The other morning I woke up and kept coming across Tweets where people were taking TWITTER and creating an acronym for it based on what they felt Twitter provided, or did. Naturally I thought of my own.
The
World's
Intellectuals
Taking
Turns (now that I think about it I like "Time" as well)
Exchanging
Resources
It created quite a response. It was "Retweeted" by 23 people on Twitter (that I know of). Of those 23 people, there are approximately 28,600 people following them. That means that there could have been over 28,000 thousand people who saw my original Tweet. That is the power of Twitter and my PLN.
This of course does not take into account any "Retweets" that did not include @MZimmer557 for purposes of tracking, which could or could not have happened. So imagine the impact your blog post, or Tweet could have that you share on Twitter. Imagine the following it could create. The tweet alone intrigued some people to start following me, as well as discover this blog. I don't have near the number of followers as others, so I wonder if I had more, how much more exposure the Tweet would have received.
The Acronym itself was purely from thought while waking up Saturday morning. Teachers are THE intellectuals of the world. We are the ones who drive students in the younger years to become the doctors, lawyers, politicians, community leaders, etc. I have always been annoyed by the statement "Those who can, can, and those who can't, teach."
Teaching is one of the few, if not the only profession that REQUIRES constant professional development as well as continuing education...with little compensation. Most other careers that pursue Master's and Doctorate's are compensated for taking the classes (meaning the classes are paid for AND they get salary increases). Most teachers are continuing their education well into their 30's and even 40's.
I am by no means the brightest bulb, but I challenge many other professionals to experience the daily grind teachers go through day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, and continue to do so because of the experience the profession brings motivating younger generations to pursue those other careers.
To this day the greatest joy I have as a teacher is remaining in contact with former students and seeing them become professionals in their own right. I didn't become an educator because I couldn't make it in the other professions, I became an educator because I didn't WANT any other profession.
The Power of T.W.I.T.T.E.R. and my PLN.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Weekend Extra Part Two - Twitter Tweecap
Another dose of resources shared via Twitter. My PLN sure was busy Saturday! Who says educators aren't working on weekends?
5 Apps for the Busy Educator - I am only using one...I guess I am not as busy as I thought!
Glogster Education Resource Library - An very informative and in depth look at Glogster in Education...if you have not seen Glogster, you are missing out on a great tool for your students!
Yodio - Adding Voice to your photos. You can use your phone to record the narrative...interesting software I found via the EDge21 Blog.
A great Tutorial for Pages 09 on Mac from ILearn Technology. I don't own a Mac, so I hope this will help you out.
7 Things You Should Know about Clickers - Great read via PDF.
Have a Document Camera? We are getting quite a few at our school. Here is a great article about the impact of document cameras are having on motivating students.
BrightStorm - A Math website worth checking out. My math is quite not up to par to know how useful this site might be....so, help me out and let me know how you have used it!
Blog Post about the National Educational Technology Plan....well worth reading....
An article about the effectiveness of 1:1 programs on student learning.
The Education Party - An interesting take on politics. The creation of a new political party. You have to wonder about its success since teachers make up such a large portion of the workforce across the country. Generally in every county they are in the top 5 of employers in Kentucky.
Could the new Tablet PC'cs be a Game Changer in Education?
From Larry Ferlazzo - A great list of the Best Online Collection of Power Points for Teachers.
5 Inspirational Blogs for Special Education Teachers....
GREAT Blog Post on the impact of Merit pay on teaching, specifically Special Education...a MUST READ!
Online Spell Checker - Not sure why we would need an online Spell Checker, but thought I would share anyway.
Prezi is now offering FREE License for Education....
13 Ways to Drive Blog Readership. - Interesting article. Definitely worth reading for learning how to increase readership of your blog.
5 Apps for the Busy Educator - I am only using one...I guess I am not as busy as I thought!
Glogster Education Resource Library - An very informative and in depth look at Glogster in Education...if you have not seen Glogster, you are missing out on a great tool for your students!
Yodio - Adding Voice to your photos. You can use your phone to record the narrative...interesting software I found via the EDge21 Blog.
A great Tutorial for Pages 09 on Mac from ILearn Technology. I don't own a Mac, so I hope this will help you out.
