Diigo bookmarks for today 06/01/2010

• Museum of London - Street Museum

  Streetmuseum is a new (and free) augmented reality iPhone app created by the Museum of London that allows you to browse historical photographs in various parts of the city.

  Tags: augmented_reality, iphone, software, history, london, museum, free, educational, loc:gb, lang:en

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/31/2010

• altastic - stuff for ALTs

  Sentence Scrambler
  If you have a bunch of sentences and you want to scramble them for use in the traditional exercise of narabikae, look no further than this wonderful tool.
  
  ABC Flashcard Viewer Thingy
  A flashcard viewer, designed for the interactive whiteboard. You can display the letters A to Z in upper- and lowercase, with or without guide lines. All movement can be controlled via the arrow keys and/or the alphabet keys on your keyboard. If you want a local version to use on your own machine, you can download it here.
  
  What's this?
  If you have access to an interactive whiteboard, this is a fun(?) game. A peculiar image is displayed, and students try to guess what it is. You can choose which images you want to show, and you can change the question and answer formats.
  

  Tags: online, tool, sentence, scrambler, alphabet, education, language

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/30/2010

• A Lifetime of Color - Home

  Tags: education, Interactive, color, Artist, web2.0, a, technology, of

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/29/2010

• OLogy

  Tags: education, students, science, teachers, teaching, interactive, museum, elementary, history

• Escaping the Echo Chamber | Jason T Bedell

  Nice post about how to evangelize advanced tech to fellow teachers

  Tags: education, technology, sharing

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Moving on

The end of the school year is almost upon us. Having taught for about 25 years, my year is based on the school calendar, New Years day is in September (or August depending upon what state I am living in at the time). This is also the last few days working the job I have held for the past nine years. My previous length of time at a job record was four years, but we were moving around to different areas before moving to New York State. This is the first time I am leaving a job not due to a relocation. It is hard, and looking back at what I have accomplished here makes me feel as if I have a good body of work. The question is where will I be next year at this time?

Where I now work is difficult to understand, but let me give it a shot. In New York, we have educational agencies called BOCES (Board Of Cooperative Educational Services), where districts can pool resources and buy services. I am a BOCES employee, but I only go to the BOCES a half of a day each month, otherwise I am "in district". What that means is I am in a school district full time, as their director of technology. But not really, I am a teacher on special assignment (TOSA) from BOCES. What that means in real-life depends upon whom you talk to. I was hired as an instructional technology specialist, who was to train teachers and work with them to integrate technology into the classroom. My job description changed within of 2 hours of starting the job, when I was asked to fix a computer, I really did not know how to, but figured it out, from then on, the majority of my work has not been training, but actual computer and network stuff. Mostly I am self taught on these things, as when asking BOCES for technical training, I was told that it did not meet my job description, so they could not send me, while asking the school district, I was told that they agreed I needed to go to the training, but that BOCES would have to pay for it. It is amazing what you can learn by trial and error and more error, and reading, and researching and more reading.

What exactly have I accomplished in my time here? Looking back, I would say quite a bit, but remember in 2000, school technology was not where it is today. The school network consisted of a mish-mash of different types of switches, most 10-100, but several 10. The standard teacher computer was the iMac 500 or 5000 some of which worked usually. We had our own Email system, a rudimentary web page and a 56K dedicated network connection. My projects that first summer included setting up our first Project Lead the Way (PLTW) full of PC computers and a new high school lab full of iMacs . I quickly learned about setting up accounts on servers, network software, installing software, setting privileges on computers and servers. That was an intense summer. I managed to get set up and everything working for the beginning of the year.

Today the physical infrastructure is much improved. All of the network switches are gigabyte, the buildings and closets are all connected with fiber optic cable. Our network connection is also fiber, run to the phone company. We now have two PLTW labs, all of our elementary school classrooms have at least three computers, with two mobile labs available for use in the 18 classrooms. Each high school classroom will have new computers this summer, and a second mobile lab. All of the district classrooms have SmartBoards installed. We have a ubiquitous wireless network, a Voice over IP phone system, and a modern security camera system.

