CNEPDC Technology Blog

Saying Good-Bye

2010-06-07T07:29:00.000-07:00

The Bureau of ABLE is refocusing PDC efforts and it looks like I have to make a choice about which regional activities need to stay to help achieve our goals and which activities need to go.

I've decided to end the CNEPDC Technology Blog. I've had a good opportunity to gain experience setting up and managing a blog and I hope all followers have learned at least one new thing about instructional technology.

This is my last post. However, it might not be the end of our blogging. A CNEPDC general blog may be useful in the future or we may have an opportunity to start a blog on a different topic such as instructional leadership.

I'm recommending folks begin, or continue, following Marian Thacher's technology blog. Marian is the Director of the Outreach and Technical Assistance Network for Adult Educators (OTAN). OTAN supports the use of instructional technology and distance learning by literacy and adult education providers in California. Marian's blog has a very "national" view of educational technology.

Book Discussions: A Place to Talk About Books and Ideas That Matter

2010-04-15T08:07:00.000-07:00

www.bookdiscussions.com

Created by Steve Hargadon using the social networking tool Ning, Book Discussions is a site that allows members to start, or participate in, online group book discussions that focus on education.

Digital Storytelling Wiki

2010-04-07T11:52:00.000-07:00

http://couros.wikispaces.com/digitalstorytelling

What is digital storytelling? Wikipedia defines it as “a grassroots movement that uses new digital tools to help ordinary people tell their own ‘true stories’ in a compelling and emotionally engaging form. These stories usually take the form of a relatively short story (less than 8 minutes) and can involve interactivity.”

Dr. Alec Couros, ICT Coordinator of the Faculty of Education, University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, maintains a great digital storytelling resource on his Open Thinking Wiki.

His Digital Storytelling Wiki provides information about the process and links to many useful resources, including applications you can use to create and publish digital stories. He features links to student-created stories as well.

Why “do” digital storytelling? Of the many good reasons to help students develop and publish digital stories, Dr. Couros cites the following:

“Stories help us make sense of ourselves, our cultures and societies, in rich and meaningful ways.”

“Storytelling may give voice to individuals and groups who have been oppressed by a culture of literacy dominance.”

“Stories and the process of storytelling can be used as a rich means of assessment” and “an engaging alternative for many learners.”

Think about how digital storytelling can work with the language experience approach to teaching English, reading and writing, etc.

Advancing Learning Opportunities for Individuals with Disabilities Using Technology

2010-04-05T07:18:00.000-07:00

Check out the National Center for Technology Innovation. This organization encourages innovation in technology to help individuals with disabilities learn. The purpose of the organization's Web site is to provide resources and assistance to interested individuals.

Educators Embrace iPods for Learning

2010-04-01T06:59:00.000-07:00

An article from Education Week, April 1, 2010, By Kathleen Kennedy Manzo:

Roswell High School officials have changed their view of the iPOD, seeing them less as contraband and more as educational accessories . . .

Click here for more information.

Solving Algebra on Smartphones

2010-04-01T06:55:00.000-07:00

An article from Education Week, March 16, 2010, By Michelle R. Davis:

Research shows that a project to use the devices as teaching tools in some North Carolina districts has had a measurable impact on student achievement in math.

Click here for more information.

"Interact" with the National Educational Technology Plan

2010-03-11T20:43:00.000-08:00

Now that the draft version of the National Educational Technology Plan has been posted and promoted (view the video on the right to hear from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan), we can do several things to help us better understand the implications of the plan.

Go to the National Education Technology Plan 200 Web page on the U.S. Department of Education's site.

If you do not have time to review the entire plan (available in PDF on this site), you can review the Executive Summary (also in PDF).

Scroll down the page and post your comments about the plan. This is a great opportunity to provide feedback to the Department of Education.

Read what others have posted as well.

The plan comes with a collection of references and, if you want to dig a little deeper into particular topics, you can view these at www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010/references.

