And the Winner Is...!

The Edublog Awards are in their 7th year. Congratulations to everyone. Now it's time to dust off Google Reader and update my reading selections! What fun... Happy Reading!

Brain Food

I was excited to find out that Leo Laporte interviewed Kevin Kelly. I've listened to Leo for years on his nationally syndicated radio talk show at The Tech Guy Labs and now on his TWiT (This Week in Tech) Netcast Network. I first heard about Kevin Kelly starting with Whole Earth Catalog and The Well with Stewart Brand, and then read Wired magazine when he was executive director and now Cool Tools.

The interview can be heard on TWiT Live Special 49:
Now of course I had to read the book What Technology Wants. I've downloaded  it from Audible.com and started reading it. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

A Hug From Me to Diigo, Dropbox, Evernote, and Picasa

This week was a technologically challenging week for me.  My computer has been in the shop, and its future is looking bleak.  Although I haven’t been singing songs of good cheer with this news, I haven’t fallen apart either despite the fact that it has become evident that a large part of my life centers around my computer. 

Why you ask am I able to maintain reasonable composure during this time of "crisis"? Simple. I'm in the cloud and have been using some lifesaving web 2.0 tools.  Diigo, Dropbox, Evernote, and Picasa, here's a big hug from me to you.

Diigo is a social bookmarking tool.  It is where I keep track of all of my favorite websites, easily highlight and store select info of importance, join communities with similar interests, etc.  This video explains more.

Diigo for educators is also available.  Although I used to be a Delicious fan, Diigo has won me over.  Delicious accounts can be migrated over into Diigo.

See Kacey’s post about the fine qualities of Dropbox.  Since she made her post, DropitTOme made a debut.  It makes receiving files from others to Dropbox possible. (For example, students could submit assignments to my Dropbox using DropiTOme.) 

Evernote is also a useful way of organizing, storing, and sharing images, documents, links, etc.  You can watch a video explaining it here.  I am still debating it, but I think that Diigo alone meets most of my needs. 

There are a lot of ways to store pictures online.  I like Picasa because of its integration with blogger amongst other reasons.  Thank you Picasa for keeping those fun fall pictures safe during time of uncertainty!

Not only did these sites help me under a time of duress, but they consistently aid me on a daily basis when I move from my PC to various computers on campus.  There is also an iphone/ipad app for Diigo, Dropbox, and Evernote which makes info accessible from virtually anywhere 24/7. 

With all of this said, please don’t test my “good nature” with a crazy practical joke like hiding my iphone.   I can only hold so long under such pressure.

Jing Offers an Alternative Way to Provide Feedback Plus More

Jing is a screen sharing tool that has become useful in my life.  I began using the free version over a year ago in my online classes and recently purchased the pro version.  It's as easy as ABC to use.   Nine year old, "Little Gecko," quickly captures screen images and posts them to her blog.  Here's a Jing video she created while drawing on Kerpoof.

This term, I provided my online students with feedback about their papers using Jing.  I highlighted areas within an individual paper that I wanted to discuss.  Then, I discussed away while recording in Jing.  I think there is a lot of potential here as an alternative way to provide feedback to student writing!  Here's an example demonstrating ways of giving feedback using Jing. 

The free version of Jing is probably adequate for most educators.  I like the fact that the Pro version allows me to quickly save my videos as MP4s.  I also like the ability to switch back and forth between the computer screen view and video mode that the Pro version offers.  Screenr and Screencast-o-Matic are two other free screen sharing tools that are alternatives to Jing.

 I'd love to hear your ideas.  How can Jing be used for educational purposes?

Happy screen sharing!

Bloom's Taxonomy Interacts with Tech

Here are some new twists to conceptualizing Bloom's Taxonomy.  This first link contains hyperlinks and is interactive with suggestions for web 2.0 tools at each level.  A few of the tools are new to me.  They promise to provide countless hours of excitement to those of us with this interest.  Look for future posts that highlight some of them.  If you give one of these a whirl and find it successful in an educational setting, please let us know. 

