Spotlight

Image by Ludwig Gatzke via Flickr

There were so many links shared at the DEN Symposium, that I want to be sure that you have them too! Most of these are found from within the Edmodo.com group as well, but I found it easier to see them in this format.

• Edmodo.com - to create a collaborative environment for members of a committee or the whole faculty to communicate online, share links, video, photos
• Symbaloo.com - create a start up page with "buttons" to link to places you use most often. IF you have used PageFlakes, or NetVibes, this is a similar concept.
• Padilicious.com - create content for your iPad
• iPad app suggestions
• iPods and iPads in the Classroom blog
• iPad Pilot Project in Palm Beach County, FLA
• More iPad apps - iAnnotate
• Medical apps for iPad
  
• FableVision.com - FREE poster library
• Geocaching Wiki by Porter Palmer includes her Prezi
  
• Bacon! a widget by Purina
• ScanLife - a place to make QR codes for your website
• Zooburst - augmented reality in pop-up books
• UDL - Universal Design for Learning Wiki Toolkit
• Supporting Every Learner UDL
  
• Lisa's Civil War Project Wiki - resources, life of a soldier
• TripWow - from TripAdvisor, you can create a slide show with your images from various online sites
• TechyNana Glogster links
• Patriotic Glogster sample
• Glogster Ambassador Program
  
• WallWisher from AmeriDEN iDol how to use Wallwisher? WallWisher #2 from DEN
  
• LiveBinders from the DEN, a sample
• GoogleFight - compare your online presence to another, funny
• PD for the Teachers using 21st Century Skills a GoogleDoc
• Cell Phones in the classroom a GoogleDoc
• Using MP3 Players in classroom a GoogleDoc
  
• How to get a 1 to 1 program going a GoogleDoc
  
• Prezi Resources from Lance
• DEN event ideas a GoogleDoc
• MyVR Spot - User created content
• Discovery Educator Anthem w/ Lodge McCammon
• Lodge's site with all his songs and lyrics
• Group videos from session with Lodge
  
• Marco Torres website with hints and instructions for using Music/Video in class
• Dr. Howie DiBlasi - from BLC webpage with links for this thoughts and programs
• Jeff Utecht's links and presentation materials from BLC
• Dean Shareski - preso from BLC - 4 Billion Photos
  
• Julia Leong - from BLC Re-Imagining Learning with Collaborative Technology
  
• Darren Kuropatwa presentation at BLC Disign Matters
  
• Richard Voltz preso from BLC - Communication Tools for Administrators
  
• Sarah Kajder's wiki presentation from BLC
• Tom Daccord's blog from BLC
  
• Encyclopedia of Life: Biodiversity Encyclopedia from BLC
  
• The 3R's Rebooting the Early Years wiki
• Joyce Valenza preso from BLC and her Glogster with web2.0 tools
• Lee Kolbert presentation resources
  
• Digital Storytelling with the iPad
• David Jakes presention resources
• Gary Hayes Social Media Counts
• 10 embeddable resources
• Lemons for Literacy - just like FREE RICE
• Region 2 Digital Library - many links to explore
• Paper.li - let someone else aggregate your Twitter feeds or #tags and put into a newspaper style for easy reading
• How secure is MY password?
• Site for creating objectives
• Backupify - free site to do back up of social media
• Greetings from the world wiki project
• Forensic Science prezi
• Steve Dembo's Day in the life prezi
• DEN Prezi webinar
• Jen Brinson's Prezi and introduction on her wiki
• Jen Dorman's Google Tools site
• Lisa Parisi's blog post about Chris Dede
• Steve Dembo's post about Chris Dede w/ link to Dede's presentation
• The Augmented Reality Game on video from Dede's presentation
• Simple Augmented Reality wiki with great resources
• Wikispaces Augmented Reality site
• Commoncraft on augmented reality
  
• 4th grade augmented reality game - Energy
• GE Augmented Reality from above game
  
• Games Alfresco - augmented reality site with examples
• Flight demo of augmented reality
• Radford Ourdoor Augmented reality at school
• Wiki created at DENLC with more links
• ARGNet - augmented reality gaming network
  
• More augmented reality in the gaming world
• TED talk about augmented reality
• TED talk#2 about wearable augmentd reality devices
  
• Microsoft's Future Vision video from Dede presentation
• World Simulation Project - Digital Ethnography
  
• Yolink - will extract websites from a page - try it to gather the sites from above!
  
• Dean Mantz CoverITLive of sessions on Kansas DEN Blog
• Wiffiti.com - publishes real time messages from many sources
• Yearbookyourself.com
• Mrs. Liles Moodle sample
  
• Kelly Hines BLC10 Bookmarks on Delicious
• Bloom's Digital Taxonomy wiki
• Quest Atlantis - game site
• Seth Godin's book Tribes - a free download from audible.com
  
• Project Gutenberg - links to free books
• Story in EducationWeek on cell phones in classroom
• SMS to a group with TextMarks
• Remember the milk - app for cell phone organization
• Jott.com - send yourself a voice message and it will convert to text and email it to you
• Film on the Fly - quick cell phone video contest
• Liz Kolb - blog on Cell Phones in Learning
• Dragon Dictation apps for mobile phones
• Google Voice is open for all
• The Horizon Report
• Learn through Doing - Interact Simulations
• Christine Southard's blog with many tips
• Lisa Parisi's blog - join the conversation
  
• Reading Made Easy
• vozMe - type in speech and it will repeat in Spanish or Italian, Hindi, Portugese
• The Awesome highlighter
• ProScope HR for wireless connection to iPad
• iPads in the classroom
• GoogleSearch stories - make your own
• the DEN LSymposium LOGO
• DigitalWish is a way to get some funding
• Recycle toner/cartridges with Fundingfactory.com and get some cool stuff for your school

Enjoy!!

