords / Author(s) / Date of Submission* Learning Community / Presentation / Audio / 3 / online, learning, community, networking / Cynthia Gautreau / Wed, 21 Jun 2006 11:09:40 GMT* Rod's Pulse Podcast / Conversatio / Audio / 20 / educational technology diy podcast blackboard e-learning / Rodney B. Murray, Ph.D. / Wed, 07 Jun 2006 18:50:43 GMT* Blogs, Wikis and Writely! / Lecture / Audio / 66 / web 2.0, blog, wiki, writely / Ray Schroeder / Wed, 15 Feb 2006 12:48:00 GMT* Thoughts on Web 2.0 / Lecture / Audio / 16 / Web 2.0, podcast, participatory, read-write web / Burks Oakley II / Mon, 14 Nov 2005 20:50:40 GMTpodcast.net: THE PODCAST DIRECTORYhttp://www.podcast.net/Approximately 100 podcasts show when you search Podcast.net for Education. What a variety! You have to look through the list title by title to really understand the wide range of topics… a podcast for part-time university instructors, technology teachers talking, ideas from two middle-school teachers, interview clips of Japanese American World War II veterans… A quicker way to find podcasts that may interest you is to use the search function on the home page.Apple Education: Podcasting in Educationhttp://www.apple.com/education/products/ipod/podcasting.htmlYou may find some of these podcasts on Apple’s site interesting:Educational PodcastsHigher Education* Knowledge@Wharton Audio Articles* Thermal and Statistical Physics* Campus MovieFest* American PresidentsK-12* MobiStories - Virtual Books for Kids* English as a Second Language* Radio WillowWeb* A School in the Coulee PodcastProfessional Development* Cut to the Core Essential Podcasts for Educators* TeacherCast | Newshour with Jim Lehrer Podcast | PBS* John Merrow Education Podcast* ScreenCastsOnlinePodcast Directory.org.ukhttp://www.podcastdirectory.org.uk/A teacher in Scotland maintains this education podcast directory. A search for Education lists a podcast with Chilean music, another with “quick and dirty tips” for grammar, and one on child suffering from UNICEF Radio.
PODCAST SHUFFLEhttp://www.podcastshuffle.com/This podcast directory lists 1914 feeds. Of those, 34 feeds are in the Education category.Some of the podcasts in the Education list include:* Disability411: Provides information on disability-related topics for those who work with individuals with disabilities, including… K-12 special education teachers.* John Kenneth Fisher: Speeches and sounds that helped define our world. From Cronkite to Churchill, Kennedy to Reagan.* Moodle Journal: Blog describing the experiences of using Moodle to help implement the elearning program at Bromley College.* OPAL Podcast: Online information for librarians and their users.* Podictionary: Daily podcast for word lovers with a new word in each episode.* Room 208 Podcast: Podcast by elementary students in Maine.* Student Financial Aid News Podcast: A regular audio broadcast for financial aid information.* The ADD Dad Show: A father talks about the effects of ADD on his life and children.
alpha fresh podcast.comhttp://podcast.com/home.phpPodcast.com is designed to help you…* browse podcast directories and search for podcasts* manage podcast subscriptions* listen to audio podcasts* watch video podcasts* learn about podcasting* read news about podcasting tools...and more!Listen to the audio tutorial for the site to learn how to do all these things. The Education category lists a Chinese podcast, another from PBS: NOVA, and The Word Nerds. The Word Nerd podcasts are about “words, language, and why we say the things we do.” Episode topics include prepositions, thanks and gratitude, sports language, derivatives, and others.PodcastBlasterhttp://www.podcastblaster.com/The PodcastBlaster podcast directory is tracking 22,662 podcasts with a total of 431,454 episodes.Education podcasts include:* CSI AudioCast: CSI Education* Education 548 Podcast* PodcasterNews.com Education* DV in Education Podcast* PodcastPromos.com Education* Podcasts in education* Investment Education PodcastsSome of the education episodes you might want to check include:* Nature Podcast* Animal Talk, Naturally!* Podcasts from Learn 4 Life - Innovation in Education in the UK* The Kedou Adventures -- A Little Bear's podStories* Club KidCast* Youth Voices Coast to Coast: NYC and Utah* Robin And The Giant - Sleepy Time Theatre* French For Beginners* Digital Photography Tips From The Top Floor* Storynory: Free Audio Stories for Kids* DragonflyTV . Podcast | PBS KIDS GO!* Stories of the Week | NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Podcast | PBS* Rolling R's: Spanish Lessons (Video Podcast)
Learn on-the-gohttp://www.learn-on-the-go.com/directory/
This site promotes lifelong learning through the use of audio and video podcasts.Categories include:* History (16)* Health and Fitness (41)* Science and Technology (26)* Business (11)* Languages (56)* Religion and Inspiration (28)At this point the site has 178 links in 21 categories. A search for Education locates eight podcasts. Of these eight, two look particularly interesting: one on mobile learning—blogging on cell phones, PDAs, and iPods—and another on the role of technology in online education.
