January 2008 Blog Posts (123)

Keyboarding Skills, Are they needed?

I've come across people recently that challenge me on the need for keyboarding skills for students. I believe that keyboarding, although a valuable skill, is not that necessary anymore. I believe up until the late 80's, early 90's, typing and short hand were taught in High schools. These classes were meant to teach students necessary skills to make it out in the business world. With more computers being used, typing was slowly replaced with Introduction to Computers. Personally, I had typing… Continue

Added by Antonio Hernandez on January 14, 2008 at 5:41pm — 3 Comments

Spring08: all homework, no class (= GOOD)

It's the first official day of classes today, but I always start my online classes at least a week early... so I am not really caught up in a "first day of school" frenzy today. Lots of students have been checking in, starting their blogs, all is going well. There are a lot of things on my mind, though, and I had a hard time deciding what to post about today. Finally, I decided to say something about HOMEWORK. On the Latin-Teach… Continue

Added by Laura Gibbs on January 14, 2008 at 1:51pm — No Comments

Playing with Voki

Today I decided to create my own avatar with Voki.com. I began in the morning having a play with the tools - the different character heads, eyes, mouth and even make up! I chose my outfit and then changed my mind at least 10 times! This behaviour has no resemblance to me in real life!!! I chose a background - a photo of one of my classrooms. In this classroom the kids designed and painted the tables themselves. The room was designed for group and independent workers, with a couch and recliner,… Continue

Added by Helen Otway on January 14, 2008 at 12:30pm — 2 Comments

Hi from the Talking Books Librarian!

Hi everyone, I am new to the site and am glad to be here!

I invite you all to check out my blog at http://talkingbookslibrarian.blogspot.com/

It is a blog about Talking Books and other great resources for blind or visually impaired persons. Find out what's happening in the world of libraries and Talking Books! The blog also includes information and resources of importance to educators and older adults, as well as…

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Added by Talking Books Librarian on January 14, 2008 at 9:54am — No Comments

Design and Storytelling on Film

Creating Lifelong Learners

An interesting conversation began in Students 2.0, where Anthony, a high school student, wrote,

"...like home movies, most...student videos are lacking a thesis and a design to support them. As technology allows us to integrate creative projects...we need to give students the tools to funnel their…

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Added by Mathew Needleman on January 14, 2008 at 7:00am — No Comments

Edusim Day & Night : Earth & Moon Lesson Available for Download

http://edusim3d.com

Added by Rich White on January 14, 2008 at 6:48am — No Comments

Interwrite, Airliner, Wacom pad - pros, cons, and comments

Our district is looking at various writing mouse pad products and I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has used any of the above, or any other similar pads. I've had an Interwrite Pad since November and really like it and the software it has. I've also used a simple relatively inexpensive iPen. The best part of all this to me is the fact that paired with a computer and projector, this is one piece of technology that can easily move about the classroom and can actively… Continue

Added by Arlene Anderson on January 12, 2008 at 11:02pm — 2 Comments

BATIK INDONESIA

iEARN

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Added by smanawa1 on January 12, 2008 at 6:39pm — No Comments

Neveh Channah HS Computer Club (in Hebrew)

After returning to school from a two month teacher's strike, I decided

that one of the ways to bring about adoption of web2.0 skills in the

school would be to have a weekly computer club. Most clubs at our

school take place on Monday evenings between 20:00-21:30 (the girls

dorm on Monday nights). Not easy to find a committed group of kids to

come every week, especially when running against choir, drama, dance,

etc.

I decided to try anyway. Decided to run a… Continue

Added by Reuven Werber on January 12, 2008 at 2:54pm — No Comments

The Best Websites For K-12 Writing Instruction/Reinforcement

I thought people might be interested in my latest "Best of..." list -- The Best Websites For K-12 Writing Instruction/Reinforcement.

Added by Larry Ferlazzo on January 12, 2008 at 5:56am — No Comments

Technology in education-How far are we?