7 Things You Should Know about Clickers - Great read via PDF.
Have a Document Camera? We are getting quite a few at our school. Here is a great article about the impact of document cameras are having on motivating students.
BrightStorm - A Math website worth checking out. My math is quite not up to par to know how useful this site might be....so, help me out and let me know how you have used it!
Blog Post about the National Educational Technology Plan....well worth reading....
An article about the effectiveness of 1:1 programs on student learning.
The Education Party - An interesting take on politics. The creation of a new political party. You have to wonder about its success since teachers make up such a large portion of the workforce across the country. Generally in every county they are in the top 5 of employers in Kentucky.
Could the new Tablet PC'cs be a Game Changer in Education?
From Larry Ferlazzo - A great list of the Best Online Collection of Power Points for Teachers.
5 Inspirational Blogs for Special Education Teachers....
GREAT Blog Post on the impact of Merit pay on teaching, specifically Special Education...a MUST READ!
Online Spell Checker - Not sure why we would need an online Spell Checker, but thought I would share anyway.
Prezi is now offering FREE License for Education....
13 Ways to Drive Blog Readership. - Interesting article. Definitely worth reading for learning how to increase readership of your blog.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Weekend Extra #3 - Twitter Tweecap
This weeks installment of interesting resources that I received via Twitter. If you are not using Twitter yet, you should!
1.) The Encyclopedia of Educational Technology - A publication from San Diego State University. A good list of educational technology that relates to many of the educational theories and practices that we learned while in our teacher education programs. Worth a look.
2.) Google Earth Across the Curriculum. A great resource by Free Technology for Teachers discussing how to use Google Earth in your classroom. Highly recommend taking a look at this resource. Google Earth is more than just a Geography tool, and this helps to show you why.
3.) Langwitches Blog Post - Great post about how to be followed on Twitter and to learn about the types of people that are following you on Twitter. Very useful for those that are new to Twitter.
4.) PDFmyURL - If you are interested in making your website into a PDF file. Useful if you want to be able to send your Blog Post in a PDF format, or have a website with information that sharing in a PDF makes logical sense.
5.) AppMakr - Interesting. You provide your URL and it creates a sample App for the Iphone of what your website would look like. Kind of fun to play with....don't think my blog is worth an App yet though! Maybe your website is...here is a way to create yours.
6.) Dirpy - Take those YouTube videos and turn them into an MP3....I think many of us have been looking for this option. It is a lot easier than sites like Zamzar.
7.) Digital Cameras are all the rage...but how do you use them in the classroom? Here are 46 Ideas for Digital Cameras in the Classroom
8.) Just for the purpose of discussion. The ACT did research on our National Curriculum. It is worth a read, because chances are, much of our curriculum might be based on these results....
9.) Interesting read...14 Technologies Educators Should Watch for in 2010. My questions is, am I ahead of the times, if in January I am already past watching them, because I am using them??? Or which educators are they talking too?
10.) We all love Wordle. I know I do. Well thanks to Twitter I discovered some other useful tools like Wordle. Some that I think have added advantage to use in the classroom. I highly recommend you look at these 4 similar tools (Information about them here:
1.) The Encyclopedia of Educational Technology - A publication from San Diego State University. A good list of educational technology that relates to many of the educational theories and practices that we learned while in our teacher education programs. Worth a look.
2.) Google Earth Across the Curriculum. A great resource by Free Technology for Teachers discussing how to use Google Earth in your classroom. Highly recommend taking a look at this resource. Google Earth is more than just a Geography tool, and this helps to show you why.
3.) Langwitches Blog Post - Great post about how to be followed on Twitter and to learn about the types of people that are following you on Twitter. Very useful for those that are new to Twitter.
4.) PDFmyURL - If you are interested in making your website into a PDF file. Useful if you want to be able to send your Blog Post in a PDF format, or have a website with information that sharing in a PDF makes logical sense.
5.) AppMakr - Interesting. You provide your URL and it creates a sample App for the Iphone of what your website would look like. Kind of fun to play with....don't think my blog is worth an App yet though! Maybe your website is...here is a way to create yours.
6.) Dirpy - Take those YouTube videos and turn them into an MP3....I think many of us have been looking for this option. It is a lot easier than sites like Zamzar.
