You - the Voki Avatar

Okay, it's almost the end of the week and almost the end of the summer semester. I think we need to make time for a little play 'n learn.


Get a Voki now!
(click on the play button in the bottom left)

At this point I honestly don't remember where I learned about this site, but it has been fun. Voki.com is a cool (free) little site where you can create your own speaking avatar. It is fairly intuitive and fast.

I sent the link to several coworkers and the Online Learning Series participants the other day. I didn't have time to play with it just then, but I had to share it! WELL . . . I have been getting some hilarious messages from people. Although I should probably be doing something a bit higher on the "productive" scale this afternoon, I am making time for a little play 'n learn.

Actually, I can see many uses for this - not just play. How cool would this be for an introduction to students taking your online class or going to your blog or wiki?

Take a play 'n learn break. You deserve it.

Just sharin'
Lee Anne

George Mason launches online clearinghouse for teachers of American history

I am inclined to believe that when a "clearinghouse" comes aknocking on your door, you are indeed already a winner!

I am reading ClassroomNews - an online eNewsletter by eSchool News. There are several interesting articles, but one certainly caught my eye. Are you a history teacher (or do you know one) looking for useful online content? Here you go . . . I hope! Below is ClassroomNews' link and discussion.

George Mason launches online clearinghouse for teachers of American history
http://teachinghistory.org/
"George Mason University has received a five-year, $7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to build and run an interactive web site that trains the nation’s elementary and high school history teachers in their craft. The new National History Education Clearinghouse is funded by ED’s Teaching American History program, which supports professional development opportunities for teachers in that field. The site will include features such as a searchable database of state history standards, customizable lesson plans, and online discussion forums with education experts on current trends in teaching American history. Kelly Schrum, director of educational projects at George Mason’s Center for History and New Media, said the site is designed to be the most comprehensive resource available for instructors specializing in American history. “There are a lot of clearinghouses and professional training in science and math, but not in history,” Schrum told The Examiner of Washington, D.C. “This is really an outgrowth of our overall mission.”

Check it out and let me know what you think?

Just Sharin'
Lee Anne

Podcasting Advice You Can Use

I have had the boundless pleasure of teaching a couple of podcasting classes this summer. The more I work with podcasting, the more I am convinced that this a fantastic activity and opportunity for student learning and creative expression. The technical aspects of this activity may seem a bit overwhelming at first unless you are a geek. I am NOT a geek (though I want to be!), so I am always grateful when I find tools that relieve me of the need to be geeky.

Through Eduhound's eNewsletter, I found a link to some cool podcasting resources. The creators of Radio Willow Web share their tools and techniques at Learninginhand.com. It is certainly worth a glance.

What I'm most excited about here, is the free music and sound effects links they share. I have not had a chance to roll around in all of them yet. If you find one to be particularly appropriate and easy, please share with everyone.

You may be interested in subscribing to EduHound's eNewsletter, Classroom Tools & Tips.

Just sharin'!

Lee Anne

What About Blogs - July 15th Class

What About Blogs?
Welcome to the Eighth Floor class about blogging in education. As a collaborative and constructive tool, blogs have found their place in education. As educators, we are using them as learning tools not only for our students, but also for ourselves.

Blogs in Plain English


Lee LeFever of the Common Craft Show

So What’s a Blog?
Let the 6 & 7 year olds from Room 9 at Nelson Central School educate you about what they think a blog is and why they love using them!



Let’s Talk About Blogs
How is a blog different from a website?
What does it mean to blog, be a blogger?
Why do you think you or your students might be attracted to this as a form of expression?
The first step to being a good blogger is to be a good blog ____________?

Top 10 Reasons to Use a Blog in the Classroom

Education Professional Development Blogs
Weblogg-ed - A blog by Will Richardson
Moving at the Speed of Creativity - A blog by Wesley Fryer
Blog of Proximal Development - a blog by Konrad Glogowski
Blogs about Educational Blogging - a wiki by Support Blogging.com

Classroom/Student Blogs
Arthus - NewlyAncient (high school student blog)
AP Calculus AB (An interactive log for students and parents in my AP Calculus class. This ongoing dialogue is as rich as YOU make it. Visit often and post your comments freely.)
The Good Habits Blog (blog for students)
Mrs Cassidy's Classroom Blog (elementary)
Blogical Minds (This is a blog created to explore what happens when 5th graders blog and converse about literacies in class and beyond)

Google Search for Blogs
http://blogsearch.google.com/?hl=en&tab=wb

Check out the following education/safety focused postings and articles:
MySpace Education
Change Agency
BlogSafety.com
Blogs, Fair Use, and Paying to Play

Blogging Tips and Tricks:
Web Blog Basics
Blogs - Anatomy
Blogs for Learning
Evaluating Blogging
Blogging Best Practices
Top 10 Blog Writing Tips
___________________________________________________________________

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

When is an apple more than just an apple?

I ran across a quote this morning that got me thinking about apples. Seriously, apples are an amazingly popular and versatile fruit. Aside from eating them (they are "delicious"), think about all the places apples pop up in our day to day lives:

• An apple a day keeps the doctor away


• Teachers and apples will forever be linked


• The apple of your eye


• Comparing apples and oranges (I actually wrote a paper on this in college!)


• As American as apple pie


• One bad apple . . . isn't there one in every group?


• How do you like them apples?


• And maybe the most famous apple of all . . . . Apple Computers.
  

With all the ways apples figure into our lives, is it weird that my mind went directly to Apple Computers when I read the following quote in the Sloan-C View eNewsletter today?

"If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.
George Bernard Shaw."

