Hey Anne, thank you for the "handshake". I'm so inspired by what I see here in CR2.0 in fact, I plan to join the Future of Education discussion this evening. It should be interesting and I hope to follow the discussion here.

My 6th graders developed a wiki last year in which they displayed their science fair experiments @ http://fs6thgradesciencefair.pbworks.com.
This upcoming year, I will have my 8th graders do the same at another pbworks wiki exclusively for science fair experiment, contribute to the course blog and the main website--a wetpaint wiki.

Anne,

Thank you for your answer. I will explore this option.

Richard

Anne,

I appreciate your outreach toward me. I am a novice in this area, and wish to learn a great deal more. Indeed, I have mush to learn from you, if you are willing to deal with my limited technological knowledge base and skill set.

Again, thank you so very much!

Richard

This is wonderful. I have used years back Blackboard and at schoolw e use echalk, but they are expensive. I want to be able to show teachers what they can use that is available and economical, particularly now. I appreciate your suggestions very much. I am also investigating some virtual labs for HS as well as teach-students.

I was thinking of using a virtual program called tappedin. It is set up as a University. the url is www.tappedin,com

I have had a feeling that those teaching at university level have not caught up with technological skills needed to help move education into the virtual arena,
Science and technology is nopt only about new equipment but such as probes but also about communication.

Thanks for the referrals. Learning is truly an adventurous life long journey.

MJ

Thank for the welcome. II feel a little overwhelmed. I have not faithfully kept up with my blogs or wikipages but I decided instead of talking about them just start using them

Thanks! This is the first time using Ning so everything is new1 It's a bit overwhelming at first but so far, so good!

Thanks Anne for the advice. I will take it up and see how we go!

Hi Anne,
After discovering Classroom 2.0, I have been reading the forum and exploring more web tools. i'm really excited. I saw you using elluminate in your classroom and am wondering if you have any advice about using it with 1st and 2nd graders.

Hi Anne, Wilkes University is using Moodle. The courses run 7 weeks in length. The communication is primarily through forums, assignment uploads, and email. Is this what you are looking for? I could send you a course outline if that helps give you a better idea. The pacing for the class has been awesome. I have taken online courses before, but as far as pacing and structure for adult learners I have really enjoyed this. Hope this helps!

Thanks Anne. I will have to check it out.

Hi Anne! Yes, cloudware is just a term we are also using for Web 2.0 It works off of a presentation we have for our staff that gives a visual of all of these applications floating out in the cloud of the internet and not depending solely on the hardware we might have sitting in our classrooms.

Thank you Anne for the welcome!

Thanks for the warm welcome - My head's been spinning as to how to help my new school have a new mind set in creating a school that values the benefits of a connected classroom. Assessment and product development has been on my mind especially. Any reads you recommend are appreciated!

Thanks so much for the help - I feel like I'm continuously learning how to better influence people in my school and having friends via PLNs with resources like you helps. I'll search assessment on this Ning. I appreciate you helping find out how to participate well using this Ning.

Thanks Ann,
I am already prepping for next year. I have enlisted the help of our librarian and as soon as I find out who our new principal is, I will start a conversation about the possiblities of Web 2.0. Hopefully he/she will be open minded This is going to be fun.

Thanks for the welcome!! Looking forward to exploring the site more and more!!

Thanks Anne! I hope to get a few people interested in using Skype with my class too. I think that Skype would provide an awesome learning opportunity for my students. Have a great week!

Hi,
Thanks for your response. I am looking forward to learning how to connect my classroom to the real world from the pros! I'll start by checking out your ppt presentation on web 2.0.

Hi Anne,
Thank you so much for connecting with me. I just reviewed your powerpoint and other information on creating a classroom blog. What an exciting way for kids to connect with others throughout the globe. You have me inspired!
Keep in touch, Renae
PS. I'm new to skyping...Will have to check it out....

Thank you very much. I will def look into it.

Thanks! I look forward to enjoy the collaboration of other teachers around the world.

Hi Anne. Thanks for the welcome. I would love to collaborate on the weather project. We spend the 1st nine weeks concentrating on that (from Aug. til Oct. or so). You have me curious. What is the "sheet" app.? I'm clearly not familiar with all of the Google apps./tools. I'm hoping to get into a prof. dev. course in a couple weeks that will cover them, but it is technically "closed". I'm going to walk in and hope someone doesn't show up. ;) Let's definitely figure out a collaborative plan. I will be working with 5th grade students. What grade level will you be working with?