If you comment, let me know. Just post a comment to this blog entry.

Draft National Educational Technology Plan Introduced to the Public

2010-03-10T18:25:00.000-08:00

I apologize to blog followers I have not posted in quite a while. February was a very busy month for our Professional Development Center and the two major snow events made things even more hectic. I plan to make up for lost time by posting new technology info and ideas more often this, and next, month.

Here's some news . . .

The U.S. Department of Education released the Draft National Educational Technology Plan on March 5, 2010. The use of technology in five major areas were identified: for learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity. The entire plan can be found online at www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/index.html. A more condensed analysis of the plan is available from the National Center for Technology Innovation at www.nationaltechcenter.org/index.php/2009/11/30/national-educational-technology-plan. I invite you to comment after reviewing the summary . . .

Developing and Using Digital Literacy Standards

2010-01-22T06:34:00.000-08:00

Lately I've noticed a renewed interest in digital literacy standards in the adult education and literacy fields. Digital Literacy is not new and has been integrated successfully in many kinds of instruction for the very young, high school and post-secondary education, and continuing education. In adult education, it seems the talk of digital literacy has come and gone, but it is back as folks recognize that, to help our adult learners transition to post-secondary education or training and the world of work, we must help them understand and develop the skills necessary to function in a knowledge-based, digital society.

I've started collecting information about Digital Literacy initiatives, which is currently a topic on NIFL's Technology discussion list.

For years, we've known about the International Society for Technology in Education's Educational Technology Standards for Students.

California has implemented a new Digital Literacy Initiative. This state defines Digital Literacy as "using digital technology, communications tools, and/or networks to access, manage, integrate, evaluate, create and communicate information in order to function in a knowledge society." Check out the state's Assessments and Curriculum Framework online.

The American Association of School Librarians have been using Standards for the 21st Century Learner for sometime now. These standards recognize the importance of strong digital literacy skills in the acquisition and use of information and resources. AASL maintains that its long-time emphasis on information literacy has been expanded to include many additional literacies, including digital, visual, textual, and technological (all crucial 21st century skills).

The AASL also notes that learning has a social context and, as such, "is enhanced by opportunities to share and learn with others." Sound familiar?

Moving Beyond Google Sites

2010-01-11T15:47:00.000-08:00

I walk around with a lot of information and ideas in my head and have been trying to find a way to organize these thoughts and all the great resources I find for my projects. I want them out of my head but organized all in one place. And if I can share this library of thoughts, gathered information and resources, with others, even better. When I learned about Google Sites, I really went crazy setting up resource sites for myself and for groups of adult education practitioners with whom I was working (as my co-workers).

But there is only so much I can do with Google Sites, so my next challenge is to start trying other ways to organize my resources online -- and be able to add annotations, notes, set reminders, etc. Perhaps something that can easily hold text, photos, video clips, links all in an easy to use and see format. Does anyone have a favorite online tool they suggest I try?

A Blog to Follow!

2010-01-05T19:02:00.000-08:00

David Rosen has launched a blog dedicated to technology, public policy, professional development in adult education, as well as workplace and family literacy. The entries are a compilation of postings he has made over the years to national discussion lists and wikis.

Visit his Adult Education Blog at http://davidjrosen.wordpress.com. Scroll to the bottom of the homepage to subscribe via RSS.

ASRP Web Site Provides Interactive Resources for Reading Instruction

2010-01-04T07:32:00.000-08:00

Assessment Strategies and Reading Profiles (ASRP)

ASRP provides research-based assessment strategies to improve reading instruction for ABE and ASE learners. Hosted by the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL), the ASRP Web site provides a wealth of resources for diagnosing reading challenges and instructional strategies. The ASRP Web site can be found at http://www.nifl.gov/readingprofiles/index.htm .

Using ASRP and the site resources, you can:

§ Learn about the components of reading.

§ Learn about reading profiles and instruction.

§ Watch videos of a teacher giving diagnostic reading tests to an adult learner.

