Sloodle - Learning Systems for Virtual Environments
Sloodle is an Open Source project which integrates the SecondLife® multi-user virtual environment and the Moodle learning-management system. Sloodle provides a range of tools for supporting learning and teaching to the immersive virtual world; tools which are fully integrated with a tried and tested web-based learning management system used by thousands.
Sloodle
Sloodle on Second Life
SecondLife Education Wiki
Moodle
For those who want to add dimension to their learning environments.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Show Yourself Widget
ShowYourself is a simple to make, easy, free and fun utility to help establish your identity across the web. Have a MySpace account, Facebook, and Gmail? Combine all your profiles on the web into one attractive widget that you can put on your blog, your MySpace or anywhere on the web. No account required.
ShowYourself was created by Dustin Bachrach who, according to his blog, "Is an 18 year old Rice student and developer for both OS X and the web". You can check out his post from March 18, 2007 when he released ShowYourself http://dbachrach.com/blog/2007/03/18/showyourself-updated-to-v11/
Thanks Dustin!
ShowYourself was created by Dustin Bachrach who, according to his blog, "Is an 18 year old Rice student and developer for both OS X and the web". You can check out his post from March 18, 2007 when he released ShowYourself http://dbachrach.com/blog/2007/03/18/showyourself-updated-to-v11/
Thanks Dustin!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Gather your words and Wordle them
For everyone who needs a collage of words check out Wordle.
Below is a Wordle of the many tech tools I play or work with. Where would we all be without Google and the ability to work collaboratively with a variety of tech tools?
You can paste in text, the URL of any blog, blog feed, or any other web page that has an Atom or RSS feed, or enter a del.icio.us user name to see their tags. Then you can tinker with the formats and fonts then decide if you want to keep it or discard it.
Wordle was created by Jonathan Feinberg who credits his employer (IBM) for allowing him to develop this and now share with the rest of the world.
The images you create with Wordle are yours to use in any way you choose. You may print T-Shirts, business cards, brochures, what have you. On the other hand, when you place an image in the gallery, anyone else can use it too! So if you want to keep it to yourself, print it out without saving it. The images created by the Wordle application are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. Check out the details from Wordle’s FAQ page: http://wordle.net/faq
Images created by the Wordle.net web application are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
Below is a Wordle of the many tech tools I play or work with. Where would we all be without Google and the ability to work collaboratively with a variety of tech tools?
You can paste in text, the URL of any blog, blog feed, or any other web page that has an Atom or RSS feed, or enter a del.icio.us user name to see their tags. Then you can tinker with the formats and fonts then decide if you want to keep it or discard it.
Wordle was created by Jonathan Feinberg who credits his employer (IBM) for allowing him to develop this and now share with the rest of the world.
The images you create with Wordle are yours to use in any way you choose. You may print T-Shirts, business cards, brochures, what have you. On the other hand, when you place an image in the gallery, anyone else can use it too! So if you want to keep it to yourself, print it out without saving it. The images created by the Wordle application are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. Check out the details from Wordle’s FAQ page: http://wordle.net/faq
Images created by the Wordle.net web application are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Mindset for the Class of 2012 and Pay Attention
Beloit College posts the Mindset for classes 2002 through 2012 every year and has presented the lists for the past 11 years.
As parents and their students return to college this fall, the lists make for interesting dinner table or class discussions, writing assignments, and blog posts.
From the Beloit College Mindset for the Class of 2012 homepage:
The class of 2012 has grown up in an era where computers and rapid communication are the norm, and colleges no longer trumpet the fact that residence halls are “wired” and equipped with the latest hardware. These students will hardly recognize the availability of telephones in their rooms since they have seldom utilized landlines during their adolescence. They will continue to live on their cell phones and communicate via texting. Roommates, few of whom have ever shared a bedroom, have already checked out each other on Facebook where they have shared their most personal thoughts with the whole world.
The complete list is available through this link or by clicking the title of this post: http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2012.php
Some notable points of the list of 60:
WWW has never stood for World Wide Wrestling.
Caller ID has always been available on phones.
Windows 3.0 operating system made IBM PCs user-friendly the year they were born.
There have always been charter schools.
They may have been given a Nintendo Game Boy to play with in the crib.
IBM has never made typewriters.
After reviewing the list, the video Pay Attention came to mind as a video to share.
As parents and their students return to college this fall, the lists make for interesting dinner table or class discussions, writing assignments, and blog posts.
From the Beloit College Mindset for the Class of 2012 homepage:
The class of 2012 has grown up in an era where computers and rapid communication are the norm, and colleges no longer trumpet the fact that residence halls are “wired” and equipped with the latest hardware. These students will hardly recognize the availability of telephones in their rooms since they have seldom utilized landlines during their adolescence. They will continue to live on their cell phones and communicate via texting. Roommates, few of whom have ever shared a bedroom, have already checked out each other on Facebook where they have shared their most personal thoughts with the whole world.
