Tech ‘n Time

GeekyMomma: From Twitter to Del.icio.us in One Easy Comment!

The following information was shared in GeekyMomma’s Blog. I wanted to share it with my readers. Here goes:

1. Go to del.icio.us (sign up for an account if you don’t have one already)
   
2. Click on Your Network (top left)
3. On the right-hand side, in the text box, type in Twitter_EdTech
4. Click ADD
5. Now Twitter_EdTech will appear in your network beneath in blue
6. Click on Twitter_EdTech
7. You are now in Twitter_EdTech’s bookmarks, but there are none… BUT WAIT
8. In the gray box at the top, it reads:
   

   All Twitter_EdTech’s items (0)
   Twitter_EdTech is in your network, view Twitter_EdTech’s network

9. Click on VIEW Twitter_EdTech’s Network

Isn’t this a great way to share our bookmarks and resources with others while making connections all over the world?

The merits of multiple perspectives in the classroom » Moving at the Speed of Creativity Annotated

tags: no_tag

The only viable way to help students develop their critical thinking skills, in my view, is to encourage them to engage in extended conversations about issues which are not clearly black and white and involve some controversy. Sometimes in school we present the curriculum as a “here are the facts” sort of proposition, but particularly in the domain of science what we need to encourage is a questioning mind and an outlook which is always critical, searching for evidence.

I highlighted this entry from Wesley Fryer’s blog post today. For me it addresses the change that educators must make to prepare our students to live productively and in harmony in a global world. I think most of us know the “here are the facts” way of teaching is remembered for only a short while. How may of us remember the names of all 50 states and their capitals? How many remember the history of world wars and their purpose or outcome?

When we address those issues that are controversial, we get deep into the subject and encourage our students and ourselves to ask those questions that get us thinking about other perspectives. Is it comfortable for most of us to do this; no. I think that is why many educators don’t address curriculum in this way.

So, how to we get educators to change?

Last night on Edtechtalk’s Making Connections with Cathy Evanoff, we had as our guest Maggie from Diigo. She demonstrated some of the features of Diigo, a social bookmarking site. Diigo allows you to collect, organize, share and collaborate online information with others. As an educator, this is a wonderful tool to use both professionally and personally to store websites for quick and easy retrieval when you need them.

I really like the annotating features that allow you to highlight and make notes on a website. The highlight feature allows you to highlight specific information on a page. You could then share that highlighted information with a friend. I can also add a sticky note to possibly share with others how I might have used the information on the page. The new Diigo, to be out very soon, will allow you to clip a video such as one from YouTube or TeacherTube and add it to your bookmarks. How cool is that?

Another highlight of the Diigo site is being able to join groups where you can collaborate on topics of your choice. You can also start a group where others can collaborate and add bookmarks as well. There are numerous other tools and options for using this site. You’ve got to check it out.

With the wealth of information at our fingertips, this is a much needed tool to help with organization of information.

If you just read my post on Yugma, you read about another free web based resource for professional as well as personal use. This resource is called Skype. I am an avid user of this resource. It allows me to contact those in my contact list immediately through my computer. I spend many hours each day online. When I want to collaborate on an idea, I look for people available to call. I then send a chat message to see if they are available to talk. If so, I call them (if only one) or start a conference call (if more that one). This brings me to the feature I like most, the ability to make a conference call with up to 10 people. I have used this feature many times. My peers and I have collaborated on upcoming presentations, planned family events, demonstrated Skype as well as other online tools, and connected students with others on various projects. You can also purchase Skype credit to allow calls to landlines or mobile phones. This is a great resource! Check it out!

Have you heard about Yugma? It’s a free website that allows collaboration with others through virtual presentations. With Yugma you can give a tutorial remotely as well as provide tech support when you need it by sharing your desktop with others. I first saw this in action when a friend of mine was giving a tutorial on Audacity. She started a conference call in Skype and began a session in Yugma. A link was sent so that we could join in. What a great way to be able to share something from your computer with others! I call that learning when you need it, where you need it.

If you’ve not heard about Twitter, you need to check it out. It’s a good way to create a network of friends, family or those who share similar interests. I was introduced to Twitter by a friend of mine a few months ago. I started “tweeting” shortly after. I’m following about 60 people, some I know through online interactions and some I know personally. We all have one thing in common, we’re involved in education.

As my tweet friends learn something new they post a short entry on Twitter. I immediately receive this information in my Twitter box. I do the same in return. What a great way to share your learning with others.

If you haven’t checked out the sessions at the K12 Online Conference, you’re missing out on some great presentations on Web 2.0. Many of them gave me ideas to use in my pre-conference session on Web 2.0 that was held in Greensboro, NC the week after Thanksgiving. There are many, many great uses for Web 2.0 tools for educators and most of these tools are free. The tools I used with my participants included: blogs, wikis, google docs, Skype, Yugma, social bookmarking sites and others. I used a wiki to conduct my training and a blog for participant reflection. I created a spreadsheet on google docs that participants edited and I had a couple of educators to skype in during the session to share ways they use these same tools in their schools and districts. The participant feedback was great! I had 15 participants to attend the morning session and 13 for the afternoon session. Many were excited to get the hands on experience with these tools. For many of them it was their first experience. My goal was that they find at least one to integrate into their classroom.

Last week I had the opportunity to work with educators in two different elementary schools on the integration of the Smartboard as a tool for learning. Each school will be getting Smartboards mounted in every classroom in the coming weeks. For the training, we set up one for a short demonstration of it’s many uses. Two others were left as is for teachers to learn how to set them up initially and then for them to explore the gallery and many online templates for use as an educational tool. Teachers left excited and eager to use these in their classrooms. Why Smartboards or any interactive board? Students become actively involved and engaged in the learning process. Learning becomes fun which leads to higher academic achievement.