§ Download free tests with directions for administering and interpreting them.

§ Match your adult learners’ test scores to research-based adult reading profiles.

§ Get instructional suggestions for teaching your learners based on their profile matches.

§ Access additional resources and references on reading, assessment, and instruction.

World Education will be sponsoring four special discussions about the ASRP on four of the NIFL email discussion lists. Each discussion will be led by one or more prominent researcher in that topic area and, in most cases, by practitioners with expertise in that particular area. The schedule of discussions appears below:

January 26, 2010

New Developments in both Individual and Large-Scale Adult Literacy Assessments

Guest: John Sabatini (ETS)

Moderator: Marie Cora

NIFL Discussion List: Assessment

March 22, 2010
Reading and Writing Skills of ABE Transition Learners

Guests: Cynthia Zafft (World Education), Lauren Capatosto (Harvard Graduate School of Education, MA), and Sally Gabb (Bristol Community College, MA)

Moderator: Ellen Hewett

NIFL Discussion List: Transitions to Post-secondary Education

April 12, 2010

The Literacy Development of ESL Beginners: Observations and Analyses from the NCSALL ESL Laboratory Classrooms

Guest: Kathy Harris (Portland State University, OR)

Moderator: Miriam Burt

NIFL Discussion List: Adult English Language Acquisition

June 21, 2010

Reading Patterns and Profiles of Adult Literacy Participants

Guests: Daryl Mellard (Kansas University) and Daphne Greenberg (Georgia State University)

Moderator: Daphne Greenberg

NIFL Discussion List: Reading and Writing Skills

To join one or more of the NIFL discussion lists for these discussions, visit http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/discussions.html

Adult Literacy Education Wiki Features Technology Wisdom

2009-12-31T06:09:00.000-08:00

From David Rosen, Adult Literacy Education Wiki Organizer, DJRosen@theworld.com
Posted on the NIFL Technology and Distance Learning Discussion List December 30, 2009

The Adult Literacy Education (ALE) wiki is a free resource specifically designed for, and by, adult educators. The wiki has over 1300 pages and over 1300 registered users, some of whom add to the content and many more that use it as a resource.

Features of the ALE wiki of special interest include:

A glossary of terms used in adult literacy education
http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/ALEGlossary

A glossary of technology terms
http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/TechGlossary

A technology topic area
http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Technology

Topics include:
       Questions and Answers
       Discussions (archived)
       Public Policy
       Research
       Resources
       Promising Practices
       Glossary
       Other Technology Topics:
Making videos with students
Using computers in the ESOL classroom
Online professional development
Handling technology glitches
New technologies: Podcasts, Wikis, Blogs, and Internet Telephony
Distance education state policies
Policy for Distance Education Programs for Adult Learners, Project IDEAL
Distance Education Curricula for Adult Learners, Project IDEAL
Using technology in Scotland with adult literacy and numeracy learners
The influence of the Web on writing

Since the ALE is a wiki where anyone can add to or change content, I would like to invite you to register and then to add to, or in other ways improve, the technology topic or other ALE Wiki topics. The ALE Wiki has been created over several years by our adult literacy education community or practitioners and researchers in North America and elsewhere. It is maintained by volunteer topic leaders (http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Topic_Leaders )

Writing Together Wiki Encourages Collaborative Writing Projects

2009-12-30T10:01:00.000-08:00

Writing Together is a free wiki site providing opportunities for adult learners to engage in collaborative writing activities and publish online (http://writingtogether.pbworks.com).

Use this free, easy-to-use site with your learners to help them practice authentic writing skills. According to the wiki site, adult learners can use Writing Together to work on writing projects like the following:

Write articles for a school or program newsletter. (One student writing class publishes a professional magazine online.)
Write a letter (for example, to a legislator or other policy maker, or to a newspaper editor).
Make a brochure (for example, a health brochure).
Write a literary journal.
Together, as a group, edit a piece of writing.
Write individual letters, or a group letter, to a friend or classmate.
Have a discussion with learners in another class, in another part of your country or the world.

