Blended Edu

Friday, March 31, 2006

日本語で利用できる今BlendedEdu


日本の私達の友人への歓迎!: 混ぜられたEdu は 社会的なソフトウェア、オンラインコミュニティ、及び勉強の集中性に興味を起こさせられる教師、学生、及び他に教育の技術資源及びカリキュラム材料を提供することに専用されている。


BlendedEdu is now available in Japanese! Welcome! Welcome!

posted by Derek Baird at 18:50 | 1 Comments

Open Source Thinking, Learning, & Collaboration

Here's an Idea: Let Everyone Have Ideas: "Most companies operate under the assumption that big ideas come from a few big brains: the inspired founder, the eccentric inventor, the visionary boss. But there's a fine line between individual genius and know-it-all arrogance.

What happens when rivals become so numerous, when technologies move so quickly, that no corporate honcho can think of everything? Then it's time to invent a less top-down approach to innovation, to make it everybody's business to come up with great ideas."

While this article is clearly directed at the business crowd, I think there's also some important insight to be gained for the education crowd too. Many in education circles are still holding onto the top-down centric "sage-on-the-stage" teaching model.

What if education took a page from the open source playbook and created a new learning model where each pupil had an opportunity to contribute, share and discuss ideas with the group, while simultaneously exploring a personalized learning path?

Clearly the influx of multimedia, technology, and the web has changed the way students learn. Isn't it time we also changed our teaching practices to meet the needs of these digital learning styles?

Links

posted by Derek Baird at 14:51 | 0 Comments

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Virtual Fieldtrip Resources

The Getty Museum
  • Lesson Plans: All lessons meet California state visual arts content standards. Includes lessons and curricula for K-12 and ESL teachers.
  • Whyville: An online world where kids can chat with other kids from all over the globe.
  • TeacherArtExchange: Online listserv for teachers and educators.
Virtual Sweden

  • Louvre, 360: Panoramic view of the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.
  • Cathedral of Uppsala: A virtual visit to a cathedral in Stockholm, Sweden which was inaugurated in 1435 after nearly 200 years of construction.
WebMuseum Network
Digital Historian

Exploratorium

Tech Museum of Innovation

British Library

  • Online resources, collections, virtual exhibits, images, and sound collection too!

The Science Museum

  • The Science Museum in London has teaching resources and online exhibitions! Cool stuff for students & teachers alike!

If you know of any other great online exhibits, museum, or virtual field trip resources, please feel free to post them in the comments section!

posted by Derek Baird at 15:52 | 0 Comments

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Newsweek: Putting the 'We' in the Web

The New Wisdom of the Web: "What makes the Web alive is, quite simply, us. Our presence, most often conducted at the speed of broadband, is constant and mandatory...

Less than a decade ago, when we were first getting used to the idea of an Internet, people described the act of going online as venturing into some foreign realm called cyberspace. But that metaphor no longer applies.

MySpace, Flickr and all the other newcomers aren't places to go, but things to do, ways to express yourself, means to connect with others and extend your own horizons. Cyberspace was somewhere else. The Web is where we live."

And increasingly, the Web is where we will learn too!

Links

posted by Derek Baird at 13:01 | 0 Comments

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

TurnHere: Short Films for Learning

Need some video microcontent for your social studies or history class? Then you need to check out TurnHere!

TurnHere is "an Internet video destination which chronicles different neighborhoods and places across the country with short (2-4 min) video tours of historical sites, cultural neighborhoods, history, and people." These films can be viewed on your computer, or even downloaded onto your iPod (video podcast!).

There are a wide variety of TurnHere films that can be used in an educational context in the classroom:

  • You can even travel to NY, NY and learn all about peanut butter (and even catch a glimpse of Elvis)!

Turn Here Video Links

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posted by Derek Baird at 10:52 | 0 Comments

Sunday, March 26, 2006

LibriVox

The objective of the LibriVox project is to make all books in the public domain available, for free, in audio format on the internet. LibriVox is a totally open source, free content, public domain project.

Volunteers record chapters of books, and then release the audio files back onto the net (podcast and catalog). These stories can be downloaded on to an iPod or other mp3 player, burned on to a CD, and easily integrated into the curriculum.

