TAGUL - splash and link

My favorite for today came from Angela Maiers who was tweeting a post by Richard Byrne.
Tagul is a free word cloud generator that offers one clear difference compared to other word cloud generators like Wordle. The difference between Wordle and Tagul is when you create a word cloud with Tagul, every word in your word cloud is linked to a Google search.  Funny, when I went to check it out, I already had an account!  Just goes to show how things come up and then drop off the radar before really being implemented into learning.  This time, I will give it more time and thought.

My Tagul on "The History of the Leonberger":

Technorati Tags: tagul, wordle, angelamaiers, richardbyrne, sharonbetts

Mashing Wordle

I saw a nice post about mashing wordle images using Photoshop today.
Thought I would try it in GIMP -
I copied the words from Elie Wiesel's 1999 speech in Washington D.C. on "The Perils of Indifference" into Wordle.
Then I set some vibrant colors through the Custom Color options.
Saved the image and opened it in GIMP.
I removed the background by adding an alpha layer.
Took the image of Elie Wiesel and opened it as a layer
Added one more layer and added a gradient.

I could  have done a better job with the colors - but I can see so many uses for this as creative additions to student research - and there was NO COST!
Use of web 2.0 and open source wins the day.
My example:

Technorati Tags: eliewiesel, sharonbetts, GIMP, wordle

Current events - Haiti earthquake

Larry Ferlazzo as put together a great list of resources for learning about the earthquake in Haiti.

CNN and the BBC have slideshows about the earthquake. View them here and here.

If you're looking for the latest news out of Haiti and or pictures, running a Twitter search for #Haiti or just Haiti will yield a constant stream of updates. Technorati Tags: haiti, haiti earthquake, larryferlazzo

Google to provide 10 Historical tours

Thanks to the tweet from Dan Coleman of OpenCulture.com

According to this UNESCO announcement, 19 historical sites will be included.
A great way to broaden the horizons of our students.
Technorati Tags: unesco, google tours, sharonbetts

AWE! Zoo Borns

I am a sucker for baby animals - this blog on the newest and cutest exotic animal babies from zoos and aquariums around the world is too much!  There are questions to help the youngest students learn about these little known animals.  And it just makes you say, "aawwe".




ZooBorns.com

Technorati Tags: zooborns, exoticanimals

Inaugural Wordles

Governing Dynamo has posted Wordles of numerous Presidential Inaugural Addresses along with the text versions.
The latest addition is a presentation viewer on the home page.  (the spelling could be better however - wonder why that is and have contacted the posters).



Technorati Tags: governing_dynamo, wordle, sharonbetts

President Obama's Speech to Students

President Obama's Text for his Address to Students.
http://www.wordle.net/. Images of Wordles are licensed .



If you watch this live or not - there are some great thoughts in this word splash!

Technorati Tags: obama

Social Networks and Our District

We are trying something new this year.
The teachers in my district have always been dedicated to communication with parents and community.We have numerous blogs, webpages and wikis as well as an active website. The High School announcements have been posted with RSS feeds available. Last year, we added the emergency notification system, AlertNow, for those times that broadcast announcements work the best.

What is new this year? Twitter.The microblogging site is emerging as a convenient method for parents and others to learn of changes in schedules, reminders for school pictures and general information blurbs.&The district can be followed at http://www.twitter.com/msad52
It will be interesting to see if we gather any followers. I also wonder how to bring the different sites on board for posting their tweets???

I read that another district has started a Facebook page - could that be next?


Technorati Tags: msad52, twitter, sharonbetts

Bernie Dodge at NECC 2009

Cheryl Oakes covered live

Bernie Dodge Place Puzzles, bring field trips to the classroom

thanks Cheryl!
Technorati Tags: cheryloakes, berniedodge gis

joining the CASTLE summer book club

I just ordered the book and joined the Second annual CASTLE summer book club!  The book for this summer is "Why Don't Students Like School?" by Daniel Willingham.  This is a book that I have been meaning to read and what better way to really delve into the work than with over 80 other participants!


