Look at Dimdim

Look at Dimdim: http://www.dimdim.com/

Dimdim provides web meeting software. Here is a chance to make the world a smaller place - by creating a simple, free service that lets everyone everywhere communicate using rich media in real time. And not only would Dimdim be easy to use, it would also be free so web meetings could be democratized and made available to everyone. Enabling people around the world to show pictures, PPTs, PDFs, screens, even video as part of their conversations with no desktop client (like Skype or Outlook) is technically very complicated and often at the mercy of the internet connection speed or the power of the CPU. Today anyone can signup and hold their own web meetings using Dimdim Free. So simple anyone can use it. Unlike other web conference products, Dimdim does not require users to install software on their computers to attend web meetings. Users can start or join meetings with just a few clicks. Dimdim is available for free so everyone - not just big companies with big budgets - can use it. And Dimdim is available as open source software so you can extend and improve it freely. Dimdim already integrates with other software and can be extended easily. And Dimdim is extremely flexible, available in hosted and onsite configurations and easily customizable.

How would you use Dimdim in your classroom, outside your classroom, during and after school hours or for other educational purposes?

Kindle: Amazon's Wireless Reading Device

The Kindle is a portable reading device with the ability to wirelessly download books, blogs, magazines, and newspapers. Amazon introduced the Kindle just last year. It is designed to provide an exceptional reading experience. Thanks to electronic paper, a revolutionary new display technology, reading Kindle’s screen is as sharp and natural as reading ink on paper—and nothing like the strain and glare of a computer screen. Kindle is also easy on the fingertips. It never becomes hot and is designed for ambidextrous use so both "lefties" and "righties" can read comfortably at any angle for long periods of time. Kindle is completely mobile and simple to use for everyone, it is wireless. No PC and no syncing needed. Using the same 3G network as advanced cell phones, it delivers your content using Amazon’s own wireless delivery system, called Whispernet. Unlike WiFi, you’ll never need to locate a hotspot. There are no confusing service plans, yearly contracts, or monthly wireless bills—no hassles so you can just read. With Whispernet, you can be anywhere, think of a book, and get it in one minute. Similarly, your content automatically comes to you, wherever you are. Newspaper subscriptions are delivered wirelessly each morning. Most magazines arrive before they hit newsstands. Haven’t read the book for tomorrow night’s book club? Get it in a minute. Finished your book in the airport? Download the sequel while you board the plane. Whether you’re in the mood for something serious or hilarious, lighthearted or studious, Kindle delivers your spontaneous reading choices on demand. Kindle lets you download and read the beginning of books for free. This way, you can try it out—if you like it, simply buy and download with 1-Click, right from your Kindle, and continue reading. Want to try a newspaper as well? All newspaper subscriptions start with a risk-free two-week trial. Kindle’s paperback size and expandable memory let you travel light with your library. With the freedom to download what you want, when you want, you’ll never again find yourself stuck without a great read. Read about the Kindle on the Amazon website http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Wireless-Reading-Device/dp/B000FI73MA, watch the videos and look at what’s available and the pricing. Do you think this technology might be useful in the classroom or other educational setting? How would you use it both personally and professionally?

SMART Table

Meet the world’s first multitouch, multiuser table for primary education. The SMART Table interactive learning center lets students get hands-on with collaborative activities – and the more hands the merrier.
The SMART Table is a versatile learning center where groups of students can create, explore and discover together on the durable screen. The interface is so intuitive that even the youngest child can play games and plunge into learning activities in no time.

Use this link to explore the SMART Table: http://www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/Products/SMART+Table/default.htm?WT.mc_id=Table_spotlight

Watch the video to get some ideas about how the SMART Table could be used in the classroom. How long do you think it will take for this technology to be integrated into classrooms? How would you use this with your students?

Special Needs Guide to Tech Products

Go to the Technology & Learning website to read about the latest software and hardware that can aid educators in both classroom instruction and assessment for any sort of learning challenge http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=196605474 . This article will be helpful when integrating adaptive and assistive technology tools into planning for instruction in inclusive classrooms. What tools do you think you would use and how would you integrate them into your lesson plans and unit plans?

Web 2.0 . . . The Machine is Us/ing Us

Michael Wesch is a cultural anthropologist and media ecologist exploring the impacts of new media on human interaction. Wesch is launching the Digital Ethnography Working Group, a team exploring human uses of digital technology. Coinciding with the launch of this group, Wesch created a short video, "Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us." Released on YouTube on January 31st 2007, it quickly became the most popular video in the blogosphere and has now been viewed over 3 million times. Wesch's videos are part of his broader efforts to pursue the possibilities of digital media to extend and transform the way ethnographies are presented. Wesch is also a multiple award-winning teacher active in the development of innovative teaching techniques. Most notably, Wesch has developed a highly-acclaimed "World Simulation" for large introductory classes in cultural anthropology. Currently he is the coordinator for the Peer Review of Teaching Project at Kansas State University, part of a broader nation-wide consortium of universities pursuing new ways to improve and evaluate student learning. He is also working with the Educause Center for Applied Research on "The Tower and the Cloud" project, examining "the question of how higher education institutions (The Tower) may interoperate with the emerging network-based business and social paradigm (The Cloud)."