The site includes Teacher Tips for employing steps in the writing process and using Writing Together.

The Best Tools to Make Online Flashcards

2009-12-30T06:19:00.000-08:00

Larry Ferlazzo -- a high school teacher in Sacramento who maintains an excellent educational technology blog -- routinely identifies "The Best Sites" that can be used in education. Larry maintains a list of The Best Tools to Make Online Flashcards and only recommends a Web tool if the site is a) free of charge; b) easy to use; and c) provides some "value-added" benefit that makes the flashcards engaging, especially for English Language Learners.

You can review Larry's recommendations for the best tools for making online flashcards at: http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2009/02/22/the-best-tools-to-make-online-flashcards

Try one of these sites and let me know what you think -- email me at mmingle@comcast.net .

TIME Magazine Names Best Websites

2009-12-22T06:42:00.000-08:00

TIME Magazine has identified the 50 Best Websites of 2009.

Descriptions of each site begin at

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1918031_1918016,00.html .

Some of the most useful sites for educators and our adult learners include:

Delicious http://delicious.com

A social bookmarking site but also very handy place to list all your bookmarks or favorites online so you can access them anywhere there is an Internet connection.

Popurls http://popurls.com

Collect the latest news headlines from the biggest and most popular news and opinion sites, blogs, and vlogs onto one Web page that you can make your homepage and review daily.

Drop.io http://drop.io

A private file-sharing service where you can upload files you want to access when you are away from your computer or program server.

Assistive Technology at Work

2009-12-18T08:34:00.000-08:00

“It is estimated that about 85 percent of students with learning disabilities transition directly from school to work.”

“Furthermore, statistics addressing employment among people with disabilities indicate that the workplace consists of approximately 18.6 million people with disabilities, ranging in age from 16 to 64. This represents about 56% of all people with disabilities in this age category.”

“Given the vast number of people with disabilities in the workplace, the potential for assistive technology to increase productivity is great.”

This Info Brief from the National Center for Technology Innovation and Center for Implementing Technology in Education (2006) addresses assistive technology on the job. The resource identifies the responsibilities of employers and employees to provide and use assistive technology. Strategies for workplace solutions using assistive technology and further resources are also included.

Read the Info Brief online at www.ldonline.org/article/11908.

Pennsylvania Career Zone: The Place to Learn About Careers in the Keystone State

2009-12-14T10:49:00.000-08:00

Developed by the PA Department of Education and PA Department of Labor and Industry, the Pennsylvania CareerZone is an online career exploration and planning system designed specifically for PA current and future jobseekers. Educators and counselors will also find the information collected on this Web site useful.

Users are encouraged to work through the Interest Profiler, Work Importance Profiler, and Assess Yourself assessment. Comprehensive information on 900 occupations includes state specific wages, worker attributes, and job characteristics. There are 300 career videos and job openings on America’s Job Exchange are accessible within each occupation profile. Pennsylvania CareerZone uses data from version 12.0 of the O*Net Database.

Issue 2 of ABLE in Context Focuses On Technology

2009-12-14T09:49:00.000-08:00

The PA Bureau of ABLE has issued it's second ABLE in Context publication. This issue focuses on technology in adult education and includes both an overview of today's technology as it applies to adult education and examples of how PA adult educators are using this technology.

Can Web 2.0 Save Teacher Professional Development?

2009-12-03T09:37:00.000-08:00

In November, Education Week sponsored a webinar entitled Can Web 2.0 Save Teacher Professional Development? This webinar featured two guest speakers -- Barbara Treacy, Director of EdTech Leaders Online, Education Development Center and Christopher Sessums, Assistant Professor in the College of Education at the University of Florida.

Barbara Treacy maintained that Web 2.0 technology could not "save" professional development but, instead, could help support "effective" professional development. Her presentation featured elements of effective professional development and examples of how Web 2.0 and other online tools can help educators implement professional development more effectively.