The catalog of books is constantly growing and includes audio books for both adults and children. The LibriVox catalog contains many classic children's stories, including: Alice in Wonderland, Great Big Treasury of Beatrix Potter, and Jack London's Call of the Wild.

LibriVox is a great way to combine kid's love of mobile technology with classic literature. But more importantly the LibriVox project provides teachers and students with a virtual library of literature they may not otherwise have access to at their own schools or communities.

Links

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posted by Derek Baird at 12:36 | 0 Comments

Friday, March 24, 2006

SpeEdChange: Assistive Technology & Learning

Ira Socol maintains an informative weblog, SpeEdChange, where he discusses how assistive technology can impact literacy throughout the school experience.


Links

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posted by Derek Baird at 17:55 | 0 Comments

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Leveraging Community

“The challenge lies in bringing administrators and faculty together in ways that leverage their individual talents, while capitalizing on their differences.

In this way we create a tension between ways of thinking and knowing that results in better research product than could ever have been created without such diversity.

No one "expert" can teach everyone else how to design or carry out the best program research. Those decisions must rely on the strength of a community of individuals with various perspectives that, when summed together, produce the best possible product by leveraging what is known at large."

—Dr. Mercedes Fisher

posted by Derek Baird at 20:55 | 0 Comments

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Help Rebuild the New Orleans Public Library






The New Orleans Pubic Library (NOPL) is accepting books and donations. See how the rebuilding effort is going and how you can help.

The NOPL site also offers links for those who want to help post-Katrina rebuilding efforts in other ways.

Links

posted by Derek Baird at 14:15 | 0 Comments

Sunday, March 19, 2006

KidCast: A book, a podcast, and now a community!

Our friend Dan Schmit, author of KidCast: Learning and Teaching with Podcasting, recently announced an exciting new way for you to be involved in building the educational podcaster community--KidCast Forums!

KidCast Forums is a new online community where you can do anything from posting a link to a kid-friendly podcast, sharing podcast curriculum integration ideas, or learn how get started podcasting (with a little help from other teachers).

Dan (with a little help from his sidekick Jamal) continues to produce a quality podcast discussing the many educational benefits of introducing podcasting into the classroom.

Recently, Dan conducted a very interesting and insightful interview with Dr. Guy Trainin, one of his colleagues at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, on the connections between education, literacy, and the use of social media (like podcasts) in the classroom.

So give KidCasts a listen! And if you don't have iTunes downloaded on your computer, you can listen to KidCast from the comfort of your browser (no software download required!) on Yahoo! Podcasts!

Great work Dan! And Jamal too....


KidCast Links

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posted by Derek Baird at 21:26 | 0 Comments

Saturday, March 18, 2006

Focus on Technology & Special Needs Students

Education World recently published a series of articles exploring how teachers are using technology to help kids with special needs participate in classroom lessons and activities.

Another very good example of how teachers are integrating social media and mobile technologies into the special needs curriculum can be found in Sean O'Sullivan's weblog.

Sean is the Deputy Head teacher at the Frank Wise School (UK), where they are doing some fantastic work using podcasting, GeoBlogging, and mLearning technologies as a way to help disabled students share what they do in the classroom with their parents and the community.

You can find out Sean and his students are up to by listening to their podcast via Yahoo! Podcasts or iTunes.

Thanks to Sean for sharing this with the BlendedEdu community!


Education World Resources & Links

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posted by Derek Baird at 18:10 | 0 Comments

On Shared Practice and Community

“Living systems contain their own solutions. When they are suffering in any way - from divisive relationships, from lack of information, from declining performance - the solution is always to bring the system together so that it can learn more about itself from itself.

Somewhere in the system there are people who have already figured out how to resolve this problem. They are already practicing what others think is impossible.”

-Dr. Margaret Wheatley

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posted by Derek Baird at 10:52 | 0 Comments

Friday, March 17, 2006

German Language Podcasts & Learning Resources

The German for Travellers website has a myriad of educational tools, including: grammar, audio, text, games, and video activities designed to help you learn German in a situated context.

Or try the video podcast My German Class or the audio podcast series Let's Speak German. Both are available via Yahoo! Podcasts.

On a side note, the website and blog for MyGermanClass have a wonderfully wacky sense of humor! I love it. Humor and laughter are highly underrated--especially in an educational context.