Hello Anne. I look forward to learning tons here. Thanks.

Thanks, Anne! I already asked my first question and got a very helpful response about blogging (via direct email), even before I was an accepted member of CR2.0. This may the answer to this tech newbie's prayers!

Hi Anne! Thanks for the sweet comments. Yes, I have already started taking the tour of classroom2.0 and I am really impressed by the wealth of tips and information here! I am sure I will be addicted to this place. I have also started reading some of the great tips on your page. I am really glad you like my weblog and I will submit a link to it here as soon as more content is added to it. See you soon

Anne I am overwhelmed. I registered for wikispace a but I don't know where to start. I wanted to add a page for each of my class. Will they be able to access and add to the page. I have what is called Bellwork where they answer the question of the day and earn daily points. This would be great if they can do it on the wikipage so that I can see first hand if they are understanding what I am teaching them. Your feedback would be appreciated. thank you

Hi Anne, I look forward to learning a lot through Classroom 2.0. I've been clicking on different topics and checking out discussions... There is so much. It can be a little overwhelming. Do you have any suggestions on where to start?

Thanks, Anne. This project is so great, but I would need a year to prepare for it. It is pretty extensive. I am just hoping I can connect with another class for a shorter commitment....

Hi Anne - explore some of my websites to see examples. We videoconference with veterans from World War II, Korea & Vietnam; do several local, state, national and international projects every year; interview authors, connect to content providers etc. I serve 70 schools with videoconferencing and our website is here: http://www.remc11.k12.mi.us/dl/ - and I also blog about videoconferencing - www.vcoutonalim.org - right now I'm blogging a lot about technical stuff because school isn't in session and we're gearing up - but once school starts I blog more about the classroom interactions. You can browse the tabs at the top of my blog - especially the Marzano tab with my latest thinking about instructional formats. This will give you a start. If you want even more info, I teach two online classes about VC in the curriculum as well - www.remc11.k12.mi.us/dl/picc and www.remc11.k12.mi.us/dl/k2k - and I'm on twitter - www.twitter.com/outonalim where I post mostly only about videoconferencing. This should give you a start. Feel free to ask more questions. :)

Thank you. I was just at my local Office Max. I stood in the isle with both software in my hands, trying to choose. I could not. I'm still a babe in the woods and I am learning as I go. I am so thankful that I stumbled upon this site through twitter. I have had to blaze my own trail, as I do not have a support system in a small private school. I am in an industry that does not yet see the need for technology in the classroom.

Hi,
In response about the future of textbooks, I would like to think that most schools (at all levels) would turn to using online textbooks. If necessary, I am sure textbooks could be translated into a student’s native language.
Since most students can find the information online, textbooks should only be used as an introduction to the topics. Of course, we need to make sure students know where to find the creditable and reliable information.

Having online textbooks would also help save some trees. Rather than buying new textbooks, which can weigh down those backpacks, having online access would prevent the school and parents from replacing lost, stolen, or damaged books.

The problem with online textbooks is with those students who do not have internet access at home, and or, from the lack of computers available in a school. Especially, where there are high numbers of people in low socioeconomic school districts. The money is not there for regular equipment, much less for enough computers for most classrooms.
For online classes, most of which I think are still in the postsecondary levels should not require any one to buy a hardcopy of a textbook. Students can buy access numbers, which would be much cheaper than buying a hard copy, in order to use the required textbook. In addition, it would save the hassle of trying to get rid of the textbook after completing the class. I have plenty of books that I cannot get rid of because they are either outdated or not being used anymore by the professor.

Hi Anne,

We would be working with your 7-12 year students in Information and Communication technology. I've been reading your blog and have been amazed by all the things you do! We'd be using blogs, wikis, social networking-- the standard Web 2.0 toolkit. Is it possible that we can communicate by regular email? Write me at worldmindnetwork@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Sarah

Hi Anne,

I am a newbee at this. One quick question.
How can change the picture? I clicked on the wrong one. I tried to change it, but nothing happens.
Thanks!
Linda

Hi Anne,

I hope you got my email yesterday. Here are three more projects we are planning which are so new they don't have websites yet.

Radio Khyber-- This is an FM radio station in the tribal area of West Pakistan. It employs women as announcers, which is frowned upon by much of the local populace. We are planning a live audio feed of their station streamed to a website where students can comment and interact with the announcers.

Cell Phone novels contest: Cell Phone Novels (keitai shousetsu) are a huge craze in Japan, and are becoming quite popular in China. 5 of the top selling novels in Japan in 2007 started out as keitai shousetsu. We are planning a contest for the best one of 2009, which will include an online award ceremony and prize.

