Voicethread

Do you Voicethread? No worries, here's your handy dandy how to guide prepared by myself, the other library diva and our awesome intern, Jess. Please add your comments to the Voicthread as we can all use a little inspiration this time of the year. If you need additional help, e-mail me and I'll walk you through creating your own Voicethread for your students. I look forward to collaborating with you soon.

Voicethread on the go: Not only is Voicethread accessible online but you may update your presentations via your iPhone, iTouch or iPad.


Account information: There is no need to sign up for the educator account. SAVE YOUR MONEY! Each free account comes with 75MB of storage with allows you to make dozens of presentations. Additionally, you may browse the Voicethread library and use them in your lessons. As for students, it is wise for them to create their own accounts. As Voicethread grows in popularity, so will its use in educational institutions. Get your students started on the right path today so they may continue to be technology savvy tomorrow.

Can Technology Save Education?

Via: OnlineEducation.net

A Moment of Silence

Rest In Peace, Mr. Jobs.

Smartphones in the Classroom

This past Saturday I made a purchase that has turned my little world upside down.  I bought an iPhone and it is fabulous. 

I don't know if you can be in love with a phone but I feel that we are on the verge of something special.  I was able to early upgrade from my Droid which is great because I was about to get our relationship annulled.  Laugh if you want but my Android powered phone was a horrible investment.  NEVER BUY THE FIRST GENERATION OF ANY PHONE. However, I found a great solution for old phones in the classroom.

Monday night I noticed that my old phone had a Twitter notification.  I realized the notification was not there earlier. Despite not having phone service, my Droid is still a working connection to the Internet when wi-fi is available. That means that all of my apps, Pandora, Twitter, Facebook - THE INTERNET, etc. are still available. 

I know that this week is about management and organization but I need you to do something - START A SMARTPHONE DRIVE at your school. You can use these tiny computers in a multitude of ways:

• watch on demand educational videos
• do fast on the spot research
• practice multiplication tables
• communicate with friends about ongoing projects
• fact check
• add content specific bookmarks to each phone
• camcorder
• digital cameras!!!!
• SMART makes several great interactive student response systems that teachers can use to deliver assessments and gage the progress of student learning in class. However, not all schools are lucky enough to have enough of these class sets to go around. In cases like this, more and more teachers are turning to web based solutions like Poll Everywhere. The teacher places an assessment or discussion question online, and the students can text their responses to it for an immediate survey of a class opinion. Students with smartphones and data plans can log straight on to the website and answer without paying for a text. Teachers can set up a class of 32 students for free, Similar services include Text The Mob and SMS Poll.

I hope you are starting to think of ways to engage your students with old and current Smartphones. The tools listed above only need wi-fi, not an active phone plan so start asking parents to donate their old phones and power cords today. The list above is simply a starting point. I cannot wait to hear how you use cell phones in your class.  Which bring us to today's...

READER RESPONSE: How can Smartphones benefit your class? Please share your cell phone drive success story.

Lastly, I hope you enjoyed this week of management and organization. Come back next week for Content Collaboration. 

Have an awesome weekend.

Never Forget Again

Do you know what drives me crazy about secondary students?  It’s their inability to organize. I believe our expectations of students need to be raised. It is time to go beyond stuffing their notes in an overloaded Trapper Keeper (Do they still make those?) and move toward the tools in their pockets.

This week we will delve into managing and organizing information.  You will find that the five tools shared this week will not only benefit the munchkins but you, your family and friends. The best thing about the tools is that they are easily accessible on both your laptop and phone. 
Today’s tool was introduced to me a few weeks ago by my colleague, Jeremy.  He asked if I ever heard of Evernote and from that point on it’s as if this little app started to storm through the world of education.  Evernote allow users to organize their thoughts, notes and sites from a variety of sources such as your ideas, things you heard, see in passing, websites, store PDFs and more.  The great thing about Evernote is that it is available on every format imaginable: Mac, PC, Android Market, iTunes, etc.  This allows your ‘notes’ to be where’ever’ you need them.  Cool, right? Evernote is your personal assistant and one that never needs a potty break of a day off. 

With Evernote you will never forget a lesson plan idea that strikes you in the oddest of places like using the song you heard in Zumba in your classroom.  Here’s my challenge to you, educators: Ask your students to pull out their Smartphones in class and download the app the next time you have a research assignment.  Show them how Evernote can help them share their tools with their group.  The goal of utilizing Web 2.0 tools in the classroom is to turn 21st Century students into 21st Century innovators.  It is vital to put the tools in their hands now so it will become a part of their college and professional lives.
Stay tuned for a lesson on how Jeremy shares his Evernotes with his fellow teachers.  Until then, check out Ron’s Evernote tips on Tumblr.
READER RESPONSE: How will you use Evernote?

BP_Diigo

First Delicious and now this?  I think the best feature of Diigo are the apps for both the iPhone/iTouch and Android phones.  How often have we been in a holding pattern (i.e. the doctor's office, stuck watching a train pass, etc.) and wished we had a book or something productive to do?  Well, Diigo apps are the answer for students everywhere.  The apps allow us to download articles and read them offline.  You can also add text notes, bookmarks and even pictures all from your phone.  Diigo is another great Web 2.0 tool that will make you more efficient and allow you to keep track of all those articles you need to write an 'A' paper.