The complete list is available through this link or by clicking the title of this post: http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2012.php
Some notable points of the list of 60:
WWW has never stood for World Wide Wrestling.
Caller ID has always been available on phones.
Windows 3.0 operating system made IBM PCs user-friendly the year they were born.
There have always been charter schools.
They may have been given a Nintendo Game Boy to play with in the crib.
IBM has never made typewriters.
After reviewing the list, the video Pay Attention came to mind as a video to share.
What is your mindset? When was the last time you assessed your paradigm? Are you paying attention?
Friday, August 22, 2008
Meet the Cool Cat Teacher in Second Life on 8/28
From Vicki Davis' blog, The Cool Cat Teacher...
From my friend Cris Crissman, the announcement about a presentation next week I'm giving in Second Life. This will be my first official presentation in Second Life and I'm so excited about it! Announcing the USDLC Star Teacher Series . . .
"New School Year -- Cool Tools Here: Cool Cat Teacher Vicki Davis Shares the Tools She’ll Bring to Her Classroom" as a Flat Classroom Teacher, Vicki Davis, made wiki a classroom word.
Now as the Cool Cat Teacher, she shares new tools, ideas, and resources with the enthusiastic readers of her blog. Join her in Second Life (or Internet Radio with chatfor non-Second Life Residents) as she shares the cool tools and tips she’ll use to make the 2008-2009 school year the best yet.
Event will take place Thursday, August 28, 8 p.m. EDT, on USDLC Star Island in Second Life. Non-Second Life Residents can listen via Internet Radio and join the chat. Get all the details at http://www.literacy2learn.org/ Learn more about Vicki at http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/
To prepare for the event, be sure and read Vicki’s August 4th blog post: “Tips on Starting the School Year Right”. For more information check out the Cool Cat Teacher Blog
New to Second Life? Join the 3D virtual world and check out the variety of educational events. Join now http://secondlife.com/
Sunday, August 10, 2008
If your school district has a $13.4 million shortfall...
If your school district has a $13.4 million shortfall...What would you do if you were in charge for a day?
Recommendations have been made to the school board to add a virtual suggestion box to the home page. Graduations were piped through the net, why not let the property tax payers, working parents, current and former students, teachers, and community partners make suggestions through the net? After all, this is the second time in one year that the RCBoEd has decided to raise taxes.
So why doesn't a school district that is raising taxes again, incorporate Google Apps for Education? Bring in Moodle for Blackboard? Incorporate Google Docs, Presentations, and Spreadsheets, Star Office, or OpenOffice for proprietary software? Use Google Earth to teach subjects where collaboration can enhance the learning event for everyone involved? Use Google's SketchUp to supplement learning in Engineering, Construction, Interior Design, or anything 3D ? Encourage the use of wikis? Get involved with global initiatives like the Flat Classroom and Horizon Projects?
The school administration noted that summer school is not profitable, yet failed to add those "fun to learn" courses, such as chess, double dutch jump rope, basic keyboarding, creating ePortfolios, Internet safety, basic web design and bring in volunteers from the community or education majors looking to facilitate a class to add to their "real world" teaching experiences. Why not have fun while learning something new and sharing knowledge?
The community can be encouraged to support schools by participating in Target's Take Charge of Education, UPromise Schools Program, Coke Rewards for Schools, Donor's Choose, Campbell's Labels for Education, Office Depot's "5% Back to Schools" Program, join the local PTAs, PTSAs, booster clubs, and other local philanthropic opportunities.
GA Department of Audits and Accounts posts the salary and travel pay for everyone in the school district, for any district in GA based on June, the closeout month of the school year. Each January of a new year, Internet surfers can visit the site and see the released reports of salary and travel by name of every employee paid, before taxes. The link is referenced in the end of this post.
So now, RCSS hires America's Choice. A company that came in and conducted "training" for principals. So, "Did learning take place? and "Are the principals implementing a knowledge sharing plan?"
For a school district who's mission statement reads, "The Mission of the Richmond County School System is to educate students to become lifelong learners and productive citizens" is oxymoronic when the graduation rate is 62% and 1500 students failed the CRCT. The primary reason that the graduation rate is 62% is due to two magnet schools which graduated 100% of their students. This information is available through the GA Dept of Education website.
All comments, recommendations, suggestions are welcome. If you were in charge for the day what would you do if you were in charge and inherited the school district with the $13.4 million budget shortfall?
Links referenced in this blog:
Google Apps for Education
Google Earth
Google SketchUp
Google Pack which contains Star Office
OpenOffice
Moodle
America's Choice
Georgia Dept of Audits and Accounts
Richmond County School System (About Us)
GA Dept of Education
Flat Classroom
Horizon Project
Recommendations have been made to the school board to add a virtual suggestion box to the home page. Graduations were piped through the net, why not let the property tax payers, working parents, current and former students, teachers, and community partners make suggestions through the net? After all, this is the second time in one year that the RCBoEd has decided to raise taxes.
