The Power Of Connectedness

I spent the better part of 4 days taking part in various parts of the #ISTE12 experience. (Basically, if you don't know, ISTE is the international conference for technology educators. This year it was in sunny San Diego.) I had the chance to meet with educators and friends from all over the world. I sat in on sessions and had conversations in the Bloggers Cafe and in the hallways and the one theme that kept coming up over and over is connectedness.

As educators, we are all part of something greater than ourselves and our classrooms. We have the power and potential to do something great. It is tough to do alone. But thank goodness for the power of connections. Getting plugged in and taking advantage of the power of others is an important step in our journey.

I have made so many friends, and had so many wonderful opportunities. I am lucky I am a connected educator. I take pride in it as well. And spending time last week mingling, mixing, chatting and conversing has recharged me and made me once again believe in the power we have.

Whether you were in San Diego or not, we all have the power to get connected. You've already started if you are reading this blog. Maybe it came to you through your RSS or maybe you saw a link on Twitter. That's a first step. But take the advice from many here at #ISTE12. Make connections that matter. Spend time in your network talking and learning with and from each other.

Thanks to @sraslim for the picture today!

TED Talks To Spark A Conversation

Sometimes, in a group it can be hard to get a conversation started. You need that one focal point for everyone to rally around to get things moving. Videos and images are a great way to get your message out there and get folks talking. The same is true in the classroom. I can be helpful to start a unit or a topic off with some kind of visual stimulant that gets those creative thoughts moving.

That is why I love the TED videos. Especially the Talks In Under 6 Minutes series. These are great, snapshots of what could be longer conversations in short bursts. They come in loads of topics that could start a class discussion or kick off a meeting.

Below are some of my favorite videos to spark a conversation. There are tons of these be sure to head over to the TED website to discover more of them.

Derek Sievers: How To Start A Movement-This is hands-down my favorite one. I use this video to talk about leadership, obviously, but also the perils of the movement as well.


Rob Reid: The $8 Billion Dollar iPod-Understanding data and how it can be manipulated is important.


Renny Gleeson: 404, The Story Of A Page Not Found-How the 404 Page can build relationships.


Thomas Suarez: A 12 Year Old App Developer-If you give kids a chance, they can do some pretty cool things.


And lastly Mark Bezos: A Life Lesson From A Volunteer Firefighter-Why you shouldn't wait to be a hero.


Those are my 5. What are some of yours?

Oh, and in case you didn't know. There is a great wiki on Teaching With TED. Definitely worth a look if you want to use these or other TED videos in your classroom.

Some More Twitter Chats Worth Checking Out

It's been almost 1 and half years since I last wrote about my favorite Twitter chats. Since then many have come and gone, some have changed and some new ones have emerged worth checking out.

First, to participate you don't need a Twitter account. Chats are a great way to passively learn with lots of people. I am a big believer in the power of the network. And while eventually you will want to jump in you don't have to at first. Head over to search.twitter.com and do a search for the hashtag of the chat. (Not sure about hashtags. Not worry! Here is a post all about them.)

Of course if you want to interact and join the conversation, you are gonna need a Twitter account. (Not worry about that. I've got you covered there too. Check out my Twitter Livebinder to get started.) You can use your favorite Twitter client like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite and set up columns that will search for the hashtag for you. Or you can use some websites built specifically for chats on Twitter. Tweetchat and Tweetgrid are 2 of the most popular. They are great because to join the chat all you need to do is include the hashtag. These sites include it for you so you never forget.

So what about the chats? There are lots and lots. You can see on this spreadsheet just how many there are. You could spend just about every waking moment on Twitter engaged in a chat. But there are a couple for educators that you should definitely check out.

#Edchat-Tuesdays 7pm and 12pm EDT- Yes. I am a biased. As one of the founders its hard to leave this one off the list. The main chat is at 7pm and the other at 12pm is aimed at our friends in Europe and abroad. The topics are voted on Sunday-Tuesday mornings and encompass a wide range of topics.

#SSchat-Mondays 7pm EDT- This chat for Social Studies teachers has some of the brightest minds on Twitter that participate. Their topics, while centered around social studies, range from portfolios, to PBL to Understanding by Design. Whether you are teaching Kindergarten or AP American History, this is a chat worth your time.

#Engchat-Mondays 7pm EDT- This chat for teachers of English does some very interesting chats and often has special guests and moderators.

