ElasTECHlearning » Digital Literacy http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers Seth Bowers Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:36:57 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Why Wikis Still Matter | Edutopia http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2011/10/20/why-wikis-still-matter-edutopia/ http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2011/10/20/why-wikis-still-matter-edutopia/#comments Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:34:24 +0000 sethbowers http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2011/10/20/why-wikis-still-matter-edutopia/

This is an article by Audrey Watters for Edutopia. It is a great overview & guide for teachers on the fence about using wikis with their students.

  • Why Wikis Still Matter | Edutopia

    Wiki is a Hawai’ian word meaning “fast” or “quick.” As a technology platform, Ward Cunningham installed the very first wiki on the Web in 1995. That was two years before the word “weblog” was coined (and four years before that term was shortened to “blog”). Wikis predate Facebook and Twitter by roughly a decade. At sixteen years old, the wiki predates almost every other social media tool (other than email, of course, which historians of technology say turns 40 this year). Why then, in the face of rapidly changing technology — all the new bells and whistles and Web 2.0 tools — should we still use wikis?

    tags: article wikis edutopia edtech

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

]]> http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2011/10/20/why-wikis-still-matter-edutopia/feed/ 0 Facebook Safety for Educators http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2010/04/15/facebook-safety-for-educators/ http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2010/04/15/facebook-safety-for-educators/#comments Thu, 15 Apr 2010 19:13:18 +0000 sethbowers http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2010/04/15/facebook-safety-for-educators/

Whether you love it, hate it, or just don’t get it, Facebook is a major social channel in the U.S.

Facebook is easy to use and has a huge user base (40 million).  It is growing rapidly.  Facebook has many positive features and applications. The ability to communicate & share with numerous people, from your closest friends to high school acquaintances is captivating. I’m on it (this is not a shameless ploy for friends).

More importantly your students are on it.

Facebook has just crafted a Facebook Safety for Educators page:

http://www.facebook.com/help/?safety=educators

It is helpful, insightful, and easy to use. Did you know that Facebook posts a policy banning children under 13? Do you know what you can do about children under 13 with accounts? Do you know the ins & outs of Facebook account security settings? What options do you have regarding harassment & cyber bullying? Follow the above link for that information and much more.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

]]> http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2010/04/15/facebook-safety-for-educators/feed/ 0 Measuring 21st-century skills Articles – ISTE unveils new tech standards for teachers http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/12/10/measuring-21st-century-skills-articles-iste-unveils-new-tech-standards-for-teachers/ http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/12/10/measuring-21st-century-skills-articles-iste-unveils-new-tech-standards-for-teachers/#comments Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:16:44 +0000 sethbowers http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/?p=421

A good, eye-opening read.

Measuring 21st-century skills Articles – ISTE unveils new tech standards for teachers.

]]> http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/12/10/measuring-21st-century-skills-articles-iste-unveils-new-tech-standards-for-teachers/feed/ 0 Web Safety Review http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/11/13/web-safety-review/ http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/11/13/web-safety-review/#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:40:14 +0000 sethbowers http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/?p=413

Chicago can seem like a big scary city. There are a lot of great and fun things to do, but it is also easy to get off the beaten path and find trouble. The Internet is a lot like that. It can be an amazing resource for knowledge, creativity, research, and fun, but you can also find trouble. Just like you wouldn’t allow your child to wander around a big city like Chicago unchaperoned, so to should you monitor your child’s activity on the Internet.

If you don’t spend a lot of time on the Internet discovering it’s many secrets may seem like a daunting task. It doesn’t have to be, and it might lead to greater communication between you and your children. Here are some basic safety tips.

  • Educate yourself
    • Find out what goes on at Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites. Find out how chat, IM (instant messaging) and file sharing work.
  • Communication
    • Talk to your children about protecting their identity online. Stranger danger exists on the Internet too – the false sense of safety on the Internet might make it seem all right to give out information to strangers. Don’t!
    • Find out what sites your children visit. Start a conversation about why they are drawn to them and what makes them exciting.
    • Talk to your children about pornography and other inappropriate content and what to do if they come across it.
    • Talk to your children about bullying and hate speech. Give your children options on how they can talk to you about these difficult subjects.
    • Manage your children’s time on the Internet. The Internet can be an appropriate place to work and play, but young people shouldn’t have free range at all times.
    • Keep computers out of children’s bedrooms. The best places for computers in homes with young children are out in the open where usage can be monitored.