Then there is software. The student information system was unlicensed, as was the Email system, and most of the other software. Our offices were using Microsoft Works 2.0 for most of their applications, where the teachers were using Appleworks. At that point MS works 2.0 was no longer supported by Microsoft, but I had to make it work, because it is what they used. Bringing all of these up to speed was a fight, both with the users and the business office to understand that software is not free. We now have a good student information system, legal software and up to date MS Office software.

These were great leaps forward for the district, and I think I am leaving with the school having the ability to do just about any technology integration into their classrooms. I wish that I could have done more integration work, but it is difficult to schedule if the Email or network suddenly go bad and needs fixing. In the past few years, seeing the teachers needing less hand holding on projects makes me feel good about the work.

When I started this job, the superintendent was of the opinion that he hired competent people to do do their jobs, he was open to listening to new ideas and handed off projects with the understanding that they would get done before the deadlines. I felt my opinion mattered and I was making a contribution to the district. He made me feel as if I were a member of this community. He would treat me as if I were a district employee, and said that the only difference was where my paycheck came from.

Feel free to ignore the next two paragraphs.

A few years ago he was replaced by a micro-manager. I do not work well in that environment. Jobs will be done before the deadline, but my having to submit detailed time lines on the completion of these jobs, I feel was, well a waste of my work time. I know what I am doing and how things work, however micro managers like to question everything, and need to be taught what and how things work. They also tend to pick up on the latest buzz and what to implement whatever it is without knowing really what it is. For example we spent a few meetings talking about centralized printing, with me attempting to tell him we do it already. He had heard from others superintendents on how much money it saved. We already do it. I was to contact the tech directors from other schools on centralized printing, and you know what, we were well ahead of the others on that. We already do it. Finally it sunk in, that we already do it. Already.

I no longer feel a member of the community, and this has been told to me loud and clear. I am not a district employee, nor should I even act like one.

The last two paragraphs can be ignored

I still have a job. I will be teaching at our local BOCES. I am looking for another job either in school administration or as a technology director. I may leave the education field. Right now I am keeping the "new" job, but am somewhat disappointed in this move. I have a few applications out, and a couple of interviews lined up. I really can say I enjoyed this job, the last two years have been difficult, but it is still a great job and the teachers, students and staff have been great. Anytime you leave a job it is hard, I should be used to it as this is my sixth school district, but it never is really easy.

Thanks for letting me get this off my chest. Thanks to my Personal Learning Network (PLN) for the support and suggestions in writing this. Thanks to my family for all of their support too. Something good will come of this, heck this is the first summer I have had off in several years!

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/28/2010

• Miss Baker's Biology Class Wiki

  This site is maintained by Ms. Baker and her biology students. We live in the Northeast U.S. and blog about anything biology-related.

  Tags: wiki, biology, school, SCIENCE, web2.0, education

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/27/2010

• How to Become an Athletic Trainer

  Work environment, job outlook, and education requirements are provided for anyone interested in continuing their education for entry into this career field.
  
  

  Tags: athletic, trainer, continuing, education, ceu, job, outlook, healthcare, work, environment, federal, financial, aid, colleges, universities

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/26/2010

• Student-created content and a big weird thang « Lisa’s (Online) Teaching Blog

  Tags: education, pedagogy, content, source

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/25/2010

• Using Moodle: teaching with the ... - Google Books

  Tags: teaching, moodle, resource, teachers, education, guide, tool, technology, professionaldevelopment, techintegrator

• Making the Most of Wikis in Your Science or Math Classroom

  Wikis are the most popular Web 2.0 tool being used in science and math classrooms. Based on a survey of readers – 43 percent use them to support their teaching and student learning.
  
  A Wiki is appealing, encourages participation, supports collaboration, and promotes interaction by students who love to use technology.
  
  By the way – this includes most students today!

  Tags: algebra, chemsitry, education, techmology, physics, podcasts, real, world, math, Science, teaching, and, learning, web, 2.0, wiki

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/23/2010

• LectureTools

  LectureTools provides a range of student response options plus it allows students to
  Take notes synchronized to lecture slides,Draw on and save the instructor’s lecture slides,Pose clarifying questions that can be answered asynchronously during class or after class andSelf-assess their understanding during lecture.

  Tags: online, tools, education, lecture, upload, slideshow

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/22/2010

• Anki - friendly, intelligent flashcards

  Anki is a program which makes remembering things easy. Because it is a lot more efficient than traditional study methods, you can either greatly decrease your time spent studying, or greatly increase the amount you learn.