#PTchat-Wednesdays 9pm EDT- This is one of those chats that has seen a lot of changes. Now that my friend Joe Mazza is heading it up, it is finally doing some good. Joe is trying to bridge the gap between parents and schools and in this chat he invites parents to talk about issues with education from their perspective. It is a chat that gets bigger and bigger every week and one that I enjoy lurking in on.

#NTchat-Wednesdays 8pm EDT- Another chat I love to lurk on is this one from my friend Lisa Dabbs. They share topics and resources for New Teachers but you don't have to be new to participate. They share such great stuff I always have something I can share the next day.

#Elemchat-Saturdays 6pm EDT-For teachers in the lower grade levels, this chat is always a good time. The stories they share in addition to the resources are great for anyone that sits in here.

Not big on chats? Not a problem. Follow these hashtags anyway. People use the hashtags to extend the reach of their tweets so there are usually great things posted all week long at all times of day. So while you might not want the conversation, you can still reap the rewards by following them.

And don't forget, Jerry (Cybraryman) has curated and organized all the educational Twitter chats into a webpage that is easy to read. So you can no doubt find something for your content area or interest.

These are my favorites. What are some of yours? Leave the details below.

Image details here. 

More PD In Your PJs From @SimpleK12

Some of you may know but, in my spare time I do presenting for Simple K12. These free webinars are on a wide variety of topics. There are loads of other great presenters too who present on a whole host of topics. Everything from iPads, to flipped classrooms, to time management. (You can view the entire list here.) Yes, they are free. So cool right?


Well, the bunnies at Simple K12 have outdone themselves this time and created their first virtual conference. Every 30 minutes for 24 hours there will be a webinar, completely free.


What can you learn about? Perhaps the better question is, “What WON’T you learn about?”  Conference sessions cover ALL of the latest educational trends and topics, such as:

• Google Earth
• iPads For Educaiton
• Free Web Tools
• 21st Century Projects
• Blogging
• Google Maps
• Podcasting
• And More!

There is so much,  you will have to just check it out for yourself. Oh, and its free too. So it doesn't get much better than that. 


The conference starts April 26 at 8am EDT. 


Head over to the conference site to learn more and to sign up for the webinars. 


Hope to see you there!

Tools And Resources For Creating Infographics

Infographics.

 You have probably seen them before. There are so many out there on a wide variety of topics. Here are just a few. (Click the images to see more):

The Computer Can Be A Dirty Place

Visualizing Wikipedia

Even Batman has an infographic

These really are a great way to visualize data. And believe it or not, you don't have to be a graphic designer to create them. All it takes is some data you want to visualize and knowing where to go to create them.

Here are a few of my favorite sites and tools to use when creating infographics.

Wordle: Chances are this is one you have heard of. But in case you haven't, Wordle takes chunks of text, speeches, songs, or just lists of words and creates graphics out of them. The larger the word, the more often appears in the text. It's a really great tool for seeing which words are most emphasized. While it might not look like the others above it's still a visual representation of data, it's just the data is words instead of facts or numbers.

Visual.ly: It doesn't get much simpler than using Visual.ly. Register for a free account and select a story. They have a limited amount to choose from. They all revolve around Facebook or Twitter in someway. Here is one I created on #edchat. You can change the design, look and feel so there is some customization but you can't import you own data...yet. According to the site, there are plans to open it up a bit and make some of the creation tools available.

Creately: Creatly is an online mindmapping program that is pretty powerful. You can create all sorts of diagrams and you can do it collaboratively so this could work really well in the classroom. You can even try it out without signing up for an account.

Google Public Data Explorer: It probably goes without saying but Google has access to lots of data. On this site they make it very easy to mine public data and return some amazing visuals and animations. Want to know what the unemployment rates in Europe or the birthing trends in the U.S. look like? Here is one I created on the population sizes of various states after the last census. Again, this would be a great site for gathering images and graphs.

Aviary Phoenix-Once you gather your images, charts and graphics, you are going to need a way to put them together. It doesn't get much better than Aviary Phoenix. A very powerful, browser-based, image editing program, you can import images and create many layers to produce the infographic of your dreams. It sounds complicated but it is a fairly easy program to learn and use. Oh and its free!

Kathy Schrock has an entire webiste dedicated to using infographics in the classroom. She has gathered a ton of apps, sites, lessons and ideas. It's definitely worth checking out.

What other sites do you use to visualize data? Come across any interesting infographics you have used in the classroom? Leave a comment below.

Free Teaching Resources From Microsoft

Back in 2010 I wrote a post highlighting some of the great (and free) resources from Microsoft Education. Well I am back to update that information because they have added some more handy guides for the classroom.


