Using Google Earth

Google Earth is a great free piece of software to use in the classroom. Here is how one teacher is using it (from teachertube).

While I was in Korea I saw a lot of primary teachers using it with the children. One class had established links to a school in New Zealand and went on there to see the places the New Zealand children talked about in emails. This was very effective for these children.

Integrating technology and digital media in the classroom

An interesting online book for teachers is Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom




Well worth taking the time to have a look and browse here as there are some good ideas - it is large so you would need to just select the parts of interest to you. There are some great ideas to help teachers integrate ICT into their classrooms and well as discussions about relevant pedagogies.

Shift happens

An update of this thought provoking video from Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod.

An official update to the original "Shift Happens" video from Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod, this June 2007 update includes new and updated statistics, thought-provoking questions and a fresh design.

How the rise of digital video is transforming education

An interesting article from eSchool News has the following - check out the rest of the article as it has some interesting ideas and is well worth reading.

Leaders in education and technology can barely contain their enthusiasm over such developments. The excitement reflects what Niki Davis, director of the Center for Technology in Learning & Teaching at Iowa State University, calls a "new energy" in education these days, as administrators and teachers increasingly come to recognize that technological breakthroughs have made longstanding goals for visual learning much more attainable than was previously possible.

Davis stresses that educators should look beyond the tech side of things, as fascinating as that can be, because what matters most is what they are able to do because of the technology. Down the road, she says, teachers and administrators might well look back at the current period and conclude: That was when education truly changed.

The growing use of video in schools, along with the spread of online learning in general, is not simply prompting teachers to "pick up the technology," Davis explains; it's actually beginning to change how teachers teach. "Once you use technology, the pedagogy changes," she says. "It's saying to teachers, ‘Think about the technology and, while you're doing that, think again about what it is you're trying to teach--the content--and how you're trying to teach it.'"

Sir Ed Hillary

Sir Ed Hillary was the first man (with Tenzing) to climb Mt Everest in 1953. The Hillary steps (leading to the peak) were named after him. He did a tremendous amount of work in Nepal helping the people there.

He is on the $NZ5 note. His funeral service was today. - New Zealand came to a stand-still.

Some musicians here wrote a song, Humble Mountain Man and posted in youtube to share with the world (there are many other videos about Sir Ed in youtube for those wanting to see them).

Here it is:



This is a great tool to use in the classroom with students making songs and videos about famous people they are studying and then posting them onto the Internet.

Wikis and blogs in the classroom

I have been working with some teachers today (in their holidays and in my weekend). They were wanting to know about using Wikis in their classrooms. I thought that maybe it might be a good idea to put a Youtube video explaining about Wikis on here.



Another useful video for teachers is this one on designing a wiki for your classroom:



And still one more on blogs in the classroom (from Teachertube)

Social networks and social networking

Interesting debates are going on around definitions and assumptions being made about social networks and social networking.

David Warlick offers interesting insights into what he thinks are the differences:

1. There is a difference (right now) between social networks (or social network sites), and social networking. In my mind, a social network is a single site with features that facilitate social experiences. Social networking, on the other hand, is what is done in social networks, but can also be done with smaller and personally combined tools, such as blogs, wikis, podcasting, aggregators, twitter, etc. Neither (at this time) fully encompasses the other.
2. Facebook is an example of a social network site. They are not synonymous. What frustrates me about Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn, is that their feature sets are way to limiting. I think that a social network has enormous potential, especially to education. But not in its current form. I’m afraid that if we are limiting our notions of social networks to what’s already been developed in FB, MS, and even Ning, and dismiss them as a result, then we may just miss a wonderful opportunity.
   
   
   

Video storyboards

Teachertube.com have a video which is a simple guide for making a storyboard which will guide the filming of a video production.



Good ideas here to help your students with this rather than just try to video without doing this step (which I have seen being done).

Sir Edmund Hillary

Yesterday our greatest living adventurer, Sir Edmund Hillary, died. He was 88 years old. In 1953 he climbed Mt Everest. He has done a lot of work in Nepal during his life, building schools and hospitals there.

He is having a state funeral next week.

Rest in peace, Sir Ed.

Podcasts

Teachertube.com have a new video on planning a podcast:



This has some good ideas for students planning a podcast.

Flash animations

Geoff Dellow, a retired lecturer from the UK, is working with teachers to help them using Flash animation with their students. This is a FREE service! How fantastic is that?

You can find some video tutorials .

His main page. He is also a member of ICT in Education.

He appears to work with teachers from all over the world so I am sure that he would love to hear from anyone interested in using Flash with their students.

Thank you Geoff, it is so nice to see others willing to share their knowledge with others. This is something we, as educators, are good at doing - hopefully this is setting a role model for others to follow.