You are most likely familiar with eSchool News, an online source for news and resources dealing with the use of technology in education. One of the free resources available is ClassroomNews. You can subscribe (at no cost) to this monthly PDF newsletter for technology news and resources for the classroom at the eSchool News site (http://www.eschoolnews.com). The interesting web sites I have listed (below) are from the January 2007 edition of ClassroomNews.STUDENTS AND SCIENTISTS PROBE THE SECRETS OF LONGEVITYhttp://www.bluezones.comAn online learning project from the Quest Network will look for reasons why the inhabitants of a particular location in Central America live so long. This three-week, inquiry-based project begins on January 29. This is the second Blue Zones Quest. It provides free curriculum that promotes collaboration, problem solving, critical thinking, and communication skills.These quests try to find areas in the world where people live very long lives… and figure out why. The expedition team provides text, videos, and photographs. The students involved can direct the team’s approach. And together they can try to determine what factors help us to live long, healthy lives. Additional materials are available for teachers so they can extend the project.NEW TOOLS AND RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE ON C-SPAN’S CLASSROOM WEB SITEhttp://www.c-span.orgMiddle and high school social studies teachers will find it easier to support their lessons with elements from C-SPAN’s public affairs and political programming.You can:* download free video clips,* search archived and current video by keywords,* create personalized user areas for favorite clips, and* use lesson plans, discussion questions, and other resources (including podcasts).The classroom video content is copyright-free. Resources are tied to state and national social studies standards. And all of this is available free.BEST EVIDENCE ENCYCLOPEDIA HELPS EDUCATORS EXAMINE CURRICULUM PROGRAMShttp://www.bestevidence.orgBest Evidence Encyclopedia (BEE) contains summaries of research on educational programs and links to the complete scientific reviews. The summaries use easy-to-understand symbols like those used in Consumer Reports. Topics include elementary mathematics, technology in reading and mathematics, reading for English-language learners, and others. BEE provides information about the evidence that supports many programs for students in grades K-12.CITEd WEB SITE PROVIDES FREE ONLINE TOOLS FOR INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGYhttp://www.cited.orgThe Center for Implementing Technology in Education (CITEd) has developed a new web site with an impressive set of free online tools. EdTech Locator is an interactive tool that helps educators determine where they are in the technology-integration continuum. It also helps them understand the various stages of technology integration. Another tool, Tech Matrices, helps educators search for resources to support reading and mathematics instruction for special needs students.The site has three main areas: the Learn Center, the Action Center, and the Research Center. The Learn Center helps educators select resources for using technology to help meet the needs of all students. The Action Center helps in the planning and implementation of professional development activities. The Research Center contains CITEd’s syntheses of research practices in content areas. Educators can use this information to help them find ways to integrate technology in their classrooms.TEACHADE: ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR TEACHERShttp://www.teachade.comEducators can learn so much by collaborating with each other… and Teachade helps us do that. Teachade is an online site that educators can use to share resources, create online learning communities, and communicate with colleagues. In other words… online social networking for teachers! Registration is free and available for K-12 teachers, pre-service teachers, student teachers, and college professors. You can join groups based on common interests such as music, supporting educational technology, or elementary grades science. Calendars and storage of favorite files (such as lesson plans) are also available.