  Tags: education, flashcards, study, software, studying, application, multiplatform

• TakingITGlobal - Inspire. Inform. Involve.

  We enable a collaborative learning community which provides youth with access to global opportunities, cross-cultural connections and meaningful participation in decision-making.
  What We Offer:
  Global online social network and hub for civic participationContent & tools for educators to facilitate rich, interactive learning experiencesOutreach & Collaboration tools for events, networks, campaigns, and causesResearch, development, and sharing of best practices on youth engagementFacilitated learning experiences through workshops, webinars, and e-courses

  Tags: socialsoftware, community, education, tool, workshop

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/20/2010

• NachoFoto - Realtime Image Search Engine

  Find relevant images of Trending Topics in realtime

  Tags: photos, news, information, education

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/19/2010

• Sumanas, Inc. Animation Gallery

  Sumanas develops animated tutorials in a variety of formats for many scientific disciplines.

  Tags: education, science, animations, biology, chemistry, astronomy, statistics

• TimeGlider: Web-based Timeline Software

  web-based timeline software
  for creating and sharing
  history and project planning
  

  Tags: education, timeline, planning, web2.0, history

• TALL blog » Blog Archive » Does the Technology Matter?

  current

  Tags: technology, education, teaching, pedagogy, blog, opinion

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/18/2010

• Goofram - Search Google and Wolfram Alpha at the same time!

  Search results that are a mash up of Google and Wolfram alpha

  Tags: education, search, data

• PikiFriends

  a free, easy and safe "Pen Pal" tool to connect students grades 6-12 with others around the world

  Tags: education, pen pal, 6-12, connections

• Media Fluency: NITLE Summit 2010 « Gardner Writes

  Tags: Gardner, media, fluency, NITLE, literacies, education

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/16/2010

• Images from the History of Medicine (IHM)

  The Image database, Images from the History of Medicine (IHM), is an online picture database of nearly 70,000 images from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) History of Medicine Division's Prints and Photographs Collection. IHM includes portraits, photographs, caricatures, genre scenes, posters, and graphic art illustrating the social and historical aspects of medicine dated from the 15th to 21st century.

  Tags: history, image, resource, medicine, science, education

• Quizinator for Teachers, Instructors, and HomeSchoolers

  Create, Store, and Print worksheets, studysheets, exams and quizzes online.

  Tags: quizz, editor, online, tool, education, maker

• News: No Grading, More Learning - Inside Higher Ed

  Tags: grading, assessment, learning, teaching, education

• WNY Education Associates » When Kids Say No to Facebook

  Is Facebook good tool to use in schools? 

  Tags: Facebook, education, social media, teachers, kids

• sleeping alone and starting out early: principles for ethical educational research

  1. We exist in the service of the communities we work for.
  2. We exist to serve the needs and interests of the communities we work for. 
  3. It's our job to represent our work in ways that support ethical decisions by policymakers and external stakeholders.
  4. All educational research is social activism, and all educational researchers are social activists. 

  Tags: ethical, education, research, community, serve

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/15/2010

• Lure of the Labyrinth

  Tags: stem, math, education, algebra, pre-algebra, middleschoolmath

• SignApp Now - Simple Sign Up Sheets

  simple free and easy way to make sign up sheets.
  Did I say free?

  Tags: education, signup, lists

• STEM Collaborative.org - Home

  Tags: resources, collaborative, stem, math, education, technology, games

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/14/2010

• YouTube - SearchStories's Channel

  Tags: google, youtube, searchstories, search, DigitalStorytelling, teaching, web2.0, education

• Online Learning Startup Udemy Launches With Plans to "Democratize Online Education"

  Tags: online, education, distance, e-learning, edupunk, future, edFutures

• KNIGHTTIME

  Non traditional approach to literature. Just received this in my inbox:
  
  " We, The Hazardous Players, have been building a fantasy adventure where we plan on constructing multiply narratives using various media: writing, audio performance and art, (eventually video), to create a story that is an expanding fantasy for children and adults. Though we realize this is a nontraditional approach to literature, we do see that this could be a unique way to tell a story, harkening back to the time of episodic adventures on the radio. "
  
  Couldn't students do this as a semester or shorter project?

