Saturday, July 24, 2010
BP_8_Kidthing
What a wonderful idea! Kidthing is a downloadable browser that has been developed for kids to use as their Internet. Parents and teachers are able to safely allow their children to access kid-friendly websites, without ads and/or inappropriate adult content. These websites contain interactive media and content that allows the children to upload media and chat with their family, friends and teachers. Teachers are able to assign fun learning games using characters the students are familiar with like Dr. Seuss and Penguins. Kidthing is an excellent site for teachers to embark on a journey with endless possibilities to engage their students throughout the school year.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Bp_7_Sync_inc_video
Let's Sync Up, Teachers!
I have created a 1 minute commercial with a nice jingle on the benefits of using Sync_inc for teachers collaboration. Click here to see the video on my Viddler account.
BP4_Sync_in
Hi all,
I found a web 2.0 tool that will be great for collaborating with your grade level. Sync_in allows users to view, edit and communicate on the same document while conferencing. I think this tool will definitely support my action research topic and save teacher's time. Sync_in can be accessed or linked through the other social networks like Facebook. We, as teachers, are multi-taskers who can juggle multiple activities at the same time. Sync_in helps facilitate grade level team communication by allowing the meeting to be recorded and conducted in real-time. If a teacher is running late and joins the conference at another later, Sync_in provides the opportunity for this teacher to listen to the discussion and watch the document evolve with the meeting. How awesome!! Virtual collaboration helps teachers work together as a team!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
BP3_Schoology
Schoology allows for schools to create personal social networks amongst individual classrooms and grade levels. For the classroom, teachers are able to mark attendance, create assessments for students to take online, and communicate with parents. As for the grade levels, there are several opportunities for teachers to collaborate electronically. First, teachers can create blogs to communicate and RSS feeds to others to discuss best teaching practices. Secondly, they are able to create and share lesson plans and online assessments for all students to take. After taking the online tests, schoology can generate reports based upon student's performance. The teachers can evaluate and discuss data online.
This Web 2.0 site verifies whether or not you are an employee of your school. Once you have been verified, you can set up your school's network that will allow for a school wide data sharing and communication warehousing. With grades and reports being open for administration and the entire grade level to see, teachers will no longer have to print out weekly, monthly assessment reports. Information sharing can be made in real-time which will lead to more effective and faster decision making.
BP1_Google Reader
It takes teamwork to make education work for today's students. I have found 5 RSS feeds to follow that will help me to conduct my action research project.1. Google Docs Blog: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/
This blog is the official google docs created by google developers. This blog provides a daily tip that can help anyone who wants to working with google docs. I can use the feeds from this site to use as a resource for the teachers on my team who are new to google docs. I also can find short cuts for certain functions that can be useful to our team.
2. Google for Educators: The Best Features for Busy Teachers: http://www.edutopia.org/google-educators
This blog is designed for educators by Sara Ring. Ms. Ring is a contributing editor for Edutopia. It provides a link for teachers to showcase the best features and uses of teachers using google with their work. I can use some of these feeds to discuss with my colleagues practices and discussion topics that teachers are talking about while using google.
3. Tips, Tools and Technology for Educators Today : http://blog.learningtoday.com/
This blog is designed by educators. It provides a wide variety of the technology that teachers can use to enhance their communication with all stakeholders. This blog lists podcasts that showcase the technology and its application within the school. I can use this feed to keep myself update with the latest practices that are being used.
4. TeacherTube.com: http://www.teachertube.com/blogList.php
This blog is similar to youtube, but is specifically designed for teachers. Teachers post their success stories with a particular technology. I think it will be a great way for us to post and celebrate our success with being more green. I will use this feed as a motivational tool to help encourage my team mates to stick with the project. When we finish, we can create a podcast to share on this site.
5. Creating A Culture of Collaboration Through Technology Integration
(always learning): http://kimcofino.com/blog/
Always learning is a site that has been designed by an educator who works in an international school. I found this blog to be a valuable resource to because it was based on an overwhelming favorable response for educators who attended the EARCOS Teacher's Conference in February. Several teachers posted about their take away and exposure to the different technologies that are now available to help teachers incorporate technology in their classroom and school. I plan to use this blog to get ideas and share them with my colleagues.
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