A recent poll by eSchool News (http://www.eschoolnews.com) caught my interest. It asked if "text-speak" should be permitted for use on school tests and assignments. The results were13% "Yes, most of the time"38% "Yes, but only in some circumstances"49% "Absolutely not"0% "No opinion"It will be interesting to see how much "text-speak" becomes embedded in school projects. How would you respond to the poll?_______________Education and the role of technology in education keep changing. eSchool News (http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showstoryts.cfm?Articleid=6781) lists six educational technology trends to watch for their impact on schools and colleges in 2007.Trend No. 1: The leveling power of the World Wide WebYou can create content--in writing, audio, or video--without expensive equipment and post your content so the world can view it. You don’t need the backing of a publisher or studio or lots of money to make it happen. YouTube is the current example of how easy this is to do. Record some video, edit it--or not--and post it on the web. Student projects--whether done for school or college or just for fun--now have a real medium for distribution.Trend No. 2: Cloud computingWe’re all used to client/server computing—a group of clients (our individual computers) and a central server linked through a network. The speed of that network is becoming fast enough that the network can serve as the computer (to loosely quote Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google). So, instead of using a spreadsheet that resides on our computer, we can use a web-based spreadsheet… or other software."We call it 'cloud computing,'" [Schmidt] proclaims. "The servers should be in a cloud somewhere. And if you have the right kind of browser or the right kind of access, it doesn't matter whether you have a PC or a Mac or a mobile telephone or a Blackberry--or new devices still to be developed--you can get access to the cloud."Trend No. 3: Service-oriented architectureService-oriented architecture (SOA) is the creation of software by putting together bundles of single functions such as “cancel school bus route.” Designing software in this manner isn’t new; however, what’s different is building it on the web. Standard SOA tools make the process of creating this software much easier.Trend No. 4: The gathering SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model)The next trend--Sharable Content Object Reference Model, or SCORM--comes closer to individual teachers. SCORM is a set of standards and specifications that allow digital learning materials to be accessed and reused. These specifications can help to ensure that digital content can be used in any learning management system (LMS) software. Hopefully, educators will be able to access reusable online content and incorporate portions into their own instruction.Most of the major LMS software used today complies with the standard. And Moodle is on its way toward becoming compliant. With standards that allow teachers to share and reuse content or modify it for their own needs, instruction can be designed to meet the needs of the learners.Trend No. 5: Telepresence and anytime, anywhere educationSee how eSchool News describes a telepresence videoconference…Imagine a conference room with six chairs, three on each side of a conference table. Envision a clear glass panel running down the center of the table.
Walk into this room while a high-level parlay is under way, and you'd see six executives deep in conversation. But here's the catch: Only three of them are physically present. The three participants closest to you actually are in the room--in Chicago, say. The others are in San Jose, Calif., but their life-size, high-definition images are on the glass partition in the Chicago conference room.
Direct eye contact, flawless streaming video, and perfect audio make it seem real. Full telepresence is expensive now; but, eventually, that cost could lessen. Videoconferences are effective now. Telepresence videoconference take that effectiveness a step higher.Trend No. 6: 21st-century learningEvery student in America needs specific knowledge and skills to succeed in the 21st century. According to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, our students need: * Information and communication skills * Thinking and problem-solving skills * Interpersonal and self-direction skills * Global awareness * Financial, economic, and business skills and * Civic literacy.The technology is available for these six trends--the flattening influence of the internet, cloud computing, SOA, SCORM, telepresence, and the drive for 21st-century skills. All we have to do now is bring the politics and the finances together with these trends to make some very effective differences in how we teach and how our students learn.Partnership for 21st Century Skillshttp://21stcenturyskills.org"Gathering SCORM could transform eLearning" (eSN Online, April 2006)http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=6249"'Telepresence' adds realism to video conferencing" (eSN Online, October 2006)http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=6661
