Scoop.it! curators are presenting us with a wealth of material in one place. This “Handy Online Tools for Schools” Scoop.it! curated by Petra Pollum has links to many new technologies and tools that work in the classroom environment.
Tag Archives: Web 2.0
Skype an Author… or another class in another place!
This clear procedure for using Skype in the classroom leaves us no excuse so we must give it a go soon!
The new Smart board in the IRC will make it easy to establish and share our first Skype author visit with our students.
Scoop.it! – Educational topic links
This new tool allows people to gather online resource links to issues in one accessible place. Here are links to some created by Teacher Librarian colleagues who curate in a number of relevant educational topic areas.
The Value of Twitter – Linda Weeks
Web 2.0 tools for English Teachers – Linda Weeks
Digital Citizenship in Schools – Judy O’Connell
Social Networking for Information Professionals – Judy O’Connell
Graphic Novels in the Classroom – Di Laycock
iPads at school – a report on educational benefits
Following on from Apple’s educational announcement last week, this article looks at some of the benefits of using the iPad as a tool in education. This article is worth reading as we decide which way to ‘jump’ at our school.
Top Twitter hashtags for educators
This blog lists the top ten Twitter hashtags (#) allowing the follower to keep up with the latest conversations happening in the sphere of education. This is a well-rounded list and covers Maths, Science, Special Ed and English as well as general streams.
New Year… Clean up and safety check
‘The Daring Librarian’ has posted a great list of things to do to smarten up online presence.
- Change Passwords – Click the link below and read her 4 tips for super passwords
- Clear Cache, History and Cookies
- Clean up and organise Flash Drives
- Check out using the Cloud for storage and consider …Dropbox, iCloud, Google Docs etc
- Edit privacy settings and ‘friendships’
These five are a ‘must’ to get ready for the new school year. For the rest please visit The Daring Librarian’s Blog:
Voki presentations – Year 4 students lead the way!
Year 4 have been working together in the IRC for three periods a week for seven weeks – two classes, two teachers, a Special Needs teacher and the Teacher Librarian. They have been learning about The Human Body. Each student selected a special area of interest and created a research question or questions. A wiki was used to share work and information.
As a culmination for their Guided Inquiry research projects the Year 4 students were introduced to Voki as a tool for delivering ‘fun’ presentations to the rest of the class.
They had to select just one of their research questions and fine tune their answer to the word limitations of Voki.
The excitement in the IRC today was unbelievable as they created characters, backgrounds, costumes and voices best suited to the presentation of their research.
Here is one that was produced today:
Best websites for teaching and learning
The American Association of School Libraries have published links to the top 25 sites that “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.” The sites are grouped with standards for each.
iPad Apps – this blog is very helpful
Carisa Kluver’s blog “The Digital Media Diet” illustrates some fabulous iPad Apps for the reluctant reader. also take note of her other contributions and links on the side bar.
QR Codes in the classrom
Brendan Jones recently presented this Slideshare sharing many new ideas of ways to implement QR Codes.
First QR Code in the IRC
Many schools do not allow the use of phones during school hours and our school follows this policy. For a bit of fun this QR Code was displayed today and we are watching for reactions (Our Senior Students are allowed to listen to music during study times in the IRC so do use music storage devices and this of course includes phones for this purpose only.)
TED talk by inspirational School Librarian, Dr Joyce Valenza
Dr Joyce Valenza is well known worldwide by Teacher Librarians for her innovative use of technology in schools and her contributions to the development of Web2.0 tools integrated into school research practice. She regularly visits Australia to share at our professional development conferences.
Draw it Live – collaborating with design and creative ideas
This App allows the sharing of a creative drawing space. It is free and membership is not needed – simply invite another student to join the space via a link and work together. The possibilities are huge!
Science Links K-12: Online activities
Make learning fun – search for a science related topic area and complete the related online activities!
Discover Ancient Rome in Google Earth
What a great way to introduce students to Ancient Civilisations. Our Stage 4 (Yr 7) students are studying this topic now.