For me, one of the more handy guides was the Digital Storytelling guide. Hopefully we know that when we give students the opportunity to create something related to what they are learning they are more likely to remember what they have learned and be able to apply it in the future. In this guide there are tons of examples of how projected-based learning helps improve student achievement and how digital storytelling is one, easy way to introduce project learning to your students. There are also lots of handy tips on taking pictures, recording audio and ideas for lessons. On the digital story telling site there are video examples and templates you can download right into Photostory for easy use.





Another great guide is the Developing Critical Thinking Through Web Research Skills. In it you will find lessons, strategies and ideas to help you and your students develop good search habits and better understand where their information comes from.


There are a bunch of others as well:

• Movie Maker
• Microsoft Office
• Using OneNote
• Windows 7 In The Classsroom
• Microsoft And The Math Classroom
• Accessibility

The TeachTech Twitter feed is another place to pick up some good ideas and content as well.


So head over to Microsoft in Education site and check out the guides and the other content they have to offer as well.

How Things Changed With Evernote

I'll admit it.

I have to be one of the most unorganized people on the planet. I have notebooks in just about every bag I carry. Multiple calendars and I still miss appointments. Slips of papers as reminders with some string of illegible thoughts on them, that, when I find them, I don't have a clue what I was thinking when I wrote them.

I have more than 10 different types of projects going on at anyone time. A book, book chapters for others, keynotes to write, presentations to prepare, consulting, product review, and on and on and on. Not to mention my projects with my district.

Organization isn't really in my vocabulary.

Well, let me say, it wasn't in my vocabulary.

But it is now, thanks to Evernote.

I had tried Evernote in the past. I installed it and looked at it and couldn't really find a use for it. I would uninstall it and go on my way, unorganized, missing appointments, stressing about putting things together. But that is all in the past. I use Evernote everyday. I can't live without it. So much so, its on every phone, computer and in every browser I come in contact with.

Ok, so what is it?



To boil it all down. Think of Evernote as this giant filing cabinet. In it you put all the different notes, clips, photos, scans, just about anything. You can organize these notes into notebooks. Really what you use it for is up to you.

Here is a view of my current notebooks.

So I have notebooks for work, personal and other work I do. And I nest notebooks. I like keeping things separate. That has really helped with my organization. I also use the To-Do notebook as my list of upcoming and current projects and responsibilities.

I keep Evernote open on my computer at all times. I never know when I am going to need it or when it could come in handy. Inside one of my notebooks you will see all my notes.

In this notebook are notes for 3 presentations I did at a recent district technology conference. I plan out my slidedeck, resources, videos, everything, can go right in the note for that particular session and I have it no matter where I am. I can scan in items, add Word docs, exe files and loads more to a notebook or note. Did I practice a part of my preso that I wanted to save the audio for? No problem! I can even include audio as part of my notes. (That works even better on a smartphone.)

You can also install the Evernote Web Clipper extension and save portions of websites or just some text from a blog post that you want to use somewhere else. You can also connect Evernote to your Twitter favorites and whenever you save a favorite it goes into a notebook. (That is one of my favorite features.)

There are lots of uses in Education too. Here are some of my favorite resources:

• Evernote 101- This video from my good friend Josh is a great starting point for folks who want to get started. 
• Evernote For Educators- This Livebinder is packed full of getting started links and ideas for using Evernote with students. 
• Evernote On Classroom 2.0 Live- Recently there was a great webinar all about Evernote and its application in the classroom. 
• Resources From Cybraryman-As always, Jerry has a page for Evernote. 
• 10 Evernote Tips For School-From The Evernote Blog, a great list of things to think about when using Evernote with kids. 
• Evernote For Schools-Just launched, here you can read more about how to get Evernote in your school and read about how other schools are using it. 

Evernote is 100% free. You can download it as many times as you want. There are versions for both Mac and PC and it works on your smartphone too. There are, however, monthly upload limits for things like images and PDFs. You can pay for Evernote Premium (which I do.) that gives you lots more space, the ability to search your PDFs, the sharing option and more. For $45 bucks a year, well worth it if you ask me.

Best thing to do now is go download it and start small. Use it for a project or two that you have going on. And I would bet in a month or 2 you will say, just like I do that I can't live without it!

Do you use Evernote? How do you use it? What are your favorite resources? Leave some comments below.

