"If we teach today like we taught yesterday, we rob our
children of tomorrow"-
John Dewey, Educator;
Philosopher
"The future belongs
to young people who know where the knowledge is, how to get it, how to think
about it, and how to turn it into better work, better products, better lives."Rexford
Brown
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"Technology is just a tool. In terms of
getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is most
important." - Bill Gates
I’m sure this is old news to some of you; however, whether you are a fan of Google or not, Picnik is a must for online photo editing. I was reminded of this site by my daughter, who sent me this photo of her and our Howie.
Picnik , recently acquired by Google, is a fast, fun, easy to use and powerful set of photo editing tools for editing, sharing and printing images using any Internet browser on any computer platform. Picnik is integrated with a wide variety of websites like Picasa Web Albums, Facebook, Flickr, and Photobucket. With Picnik, you can edit your photos wherever they are from wherever you are.
You don’t have to create an account to use Picnik and it is FREE! Upload a picture and customize it in many, many, many, different ways. You’ll have loads of fun!
Hmmmmm…… I wonder who she was kissing before in this picture? An old boyfriend maybe?
CDW-G and Discovery, Hall Davidson and Steve Dembo; team up to help you make sense of the web, computers, and all it has to offer you and your students. Conquer your fears and learn just as much as your students by utilizing Hall and Steve’s lesson plans, activities, links and resources, and videos to help make Web 2.0 fit seamlessly into your classroom. There is even a 16 page PDF document for you to keep with you for reference at all times. Visit http://cdwg.discoveryeducation.com/web2.0/index.cfm and star it in your favorites. This is a resource you’ll use over and over.
Check out this jam-packed list of FREE webinars offered by Discovery Educator Network. Get ready for back to school with a visit to one , a few or all of the sessions listed below.
All sessions begin at 11 AM ET. Register Here. It’s free and easy.
Digital Storytelling Week
8/3/09
Thinking Outside the Slide: Creating non-linear PowerPoint presentations and learning centers with Discovery Education Media
8/4/09
Digital Storytelling Made Easy: Using Discovery Education Content with Animoto and PhotoStory
8/5/09
Director’s Cut: Discovery Education Media and MovieMaker (PC)
8/6/09
Director’s Cut: Discovery Education Media and iMovie (Mac)
Leadership Week
8/10/09
The Information Society is HERE: Are our schools up to the task? with Dr. Scott McLeod
8/11/09
Policies, Safety and Social Networking
8/12/09
Web 2.0 for Administrators and Others: Schools, Tools, and the 21st Century
8/13/09
Data Driven Decisions with Discovery Education Assessment
Science Week 8/17/09
Myth Busted: Easy Ways to Integrate Digital Media into Your Science Classroom
8/18/09
Getting Your Hands Dirty with Discovery Education Science
8/19/09
Differentiating Instruction with the Discovery Education Science Assessment Manager
8/20/09
More and Muir Tech Tips for Going Green
Web 2.0 Week
8/24/09
Get Your Glog On! The DE streaming Builders and Glogster
8/25/09
The Thread that Ties it All Together: Discovery Education Content and Voicethread
8/26/09
Two Roundtrip Tickets to Anywhere in the World: Designing Virtual Field Trips with Discovery Education Media and Google Earth
8/27/09
Learning Through the Funnies: Mixing Discovery Education Content with Free Comic Tools
Our district had the fantastic opportunity to host Will Richardson for his presentation of A Web of Connections. During an informal chat session for about 40 educators before his presentation, Will mentioned and showed a little about Twitter. The mention of this tool sparked quite a bit of interest in this group of teachers. Many of them set up accounts and are busy tweeting with each other and have found others around the country to tweet with. I know a couple have found some interesting people to collaborate with professionally about the content area in which they teach. Some even have some interesting ideas of how Twitter can be used as a classroom tool by their students.
The problem is it is blocked in our district(surprise, surprise). Twittering by our professionals has to take place after school hours away from our district network. In time, I think Twitter might be something that teachers might eventually have access to. In the meantime, for those teacher who wish to begin using it, here is an article I learned about that might help some beginners get started: 30 Twitter Tips for Teachers
To find teachers using Twitter who teach in the same content area as you, check out: Twitter4Teacher Wiki
A few weeks ago, a group of about 12 teachers from my district started a “book” club focusing on technology and literacy. To make a long story short, the books have not arrived yet so for the past few meetings we’ve been reading articles about emerging technologies in education. Diane Wilkinson , the group facilitator and technology instructional specialist extraordinaire, chose some great reading to get our brains thinking and the discussions rolling.
