26 February 2009

Websites I Found Interesting - Diigo 02/25/2009


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18 February 2009

Websites I Found Interesting - Diigo 02/17/2009


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16 February 2009

Websites I Found Interesting - Diigo 02/15/2009


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15 February 2009

Going Googley with Google Tools - Week 7

Image representing Google Reader as depicted i...Image via CrunchBase

Okay, I'll admit it; I'm a total information junkie. I think it's a manifestation of my desire to be a truly life-long learner. If it's been published, I want to know about it.

That is why I chose to highlight Google Reader for this installment of Going Googley with Google Tools. Google Reader let's me stay on top of news, blogs, podcasts, and any other information source that publishes a feed . . . it's like having dozens of customized periodicals and newspapers delivered directly to my front door.



There are lots of other RSS aggregators out there- I know, I've tried dozens of them. For my purposes, Google Reader is simply the best. Not only can I subscribe to and organize feeds, I can publish linkrolls and blogrolls, share interesting feeds and posts with my network, and allow others to subscribe to my shared feed page via RSS feed. Those features are enough to make Reader one of the most powerful web apps you can use, but the learning potential of Google Reader doesn't stop there. Based on your subscriptions and reading habits, Reader will suggest feeds to you to help you grow your learning network. It's like a book that is constantly updating and customizing itself to the needs and interests of the reader.

If you already have a Google account, you can log into Reader and get started immediately. If not, you will have to create a Google account.

Here are some resources to help you get started:



Google Reader Video Tutorials
Google Reader Getting Started Guide
Google Reader Help Center
Google Tools for Schools - Google Reader







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Poll Everywhere Announces Education Packages

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http://blog.polleverywhere.com/2008/12/30/announcing-education-packages

Announcing Education Packages

We’ve heard from our K-12 and university customers asking for pricing and plans that are custom tailored for use in education. Today, we’re announcing a new set of plans available exclusively to K-12 and higher-ed institutions. These are designed for for daily pedagogical use and other academic events such as faculty meetings, student government, parent/teacher conferences, student talent shows, and more.

For school-wide or campus-wide roll-outs, we can offer even more customization and better pricing. To learn about these savings for school-wide adoption, please call us toll-free at 1 (800) 388-2039 or if you’re outside of the US, call us at +1 (773) 382-0377.




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14 February 2009

Websites I Found Interesting - Diigo 02/13/2009


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13 February 2009

Websites I Found Interesting - Diigo 02/12/2009


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12 February 2009

Websites I Found Interesting - Diigo 02/11/2009

  • netgened » home

    As announced at the Flat Classroom conference this past Monday, the Net Generation Education Project is the replacement for the Horizon Project and will include approximately 10 schools with 300 students. The application process is now open for schools who wish to participate in the project.

    tags: flatclassroom, netgened, collaboration, education, technology


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11 February 2009

Websites I Found Interesting - Diigo 02/10/2009


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10 February 2009

Daniel Pink - PETE&C Keynote









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Websites I Found Interesting - Diigo 02/09/2009

  • JeopardyLabs - Online Jeopardy Template

    JeopardyLabs allows you to create a customized jeopardy template without PowerPoint. The games you make can be played online from anywhere in the world. Building your own jeopardy template is a piece of cake. Just use our simple editor to get your game up and running.

    Not interested in building your own jeopardy templates? Well that’s cool too. You can browse other jeopardy templates created by other people. It doesn’t get any better than this!

    tags: education, technology, games, learning, jeopardy


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09 February 2009

Websites I Found Interesting - Diigo 02/08/2009


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08 February 2009

Jason Ohler's Keynote - PETE&C Pre-Conference









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07 February 2009

Websites I Found Interesting - Diigo 02/06/2009


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04 February 2009

Going Googley with Google Tools - Week 6

Image representing Google as depicted in Crunc...Image via CrunchBase

I think I'll dive deep into the ocean or go back in time for this week's installment of Going Googley with Google Tools. Since I am off to a conference, I also thought I would get this post up a couple days early.

Google Earth 5.0 was released in beta and IT IS AWESOME!



If you are a Google Earth user, you will be amazed at the new features in the latest release. Here is a synopsis.

See global changes with decades of historic imagery

  • If you've ever wondered how your neighborhood has changed throughout time, Google Earth now gives you access to the past. With a simple click, check out suburban sprawl, melting ice caps, coastal erosion, and more.





Dive beneath the surface of the ocean

  • In the new ocean layer, you can plunge all the way to the floor of the sea, view exclusive content from partners like BBC and National Geographic, and explore 3D shipwrecks like the Titanic.




Track and share your paths with others

  • Take placemarks a step further and record a free-form tour in Google Earth. Simply turn on the touring feature, press record, and see the world. You can even add a soundtrack or narration to personalize the journey.





Talk about an amazing learning tool that just keeps getting better with every release . . .

If you want to learn more about Google Earth, check out my Google Tools for Schools site.