TPACK And The Common Core Webinar

This Saturday at Noon I will be a guest of the Classroom 2.0 Show where I will be talking about the relationship between the Common Core and TPACK. If you haven't heard a lot about TPACK or you want to learn more about it, this is a very fun format to join in the learning.

It will take place online, in a Blackboard Collaborate room. It's totally free and if you can't make it, it will be archived.

To join go here on Saturday morning.

Speaking of archives, if you haven't checked out the Classroom 2.0 Show Archives you are missing out. What a great place to find loads of great webinars and educations topics. Recent topics include:

Parent Engagement
Livebinders
Becoming A Connected Educator
Gifted Education

That doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what is available in the archive. Each show has the rebroadcast, links, resources and so much more. You can spend hours and hours learning there.

I hope you can join me Saturday afternoon!

Safer Internet Day 2012

Teaching students how to use online resources effectively and appropriately should be an everyday occurrence. All members of the education community (students, teachers, administrators, parents, community) are responsible. So understanding what that responsibility means is a first step.

Today is Safer Internet Day 2012. Organized in Europe it has become a world-wide event to raise awareness and promote education for effective use of internet resources. 

Here is a short video to explain a little more. 

As you can see, the theme for this year's event is Connecting Generations. The goal is to not just focus on kids but focus on getting everyone connected in positive ways. Whether we are 4, 14 or 84, everyone can get connected and learn how to leave a positive digital footprint.

You can visit the Safer Internet Day 2012 site for lots of lessons, talking points and resources not for just staying safe online but for using the internet more effectively. And the great thing? Even if it is after Feb 7, the lessons are timeless. You can use them anytime. It doesn't have to be a special occasion.

Some Of My Favorite @Livebinders

'Round these parts lately, Livebinders have been all the rage. Well, actually they have been with our group for a while now. We use the for everything. From organizing thoughts to presenting information in workshops.

Oh wait...

Do you not know what Livebinders are?

Well you should read this post Melissa did a while back about them. It's filled with lots of great information. After that you can read this one I did a while back too.

I want to highlight a few of my favorite binders to give you a taste of what you can do with them:

Web Tools for the Classroom- This is a great binder filled with lots of great tools, tips and tricks for using Web 2.0 in you classroom.

STEM Engineering Resources-This binder is full of some amazing STEM resources for understanding and learning about what STEM means for kids.

Developing a Culture of Reading Using Technology-In this binder there are some powerful tools and readings about how technology can help develop good reading skills.

Edmodo – Extending Learning Beyond the Classroom-Are you using Edmodo? Or maybe you want to get started? This binder will walk you through the process and show you all you need to know to make it a wonderful part of your classroom.

An Educators Guide To Twitter-Ok, so yes, this is mine but its got a ton of resources learning about Twitter and how to use it both in the classroom and for your own professional growth.

These are just a few of my favorites. There are tons more binders on some wonderful and current topics. It is always a great place to start when looking for teaching resources. Always head over to the Featured Binders section. There you will find binders related to current events and happenings highlighted and you can always find something new and exciting.

Your mission...read the 2 posts from above. Then go over to Livebinders, create an account if you don't have one and create a binder. Then come back here and share it in the comments. (Ok, I will let you share your favorite binders if you don't want to take the big step and create one.)

Now, go forth and great some Livebinders!

The Connected Administrator

Most schools and districts spend lot of time and effort trying to get their teachers up to speed on technology and its use/place in the classroom. And honestly that is where a majority of effort should be spent; working with those on the frontlines of instruction. However, rarely, if ever, is much time spent with administrators, working with them on ways they use technology to enhance what they are doing. What can administrators do?

I have put together what I have called The Administrators Technology Toolkit.  There are some simple, easy to use tools that Administrators can be using right now to, just like teachers, integrate technology into what they do daily. And many of these tools help admin connect to other admin and get their schools connected. Remember it that sharing of learning all starts with getting connected!

I have created a presentation and some additional information that either you, as an administrator can use to jump start your digital self or you can pass long to your administrator and help them start or finish their 

journey. 

Here is the presentation:

And here is the site with loads more information. 

So if you are an Administrator, check it out. If you know an Administrator, pass it long, help them out and get them started on their own Digital Journey. 

So...You Wanna Be A Blogger

So this is a blog.

Yep. It really is, or at least I want it to be.

This is a space for me to reflect, share, learn and grow with anyone who stops by. It has been a wonderful experience for me and I really do enjoy working on this. 

Besides the professional growth, blogs can be a wonderful addition to any classroom too. 

So you are thinking? I wanna start blogging? But I don't know anything about it? 