So was warten Sie? Ergreifen Sie Ihr iPod und lassen Sie uns Deutsches erlernen!

Web Resources

[4/15 update: Maxie, the force behind Let's Speak German, is using YackPack in her online classes. I've included the link to her German language YackCast above! Great work Maxie! ]

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posted by Derek Baird at 19:02 | 1 Comments

Thumbstacks

"With Thumbstacks.com, you can make presentations - like slideshows, or outlines - right in your web browser. When you're done, you can share your presentations with anyone, anywhere, just by sending them a link."

Students can use the Thumbstacks presentation builder to organize, create, and share a PBL project via the web with their teacher and peers.

Using Thumbstacks, teachers can create a presentation for use in the classroom, and then easily share it on the web so students can view it on demand. This is a good way to meet the "always on" learning styles of the Net Generation.

A Thumbstacks presentation link in a class newsgroup or course blog, provides online instructors with an easy and effective way to distribute or present course materials to students.

Links

posted by Derek Baird at 17:39 | 0 Comments

Thursday, March 16, 2006

YackPack: Let's do the Timeshift

Our friends over at YackPack have released a new and exciting feature: Audio Blogging for Groups. Over on his blog, YackPack founder BJ Fogg describes how the introduction of threaded audio allows you to have "timeshifted conversations."

Says the Fogg:

"When you click the play button, all the audio messages play in sequence inside a pack. You can jump forward or backward."
You can check out this nifty new feature by visiting the YackPack homepage. Just click the "play" button and you will see for yourself how this feature really bumps up the community cred factor on YackPack.

Right now the YackPack team is calling this new feature "Audio Forum." But they want to jazz that name up a bit. So if you have any good suggestions, you can leave those here. So far, the only name I've thought of is ChatterBoxYP.

Hmm. Perhaps not.

Links

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posted by Derek Baird at 10:43 | 0 Comments

InterLangua:Real Time Video and Voice Tutoring

Video and Voice-over combined creates a unique service to learn Spanish. InterLangua provides language tutors to tutor you or your students in real-time, through video conferencing and using voice-over providing a new delivery method to learn a language.

Currently used at Duke University, Marist College and the University of Texas Medical Branch, this new service provides human interaction via the Internet, allows for one-on-one learning, along with an authentic learning experience.

"InterLangua's tutoring service does not require any proprietary hardware. The tutoring session is created in a standard internet browser. It includes Instant Messaging and a shared whiteboard. It is available to any school or individual with a broadband internet connection."

"It is the quality of the tutors that will be most important in the long run. The technology is just the delivery vehicle for these college educated, experienced professionals," said Peter Spevacek.

The technology is just the delivery tool that allows us to do things in a different way, the tutors are the most important aspect of this delivery method.

posted by maryanne campo at 04:13 | 2 Comments

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Flickr Spelling Bee

LEARrrNIiiNGold 2full stop0 O

Pick a word, any word and this nifty tool will spell it using photographs from Flickr!

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posted by Derek Baird at 10:01 | 1 Comments

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Using Games in Education - Online Gaming Course

Already know the value of games as educational learning tools and ready to move your interest in using them with your students to the next level? But need to know more about game theory and the practical application of educational 'gaming.'

There is an easy way to learn how to engage your students in their learning with digital games.

"Muzzy Lane Software, in collaboration with the Game Institute, bring you the hands-on training you can apply to any class environment and any grade level."

This four-week online, interactive course will prepare you to integrate computer games into your curriculum.

This is a great professional development opportunity without leaving your home.

posted by maryanne campo at 22:06 | 0 Comments

Google Mars: Robots and Martians Not Included

Google Mars is a new web-based mapping tool that gives users an up-close, interactive view of the Red Planet.

The maps don't provide driving directions to the nearest Starbucks, nor do they identify any Martian or robot colonies, but what they do show is the incredible geological diversity of the planet Mars.

The maps also provide information on the location where spacecraft launched by the USA, UK, and Russia have landed on the planet. A click of the accompanying spacecraft thumbnail image provides a link to an overview of that particular mission.


Links

posted by Derek Baird at 09:34 | 0 Comments

Monday, March 13, 2006

Math Moves U

Math Moves U: "Math is at work in more places than you think: Calculating the angle for a successful skateboard jump. Striking the ball at the right speed to score. Deciding how far your band has to travel to make it to tomorrow's gig. Ordering fabric for the hottest designer's new line."

