I’d like to welcome all the students from UNC-Charlotte graduate certificate program that have been friending/connecting with me on Diigo, this blog, Google Friend Connect, Learning Telecollaboratively, and more. I encourage each of you to jump in and become active participants in the educational community as you have a lot that you can share with us.
All the best,
Clif
I was a big fan of Jott and used it a lot when it was a free. However, its services are not valuable enough to me to merit being added to my list of monthly communications expenses (phone, Internet, cell, etc.). For a long while I’ve not been using anything, but I recently decided to ask my PLN if there were any free alternatives to Jott. Several asked if I’d share the responses, so here they are.
Here are the replies that I received from my Plurk buddies.
These are the responses from my Twitter friends.
Thanks to everyone that provided feedback and suggested resources. I’ve not had a chance to look at these, but I hope to share my reviews once I have.
Educators, what are some strategies for connecting the classroom with the outside world?
NOTE: I’d like to share responses in my keynote at the iConnect iLearn Conference and on my blog and wiki. You can submit your ideas using the form below, share your text/audio/video reply in the Comments section of this post or respond to the corresponding Twitter and Plurk discussions. You can also view the compiled database of suggested strategies on my wiki, Learning Telecollaboratively.
As I mentioned in a recent blog post I’m teaching a seminar this summer focusing on Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0 Technologies. I concluded the earlier post by sharing the following:
In keeping with the principles of Web 2.0 I encourage the participation of everyone with an interest or expertise in this topic. You may contribute to the discussion and fun by using the following tag/keyword: idt7078. Be on the lookout for ways (Ustream, Skype, Twitter, Plurk, etc.) to informally participate with us. I would certainly consider making it possible for those wishing to enroll in the course and participate from a distance, too.
Greg R. Fishbone replied to my earlier post and asked the following question regarding my concluding statements.
I’d love to participate informally, but how does one follow a keyword?
I think this is a GREAT a question and I suspect Greg is not the only one wondering about this. I’m sharing this information here in hopes of helping Greg and anyone else that may be interested in being part of our learning community this summer.
Google Keyword Search
You can add the following RSS feed to your aggregator (such as Google Reader or Bloglines). New blog posts, wiki entries, bookmarks, videos, podcasts, etc. tagged with idt7078 will then be “delivered” to you as they show up in Google.
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch_feeds?hl=en&q=idt7078&ie=utf-8&num=10&output=rss
An alternative to this strategy would be to setup a Google Alert for idt7078.
Twitter Search
You can also add a keyword search for idt7078 to TweetDeck or similar Twitter platform if you are using one. If not, then you can add the following RSS feed for the Twitter Search of the course tag to your aggregator.
http://search.twitter.com/search.atom?q=idt7078
Plurk Search
Add idt7078 to your list of Saved Searches in your profile’s dashboard.
You can earn a certificate in educational technology with our 4 online courses. Visit http://idt.memphis.edu/certificate for full details and assistance.
I’m a big fan of goal setting. It can provide a road map for the short or long-term and can be an effective motivational strategy. I have set a few professional development goals for this summer and have challenged a few of my friends/colleagues to do the same thing. In 2008 I realized that I could set this up as a blog meme and hopefully encourage some of my online friends to achieve a few items from their To Do Lists. There are a myriad of ways to approach this, but I’ve opted to take the short-term, easy-to-assess approach, but I’ll leave some wiggle room for you to customize it to meet your needs. The official information is below.
Directions
Summer can be a great time for professional development. It is an opportunity to learn more about a topic, read a particular work or the works of a particular author, beef up an existing unit of instruction, advance one’s technical skills, work on that advanced degree or certification, pick up a new hobby, and finish many of the other items on our ever-growing To Do Lists. Let’s make Summer 2009 a time when we actually get to accomplish a few of those things and enjoy the thrill of marking them off our lists.
The Rules
NOTE: You do NOT have to wait to be tagged to participate in this meme.
My Goals
I Tag…
I’m teaching a special topics seminar this summer for graduate students (3 hours graduate credit). The topic will be Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0 Technologies. While we’ll consider common trends and issues and survey many of the popular tools and services related to Web 2.0, the heart of the course will be learning to effectively integrate Web 2.0 technologies and principles with teaching and learning. The focus will be on K-12 education but accommodations can be made for individuals from other fields (health, corporate, military, higher education, etc.).
I’m very excited about this class. I taught the course in Summer 2008 and we learned a lot and had a blast! You can view the ebook (authored by the graduate students) and other course materials that emerged from the 2008 Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0 class to get an idea of what this class will be like.
In keeping with the principles of Web 2.0 I encourage the participation of everyone with an interest or expertise in this topic. You may contribute to the discussion and fun by using the following tag/keyword: idt7078. Be on the lookout for ways (Ustream, Skype, Twitter, Plurk, etc.) to informally participate with us. I would certainly consider making it possible for those wishing to enroll in the course and participate from a distance, too.
THINKING OUT LOUD
Episode 002
Please watch this 20 second video post and consider sharing your wisdom. NOTE: Click on the small video stills under the viewer to watch the video replies from others.
Please share your text/audio/video reply in the Comments section of this post or respond to the corresponding Seesmic conversation (Think video-based Twitter).
Anytime you get innovative educators with a desire to improve education together you’re likely to have a great event. Podstock 2009 was exceptionally good. It had a unique theme and attitude, the ESSDACK crew went above and beyond to be hospitable, and the presentations (see notes from Day 1, Day 2) were informative and engaging. Here’s a fun music video from Sara Childs that gives you some idea what it was like to be part of Podstock 2009.
Make your plans to join us for Podstock 2010!
Teacher Appreciation Week is May 3-9, 2009. I send my gratitude to teachers everywhere for trying to positively impact the lives of young people. You are under compensated but rest assured that your efforts are appreciate.
