Introductions

Please introduce yourself, let us know a little bit about you, and where you are from.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Nazli on May 16, 2008 at 12:08pm

Hello - Nazli here from Computer Science Department at Millersville University. What a great forum! I am interested in integrating Web 2.0 technology in my research/ teaching/ service projects.

Best,
Nazli

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Permalink Reply by Anne Mirtschin on May 16, 2008 at 4:02pm

Hi Nazli, you will enjoy integrating web2.0 technology into your classroom. There are some wonderful resources and ideas to be shared on this ning. So, take your time, have a good look around and make some new friends who can collaborate with you.

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Permalink Reply by Liza Moss on May 18, 2008 at 11:51pm

Hello,
I am the teacher librarian in an Australian high school in the Newcastle area which is 150 kms north of Sydney. I am hoping to learn a lot by taking part in this site (I am not a techie). Sometimes I think school gets in the way of exploring just what could be done with technology.

Liza Moss

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Permalink Reply by Anne Mirtschin on May 19, 2008 at 1:19am

Hello Lisa, it is so good to see more and more Australian teachers coming on board. This site and classroom will keep you occupied for hours, days and weeks as it so resource rich. Join some groups and make friends and let technology get right into school!!

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Permalink Reply by Chuck Serventi on May 19, 2008 at 10:15pm

Hello Anne.
There is a web site I use to differentiate without pop-ups called HelloWorld. Go to www.helloworld.com/cserventi and click around. I can record my actual lessons, post them, and my students (and parents) can watch the lessons any time they wish to.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Mirtschin on May 20, 2008 at 3:23pm

Hello Dave and welome to classroom 20. I am sure you will find many other educators here who share similar interest. I am passionate about web2.0 and its application for powerful learning outcomes in the classroom and staffroom. You will find lots to keep you busy here.

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Permalink Reply by Wisteria on May 21, 2008 at 12:24am

Hello Dave....Nice to meet you. I am a media specialist in a K-5 school. Would you believe I have 3rd graders comfortable using Moodle every week? They are analyzing historical primary photographs of a fair that was located on permanent grounds in the city. Now it's a paved parking lot with a mall on top. The students I find embrace Web 2.0 with ease. It is the digital immigrants who have anxiety. They really went nuts over this project. Now they are creating an advertisement for the fair using Mac software called Pages.

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Bassill on June 6, 2008 at 8:00am

Hi Dave,

I'm based in Chicago and lead a capacity building organization called the Tutor/Mentor Connection. I'm also a Commissioner for the Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service. I attended the National Conference on Volunteerism and Community Service in Atlanta, GA this past week and one of the speakers was former president Jimmy Carter.

In his speach he said "America has some of the best universities in the world. Many of these are located in the middle of slums." His point was that these universities should be enginging students, faculty and alumni in making their neighborhoods better places to live and raise children. The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Program encourages such involvement with awards and information. I posted a link on my web site with links to this information and I encourage you and others on Classroom to visit the Center and use it as a resource for your own engagement.

While you're in Canada and others on this list are from India and the UK and other countries, I feel the importance of engaged universities, and engaged high schools, is true in all parts of the world. I hope that some of you who are already using web 2.0 for that purpose will share your projects with us, and even compete for the awards offered by the Carter program.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Schilling on May 20, 2008 at 7:28am

Hello,

My name is Tim Schilling, and I'm Associate Director for Program at the Powell Center for Economic Literacy. The Powell Center is located on the campus of the Collegiate School in Richmond, VA but is a resource for all teachers interested in economic and personal financial literacy.

We specialize in developing materials that integrate economics across a wide swath of the curriculum, not just social studies.

I came to the Powell Center last August after 16 years as director for economic and financial educaiton programs at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Prior to that I was a high school social studies/business teacher in Michigan, and an executive with the Michigan Council on Economic Education.

My wife and three of my five sons are here in VA and we all love it. I enjoy reading, cooking, and Big 10 Football.

I'm looking forward to sharing and gathering ideas.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Mirtschin on May 20, 2008 at 3:21pm

Hi Tim, welcome to classroom 20. This is a great place to be to share and gather ideas. Check out the links, forums and groups that you might be interested in and you will be on your way. I also have a commerce background but teach mainly information technology now.

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Permalink Reply by Javed Alam on May 26, 2008 at 6:14pm

Hi every one I am Javed. I am professor of Civil Engineering at Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio.

I am interested in Online teaching and learning and the use of Information communication technology(ICT) to enhance and augment the instructional process.

I am developing an online Master's program in Structural Engineering and currently working on developing online courses to support this program. I recently completed one online course in the area of Engineering Communications.

Information Technology Tools for Engineers

and currently I am porting an existing online course Engineering Computing to Ning at web address to add social aspects of learning to the course.

There are several other Engineering courses that are at various stages of development.

The course "Information Technology Tools for Engineers" is in the area of Information Communication Technology in which Engineering graduates learn to efficiently use the Internet for gathering, sharing and creating digital information. The course also covers topics related to social book marking,social media, and social networking along with the Internet tools for real time communication.

I started teaching the course with a class Yahoo group but moved it to the Ning in the middle of the semester because Yahoo group was becoming unreliable. So far Ning has worked well. There are few things I miss from Yahoo group such as a simple data base application where tabular information can be organized and I have compensated for it by using the MS Excel. Also, a quick poll/assessment set up. I have found few alternatives to compensate for that too. It is just that people have to leave Ning to use these two tools. It would have been nice if all the tools were available under the same interface.

I am practicing what I call "Open Professor" model. That is that the class is open to any interested visitors/guests. They can participate in the course discussion use all the course material. Only difference between them and the students who are enrolled for credit is that they decide their own level of participation and they will not receive any performance appraisal from me unless they request for it but they will not receive any course grade.

You are all welcomed to visit the course at

Information Technology Tools for Engineers

My Websites

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Permalink Reply by Anne Mirtschin on May 27, 2008 at 7:52am

Hello Javed. thank you for your very detailed introduction. I found it extremely interesting as I have a son working in London working as a structural engineer. You are certainly very involved in many things and will have a lot to offer classroom20. So, welcome!