Image by rmom352 via Flickr

Even though most of us were not there at the DEN LC Syposium or the DEN Summer Institute, in Bentley University, we followed the discussions on various ways; Twitter, Edomodo, CoverItLive, Plurk and of course reading the blogs that were posted with tips, websites, videos and photos of the action. The first day Steve Dembo introduced us to using Edmodo to share thoughts, opinions and information that needed to be shared. Not only did the groups do that, but produced several smaller groups for specific information. Here is a link to the notes and group codes for The DEN LC Symposium if you wish to look back at some of the conversaton. So not only was our collaboration side by side, but across the miles as we followed, responded and even made some real face to face friends.
See you all next year!

Image via CrunchBase

Tuesday evening the two guys from Glogster, Andrew and Jim, came to get input from the group about what new features they would like to see. There were questions about connecting and collaboration which we will see in the newer versions of Glogster in about 6 months. Did you know that the product was developed in Prague? Most of us did not either.

You can become a Glogster Ambassador by clicking on the link at the very bottom of the main page. Read through the details carefully and send along your information. In addition to the Ambassador program, Glogster will send you some information, handouts and some previews for the pro version to give away at any training session you deliver.

In addition to the above enhancements, Glogster is in talks with Discovery for some direct connections. This follows their announcement that you can now embed glogs into wikispaces and PBworks. Watch for some announcement about Glogster for iPad as well, it is in progress.

When starting out with Glogster be sure to view the introduction tutorials and if you email the team about an enhancement or feature you think will improve the product, you just might see it in the next release!

Image by rmom352 via Flickr

Today was filled with unconference sessions set by request of the participants. There were 24 different sessions offered in 4 time slots. My day began with geocaching in the rain with Porter Palmer. She confessed to being new to geocaching, but has a great depth of knowledge and enthusiasm about sharing it with others. We started with a discussion of devices vs iPhone app and decided to go with the Garmin device for this morning's adventure.

Porter placed over 10 caches on this campus for participants to locate during the conference. After learning how to use the Garmin, we set off in search of the first find. There are many types of cache containers and objects to use, but she recommended using the travel bugs from geocaching.com since they offer their services for free and selling items is a source of income for them. It is nice to support this organization in this way. Containers can be the leftover container from Chinese food, to official boxes purchased online.

How would you use this in the classroom? Many ideas were shared including: following directions, scavenger hunts, informational cache, study guide questions at each station, group project at cache like math question and the answer will lead to the next clue, for smaller children you have one or two caches with prizes.

All in all it was a fun walk around this part of campus looking for caches of different types, even if there were a million steps involved!! Thanks Porter.

Image by rmom352 via Flickr

Last night we had the pleasure of visiting the office of Peter Reynolds company, FableVision which are located in the Boston Children's Museum on the harbor. The work areas are whimsical as each person has their own collection of toys, books and visuals around their working area. Posters of Peter's artwork adorn the entrance to the offices, along with the numerous awards FableVision as received for software as well as animation productions.

In addition to 18 published books, FableVision has created several animated short films and a new feature film will be out next year. Their website offers many educational tips including a word of the week in a poster format so you can easily print and post in your classroom.

Peter graciously spoke to the group about his inspiration, a middle school math teacher who encouraged Peter to use his doodles to show what he knew about math concepts. He made his first animation at age 12 and never turned back. His latest book "Rose's Garden" is dedicated to this teacher and the story is based upon Rose Kennedy's love of gardening and the new greenway along the harbor of Boston. Each of us received an autographed copy of this book to remind us to inspire, desire and encourage our dreams and the dreams of our students to come to life.

Image by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com via Flickr

This site will take to you a ma that will illustrate the size of the BP oil leak compared to a map of your area. I was appalled to see this in relation to my area.

Image via Wikipedia

Come to the Philadelphia Zoo this summer for FREE. The intent is to have teachers visit then plan to bring their students on a field trip later in the year. The Philadelphia Zoo is the nations first zoo and has made many improvements of the past several years.

In addition, their education department has a summer institute for teachers as described in this link.

Begin your trip with the Discovery video “Beyond the Bars: Zoos and Zoo Animals (1987)”. There are blackline masters, a teacher’s guide and a quiz you can use with your class too!

This site is full of logic games for many age levels. At this time of the school year, you may need a time filler at the end of class as students finish projects. You can even put this up on your IWB and have groups of students try their hand at solving the puzzles contained within the pages. Caution, their are puzzles with NO directions. Part of the puzzle is trying to figure out the puzzle! Be patient, as the flash loads very slowly. Enjoy...

1. Casual Game Play #1 -
   
2. Casual Game Play #2 - make sure to try the island/volcano game
3. Casual Game Play #3 - click and drag
4. Casual Game Play #4 - ball physics

Image via Wikipedia

Searching for information can be cumbersome if you don't have a plan. Random searching can produce a lucky find, but most of the time you need a plan for what keywords you will use and know a little about your subject. For example if you are searching for the text of Abraham Lincoln's speeches, using "Lincoln" in the search box will result in over 151 million hits. But if you narrow your search to Lincoln's speeches +text you may get around 65,000 hits. Well either way it is too many to look through in one day!

Here is a great resource for searching.

Image by rmom352 via Flickr

This is a re-post from Tim Childers' blog; Beyond the Bell. You can create a quick way to take attendance on an Excel spreadsheet that can be used in your classroom. Students check themselves IN. For a complete step-by-step series of instructions, visit Tim's blog.