Useful links Weekly

• Free stock photos · Pexels “The some good free stock photos & videos shared by talented creators.”

• Visual to text coding- Index page | Digital Technologies Hub “This lesson sequence provides a bridge between visual coding (eg. Scratch) and General Purpose Programming languages (eg. Python or JavaScript). Each video builds a simple program in all three ways: Scratch, Python and JavaScript. This resource is most suitable if: you have never done General Purpose Programming, you benefit from slow-paced, step-by-step video tutorials.”

• Developing digital citizenship | Services to Schools Education 2020. With our time spent #remotelearning online, good digital citizenship & literacy skills are more important than ever. This guide includes many tips & resources to help you & your students. Developing digital citizenship with the understanding that Digital citizenship encompasses skills, values, and behaviours that include appropriate and effective ways we interact with people and information through media and technology.

• Dylan Wiliam: The nine things every teacher should know | Tes News A list of the nine things created by an experienced teacher with point he wished he had known when he started teaching. “

• factitious It you are teaching digital literacy skills this is a fun way to reinforce your points. A free game that tests your ability to spot FALSE or MISLEADING News. Offers different levels (6) depending on educational level of students

• Everything You Need to Know About Building a Great Screencast Video | Cult of Pedagogy “One of the most effective ways to move instruction online is to build screencast videos. Screencast videos are unique because they are actual recordings of your computer screen or tablet as opposed to a video of an in-person lecture. They are a powerful way to deliver instruction, but they do require a fair amount of time and planning, which I have learned through a lot of trial and error. Building effective screencasts continues to be the barrier that stops educators from making a smooth transition to distance learning, so I have put together the following tips to help guide you through the process.”

• Andrew Fuller: Remote learning tips and ideas for teachers – The Parents’ Website “Remote learning is a major opportunity for schools to refine their lesson planning and delivery. The efforts of teachers to adapt classes to online platforms has been nothing less than heroic. Now we have the chance to incorporate the ingredients that create effective remote learning, accelerate expertise and enhance the experience of our students. The rapid shift to remote learning has been unprecedented and we are all learning as we go through this. At its worst, remote learning can be disorienting and disconnecting. We all need to be innovative in creating learning that is engaging and involving for our students. The ideas in this paper are derived from the author’s research and work with schools of the air and distance education as well as his work with students who have been unable to attend school due to mental health issues.  “

• Free Online Language Learning Resources for Kids | The New York Public Library A compilation (annotated) of useful resources for students learning

• Join NYPL’s #BookCoverDouble Challenge! | The New York Public Library  New twist on an old idea. Recreate book cover images

• Women’s Prize for Fiction Announcing the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist – Women’s Prize for Fiction This is the 2020 Womens Prize for Fiction shortlist. Information on the six shortlisted authors and their books is available here.

• Support resources to share with parents | Education Endowment Foundation | EEF “The Covid-19 crisis has meant that schools are having to maintain communications with parents and families in very challenges circumstances. Here are some EEF resources to help schools communicate with parents/carers, as well as resources schools can share with families to support home routines and valuable learning opportunities, such as shared reading.”

• Free Online Language Learning Resources for Kids | The New York Public Library  A compilation (annotated) of useful resources for students learning

• National Standards for Quality Online Learning | From Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance (VLLA) and Quality Matters (QM) Although a US site it still has useful information for anyone trying remoteteaching. “Below are links to view or download the most current versions of each of the standards sets. National Standards for Quality Online Courses is currently being revised. Below are links to download the past versions of the standards from iNACOL.”

• Free Technology for Teachers: Quick Tip – Apply Custom Colors to Google Slides “Regular users of Google Slides are probably familiar with the process of adding images to the backgrounds of their slides and changing the background color. There is one little background color option that is easily overlooked. That option is applying a custom color that isn’t listed in the default colour menu in Google Slides.”

• Your local Bookshop An list of Australian bookshops has been compiled here so you can see which Australian bookshops offering home delivery, book drops and drive through pickups.

• How to set personal boundaries with remote learning : Innovative Education in VT “Many teachers are are struggling to make a distinction between home and work. This change in working conditions may feel overwhelming.The shift to remote teaching and learning is fraught with challenges. One of the biggest is how to make this type of work sustainable for teachers. In this situation, many are working for hours without breaks, forgetting about their own needs. This is not healthy or sustainable. This article offers some advice bbout how to set up some boundaries.”

• Women’s Prize for Fiction Announcing the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist – Women’s Prize for Fiction This is the 2020 Womens Prize for Fiction shortlist. Information on the six shortlisted authors and their books is available here.

• Getting Started With Project-Based Learning (Hint: Don’t Go Crazy) | Edutopia A handful of tips to help teachers ease into #PBL without getting overwhelmed.

• Becoming a More Connected Educator #digicon15 – Read Write Respond

• Celebrate Science: Where Should We Shelve Informational Fiction? Blog post discussing this literature “For the most part, the authors fully realized that these books should be classified as fiction, and they liked the term “informational fiction” because it acknowledged all the research they’d done and that the books were mostly faithful to the facts. But the Library of Congress labelled these books “juvenile literature” (the term they use for nonfiction). And in most cases, publishers and reviewers called the books narrative nonfiction.”

