Amanda Galvan's Page

Although there are many formatting glitches that often deter me from using Google Apps, I am confident that they can be used to make me a more efficient educator. Spending time this week exploring the apps has restored my enthusiasm for Google as an educational tool. Let’s explore some of the tools and how I’d like to incorporate them in my class.

It’s simple to add dates to the Google Calendar. I especially like how you can overlay calendars when trying to schedule meetings.…

Annenberg Learner offers workshops and classes online. These can be taken for free for professional development or by paying a small fee to enroll for graduate level credits through CSU. The workshops can be viewed online or purchased on DVD. Users have the option to subscribe to a course’s Teacher-Talk email list or simply click on the course title and go through the workshop’s content independently. Each course on the site provides information, support materials, activities, and a forum…

Beginning this week’s learning, I was definitely an advocate of using virtual worlds in the classroom. I thought it would be difficult to find resources that emphasized the disadvantages of virtual realities. However, there is a lot of research that points to potential pitfalls of using virtual environments.

I found that just about every advantage could be spun into a disadvantage and vice-a-versa. To me, virtual worlds seem to be a matter of opinion. A more liberal educator…

I have always been a fan of using technology to bridge the gap between distance and time. Using blogging and social networks to help students collaborate within the classroom and from afar makes it possible to connect students with others from around the globe. In addition, social networking in the classroom gives students a safe platform to practice digital citizenship that will impact them for the rest of their lives.

Social networking was a term I hadn’t really thought about much…