Two #1 Go-to Spots for Tech Ideas and Resources

If you've participated in the Learn and Earn blog/classes before, you know that I'm a big fan of the folks over at Teachers First. They do a great job collecting, reviewing, and cataloging digital tools and resources for teachers. They are always adding new things to their site so it's worth revisiting now and again. I've signed up for the weekly email which contains a link to their featured sites for the week. Checking out the featured sites each week is a great way to see what's new (or maybe not so new, but new to you) in the world of educational technology.  For more information about the site, you may want to check out what I wrote about it last year by reading what I had to say about Teachers First last year.

For those of you already familiar with Teachers First, I'd direct you over to the Free Technology for Teachers blog. Here, high school social studies teacher Richard Byrne regularly posts about free technology tools for teachers (hence, the blog's title). One of the things I particularly like is that he follows up each overview of the tool, with "Applications for Education." Check out his work. He's won several awards for this blog, so it's worth a look. You could cruise the recent posts OR check out the link to "All Time Most Popular Posts." Along the right-hand side of the main blog page, you'll see other categories of posts as well--like "The How-To Series," or links to wiki pages with subject specific resources like "Social Studies Resources," and "Foreign Language Resources."

So, for this week's assignment, I'd like to you check Teachers First and/or Free Technology for Teachers. Then come back here and tell us what you found and why it would be useful to you. (Don't forget, if you want to earn clock hours, make sure to include your first and last name AND (CH) after your name so we give you credit.)

Social Learning in Your Classroom

This week, I want to introduce you to a free tool that allows you to create a social learning network for your students: Edmodo. Edmodo has been around for a few years, and when I first discovered it, I did some initial experimenting with  a colleague in another district. I haven't yet had the opportunity to try it out with students in our district. However, my colleague is using it to facilitate discussion and communication between 8th grade students in her district and a class in Poland. From what I hear, it's been a very successful project. I'm hoping that maybe one of you would like try it out.

So, what is Edmodo? Here's what they say on their FAQ page:

Edmodo is a free, secure, social learning platform for teachers, students, schools and districts.
Edmodo provides teachers and students with a secure and easy way to post classroom materials, share links and videos, and access homework, grades and school notices.  Teachers and students can store and share all forms of digital content – blogs, links, pictures, video, documents, presentations, and more. There are also special institutional features for schools and districts that can be accessed for free by administrators.

The best way to learn more, however, is to check out the "What is Edmodo?" video on their website. You'll find it in the upper right hand corner. If you like what you see, and think Edmodo might have some applications in your classroom, let me know--I'll come meet with you to talk about the possibilities and help you get set up. Even thought it's a fairly easy to use tool, I can help you consider all the possibilities, plan for a successful experience, etc.

After checking out Edmodo, come back here and tell us how you could imagine using a tool like this in your classroom. What part of Classroom 10 would Edmodo help you integrate?  (Don't forget, if you want to earn clock hours, make sure to include your first and last name AND (CH) after your name so we give you credit.)

Social Networking Can Be Professional Too

This week I want to introduce you to the concept of Professional Learning Networks (PLN). Of course, I am surrounded by colleagues who can support my work, answer questions, etc. But due to the miracle of social networking and tools like Ning, Twitter, and others, I can now reach beyond the resources of my classroom, school, or district to connect with other like-mined teachers. I have only taken baby-steps myself in contributing to PLNs, but when I do, I find the results amazing. As mentioned above, one way to network professionally is through a Ning. We'll focus on what a Ning is this week.

 A Ning is essentially a social network (like Facebook or MySpace) with a particular focus. Anyone can "build" a Ning (which costs money now) using the Ning platform, then others can join it as members. Some Nings have 9 members, others have 380,000 members. Think of it this way--Facebook is for EVERYONE. A particular Ning is only for people who share a common interest like the Twilight Saga, or teaching about 9/11. I belong to the Classroom 2.0 Ning. It's targeted to people who have jobs like mine and teachers who are interested in educational technology, in particular the use of Web 2.0 tools. In fact, I just took advantage of the expertise that lies beyond my office walls by posting a discussion topic to the forum of the Classroom 2.0 Ning. Over the past two days I've received lots of information about my question and learned more than I could have had I just done the research myself.