If this works as well and is as valuable as I anticipate, I may try using the format for teachers in my district next year.  So many great books, so few meeting times.


Wonder what vehicle Scott will choose for the discussions?

Technorati Tags: chrismcleod, CASTLE, sharonbetts, bookclub

FOSSED almost here

Join me for FOSSED 2009 at Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine.

I will assist in a session on ePortfolio basics and facilitate ePortfolio creation using Mahara.

I am also leading a session on " A Smorgasboard of Technology Tools" and where they fit into your curriculum.

This conference has grown from a small Open Source group of forward thinking educators into a broad spectrum of web 2.0 and open source tools for teachers, administrators and techies. 

I hope to see you there.

Technorati Tags: fossed, sharonbetts, mahara

Links - One more reason to Tweet

I find so many great resources when browsing my twitter account. 

Examples from the last hour:

• On cross cultural etiquette and understanding: http://www.culturecrossing.net/explore.php
• Laptops for every student in South Carolina: http://laptopsc.org/
• Where do you Learn: http://bigtweet.com/c/b/twitter/willrich45/1amZ6p
• Using Skype in the language classroom.
• Maine Student Technology Conference: http://mltiolc.wordpress.com/participation/
• How much sugar is really in those foods? http://www.sugarstacks.com/
• Spanish connections in education: http://bigtweet.com/c/b/twitter/willrich45/UwOqp
• The Nazi Olympics - project from the Holocaust Museum
• Young Scientist's Challenge

That's right - less than an hour and possibilities for a year's worth of collaboration and projects. 

If you do not use twitter, you should begin today!


Technorati Tags: twitter, laptopsc, mlti, holicaustmuseum, sharonbetts

Innovations in Education

I am hoping to finish my article for submission to this book.  You, too, can contribute.

The first edition, Education for a Digital World: Advice, Guidelines, and Effective Practice from Around the Globe, was published by the Commonwealth of Learning in July 08 and is available to download from their website.

The creation of this book employed a unique interactive collaborative research model, a forming relationships model, the sharing of ideas to produce new thinking model. It had almost 50 contributors from around the globe representing education, research, administration and business, it has a global perspective. Take a look at our map of contributors!

We are now working on a 2nd Edition. The tentative title is Innovations in Education, but it could become Education for a Digital World, Edition 2. It will be published by CoL to coincide with PCF6 in India 2010 from 24 - 28 November. http://www.col.org/progServ/panComm/Pages/pcf.aspx

An organizational meeting will be held online, May 22nd in elluminate. For details and further information visit our page in Wikieducator or our Book Wiki.

Technorati Tags: commonwealth-of-learning, sharonbetts

Fun4theBrain

Saw this site go by in a Tweet this morning. After reviewing it, I feel its interactivity and clean look had to be posted for my readers.  Fun4theBrain uses games with K-6th grades to review math facts and reading sight words.  Science is coming soon!


All the games are developed by Natasha Oliver and she has done a marvelous job.  The featured game, Math Monsters, has students reviewing addition facts while giving aliens their best expressions.  This is certain to enthrall those youngsters.


If you are an elementary teacher or parent, give it a look.  And for updates, follow Fun4TheBrain on Twitter.

Technorati Tags: fun4thebrain, natashaoliver, primary, math, sharonbetts

Peep and the Big Wide World

From Paul Hami's Blog - one of my favorite resources for tools. 

Peep and the Big Wide World.


Science and Math Concepts for kids.Technorati Tags: paulhami, peep, sharonbetts, math, science

Speakaboos - Brings Children's books to life

Speakaboos

	“Speakaboos brings classic children's entertainment into a digital world. Beloved characters and treasured stories are given new life through amazing celebrity performances, beautiful illustrations, and original music. At Speakaboos, children develop literacy skills while learning about technology in a safe and fun environment.”  and it is free!

The graphics on this site are very well done and the students will be enthralled with watching as well as listening. Accompanying the stories, there are guides, worksheets and arts and crafts to expand learning. Kids can make their own recordings to send to their parents! Or, students can record for "reading buddies" in other classes or even other schools!

Teachers and parents should take the Speakaboos Video Tour.
Not only can you listen or project stories for your youngest students, but the site also offers purchasing of tracks and albums.

It is easy to see why this site has been recognized by Publisher's Weekly.Technorati Tags: speakaboos, sharonbetts, reading

USA Service

Many schools have a community service requirement and our new President Elect has made this a priority for his administration.  Today, Colin Powell officially announced the USAService.org program.  Here you can search for or list events in your areas, read the service blog and review many service oriented resources.
An interesting way to end my week.

Technorati Tags: sharonbetts, usaservice.org, colinpowell, service

It's happening now!

My hair grew .0005 inch in the last second - that is what the new NOW page from Sprint just told me.  I picked up the link on Twitter and have found the running totals and bits of RSS information to be absolutely fascinating.
I believe that you could start unbelievable conversations with students by grouping them and having them discuss any portion of this page.  Why?  Can it be?  Is this a good thing or bad thing? Are these facts true?  Then have them blog their group thoughts.

Just compared the two Twitter clients, SPAZ and Twhirl - I was fascinated to see they are close to equal. 
See if it grabs you too!  Whoa, dogs just beat cats!


Oh yea - only 44276667 more seconds til Doughnut day - at least there were when I typed this.
enjoyTechnorati Tags: now, sharonbetts, sprint, twitter

Too old for Zon

Zon - a virtual world for anyone to learn Chinese.  

I signed up and found myself walking around and working toward actual learning - something I haven't done in SL lately.  The bandwidth was no issue and there was no program to download (something I have not been able to find with most virtual worlds).  I don't know if I will ever be brave enough to actually begin discussions, but it certainly has potential.
I heard about ZON at the Christa McAuliffe Conference keynote this year.  Dr. Yong Zhao discusses "How Technology Redefines Talents- What Should Schools Teach?"  It was a fascinating discussion which I liveblogged.  Now I have finally found time to experiment with his site. 

This seems to be as close as possible to learning a language from the "ground-up" which I have found to be the best method for me.  This is the way I learned to communicate in Farsi (something I have forgotten since leaving Iran back in 1974) and in German during my years of teaching there.  I will probably never get to China, but would love to learn more about its language.  How about you?
Technorati Tags: sharonbetts, yongzhao, zon, chinese

Wow - thanks WOW2

I feel honored to have been the guest on Women of the Web 2.0 last evening. I have been a long time listener and chatroom participant during their weekly Tuesday evening shows on EdTech Talk. But was quite surprised when they invited me to discuss collaborative projects with them. Trying to expand the boundaries of students in my Maine district is a priority for me. In working toward this, and with the assistance of classroom teachers, I have established several projects. Classroombraids for the intermediate/middle level and Taking Learning Global for the older students. I was a bit nervous about filling a full hour with conversation, but I should have known how quickly it would go by. I greatly enjoyed the discussion from the other side of the table. In a couple of weeks, they will be producing their 100th show - thank you for sticking with this great resource and congratulations!
You can hear the show on EdTechTalk.

Here are some of the WOW links mentioned during the show:
http://www.mysecurecyberspace. com/articles/statistics- trends/children-online- getting-younger-and- continuing-to-take-risks.html# msc.article.statistics.bully_ younger

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/ 11/16/opinion/16kristof.html?_ r=2&oref=slogin

http://www.marketingcharts. com/interactive/vast-majority- of-todays-kids-are-online- 6837/?camp=newsletter

Thank you WOW2 -
Jen Wagner, Sharon Peters and Cheri Toledo for the invite and a fabulous 60 minutes.

wow2
sharonbetts
jenwagner
cheritoledo
sharonpeters
edtechtalk