The Moss-Free Stone

I had the absolute pleasure of speaking to and training teachers in Decatur ISD for the second consecutive year. I spoke with them on Tuesday about 21st century skills, characteristics of effective classrooms, and Web 2.0 tools. I encouraged them to respond with comments and questions, and they did not disappoint, leading to some great [...]

I have had to do several projects involving putting together examples of Web 2.0 use in our district in the past couple of weeks. I thought I would share a small sampling of them here. They might inspire others to give some of the tools a try.
Blogs
Talented Texans–elementary students sharing writing. Student interaction is constructive [...]

Thanks to John Pederson, again, for leading me to another great video (and to Scott McLeod for leading John to it!). This simple, black-and-white video paints a vivid, colorful portrait of the changing of society that is happening as a result of evolving technologies.

A couple of questions came to mind when viewing the video.

Has the [...]

The school year will be drawing to a close on Thursday. As we meet as an Instructional Technology team tomorrow, I feel it is important to evaluate where we have been, where we are now, and where we hope to go in the future. The year began with high expectations for teacher learning, student learning, [...]

For any educators out there who like the idea of Web 2.0 and recognize its importance, but are too intimidated or otherwise reluctant to dive right in, I offer the following list of 5 things to try first. I think these tools will give you an idea of how simple it is to create online [...]

One of the most frustrating things for me, as an Instructional Technology Specialist, is breaking down the barriers created by the present-day environment that places standardized testing ahead of so much of what the real-world actually demands. Skills such as problem-solving, collaborating, creativity, and the like are pushed aside, often only rearing their heads late [...]

Found this online tonight and had to share it.
The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanely sensitive. To them… a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a [...]

Here are the links from today’s session–enjoy! Oh, and be sure to let me know if your favorite sites are excluded. Oh, and no commentary from anyone nit-picking about whether or not a few sites are truly Web 2.0–they are all useful and free, so they all bear mentioning.
Student/Teacher Blogs:
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Austin is an exciting town. It is rich in the arts, technology, and friendly, colorful people. Their motto is “Keep Austin Weird,” if that tells you anything. At lunch today, I saw this young man passing by. His name was Jonas, and he is a student. Nice kid–soft spoken, polite, asked what blog I’d be [...]