The Internet is enormous and ever expanding. No one person can know all of it, but if you start to educate yourself now you can begin a healthy conversation with your child about staying safe.

We have compiled some links to start your conversation about web safety. Head to following web address to check them out: http://tinyurl.com/62websafe.

]]> http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/11/13/web-safety-review/feed/ 0 10 YouTube URL Tricks You Should Know About http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/05/11/10-youtube-url-tricks-you-should-know-about/ http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/05/11/10-youtube-url-tricks-you-should-know-about/#comments Mon, 11 May 2009 14:44:36 +0000 sethbowers http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/05/11/10-youtube-url-tricks-you-should-know-about/

From MakeUseOf.com comes this list of handy YouTube URL tricks. Probably of most use to educators are the ability to post directly to a specific section of a video, hiding the search box, and disabling related videos. They’re all pretty cool, & hopefully some make your life easier.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

]]> http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/05/11/10-youtube-url-tricks-you-should-know-about/feed/ 0 iPod Educators http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/04/06/ipod-educators/ http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/04/06/ipod-educators/#comments Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:28:20 +0000 sethbowers http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/04/06/ipod-educators/

This Ning site is a great resource for using iPods in class.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

]]> http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/04/06/ipod-educators/feed/ 0 Google Tips http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/04/01/google-tips/ http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/04/01/google-tips/#comments Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:19:01 +0000 sethbowers http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/04/01/google-tips/

  • Creating temporary or fake emails for students
  • Embedding Google Calendars in your web space
  • Using Google docs as webspace

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

]]> http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/04/01/google-tips/feed/ 0 Twitter http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/03/05/twitter/ http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/03/05/twitter/#comments Fri, 06 Mar 2009 03:42:11 +0000 sethbowers http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/?p=233

Even on vacation I’m able to keep up with what some of the leading tech educators are thinking and doing – via Twitter. The video above, from the always great CommonCraft, is a great explanation of a difficult topic. (And if you follow back to ‘Twitter in Plain English’ on the CommonCraft site you’ll see the power of comments at work too.)

Educators, if you are timid, don’t be – there are a ton of us out here & we all want to connect. Just watch for awhile, then jump in. See you all next week.

Links:

Twitter
CommonCraft
Twitter in Plain English – main entry

]]> http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/03/05/twitter/feed/ 0 Google Earth Goes Under… Water! http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/02/03/google-earth-goes-under-water/ http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/02/03/google-earth-goes-under-water/#comments Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:10:27 +0000 sethbowers http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/?p=223

With the release of Google Earth 5 beta Google is giving us a heaping helping of watery goodness. The oceans get the same treatment that land has gotten in this update. And why not, since more that 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by oceans. Download Google Earth 5 & check it out.

Also, this once again underscores the need for faster network speeds, lcd projectors, & new computers in our classrooms.

Links:

Google Earth Download

Google Earth Ocean Overview

Google Earth Ocean NYT Article

Google Earth Users Group

]]> http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/02/03/google-earth-goes-under-water/feed/ 0 Apple IT & Learning http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/01/27/apple-it-learning/ http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/2009/01/27/apple-it-learning/#comments Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:40:27 +0000 sethbowers http://blog.d62.org/sethbowers/?p=209


This session is about Apple IT & Learning.

Technology as an environment not a tool.

Makes a good point & one that I commonly reiterate; teachers want to use technology, but they don’t necessarily how the technology is working.

Business Productivity Model – 21st Century

  • Monetary or Revenue Driven – Knowledge Creation & Dissemination
  • Cost Reduction (Productivity) – Creative Exploration
  • Highly Restrictive – Highly Collaborative, Interactive & Ad-Hoc
  • Software Solutions are Functional – Software Solutions are Expressive
  • Network Centric – User/Student Centric
  • Total Cost of Ownership – Total Opportunity of Ownership

A lot of references to the Maine School IT Decisions:

Link: MaineLearns.org

We’re going over a lot of iTunes stuff and also Apple workflow/iWork/XServe/media streaming, et cetera.

Mobility in Education

Media – 110,000 files on iTunesU

Web Apps – Vanderbuilt, ACU, MIT, U of Cincinnati

Native Apps – Noteshare,

Study Wiz

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