Cross posted on educatorslog.in

Its a tech world now. We are all trapped in this heavily wired world (now getting wireless). At homes, at workplaces, be it anywhere, its technology all the way. In education, its essentially the computer when we talk of technology in education. Information is just a click away, so why not make the most of it? In the classrooms, instruction for all subjects integrating the computer still needs to be put together by the… Continue

Added by Varnika Kapoor on January 12, 2008 at 2:30am — No Comments

Who Should Control Information?

I've written about the fear of the internet

before. I consider this fear to be a real barrier in schools even

though so many enlightened educators are using technology in effective

and inspiring ways (ie..Classroom2.0!). Angela brings up a great point. To wit: "We can’t control the information. Suddenly, there are too many options.

Nobody… Continue

Added by Andrew on January 11, 2008 at 6:16pm — 1 Comment

Not bad for PD during my holidays!

I've been on summer vacation now for 3 weeks and have had some wonderful learning happening in this time. Ever since I attended a workshop on blogs and wikis mid last year, I have been fascinated by the power of Web 2.0. Attending NavCon 2k7 in September fuelled my curiosity even more when I listened to a presentation on all things Web 2.0.

Now I have to say that the networks on Classroom 2.0 and Twitter have been major players in introducing me to a world of Web 2.0 apps. Where do I… Continue

Added by Helen Otway on January 11, 2008 at 6:05pm — No Comments

Classroom 2.0 for Us, Summer of 2008, Limited Run!

ImageChef.com - Custom comment codes for MySpace, Hi5, Friendster and more

Yup, friends, it's a happening thing: The wonderful workshop I piloted last summer for one week is going on the road. I only have the last 4 weeks in July, but I'm hoping to spend it working with small… Continue

Added by Scott Merrick on January 11, 2008 at 2:03pm — No Comments

Spring08: My first video experiment

Well, a new year is a time for new experiments, right? So yesterday I played with iMovie and made my first video! I have to confess: it was TOTALLY FUN. This is not actually for one of my online classes, but is instead part of my "other" online life, promoting Latin and Greek language study online... although I had so much fun with this video that I think I might invent some videos to share with my online classes too! Anyway, I've embedded the video below, and if you'd like to read an English… Continue

Added by Laura Gibbs on January 11, 2008 at 1:21pm — 2 Comments

Connecting the dots

I know many people have added a clustrmap to their blogs or webpage. I did shortly after reactivating my epals account to find classrooms around the world to begin correspondence in Spanish. I had no idea what effect it would have on my very hard to impress 8th graders. Since it is on my…

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Added by Linda on January 10, 2008 at 7:35pm — No Comments

Spring08: not having an office

Perhaps I should have entitled this post, the JOYS of not having an office. There is a lot to say on this happy subject, but what prompted me to write about it was that I received an email from a student this morning - a typical email, I will probably get 2 or 3 more such emails in the first week of class - and the email goes like this (I quote): "Hello. I am a bit confused on how to do

the blog. I have read over the instructions and looked at… Continue

Added by Laura Gibbs on January 10, 2008 at 7:50am — 2 Comments

Spring08: websites I can't live without

It's still a bit slow in the week before classes "officially" begin, but some students are already racing ahead into the second and third week assignments, defining the project they want to do for class (for two classes, actually: Mythology and Folklore, and World Literature). As usual, I am very dependent for the success of these projects on the existence of two amazing websites, which I thought I would post about here:

Sacred Texts… Continue

Added by Laura Gibbs on January 9, 2008 at 9:14pm — 3 Comments

I love my admin

There is a battle in the tech world and the battle lines are clearly drawn. The two side at war are Safari users and right-clickers. That's right. Windows vs. Mac happens every day and my school district is no different. We are strictly a no Mac district. However, the battle is about to get interesting.

Today, my administrators gave me the green light to get a quote for two Macbooks. It is just two right now, but I bet we will see more in the next budget. I hope so anyway.

In…

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Added by David James on January 9, 2008 at 8:06pm — 4 Comments

A Thought About The Kindle E-Book Reader

I have previously posted about

my belief that the Kindle has potential to be widely adopted in schools

and by teachers. Here are two reasons why this may have some traction: