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* Learn about the latest technologies helping other teachers excel?

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* Stay in tune with what matters most in today's schools?
* Feel up-to-speed on the "latest and greatest" strategies and tools?

If you answered YES to any of the above, join me inside the hottest education resource: SimpleK12’s Teacher Learning Community.

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SimpleK12, the leading provider of 21st century teacher professional development, brings the fun, energy, and excitement back into learning.

200,000+ educators from around the world have access to SimpleK12's PD resources, information, and training ... and you can too!

Take learning into your own hands and explore the fastest-growing social network and Professional Development community for educators...

==> Create a FREE Basic Membership.
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I look forward to seeing you inside the Community!

Symbaloo Revisited

Last year when Google decided to end iGoogle, I wrote a post about Symbaloo.  Thanks to a colleague of mine, I've decided to follow up on my original Symbaloo post.  I continue to use Symbaloo as my organizer of web pages.  I've continued to add frequently used sites to my Symbaloo webmix, and have added so many, that I know need 2 webmixes to contain them all.

Creating, deleting, and editing tiles and webmixes couldn't be any easier.  I've set my own children up with a webmix of approved web pages they can visit.

Then today, when going through my Feedly (because Google ended Google Reader - see a trend here??) articles, one of my colleagues and good friends at Kentucky Education Television (KET) had not only created a Symbaloo webmix for Arts Integration, but she also published it, and it is now accessible to anyone who wants to add her webmix to theirs.  With my expanded role this year leading our elementary library media specialists, this tool will be invaluable to me.

In fact, I feel inspired to create and publish a webmix of my favorite web tools for teachers and technology integration.  With a new school year starting this week, this will be on my back burner for now, but watch for my shared webmix soon!

Digital Literacy MOOC

At ISTE 2013, the Digital Literacy MOOC received quite a bit of attention.  For anyone wanting to learn more about Digital Literacy, I highly recommend registering for this MOOC.  No, I'm not running this MOOC, but as a lifelong learner, the topics in the MOOC are of great interest to me.

 Digital Literacies 1 begins July 8 and runs through August 18. 

Topics for Digital Literacies 1 include:

• Web-based and other electronic tools
• The grammar of the Internet
• Ways for using digital information ethically, efficiently, and effectively
• Advanced online search literacy tactics
• How to use electronic devices more efficiently
• Frameworks for digital education literacy
• Various digital literacy curricula for use with students and other stakeholders

 Digital Literacies 2 will begin in mid to late September and will cover the following topics:

• Digital Citizenship & Internet Safety
• Copyright & the 'Fair Use' Clause
• The use of Creative Commons license
• The use of Web 2.0 tools
• Ways to apply Google Applications for EDU
• Using mobile technologies for teaching and learning
• Techniques for developing non-linear presentations
• Methods for using Quick Response (QR) codes in teaching and learning
• The use of digital cameras
• Developing blogs and websites
• Producing podcasts

 College credit can also be earned for both courses for a nominal fee.  Follow the link below for more information and to register for the MOOC.  I hope to see you in class!


http://www.techsets.org/Article.aspx?p=dl_mooc

Summer Break

Today, Tuesday, June 4 is my last day to work for the 2012-13 school year.  I will be in and out of the office sporadically through the summer, and may add some posts as I see fit.  However, this blog will likely be silent until school resumes in mid-August.

21st Century Education for ALL Students: The Time is Now.

On Tuesday Scott McLeod tweeted this link to a post on his blog, Dangerously Irrelevant.  The post, "If We Were Really Serious About Educational Technology", provides a starter list of things educators can to truly integrate technology and reach our 21st Century students.  Then yesterday, one of my Google+ followers, Stephanie Sweeney, wrote this blog post about professional vs. personal social media.

For background, Scott McLeod's post was from 2010.  Stephanie's was written yesterday.  What I find intriguing about the 2 articles, written nearly 3 years apart, is that we're still dealing with the same issues of teachers not being able to meet the needs of 21st Century students.  Even more disturbing are teachers' continual resistance to using the tools students are using everyday.

If we're going to seriously meet the needs of our students, and truly engage them, teachers need to change their mindsets and enter their students' technological world.  The true power of these 21st Century tools is that they're just not for students.  Tools like Edmodo, Twitter, and Instagram are just as powerful for a teacher's Professional Learning Network as they are for a student's learning.  I was one of those people 3 years ago who resisted Twitter.  My supervisor convinced me to try it, and I haven't looked back.  Twitter has become my most powerful ally, alerting me to other new tools, providing me new professional connections, and an outlet to get my own message own out.

It's time we get serious about about educational technology.  Our students deserve it.

New EdOnTech Web Page on Wix

The new EdOnTech web page has now been published.  Thanks to my colleaugue and fellow 20 to Watch Honoree, Todd Nesloney (@techninjatodd), for introducing me to Wix.  I had started a Google Site, but once I saw what Wix could do I switched gears and moved my site to Wix.

Wix is a free (paid version available) online web page designer that provides several stunning templates to get you started.  The basics of my page are there and more is to come.  You'll notice a few pages are still under construction.  I'm looking forward to learning more about Wix and turning it into a platform for education professionals transforming education through technology.

Any feedback you have is greatly appreciated!

FlipSnack: Make a Flipping Book for Free

In my quest to go paperless in professional development sessions, I've found an alternative to the boring handouts we've always given.  FlipSnack make it possible to take your PDF documents and make them flipping books online (using Flash).  Have no fear, it is compatible with Apple products.

FlipSnack books can be customized any way you like.  When completed, you can download your flipping book, send an email link to your flipping book, or even embed your flipping book on your blog or web page.   FlipSnack is free and comes with limited tools and storage space for your books.  Like many services now, there is a paid version which will give you access to more of the service.

After trying the product out, it's very user-friendly and easy to use.  My document was uploaded quickly and I had several options to choose from for my background and cover.  What FlipSnack is sorely missing is an iOS/Android app that allows you to view your flipping book easily on a tablet (something Prezi added fairly quick).

Overall, I like FlipSnack and will be spending part of my summer work days converting my documents into flipping books.

Try making your own flipping book!

A Simple Guide on The Use of Hashtag for Teachers ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

A Simple Guide on The Use of Hashtag for Teachers ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

As if the timing couldn't have been any better, this comes on the heels of my post last week about teachers and Twitter.  This post by Educational Technology and Mobile Learning contains a good list of how teachers can use hashtags in Twitter.