Ms. Treacy used the following description of Web 2.0 online applications in her presentation:

"Web 2.0 online applications use the World Wide Web as a platform and allows for participatory involvement, collaboration, and interactions among users. Web 2.0 is also characterized by the creation and sharing of intellectual and social resources by end users."

Leadership for Web 2.0 in Education: Promise and Reality by Cheryl Lemke & Ed Coughlin, CoSN (2009)

Barbara Treacy asserted that, to be effective, professional development should:

Be intensive, ongoing, and connected to practice.
Focus on student learning.
Address teaching of specific curriculum content.
Align with school improvement priorities and goals.
Build strong working relationships among teachers.

How do these technologies support the elements of effective professional development?

Be intensive, ongoing, and connected to practice.
Web 2.0 technologies allow professional development to be extended over time and let teachers implement what they are learning in the classroom.

Focus on student learning.
When teachers can implement what they are learning in their own classrooms, they can focus on their own students' learning.

Address teaching of specific curriculum content.
Through rich reading opportunities, multimedia activities, and online explorations, teachers can address specific content in-depth.

Align with school improvement priorities and goals.
Web 2.0 and other online technology tools allow local educators to actively develop, implement, and lead professional development activities, building local capacity and expertise and allowing for professional development customized to fit particular educational needs.

Build strong working relationships among teachers.
These technologies allow all teachers to participate in professional development over time, building learning communities within the organization. Ongoing discussion between facilitators and participants build strong working relationships.

Categories of Web 2.0 and Other Online Tools defined by Ms. Treacy included Course Management Tools, Voice and Content Tools, Collaboration Tools, Communication Tools, and Other Tools.

Course Management Tools such as Moodle, Blackboard, Angel, Desire2Learn, and Sakai allow educators to:

Organize and share content, research, multimedia.
Engage in ongoing discussions.
Assess and document learning.
Build formal and informal communities of practice.
Share and analyze student work.

Voice and Content Tools such as Voki, Jing, Gcast, and VoiceThread enable educators to:

Personalize introductions and discussions.
Provide learning or project summaries.
Explain a technical piece.
Create online discussions.
Address the needs of auditory learners and accessibility issues.

Collaboration Tools like Wikispaces, Google Sites, Docs, and Groups, ZohoWriter, Facebook, Flickr, and Ning enable educators to:

Collaborate and co-create documents, plans, materials, media.
Brainstorm and share ideas, resources, data, etc.
Discuss and communicate with team members.

Communication Tools such as Skype, Elluminate, and FreeConference allow educators to:

Conduct "live" discussions and meetings.
Blend synchronous and asynchronous learning.
Address varying learning styles.
Collaborate and share documents and resources.

Finally, Ms. Treacy asserts that Blogging and Micro-blogging tools such as Blogger, Twitter, and WordPress allow educators to share ideas or focus on a specific topic or project while Social Bookmarking Tools like Delicious and Diigo allow them to save and share resources.

The recorded presentation is available on the EdWeek Web site. Click here.

Online Graphical Dictionary Helps Learners Build Vocabulary

2009-11-17T10:01:00.000-08:00

The online graphical dictionary Visuwords TM allows users to look up words to not only find their meanings but also associations with other words and related concepts. The interactive site creates diagrams showing the relationships between words and concepts.

Visuwords is free and available online at www.visuwords.com . Enter a word into the search box. To see definitions, place your mouse pointer over a word in the diagram without clicking. Use the key on the left to find the meanings of the lines connecting related words to the word you have entered. Click and drag the background to pan around and the use your mouse wheel to zoom in and out.

Digital Citizenship - Get Involved!

2009-10-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

The White House has MySpace and FaceBook sites! This is probably not news to you, but I guess I never really took the time to think about socially networking with The White House. I just joined the White House FaceBook page as a Friend and left a comment with suggestions for what kinds of things I would like to see included on the Wall. I was even able to comment on the First Family’s newest family portrait by Annie Leibovitz.