I envisioned people literally exchanging computers and realizing that they didn't have any greater insight or technical literacy than they had before. BUT, if they share what they learn while they use their computers – WOW! Imagine the possibilities. As I was reading the quote I thought, what a great example of how technology integration and innovation have nothing to do with 'point and click' skills and everything to do with learning. And then I saw who the author is and realized I need to get out a little more.

But I think I know why my mind did immediately go there. We have been having a great summer on the Eighth Floor. I have been lucky enough to work with so many apple deserving educators – you know, the kind that never stop thinking and sharing – they are constantly popping. I love seeing people make the connections, both with other people and with the potential of technology. There's been a lot of energy to soak up around here this summer! And, I like them apples.

Just Thinkin'
Lee Anne

Are Conversational Skills (in writing) Important?

I ran across an article last week in Campus Technology's Web 2.0
eNewsletter, Learning in the Webiverse: How Do you Grade a Conversation. I couldn't click on it fast enough! Why wouldn't you want to know this? I can't tell you the number of educators that struggle with the discussion boards and web tools, etc.

Right off the bat the author, Dr. Trent Batson, asks two pretty big questions:

1. Are conversational skills (in writing) important and, if so, how do we teach them?
   
2. How do you evaluate written turns in an ongoing conversation?
   

Here are several topic headings to pique your interest.

• An Academic Online Conversation
  
• Principles for Evaluating Online Conversations
  
• Web 2.0 Just Does Conversation
  
• That Old Tipping Point
  

Any thoughts . . .

Just Sharin'
Lee Anne

What did they really learn in class yesterday?

I taught a day long PowerPoint class yesterday. As is usual, the participants ran the gamut from very beginner to fairly advanced. The class is designed to start from the dead bottom beginning and work toward intermediate skills. However, I assured the advanced users that they would surely pick up some valuable tips or tricks along the way - at least I always do no matter how many classes I take on a topic.

As folks filed out at the end of the day, one of the advanced users stopped to tell me how much she had learned in class and how happy she was that she stayed. At the beginning of class she realized she was in the wrong class and considered leaving. I was thrilled, of course! Out of curiosity, I asked her what were a few of the things she learned about PowerPoint. She enthusiastically told me nothing - she already knew all that stuff. The golden nuggets came in between the PowerPoint instruction. She said the websites I talked about were exactly what she needed (I wish I could remember all of them), and the tips on presentation design had never occurred to her. During the break one of the other participants helped her with a completely unrelated technology problem - one that no one at her school could tackle. She wanted to know what was on the docket for tomorrow!

I'm still thrilled that it was time well spent for her. And, I promised her I would share one of the sites we played with called SlideShare . This is a free site where educators have put their PowerPoint presentations in order to access them from anywhere and to share them with other educators. Go have a look. Search a topic you generally work with - I bet you'll find something. Additionally, if you have a great presentation you use with your students - share!

Another site we talked about was PowerPoint in the Classroom, a campy little site full of instruction and tutorials for both 2003 and 2007.

Good Times!
Lee Anne

PowerPoint - My Dear Old Friend

With all the new web tools and free tools and what have you that are available now, we may forget about our dear old friend PowerPoint. When it comes to classroom tools that are versatile and easy to use for both student and teacher, PowerPoint always fits the bill. I ran across a blog post that reminded me of this in the Edublogs Magazine, "Teaching Technology Takes Kids Farther: PowerPoint." The author shares some very nice resources and tutorials (go about 2/3 down the post to find the links), as well as discusses personal classroom integration techniques. I encourage you to take a look at the article and the resources - lots of cool idea sparkers.

If you want to build, freshen, or advance your PowerPoint skills, of course we offer classes on the Eighth Floor to meet just those needs. (Both 2003 and 2007 versions)

Go to the Eighth Floor Class Info for times and dates.

As always, if you have question, comments, or concerns . . .

Just Sharin'
Lee Anne

Its Free! -- K12 Online Conference

Are you looking for a FREE conference?
Look no further: http://k12onlineconference.org/

Welcome to the K-12 Online Conference!

The K-12 Online Conference invites participation from educators around the world interested in innovative ways Web 2.0 tools and technologies can be used to prove learning. This FREE conference is run by volunteers and open to everyone. The 2008 conference theme is “Amplifying Possibilities”. This year’s conference begins with a pre-conference keynote the week of October 13, 2008. The following two weeks, October 20-24 and October 27-31, forty presentations will be posted online to the conference blog (this website) for participants to download and view. Live Events in the form of three “Fireside Chats” and a culminating “When Night Falls” event will be announced. Everyone is encouraged to participate in both live events during the conference as well as asynchronous conversations. More information about podcast channels and conference web feeds is available!

Call for proposals: http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=218

I attended the first two (2006 & 2007) and found them to be well, well worth my time.

Just Sharin'!
Lee Anne

Tips for Digital Literacy - Yes, this is stuff you want to know!

Like many of you, I am still trying to get a comfortable handle on “digital literacy.” I have tons and tons of questions and very few "good" answers.

• How do I help my students evaluate and manage all the information presently available to them?
• How do I help them distinguish the good from the bad from the ugly?
• How do I help them understand copyright and copyleft?
• How do I help them find a variety of information (not just what’s available through Wikipedia or Google)?
• How do I, how do I, how do I????
  

So, anytime I see an article dealing with anything to do with digital/information/media literacy, etc., I’m on it. Needless to say, this article from TechLearning, “Make Students Info Literate” by Judy Salpeter had my full attention. The article touches on several timely topics, such as finding a variety of research options, finding effective research terms, copyright, tools that make evaluation easier, terms and definitions of 21st Century literacy, and NCTE recommendations.

In case you don’t subscribe to TechLearning you may want to . . . no, I don’t get any money for this!

Just Sharin’!
Lee Anne