7.) Digital Cameras are all the rage...but how do you use them in the classroom? Here are 46 Ideas for Digital Cameras in the Classroom
8.) Just for the purpose of discussion. The ACT did research on our National Curriculum. It is worth a read, because chances are, much of our curriculum might be based on these results....
9.) Interesting read...14 Technologies Educators Should Watch for in 2010. My questions is, am I ahead of the times, if in January I am already past watching them, because I am using them??? Or which educators are they talking too?
10.) We all love Wordle. I know I do. Well thanks to Twitter I discovered some other useful tools like Wordle. Some that I think have added advantage to use in the classroom. I highly recommend you look at these 4 similar tools (Information about them here:
11.) Museums are always something I have loved visiting. As a teacher, it is tough to know some of the best ones, or even the ones that exist in your own state. Well, here is a list of Museums Online for the United States and the World.
12.) Wordle, Voicethread, and .....Ninitendo DS (yes..in the classroom). Interesting set of presentations from the Edte.ch Blog.
Hope you find some useful links here. Check back every Saturday for a recap from the resources I receive from Twitter. It is important to note that when I wake up in the morning I have over 200 Tweets that happened throughout the night that I don't get a chance to read...so I wonder how many resources I am missing out on throughout the night.....
Friday, January 22, 2010
DoInk and My DoInk
Another animation creation website....but kind of an in between when it comes to comic strip creation and Go Animate. DoInk is a website for creating cartoons and animations. There are some very useful features and you can explore the website further so that you can determine its use. It seems like it has a lot of great features but after spending a little time with it I found myself getting a little annoyed. You might not feel that way. You can Explore some of the animations already created to get an idea. You do need to create an account for DoInk.
If you don't feel like joining than you can visit My DoInk and create an animation instantly. This is what I did. This might be why I was having some trouble understanding all the features because it didn't seem to offer that much...then again...I am not that much of an artist or for that matter an abstract thinker to do much with it. It seems promising for someone who might have time to explore it more than me, but I wanted to share it.
If you have used it, or your students have used it, please share experiences with me and my readers. Thanks!
Friday Focus #5 - Online Whiteboard Collaboration
Online Whiteboard Collaboration is probably the one of the most trendy applications to come from the whole Web 2.0 movement. There are quite a few out there all trying to garner your attention and use. Generally they all have similar features but a few standout because of a feature or two that they offer that others do not. These are in no particular order, so visit and see which ones you like best.
Twiddla is the first online whiteboard site that I was introduced to, so I feel kind of obligated to mention it first. What I like about Twiddla are the math applications that you can input on to the whiteboard. Students could log in their laptops and instead of going to the board to complete the example, they would work the problem from their desk! You can upload images and documents to the Whiteboard as well. The other aspect of Twiddla that I like is the "Twiddle This" feature which allows you to add a bookmark and "Twiddle" over webpages that you are visiting. Would make a great tool for lecture when you are showcasing a website and want to highlight certain sections. You can also add a "Twiddle This" to your own webpage so that viewers can "Twiddle" on your site without having to add the bookmark. No membership is required. If you want to play around on a whiteboard I created, you can go here.
Scribblar is very similar to Twiddla. No sign up is needed, but you can if you want to. I have created one for this post here. Some of the differences are that you can change the background color if you prefer and it has a Stamp feature that also is beneficial. It has a lot of shapes that you can choose from as well to put on the whiteboard. It has an audio feature just like Twiddla if you wanted to conference on it. You can also take an image of the whiteboard and save it for later if you made important notes. Scribblar does not neccesarily stand out to me, but it has a lot of similar features.
Dabbleboard is kind of neat. It offers a little more drag and drop features. I have a sample one for you to play around with here. The difference I am noticing is that you can edit what you have drawn or written after the fact (change color, positioning, size, shape, etc.) Much more user friendly. You can embed it as well into a webpage or blog as well. It would be an interesting way to create a mind map because of the arrow features that it has. It will turn what you are doing into a shape or a certain line if not in "freehand" mode, so it does take some gettind used too. Just try it out.
