Second Life

Today I read the 7 Things You Should Know About Second Life, which is a virtual place that you can purchase "land" or you can use it for free but then you can't own "land".  It creates images in 3D.  When I started reading it, the first thing I thought of was video games, but now I tend to look at it as more of a CAD software tool that you can use online.  I was amazed at how you could use it in the classroom.  I thought it would be great to teach Economics or Marketing or for the K-12 students how the economy works with buying and selling items in a store.  It also reminded me of a game my grandson plays, Mindcraft.  :-)

7 things you should know about Second Life, http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/7-things-you-should-know-about-second-life

Social Networks, Facebook and Ning

While reading about Facebook in the classroom, I did not think to utilize it as a learning tool.  I had only thought of using Facebook more as a entertainment mechanism.  I didn't like the idea of teachers and students being "friends" because it can blur the lines between the two.  Also, I didn't know that Ning existed.  If I had to choose between the two, then I would choose Ning for the classroom.  It has the feel for a more instructional environment than Facebook.

Richardson, W., Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms (2010),  Chapter 9, Social Networks: Facebook, Ning, Connections and Commuinties, pgs. 131-146.

9 Learning Videos

This is article with a list of nine links to get kids geared up for school again. This is a great list to get students back into the flow of learning since it's only a couple more weeks left before school begins.  I think this will help even those students who don't even want to think about the "S" word!  Of course that could also apply to teachers too. :-)
 

Borovoy, A.E., Five-Minute Film Festival: 9 Boosts for Late-Summer Learning. retrieved on August 2, 2013, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-late-summer-learning-boosts?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EdutopiaNewContent+%28Edutopia%29.

Collabrative Editing

The article 7 Things You Should Know About Collaborative Editing from the Educause website reminded me of Sharepoint.  Except Sharepoint keeps track of the last version edited and maintains a copy of the original document.  Collabrative Editing allows everyone to edit the document but doesn't keep track of the original document, so you don't know what was changed.  As a paralegal working with attorneys being able to track the original copy is a must, and the option to download the original document prior to making a change defeats the purpose because everyone would be downloading a copy of the document every time there was a change to it.  I think being able for students to collaborate on a document would be a good idea, but again, I find that not knowing what the previous document content could have everyone going back and forth.

7 Things You Should Know About Collaborative Editing
http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/7-things-you-should-know-about-collaborative-editing

Parents Aren't Necessary

This was quite a different perspective on parent's involvement.  It first started out with “parent bashing”. Then it explained that teachers have the children for over 15,000 hours so the teachers have actually more time than the parents with the children.  I think the article didn’t consider that classrooms are bigger in the number of students than previously.  If teachers were able to, I’m sure they would love to spend more time with the students, but because of the number of students this is realistically not possible.  

Parents Aren't Necessary for Students to Learn

Social Bookmarking

I just read a paper on social bookmarking called "7 Things You Should Know About Social Bookmarking".  Most people understand bookmarking as a way to identify a site you want to save.  What I found really interesting is that these social bookmarking sites periodically try the site you have bookmarked to make sure it works and then lets you know if it doesn't.  I think this is a particularly useful tool.

7ThingsYou Should Know About Sociabookmarking

7 Things You Should Know About Wikis

I was amazed when reading this that so many people use Wikis and their different environments, from schools to taking board minutes.  It is such a universal tool.  The only draw back is that people can edit each others work.  However, I think and hope that people will only make edits to clarify or correct wrong information.


7 Things You Should Know About Wikis, Educause.  Retrieved on July 15, 2013. 
http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/7-things-you-should-know-about-wikis 

Teach Social-Emotional Learning for Better Schools, Safer Neighborhoods

This is an article about a teacher awakening to the problem of neighborhood violence and taking steps to help resolve the problem.  I found this article to be interesting because it doesn't matter where you live violence affects everyone.

Morgan, Laura (2013) Teach Social-Emotional Learning for Better Schools, Safer Neighborhoods, July 16, 2013.  Retrieved on July 20, 2013.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/SEL-better-schools-safer-neighborhoods-laura-rabb-morgan?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EdutopiaNewContent+%28Edutopia%29

7 things you should know about Skype

I found that this article about Skype to be very interesting, especially the low cost or free service it offers.   The potential for video conferencing between classes at different schools without the cost of having the equipment or event a phone line is very appealing.  The drawback is the security and large amount of bandwidth it uses have led schools to band the use of it on their network.  I think for Skype to be available to schools, it must address the security issues.

7 Things You Should Know About Skype, Educause, http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/7-things-you-should-know-about-skype

Want to Amplify Student Voice? Write a Book Together

This is a great article showing ingenuity on how to get students involved and to take ownership of a project.  The school is Oslo, Norway and the teacher, Ann Michaelsen, came up with an idea for her and her students to write a book together.  Ms. Michaelsen teaches a mandatory English class and said the students were struggling.  The book is called Connected Learners: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Global Classroom.  

Boss, S., Want to Amplify Student Voice? Write a book Together, retrieved July 11, 2013, from
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/amplify-student-voice-write-book-together-suze-boss?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EdutopiaNewContent+%28Edutopia%29

Chapter 4, Wikis

This was a very interesting chapter to read.  After years of hearing all the negativity of Wikipedia and the inaccuracies of it, this chapter presented the information in a different light.  You still have to double check your information but most people post accurate information on it.  Additionally, I found the aspect of people worldwide posting on one wiki really inspiring. 
Richardson, W., (2010), Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, 3rd Ed, Chapter 4.

Recreational and Educational Value of Math Puzzles

This article was interesting because I enjoy puzzles and am not good at math at all.  I think the author is correct in saying that teaching math through a puzzles is motivational to a student.  Solving the puzzle is a great motivation tool.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/recreational-educational-value-math-puzzles-deepak-kulkarni?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EdutopiaNewContent+%28Edutopia%29

Teaching At-Risk Youth: Looking Back at 50 years

This article states the so obvious.  To turn at risk students around to be productive, the most important thing to show the student is that you care.  Short and so simple.

Edutopia - the Persistent Appeal of Technology in Learning

I  found this article to be interesting due to the combining education and technology.  It basically said that technology can reach multitudes, has "bells and whistles, and can be personalized.  To me this is a perfect direction we want to go in.  I took it as we can reach our students in their home territory; we can provide interesting features in the material to keep their attention; and finally, perhaps more importantly, the educational program can be personalized so that is meets their style of learning.
Edutopia-the Persistent Appeal of Technology in Learning

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