Watch the video on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE and decide if the machine is using us?

Microsoft Surface - A Tabletop Computer

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates unveiled the Microsoft Surface, a tabletop computer that reacts to touch.The 30-inch display screen is mounted under a plastic tabletop and will initially cost $5,000 to $10,000. It will, at first, only be available in select hotels, casinos, and T-Mobile stores in November. View the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFhxV3rvW0k to learn about this exciting concept. Then go to the company's website to see a simulation of the Surface experience http://www.microsoft.com/surface/index.html In what ways do you think you could adapt a concept like this in your classroom? What are some other ways this technology could be re-purposed for the educational community?

Back to School Convocation Keynote Address

Watch this Back to School Convocation Keynote Address to the teachers and staff of the Dallas Independent School District at http://www.dallasisd.org/keynote.htm. What did you think of the speaker? How were you affected by his address? How will you bring what you learned from him to your students? Do you think you will look at your students differently? Will you change the way you interact with them?

Class, Open Your Phones

Trends suggest that mobile phones have educational potential. Read the article "Class, Open Your Phones," at http://www.schoolcio.com/showArticle.php?articleID=193003986 to spot a future trend. Did the ideas mentioned in the article spark your interest? Would you consider incorporating this mobile technology into your classroom? How would you use cell phones with your students?

The New Apple Core

Read this article at Handheld Learning:

http://www.handheldlearning.co.uk/content/view/54/

Is the iPhone the precursor of Web 3.0? Do you agree with Chris Deering's vision? What possibilities would this scenario offer educators? Are we, here in the United States, behind in our technology implementation, are we building an infrastructure to support Web 3.0, are we planning for the future?

A memo to my 'teacher's (sic)'

This column was recently published in Newsday. It was written by a high school freshman and explains why teachers need to write professionally. Do you think her point is valid? Are a few occasional mistakes okay, it's not a big deal, after all teachers are only human? Have standards been relaxed? Are students learning what they should in school? Are today's teachers good role models?

Newsday.com

EXPRESSWAY: A memo to my 'teacher's (sic)'
BY JANINE PERRI

Janine Perri lives in Holbrook.

May 31, 2008

As a freshman attending one of the larger school districts on Long Island, I always expected to receive an excellent education from a staff of knowledgeable teachers and administrators. Recent events, however, have prompted me to think otherwise.

In a stairwell near the library of my high school, I noticed a flier: "Future Teacher's Party! All member's must attend!" I was shocked at the misspellings - teacher's instead of teachers or teachers', and member's instead of members. The fact that the "member's" and "teacher's" involved with the flier were part of the Future Teachers of America Club was sheer irony.

I don't know if the flier was created by a teacher or by a "future teacher," but I was amazed that such mistakes could pass by unnoticed in an institution filled with instructors who are supposed to further my education.

When the flier was taken down and shown to the administrator who will be the principal of the school next year, he couldn't find the errors. His response when they were pointed out to him? A mere shrug and a claim that "everyone makes mistakes."

While this is certainly true, there's a difference between making an occasional mistake that can be overlooked and complete carelessness. Had such a mistake happened only once, it could be disregarded. But misspellings tend to be common in the district.

A flier hanging in the school hallways earlier this year advertised the upcoming comedy show auditions, asking, "Do you think your funny?" This mistake (your instead of you're), unlike the recent one, was noticed, as a piece of paper with a correction was taped over the misspelling a few days later.

Several years ago, an elementary school billboard "congradulated" the winners of a spelling bee, while "kindergarden" registrations were taking place in another elementary school in the district.

I'm sure my district isn't the only one with this problem. Misspellings and mistakes reflect poorly on a school district, showing the carelessness of educators and administrators. If misspellings are common, what does that say about the education that students are receiving?

Poor spelling and grammatical errors make people seem uneducated. What will the colleges the students apply to think? What about their future employers?

As for the "member's/teacher's" flier, I can't believe that, in a building filled with upwards of 300 educators, no one seems either to have noticed the mistake or brought it to the attention of the administration. If students are expected to uphold certain standards with grammar and spelling, shouldn't teachers do so as well? If teachers are unable to find simple mistakes that are unacceptable for an elementary student, how well are they really teaching us?

It makes you question today's teaching standards and wonder how much students actually learn in school, compared with how much know-ledge they gain on their own.

Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.

Mandating Technology Use

Read the article at this link: http://21centuryconnections.com/node/469

Are we still teaching in the 20th century? Are you as frustrated as the author of this article? Do you think we need to mandate technology use? How are you doing your part to move education into the 21st century by integrating technology into your classroom?

Bloom's Taxonomy Blooms Digitally

In the 1950's Benjamin Bloom developed his taxonomy of cognitive objectives, Bloom's Taxonomy. This categorized and ordered thinking skills and objectives. His taxonomy follows the thinking process. In the 1990's, a former student of Bloom, Lorin Anderson, revised Bloom's Taxonomy and published Bloom's Revised Taxonomy in 2001. Key to this is the use of verbs rather than nouns for each of the categories and a rearrangement of the sequence within the taxonomy.

