Digital Assignment: Tech Tools for Teachers

(This assignment combines 2.5 hours of class time and 5 hours of preparation time.)

This document is available on the web site and on the NING. However, you may wish to save it to your desktop or a thumb drive for your convenience.

Watch Did You Know? Shift Happens on YouTube:
Read “21st Century Skills” article (linked on website).
Read “Writing Between the Lines—and Everywhere Else” (linked on website).
Review Technology PPT (linked on website).
If you are unfamiliar with any of the following terms—Web 2.0, RSS, cloud computing, blog, podcast, wiki, social network—Google them and become familiar.
Spend several hours reviewing some of the technology resourcesavailable on the Web site (Resources: Technology) and those linked below (your choice!).
Join the technology discussion on the NINGby:

posting a summary of the technology resources you explored, sharing what you learned, and your thoughts about possible classroom applications. Did you find any new resources that should be added to this list? Were there listed resources that should be eliminated in future lists? Were there nonperforming links?
responding to AT LEAST TWO POSTINGS by your classmates.

8. AFTER completing the Digital Assignment, please respond to the survey on SurveyMonkey at (also linked on web site and on the NING).

Your goal is to broaden the discussion and increase EVERYBODY’S understandings of the available technologies and their potential for improving classroom instruction.

There may be a short quiz in class.

RESOURCES

25 Great Web sites for Teachers: An index of useful sites for teachers.

4Teachers: . A collection of useful teacher resources.

Animoto: Make slide shows from your pictures, video, and sound.

Blogger: . A quick and easy way to create your own free blog.

Cal State Northridge Writing Project:

Connexions: . A site for educators where you can view and share educational material made of small knowledge chunks called modules that can be organized as courses, books, reports, etc. Anyone may view or contribute.

Davis, Liz B. 21st Century Technology Tools: Tutorials for Teachers. PDF linked on website. Provides directions for signing up and using various Google features, Twitter, Wikispaces, Delicious, Diigo, Ning, Flickr, and Voice Thread.

Del.icio.us: A social bookmarking site. You add useful sites you’ve found on a topic and search for useful bookmarks located by others. You may wish to sign up for the RSS feed. Look for the RSS symbol.

Digg: . A news and pop culture aggregator. You may wish to sign up for the RSS feed. Look for the RSS symbol.

Diigo: A research and knowledge-sharing community. Check out Diigo Educator Accounts (free!).

Doodle: Free and easy-to-use event scheduler.

Edutopia: A wide range of discussion topics. Useful videos for teachers including suggestions on classroom management.You may wish to sign up for the RSS feed. Look for the RSS symbol.

Elluminate. A real time, interactive, Web-based presentation tool. Take a quick look at a PREVIOUSLY RECORDED session of Douglas Fisher’s presentation for NCTE “Content Literacy: Four Factors in Building an Effective Instructional Framework.” ( If you have an hour, watch the entire program and learn about effective instructional design. (Fisher is the author or co-author of several of the books on your list as well as the designer of the “Gradual Release of Responsibility” model used in class.)

ePals Network: Another way to connect your students to others worldwide.

Empressr. Create online presentations and embed them in blogs, social networking sites, etc.

Epix. . Watch online movies on your computer.

Flickr: An online photo sharing and photo organizational site. Take the tour and see if it has value for you!

Global SchoolNet. A site that connects students and teachers around the world in global learning projects.

Go2Web20.net. A site that aggregates many different Web 2.0 tools.

iEarn: The world's largest non-profit global network that enables teachers and youth to use the Internet and other technologies to collaborate on projects that enhance learning and make a difference in the world.

Learner.org: Annenberg Media’s professional development site for teachers. Combining film clips of teachers in their classrooms with written explanations of their lesson plans and downloadable student materials, this site offers excellent materials in the English Language Arts for all grade levels.

Lulu. . A self-publishing site where you can upload your manuscript, publish, and sell it.

National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE): . You may wish to sign up for the RSS feed. Look for the RSS symbol.

National Writing Project (NWP): .

Newsvine: . Updated continuously by its users, Newsvine claims to be an instant reflection of what the world is talking about at any given moment.You may wish to sign up for the RSS feed. Look for the RSS symbol.

Online Tools for Classroom Use: An index of a number of useful sites.

Ping.fm: A site that allows you to update all your social networks from one site.

Podcasting

“Podcasting in Plain English” (YouTube overview of Podcasting for beginners):

“How to Create a Podcast.”

“Podcasting for Teachers & Students.” A free podcasting booklet.

“How to Create Your Own Podcast: A Step-by-Step Tutorial”:

Read/Write/Think: Published by NCTE and IRA (the International Reading Association) this site has professionally vetted, teacher developed lessons and instructional ideas.

TeachAde: A social networking website designed specifically for educators.

Teacher Blogs: Teacher Magazine has assembled a group of thoughtful blogs by and for teachers. You may wish to sign up for the RSS feed. Look for the RSS symbol.

TeacherTube: A collection of useful videos uploaded by teachers. Some are pretty poor, but there are examples of student work that might be useful as examples as well as videos of various pedagogies in classrooms (e.g. literature circles). Check out “Reading” and “Writing” to see what might be useful.You may wish to sign up for the RSS feed. Look for the RSS symbol.

Technorati: . A site that aggregates popular blogs and enables blog searches.

Thinkfinity: Rated as a top site for downloading free lesson plans and other educational materials Thinkfinity is the Verizon Foundation’s online education portal; it features more than 55,000 resources for K-12 education, including standards-based lesson plans.

Twiddla: . Twiddla is a free, real-time online collaboration tool. Mark up websites, graphics and photos; brainstorm on a blank canvas. It’s a web-based meeting playground.

ÜrberNote: . A productivity tool, ÜrberNote is a web-based notes application. It requires no installation, and notes are accessible from the home, school, or anywhere.

Visual Thesaurus: Interesting…take a look. It costs $19.95/year (or $2.95/month). Good for language learners?

Voice Thread: A Web based way to have a group respond online to an image or video. Responders can call in by phone, use a microphone, text, doodle or upload a file as they respond.

Web Quest.org: A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web. This site helps teachers find or create WebQuests.

West Virginia Teach: Check out the Strategy Bank.

Woopid. . Free technology training videos to answer your computer and gadget questions with thousands of video tutorials for PCs, Macs, and tons of different applications.

YouTube: . This probably needs no explanation. Can you find a video that you might use in class to engage students with a text you plan to teach? You may wish to sign up for the RSS feed. Look for the RSS symbol.

Zoho: . Free productivity and collaboration tools.