In doing some digging for a new class I am teaching (insert shameless plug here-- Social Networking Tools for Educators - Nov 11th at 4:30) . . . back to the conversation . . . in doing some digging for a new class, I have run across some great resources. The English Companion Ning is one in particular. I really wish this sort of resource had been around when I first started teaching. What a great place to bounce ideas off of others testing the same waters you are. I have seen ning sites for just about every subject. 
___________________________________________________________
QUESTION!
Since this is a class about blogging, we thought you might want to do a little, well, blogging. So, what are some advantages to using blogs? What are some disadvantages? What can you do to minimize the disadvantages? ___________________________________________________________
Add your comment to this post. Take a minute to think about the above questions. (Or share something else, if you choose, like an idea you're already have for using blogs) Click on the "comments" link below and then type your answer. You can comment as "anonymous or other." Be sure to include your name somewhere so we know who you are. Read others’ comments and feel free to comment on their comments!
Thanks!
Lee Anne
Bridget Willard
As summer starts to wind down (not the temperatures, just the fun) I found myself thinking back to my first days back to school. I asked my daughters if they were ready to get back in to the groove and back in school. Of course the answer was "no"… but then we started talking about all of the possibilities that layout in front of them in the coming year. My oldest will graduate from the 8th grade, last year of middle school and according to her the year her class "rules the school". One more chance to try to win the speech contest, get a leading part in the school play, field trips, basketball the list started getting bigger and bigger. After awhile I think both girls were ready to get after this last year!
I remembered the excitement of a fresh start with new notebooks, clothes and renewed energy. So I went out and did a little research to see what others are doing to get ready for the new school year and found the 101 THINGS YOU CAN DO THE FIRST THREE WEEKS OF CLASS.
Take a look and add to the list!
pretty thin and don’t get to interact with folks outside of class too much. We also don’t have a whole lot of time to continue our own education. But, I think we have found a way to make it better! We have set up an Eighth Floor Ning site. It’s kind of like MySpace or Facebook for educators. You can post pictures, leave messages, post videos, start discussion forums, just hang out and lurk, and much more. 
I had the opportunity yesterday to BE the student - an opportunity that is becoming all to rare these days. I participated in the Tech Talk Forum (gr K-8). The bulk of my experience in the classroom is working with teens and adults, so I take any opportunity I can to get connected with what's going on in the lower grades. Brad and Edith Dishman, part-time instructors on the Eighth Floor and full-time wizzards in Owasso, facilitated the course. What fun! I am very impressed with what they are doing in their elementary classrooms with Skype and wikis and many other technologies.
as so many are. How aware are you of your online persona? Do you have one? Do you think you should? I would be willing to wager that if you Google yourself, you are out there. You are somebody in cyberspace if nowhere else!
Wow, is it really possible that the semester is coming to an end . . . at some point . . . please? We are having an amazingly busy spring here on the Eighth Floor. It is fun, but busy. I had an absolute blast yesterday with the ladies at University of Oklahoma learning PowerPoint - I wanted them to know that. They are always a fun, eager crowd. Yesterday afternoon, I taught the Digital Pictures Projects class to another very fun group of women here on the Eighth Floor. Along with several tools that foster digital storytelling, we played with the Animoto.com tool. Now, that was a blast! Go check it out.Here’s a sample of what has gone on:
I encourage you to poke around. There is one today on open content in education. I will be hitting the archives next week to hear that one.
If you are already a member of Classroom 2.0 or sign up in the future, add me as a friend!! Hopefully you can find me . . .Lee Anne Morris or lamorris.
BTW – The Eighth Floor summer schedule will be available very soon. Enrollment begins Monday, May 4th, 2009. We have some exciting new programs this summer. Keep checking the website!
Just Sharin’
Lee Anne
Idol. You get a number to send the text to and you have to start your text with different number followed by your answer. 