This article address the new objectives presented by the emergence and integration of Information and Communication Technologies into the classroom and the lives of our students.

Read the Technology & Learning article at this link: http://techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=196605124 to decide if you believe the digital taxonomy more acurately addresses the digital learners of today. How will you use these new categories when you design lessons, projects, assessments, and activities for your students?

4Teachers Family of Tools

Look at the educational resource links that use technology to improve instruction across all content areas and grade levels on this website: http://www.4teachers.org/tools/?PHPSESSID=0eb1361136b4e042ed2bae7a03334b0c.

Here you will find current resources that align with standards, promote higher-order thinking, and support the development of writing skills. There are tools that can monitor student research and writing, evaluate student performance, and create bilingual online lessons, classroom calendars, and quizzes in less time than traditional methods.

Choose one that you think you might use in your classroom in the future. Try it and then share a brief explanation of what the tool could be used for and how you might use it. Answer one of your classmates' posts by offering another way you might use the same tool that they evaluated.

Explore some other pages on the 4Teachers website http://www.4teachers.org/ , this is a great resource that you will want to add to your Internet Explorer "Favorites."

An Easy and Fun Way to Create Educational Content

Visit the Digital Learning Environment to read Jim Hollis' blog about An Easy and Fun Way to Create Educational Content http://www.guide2digitallearning.com/blog_jim_hollis/easy_and_fun_way_create_educational_content. Read the instructions and watch the video clips. Did you find the blog useful? Do you think you will plan a lesson differently when using a SMART Board after reading the instructions and watching the video clips? Do you have some ideas you might try using Sketchcast? Share your thoughts and ideas with your classmates and fellow students!

Two Minute Soapbox

The Two Minute Soapbox (or TMS) blog http://www.intelligenic.com/soapbox/ is a social podcasting experiment where educators post their advice, inspiration, ideas and point of view in a two minute posting that extends across the curriculum and around the world…all in small digestible two minute portions. :) Select a podcast that interests you to listen to and describe it in your posted comments on this blog. Did you or didn't you agree with the podcaster's opinion, advice or ideas?

What Are You Doing In That Computer Lab?

Read this article from Technology & Learning magazine http://techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=196604984 to find out about one teacher's experience with his class' successful and not so successful computer lab usage. Which of these techniques, strategies and projects do you think you could adapt to your classroom setting? Why do you think some of his less successful lessons didn't work? Do you think a lot of teachers would benefit from sharing similar experiences? How might they exchange this information?

A Vision of Students Today

View this You Tube video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o

According to the videographer: "This is a short video summarizing some of the most important characteristics of students today - how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like, and what kinds of changes they will experience in their lifetime." It was created by Michael Wesch in collaboration with 200 students at Kansas State University.

Do you think this typifies the college student of today? Are we, as educators, addressing their needs? What can we do to better address those needs and more effectively prepare them for the world they will face when they graduate?

A Vision of K-12 Students Today

View this video on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8

It is described by the videographer as follows:

"This project was created to inspire teachers to use technology in engaging ways to help students develop higher level thinking skills. Equally important, it serves to motivate district level leaders to provide teachers with the tools and training to do so."

Do you think it has fulfilled its purpose? Why or why not?

As the World Learns...

Go to the Edutopia article link: http://www.edutopia.org/global-education-2008

Read the article's introduction and then select a link to one of the countries included in the survey. Describe the educational system in that country and compare it to our own.

Internet Safety Statistics

Click on the link and read these statistics about the need to protect kids online: http://www.netlingo.com/statistics.cfm Then click on the link to The Top 20 Internet Acronyms Every Parent Needs to Know at the bottom of the page. Did you know any of this? Are you surprised? What can we do in our classrooms to help keep our students safe when they're online?

Learn what a Wiki is with this Wiki Walk-Through from the TeachersFirst Website.

Learn about wikis and how to use them in your classroom at this site: http://teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/

Stretching with Wikis will show you some practical classroom applications.

Now read this online article from 21st Century Connections to learn how to S-T-R-E-T-C-H with Wikis: http://21centuryconnections.com/node/406

These are just a few ideas. Have you seen a wiki that really stretched the boundries? One that couldn't simply be replaced by any other web page. Or have you tried any of these ideas in your own classroom? If so, please share your experiences for making the most of this ingenious tool!

Cloudware

Read the Technology & Learning magazine article at this link: http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=196604939

Is this an emerging technology that will catch on in the educational community? Would you want your students to have their heads in the clouds? Do you think this would open up possibilities in your classroom, school and district? Explain.

Teacher Tube

The goal of this website (http://www.teachertube.com/) is to provide an online community for sharing instructional videos. The site seeks to fill a need for a more educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home learners. It is a site to provide anytime, anywhere professional development with teachers teaching teachers. As well, it is a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill.

Teacher Tube asks the question, "Why can't teachers, students, and schools utilize the power of the read/write web for learning?"

Find a video to review that you might utilize in a classroom setting. Put a hyperlink to the video when you post your comment and explain how you would integrate it into a lesson you might use in your classroom. Would this be a better way to deliver content, introduce a topic or review a concept? Why or why not?