Facebook and education??? Really??? Can this be true?

I am taking an online class, Integrating Technology Into the Curriculum. We are posting to a discussion board sites we have found that can assist us in engaging students through collaboration and communication online. Doug, a high school civics teacher in Baltimore, is 'successfully' using Facebook in his class! How many more teachers are out there using Facebook in their high school classes? And yet, how many more districts are blocking ALL social networking sites? When you Google using Facebook in education you find resources going back to 2008! Why are we so hesitant? We need to be teaching our students Internet responsibility. Yes, we will have problems. Yes, we will have to monitor our students and suspend their privileges. Yes, it takes teachers out of their comfort zone. Still, we need to be there...right now.

What is Edmodo

Edmodo is an online 'social networking' site-think an educational Facebook where students and teachers stay focused because there is no individual chatting or inviting others to join in. Students do not need an email address to participate in the space. Here is a link to an in depth review of the space from a middle school teacher who is using the space for everything from homework to grades!

Edmodo Review

How to reduce the size of the picture

I have not been able to figure out how to reduce the size of the video. It's a work in progress.

My attempt at Blabberize

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 sites are not just interactive sites but sites that allow you to engage an audience in various ways.
animoto, edmodo, googlesites, skype, twitter, glogster, chatzy, backchannels, wordle, Youtube, Vimeo, Voice thread, Tagxedo, Slideshare, Prezi, blabberize

Try some of these!

Glogster Planet poster

An Animoto of some of my photographs.

Web 2.0 apps in the elementary classroom

When you are first investigating Web 2.0 and all it's amazing applications you may, at first, assume it is a static group of applications and that Web 3.0 will be the next group of new apps. Not so. Web 2.0 is dynamic and constantly changing to meet technology users needs or wants. We as educators must get out of our comfort zone and occasionally try a new app. to see if we can use it in a MEANINGFUL way. We've been playing around with Wordle, animoto, edmodo, googlesites, blogs and twitter. Where do these apps. make sense in our classes?

slideshare

slideshare

Open Source Software For Education (Mel Mc Intyre) Open App

View more presentations from The 4C Initiative.

Technology Woordle

Tech Forum on 4/8 who's going?

The presenters for this conference sound great! Who's going? Who's gone before? Anyone have any info?
http://www.techlearning.com/events/techforum/boston11/register

Web 2.0 technologies in the elementary classroom?

Lets talk about using blogs in the elementary school classroom. How can we get around having the need for bloggers to have email addresses, since it is illegal for those under 13 to have email addresses? One way is for your district to 'invest' (more time then money) in becoming a "google district." Mary Marotta is the facilitator. Her blog; http://techdi.blogspot.com/