Math Moves U shows student's how they can follow in the footsteps of famous athletes and X Games Superstars with a little help from some math technology."

posted by Derek Baird at 19:35 | 0 Comments

mLearning Toolbox: Spark Notes Mobile

SparkNotes and SparkNotes.com are a popular series of books and study guides which help students learn and practice basic skills, study for a test, and achieve their academic goals.

Now SparkNotes has gone mobile!

SparkNotes are now available for download on your iPod (both in text and audio format) or via SparkMobile, a SMS version for mobile phones.

But wait! There's more...

Students can subscribe to the SAT Word-A-Day service and have vocabulary words delivered directly to their mobile phone. And if that wasn't enough, SparkNotes has also created a search widget for your desktop!

So what are you waiting for? Grab your mobile phone, iPod, widget, or PSP and get Sparking!

Links

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posted by Derek Baird at 17:07 | 0 Comments

Saturday, March 11, 2006

MySpace Cheat Sheet for Parents

via Wired: "MySpace can be unfamiliar ground to busy parents, and not everything is as it seems on the site.

So Wired News addresses some of the most pressing questions parents might have if they explore their teenager's relationship with MySpace."

Links

posted by Derek Baird at 10:13 | 0 Comments

Friday, March 10, 2006

Yahoo! Design Pattern Library

Yahoo! is providing design patterns and resources which you can use to mash-up, create, and integrate Yahoo! social media products into your web site, online learning environment, or other e-learning application!

Yahoo! Design Pattern Library: "This is our first drop of what we hope to be a monthly release cycle for the publication of patterns. In many cases we have bundled the patterns with pointers to related code from the Yahoo! User Interface Code Library.

We are very happy to be sharing our library with the design and development community. We hope this is a useful resource and look forward to your feedback."

Links

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posted by Derek Baird at 13:06 | 0 Comments

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Podcast Italiano!

For a long time now, I've been toying with the idea of learning Italian. But like so many other people, I found myself too busy to sit in a traditional classroom.

And although I'm a big believer in situated learning, I don't see an extended stay in Italy in my future anytime soon.

So recently I turned to the world of podcasting to help me with this learning goal. Here are a few of the Italian language podcasts I've discovered so far:

If you know of any additional podcasts, please feel free to post them in the comments. And scuse to Rosemary Clooney for the title of this post!


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posted by Derek Baird at 00:02 | 0 Comments

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

2006 Online Educa Berlin

Nicolas Chaunu, Chief Project Manager at eMob, reports that the 12th Annual 2006 Online Educa Berlin Conference will focus on the ways social media (edutainment, wikis, blogs, podcasting) can support student learning:

En effet, la prochaine édition de Online Educa Berlin est déjà
annoncée et le programme de cette année semble tout spécialement alléchant :

  • Serious Games
  • Apprentissage informel
  • Wikis, blogs, blikis (tiens, je le connaissais pas celui-là), podcasting dans un contexte d’apprentissage.
  • Evaluation de la performance (via)
Online Educa Berlin is one of the largest and most important international e-learning conferences in the world, attracting e-learning and online education professionals from both the public and private sectors.

The 2006 Online Educa Berlin Conference provides participants with an unique opportunity to network with collegues from around the globe, and is another reminder that this is an exciting time to be involved in the rapidly evolving world of e-learning.

Merci Nicolas and eMob!

Links

posted by Derek Baird at 10:20 | 0 Comments

Online High School

via Mattily Publishing: "Finding an Online High School features profiles of 113 high schools that offer courses through the Internet.

The profiles offer detailed information on each institution, such as accreditation, tuition, and educational philosophy.

An exhaustive index helps readers track down specific courses that they need or want to take on the Web. Math, science, history, English, even physical education—name the course, and this book will help you find it online.

This comprehensive guide provides students, teachers, and educators with a road map to the rapidly expanding field of online high schools."

posted by Derek Baird at 00:17 | 0 Comments

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Google Digitizes Historic Video Clips

Want to show a video clip of the historic moon landing or a World War II video clip to your class? Need to add some video content to your online course via your learning management system (LMS)? Want to add a short video clip to your PowerPoint or Pachyderm 2.0 presentation?