  Tags: education, literature

• A Dual Coding Theoretical Model of Reading

  I used this research in writing a grant for securing Amazon Kindle's and using their text to speech feature to help students with reading comprehension.
  
  Citation:
  Sadoski, M. & Paivio, A. (2004). A dual coding theoretical model of reading. In R. B. Ruddell & N. J. Unrau (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (5th ed.) (pp. 1329-1362). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

  Tags: education, reading, reading_teacher, learning

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/13/2010

• Science News, Articles and Information | Scientific American

  The web site of Scientific American

  Tags: education, science, technology, journal, research

• PhysicsCentral: Learn How Your World Works

  How the world works, a look at physics

  Tags: education, physics, science

• DNA Interactive: Discovering the DNA Structure and beyond

  site dedicated to DNA

  Tags: DNA, education, biology

• Learn and think about Robots

  All about robots

  Tags: education, robots, science, technology

• A Teacher's Guide to Generation X Parents

  "How to work with well-meaning but demanding moms and dads."

  Tags: parents, teacher, education, school2.0

• Student Voices | Learn Science at Scitable

  Student blogs about science

  Tags: education, science, blogs

• PhysicsCentral: Physics in Pictures

  Learn how the world works, This is a section on Physics in Pictures

  Tags: education, science, photos, physics

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/12/2010

• Admongo, the government video game that teaches kids about the perils of advertising. - By Seth Stevenson - Slate Magazine

  Persuasive game about, er, persuasion

  Tags: gaming, game, government, USG, advertising, education, children, kids, K12

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/11/2010

• Home - U Tech Tips

  Tags: software, wiki, resources, education, web2.0, tech, technology, all_teachers, techintegrator, professionaldevelopment, digitalcitizenship

• Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era - Yahoo! Canada News

  US President Barack Obama lamented Sunday that in the iPad and Xbox era, information had become a diversion that was imposing new strains on democracy, in his latest critique of modern media

  Tags: Internet, Television, Psychology, Education, society

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/10/2010

• Jason Ohler : Education and Technology :: Art, Storytelling, Education and Technology

  Tags: digitalstorytelling, education, resources

• 50 Free Open Courseware Classes for Special Education Teachers

  As you plan what you're doing this summer - here is a list of 50 opencourseware summer courses for special education teachers.
  
  Although budgets for PD are being cut everywhere - true professionals ALWAYS develop themselves and it is time to go out on your own! We must always progress or we regress!

  Tags: education, professional, development, specialneeds_teacher

• 10 Online Programs Which Support Learning in Adult Education

  Free online technologies are changing adult education by offering the ability to use free online tools to support collaboration and completing class work.
  
  The list is long in regards to the number of online programs which support adult students in their quest for learning in adult education. The sheer number of these online software programs continues to grow almost daily. A review of several of these programs has narrowed the list down to a few which are beneficial to adult students, because they ease their work load and collaboration efforts with fellow classmates.
  
  
  

  Tags: online, programs, adult, education, free, technology, smartphone, social, bookmarking, mobile, applications, internet, tools, web, 20

• IRIS Ed Online - Online Professional Development

  Tags: education, teaching, resources, professional_development, video

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/09/2010

• E-Learning Software and Authoring Tools | Articulate Rapid eLearning

  With thousands of customers in more than 75 countries, Articulate is the recognized leader in rapid e-learning software and e-learning authoring tools.

  Tags: elearning, tools, e-learning, education, presentation, software

• Virtual Manipulatives

  nice tool to create, help visualise mathematical problems

  Tags: math, visualisation, manipulatives, education, virtual, editor, online, tool

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/08/2010

• "Be the Beat" lesson Plans (Heart Disease)

  So many great health and science lesson plans running around. This is from the American Heart Association and is three lessons to help kids. This from the site:
  
  "Sudden Cardiac Arrest can strike anyone, anywhere – and a victim's chance of survival depends on the people around them. Be the Beat offers free games, music, videos and giveaways to educate teens about recognizing a cardiac arrest, calling 911, CPR and using an AED, while they have fun!
  
  Schools play a vital role in this movement to train teen lifesavers. As a complement to your CPR and AED program, or other curriculum, check out our free resources and register now so we can keep you updated on the latest news. Then, encourage your students to play and learn on Be the Beat. Together we can create the next generation of lifesavers!"
  
