PPS Technology Leaders Cadre (TLC)

Cool stuff to check out:

Did You Know? 4.0

100 Best Websites for Free Homework Help

All About Computers: Web 2.0
Great compilation of resources from CDWG and Discovery Education.

ListenToYouTube.com
Turns YouTube videos into MP3 files

Mango Languages
Great way to learn a language online. Need Multnomah County Library card number to access.

Myna
Web-based audio editor

The Power of Blogging

Teachers.tv
Through engaging videos, practical resources and an active online community, Teachers TV supports the professional development of anyone working in school, enabling them to widen their skills, develop their practice, and connect with others in the field. Based in the UK.

Wallwisher
Great free communication tool that uses sticky note interface where you can embed links, video, etc.

The American Association for School Libraries has released their top 25 websites for teaching and learning.

“The ‘Top 25′ Web sites foster the qualities of innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration. They are free, Web-based sites that are user friendly and encourage a community of learners to explore and discover.

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/bestlist/bestwebsitestop25.cfm

Here are all the Web 2.0 handouts compiled in one document.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ajb789gvf6sk_246cp6hssdn

List of videos, some related to technology, some not.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ajb789gvf6sk_145g37kcncm

ISTE Standards
This site takes a Google tool/lesson and matches it up with a student and teacher standard.

Instructional Technology Department of Olathe District Schools
The Olathe School District in Kansas is the author of this incredible resource for its teachers.  With frequent updates, it provides user’s manuals, on-line videos, and links in order to support teachers in their use of instructional technology.  A great place to get help as you attempt to use a new tool or need answers to a question.

JamStudio
Lets you create your own musical score.

Best Online Collaboration Tools 2009
Mind map from Robin Good

31 Interesting Ways to use Wordle in the Classroom
Wordle is the word cloud app that creates images with text.

50 Tools for to Create a Web-Based Story
Lots of excellent resources in this very comprehensive list.

Simplifying Copyright Guidance for Educators
Excellent post from Wesley Fryer on his blog

VoiceThread Digital Library
The Digital Library is a database of articles about successful VoiceThread projects. Our hope is to create a resource that offers guidance and inspiration for people undertaking new projects.

100 Most Inspiring and Innovative Blogs for Educators

Web 2.0 refers to the second generation of web tools that are more interactive and  collaborative. Most often these tools are free and can be easily integrated into classroom curricula. In the past I’ve really tried to provide a lot of PD for teachers that revolved around emerging technologies and web 2.0 tools. And to be honest, teachers probably weren’t ready to use the tools then. Last year, for whatever reason, I saw a shift in the mindset of some teachers, and they wanted to use these kinds of tools in their teaching. The web 2.0 classes that we offered on blogging, podcasting, and digital resources were packed. I was excited that these classes were filling up, however, I did notice a couple of things.

First, a core group of the same teachers were signing up for all of these classes, and some were even taking the same classes over again. Second, the people signing up for the classes tended to be those that were already in agreement with me in terms of the importance of technology in teaching and learning. Those observations led to a couple of questions, which were also prompted after reading this article. Do teachers really have time to use these tools? Will the use of these tools help transform someone’s teaching? I think these tools are valuable enough that they are the first step in transforming a teacher’s professional practice and illustrate what can be possibile with students in our classrooms. Because of that, I will continue providing these learning experiences for teachers in our district with the hope that they will share their knowledge with their colleagues. Your thoughts?

PS New spring PD offerings to be posted on the PPS Learning Campus soon!

News & Announcements

• eWaste Recycling-Follow the link for more information; next deadline is Jan. 4, 2009.
• DeepNines web filtering-continue sending block/unblock requests to webfilter@pps.k12.or.us
• McAfee Update-Version 8.5 pushed out to all workstations
• Apple Picking Season-specials on Apple hardware (PDF)
• Grades 6-8 SS will be receiving technology bundles as part of the new MS SS adoption. Teachers will need to attend a training in order to receive their bundle.
• Wireless survey requests are no longer being done by IT
• MHCRC grant will bring VOIP phones to Astor, Beaumont, Bridlemile, Faubion, Hayhurst, Hosford, James John, King, Lee, Marysville, Ockley Green, Roseway Heights, Sitton, Skyline, and Whitman.

Revised Student Tech Standards-DRAFT (Word)
These revised standards are based on the the newest NETS for students.

Tech Tips for the Basic Computer User (PDF)

Web 2.0 Sites to Check Out (Word)

Videos
The Machine is Us/ing Us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g

TED Talk: J.J. Abrams, The Mystery Box
You can also get this video via iTunes.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/j_j_abrams_mystery_box.html

Here are the handouts from class. These were created by Richard Bursch and Jeff Linman of the North Clackamas School District.

Voicethread Basics

VoiceThread Pro vs. Free

VoiceThread Terms of Use

From Wikipedia: A screencast is a digital recording of computer screen output, also known as a video screen capture, often containing audio narration. Just as a screenshot is a picture of a user’s screen, a screencast is essentially a movie of what a user sees on their monitor.

