One concern I have heard expressed by teachers with regard to the use of video sites such as YouTube, TeacherTube, etc. in the classroom is that students tend to waste a lot of time searching for relevant (or irrelevant) content. One solution is to create a personalized channel that contains the videos which the teacher [...]
The Constructivist educator should be excited by current trends in education and technology. Constructivists emphasize such traits as active learning, discovery, construction (setting goals, self-assessment, research, creativity, etc.), situated learning, cooperation/collaboration, choice, automony, reflection, and complexity (Alessi, 2001, pp.32-35). The teacher takes on the role of a facilitator, guide, and co-learner as much as is [...]
I wrote a couple of months ago about the disappearance and assumed demise of Sketchcast, the site that offers tools that allow users to capture drawings as they are created, record narration, add text, and share online. It had become one of the favorite apps of several teachers I had shared it with, and I [...]
I had the privilege of presenting at the Texas Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development’s annual convention in Galveston, Texas on Monday. I took the opportunity to broadcast my presentation live for the first time, too. I shared ways our district’s teachers are using blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other free tools to engage students and [...]
Well, after at least 3 months of hoping against hope, I’m ready to concede to the demise of Sketchcast. This was a really great site that allowed users to create narrated flash drawings and embed them into blogs, wikis, etc. I first wrote about Sketchcast about a year ago. I had a lot of teachers [...]
At the Decatur Jump! event last week and, for that matter, anytime I share with any group a sampling of Web 2.0 technologies, I reminded participants not to be overwhelmed, but to consider their own curriculum and their own students and to try to identify 2 or 3 tools which would be most beneficial to [...]
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