So why doesn't a school district that is raising taxes again, incorporate Google Apps for Education? Bring in Moodle for Blackboard? Incorporate Google Docs, Presentations, and Spreadsheets, Star Office, or OpenOffice for proprietary software? Use Google Earth to teach subjects where collaboration can enhance the learning event for everyone involved? Use Google's SketchUp to supplement learning in Engineering, Construction, Interior Design, or anything 3D ? Encourage the use of wikis? Get involved with global initiatives like the Flat Classroom and Horizon Projects?
The school administration noted that summer school is not profitable, yet failed to add those "fun to learn" courses, such as chess, double dutch jump rope, basic keyboarding, creating ePortfolios, Internet safety, basic web design and bring in volunteers from the community or education majors looking to facilitate a class to add to their "real world" teaching experiences. Why not have fun while learning something new and sharing knowledge?
The community can be encouraged to support schools by participating in Target's Take Charge of Education, UPromise Schools Program, Coke Rewards for Schools, Donor's Choose, Campbell's Labels for Education, Office Depot's "5% Back to Schools" Program, join the local PTAs, PTSAs, booster clubs, and other local philanthropic opportunities.
GA Department of Audits and Accounts posts the salary and travel pay for everyone in the school district, for any district in GA based on June, the closeout month of the school year. Each January of a new year, Internet surfers can visit the site and see the released reports of salary and travel by name of every employee paid, before taxes. The link is referenced in the end of this post.
So now, RCSS hires America's Choice. A company that came in and conducted "training" for principals. So, "Did learning take place? and "Are the principals implementing a knowledge sharing plan?"
For a school district who's mission statement reads, "The Mission of the Richmond County School System is to educate students to become lifelong learners and productive citizens" is oxymoronic when the graduation rate is 62% and 1500 students failed the CRCT. The primary reason that the graduation rate is 62% is due to two magnet schools which graduated 100% of their students. This information is available through the GA Dept of Education website.
All comments, recommendations, suggestions are welcome. If you were in charge for the day what would you do if you were in charge and inherited the school district with the $13.4 million budget shortfall?
Links referenced in this blog:
Google Apps for Education
Google Earth
Google SketchUp
Google Pack which contains Star Office
OpenOffice
Moodle
America's Choice
Georgia Dept of Audits and Accounts
Richmond County School System (About Us)
GA Dept of Education
Flat Classroom
Horizon Project
Friday, August 8, 2008
National Writing Project and Google
National Writing Project and Google
Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future is open to U.S. teachers and mentors working with students ages 14–18. The project requires parent/guardian permission for students to publish their work on the Web and requires that students and teachers have Internet connectivity and use or create a free Google account.
Google accounts allow teachers and students to use Google Docs to compose, collaborate, edit, and share writing through Internet-accessible documents. The Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future website provides a secure way for teachers to publish students' publication-ready writing to a high-profile website intended to feature strong, well-reasoned, and persuasive writing by young people.
Interested teachers should read How to Participate and then register here by September 8. Please note, in order to register for this project, you must first have an account on NWPi.
National Writing Project for more information, resources, and timeline.
(Or click on the title of this post).
Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future is open to U.S. teachers and mentors working with students ages 14–18. The project requires parent/guardian permission for students to publish their work on the Web and requires that students and teachers have Internet connectivity and use or create a free Google account.
Google accounts allow teachers and students to use Google Docs to compose, collaborate, edit, and share writing through Internet-accessible documents. The Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future website provides a secure way for teachers to publish students' publication-ready writing to a high-profile website intended to feature strong, well-reasoned, and persuasive writing by young people.
Interested teachers should read How to Participate and then register here by September 8. Please note, in order to register for this project, you must first have an account on NWPi.
National Writing Project for more information, resources, and timeline.
(Or click on the title of this post).
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Donors Choose
Donors Choose - Teachers Ask, You Choose, Students Learn
DonorsChoose.org is a simple way to provide students in need with resources that our public schools often lack. At this not-for-profit web site, teachers submit project proposals for materials or experiences their students need to learn. These ideas become classroom reality when concerned individuals, whom we call Citizen Philanthropists, choose projects to fund.
Donors Choose link: http://www.donorschoose.org or click the title of this post.
What a great way to help our students for a particular project and help people who fund the projects become Citizen Philanthropists.
You can subscribe to the Donors Choose Blog too!
Thanks to all of the participants that support the requests of teachers, coaches, and counselors.
DonorsChoose.org is a simple way to provide students in need with resources that our public schools often lack. At this not-for-profit web site, teachers submit project proposals for materials or experiences their students need to learn. These ideas become classroom reality when concerned individuals, whom we call Citizen Philanthropists, choose projects to fund.
Donors Choose link: http://www.donorschoose.org or click the title of this post.
What a great way to help our students for a particular project and help people who fund the projects become Citizen Philanthropists.
You can subscribe to the Donors Choose Blog too!
Thanks to all of the participants that support the requests of teachers, coaches, and counselors.
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