Last night’s topic was cell phone usage in our schools. We have been a bit behind in talking about the issue in our district, but yes, we do have the “ban” policy.
Some of the questions that came from our discussion were:
1. Cell phones have tools that can take the place to tools districts are not providing for students. Cell phones that students have have calculating and organizing capabilities not to mention built in photo and video tools. Web 2.0 applications readily available on the web can be downloaded for little or nothing onto phones . Do we as educators have the obligation to tap into the tools the students already have and show them how they can be used for more than socializing or should we deny students the use of the tools (they might have) because we don’t have them as resources to give to our students?
2. The cell phone is a staple in our student’s world. Are we doing them a disservice by not allowing them and showing them how that tool can be used appropriately from 8am to 3pm while in school?
Although Picnik has been around for awhile, it is worth mentioning again for all of you who don’t know about it. You don’t have to create an account to use it and it is FREE! Upload a picture and customize it in many, many, many, different ways. You’ll have loads of fun!
Here is a photo I created for the DEN Leadership Council Institute Attendees. I uploaded it into Picnik and was able to make the border B/W and keep the important part in color.
What do you get when you add 20,000 DEstreaming images ,Gimp and Dennis Swain?
You get a fantastic DEN webinar (hosted by none other than the northeast’s own Dennis Swain)full of practical, easy and fun tips for using images from DEstreaming.
Dennis showed the webinar participants how to search for, choose the correct size for your project and how to edit the photo chose with Gimp. Gimp is a photo editing software you can download for FREE. You can find it at http://www.gimp.org/.
Gimp can be used to easily crop this photo of the Roosevelt Bridge.
Dennis didn’t forget the Writing Prompt Builder in DEstreaming either. He showed us step by step how to incorporate one of those 20,000 images into a writing prompt: a simple way to incorporate technology media into your classroom.
Today I was having an honest and interesting conversation with a person who was showing me a thing or two about networks. It lead me to thinking (again) about how decisions are made about filtering at the K-12 level. Here is a poem I found. What do you think? What will you do with this poem? Post your reply within a comment.
We have a web filter
We are compliant with CIPA
We do not block applications
Needed by our teachers
To teach students
In the 21st century
Our filter blocks categories
Determined by a committee
Of teachers
And technology specialists
And media specialists
And district leaders
We block sites
To protect our children
Not to block instruction
When a teacher needs access
To a site that is blocked
We Unblock it
Requests to unblock sites
Are sent to an instructional leader
Not a technology hardware manager
Who is not grounded in
Instruction
But is more concerned about
The network
We allow web 2.0 apps
Like blogs
And wikis
And podcasts
And video streaming
And social networks
And social bookmarks
And anything that will prepare
Our students to learn
In the 21st Century
We believe that a web filter should
Allow for creative learning
Not restrict it
We understand that students
Will sometimes encounter
Sites that are not appropriate
I would rather have students encounter
A small number of questionable sites
If that means they have access
To the tools they need to learn
Rather than having inadequate access to learning tools
In order to never encounter risky sites
I believe that students
Need to be taught
How to navigate the web
And all of its glory
And all of its dangers
If they are never exposed
How will they learn to be
Digital citizens
I am sad that there are students
In our state
In our country
Who cannot collaborate
With other students beyond their classroom
Because their school leaders
And district leaders
And teachers
And parents
Are scared
We have a web filter
We are compliant with CIPA
We do not block applications
Needed by our teachers
To teach students
In the 21st century
It is true, there are abuses to some of the social networking sites out there. But like much in the media, don’t we only hear about the bad things?
The possibilities of social networking “done right” can open up the world to our students. By cautiously selecting sites used, digital citizenship education with students, and carefully planned guided activities; social networking could possibly be one of those tools that just might engage our students.
I’m sure this is old news to some of you; however, whether you are a fan of Google or not, Picnik is a must for online photo editing. I was reminded of this site by my daughter, who sent me this photo of her and our Howie.
30 Twitter Tips for Teachers
A few weeks ago, a group of about 12 teachers from my district started a “book” club focusing on technology and literacy. To make a long story short, the books have not arrived yet so for the past few meetings we’ve been reading articles about emerging technologies in education. 
What do you get when you add 20,000 DEstreaming images ,Gimp and Dennis Swain? 
Today I was having an honest and interesting conversation with a person who was showing me a thing or two about networks. It lead me to thinking (again) about how decisions are made about filtering at the K-12 level. Here is a poem I found. What do you think? What will you do with this poem? Post your reply within a comment. 
A recent issue of Brass magazine posted these new modern college majors for your high tech students:
It is true, there are abuses to some of the social networking sites out there. But like much in the media, don’t we only hear about the bad things? 