In addition, Joshua Coupal has an interesting Prezi on Bloom's Taxonomy, the revised model, and possible applications using digital technology.

For more links on this topic, visit Larry Ferlazzo's page dedicated to Bloom's Taxonomy.       

Happy interacting!

Highrise: Out My Window Interactive Documentary

The largest reason for creating this post is that this site is really cool! Since my daughter currently has an interest in architecture, I keep my eyes open for related sites. Highrise: Out My Window caught my attention. It is an interactive documentary that is fun to control by dragging the mouse to see 360º snapshot views into 13 highrise homes and cultures in various locations around the world. It is relevant to my TCE courses and our discussion on promoting multiculturalism. The videos are in various languages with English subtitles. You can watch the trailer here, but it really is more exciting to experience it first-hand at Highrise: Out My Window.

 

Happy viewing!

Blogging Around ESOL

I've already expressed that I'm in love with TED Talks.  So, I was elated to discover ESOL TED Talks, a blog by Douglas Evans that contains embedded TED Talks and lessons for intermediate to advanced English langauge learners.

I made this discovery on Larry Ferlazzo's Website of the Day which I follow regularly.  Larry has more suggestions for ESOL and TED Talks on his The Best Teacher Resources for "TED Talks" (and Similar Presentations) page.

While I'm at it, here are a few more ESOL blogs I enjoy following:  English Raven by Jason Renshaw and Nik Peachey's blog.  I am pleased that Nik recently began posting again.  The networks page shows other sites and blogs of interest that I will continue to add to over time.

Happy blog reading!

Related Posts:

TEDx Redmond:  It Doesn't Get Much Better!

TED Talks: Worth the Time

Prezi, Meet Jing. Jing, Meet Prezi.

Prezi is a creative alternative to PowerPoint.  Jing is a screen sharing tool.    In the example below, I first made a Prezi, and then I recorded myself manipulating it with Jing.  I have been using Jing in my online classes for over a year now with some positive results.  Although this was my first attempt at a Prezi presentation, I see huge potential in its educational uses! 

Keep your eyes open for upcoming posts that will individually highlight Prezi and Jing. 

Update: If you want to find out more info on how to use Jing, read my post here where I was a guest blogger on the Teacher Challenge. 

Happy viewing!

2010 K-12 Online Conference Links

The 2010 K-12 Online Conference ended with the closing keynote by David Warlick. The webinars are accessible and can be viewed at anytime here.

Since I have used VoiceThread multiple times in my classes, I was drawn to Chrissy Hellyer's below presentation Record, Reflect, and Share: Using VoiceThread as a Digital Portfolio. She gives some practical tips, discusses how it can be used for student led conferences, and provides student examples.

Additional resources related to Chrissy Hellyer's presentation are located on this link.

I also enjoyed watching middle school student Nicolas Gutkowski's presentation about his 5th grade wiki called Learning On My Own.

These webinars and many others are accessible on the 2010 k-12 Online Conference schedule page.

Happy viewing!

Related posts:
Two Ongoing Online Conferences
Classroom 2.0 Professional Development Site
Ted Talks Worth the Time

Mix It Up With Animoto

Tech: Animoto is a fun video making site that I've experimented with for the past year. I was excited last month when I discovered they now have free accounts for educators! This free unlimited account offers full length videos and student accounts.

You can view some examples of how it can be used in education in this link to case studies.

Here's an Animoto that I created with pictures from one of my adventures in Peru.



Admittedly, it took me longer to figure out how to make my first video than it took my nine year old on her first try. It really is as simple as uploading pictures and/or short videos, adding Animoto's music, and adding text. Animoto also has a selection of pictures and videos that can be used.

Met Ed (applications):  Here are some possible uses for Animoto:

•  Partners complete a scavenger hunt and take pictures related to a theme or content area. (Theme example: pictures of fall) They then turn these pictures into Animoto videos, embed them on the class website, and give mini presentations.
• Students create "book trailers" by highlighting the plot of a book.
• Students take pictures of the steps in a scientific experiment and turn them into an Animoto video.
• Students give presentations about their videos and/or write about them.
• Etc…