Web 2.0 Resources Organized

Web 2.0 sites are everywhere.  Which sites are the best, which sites should I use, where do I start?  These are questions that fill our educational technology minds on a regular basis.  The answers to these questions are actually going to have to be answered individually as you see the value in the web 2.0 resources and how they apply to your teaching and/or learning style.

The most important thing to keep in mind with this is develop a plan and use tools that work for you to best deliver knowledge to your students in your subject area.

Here is a website that has a culmination of Web 2.0 tools that teachers can use.  It includes explanations of what each resource can do for you.

Please visit:

 

http://www.protopage.com/continuousimprovement#Untitled/Home

 

It has 3 sections:

 

Collaborative Professional Learning

 

Collaborative Student Learning

 

Communication

Hope you find something to help you help your students in increasing their academic abilities!

On-line Learning

So you have probably heard the buzz about on-line learning.  Many schools are implementing this type of instruction.  With this phrase you hear the following words: easy, seat-time, credit recovery, AP, scheduling, replacement, unknown, difficult, alternative, and many many more.  This I find to be very confusing as these are words that you should also hear when you talk about on-line learning: accountable, ownership, rigorous, flexible, effort-based, facilitator, partnership, personalized, aligned, 21st century, again and many many more.

I post these two websites with a challenge and that challenge is to read, process, and take into consideration all of the words you see listed up above and then visit the websites.  As you are there however look at how those words apply in what you read about what on-line learning can be and make your list of vocabulary words to give meaning to the phrase, “on-line learning” for yourself.

http://www.inghamisd.org/gettingonline/start.html

 

https://www.waol.org/prospective_students/isonlineforme.aspx

Movie/Video Clips For Classroom Use

In our district we now have over 600 classrooms with access to Teacher Technology Cabinets and as many or more that have access to a projection unit or Elmo to Go unit.  Use the following resources to find that video or movie clip that drives home the concept you are trying to get students to understand.  This ability to put a movie out there for students to visualize a difficult concept can be very engaging and reach out to an entire different style of learner in your class.  Enjoy searching these resources. 

 Movie/Video Clips For Classroom Use:

http://www.teachersdomain.org/ – You must register to access media but there is a section of open source material that you can access.  Very convenient and boasts it is aligned to state and national standards.

http://www.thefutureschannel.com/activities_by_grade.php – The Futures Channel Videos.  This site is like the free version of discovery channel videos  - great site with lesson plan and alignment material also provided with most movies.  Note this link takes you to the grade level list of videos available.

http://www.youtube.com/index – I know you know the resource this is just a quick way to view it.  Plus I am adding some more links that take you to certain parts of You Tube you maybe have not explored.  Of course search for videos you are interested in prior to students viewing as the content on this sight can be questionable so you must preview it.

 

The following are channels on YouTube from Institutions that have some lectures and other useful content.  Again be sure to pre-screen all videos before you show to students:

http://www.youtube.com/ucberkley

http://www.youtube.com/unsw

http://www.youtube.com/usc

http://www.youtube.com/northwestern

http://www.youtube.com/harvardkennedyschool

http://www.youtube.com/odu

http://www.youtube.com/vanderbilt

http://www.youtube.com/carnegiemellonu

 

Other You Tube Channels to Explore these known to be reliable and for classroom use:

http://www.youtube.com/npr

http://www.youtube.com/PBS

http://www.youtube.com/NationalWildlife

 

http://www.teachertube.com/ – Site where teachers share video clips, training files, blogs, and other material appropriate for school age children.  Students are made by teachers and their students.

 

http://www.hotchalk.com/index_new.html – Web Community for teachers, students, and parents.  This site allows access to decades of news archiving, including direct news footage and discussion opportunities for the classroom.  Registration is free and so are some of the resources although some resources have to have a paid membership to access.

Going to Macul

The Macul Conference is coming up in Mid-March.  It is in Detroit this year but it is a great way to get an opportunity to get exposure to instructional technology and how teachers around the state are meeting HSCE and GLCE demands.  If you get a chance explore the main site you can even get some good technology exposure through that.  Happy Hunting for resources and if you are interested in communicating virtually with instructional technology enthusists throughout the state also look at MACUL Space.

Cyber Safety Resources

There’s a new tool for students headed back to school this fall. It’s called the Michigan Cyber Safety Initiative (Michigan CSI). It’s an Internet safety and education program for K-8 students all across Michigan. The program proactively combats the problem of Internet predators by educating students, teachers and parents about how to avoid dangers on the Internet.

The CSI program consists of four different, age-appropriate seminars: K-3rd grades; 4th-5th grades; 6th-8th grades; and a parent/community seminar.  Michigan CSI is offered to all K-8 students in Michigan. Already, more than 80 districts representing more than 230,000 school children have registered.

Materials from the Michigan CSI presentations can be accessed on the Attorney General’s website, http://www.michigan.gov/ag/, under the key initiatives heading.