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Websites I Found Interesting - Diigo 02/03/2009


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03 February 2009

The Invention of Hugo Cabret - Invitation to a Collaborative Book Blog Project

Cover of "The Invention of Hugo Cabret"Cover of The Invention of Hugo Cabret

PA Leadership Council member and 4th grade teacher, Erik Wittmer, is seeking elementary classes for a flat classrooms-style collaborative book blog project. Here are the details. Contact Erik if you are interested in having your class participate.
I have been putting together a project that I am hoping becomes a national project and need your help in spreading the word to anyone who might be interested. The beginning of the year, I read The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. My 4th graders were so interested in my reading more, we finished the book in three weeks. A week later, four of my students were reading the book themselves and the trend continues as the weeks go on.

This is why I would like to start collaborating with other classrooms throughout the world to read this amazing book. I have set up a blog at http://hugocabretbookblog.blogspot.com/. If you are interested, you can email me at erikwittmer@gmail.com or post a comment on the blog. We will be starting the project on February 23rd.








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02 February 2009

Websites I Found Interesting - Diigo 02/01/2009


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01 February 2009

Going Googley with Google Tools - Week 5

Image representing Google News as depicted in ...Image via CrunchBase

Welcome back to my regular series, Going Googley with Google Tools. This week, I want to share some of the ways to use Google News.

I'm sure that most of already know that Google hosts its own News page. But, did you know that you can create customized News pages? That's right, you can create you own online "newspaper" with personalized feeds for the information you want to read. Click here to learn how to customize your Google News page.

In addition to customizing your News page, you can have information delivered directly to you as it is published. One way to do this is to set up a Google Alert. Google Alerts are e-mail updates of relevant content based on your search query. You can set up multiple Google Alerts and can decide how frequently you want to receive such alerts. Click here to learn how to set up a Google Alert.

Another way to have information delivered to you is to set up a Google Mobile Alert. This is similar to a Google Alert except that the content is delivered to your web-enabled mobile phone instead. Click here to learn more about Google Mobile Alerts.

A third way to have personalized news content delivered directly to you is to set up your own RSS or ATOM feed. Currently, there are three types of news feeds available through Google:

Google News section feeds: You can get a feed for any Google News section. For instance, if you select a feed link while you're on the Business page, you'll get a feed of business news.

Google News search results feeds: You can also get a feed for any search you do on Google News. First do any search on Google News, then simply use the Atom or RSS link on the left-hand side of your search results page to generate the feed.

Customized news feeds: You can create a feed of a customized news page (note: for now, this applies only to English language sections), simply by creating a customized news page, and then using the Atom or RSS link on the left-hand side of the page to generate the feed.

If you have a RSS/ATOM feed reader (aggregator) you can have targeted feeds delivered directly to your account. This is one of the uses of Google News I often suggest for student researching. Just imagine that your students are researching something contemporary, like stem cell research or the ecconomic baliout . . . what better way for them to include the most current information in the research than to create a Google News feed? When I was still in the classroom and teaching World Wars, my students were tasked with researching genocide in the 20th and 21st centuries. We used a Google News feed for "genocide" to generate a constantly updating "textbook" that helped my students place into a contemporary context the Holocaust and Armenian genocide. Click here to learn more about creating RSS/ATOM feeds with Google News.

If it is not breaking news that you are seeking, but, rather, archived news, then Google News Archive is the place for you. Not only does Google News Archive search the text of archived news articles going back a hundred years or more, it is also in the process of uploading the full image of the newspapers. Here is one such example from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazetter from July 21, 1969.

This is not just an image, you can search and read everything on the page and can scroll through the pages of the paper online.


In the Advanced Google News Archive Search you can specify the time period for the search, the languages of the results, specific publications, etc. And, you can view the search results in a visual timeline format. The top bar of the timeline shows the user the relative number of publications that meet the search query in specific time periods.


Another reason why I really like Google News is that they pull from so many different types of publications from all over the world. Thus, the search results often yield a more global perspective of the news than one would get by just reading news from one source. Just image how powerful it would be for students to study the recent Israeli incursion into Gaza by reading news accounts from American, European, Asian, Israeli, and Arab newspapers?

If you want to learn more about harnessing the powerful search features of Google News, visit the Google News page of my Google Tools for School Site.







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Snag Yourself a Great Documentary

I came across a really cool website, SnagFilms, that I am dying to share with all of you. Since it was voted OVGuide's Best Website of 2008, I must be a little late in the game to learn about SnagFilms.

Here is SnagFilms' background:

SnagFilms.com is a website where you can watch full-length documentary films for free, but we’re also a platform that lets you “snag” a film and put it anywhere on the web. With a library of nearly 450 films, and rapidly growing, you’re bound to find films that resonate with your interests. We make it easy for you to find a film that shines a light on a cause you care about. You can then open a virtual movie theater on any web site, so any one can watch your favorite SnagFilms for free.
The site is really easy to search, but, if you are interested in browsing there are pre-set channels to explore. My favorites are PBS, National Geographic, Media that Matters, and Peter Jennings Reports.

I found this amazing documentary, Bridge Over the Wadi, about a bilingual school in Israel's Wadi Ara region where Israeli and Palestinian students learn side-by-side.



If you are looking for some outstanding (and, award-winning) documentaries, you definitely need to check out SnagFilms.




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