Tool #9: Sharing Information through Jing and Skype

I have witnessed professors in college and grad school utilize programs where they use technology to explain specific lessons without having to actually be in front of the classroom. I have even been assigned homework where I would have to listen to the professor explain something as I viewed a close up of them explaining the lesson hands on with paper and pencil and even step by step from the computer screen. I have always thought that to be such a cool and convenient way to teach. Being introduced to Jing is so needed for both teachers and students and is such an innovative way to get students excited about participating and learning. I would use Jing in the classroom to have students read stories aloud on the computer in order for both them and the teacher to monitor reading skills such as fluency and the use of strategies when breaking words apart. As other teachers who have already fell in love with Jing and like to refer to it as a verb, I would definitely find myself doing the same, asking students to 'Jing' a story or even a math problem for others to view and comprehend. Having Screencast allows students to share feedback with projects that they have created and it is a home to store all videos, images and pictures. Any projects created with Jing, Photostory, or downloaded videos can be stored with Sreencast and aimed for others to view and discuss. This is a great collaboration tool for projects in and out of the classroom.
Skype is a great way for quick and easy collaboration and communication. It provides a variety of ways to communicate with anyone and is the closest thing to being face to face. Skype can be used for team meetings, parent conferences, and even student conferences in discussing so many different educational ideas and concerns. Students can communicate with other students from different cultures across the world without being limited to just reading about the culture. They now have the opportunity to rid of the old fashion pen-pal style of communicating with foreign students but can communicate with them live. I love that it is free and can be used on devices such as your mobile phone, computer, and even the T.V. With Skype, lack of communication should be a thing of the past. I think kids will definitely enjoy the video calling and it would motivate a system of open communication amongst teachers and students.

Tool #8: Video Resources

I am no stranger when it comes to utilizing videos in the classroom. Videos provide an avenue for different types of learners to grasp the concept or lesson being taught, and is a great way to review learning. I often use United Streaming or Discovery Education, but I recently became aware of how useful Teacher Tube is. One video I chose to upload displays great pictures of landforms across the world and can provide some real world visuals for students to view as they learn about water and land. The other video I chose to upload invites children to create dolls that embrace the differences amongst them. It discusses the importance of respecting others despite differences. This is an important video that can be viewed by students at the start of the school year when establishing rules. Students need to understand that they are all different in their own unique way and those differences must be respected. I found the first video by typing 'landforms' in the search bar in Teacher Tube and the second video was found by accident as I was looking for an addition rap, but I'm sure you can type in respect or something to that nature to recover the video.

Tool #7 : Digital Story Telling

Creating a photostory was easy and fun. It's a great way to reflect on a variety of experiences in the classroom and outside the classroom. Students can even retell stories read in the class for higher level thinking activities. I chose to create a photostory of my students (during my first year teaching) participating in different activities during our "Insect Unit". They were able to go on an insect hunt, read about several different insects, journal what they learned, build and create thier own insects with different materials, and even observe insects in the classroom as they went through the life cycle. There are so many ways photostory can be utilized in the classroom and the students will truly enjoy putting one together and appreciating the time and effort put into their finished products.

Tool #6: Wikis

I was able to create a Wiki Account with WikiSpaces.com, and it seemed quite similar to setting up a Blog. To get a feel of how to use my Wiki Account I began by creating a new page and created a random fictional story. I could share the story with my students during a writing lesson and aim at adding details in writing pieces. This tool would be awesome for students to help edit and revise writings, share ideas about their writings, as well as creating class stories and books with the participation of the entire class. This would be a great step in the process of publishing a class book. Writing isn't the only way to incorporate Wiki, there are so many other ways students and teachers can share ideas, all with the simple clicks of save and edit.

Tool #5: Tagging and Social Bookmarking

Diigo and Delicious are two very resourceful bookmarking tools that easily allow users to navigate through a variety of websites that may be particularly interesting and share those interests with others. I chose to sign up with Diigo, as it seemed to have more to offer. The way it allows you to research and share knowledge, and comment about the content in specific sites that you have found,can become a great source for communication amongst students in the classroom. For example, if a unit on insects is the focus, students can research different insect websites that are interesting and highlight cool facts that they have found and create a social group with other classmates about their findings, and the class members will also be able to view the higlighted information that each person found interesting.
Some of the websites I discovered and will be great resources for future use included:

http://home.comcast.net/~sharov/3d/virtual.html
(the tag for this site was insects)

http://inventors.about.com/od/astartinventions/a/FamousInvention.htm
(the tag for this site was inventions)

Tool #4: Google Tools

Wow!!! I love Google Docs. Google Docs is an easy way for students, teachers and friends to share documents and media while having the opportunity to view and edit the document if necessary at the same time. So many writing projects can be explored in an easy and timely fashion with this resource.
With Google reader I also love the fact that it is an easy way to share ideas and content. The great feature here is that any on-line resource you subscribe to, all the new updates come to you. I imagine using Google Reader in Social Studies and History in order to keep up with world news and events and allow students to make connections with specific concepts in Social Studies that is of focus for that particular week.