Rwandan genocide online memorial. Together with Kinyarwanda, a non-profit educational group in Africa, we are building a photo memorial to many of the victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. We are taking photos supplied by the children of victims, digitising them, and uploading them to a site. This will be linked to many sites which discuss genocide, war, and peace.

All of these sites will be largely administered by secondary school students. We never cease to be amazed at how much kids can accomplish if given powerful Web 2.0 tools.

Sarah

Anne, I was wondering if you know anyone who implements airliners in the classroom using SMART soft ware?

Hi Anne,
Thank you for your reply. It didn't help. I clicked on manage my page or photo, clicked browse, then selected the picture I wanted. That's what I have been doing all along. The picture I select still doesn't show in place of the one you see on my web site.
Linda

Hello Anne!
One way we plan to use the computers is by having students scribe the lessons.
Having the students post the lessons on a blog help the students review at home what they learned that day or the week before. We plan to use google docs and moodle to create quizzes/tests that students can take in class or at home thus saving lots of paper. We are bless to have technical support and we hope to have an exciting school year. Thank you for your reply.

A Virtual Assistant is an assistant who works 100% online. I do marketing, advertisements, correspondence, calendars, flyers.. gosh, the list goes on. So many things that people need do not have to be done 'IN' their office, I work with people who have a home-based business or small shop with no room for an assistant. I have Office Pro 2007, I use FTP if I need to up or download large documents, I use Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop for banners and ads. Publisher for flyers, etc. I also use cloud computing, which is a private website just for me and my clients to share information.

Hi Anne;
The virtual field trips are all URL based, as your district doesn't have the technology yet to do the virtual field trips that include the 'live' component. I'm going to experiment with the Go North! program, because they are FREE and they indicate that they are live from the Arctic Circle.
My Wiki, fmjtechnology.wikispaces.com will have information on that when i do it.

Thank you so much Anne! There´s so much to do that I don't even know quite well where to start! The problem is ... Everything seems so important to me.

Hi Anne,

Thanks for the comments. I'm not sure what you mean by save. I click on the browse button, weave my way through my iPhoto library, and when I get to the picture I want, I click on the button. That's what I did for the existing image, too.

Hi Anne, Yes I do. It's a blue button that says Open. When I click on that, I notice that the link is in the browse bar. But the picture doesn't change, and I can't find any other button on the settings page that might work.
Steve H. asked me to ping him this week. I don't know what he means by ping.

I've done lots of word processing on my computer and Internet and e-mail. Not much else until I took a technology seminar first week of August. It was there Classroom 2.0 was recommended for networking with other teachers, and pbworks to create a wiki. I have the wiki up and running. Now I have to experiment with more pages and see what else I can use.

I'm sorry to ramble. I'm a bit ruffled.I want to integrate technology so much, but the time curve to learn all this stuff is much more than I have here at the beginning of the school year. For example, I would like to ask anyone out there for unit suggestions, I don't know how to do that, and I don't have the time to "play" around.

Hello Anne! Thanks for the warm welcome. There's so much to see and explore here - it's hard to slow down and let my brain digest! I'm very glad to be here though. Thanks again.

Let me know when you are around I have a sample geology activity set up on there, I would be more than willing to show you it

Air Liner is a tablet that works off of Blue tooth connects to your computer and Eiki - You use it walking around the classroom in stead of an overhead projector or Eiki alone with cables. The software has a Power Point Like application that you design lesson plans with also you can use the snap shot feature which will instantly capture anything educational on your scanner, website, etc.

Thanks for the welcome, Anne. I'm feeling so encouraged and motivated reading through this forum. Have you ever encountered any complaints or opposition with the virtual classroom concept? I've had talk about privacy issues and 'not having time' to blog, for example. Blogging has really helped my work in class, and the feedback i got from the parents has been incredible. I put all my homeworks, handouts, videos of the kids at work online. I even record them when they are reading and put the podcast on my blog. Children take the book home and read while listening to the podcast. It's been beneficial, both to me, the pupils and the parents. Is the virtual classroom common practise in your schools, or is it something you do voluntarily? Thanks and sorry for the long message ... :)

Hi Ann,
Thank You for your comment! Your encouragement is very appreciated!

Thanks Anne, I am using Word Press but just opened it through the Univesity. I am hoping to add a lesson plan and some other stuff (professor is requiring) to the site this weekend. I am feeling better about reaching out to people now but this is a new world for me.