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!

Working with Words on the Web

On June 20th, as part of the grand finale of technology training for this past school year, I was able to share lots of resources that would help teachers teach and work with vocabulary from their curriculum. The web was our playground where we used different websites to connect the technology standards and objectives for both teachers and students.

I used my Vocabulary Teaching Tools livebinder to introduce the websites, tools, lesson plans and activities. This resource can be accessed either at school or home by going to our WSFCS wiki. You don't have to join the wiki to use any of the resources.

After going through several of the sites, explaining the benefits and how to use them, everyone went into the livebinder to create activities from the free websites and find more lessons that would help them teach vocabulary from any subject area. All but a couple of the sites were free and only needed to have a login created. Then the product could be saved, printed and used later. Two biggest advantages to the sites were that they were interactive and very visual. A definite plus for increasing student interest.

As I circulated around the room I heard lots of great comments on how they were going to use the sites in their classrooms, some oohs and aahhs, and a few said, "Boy! Wish I'd had known about these earlier in the year." I also have a    available that lists some of my favorite sites and tools that you might find useful.

The online tools will be updated regularly because everything changes so quickly on the web and new resources are made available. I have a few of my favorites, but would love to hear which ones you like to use.

Have you visited LiveBinders Land?

I got an email asking if I knew anything about LiveBinders ..... hmmmmm .... yeah I use it a little bit ... :)

A LiveBinder is like a virtual 3 ring binder where you can store websites, files, and all sorts of digital information. I replied by sending several LiveBinders resources, so I thought I would put those links here too.

"LiveBinders is a simple way to share knowledge"

• Here are some covering a wide variety of topics: http://mwedwardstechnology.blogspot.com/p/livebinders.html

• Here is a blog with links to a lady who has created LOTS of livebinders: http://mwedwardstechnology.blogspot.com/2011/02/are-you-konnected.html

• Here is a LiveBinder on creating LiveBinders: http://livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=3342

• Here is a LiveBinders Tips and Tricks (video of a webinar): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIh6oCEuGHQ

• Here is a short video on LiveBinders for Teachers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uKktih3YNg&feature=related

• Here is a short video showing how to insert a file into a LiveBinder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHuXpNkFssQ&feature=related
  

• Here is a blog on LiveBinders that includes a video and lots of examples: http://wsfcsintouch.blogspot.com/2010/11/bring-those-boring-binders-to-life-with.html

• On the LiveBinders site, there is a tab full of feaured LiveBinders for all to see, use, and even copy: http://livebinders.com/welcome

image from LiveBinders

Blooming Resources (even when it is cold)

Having discovered Kelly Tenkely's blog iLearnTechnology was like finding a gold-filled treasure chest. Getting to know Kelly through her blog and on twitter (@ktenkely) has been even better. Steven Anderson and I both attended a webinar she did last week about thinking and teaching creatively at the Knowledge Learning Place. Resources and sites she shared were posted to a LiveBinder called Thinking Creatively with Kelly Tenkely. The recording of that session will also be added to that LiveBinder when it is ready.

One thing that really stood out to me from that webinar was Kelly's Digital Bloom's Taxonomy LiveBinder. I am a big fan of Kelly's creations that go along with Bloom's Taxonomy (peacock, umbrella, tree ...). In the webinar, she said that she created one and then students suggested the ideas for the other Bloom's images. I think the one that I like the most right now is the Bloomin' Digital Peacock!

Digital Bloom's Taxonomy

In Kelly's Digital Bloom's Taxonomy LiveBinder, she shares digital tools that can be used with students to help them Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create. Both that LiveBinder and her Blog provide lots of great resources for you to check out!

image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/53611153@N00/3423709188/

Bring Those Boring Binders To Life With Livebinders...

I realized today that I have talked a lot about my various Livebinders but never really have taken the time to explain what they are or how they work.

First, a video...



Think of Livebinders as a virtual 3 ring binder that you can put pretty much anything in. Webpage, PDF, image, video, text, they all can go into a page organized for you.

Each item can be on it's own tab or you can further organize by using sub-tabs.

Here are some of my binders:

Twitter:

An Educators Guide To Twitter

Staying Safe Online:

Staying Safe Online

Getting Started With Google Reader:

An Overview And Intro To Google Reader

I encourage you to explore each one to get an idea on what can be put into a binder. Also check out the Featured Binders and the categories to find more binders to use and share. There are tons of great examples there.

The folks over at Livebinders have also created a great "Getting Started" binder that has everything you need to know to, well, get started! There is something there for everyone to learn.

LiveBinders Tips and Tricks

Also visit the Livebinders4Teachers wiki which will connect you to other Livebinder using educators and you can share and exchange tons of great binders.

So check out Livebinders, and give it a try. If you do, head back here and tell us what you think. Do you use Livebinders already? What advice would you give those just getting started? Leave some comments below.

Shameless plug time. On Thursday (Nov 11) I will be the guest of Livebinders and the 21st Century PD Podcast where I will be talking about Livebinders, 21st Century learning and more. You can learn more about how to participate here.

Twitter: The Livebinders Edition

I get asked a lot about Twitter. From how educators are using it to more basics like what does RT mean or what are those funny little things called hashtags?

Over the past few days I have been going through my over 1000 sites I have saved in Diigo to find the best stuff on Twitter. I have compiled it all into a Livebinder. (If you don't know what a Livebinder is, check this out.)

In this binder you will find information on:
Getting Started
Terminology
The Art Of The ReTweet
Hashtags
#Edchat
Misconceptions
Twitter In Education
More Resources

There is something for everyone, for those just getting started to those who are experienced users.

An Educators Guide To Twitter
(The URL in case you need it: http://livebinders.com/play/present?id=34291)

Did miss something? What would add? Leave me some comments below.

Livebinders

One of my goals in professional development sessions is to provide teachers with quality, usable technology tools for their classrooms. Most teachers want their tech resources to be easy to learn and use (no detailed handouts or pages of notes needed), they want the new tools to have a place in their own classrooms and subject areas, and they want the new tools to save them time.

Livebinders meets all those criteria and by organizing websites and webcontent. The setup is very clear. And if you have an idea of how you'd like to organize select websites around a subject, theme, class schedule, etc... you'll be binding websites together in no time.

Using it in the classroom:

• If you have a projector, interactive whiteboard or flatscreen TV, Livebinders is a great way to present websites to your classes. In presentation mode the Livebinder is visually appealing and allows you to quickly jump from webpage to webpage without opening new browsers or tabs.
• Your Livebinders can be used in centers on the classroom computers, allowing students to explore a topic or theme while staying on the websites chosen by the teacher.
• Your binders can be linked to your webpage or embedded in a blog or wiki. This permits students to access the Livebinder from any connected computer. Livebinders are a great way to collect sites to support or enrich classroom instruction.
• Finally, while a Livebinder can be set to "private," many of the livebinders are public and teachers can benefit from the broader community of educators using Livebinders - seeing and using websites other teachers have found.

Livebinders is a functional, easy-to-use addition to any teacher's tech toolbox. Check it out at http://livebinders.com/ and if you're interested in see a few examples first, check out my Livebinders on the SMART and Promethean resources below:

SMART resources

Promethean/ Activ Resources