Imagination Cubed is from GE. Now it is more for playing and not neccesarily for collaboration, but I thought I would include it. It has a lot of the same features as the others. The only feature I saw it had that the others did not was the ability to "replay" what you just drew. So it would be neat to watch a replay of your creation. It does allow you to "invite a friend" but other then that, not much else is available for you to do in terms of collaboration. It is worth looking and and playing around with.
Now I would love to provide some information on Scriblink, but unfortunately the firewall at my school is blocking access to the application, so if you have information on it, please share, otherwise I will try and add to it later when I get home. It seems like an interesting Whiteboard application.
Thinkature could be categorized as a mix between Sticky Note Collaboration and Whiteboard. It gives you the ability to incorporate "textbox" as well as free write. You can also highlight certain areas of the whiteboard using a tool within your canvas. The other aspect that I like is that you can also create mind maps. It has an arrow tool that allows you to mind map with the software as well. It does require signing up to use, and upon trying to do so, it appeared to freeze, but that could be my firewall again. Will try later when I get home.
One thing I am noticing is that they all have a feature that the others do not. Someone needs to make one that has all the features in the same Online Whiteboard Collaboration Tool. A way to draw on a website,. drag and drop, mind map, Replay, etc. Pull all these together and make one that encompasses everything and we will have a complete website.
Are there others that you know of and use?
Twiddla is the first online whiteboard site that I was introduced to, so I feel kind of obligated to mention it first. What I like about Twiddla are the math applications that you can input on to the whiteboard. Students could log in their laptops and instead of going to the board to complete the example, they would work the problem from their desk! You can upload images and documents to the Whiteboard as well. The other aspect of Twiddla that I like is the "Twiddle This" feature which allows you to add a bookmark and "Twiddle" over webpages that you are visiting. Would make a great tool for lecture when you are showcasing a website and want to highlight certain sections. You can also add a "Twiddle This" to your own webpage so that viewers can "Twiddle" on your site without having to add the bookmark. No membership is required. If you want to play around on a whiteboard I created, you can go here.
Scribblar is very similar to Twiddla. No sign up is needed, but you can if you want to. I have created one for this post here. Some of the differences are that you can change the background color if you prefer and it has a Stamp feature that also is beneficial. It has a lot of shapes that you can choose from as well to put on the whiteboard. It has an audio feature just like Twiddla if you wanted to conference on it. You can also take an image of the whiteboard and save it for later if you made important notes. Scribblar does not neccesarily stand out to me, but it has a lot of similar features.
Dabbleboard is kind of neat. It offers a little more drag and drop features. I have a sample one for you to play around with here. The difference I am noticing is that you can edit what you have drawn or written after the fact (change color, positioning, size, shape, etc.) Much more user friendly. You can embed it as well into a webpage or blog as well. It would be an interesting way to create a mind map because of the arrow features that it has. It will turn what you are doing into a shape or a certain line if not in "freehand" mode, so it does take some gettind used too. Just try it out.
Imagination Cubed is from GE. Now it is more for playing and not neccesarily for collaboration, but I thought I would include it. It has a lot of the same features as the others. The only feature I saw it had that the others did not was the ability to "replay" what you just drew. So it would be neat to watch a replay of your creation. It does allow you to "invite a friend" but other then that, not much else is available for you to do in terms of collaboration. It is worth looking and and playing around with.
Now I would love to provide some information on Scriblink, but unfortunately the firewall at my school is blocking access to the application, so if you have information on it, please share, otherwise I will try and add to it later when I get home. It seems like an interesting Whiteboard application.
Thinkature could be categorized as a mix between Sticky Note Collaboration and Whiteboard. It gives you the ability to incorporate "textbox" as well as free write. You can also highlight certain areas of the whiteboard using a tool within your canvas. The other aspect that I like is that you can also create mind maps. It has an arrow tool that allows you to mind map with the software as well. It does require signing up to use, and upon trying to do so, it appeared to freeze, but that could be my firewall again. Will try later when I get home.
One thing I am noticing is that they all have a feature that the others do not. Someone needs to make one that has all the features in the same Online Whiteboard Collaboration Tool. A way to draw on a website,. drag and drop, mind map, Replay, etc. Pull all these together and make one that encompasses everything and we will have a complete website.
Are there others that you know of and use?
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