There’s an online conference that started today called the K12 Online Conference 2007. It’s peaked my interest so I thought I’d share.

I’m currently watching the pre-conference keynote presentation by David Warlick. Many of the other presenters author blogs you’ll find listed in my blogroll (at right).

The entire conference is totally free and totally online. So watch and read at your convenience!

Let’s face it. We live in a Microsoft-dominated world. Our computers use a Microsoft operating system(Windows) and most of us use Microsoft productivity tools (Office). But believe it or not, there was actually a world before Microsoft. More importantly, there will be a world AFTER Microsoft, too.

How do I know? Because everywhere we turn innovative new companies and individuals are coming up with truly wonderful (and much less expensive) alternatives to Microsoft products. An example is this week’s website of the week, Google Docs. With this free service, you can create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. AND it allows you to easily share files and collaborate with others. Everything is then stored online - no thumb drives or floppies needed!

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t really have anything against Microsoft. However, I do think competition is a good thing!

For more information and ideas on how you might use Google Docs with your students, contact your friendly ITRT!

Here’s a tutorial from Teachertube on using the Google Presentations tool in Google Docs.

Download Video: Posted by sgerard1 at TeacherTube.com.

Today’s featured website is our very own Technology Times. I know from chatting with a lot of you that you are reading this blog and that you seem to be finding it useful, but a blog is a Web 2.0 tool, and Web 2.0 tools are meant to be interactive. Web 2.0 is about collaboration and sharing. 

With that in mind, I want to hear from you! Post a comment to any blog entry between today and next Wednesday, September 26, and your name will be entered into a drawing to win a 1 gigabyte thumb drive. As we tell our students, meaningful responses are preferred, but for this exercise even just a friendly “hello” is fine.

And no, multiple comments do not mean multiple entries of your name into the drawing. Sorry.

So, are you up to the challenge? Can you figure out how to make your voice heard in this Web 2.0 metaverse?

(This contest is only for staff at CD Hylton High School)

I love this video. It just makes me happy. If you want to tie it into instruction, it’s a really nice example of digital storytelling and would make a great introduction for a Geography class. But, more importantly, it just leaves the viewer feeling good.

Enjoy!

(The story behind this video can be found here)

Download Video: Posted by cabentley at TeacherTube.com.

The other day when I was driving my two year old home from daycare he started chanting “blog, blog, blog, blog, blog” over, and over, and over, again. So, what is this “blog” stuff, besides a word used to annoy a normally loving mother after a long day at work?

The word “blog” comes from “web log” and blogs started out as online journals for folks to record the sometimes mundane, sometimes kooky, happenings in their lives. The  word “blog” is used as both a noun, as in “I can’t believe what you posted in your blog!”, and a verb, as in “I blog, therefore I am”. Today, there are blogs on virtually every topic under the sun and the Blog Herald estimates that as of May, 2007, there were approximately 60 million blogs online.

Blogs are pretty easy to set up and maintain (this one is hosted by Edublogs, which is not blocked by the county), and you might be interested in trying out blogging for your classes. Here are some ideas on how they might be used: 

1. Host Online Discussions — All blogs come with the ability to comment on the content of the blog. Because of this, they make nice discussion forums. The comments can usually be moderated and/or restricted to only those you want to participate. (You can do this type of activity with SchoolFusion’s Message Board feature, too)

2. Share Professional Resources — We are all members of one Professional Learning Community or another. Blogs are a place where we can come together and share ideas and resources.

3. Create a Class Publication — Our Journalism class is already looking into this, but what a cool idea for a class or group project. Blogs can be set up as “stand-alone” webpages on any topic of your choosing.

Here’s a nice video on the subject:

Download Video: Posted by rachelboyd at TeacherTube.com.

These are just a few ideas. If you are interested in trying blogging out, contact your friendly ITRT!

During my previous summer breaks, I spent time catching up on the reading I hadn’t had time for during the school year and watching the movies I hadn’t seen for the same reason. That was before I discovered Teachertube. This past summer, while I was able to squeeze in some of my planned reading (read: trashy beach reading), I spent a lot of time watching teacher- and student-produced videos on Teachertube.

Teachertube is Youtube for educators where you can view, link to, post, or even download educational videos. It is so awesome to see what educators are doing all over the world! The videos are almost all done by teachers or their students, and while some are a bit “out-there” (check out the rapping math teacher), there’s a lot of very good material that you can use in your own classes! A day doesn’t go by now where I don’t take some time to check out the most recent postings. I admit it, I’m addicted.

And, since Teachertube is educational, it is not blocked by the county!

We’ll be talking more about Teachertube at the MovieMaker training Wednesday, September 26. In the meantime, if you would like to play around with posting your own videos, here’s a video from Teachertube on how to do it!

Download Video: Posted by jasonohler at TeacherTube.com.

I’ve embedded the video for you here.

Download Video: Posted by jfitzpatri at TeacherTube.com.

And Mr. Fisch’s sources here.

And here is a wiki with even more info related to the ideas behind the video.