Using Social Technologies as Teaching Tools Day 1

Dear Class,

Welcome and thank you very much for taking the class. This class will have a pleasant tenor and tone of no or low pressure. We're going to cover a lot of exciting and new technology. We're going to have a great time doing it and you're going to leave here "loaded for bear" as they say. You'll have something concrete you can use in your classrooms in the fall.

Before we get into the subject material, we'll spend some time with workshop protocols and housekeeping procedures that, if we remember to follow them, will make our lives run much smoother during the next five days.

I'm going to use this format to outline our itinerary, my notes for you, and list some resources that you'll need access to. We'll see how it goes. I always try to "kill as many birds as I can" with one stone (for better of worse, who knows?). In that vein, you'll be using this format to maintain a journal (at this site most likely, though not imperative). While I'm here, I want to give you a quick precis of the assignment you'll need to do this afternoon (or this evening depending on your preference).

Please go online and read The Emerging Online Life of the Digital Native by going to http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky-The_Emerging_Online_Life_of_the_Life_of_the_Digital_Native-03.pdf

After today's class and after reading the (reading) assignment, please create a blog for yourself and make a journal entry for the day. We'll do most of it in class today. Please name the blog with your without the "< >" or spaces and in lower case. Please give everyone in the class viewing rights (including mois). You'll all need that access for reasons to follow. Please give me editing rights. Please include the following in your entries this week:

1. How you would use some aspect of the previously introduced topics (things that we will have covered today) to enhance your teaching.


2. Include an application (not software) to a specific teaching unit.


3. Comment on one useful idea gleaned from the blog of another teacher in the class.

Ancillary Information

If you wanted to search for particular blog by subject, you could go to the following:

1. http://www.daypop.com/


2. http://www.faganfinder.com/blogs/

Specific education oriented blogs (especially how they are used therein) can be found at:

1. http://educational.blogs.com/edbloggerpraxis/


2. http://www.bgsu.edu/cconline/barrios/blogs/index.html

Blog Search Engines

1. http://www.feedster.com/


2. http://www.technorati.com/

MERLOT (http://www.merlot.org/) Sites-Ideas for implementing social technologies in the classroom:

1. http://www.tltgroup.org/resources/blogs.htm
2. http://akbani.blogspot.com/2006/05/blog-as-teaching-tool.html scroll down to the link TITLE: How and In Which Situations Web Logs or Blogs Work: How and Why They are Valuable in Children's Education SPEAKER: David Weinberger (Library of Congress Web capture.
3. http://www.sbg.ac.at/zfl/eTeaching_Skills/eTeaching_Weblogs/best_practice_examples.html best practices sites containg utilizing blogs in the classroom.
4. http://www.thejournal.com/articles/16626 Content Delivery in the 'Blogosphere' from THE Journal, February 2004.

As you know, some of this class may be done online. We'll either use Blackboard or Tapped In. You'll get to see both of them no matter which one we primarily use. They both have their good points and they are similar but different.

We be setting up an account in Tapped In for later use. Please print out all login pages and jot down your user ID and passwords for any site that we have to enter. It's very easy to forget them or to become confused. It happens to me all the time-just now in fact.

More to follow...