So, this week's "assignment" is to do some poking around on Ning. Go to their website, then type in a topic of interest to you in the upper right hand corner. See what you find. Think about joining. (You don't have to join, you just have to think about it.) Joining a Ning generally doesn't cost a thing. When choosing one to join, look for how many members the Ning boasts. Generally, those with greater numbers have a more active membership, but that's not always the case. Maybe there really are only 120 people who share your interest in llama breeding and raising, and those 120 people are probably pretty passionate about it. You can also tell how active a Ning is by just poking around. When was the last forum question posted? Did anyone respond? If the question was posted more than a few weeks ago, and nobody has responded, you're probably looking at a fairly lifeless Ning. The immediate connection to other members is one of the major benefits of a Ning to me--I can post my question on a Wednesday morning, and by Thursday afternoon there have been nearly 30 replies. I don't have to wait until I see these people at the next tech conference. I can network virtually. It's awesome.

You can start with a topic that is of interest to you (wine tasting, perhaps) or you can just go to the Classroom 2.0 Ning and visit their forum page. You won't be able to reply to a discussion unless you become a member, but you might learn a thing or two while you're there.

When you're done, come back here and just tell us about your experience. Do you think finding and joining a PLN or personal interest Ning might be in your future? Or maybe you're on the cutting edge already--do you already use a social networking tool (like a Ning or Twitter) for this purpose? Tell us about it!  (Don't forget, if you want to earn clock hours, make sure to include your first and last name AND (CH) after your name so we give you credit.)

A Tech Upgrade for Flash Cards

Did you know that you (or better yet, your students) can create flash cards they can use on their phones or MP3 players by just using PowerPoint? Well, after today's post you will.  Mr. Coley, a 5th grade teacher in California who apparently has tons of spare time explains, how to do this (and many other cool things) at his website. There you can find detailed directions on how to create flash cards for our students using PowerPoint. It's really easy--you make a PowerPoint with slides like I've shown to the right, then save your PowerPoint as JPEGs. Now you will have a folder of "pictures" that you can upload to your phone, iPod or other MP3 player just like you would any other collection of pictures.  After the collection is created it can be emailed and shared with students. While I can imagine teachers making flashcards for a class to use, I encourage you to think about the learning that could happen if students made their own. Just finding the right picture for "smitten" helps the student learn and personalize the word.  But, of course, flash cards aren't just for vocabulary, so for this weeks post:

Explain how you could see yourself using/creating flash cards for your students. How would you provide access to your cards for students or would you have them make their own? Give it a try using his directions/tutorials and let us know your successes and challenges.  (Don't forget, if you want to earn clock hours, make sure to include your first and last name AND (CH) after your name so we give you credit.)

A Comic Generator for Student Use

This week’s post comes to you live from the NCCE Conference in Portland. Christine (the elementary tech coach) and I are down here learning about new tools and all sorts of ways to use technology in support of student learning. The first thing we noticed when we got here was that there are QR codes everywhere. Last year, there wasn’t a QR Code anywhere. It is amazing and exciting how quickly new technologies show up and then get adapted for use in education. If you’re not sure what a QR code is, check out the blog post from February 17 for more information.

People often ask me how I learn about new tools and ideas. Sometimes it’s from a blog or an email from a colleague. Or, sometimes, it’s by looking over some stranger’s shoulder. I was at a workshop the other day and someone in front of me had a site up on her laptop that looked intriguing. Further investigation led me to the ReadWriteThink Comic Creator for students. A number of teachers have contacted me over the last few years looking for just such a tool. There are other comic creators online, but many of them require students to be 13 or older, create accounts, etc. Not this one! Plus, because it’s at the ReadWriteThink website, it comes with high quality lesson plans that use the tool.

So, this week, thanks to me being in the right place at the right time, you’ll get to explore the Comic Creator and/or the ReadWriteThink website. (If you’re not already familiar with ReadWriteThink or haven’t visited it lately, this is a great resource in and of itself—check it out!)

If you want clock hours, check out the Comic Creator and associated lesson plans then come back here and tell us how you might use it with your students. If you can’t think of a way to use the Comic Creator, then check out some of the other cool resources on the ReadWriteThink website, then come back here and tell us what you found and how you could use it.  (Don't forget, if you want to earn clock hours, make sure to include your first and last name AND (CH) after your name so we give you credit.)