There are so many new tools popping up all over the web – it is impossible to stay current on everything. Here is a small sampling of things to use in the classroom. Check out a few and let us know which of them you use with your classes and how. Be sure to see the new videos added in the widget to the right. Use the Comments section to share your experience with others.
Google – a plethora of useful class tools. Create a Google account, first.
Google Docs & Spreadsheets – Great for online collaboration. Docs are notes that can be accessed from anywhere online. Docs & spreadsheets can be shared with multiple contributors.
iGoogle – customized info delivery – brings information to you.
Calendar -
Notebook – clip web resources to share with others
Earth – download & use to explore, search, map, etc.
Blogger - use Google for blogs – text, photos, video… you can even use your phone to post.
Gcast is a great way to make your own podcasts for classes. This is a podcast created by GCast and then turned into a widget to post on the page. Obviously, the podcasts can be embedded into a blog. Talkshoe is a site that not only lets you create podcasts, it allows students to converse or chat collaboratively. It cn get a bit hard to follow due to echoes. How might these awesome technologies be used for YOUR class?
Widgets can be added to wikis or to Blogs to enhance your content. You can play podcasts by others. Most podcasts done as MP3 files can be downloaded & played on portable devices – think of the potential learning!
Every educator should watch the PBS Frontline special, “Growing Up Online.” It is a great insight to the digital world in which these kids live. What are the implications for education? What are the new issues? Your comments about this program are greatly appreciated.
Record the sounds of learning and share them with students, parents, other educators…
VoiceThread.com allows you to record voices and attach them to a sequence of pictures and post the files so that others might make audio comments or simply listen and watch. Educator accounts are free and you can set up files for each student in a class. Then the entire class can upload comments and start threads of their own. It is a web forum that lets one talk, capture, and save audio to surround the images. Lots of different voices, or people, can attach comments to the same image. (See http://voicethread.com/pachy.php)
A word of caution about photos on the Internet: Once the photo is out there you cannot take it back. I’m using a photo that was already published on the Internet – which I simply downloaded and cropped. Photos can be electronically altered and republished. It may be best to post diagrams or student work.
Welcome to Edublogs.org. This site has been set up to allow us to learn about blogs, or web-logs, by using one. This section is for posting – where your thoughts and comments will go. If you join edublogs – you can post here, if not, you can still make comments.
You are invited to share your thoughts, expertise, and tips on teaching & learning with technology on this site. You can simply read what is here or you can jump in and add to our expanding collective experience as we learn together some new ways to use technology. Simply click the boldCommentsbutton at the bottom of this section.
You can do this with your classes and allow students to post comments about what they are learning. Edublogs is a free site for educators and your blogsite can be kept private – so that only those who know the URL can access the page.
Why blog? Anytime, anywhere access with Internet - some of our students can use their phones or PSPs. It is a dynamic, interactive tool to engage students in discussions and to allow them to publish their thoughts and share information.
Notice the sidebar – section to right, there are different media tools. The top section shows how many comments there are. Next is a video section with videos from VodPods – watch them by clicking. The orange RSS sections are the latest headlines from PBS Learning and Urban Legends. Simply click a headline to read more about it. The headlines are automatically updated as content is added to both sites.
Finally, at the bottom of the sidebar, is a ‘WidgetBox’ which collects news from around the world and people’s thoughts on what’s happening. You can read the sections by clicking them, e-mail the sections, or comment. This is just a sample of what is possible. You can suggest or introduce topics that you want to share or those that you want to learn more about. Contribute! Question! For more information on using blogs in classes - http://edublogs.org/10-ways-to-use-your-edublog-to-teach/
What aboutYOU? How might you use these tools in your classroom? What guidelines should be in place for students? How might students benefit from online tools for learning? Honestly, any thought or idea that you want consideration of, or response from others on, is worth posting. We will all gain from our common knowledge and ideas, including questions.
Pages: Across the top of this page (above the school picture) are some other pages. Click the name to see those. Check out Web 2.0!!
Practice using this site. Click the comment button at the bottom…. Write a comment! Just Do It!
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