This is just one of many ways to be engaged in Digital Citizenship. A new term growing in popularity, digital citizenship is being defined as “the ability to participate in society online” (see MIT Press synopsis of book entitled Digital Citizenship: The Internet, Society, and Participation -- Chapter 1: Defining Digital Citizenship is available as a PDF).

It also means the responsible (lawful, polite, socially-acceptable, equitable) use of technology – much like the set of rules we have developed over time for the use of professional print media.

What does the term "digital citizenship" mean to you? Are you a digital citizen? How about your learners?

The Power of Technology to Transform Adult Learning

2009-10-22T10:51:00.000-07:00

October 21, 2009 (New York) -- The Council for the Advancement of Adult Literacy (CAAL) today released The Power of Technology to Transform Adult Learning: Expanding Access to Adult Education and Workforce Skills Through Distance Learning. This 65-page paper is based on a 9-month project directed by Dr. Mary L. McCain of TechVision 21 in Washington, D.C. Federal and state government is the primary audience but CAAL also aims to help inform private sector engagement and assist program and curriculum development professionals.

Among the report's recommendations are a call to establish a national web portal to meet the needs of both adult learners and professional/skilled ICT users; federal incentives to encourage and help states integrate technology-assisted learning into overall adult education and workforce skills planning; projects to support the development of distance learning in a variety of areas (such as distance learning certifications, performance measures that validate ICT literacy, and online learning assessment); a strong research, analysis, and evaluation program; and activities to foster stakeholder involvement, including the philanthropic and business communities.

The Power of Technology includes a primer section on the tools of technology. Another section presents exemplary national and state technology-based program models for instruction, professional development, and program/data management. Findings of recent research on distance learning are presented and analyzed, and an extensive bibliographic appendix is included. The report is available as NC-CAAL11 from the CAAL Web site at http://www.caalusa.org/POWER_OF_TECH.pdf. It can also be purchased directly from CAAL ($20 plus postage, volume discounts available).

Wikimedia Commons

2009-10-22T09:37:00.000-07:00

Artist's Rendering of a Mars Exploration Rover
Wikimedia Commons Picture of the Day, December 30

"Wikimedia Commons is a media file repository making available public domain and freely-licensed educational media content (images, sound, and video clips) to everyone, in their own language."

Wikimedia Commons uses the same wiki-technology as Wikipedia and everyone can edit it. It is free and everyone is allowed to copy, use, and modify any files freely as long as the course and the authors are credited and as long as users release their copies/improvements under the same freedom to others. The site is maintained by volunteers and everyone is encouraged to participate by contributing their work, translating help texts into a language other than English, improve images, identify unknown objects, and contribute their legal knowledge on copyright questions and deletion requests.

Classroom 2.0

2009-10-20T07:26:00.000-07:00

Classroom 2.0 is a social network (using Ning) for those interested in Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies in education. Join Classroom 2.0 and connect with other educators with similar interests. Share resources and get new ideas.

2009-10-16T11:00:00.001-07:00

On the AAACE-NLA Discussion List, a question about the usefulness of social networking technology for adult education was raised. Several adult educators and advocates shared their experiences using this technology.

On October 14^th, Dorothy Taylor, Educational Opportunity Center, University at Buffalo/SUNY shared the following experiences, including how she uses a blog with her ESL learners:

“I teach ESL to students with pretty low literacy, and I was equally hesitant to use some of these tools, but enough of my students were interested in Facebook that I decided to start a Facebook page for them last year. It's taking off slowly.

