Technology and Special Education

Personal Learning Networks

mlower — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:28:30 +0000

When we want to learn something new or improve on what we already do, we go to our own personal learning networks to get help and advice. Web 2.0 tools assist us in building our own Personal Learning Networks (PLN). The people in our networks are not only those who we work with personally, but includes those outside of our physical setting. As you sort through tools such as blogs, wikis, and discussion forums to build that network, it can become overwhelming and you soon have too much information to get through every day. David Warlick writes about the need to zip his PLN before it becomes too large. Jeff Utech references this blog posting on the TechLearning blog when he discusses the different steps one goes through in creating and developing your own PLN. The main point that I think many of us will relate to is to find a balance. So if you are feeling a little overwhelmed in all of the blogs and sites that you are trying to follow, check out Jeff’s posting in TechLearning on the Stages of PLN adoption.

Authored by mlower. Hosted by Edublogs.

New Uses for Pageflakes and iGoogle Pages

mlower — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:25:03 +0000

Lee Anne from The 8th Floor Blog sent me this link the other day which describes how to extend the use of your Pageflakes or iGoogle page to more than just your personal resource page. In the EdTech Gold Rush blog, Alix Peshette explains how we can use our resource page to challenge our students in their classes. We often use our Pageflakes or iGoogle page as our personal page with our favorite feeds and links. Alix suggests using it as a digital filing cabinet of resources for our students. The blog post is full of exciting ways to set up pages for each academic subject on one site. If you have a projector hooked up to your computer, you can pop up the Pageflakes page for your English class, click on “Word for the Day” or “Inspirational Quotes” and begin a quick opening activity. Or how about those days when your lesson is over and you have a few minutes to burn. Bring up your Science page and click on a feed for science news of the day to fill the extra time with a quick discussion of a current science story in the news. This blog post is filled with terrific ideas of how to use a resource page in your classroom. Be sure to check it out and gain some new ideas for your Pageflakes and iGoogle pages!

Authored by mlower. Hosted by Edublogs.

Common Craft and Twitter

mlower — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:14:54 +0000

In an earlier post, I talked about what a fan I was of the Common Craft Show created by Lee and Sachi LeFever. Here is how they describe their work:

We use a simple format and real-world stories to make sense of complex ideas.

Popular videos that are viewed deal with RSS in Plain English, Wikis in Plain English, and Blogs in Plain English. They are short, to the point, and easy to understand. What more could you ask for!

Their newest feature deals with Twitter and of course is called Twitter in Plain English. I don’t think that Twitter fits into my educational life right now; maybe more in my family life. But it is certainly being talked about and looked at in the tech world.

Authored by mlower. Hosted by Edublogs.

Motivation and Creativity

mlower — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 03:51:51 +0000

One of the challenges in the classroom today is to motivate our students and create a love of learning which will last their lifetime. Web 2.0 tools are giving teachers new options to increase motivation along with creativity. In the techLearning article, Web 2.0 Tools Motivate Student Creativity, Cory Plough describes how Web 2.0 encourages creativity and engages students in his classroom. Since his students now share their projects with the world instead of only their classmates, Plough’s students are exhibiting more creativity in their projects. He lists several Web 2.0 tools which you will want to check out.

Authored by mlower. Hosted by Edublogs.

Evaluating Wiki Sites

mlower — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:44:53 +0000

When setting up a class wiki, we need to decide which wiki tool to use. Three of the wiki tools one can choose from are Wikispace, Wetpaint, or PBwiki. Decisions based on safeguards provided for students and how you want to manage your wiki will help you choose which tool to use. TeachersFirst has provided a thorough comparison of the three sites within their Wiki Walk-Through feature. Take some time and compare the similarities and differences between the three tools to see which one meets your needs.

Authored by mlower. Hosted by Edublogs.

Sharing Presentations

mlower — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 19:46:10 +0000

SlideShare is a website for sharing presentations for free. You can also create a SlideSpace which is your private area for organizing presentations that you have uploaded or used. Just search a topic and see what is available. A chemistry teacher that I work with had previously found a whole set of PowerPoint presentations that another teacher had created. With a few modifications, he was able to utilize most of the material. We all wish that we had more time to create material to use with technology for our classrooms and here is a way to accomplish that while saving time. Isn’t sharing great!

Authored by mlower. Hosted by Edublogs.

Which Tools?

mlower — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 23:57:17 +0000

It is easy to become overwhelmed by all the new tools that are available for our use. Which ones do we spend time learning how to use? Maybe a place to start is by looking at what others consider valuable. The Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies decided to find out in 2007 and are in the process of updating their list of the 100 most popular technology tools for 2008. Besides looking over the list of popular tools, it is interesting to consider what they observed from the process:

I consider the ranking to be relatively unimportant; it is the range of tools being used for learning that is the key take-away here. It demonstrates that e-learning is not just about online courses (which is still the view held by many people), but includes information-sharing, communication, and collaboration.
Many are using these tools for their own personal learning, which demonstrates to me that self-managed learning is becoming very important nowadays.
Most of the tools are not dedicated learning tools, but rather ones that are being commonly used by people in their daily lives, which suggests to me that learning, working, and living are actually becoming one and the same thing. I believe that therein lies the enormous power of these tools for learning.
Over 75 percent of the tools on the list are free; the availability of free and low-cost tools is becoming a significant factor.

Take a look at the 100 top tools for 2007 and see how many you have used personally or recognize. Be prepared to spend time exploring some you might not have heard of before!

Authored by mlower. Hosted by Edublogs.

Campaigning with Web 2.0

mlower — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 22:19:17 +0000

Since I live only a few miles from the Iowa border, our local TV stations were filled with campaign ads and stories prior to the Iowa caucuses. That has all quieted down somewhat as the campaigning has moved on. But there have been many articles looking at how Web 2.0 is influencing the methods of running for office. In the TechLearning Blog recently, Scott McLeod posted an interesting article about how YouTube is being used in the process. In his posting, Internet Democracy, he looks at how online videos are being used and how teachers can use these to stimulate interest in the political process for their students. Our students are very in touch with the Web 2.0 technologies, so maybe we need to utilize those tools to encourage our students to become interested and involved in the political process.

Authored by mlower. Hosted by Edublogs.

Help from Wikivid

mlower — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 15:27:54 +0000

While reading through some blogs the other day, the 8th Floor Blog mentioned a website called Wikivid. I have talked about TeacherTube in a previous posting where teachers post their educational videos for others to view and use. Wikivid is another educational site which provides links to free video tutorials. At this beginning stage, they are including only software tutorials but their goal is to provide more. So if you are looking for some additional help in using software such as Photoshop or Publisher, check out their links for free video tutorials. They have a huge list to choose from.

Authored by mlower. Hosted by Edublogs.

Internet Safety and Respect

mlower — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 20:46:34 +0000

Topics we are going to continue to see in the news and read about concern problems with kids safely using the internet and bullying that is becoming more and more prevalent. I ran across a website developed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children which I love called the NetSmartz Workshop. The section for Educators has teaching ideas that include resources and materials to use in the classroom. Their teaching videos are acted out by the teens themselves and are relevant and interesting. Instead of an adult lecturing about the rules to follow, the teens are sharing their stories. It is one of the best resource sites to use with all ages that I have seen out there.

Authored by mlower. Hosted by Edublogs.