Tuesday
Apr292008
A list o' lists
Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 06:52AM Two great collections of educational Web 2.0 resources have recently become available:
- My friend Donna Baumbach's WebTools4U2 Use is a fabulous, comprehensive compilation of tools in a variety of categories. The collection is the result of a recent survey of over 600 library media specialists, so you know the tools are field tested.
- Top 100 Tools Spring 2008 Summary PDF from Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day (thanks to Stephen Abrams for the heads up) is a very interesting compilation of popular online tools that compares their ranking from 2007-2008. Jane slices and dices the tools into categories as well and offers a Top 25 list for those of us with a touch of ADD.
I've added these to other illustrious resources that list and describe electronic learning tools on my Dipping One's Toes in the Stream of Social Networking wiki including:
- CSLA’s School Library Learning 2.0 <http://schoollibrarylearning2.blogspot.com>
- Joyce Valenza’s New Tools workshop wiki <http://joycevalenzaworkshop.wikispaces.com/>
- Library Media Specialist 2.0 - Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson <http://eduscapes.com/sessions/slms2/index.htm>
- Shambles Web 2.0 tools <http://www.shambles.net/web2/>
A list o' lists... Thanks to all the hard work by the individuals who've created and maintained these guides.
So, if you had but an hour and wanted to introduce just the top three most productive online tools for teachers, which three would they be? My nominations would be:
- Del.icio.us
- Wikispaces
- Slideshare
And yours? Just three. Just one hour. Just your normal classroom teacher.
Reader Comments (16)
Noodletools...NoodleBib is so interactive when shared between teachers and kids...the others you mention are great...
That's a good one. Thanks for suggesting it.
Doug
Del.ic.ious
Edublogs
Googledocs
(O.K...it might take more than an hour) :)
Our Curriculum Superintendent has said that it is non-negotiable that “technology” be integrated into curriculum writing this summer and into classroom teaching in the Fall and that Librarians will be the “experts” to help the teachers be successful. So, we are teaching curriculum writers some useful web 2.0 tools.
Our top 5 to teach the teachers for them to use or to incorporate as options for student products are:
Trading Cards http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/deck.php
Political cartoon makers http://www.toondoo.com/
Magazine Cover http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/magazine.php
PhotoStory http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx
Animoto http://animoto.com/
We will also introduce Flickr CC. http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons
Thanks for the post,
Barry
Hi Christine,
I go hot and cold on the relative importance of blogs to teachers. While GoogleDocs (or wikis) and social bookmarking is popular with 90% plus of people I show them to, people are less receptive to blogs – both as writers AND readers.
I appreciate the comment and POV!
Doug
Barry,
These are great choices. I know Motivators (also a bighugelab.com product) is popular as is ImageChef.com.
Thanks for the post. A couple new ones here to me!
Doug
googledocs and Buzzword are great. No more lesson plans on my thumb drive!
del.icio.us is good, but google notebook works pretty well too. I like the way it unobtrusively installs on my school computer (and our network lets in very little--no diigo here, no twitter either).
The easier the better for most teachers, I find.
Thanks for the webtools wiki link. Sometimes I think this "web 2.0" thing is getting a little crazy, but I like to know what TEACHERS can use and I like that they seem to have just about everything in that one spot.
Thanks, Ninja.
I don't know Buzzword. I'll need to explore!
Doug
Del.icio.us
Wikispaces
Google Docs
Number 2 & 3 are blocked in our district. So...I got teachers interested in Del.icio.us and did a 45 minute workshop that was very well received. I did the workshop 2 weeks ago. Today I went to school and discovered that del.icio.us has been blocked. I immediately submitted an unblocking request to the consortium that manages the filter. I was told that the decision was made by our district, and I must ask our local tech admin. That means "abandon hope" since I have never been successful in such an endeavor. I guess I just give up and never do a workshop again. Perhaps if I had not publicized the site - the censors would not have blocked it....
Hi Jacquie,
You need a committee to help your tech person make better blocking decisions! Or a gang? A petition? A hit man? Well, that's going too far.
Doug
It's back up and running today!! Maybe my request worked? Maybe it was just blocked by a fluke yesterday? Bottom line - it is up and running again.
Lest I get complacent - LISNews.org is blocked today. Can't let those librarians planning the revolution have access to any forums =)
Google Reader or Bloglines
Del.icio.us
Wikispaces or PBwiki
I think that one of the most important things you can introduce educators to is RSS. It is so exciting to have access to the thought processes of so many library and education "rock stars." When you add in the ability to comment and have a conversation with those folks, it is an unbelievable professional development opportunity! RSS is the first brick in building a personal learning network - I can't believe that no one else has mentioned it yet!
Hi Mary,
You make a terrific point. Somehow the use of RSS feed aggregators is not very intuitive to some people. Blogs and the aggregators are really two sides to the same coin.
Thanks for bringing it up,
Doug
Doug -
You're right when you say that aggregators aren't very intuitive. I think that learning to use one could be compared to learning a difficult math concept. Sometimes you just have to get "hands-on" and manipulate the tool to really get it. You can't just listen to a lecture about RSS feeds to truly understand what they can do for you. I know that was true for me. I heard a couple of presentations about blogs and RSS before I actually set up a Bloglines account and started to use it. Now it has become a tool that I use every day at work (and at home for the "fun" stuff!).
Hi Mary,
Have you used the Common Craft video on RSS feeds? <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU>
I find all the Common Craft things very helpful,
Doug
Another very useful web2.0 learning tool which is gaining a lot of popularity is this online interactive and group based flash card system .