Tutorial – Page 2

Newsletter on Educational Technology

Throughout the years many of the preservice and in-service teachers in my classes, workshops, and presentations have requested that I start an email newsletter. They indicate that in addition to this blog they would like to receive occasional emails sharing rich resources related to technology integration. I’m excited to announce that I have answered these requests.

Clif’s Newsletter on Educational Technology focuses on the effective integration of technology with teaching and learning. Subscribers of this free service will receive occasional emails providing valuable resources and information about lesson plans, activities, technologies, research, etc., related to educational technology.

OPEN TO PUBLIC
Subscription to this newsletter is open to everyone. You are encouraged to share this with everyone with an interest in education (teachers, administrators, homeschooling families, friends, classmates, co-workers, etc.). Everyone is invited to receive this free newsletter.

MANAGING SUBSCRIPTIONS
You may subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter as you wish.

1 Thing

I’ve added a new feature to Clif’s Notes called 1 Thing. This special section is an area where guest bloggers can communicate “1 thing” they would like to share, suggest, say, demonstrate, etc. about a particular topic. This section will forever be a work in progress, so feel free to suggest guest bloggers and topics anytime. You can easily access this section by clicking on the 1 Thing link in the main menu.

Diigo 101 Podcast

Maggie Tsai, Diigo’s chief ambassador, will be a guest on EdTechTalk this evening and will be taking questions about the latest version of their product. Maggie shared the following information about the event via email.

I’ve been invited to a podcast with a group of educators – since most people there are new to Diigo, I’d like to focus this session on Diigo 101 – the very basics of Diigo ~ how to set up / use diigolet, bookmarking, highlights and explore my “Bookmarks” section. If time permits, we will also touch upon the Groups. We will make it short and sweet.

Ideally, there will be more future sessions that go into intermediate, advanced and special topics of Diigo…

Diigo is a getting a lot of buzz right now and I strongly encourage all (present and future) educators and graduate students to consider participating in this event.

EdTechTalk’s Making Connections
Tue April 8, 2008
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM CST
http://www.edtechtalk.com

Twitter in Education

If you’ve spent much time in the blogosphere in the last six months you have likely heard about Twitter. I have mentally been writing this post for about ten days. I want to provide my critical review and share the pros and cons as I see them. I realized that many people have already covered the bulk of this information and I just found it unnecessary for me to fully cover this topic with my own original post. Therefore, here are a few BIG points that I briefly want to make followed by valuable resources to further pursue this topic.

There is value in the networking and real-time interaction that you can get using Twitter. Many educators and academics find this to be an effective strategy for dealing with the isolation that can come from working in the classroom or office. Imagine encountering technical difficulties during your lesson and having a means of receiving assistance within minutes. Consider the ability to receive assistance from others during a teachable moment in which you don’t know the answer to a student’s inquiry. Individuals like @nlowell, @sbrandt, and @room214 have provided me with much needed real-time assistance.
I admit that it is possible for Twitter to be used in non-productive ways. I do not care about the weather, meal plans, funny cat stories, or work schedule of individuals that I do not know (in real life or virtually), but I solve this issue by simply dropping them from my follow list. On the flip side, I don’t mind if individuals that I know/ respect do this. Hearing @mguhlin share about events at work or @berniedodge describe the weather in San Diego helps me know them a bit more and adds an additional layer of community within my online network.
The message to take away is that your experience with Twitter will be what you make it. You should customize and use it on an ongoing basis to meet your specific needs and interests.
Join my Twitter network by using the link in the Navigation menu to the right.

Resources

Here is a great introduction to Twittering.

This video provides a full overview for setting up and using Twitter.

Using Twitter with Learners

Twitted, Tweets and Young Learners

Twits Are (Not?) for Kids

Twitter – Meaningful or Trivial – Up to the Writer

Tips for Using Twitter in the Classroom

Plan, Tweet, Teach, Tweet, Learn, Smile

Twitter for Academics

Will Twittering Catch on with Teachers?