Fear not kind reader! I have several resources for you to read and consult as you begin this wonderful journey. 

First, you are going to need a space. There are lots of them out there:

• Schoolwires-There is a great and super easy to use blog app that you can add to any Schoolwires page. There are not too many options to get in the way of actually using the app so it is great for beginners. 
• Blogger-This is my platform of choice. If you use anything Google you can set up a blog, for free and start. It's as easy as picking a name and writing your first post. There are lots of customization options too that allows a lot of flexibility to personalize your space. 
• Posterous-Again, free. Posterous is unique in that you can submit posts via email. When you create your space you get an unique email address that you can send your posts too and poof! they appear on your blog. Its great too because you can add collaborators via their email address and they can post too. (Great for classroom blogging.)

And there are apps for all these so you can blog on the go.

Still confused with all the options and how to get the most of of what you choose? My friend Richard has created a great page with lots of tutorials on how to use Blogger, and Posterous. 

Ok. Now that you have a space. What exactly are blogs all about? 

So you have your space all set up and you have a working knowledge of how things work. What do you post about? Well that's what's great about blogs. They are your personal space on the Internets. Post whatever you think you need to or want to. Decide on a focus but don't get married to it. This blog has gone through lots of changes and I post about all sorts of things. Sure its about Web 2.0 but I touch on Leadership, Education Reform and some personal stuff too. Your blog is what you make of it.

Maybe you are thinking about staying away from the personal reflection stuff (although I really, really encourage it) and you want to do just a Class Blog or have your students blogging. If its a class blog, what do you want to communicate? Maybe its just keeping parents updated on happenings in class. Or you want to spur conversation with your students. There are lots of ideas. The key is to find something to get your started but realize that the focus will change over time and that's ok.

So how about some more resources?

Lets look at the stuff for using your blog as a professional space:
Blogs By Discipline- I think its helpful to see how other educators are using their blogs. This site has a boat load of them listed out by discipline. Find yours and see what others are doing.
7 Reasons Teachers Should Blog-Still not convinced? Check out this excellent post from my friend Steve on why teachers, especially should blog. (His post on the reasons teachers don't blog is worth a read too.)
Blogging Secrets-Richard has a very, very popular blog. People ask him all the time on how to get their blog as popular as his. He gives great advice. While we disagree in some areas the advice is still solid and worth a read.
Getting To Know Your Blog-This is a wonderful post that lays it all out there. Everything you need to know to get started and do more with your blog, no matter the platform you use.
Using Blogs As A Part Of Your Personal Learning Network-Blogs are a great way to keep your finger on the pulse in your area or in education in general. Find out how by reading this post.

On to the Blogging In The Classroom resources:
The Best Sources For Advice On Classroom Blogging-This is my go-to source for everything classroom blogging related because it is updated constantly. Lots of great links to other sites and good information too.
Student Blogging Guidelines-If/When you get started with blogs with students you are gonna want some ground rules. This post goes through some simple guidelines you can use with your students.
Student Blogging Resources-There is more to consider than just the rules in your classroom. Your district might also have rules that you have to follow or forms you will need to send home. This site has sample permission forms, and examples of how blogs are used in the classroom.
Teaching Commenting Skills-One of the powerful parts of blogs are the comments. But kids might need help in getting theirs just right. This page, from an experienced classroom blogger walks you and your student through the process of learning how to comment, the right way.
Comments4Kids-Kids commenting on each other posts are great. But when they get those comments from people they dont know from another part of the world, thats just awesome. Comments4Kids is a great way to make that happen.
15 Topics For Your School Blog-Just some ideas to get you started.

This is just a handful of everything I have collected about blogs and blogging. I have tons more in my Diigo so be sure to head over there and check out everything there.

Like I mentioned before, I really do find blogging rewarding. So if you aren't a blogger and you want to be or you just need some help getting yours off the ground I hope you can use the resources found here.

What advice do you have for beginning bloggers or teachers that want to use blogs in the classroom? Leave some comments below.

Image under CC License from [martin]

Watch, Know, Learn

A few weeks ago You Tube announced their commitment to education by moving a lot of their educational content to a separate domain, http://youtube.com/education. This allows schools and districts to, depending on their filtering, unblock the videos found there for use in the classroom. Here it has been open for a while and reaction has been positive.

However, one of the complaints is the variety of the content found there. Much of it is for secondary and higher ed, leaving the elementary folks with out a solution.

Until now.

I have known about WatchKnowLearn for a while now. While it looks like your typical video site, it isn't. It's a powerful tool for you to use in your classroom.