  With summer approaching in the USA and the inevitable tragic drownings that always happen - your teaching could save someone's life!

  Tags: education, learning, health, lesson, plans, all_teachers

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/07/2010

• Teacher Professional Development Sourcebook: Teacher Professional Development Sourcebook

  Tags: teaching, pd, sources, resources, education, pedagogy, instruction, assessment, management, psychology, english, languages, leadership

• On-line safety lessons for students from AVG

  On-line safety lessons for students from AVG antivirus software.

  Tags: education, safety, digiteen, digitalcitizenship

• An ISTE Webinar Packed With Free Education Resources… And I’m Your Host! « 21 st Century Educational Technology and Learning

  Tags: webinar, education, iste, free, technology, techintegrator, professionaldevelopment

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/06/2010

• South Korean miracle? - Academic Skills | GreatSchools

  Which school system should the U.S. emulate? The main candidates based on test scores are South Korea and Finland, although they have very distinct approaches to K-12 education.

  Tags: southkorea, finland, scores, tests, education

• How is Continuing Education Evolving - Continuing Education

  "The way people obtain their education is changing on a daily basis. These changes are all based on the fact you and I expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever we want."

  Tags: continuing, education, future, just, in, time, learning, lifelong, web20

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/05/2010

• About Ning - Announcement

  From Lucy Gray in my inbox:
  
  "Details are a bit sketchy, but "a major education company" is planning to sponsor Nings for primary and secondary educators in a new plan announced by Ning today. The official Ning pricing plan is in place for paying customers, and another education announcement will happen sometime in the near future"
  
  Look at this page to see the pricing for non-education networks.

  Tags: education, learning, ning, edu_news

• Dickinson College - Dickinson’s ‘Manhattan Project’

  Tags: dickinson, environment, sustainability, education

• Narratives in Pencil: Using Graphic Novels to Teach Israeli-Palestinian Relations. Thomas Juneau. 2010; International Studies Perspectives - Wiley InterScience

  Tags: education, political_science, international, studies, MEPP, Israel, Palestine, graphic, graphic_novels, pedagogy

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/04/2010

• learning theory - models, product and process

  What is learning? Is it a change in behaviour or understanding? Is it a process?

  Tags: learning, theory, learning_theory, education, teaching, models, learningtheory, pedagogy

• iPod and iPhone | Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age

  Tags: ipod, classroom, teaching, learning, education, technology

• 50 Incredible, Historical Speeches You Should Watch Online | Online Universities

  many,many historical speeches

  Tags: speeches, history, SocialStudies, education

• Get Lessons | Microsoft Mouse Mischief

  Here are some lesson plans using Mouse Mischief. In particular I think the Angles lesson plan would be interesting for math teachers but there is also one on apostrophes, colors (for ESL students) and a science one on carnivores, omnivores and herbivores.

  Tags: education, learning, powerpoint, edu_news, edu_newapp

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/03/2010

• Host Your Own Webinars | LearnCentral

  Tags: elluminate, pd, collaboration, meetings, webinar, webinars, learncentral, education

• Education 2.0: The importance of ownership

  Tags: education

• What are the Future Trends in Continuing Education?

  Online technology advances are changing the way adults gain knowledge, as colleges and training programs move away from being the main funnel of knowledge.
  
  

  Tags: what, are, continuing, education, elearning, future, trends, online, tools, do, it, yourself, learning, networks, mobile

• IPL2 -- Subject Browsing

  Tags: resources, Teacher_resources, education, educators

• Logiciels SVT, Académie de Toulouse, auteur Pierre Perez

  Gribouill-i is a portable graphic editor to draw on the screen - for Windows
  L'œil et la vision., Cœur2., Planètes 3D... and all the rest are interactive documents.
  

  Tags: education, software, lang:fr, portable, resource, image, science, mswindows

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/02/2010

• Teachers' Guide for the Professional Cartoonists' Index

  Tags: education, comics, lessonplans, history, politicalcartoons

• Fedena

  Requirements: Ruby on RailsDemo: http://www.fedena.com/tour.htmlLicense: Apache License

  Tags: opensource, school, manager, software, education

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.