Should you blog?

I found this interesting video featuring Seth Godin - a writer, speaker and agent of change -  and Tom Peters - a writer on business management practices - where they discuss the importance of blogging. The thing to keep in mind as you watch the video is how blogging could be important for you, just as a professional, and how it could be of great value to your students as they grow up and mature in a digital environment. Is this an important skill for them (and you) to have? As a side note, this video comes from a conference for Fortune 500 Companies in Washington DC in 2008. Please comment, I am interested in your perspective.

PhET Simulations

What is...PhEt? PhET is created by a group at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. It offers a whole bunch of free science simulations.

Uses in education.  The simulations offered at PhEt cover many science topics in subject areas including Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science and math. The simulations can be to highlight something you are covering in class. It could be to set up an experiment you may be trying. It can also be the actual experiment you are going to do in class. It is a great place for students to take what you are learning in class and apply that knowledge to a real-life situation and make some predictions on what is going to happen.

Below is a link to an example of a popular PhEt simulation dealing with probability using the game Plinko:
http://phet.colorado.edu/sims/plinko-probability/plinko-probability_en.html 

Why use PhET? PhET is just an amazing resource to be used in the classroom. There are so many practical, cool things that you can implement with PhET. It is also a free tool.

Link: http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/new

Animoto

What is...Animoto? Animoto is a free web-based video creation tool.

Uses in education. This is a great tool to accomplish a number of things in a classroom. For one, it can be used to review a chapter. For instance, if I was teaching social studies, I could use this tool to have a student create a 30-second review of the chapter using words, pictures and graphics. I could also create an introductory video to preview a chapter.

Why use Animoto?  First and foremost because it is very easy to use. This tool does not take long to learn, and it does not take long to create using Animoto. Animoto has a lot of options for users (pictures, music, etc.) but takes a lot of the hard work of editing the video out of the hands of the user. This part of the work can be very difficult and time consuming, but Animoto takes care of that for the user.

Secondly, it creates really cool looking products. You can get professional looking results, without necessarily being a video editing professional.

And, lastly, it is free. Free is always good, and that is no different in this case.

Link: www.animoto.com

The Center on Congress at Indiana University - YouTube Channel

What is ... The Center on Congress at Indiana University - YouTube Channel? This is a resource created by the University of Indiana in Bloomington that offers videos detailing the workings of Congress. They say their central mission is to "help improve the public's understanding and to improve civic engagement" among other things.

Uses in education. These videos created by the Center can be used for discussion starters, quick reviews, extension of knowledge, part of a focus lesson, a way to wrap up an idea you are discussing, and plenty more.

Why use The Center on Congress at Indiana University YouTube Channel? The resource has easy to follow videos that touch on concepts that students don't always understand. The Center on Congress has already created somewhere around 25 videos that you can use in class.

Link: www.youtube.com/user/TheCenteronCongress

Voicethread

What is...Voicethread? Voicethread is a collaborative, multimedia slideshow which allows people to comment in five ways - using voice (either by using the telephone, or microphone, text, video (via webcam) and audio file. Users are able to create slideshows and use their voice to narrate. The slideshows can contain many different file types, including PowerPoint, .jpg, .mov, .doc, .wmv, and many more.
Uses in education. Students are able to create presentations where they can mesh the written word, voice, pictures and more. There are a couple of really good examples given below.

Why Voicethread? The tool itself allows for so many options for the teacher and for the student. This would be great for students to work on speaking, and for them to tie that to something visual. Voicethread has an Education site, and it has a free service, although, there is a paid option which allows for much more space. The cost is $60 for the year or $10 for the month.

Links: www.voicethread.com
  -  Here are a couple of examples

Drop.io

What is ... drop.io? In simple terms, drop.io is a file sharing site. But, there is much, much more to it. With drop.io, you can upload files of any size, and share them with people. You can also make notes and comments on those files.


Uses in eduction. This is a great resource to allow students to upload assignments for the teacher to have access to. This would allow students to "turn in" their assignments at any time, from any place that would have internet access.

This could also be a tool that the teacher could use to post class notes, assignments and other material, including videos, photos, etc.

Why drop.io? The great thing about drop.io (again, aside from being free) is that you can upload any file size. This allows for a user to have  a place for those big files, like videos and lots of pictures. While this can be a social site, meaning anyone can have access, a user can also have the documents password protected.

Link: www.drop.io

Top Ten Websites for Free Audio Books?

What is...Top Ten Websites for Free Audio Books? This website offers a compilation of 10 resources where a teacher can access audio books online - for free.

Uses in education. This compilation of free resources has enormous power for a number of reasons. This would allow teachers to differentiate the way in which a student, or students, has access to information. The books are audio books, and they are being read aloud. This may also be very useful for ELL students as an opportunity to hear books that their peers are reading, if they are having a hard time with the reading.

Why use Top Ten Websites for Free Audio Books? Much like other resources we look at here, it is a free resource, and it is a resource that someone else has compiled for us.

I tried a few of the sites, and found many books at my disposal. Newer books were not usually available, but many classics, and many authors are.

Link: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/easy-listening-pleasures-10-websites-free-audio-book-downloads/