Classroom 20 Live and Earth Cast 2010

The recorded show for March 27, 2010 featured Earthcast 2010.

Looking for a good Earth day Project?

Thursday April 22, 2010 we celebrate Earth day – a day to focus on global issues and protecting the environment. If you are looking for a way to engage the people in your community and school, please take a look at this initiative being led by a global group of educators at www.earthbridges.net. On Earth day people all over the world participate in a 24 hour webcastathon. Here is the wiki document set up to explain how to participate. Can you spare 30 min on April 22, 2010 to share your Earth day activities?

You do not have to know how to webcast or podcast to participate. The Earthcast team will help you share your ideas through out the day. The Classroom 2.0 Live webcast on Saturday March 27, 2010 featured the Earthcast 2010 team who shared highlights from previous Earthcastathons. This Voicethread was used during the web cast to highlight events from earlier Earthcasts. Past shows are posted as audio clips and you can hear them by playing the player. Flash player is required to watch.

A post on earthbridges features
Mark Ahlness and this Earth Day Groceries Project

The Earth Day Groceries Project is a cost-free environmental awareness project in which students decorate paper grocery bags with environmental messages for Earth Day. One of the oldest and largest educational projects on the Internet, the Earth Day Groceries Project is managed online by Mark Ahlness, a third grade teacher at Arbor Heights Elementary School in Seattle, Washington.

(This activity is also open to organizations other than schools. Cub Scout troops, environmental camps, after school programs, and many others have joined in before. All are welcome!)

* 4 Simple Steps: Borrow, Decorate, Deliver, Report

To get more information about this project and view a Flickr slideshow of photos submitted by last year’s participants: http://www.earthdaybags.org/

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1040740@N25/pool/show/

Sharing your own ideas about your Earth day events is easy. Type a comment or record an audio or video comment on this voicethread. You will join with people across the globe explaining how they will celebrate Earth day.

Not convinced using a classroom blog is a good thing?

More than likely you arrived at this post because you need to understand or you need someone else to understand what is the benefit of blogging and how classroom blogging will help students in the classroom. If you are looking for the answers yourself, then my advice ( after reading the list that follows) is to start blogging. Use a free blogging service like Blogger or WordPress and test drive the concept of online sharing and collaboration through journal writing online. Take a look at Blogging for beginners and attend this free Blogging for Beginners webinar on Wed March 31, 2010

levenslangleren.info blog has a great list of points to use if you need to debate or support your new found joy in blogging.

1. It provides your students with a “live” audience.

Normally assignments will have only one reader: The Teacher. By asking your students to contribute on the blog, they will increase the interactivity with other readers (fellow students or the millions of internet users all over the globe).

2. The focus will be more on content (as opposed to form)

3. It provide extra reading practice for students.
This reading can be produced by the teacher, other students in the same class, or, in the case of comments posted to a blog, by people from all over the world.

4. Blogs can be used as online student learner journals
The value of using learner journals has been well documented. Usually they are private channels between teacher and student. Using a blog as a learner journal can increase the audience.

5. To guide students to online resources appropriate for their level.
The Internet has a bewildering array of resources that are potentially useful for your students. The problem is finding and directing your learners to them. For this reason, you can use your tutor blog as a portal for your learners.

6. Blogs can increase the sense of community in a class.
A class blog can help foster a feeling of community between the members of a class, especially if learners are sharing information about themselves and their hobbies, and are responding to what other students are writing.

7. To encourage shy students to participate.
There is evidence to suggest that students who are quiet in class can find their voice when given the opportunity to express themselves in a blog.
To stimulate out-of-class discussion.

8. To create a space for pre-class or post-class discussion.
And what students write about in the blog can also be used to promote discussion in class.

9. To encourage a process-writing approach.
Because students are writing for publication, they are usually more concerned about getting things right, and usually understand the value of rewriting more than if the only audience for their written work is the teacher.

10. As an online portfolio or even an archive of student written work.
There is much to be gained from students keeping a portfolio of their work. One example is the ease at which learners can return to previous written work and evaluate the progress they have made during a course.

11. To help build a closer relationship between students in large classes.
Sometimes students in large classes can spend all year studying with the same people without getting to know them well. A blog is another tool that can help bring students together.

I know that all sounds terrific but I know that there will still be people who will focus on the negative and their concerns will have merit. This is an extensive look at the issues that surround classroom blogs.

Take a look at this resource from teacherFirst.com for positive ideas about how to use classroom blogs

Earthcast 2010

Plans and preparations for EarthCast 2010 are on the way for 2010.

On Saturday March 26, 2010 Matt Montagne, Sheila Adams and Jose Rodriguez will be joining Classroom 20 Live show hosts Kim Caise, Lorna Costantini and Peggy George to feature the activities being planned for this year’s earthcast. The Session is scheduled for Saturday March 26, 2010 at 12:00 noon EST (GMT-4)
Convert your time.
The show is held in Elluminate. Please join us using this link http://tinyurl.com/cr20live

Earthbridges aims to initiate, enable, and aggregate global community conversations where participants share, collaborate and take action on the issues that will (bring us closer to) make environmental sustainability a reality. Earthcast is a 24-hour webcast located at Earthbridges. It is will begin this year on April 22 at 0:00 GMT . For information about participating in the Earth Day event or ongoing ‘Earthcast Echoes’, please visit the planning wiki .

Please post your ideas and comments on how you plan to spend earthday on this voice thread.

Free e-Learning | MinuteBio

Jeff Goldman in his blog Minute Biohttp://minutebio.com/blog/free-e-learning/ post a phenomenal list of games and free online elearning sources.

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