Educational Technology Weblog

If you are looking for an EASY and very cool way to promote community amongst your interest groups, I have found TabUp to be an outstanding resource. If your school district or community group does not provide you with your own web presence FREE TO YOU, and you would like to create a private, semiprivate, or open destination for communication, TabUp can provide just what you are looking for.

With features like a shared calendar, forums for discussion, links to various web resources, and the ability to make this modrated or invite only ALL FOR FREE, I can’t think of a school group, sports team, or common interest group that would not find some use for this service. Please take a look, and add your thoughts to this page. The page is not intended to be a primary source of new information, but rather a living example of another great FREE tool available to educators and community groups.  I will be automatically notified of any changes or additions, and will be sure to act on valid suggestions.

Me neither but I felt like I was very close!

Today, I had the pleasure of video conferencing with a 5/6 grade class in Central Butte, Canada. Participating in the activity was (teacher) Barb Mcinnis (& her students), Tim Lauer (Portland, Oregon), Tom Barrett (Nottingham, England) and Dean Shareski (Moose Jaw, Canada). This is direct from Mrs. Mcinnis’ class blog

:

The grade 5/6 students had the chance to meet people from different parts of the world thanks to wireless technology!  On Tuesday, November 4 we participated in a web conference.  We had the opportunity, thank you to Dean Shareski (division technology) to interview educators from Nottingham, England;Portland, OR; Florida; and Moose Jaw via a web cam.  We were able to see and talk to these individuals. We first asked them questions to try and locate them, then we talked about the wireless technology that exists in their classrooms and schools.  Wow!  there are sure some great pieces of technology being used!! This project came about from an article we had read called “Get Set For the Net”. This article helped us understand how past inventions lead us to the wireless age we live in. Most of the students take this age for granted and do not realize the negative and positive effects it can have on our lives. We watched “Smart Guy:Stranger on the Net” to help us become more “Net” smart. Then we decided to do something positive and exciting with our wireless technology.

I’d like to commend Mrs. Mcinnis for her innovative vision as she seeks out relevant technologies to make learning for her students relevant. Wouldn’t you love to be in her class? This is an easy and free activity that took less than 40 minutes and can easily be replicated in YOUR classroom. Where would you find another class to communicate with? Try ePals, for starters.

This is the edited version that Dean created (5 min):

This is the entire conversation (40min):

Thank you, Dean, for asking me to participate. It was truly a pleasure to “meet” Tim, Tom, Mrs. Mcinnis and all of her students.

P.S. I hope my clues (about where I live) still have them stumped!!

The Technical Stuff:
We used Adobe Connect to have our online conversation and I recorded the session. When we were finished, I downloaded the video in .flv format (the default for recorded Adobe Connect sessions) and then uploaded that file to our school district’s Vodcast server (Video On Demand). I was then able to copy the code (anyone know how to read code??? Certainly not me, but I know how to copy and paste!) and pasted it into this blog. Code like that can be pasted into ANY webpage, including Edline! The video is also available on MediaShare along with a description so other teachers can easily access and replicate similar activities in their classes.

As most of you are probably aware, we will host our 11th annual SDPBC Technology Conference in March 2009. We are pleased to be returning to Santaluces High School for the second consecutive year. Here an example of a free online publishing tool that you can employ to spread the word. Feel free to share this countdown with anyone you think might want to have it simply by clicking on share in the lower left corner! Or better yet… go to www.sproutbuilder.com create a free account and build your own! You can build all kinds of widgets and other neat things. If you build something you’d like to share, LET US KNOW!!

If you wold like to add a little personality to your Edline page, possibly lighten up the presentation of some of your content, or try and inject some creativity into your project based learning. I recommend checking out Go!Animate. You’ll find this web based publishing program at www.goanimate.com and it does require an email to create an account, but the service is free and FUN!! Here’s an example of something I put together in about 15 minutes, and I am still learning the interface. Your students will amaze you!!

Here’s a great way for elementary teachers or parents to help your students practice for those weekly spelling tests that we all know and love!  Also, you can search for a huge number of provided lists that cover a large range of age appropriateness, and content specific subjects.

As a teacher or parent, you can very easily create a “weekly spelling list” that can be accessed at home with a username and password of your choice. You have the choice of making your list public and searchable, or keep it private so only your students will know how to find it.  No email or identification is required of the student, and when they log in, they will be presented with several very interactive ways to learn their words. They can hear their words, take practice tests or play one of several games.
Jump in and give it a try!  I am using it with my children and they really seem to enjoy it.  I am sure you’ll find the same results with your students.  Let us know how it goes, and if you’ve shared any great new lists!

