Tech 'n Time

Make Your Network Grow with Delicious

dgoodman — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 02:32:42 +0000

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:

Go to del.icio.us (sign up for an account if you don’t have one already)
Click on Your Network (top left)
On the right-hand side, in the text box, type in Twitter_EdTech
Click ADD
Now Twitter_EdTech will appear in your network beneath in blue
Click on Twitter_EdTech
You are now in Twitter_EdTech’s bookmarks, but there are none… BUT WAIT
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
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?

How do you seek out your own professional development?

dgoodman — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 04:38:23 +0000

As an educator, it is my responsibility to seek out professional development that will keep me well informed and ready to move to the next level. I actively seek out opportunities to challenge myself and stretch beyond my comfort zone. Good educators often reflect on what they are doing and how they can improve. I often ask myself, “What skills do I need to be able to fulfill my job responsibilities?” After identifying these skills I aggressively pursue training and professional development opportunities to improve them. I seek out networking opportunities with other professionals with similar needs, goals, and interests. I often participate in online webcast sessions where I meet and discuss educational technology issues and best practices.

I am a blogger. I read and comment on blogs weekly. Blogging allows me to read other’s ideas on innovative teaching practices and gives me a venue to share and get feedback on my ideas. I twitter on a daily basis. With twitter, I have learned so much from so many. I searched for twitters in instructional technology so that my network reflected my passion for teaching and integrating technology. Interesting web sites, emerging technologies, new software and friendly reminders are posted by twitters 24/7 for all in their network to see. Twitters answer the question, “What are you doing?” in 144 characters or less. My network includes other educators who seek to find ways to encourage and motivate teachers in integrating the latest technology to produce students who will be successful in the 21st century and beyond. I create wikis as the instructional format for my staff development for others. It allows me to upload documents and files that participants might need as well as creates an online document they can interact with as well. I subscribe to many podcasts that I listen to as I drive to and from trainings. Podcasts are a great way to listen to previously recorded trainings that you couldn’t attend. With the emergence of Web 2.0 tools, I can continue to be a learner, facilitator, collaborator, and a team player with educators all over the world.

Multiple Perspectives and Critical Thinking Skills, Who’d Ever Thought?

dgoodman — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:57:28 +0000

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?

Diigo

dgoodman — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:31:14 +0000

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.

Skype

dgoodman — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:29:21 +0000

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!

Yugma

dgoodman — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:27:07 +0000

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.

Twitter

dgoodman — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 18:23:47 +0000

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.

Web 2.0

dgoodman — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:53:12 +0000

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.

Smartboard

dgoodman — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:41:01 +0000

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.

Welcome

dgoodman — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 02:51:40 +0000

This blog portal will be my professional blog site for sharing “just in time” technology tips and strategies for use in the classroom. I have been in education for about 18 years in multiple roles. My role at the present is a consultant for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s Technology Division. I have been loaned to them for a short period to work with educators around our state on integrating technology into the curriculum. It has been an awesome experience as I have met so many wonderful educators.

With this experience, I have grown personally and professionally. I have created my own network of learners so that I can keep up with the latest and best technologies for student use. I regularly join in the Edtechtalk community of learners through their website. This allows me to make connections with other educators that share the same goals, interests and passions that I have for working with students and staff in this ever changing world of technology. And, it only gets better and better.

If we are to produce students that can communicate, connect, collaborate and compete in an ever so global world, it is imperative that we use those technology sources that will allow us to do this. In this blog, I hope to highlight many of those sources.

Until the next blog…