At BCDS, we currently have a NING site as a professional social networking site for the school.  The site is located at iteach.ning.com — The site has been a very useful tool for me in a number of ways: (1) sharing and communicaiton tool for science teachers as we post and share resources; (2) school-wide way to post and share resources, ideas, and questions; (3) communication tool between adminstrators and teachers; (4) professional development tool to see current conferences; (5) creation of discussion groupd within the school, and much, much more — excellent tool and communication resource.

The Goggle Reader has become my 1st stop for the news and science in the world that is relevant to me and my teaching — it connects me to current news, blogs, podcasts, videos, and links to topics in the news from the elections, to current economics news, to science in the media and more — excellent resource.

While I did not create a PageFlakes page, I can see the uses for the PageFlake in science courses.  Good resource for colllecting, collating, and sharing resources around a specific theme and unit in science courses — especially courses that have a connect to global event and topics in the news — including global climate changes, science issues affecting issues of environmental justice, stem cell science and research, bioethics, biotechnology — and for any introductory topic in the sciences , a PageFlakes page can be created as a resource for teaching and students to explore the topic in more depth and other many alternative and linking ideas to the topic — offers a way to create topic, unit, and course resources pages which are updated in real-time with new on-line materials and RSS feeds.

Very good resource to create documents that you have access to on-line — portable and allows easy editing and collaboration.  3 Ideas for science class: (1) collecting data in the lab using a spreadsheet, where all students can contribute to expanding the data base during collection, and then all students have access to the shared data for analysis, (2) creating Lab Report and Presentations through a collaborative process amoiung partners, with an way to track edits, changes and individual contributions to the shared document; and (3) provides a way to post and share the data, analysis, and report & presentation results oin-line and with a larger world community.

YouTube and TeacherTube are great resources to find video to tie-in ideas and enhance your curriculum.   The also offer a real-world place for students to post and share their work and assessment outcomes.

V 115 fluorescence of various materials 1 – Fluoreszenz from Netexperimente

Lec 6 | MIT 5.301 Chemistry Laboratory Techniques, IAP 2004 from MIT Open Courseware

How to Make Cheese

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23 Things Podcast – practice with embedded podcast player

Thoughts about podcasting in education and science — Points to consider: Which podcasts did you preview?  What did you think? Which directories did you search and were you able to find podcasts of value? Do you have any ideas about incorporating existing podcasts into your classroom or professional learning? — I really loved checking out the science podcasts on NOVA Science know  — looking at the genetics of our food preferences and diet and also our longevity — fascintating information which ties are actions and are genetic pre-dispositions.  These are interesting quick science info hits that godd be used to start off a topic in science class and in-class discussions — very topical and in the news.

I also love listening to the podcasts of Charlie Rose interviews and Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR to new and cultural topics of the day.  Just for fun, I really enjoy the Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me podcasts for fun info in the weeks news!

Interesting conection tool for reading books and sharing experiences — a Web2.0 version of your local book club.  Right now I am about halfway through Team of Rivals (Doris Kearns Goodwin — go Concord MA!), and Lincoln with his Cabinet and the Country are embroiled in the early stages of the Civil War — extemely intelligent and thoughtful writing which really captures the behind the scence tensions and complex issues of the time — the reading flies by for such a deep topic.  LibraryThing is helpful for to find folks with common reading interests and books to send your on the next topic and adventure.  Thanks.

Very interesting and fun Web2.0 Tools — these offered 2-weeks of fun exploration — I hope to continue playing with these tools and find ways to put them into my science and chemistry classes — The demos are pretty straight-forward and easy to use — an just playing with them help me get more comfortable.

The Tools

• 30boxes - http://30boxes.com
  Calendar application that includes to-do list, phone reminders, sharing and many other features.
• Blabberize – http://blabberize.com
  Turn any photo into a talking cartoon.
• Gliffy – http://www.gliffy.com/
  Collaborative concept mapping tool (like an online version of Inspiration).
• JigZone – http://www.jigzone.com/
  Digital jigsaw puzzles – upload your own photos, graphics or scanned artwork
• LetterPop – http://letterpop.com/
  Easily create drag-and-drop newsletters, scrapbooks and flyers using your own photos and ready-made templates.
• MixBook – http://www.mixbook.com
  Create interactive books using original photos or artwork.
• Mnemograph – http://mnemograph.com/
  Use text and images to create an elegant, interactive timeline.
• Picnik – http://www.picnik.com/
  Edit digital photos in your browser.
• Pikistrips – http://pikistrips.com
  Create custom comic strips using your own or Flickr Creative Commons photos.
• PollDaddy – http://polldaddy.com
  Create custom polls and surveys to embed in any web page. Results displayed in a graph.
• Quizlet – http://quizlet.com/
  Create and share interactive study materials. Keep track of your progress automatically.
• Ta-da List - http://www.tadalist.com/
  Easy to use to-do list. Add items, sort them, share them, check them off as you complete them.
• ToonDoo – http://www.toondoo.com/
  Create and share your own comic strips using an array of characters, settings and custom speech balloons.
• Weebly – http://weebly.com
  Create a drag-and-drop website in minutes — no technical expertise necessary!
• Wordle – http://wordle.net/
  Create colorful, graphical ‘word clouds’ from text that you provide. Apply custom layouts, fonts and colors, Super cool.
• Writeboard - http://www.writeboard.com/
  Create a collaborative document that you can share with anyone by sending them the URL and password.

http://k12learning20.wikispaces.com/12-conference

Kicking it up a Notch
Connecting Classrooms Across Continents: Planning and Implementing Globally Collaborative Projects

http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=335

By Dean Shareski ⋅ October 29, 2008 ⋅ Email this post ⋅ Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

Kim Cofino Bangkok, Thailand & Jen Wagner California, USA

Blog:http://mscofino.edublogs.org & http://jenuinetech.com/blog/

Bio: https://k12online08presenters.wikispaces.com/Kim+Cofino & https://k12online08presenters.wikispaces.com/Jen+Wagner

Great resource — On-Line Projects for Teachers to help make wikis and other Web2.0 tools to connect teachers from around the world.  EarthWatch is another good example to connect teachers globally, and also connect in-field environmental science data.  They can connect teachers in the field with sending-schools and others, while collecting data — connections directly to the classroom.

Understanding by Design — outline goal, essential questions, enduring understandings, and outcomes — work backward through Backwards Design — start at the end with the Authentic Final Assessment, then work backwards to the starting line — create the road map from the end to the beginning.