This year, after much deliberation, I decided to create a class blog. It's work, but not as much as I thought it would be and I have found it definitely worth it. I use it to keep students who were absent informed about what we did in class, to give announcements about special activities or holidays, and to encourage students to write and share information. My students work with me in a computer lab for 1 hour, 4 days a week. The first thing they do in the lab is go to the blog, read it, and answer the blog question that I pose every day. Students who are absent sometimes go to the blog and answer the question at home. They really seem to enjoy it, and enjoy reading each other's comments. I used wordpress.com to create the blog. It's a free blog, simple to use, and you can set up more than one. You can restrict access, but I haven't done so. In fact, if you'd like to take a look at my class blog, you can find it here: http://tayloresl.wordpress.com .

Now that I'm into the routine, it only takes me about 10 minutes at the end of the day to write that day's blog. I'd like to start an audio/text blog for my students with very low literacy, but I'm afraid that WOULD be too much work. If anybody has any pointers about how to do that, I'd appreciate it.

Facebook is starting a little more slowly. I want to use it as more of a tool for students to share photos, music, and other fun stuff. I created a Facebook identity for my students separate from my friends and family Facebook, and then created a group page. I can't share it because it's restricted to students and invitation only. So far, I'm finding that students who have moved or left the program are using it more than students currently enrolled in the school, but I haven't really focused on the Facebook page in my classes this year. I hope to do so in the future.”

Ms. Taylor's Advanced ESL Blog

New Assistant Secretary for OVAE Instructional Technologists

2009-10-08T06:46:00.000-07:00

Good news for educational technology in adult education!

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Brenda Dann-Messier as the Department of Education's new assistant secretary for vocational and adult education (OVAE). Besides serving as president for a highly successful and recognized adult education and family literacy program in Rhode Island over the past 10 year, Dann-Messier has a master's degree in instructional technology (from Rhode Island College).

Adult Education and Technology: ePortfolios for ABE

2009-10-07T12:06:00.000-07:00

Adult Education and Technology: ePortfolios for ABE

Located this very interesting blog about online portfolios (ePortfolios) for adult education learners posted by Marian Thacher on her Adult Education and Technology Blog. Marian is the Director of OTAN (Outreach and Technical Assistance Network for Adult Educators).

2009 Best Web Sites for Teaching and Learning

2009-10-05T17:38:00.000-07:00

Selected by the American Association of School Librarians, the 2009 Best Web Sites for Teaching and Learning "foster the qualities of innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration." All sites are free and user-friendly.

The AASL has categorized these sites using the organization's Standards for the 21st-Century Learner. Below are the six main categories of the standards with one example of a recommended Web site for each.

Organizing and Managing

Diigo

Web Highlighter and Sticky Notes, Online Bookmarking and Annotation

AASL Tip: Sticky notes are an effective way to start a virtual conversation among teams of students on the merits of a website.

Content Collaboration

Mindmeister

Collaborative Online Mind Mapping

AASL Tip: Effective tools for teams of students to collaboratively brainstorm what they know about a subject and what questions they want to research.

Curriculum Sharing

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

Offers educators information, resources, and tools to understand, identify and integrate the 21st century skills of creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving skills and communication and collaboration skills

AASL Tip: A great resource to help educators learn how to integrate 21st Century Skills into the curriculum.

Media Sharing

Animoto

“The End of Slideshows” -- Create a video in five minutes with photos, graphics, music, text . . .

AASL Tip: A great resource for visual learners! Instead of the typical book report, challenge your students to create a dynamic Animoto to capture the essence of their favorite books.

Virtual Environments

SecondLife

Insert yourself as an avatar in this virtual world and participate in professional development, teaching and learning, interact with musicians and artists, and chat with others.

AASL Tip: Meet with people from all over the world without having to leave your classroom, library, or home office.

Social Networking and Communication

Good Reads

A social network for book lovers; share what you’ve been reading, recommend new books, meet others who like the books you like, and interact with authors

AASL Tip: Teachers can develop a reading group for their students where discussions can develop, suggestions for new material can be found and lovers of particular genres can find each other.

View all 25 sites and their descriptions online at:
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/bestlist/bestwebsitestop25.cfm

What is Educational Blogging?