When you first visit the site you will see several things:

• The Featured Videos Section-This is an ever changing list of the best content found on the site
• The Most Recently Posted Section
• The Highest Rated Section
• The Most Viewed Section

While all of those are great places to start, most folks are going to want to drill down to their subject area. There is a place to do that on the left. 

You can see that in many of the content areas there are over 1000 videos and in the major core areas the numbers top 4000. And just look at the variety of content there! When you go into and area you get topics and sub topics and in some cases sub sub subtopics. 

Sure, you can drill down. Sure you can search. But maybe you just want to search by the age of your students. You can do that too. 

Take the slider from either side until you have the desired age range. Put in your topic and off you go. Wanna search more than just WatchKnowLearn? Use the drop down to search School Tube or Teacher Tube also. 

All of the videos are reviewed by teachers and the folks at the site for their quality and applicability to the content area and age level. The comments are also a great place to learn how other educators are using the videos in the classroom. 

WatchKnowLearn is a wonderful addition to your arsenal of video sites. You can get lost in all the great content. So head over there and definitely check it out!

Our Top Posts Of 2011

What a wonderful year its been! While we are looking forward to continued learning we also take time to reflect back and look at a sampling of our top posts and content for the year.

Five Simple Ways To Use Edmodo Everyday-We rolled out Edmodo district wide this year and its been just plain awesome. Teachers all over are making global connections and carrying learning conversations outside of the classroom. This post give 5 really simple ways to start using Edmodo today.

Technology Advice For Administrators- There are some easy technology-related tools that school leaders can do to make the job easier, and more effective.

A Window To The World With Webcams- No reason a IWB or monitor has to sit idle in the classroom. Why not use it as a window to a new or exotic place? 

Interactive Social Studies, PreK-5- There are some great interactive sites, games and activities to use on the IWB in a Pre-K-5 Classroom.

Google Earth Timeline- Did you know you can go back in time in Google Earth? This post will show you how.

So there they are. There are loads more great posts. Check out the tags on the side and if there is a topic we haven't covered let us know by leaving a comment here.

Happy New Year!

Making Connections

Take a look at this short video.



It really spoke to me. Connections are so important. Watch the video again and look at the different emotions on the faces of the folks. Some think it's a joke. Some are just happy-go-lucky. Others genuinely needed the connection and were glad to make it.

Now take the idea of connecting and turn it virtual. Social media has made it so much easier to connect with others. Many people can attest to the life-long friendships formed because of connections made through social media (be it Twitter, Facebook, Nings, etc). What is so unique and fascinating is that many times, these people don't meet in real-life for an extended period of time. Take my good friends Shelly Terrell and Tom Whitby for example, I didn't meet until almost a year after we found a friendship through our creation of #edchat. There are countless others I have had the honor of meeting like Kyle Pace or Nick Provenzano or Bill Ferriter or Kelly Tenkley, so many to name.

The point is social networking is less about networking and more about social. I encourage educators (and others) all the time to use Twitter. Many people know my thoughts on that. There are so many great resources out there waiting to be found and you can get them any time you want to.The people that you "meet" and the relationships you form can be life-changing. But the only way that happens is to move from lurking to to participating, contributing, reflecting and conversing.

Twitter isn't the only way that happens. Other places like the EDU PLN or Classroom 2.0 where asynchronous conversations take place. Or in live, on-line learning environments like the Reform Symposium where people gather from all over the world to learn and grow with each other.

The point is, we can't go through our professional careers alone. Well, we can, but what fun is that? And how fresh is the content in our classroom that we are teaching students? And how are we learning and growing to be better? The connections that we make help stretch our thinking, open doors to learning and so much more. But it's hard to do if we don't jump in or we just stand in the crowd.

So take a risk like the folks in the video.

Go out and hug the bear.

The Edublog Awards

All of us in the Instructional Technology Department are always on the look out for something new to share or exciting to read. Most of us have our Google Reader set up to follow many blogs and try to keep up with the ever changing field of Technology In Education.

One of the best ways to find new folks, ideas, and resources is the Edublogs Awards. In a nutshell, these awards highlight the best in not just the Edublogosphere but on Twitter and other places as well. In late November folks from all over the world nominate blogs, Twitter folks, hashtags, wikis, podcasts and apps for the awards. And these are not just US based blogs, wikis, etc. They come from all over the globe, so it's truly an international competition.

The nominations are narrowed down and for 7 days the voting is on. This year there were over 30,000 votes from over 100 countries, the most ever. 