The election season is in full swing and there’s little doubt that teachers all over the country are using the teachable moments that this year brings to add all sorts of engaging content into their lessons. After all, one of the primary tasks of public education is the preparation of good citizens, so we certainly can’t pass up an opportunity like this now can we?

There are all sorts of great lesson plans floating around on the Web, but I thought I’d highlight two of my favorite sources this time around.

First, the good folks at Education World have quite a few great offerings. For a complete listing of all their lesson plans visit The Election: Classroom Activities for lesson plans, webquests, and links to sites where students can find information about the election coming up in little over a month.

Also not to be missed are all the election and government resources compiled by PBS Teacher’s Source at their Access, Analyze, Act site where you’ll find even more lessons, activities, and links. Be sure to visit the Resources page where you’ll find links to great activities like:

National Mock Election

Get My Vote from NPR

American Experience: The Presidents

So let’s get out there, but be careful! There’s a lot at stake this time around and an educated electorate is one of the keys to our democracy. Are you doing your part to help your students understand what the issues are and which candidates really represent them?

I often come across a link that I will share with a particular department, or group of teachers. I think this would be an example of one that may be of interest to many elementary, and select secondary teachers.

 http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/ is a site that has many fun and free educational games that cover many different subjects. This site was highlighted by CNN as a “Fun Site of the Week”, and I can see why.

If you take a few minutes to explore this fabulous resource, you will find everything from Astronomy to Zoology, from basic math operations to pre-algebra, from history to health, and even SAT vocabulary builders.

Whether you’d like to use this during your scheduled lab or computer time (although there are a few blocked advertisement banners, yes this site is currently available inside our firewall!) or by providing links to specific games as supplemental resources on your Edline pages, I can’t think of anyone I know who would not see true value in providing these fun and effective options for their students!

Sometimes technology can provide things that are simply FUN! Thank Goodness!! One of the niftier web apps I have come across lately is called … BIGSTAGE….

This program is a Beta right now which means that it might not be perfect, and that the developers hope to learn about how users use and like/dislike their program. At www.bigstage.com you can create a free account and do stuff like…

OR EVEN…

This is a screenshot of a video clip “Starring ME” that you can watch at

 http://www.bigstage.com/anvideo.do?metho…

If you upload three photos of your face, it does an admirable job of creating a 3D avatar with your likeness… VERY COOL!!

We’re happy to announce that the Palm Breeze Cafe is back online for a new school year and can currently be seen on Comcast Channel 19 in Palm Beach County as well as in the classroom using the webcast from The Education Network. (You’ll recall from last year’s season-ending cliff hanger that Lee Keller and I were doing our best to examine whether or not technology can have an impact on learning.) And of course, we’ll be doing our weekly live, online video conference from the Cafe on Wednesday afternoons for our teachers and media specialists and giving away lots of free software during those sessions. Our first live session will be held on Wednesday, September 6th.

We’re happy to have a brand new set for this year’s show as you can see in the segment below. Hey, we get to stand up this year! Not to mention the addition of a new dynamic member to our team. You’ll definitely want to drop in the show to see our new star! (Hint: She’s a classroom teacher from a school with the initials BRMS.)

As always Palm Breeze Cafe focuses on instructional use of computers and the web and how teachers, parents, and students can use technology in their educational endeavors.

So, watch the clip, and if you can, try to join us on Wednesday afternoons where we have a live discussion to go along with the video clips that we pre-record. It’s a unique experience and one worth taking time to attend. You can see our schedule of upcoming shows at the Palm Breeze Cafe home page.

And finally, we’ve added an entirely new show this year, based on requests from our audience. Our new show is available on T.E.N. only at the moment, but look for episodes of Computers for the Completely Clueless coming to a video hosting service near you soon. This show focuses on computer basics, with Lee and I doing our best to inject a good dose of humor and fun to the topic.

(crossposted here: Geekymomma’s Blog)

Big Huge Labs has a bunch of free tools for doing cool stuff with your digital photos. Why not start the year in your classroom with a photo of yourself on a magazine cover or a motivational poster?

Then have the students take pictures of themselves with a digital camera and create their own for “Back To School” night?

This site may be blocked at school, but is worthy of checking out from home. Students can write down the information they want in the pictures and the teacher or a volunteer can create the magazine or motivational image. These can be printed or added to your Edline website very easily.

Have fun!