YouTube Launches Higher Education LandingYou Tube EDU aggregates video from colleges and universities. The launch was made quietly this past week, but with contributions from Dartmouth, Stanford, University of Minnesota, UNC Chapel Hill, Purdue, Harvard, VirginiaTech, and more than 100 others, the site stands a chance to get attention easily. There are already more than 20,000 videos on YouTube EDU. Content is varied, ranging from lectures on quantum physics to "Snow Day in Chapel Hill." With no plans for indexing the videos with a controlled vocabulary (confirmed by Obadiah Greenberg of the Strategic Partnerships team at YouTube) it's starting out eclectic but browsable--typical YouTube. Many of you may be aware that YouTube is not the only vehicle for watching and uploading videos for your students. TeacherTube and SchoolTube may be more appropriate. I have found a number of videos on TeacherTube that I use in the classroom. Educational sharing at its best!
Page
·
04/01/09
I poked around a little. For the most part the topics are strongly scholastic – good news. The quality of some of the videos wasn’t great – but the topics are fantastic. Check this one out on Googling the Brain on a Chip.
Do you think Encyclopedia Britannica can do what Wikipedia has done? I guess they are going to try, but I admit, I am a bit skeptical. When I first skimmed over a post in the AppScout blog, I was intrigued, even a little excited. I thought this was a great idea, for EB to adapt to a new way of learning and free information – very altruistic of them, in fact. But, then, I started to think about it and read some of the comments made on the post, especially the ones made by Tom from Britannica. I love that there is always another side to “things.” And, there is absolutely another side to this thing. 
“The only scarce resource left today is your attention span. How do you choose to use the next 24 hours?” Richard Malinski
___________________________________________________________
QUESTION!
Since this is a class about blogging, we thought you might want to do a little, well, blogging. So, what are some advantages to using blogs? What are some disadvantages? What can you do to minimize the disadvantages? ___________________________________________________________
Add your comment to this post. Take a minute to think about the above questions. (Or share something else, if you choose, like an idea your already have for using blogs) Click on the "comments" link below and then type your answer. You can comment as "anonymous or other." Be sure to include your name somewhere so we know who you are. Read others’ comments and feel free to comment on their comments!
Thanks!
Lee Anne
I wanted to share an article from Campus Technology, “3 Challenges to Wiki Use in Instruction”. I was impressed that they narrowed it down to three! (smile). I’ve been using and teaching the use of wikis in the classroom for several years now. I knew when I started developing classes using Web 2.0 tools that we were perhaps ahead of the curve – and we may still be – but not surprisingly, being ahead of the curve is part of our mission. I’ve been sharing the benefits of wikis for some time, things like collaborative environment, shared construction of knowledge, self-directed teams, facilitates higher level thinking, etc. I’m not so sure I always share the challenges. And I should!
I enjoy a well thought top 10 list, don't you? Here's one from The Journal that I think is particularly well done: Top 10 Web Tools for Young Learners. 
I searched for some discussion of Facebook netiquette and found a few that were pretty good, some that offered smatterings of direction, and others that were just downright socially retarded I don’t care what network you’re hanging out in. I had some specific questions I needed answered, like when you make a new friend should you immediately write on that person’s wall – kind of like a hug – and who should be the first to write, the initiator or the accepter? How good of a F2F friend do we need to be before it’s okay to comment on pictures they post? How do you politely deny a friend request? My Facebook world has become real for me. I’m starting to care how things go there. It has defined itself as more of a personal network consisting of family and very old and very new “non-work” friends. I point out the non-work, because I started playing with this for professional reasons. But, it’s personal now. I believe the line between the two is defined by each individual – as Scott always says, “That’s why they call them personal computers.”
I still don’t have answers to some of the finer points, like who writes who first in a new friendship or even if you are expected to. However, most of my research showed that if we just stand by common courtesy and social savvy, we are doing the right thing. So I am going to keep “just winging” it and pray that no one thinks I am CREEPY.