There are categories like Best Overall Blog, Best Teacher Blog, Best Student Blog, Twitterer Of The Year and A Lifetime Achievement Award. It really is a great way to discover new and exciting "stuff." 

Here is the Google Doc of the winners from this year in each category. I really encourage you to check out all of the folks on this list. 

And yes, I did win Twitterer Of The Year. This isn't the first year I was recognized with that honor. I won the very first Twitterer Of The Year in 2009. It really is a humbling honor for me. I am so lucky that I get to share wonderful content with wonderful people from all over the world.

So check out the blogs, wikis, podcast and people on the list. They are some of the very best in the world!

A Window To The World With Webcams

If you have visited our new offices you may have noticed in the Instructional Technology area we have no windows. (We don't let it get us down too much though.) But we do have an Interactive Whiteboard. Normally we use it to post a question of the day. Such as:

If you could have any superhero power what would it be?
What is your best childhood memory?
Turkey or ham at Thanksgiving?

We use it as a way for all of us in the office to have a little fun and learn lots about each other. (It was an idea we picked up from the Promethean Offices in Georgia.) Having a question like this on your board when the kids come in in the morning could be a great way to activate their prior knowledge about a subject or to just get to know your kids.

But something new we started doing was video. It began with a webcam to watch the effects of a hurricane on the NC coast. But has turned into visiting various webcams around the world for periods of time. It's our little window that connects us to the outside and our board doesn't sit idle.

So think about this in the classroom. You have your IWB (or monitor or projector) that just hangs there. And frankly you might not be using it all the time. No problem! Find a webcam and just leave it up for a while. Travel the world through your "window."

There are loads of great webcam sites out there. Here are just a few we use:

Earthcam- This is the motherload of Webcams. Ever wanted to see what was going on with the Bull on Wall Street, Times Square or Tokyo? They have 100's of cams to view.

Surfchex- This is the site we use to view the beaches of NC

Vail Webcams- This is a great one this time of year to watch snow fall and folks having fun on the slopes.

Amazing Animal Webcams- One of the Livebinders Top 10 Binders, there are loads of great sites for watching animals in zoo's and preserves.

This is just a small list. Normally I will just ask where we want to visit and do a search in that area for webcams.

And these cams are more than just windows; they are teaching tools as well. Studying about South America? Find a webcam and leave it up during the study. Help the kids feel like they are there. (Marlo also wrote a great post about using images on the IWB that you will want to check out as well.)

Oh and if you think you have to have an IWB to do these, you don't. Your monitor or projector will work just as well.

So open up your window to the world and explore.




Photo Under CC License From IronRodArt

The Technology Integration Answer (Well Almost...)

Earlier this year our group adopted the TPACK model of technology integration. Basically, it takes the approach that planning for technology integration shouldn't be an event. It should be something that adds to what we are already doing. Through the use of Activity Types, teachers can take the activities they are already doing and match them up with appropiate technologies that may or may not work, depending on the context of learning.

You can view this presentation to learn more.

According to the feedback we have gotten from the folks who have embraced it has been overwhelmingly positive. Being able to take the content (which is king by the way) and the activities we always use or want to use with our kids and matching them up easily with the technology has made it much simpler to plan. And the Activity Types Sheets are great to keep in the plan book so they are always there.

Recently I came across something that you can also use to make technology integration easier for you and your staff. The Technology Integration Matrix uses examples for subject area and grade level to attempt to show how technology integration can work in any type of environment.

There are actually 2 that you can take a look at.

The first is the original from The Florida Center For Instructional Technology at the University of South Florida.

The other is an adaption from Northern Arizona University.

(You will want to visit each of the sites where these live because both matrices are interactive.)

Down the left hand side of each is the learning environment. Active, collaborative, goal centered are just a few. Across the top are the levels of integration, moving from entry to transformational, left to right. So you match up where you feel you are. Maybe you are a newbie. Maybe you have kids using technology (rather than passively engaging with it) and you are at the entry level. Go to that box, find your grade level and subject area to get examples of technology integration. Remember these are just examples to show you how it would work. Adaption is always recommended.

As you progress you move up the integration level and as your learning environment changes the types of integration change as well.

You will notice that this is just for lessons where kids are actively engaged with using technology. There is nothing here for the teacher presenting material or using technology singularly. Technology integration is about getting kids out of their seats and working hands-on with the technology to create products.

