Vicki Davis's Public Library

13 Nov 09

Citizen Journalism: when the audience becomes the reporter

Citizen journalism begins to get mainstream recognition. You never know who the best reporter in the crowd is - -it might just be the person without a press pass!

www.theontarion.ca/viewarticle.php - Preview

education citizenjournalism

Citizen journalism made headlines two weeks ago when arguably the best-known Canadian example of the craft was honoured. On Oct. 27, Canadian Journalists for Freedom of Expression honored British Columbia native Paul Pritchard with a citizen journalism award for videotaping RCMP officers tasering to death Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport. The footage was eventually released to major media outlets and an investigation into the RCMP ensued.

iPhone Apps Take Root as Cottage Industry - WSJ.com

Wall Street Journal reports how the Bay Area is experiencing some positive vibes from iPhone app development. Wonder if the next wave is the app boom?

online.wsj.com/...SB125796886127143907.html - Preview

education learning trends

10 ways to become an inspirational teacher - Articles - Educational Technology - ICT in Education

I would add "LOve your students." Students can see if you care!

www.ictineducation.org/...-an-inspirational-teacher.html - Preview

education learning

12 Nov 09

Magid: Treating kids on the Web in a new way - San Jose Mercury News

If you are working with technology in schools, educational Internet pioneer Larry Magid's new article in the San Jose Mercury News is a MUST READ. Excellent

www.mercurynews.com/...ci_13723472 - Preview

education digiteen digital_responsibilities digital_safety customization collaboration

a watershed moment in the 16-year history of online safety education.
in that young people were viewed less as potential victims of online crimes and more as participants in a global online community.
8 more annotations...
- the "predator panic" that was rampant a few years ago has largely been put to rest as safety experts and law enforcement studies from the Crimes Against Children Research Center and elsewhere show that, statistically, the odds of a prepubescent child being sexually molested by an
- online stranger is virtually zero and the odds of it happening to a teenager are very low, especially when compared with children who are harmed by family members and others they know from the real world.
- the culprit is far more likely to be a fellow young person.
- Kids are affected by their own behavior ranging from posting pictures or comments online that could come to haunt them later to "sexting," sending nude or nearly nude pictures of themselves to others.
- a few misguided ones have used these laws against children.
- others continue to perpetuate myths about Internet dangers.
- "one size doesn't fit all.
- There was a lot of discussion about the lack of interactive social media in schools.

Sip to Support Schools - Jamba's School Appreciation Card

If you're looking for ways to raise money for your PTA, just got this in from the national USA PTA - a way to make 10% for those of you who have access to jamba juice this might be a good deal.

Here is an excerpt of the press release:

"Kicking off during National PTA’s Healthy Lifestyles Month, the partnership builds upon Jamba’s longtime commitment to supporting local schools through fundraising efforts at the store level and furthers National PTA’s mission to increase family engagement in their children’s school by providing additional funding for local PTA’s to create and execute programs that promote physical activity and encourage healthier eating. Launching the partnership, Jamba has created a School Appreciation swipe card that offers 12% give-backs on all sales (10% to Local PTA and 2% to National PTA). Local PTAs can simply visit: www.jambajuice.com/PTA to register for the swipe cards—then the fun-draising begins! Jamba Juice will also be announcing a PTA smoothie flavor later this year.

You can find video footage of the announcement as well as the press release here: http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/jambajuice/41115/"

www.jambajuice.com/PTA - Preview

education fundraising pta

Elluminate Whitepaper Request

Steve Hargadon's new whitepaper on social networking in Education (which does include some comments from Julie Lindsay and me.) Full disclosure: Elluminate provides Kim Caise, our Flat Classroom administrator, to us for 20 hours a week and we appreciate it very much. Go to this page to download the whitepaper.

www.elluminate.com/...request-form.jsp - Preview

education flatclassroom social networking edu_news edu_trends

Connectivism & Connective Knowledge

A lot of online learning is happening as part of the Connectivism events with George Siemens on November 12, I'm presenting at 7pm EST.

ltc.umanitoba.ca/connectivism - Preview

education learning connectivism professional development

twtwlst :: a simple gift registry twitter app.

Interesting, so this app actually lets you create gift registries using Twitter. Not really sure I understand how this would work.

twtwlst.com - Preview

education twitter tools

twtaway :: create or find contests on Twitter.

This website helps you create contests that you run on Twitter and also helps you find Twitter "contests."

twtaway.com - Preview

education Twitter edu_trends tools contests

11 Nov 09

twtvite :: create and find Tweetups in your town.

This website helps you organize "tweetups" where people on twitter plan to meet. It also helps you find "tweetups."

twtvite.com - Preview

education twitter edu_newapp technology

twtpoll :: a simple survey twitter app.

A more robust twitter survey application than some of the others I've seen.

twtpoll.com - Preview

education learning Twitter edu_trends edu_newapp

06 Nov 09

Innovative Learning - Free Newsletter Fall 2009

This phenomenal special interest group of ISTE has a great quarterly newsletter which is really the best of innovative learning in all of education. On pages 15-17 there are three pages of an article from two of my students and I about teaching in a virtual world including my "quick tricks for teaching in a virtual world." Print this, share it, and learn - so many great things in this newsletter!

issuu.com/...fall_newsletter-_2009 - Preview

education opensim reactiongrid ipod iphone iste learning edu_news edu_trends

TeachingWithContests.com

This blog shares contests to use and share with your classroom.

teachingwithcontests.com - Preview

education learning contests

04 Nov 09

TICAL - Technology Information Center for Administrative Leadership

Will be speaking in Arkansas on February 17th at their TICAL conference. I'm so excited! This is information if you are in the area so that you may plan to attend. If you do, please plan to say "hi" - it really means a lot to meet the people from cyberworld, I guess it makes it all more "real."

