We're Having Fun at TEACH!

It's hot outside in NH, but it's cool where we holding TEACH! 2008. We're learning lots of cool stuff!

Share one thing that you learned at TEACH! that you want to incorporate into a class

What have you learned this week that you want to try to incorporate into your teaching? Let us know the reason for your choice. What are your critical success factors?

How do I get started using blogs in my teaching?

First, you need to create a blog. There are several organizations that offer free services. These services differ in the features offered and how easy it is to create and maintain your blog. The easiest one is probably blogger.com. Check out this web site to see comparisons of the different features of various programs used to creat blogs.

Here are links to some of the more popular programs used to create blogs:

• http://www.blogger.com/ (in three steps you're a blogger)


• http://www.wordpress.com/


• http://beblog.com/

Some tips on using blogs for teaching

"A blog will only be effective for students in their learning (and for your teaching) if it is relevant to the learning context being provided or developed. From a student's point of view the most pragmatic way in which this is understood is in terms of assessment - if a blog is used but contributes nothing to their final result, then it can be very hard to encourage students to use a blog."

Sebastian Fiedler, Seblogging
Link to the rest of the text.

Using blogs to integrate technology in the classroom
The links below give information about educational uses of blogs as well as tips on how to get started.

Downes, Stephen, "Educational Blogging," Educause, September/October 2004.

How to Start a Blog, wikiHOW, http://www.wikihow.com/Start-a-Blog.

Richardson, Will, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, Corwin Press, 2006.

Teaching Today, Blog Basics.

What is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 is the technical architecture that supports a variety of tools that enable social computing (aka social software, social media). "Social" is what distinguishes this set of applications because they facilitate sharing, publishing, collaboration, and community-building.

A great site to check out to learn about these tools is commoncraft. For your convenience, we have embedded the pertinent commoncraft video below the Web 2.0 tool. So, for example, watch "Blogs in Plain English," then check out a site where you can make your own blog.

• Blogs (e.g. blogger, word press)
  
  "Blogs in Plain English" By leelefever on November 30, 2007 - 12:27am.
  
  
  
• Wikis (e.g. wetpaint, wikispaces)
  
  "Wikis in Plain English"
  
  
  
• Social bookmarking or "Tagging" (e.g. del.icio.us)
  
  "Social Bookmarking in Plain English"
  
  
  
• XML feeds (e.g. RSS)
  
  "RSS in Plain English"
  
  
  
• Social networking sites (e.g. facebook.com, myspace.com, linkedin.com)

"Social Networking in Plain English"