So between using the TPACK model of planning and the Technology Integration Matrix, using technology in the classroom doesn't have to be a mystery. It can be something that is pretty easy to plan for and do.

You Always Wanted To Know The History Of Searching The Interwebs, Didn't You?

I dunno about you but I might do about a billion searches a day. From everything to how to unbrick a phone to a recipe for a holiday party to how to spell words, search is a natural part of how I browse the web. Sometimes its easier to just search for a site, even when I already know the address. (I think that might be on the verge of lazy, but hey, I own it)

Kids do a lot of searching too. Pictures, music, games and even research for class, they spend a lot of time searching the web for content and information too. But if you asked how many of them know how search works or even the pretty interesting history of search.

Digital literacy is important. 

Well...

Yesterday Google posted on their blog a great video about the history of search and how it has evolved and adapted as folks changed their patterns of how they look for information.Understanding this can lead to better and more accurate results faster.



There is also another video from about a year ago that tells exactly how Google search works. In terms of digital literacy and understanding where information comes from, this video should be standard viewing for kids. They need to understand how pages are ranked and that just because information is at the top doesn't always mean it's the best.



Don't forget, there are some great lessons that Google has put together that help kids at all levels do better searches and understand where their information comes from.

What's Wrong If Google Tells Me Everything?

The topic of Critical Thinking and Google Searches seems to poke it's head out via various discussions and conversations every now and then. Even a recent #edchat topic centered around moving kids away from thinking Google has all the answers to thinking critically.

First let me clarify. I use the term Google Searches loosely. That has come to mean all searches but there are obviously other search engines out there (Like Bing and Yahoo) that are still relevant and used in schools. But by far, Google is the most popular search engine around.

So my question is, what's wrong with the fact that Google is able to tell me everything I need to know?

I am having trouble remembering what I did before search online. I imagine it involved a trip to my local library (which I still enjoy doing) and spending hours and hours of research to find the simplest of facts or answers. I still remember using a card catalog, pulling out the long drawer of dusty and musty 3x5 cards, in an attempt to find the population of New Zealand in 1975.

So what would have taken 5 (or 65) minutes of searching, now takes seconds. Granted, it doesn't seem like all that much but still, when doing massive amounts of research, spending time in search engine land is a life saver, travel saver, money saver, etc. I use search everyday for all sorts of things. And Google searches especially because of the shortcuts that are available.

So I ask whats wrong with Google (or any other search engine) telling me the answers I seek?

The argument seems to be, in the classroom, that if a question is asked that Google can answer, then there is something wrong with the question. I'm not so sure about that. Yes, I want students to be at the top of Blooms Taxonomy and be evaluators and creators. But having some factual knowledge is important too.

I don't think there is anything wrong with asking questions search engines can answer. After all that is what they are there for. What is wrong is when the question is the end of the lesson. And often times it is. Lessons will end with the facts when really that is just a beginning. If we are asking questions of kids that search engines can answer and not asking them to think about the quality of the information or where that information comes from then why bother?

Any Joe on the street can type some words into a search box and get results. But, we are headed down a road where we are graduating groups of students who don't think critically about the information they receive (and who think The Onion has real news.)

Sure we need to spend time teaching kids on how to do quality searches, using key terms and wildcards. But that is a lesson over a day or two. What needs to be woven into our curriculum is what Howard Rheingold calls Crap Detection. The premise is that even adults have a very difficult time filtering out the junk of what is online. So if adults are having a hard time how can we be teaching critical thinking to kids? It's ok for kids to get their information online and from search engines but if we are not having longer conversations about the evaluation of the resources we are using then we are just reinforcing what people already believe; that is we simply cramming facts into the brains of our students.

Need an example of fact checking? Check out this website about Explorers.The first time I saw it, I will admit, I was fooled. I thought it was a great site for information about Explorers. I sent it to a teacher without looking at the entire site and comparing the information found there to other sources. Only later did I find out that it was set up to teach kids (and people like me) about fact checking and critical thinking on the web.

So if we are asking questions that Google or any other search engine can answer, that's cool with me. But, if we aren't taking the next steps and having kids explain the choices of the sources of our information then we aren't moving up Blooms, which is what we should be doing. Check out a wiki Howard set up about Critical Thinking that is full of great information how to teach it, understand it and use it. And you can use this guide from Microsoft that aims to help kids improve their search skills and gives some lessons to use in the classroom.

What do you think? Is it wrong for Google to be able to tell us everything? How do you teach critical thinking about web resources in your classroom. Leave some ideas below.

Image from Ari on Flickr CC