Now Google has made that easy for you. Google has begun a pilot program to digitize historic films from the National Archives that gives the general public access to a wide variety of movies, documentaries, and other collections of films.

What about using these clips for writing prompts in your English, Language Arts, or ESL/EFL classes? Nothing prompts emotions and sparks ideas like pictures do. You might find your students writing more than you expected.

From eSchool News...

posted by maryanne campo at 06:05 | 0 Comments

vSKOOL: Linking Hurricane Victims to Online Educational Resources

vSKOOL.org: "The purpose of vSKOOL is to serve as an online clearinghouse of offerings of education products & services to K-12 students, teachers, and families affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The aim of the vSKOOL blog is to share information to enable all of us - as a community of concerned individuals, organizations, and institutions of all types - to better respond to the needs of those displaced."

Please take a look at the various programs and volunteer opportunities listed on the vSKOOL blog and help rebuild schools along the Gulf Coast.

Links

posted by Derek Baird at 00:29 | 0 Comments

Monday, March 06, 2006

mLearning Toolbox: TivoToGo

Tivo recently announced that it will be rolling out a new program that allows customers to synchronize and download programs to some of the most popular portable devices on the market: the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and the video iPod.

The introduction of the TivoToGo mobile service will provide online and frontline instructors with another platform on which they can distribute content and accomodate the increasingly mobile learning styles of today's students.

Links

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posted by Derek Baird at 14:51 | 0 Comments

Open Source LMS: The Docebo Project


The Docebo Project is a free, open source suite of e-learning products developed by Docebo SRL. Docebo is a Latin word that means “I will teach.”

The Docebo LMS has been downloaded more than 13, 000 times and the Docebo community includes more 8,000 registered users. Doecebo features include:

  • E-Learning platform (LMS)
  • Content Management System (CMS)
  • Knowledge management system (KMS)
Click here for the LMS complete list of functions.

Il progetto docebo è una suite open source completamente gratuita, che rispetta i canoni di accessibilità e che comprende:

  • Piattaforma di e-learning (LMS)
  • Content Management System (CMS)
  • Knowledge management system (KM o KMS)

Il sistema di e-learning Docebo LMS è stato scaricato, nelle sua versione precedente, più di 13.000 volte, conta una community di più di 8.000 utenti registrati.

Clicca qui per l'elenco completo delle funzioni.

Links

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posted by Derek Baird at 14:12 | 0 Comments

Sunday, March 05, 2006

YackPack en Français!

eMob YackPack Screencast: Nos amis plus d'à l'eMob ont juste signalé un examen merveilleux de YackPack. Le NIC a également créé un cours d'instruction français de langue pour illustrer à quel point il facile est d'employer YackPack pour e-learning.

Allez vont voir ! Il est magnifique !

Our friends over at the French language e-learning blog eMob have just posted a wonderful review of YackPack. Nic has also created a French language tutorial screencast to illustrate how easy it is to use YackPack.

Great work eMob!

Links

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posted by Derek Baird at 14:51 | 0 Comments

Saturday, March 04, 2006

SkyScout

Looking for new ways to enhance your science curriculum with technology?

Check out SkyScout.

SkyScout is a new small handheld GPS that allows you to point to the sky and instantly identify, locate and learn about stars, planets and constellations via audio or text.

"The SkyScout includes entertaining and educational audio and text information, including facts, trivia, history and mythology about our most popular celestial objects."

This type of tool allows students to lighten up their backpacks by carrying around a lot less to learn more.

Just think about how SkyScout will extend learning beyond the four classroom walls and 50 minute class time. You might even find students doing homework in their pajamas in their backyards under the night sky!

Links

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posted by maryanne campo at 15:31 | 0 Comments

Friday, March 03, 2006

China Open Resource for Education

China Open Resource for Education (CORE) is a non-profit organization committed to providing Chinese universities with free and easy access to global open educational resources.

CORE's mission is to promote closer interaction and open sharing of educational resources between Chinese and international universities, which CORE envisions as the future of world education.

Together, CORE and MIT have brought OpenCourseWare (OCW) to China. CORE has developed partnerships with international organizations and Chinese universities to enhance higher education, promote open sharing of educational resources in China, and share Chinese OCW globally.

Links