2009-09-30T10:23:00.000-07:00

Blogs are about communicating in writing. This writing can be as simple as a diary entry or as sophisticated as a news story, depending on the purpose of your blog. Because blogs allow others to view and respond to your writing, they allow users to interact, collaborate, and learn from one another.

Educational blogging is blogging done by students, teachers, educational administrators, industry experts, college professors, and anyone else involved in education and training. Educational blogging is also the use of blogs to teach basic skills such as reading, writing, and critical thinking.

How can blogs be used in education? They can be used for . . .

Communication:
Teacher and Student Communication
Teacher and Parent Communication
Administrator/Teacher and Community Interaction and Communication

Dialogue Generation (Teacher and Student Interaction)
Teachers can post questions about content and ask students to respond, checking for prior learning, assessing current    knowledge, and determining student interests. Teachers can include writing prompts in their blogs to encourage student writing.

Student Blogs
Having their own blogs encourages students to express their ideas, share their learning, and interact with other students in writing. Student blogs do not have to be public and access to a student blog can be controlled. Students can practice giving and receiving feedback and constructive criticism.

Teacher Blogs
When teachers create and maintain their own blogs, they can share ideas and teaching experiences, ask for advice and resources, and generate discussion. Teachers can follow other teacher blogs as professional development (Learning with Blogs and Wikis by Bill Ferriter).

2009-09-21T10:01:00.000-07:00

A web log or "blog" is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual who regularly adds entries of commentary, description of events, journal writing, photos and digital images, videos, etc. Most blogs have a theme; blogs can contain personal journals and reflections, diaries, commentary on a person's work or experiences, or information about a topic or issue. There are artistic blogs, political blogs, adventure and travel blogs, corporate blogs, educational blogs, photoblogs, video blogs or vlogs, etc.

There are hundreds of educational blogs and blogs created for educational purposes -- by teachers and students alike.

You can view a list of educational blogs and blogs about educational blogging at:
Support Blogging! Links to School Bloggers

How can blogs be used to strengthen basic skills and develop high-order thinking and problem-solving skills? Post your ideas!

Educational Technology Standards for Students

2009-09-16T05:13:00.000-07:00

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) develops and updates educational technology standards for students, teachers and administrators. In 2007, ISTE revised it’s National Educational Technology Standards (NETS.S) and Performance Indicators for Students to focus more precisely on how technology is used to accomplish tasks and encourage critical thinking and communication skill development.

The new NETS for Students includes the following standards:

Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.

Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.

Research and Information Fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources.

Digital Citizenship
Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior.

Technology Operations and Concepts
Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations.

Check out the NETS for Students standards and performance indicators on the ISTE Web site.

What is Web 2.0 and Why Is It Important?

2009-09-09T09:26:00.000-07:00

"Web 2.0 is a trend in web design and development and refers to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services -- such as social networking sites, wikis, and folksonomies -- which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing between users."

From Wikipedia.com - Learn more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0

It's the difference between creating a Web site where only you, the creator, controls the content (what we used to have -- "Web 1.0" technology) and creating a "Web 2.0" Web presence (using a blog or wiki, for example) where others can contribute, respond to your ideas, edit and add text, make use of your work and other resources to create new meaning, etc.

Web 2.0 represents the latest developments in Web-based technology -- technology that supports the skills employers value and that people use today to think critically about life issues and to solve problems. These skills include collaboration, information creation and sharing, networking, and making connections between people, resources, and ideas.

Web 2.0 technologies such as wikis, blogs, social networking sites (MySpace and FaceBook) -- are the technologies people use today. Many of our students -- especially young adults -- connect using these technologies. As educators, we can take advantage of the interests, preferences, and priorities of our adult students to help them learn.

And, with Web 2.0 technology, it is easier (and cheaper) than ever to "get published," to share your ideas and your creative work as well. Our students can "find their voices" and engage in public discourse and the exchange of ideas in ways we had never dreamed of a few years ago.

Web 2.0 Glossary From Social Signal