It’s pre-planning time! I can tell because of the spike of hits on my blog that include the Google search phrase “lesson plans”. Oh, that and I’ve gone back to school this week. Now, onto the techie goodness …
I gave a technology overview to my coworkers this morning. We covered three main topics:
- Social bookmarking with del.icio.us
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Search on delicious before Google
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Share your bookmarks
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Find similar bookmarks using the “saved by ### other people” link
- I blogged about this in June — good info in there
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- Wikis with Wikispaces
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Put up a website without knowing code
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Collaborate with your students
- Check out the Chrysalis Wikispace
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- Blogging with Blogger
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Free blogs
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Google account holders are already signed up
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Examples: http://ceaphysics.blogspot.com, http://pc4sw06.blogspot.com/ (Canadian pre-calc class I mentioned), http://class.huffenglish.com/ (English teacher at Weber School in Sandy Springs)
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Delicious went over best, followed by Blogger. Teachers loved the tip of searching on del.icio.us before hitting Google. The cool thing about del.icio.us is that it’s obviously useful, but (like an onion!), you can dig through the layers of additional uses. Looking back, wikis didn’t go over well. The teachers didn’t “get it”. I think the shortcomings in the wiki coverage was that I didn’t have the time to show enough examples or let the teachers practice.
I really enjoyed giving this presentation, so I’m working on fleshing it out to submit to the GaETC Conference as a concurrent session this November.
Photo credit: “Ah, a fresh box of crayons” from Oh My Stinkin’ Heck‘s photostream
Technorati Tags: school, web2.0, teachers, k12, education, wiki, delicious, blogging, google, blogger
Megan Hayes-Golding 
Megan,
Thanks for this post. I have not figured out what to do with de.lic.ous yet, so I will be trying it out and learning. I have signed up and put some bookmarks there.
I will be presenting about Wikis a few times this year. I am really excited about them and I think that several people in the school I am working in are starting to use them. We’ll see!
Janice
You’re very welcome for the post! Have you had a chance to play with del.icio.us since then? I got so many tips for del.icio.us from Lucie delaBruere, the presenter, at NECC. She’s posted all her notes to a Wiki: http://necc2007.pbwiki.com/.
I’d love to hear how you approach teaching wikis. The topic went over like a lead balloon with my teachers. I’m certain I didn’t give a compelling presentation or nearly enough time so I’m interested in how others approach wikis.
My latest obsession is Google Docs. I’ve been using it extensively in one class and the results are pretty awesome. I’ll blog about it soon, I promise!