www.portical.org/...index.html - Preview

education coolcatteacher inthenews

NetSmartzKids: Tunes

Use Clicky's Raps to teach your kids Internet safety. Lisa Durff recommended this site on Twitter. Cool tool.

www.netsmartzkids.org/...index.htm - Preview

education digitalcitizenship digiteen

03 Nov 09

Social networks and kids: How young is too young? - CNN.com

Important article to read about children of all ages creating profiles. I believe this supports our driving need to incorporate instruction and discussion on this topic in schools.

www.cnn.com/...kids.social.networks - Preview

education learning web2 digiteen safety digitalcitizenship

a growing number of children are flouting age requirements on sites such as Facebook and MySpace, or using social-networking sites designed just for them.
which some therapists have linked to Internet addiction among adults
1 more annotations...
- In two surveys reported this year by Pew Internet Research -- of 700 and 935 teens, respectively -- 38 percent of respondents ages 12 to 14 said they had an online profile of some sort.

Education Week: State of Mind

www.edweek.org/...08publicagenda_ep.h29.html - Preview

how to identify, retain, and support the most effective teachers
effective teachers are distributed among all schools,
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- “Disheartened,” “Contented,” and “Idealists.”
- Members of that group, which accounts for 40 percent of K-12 teachers in the United States, tend to have been teaching longer and be older than the Idealists.
- More than half teach in low-income schools.
- school administration
- disorder in the classroom
- Only 14 percent rated their principals as “excellent” at supporting them as teachers
- undue focus on testing
- 61 percent cited lack of support from administrators as a major drawback to teaching.
- viewed teaching as a lifelong career
- three-fourths feel that they have sufficient time to craft good lesson plans.
- 94 percent have been in the classroom for more than 10 years, a majority have graduate degrees, and about two-thirds are teaching in middle-income or affluent schools.
- the Idealists—23 percent of teachers overall—who voiced the strongest sense of mission about teaching.
- 4 percent strongly agreed that all their students, “given the right support, can go to college,
- 36 percent said that even though they intend to stay in education, they plan to leave classroom teaching for other jobs in the field.
- half the Idealists believe their students’ test scores have increased significantly as a result of their teaching, a higher percentage than the other teachers in the survey.
- “Good teachers don’t join for the money or bonuses. They join because they want to make a difference.”
- bitterness characterized the Disheartened
- Twice as many spoke of likely burnout as did the Contented and Idealists.
- student-behavior problems and a lack of a supportive administration are major issues feeding discontent among teachers, alongside the perception of low pay.
- Perceived lack of administrator support, discipline problems, class size, low pay, and lack of prestige loomed as much larger negatives for the Disheartened.
- Low salaries and “little prestige” were not top issues,
- The Disheartened were more likely to mention higher pay
- removing students with severe behavior problems from the classroom
- More than a third of Idealists voiced a desire to move eventually into other jobs in education.
- Others may be good teachers trapped in dysfunctional schools and, in the right environment, might change their views and become Idealists.
  - Am so glad to see that this article recognizes that it is not all about the teacher - sometimes it is a FUNCTION of the environment. - on 2009-11-03
  Add Sticky Note
- “Copers,” whose main focus is successfully completing the work of each day, and “Transformers,” who aim to change the schools they manage.
- he degree to which the most idealistic teachers could be Transformers, effectively helping struggling students become eager and accomplished learners,”

Crowdsourcing or Loudsourcing? | ISTE Connects - Educational Technology

Blogged my thoughts on crowdsourcing the ISTE keynote this year.

www.isteconnects.org/...crowdsourcing-or-loudsourcing - Preview

education iste crowdsourcing edu_news

Findings - Ethnographic Study Looks at Gossip in the Workplace - NYTimes.com

Office gossip (this study on an elementary school and their gossip against a principal) hurts EVERYONE including your school and in this case, test scores declined. Remember that when you gossip, you also hurt yourself and if you didn't already know this, take a read here about office gossip and how to intervene and stop it.

www.nytimes.com/...03tier.html - Preview

education learning gossip psychology edu_news

once someone made a negative comment about a person who wasn’t there, the conversation would get meaner unless someone immediately defended the target.
gossip in the workplace also tended to be overwhelmingly negative, but the insults were more subtle and the conversations less predictable, says Tim Hallett, a sociologist at Indiana University.
10 more annotations...
- Office gossip can be a form of reputational warfare
- Dr. Hallett found that the teachers became so comfortable with him and his camera that they would freely insult their bosses during one-on-one interviews. But at the teachers’ formal group meetings, where they knew that another teacher might report their insults to the principal, they were more discreet.
- they sometimes offered obliquely sarcastic comments to test the water
- praise the predecessor
- The teachers’ gossip never got as blatantly mean as the teenage girls’
- The principal felt that her authority was being undermined by gossip and retaliated against teachers she suspected (correctly) of criticizing her.
- in this case it was also a form of warfare that brought everyone down
- it is more realistic to try managing it.
- That simple question, a dare made in a pleasant voice
- “Don’t we have some work to do here?”

28 Oct 09

flatclassroom09-3 - Workflow Software - Discussion - Teacher Feedback from Mrs. Davis

This is an example of how I used Diigo to create an annotated link to give feedback on a wiki on Flat Classroom. I love using Diigo for giving wiki feedback because I can mark up the page. I like ot share them through groups that are private with my students and I and the annotated link feature is one of the best ways to do this.

flatclassroom09-3.flatclassroomproject.org/...16044081 - Preview

flatclassroom diigo wiki teaching education edu_trends bestpractices