Where do I begin setting up a classroom blog?



Jumping into the world of using Web 2.0 tools there is a mountain of ideas to sort through in getting started. A really good network of bloggers is essential way to keep rooted. There are so many great software applications some one needs to guide your learning. If you don’t you are likely to run away screaming. If you haven’t found classroom 2.0 take a look and sign up. Discussion forums, resources, your own blog are all available free. I am working with two young teachers helping them work with parents and setting up their first classroom blog. There a few teachers that I would like to highlight.First www.MrWaxlersClass.com. Adam Waxler has used a simple Kubrick default theme for his Wordpress blog. Unlike man other teachers, over at edublogs.com, Mr. Waxler chose to host his website as a distinct domain name. Makes good sense. As you become more proficient and your blog gets bigger the only price tag you will need to worry about his your web hosting package. I found that www.dreamhost.com offers a very reasonable package with lots of “goodies”. Take a peek and let them know I sent you - they give out referral fees. You can do the same thing and reduce the cost of your hosting fees.I want to walk through Mr. Waxler’s blog and why I think that it is a good example of where to start. It is extremely helpful for students and their parents. Homework for the week at a glance. Good resources to help with parenting skills. Most importantly it is simple to update. When you get the hang of blogging you can add the bells and whistles like this web site www.masterymaze.com The author of Masterymaze is looking for other teachers to help build a library of subject specific podcasts.A helping hand can be found from Anne Pemberton@ www.educationalsynthesis.org and Kathy Epps and her BlogDay resource.

World Wide Classroom Blogs in International Edublogger Directory



Thanks to Patricia Donahgy for her work in compiling an extensive list of Bloggers in Education through out the world. International EduBloggerDirectory

Professsional development from EdTechTalk



Jeff Lebow has done it again
EdTechTalk broadcasting EduCon2.0 Science Academy Leadership conference.

The world of professional development is as close as your computer stage. No excuses about attendance and high cost of flights.

Streaming workshop



For 25 years, Gary Stager, an internationally recognized educator, speaker and consultant, has helped learners of all ages on six continents embrace the power of computers as intellectual laboratories and vehicles for self-expression. He led professional development in the world’s first laptop schools (1990), has designed online graduate school programs since the mid-90s and is a collaborator in the MIT Media Lab’s Future of Learning Group. Mr. Stager’s doctoral research involved the creation a high-tech alternative learning environment for incarcerated at-risk teens. Recent work includes teaching and mentoring some of Australia’s “most troubled” public schools. Gary is Senior Editor of District Administration Magazine, Editor of The Pulse: Education’s Place for Debate, Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University and an Associate of the Thornburg Center for Professional Development. Dr. Stager is also the Executive Director of The Constructivist Consortium. In 1999, Converge Magazine named Gary a “shaper of our future and inventor of our destiny.” The National School Boards Association recognized Dr. Stager with the distinction of “20 Leaders to Watch” in 2007.
Gary is presenting a workshop at the Science Academy Leadership Conference in Philadelpia January 25 - 27, 2008

Taking your class to the world stage using Ustream



As an intern in the class of 2.4 of Webcast Academy, I have entered a new world that I only dreamed about in 2001. Seven years ago I worked with educators, ICT experts and parents chairing a working group as part of the Ontario Knowledge Network for Learning - a Ontario Ministry of Education initiative. I was excited to join in the development of recommendations for strategic directions on ICT in education. My role was specific to recommendations to connecting parents and the community to the classroom using information and communication technology. Broadband has caught up to the recommendations and the dust is off the cover. Kudos to the Classroom teachers who have now embraced Web 2.0 technologies and taken the lead on creating learning environment for students of the 21st century.

Strong leadership from people like Jeff Lebow, Pam Shoemaker, Derrall Garrison at Webcast Academy have made me an avid student. They have given me the tools to I needed to revisit the use of information communication technology to connect parents to the classroom. Presentations for Parent as Partners such as “From a Principal’s perspective”, an interview with Dan Trainor, Canadian Principal of the year 2007, was created as result.

Podcasts are becoming common place but the instructions for recording two way Skype calls simplified the process and made the SkypeOut interview easy to create. It gets better. Teachers now have the tools needed to broadcast live and take their students and classrooms to the global stage.

Alex Couros from the University of Regina has prepared an excellent tutorial on how to use Skype, Ustream and Camtwist to Broadcast live.

Its hot of the press and there is lots to do.

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