Screencasts are useful for demonstrating software features. Creating a screencast helps software developers show off their work. Screencasts are a useful tool for ordinary software users as well, to help report bugs (the movie takes the place of potentially unclear written explanations) or to show others how a given task is accomplished in a specific software environment. Screencasts are excellent tools for learning how to use computers, and several podcasts have started to teach computer users how to use software through screencasts.

Screencast Tools

Screencast.com (60-day trial)
http://screencast.com/

Screencast-O-Matic
http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/

Web 2.0 Activity Sheet

Click the link above to download the activity sheet that is in Word format.

PPS TLC Blogging Directions

Follow the link above to download directions for posting to the PPS TLC blog.

Think about the following when reviewing websites for use with students:

1. Summary of Program
2. Learning Suggestions/Examples of Lessons
3. Privacy Issues
4. Individual/Collaborative

Free Downloadable Software
Google Earth
http://earth.google.com/
Google Earth combines the power of Google Search with satellite imagery, maps, terrain and 3D buildings to put the world’s geographic information at your fingertips.

Free Web-Based Tools

Blogging/Wiki Tools
Edublogs
http://www.edublogs.org

Blogger
http://www.blogger.com/

Vox
http://www.vox.com/

WikiSpaces
http://www.wikispaces.com/

Other Web 2.0 Tools
Bubbl.us
http://bubbl.us/
Bubbl.us is a simple and free web application that lets you brainstorm online. You can create colorful mind maps online, share and work with friends, embed your mind map in your blog or website, email and print your mind map, and save your mind map as an image.

Google Docs
http://docs.google.com

• Create basic documents from scratch. You can easily do all the basics, including making bulleted lists, sorting by columns, adding tables, images, comments, formulas, changing fonts and more. And it’s free.
• Upload your existing files.
  Google Docs accepts most popular file formats, including DOC, XLS, ODT, ODS, RTF, CSV, PPT, etc. So go ahead and upload your existing files.
• Familiar desktop feel makes editing a breeze.
  Just click the toolbar buttons to bold, underline, indent, change font or number format, change cell background color and so on.

OurStory.com
http://ourstory.com
Save stories, photos, and videos on a collaborative timeline tha tyou can share with whomever you want or post to a website or blog.
PhotoShow
http://www.photoshow.com/
PhotoShow is a rich, personal multimedia experience that combines your own images with broadcast-quality credits, captions, transitions, effects, and a great musical soundtrack.PhotoShow gives you all the tools you need to create a PhotoShow using your own photos, then share it on the Web, on TV, or on DVD.

Polldaddy
http://polldaddy.com
Create surveys and polls for your website, blog and social network profiles. Create your surveys and polls using custom templates or create your own. Use in-depth reporting engine to aggregate, print and export your results.

Scrapblog
http://scrapblog.com/
Scrapblog is a drag-and-drop webtool that helps you tell stories and create multimedia scrapbooks.

SiteKreator.com
http://sitekreator.com/
Website creation tool

Slide
http://www.slide.com/
This site allows you to tell stories through personalized photos and videos created on Slide.com and viewed anywhere on the web or desktop. Slide widgets, including Slideshows, Guestbooks, SkinFlix and FunPix, can be put on websites, blogs, etc.

Spresent.com
http://www.spresent.com/v2/
Spresent is a free web-based alternative to PowerPoint. Create and edit high-quality Flash presentations online. You can send presentations via e-mail or publish on your web site or blog.

Thinkature
http://thinkature.com/
Thinkature brings the richness of in-person, visual communication to the web by placing instant messaging inside a visual workspace. Use it as a collaboration environment, a meeting room, a personal web-based whiteboard, or something entirely new.

Toondoo
http://www.toondoo.com/Home.toon
Toondoo is a cool, comic-creating tool and a fun site for kids.

Tumblr
http://www.tumblr.com/
If blogs are journals, tumblelogs are scrapbooks. You can also look at tumblelogs as slightly more structured blogs that make it easier, faster, and more fun to post and share stuff you find or create.

VoiceThread
http://voicethread.com/
A VoiceThread is an online media album that can hold essentially any type of media (images, documents and videos) and allows people to make comments in 5 different ways-using voice (with a microphone or telephone), text, audio file, or video (with a webcam)-and share them with anyone they wish. A VoiceThread allows group conversations to be collected and shared in one place, from anywhere in the world.

Vyew.com
http://vyew.com/
Vyew is a FREE online meeting service that brings people and content together. Use Vyew to host LIVE conferences or collaborate over time, asynchronously (a fancy word for “at your own convenience”).

Yugma
http://www.yugma.com/
Yugma is a free, cross-platform team collaboration tool. With Yugma you can collaborate with offsite team members, give virtual presentations, hold webinars, streamline workflow, provide remote tech support, and much more.