• Student Leadership Through a Student-Led Podcast @coolcatteacher

• Research Confirms Value of School Librarians | School Library Journal

• Sensory Products AU | Sensory Toys Australia | Sensory Oasis For Kids “Sensory Products for Special Kids with Special Needs. Australian owned & operated, Sensory Oasis for Kids is a Melbourne-based online & retail store run by a mum of three amazing Autistic boys”

• On The Move Visual Kit | Sensory Oasis For Kids

• 7 Good Lesson Plans Sources for Teachers and Educators | Educational Technology and Mobile Learning Some good sites mentioned here. ReadWriteThink and TedEx have a lot lot of ideas but from the descriptions of some of the others, there are a few other useful places to go for ideas.

• Create Interactive Online Presentations & free Infographic software. HTML5 Animations, download & Publish | Visme.  A digital tool that allows your create interesting visual stories (Infographics, presentations, etc.). You are allowed to create 5 free resources before you need to pay. My students have found very easy to use and creates some nice looking timelines for their assessment task.

• Jen Robinson’s Book Page: The Third Grade Cliff: My Response to a Finding from the @Scholastic Kids and Family Reading Report “The 7th edition of the Scholastic Kids and Family Reading Report was released last October. Scholastic presents the results of a survey, managed by YouGov, of 2758 adults and children. This biannual report is, I think, one of the best windows into what families are doing and thinking when it comes to kids’ reading. I’m in the process of going through the material and there are certainly causes for optimism overall. However, one of the major  findings hit me hard: The Decline by Nine”. Author discusses some results and how she intends to overcome them.

• 10 Elements Of A Quality Blog Post: Tips For Teaching Students (Poster and Examples) “Students have been learning about the elements of quality blog posts and comments. When high standards are set for publishing online, students tend to yield the greatest results. They can meet academic outcomes while learning how to be a safe and positive digital citizen. This post goes through 10 elements of a quality blog post. You are free to share these tips with students and they might be useful for adult bloggers.”

• Collage Maker | BeFunky: Create Photo Collages Useful to generate interesting images.

• Top 5 Unbiased World News Sources Free From Censorship “Every journalist is aware of the nine principles of journalism. The first says that a journalist’s first obligation is to the truth.
  “This ‘journalistic truth’ is a process that begins with the professional discipline of assembling and verifying facts. Then journalists try to convey a fair and reliable account of their meaning, valid for now, subject to further investigation.”
  The ability to set aside one’s own prejudices in order to be “neutral” is not a part of those principles. However, “the source of their credibility is still their accuracy, intellectual fairness, and ability to inform.” When journalists let personal biases hinder their objectivity, it puts the entire media organization at risk. Thankfully there are still enough media outlets left that uphold these principles.”

• Stock photos that don’t suck “An ongoing list of the best stock photo sites the author has come across.”

• A Universe of Podcasts: A Summer Listening Guide for Elementary, Middle, and High School Students | School Library Journal  “The 2019 Collaborative Summer Library Program reading theme, A Universe of Stories, offered unlimited opportunities to connect with students and to build community. This summer is also the 50th anniversary of the July 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing. As you include related fiction and nonfiction titles on your summer reading lists, consider adding a listening guide that explores the theme and anniversary through podcasts. New research provides compelling reasons to recommend them, and our curated lists will get you, your students, and their families started.” Lots of ideas that could be repurposed.

• School Sends Kids To Meditation Instead Of Detention, With Amazing Results One elementary school has changed the approach to disruptive children. Instead of detention and punishment, the children take part in a “Mindful Moment Program” with some amazing results.

• Three Powerful Google Docs Add-ons for Creating Diagrams and Flowcharts | Educational Technology and Mobile Learning “Google Docs add-ons that enable you to create a wide variety of charts and diagrams. Of course there are numerous other tools you can use for this purpose but these  three are conidered by the authors to be the best. “

• How to Engage Digitally Distracted Students – The Tech Edvocate While it is clear that digital technology is distracting students, the technology is here to stay. For example, while most teachers agree the best way to turn digital distraction is to not allow mobile devices in the classroom, these same teachers agree this is ineffective in the long run. Instead, educators must be proactive and teach proper digital device usage in the classroom. Therefore, teachers must find ways to engage digitally distracted students.”

Useful links: Week 13/04 – 17/04

• How to Get Kids Ready to Video-Chat for Online Classes | Common Sense Media A list for teachers to share with the parents of their students so they can be ready for their online sessions/lessons.

• Webinars – Listenwise Teacher Support Center “At Listenwise, has been watching how the outbreak of the coronavirus has caused many schools to close temporarily and rely on remote learning. They have their weekly webinars in the month of April as they continue to discuss remote learning. You can also access recordings from previous remote learning webinars. You sign up for free and all webinars will be recorded and available to view afterward.”

• Wakelet – Save, organize and share content

• (2) 10 Tips for Education’s Overcomers – YouTube

• Free strategies for teaching K-12 online | Learning Keeps Going  “Coronavirus is posing unprecedented challenges to educators around the globe.  The COVID-19 Education Coalition is a community of nonprofit organizations who have come together to support the education field as they keep the learning going during extended school closures. Go to the Educator Help Desk to get answers to your online learning questions from experts”

• Remote Learning – Eduro Learning “Real Life Experiences with Long Term School Closures: Conversations with Educators & School Leaders in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Watch or listen to our conversations with educators and school leaders who have been navigating school closures since mid-January.”

• Stuck at Home? These 12 Famous Museums Offer Virtual Tours You Can Take on Your Couch (Video) Some great opportunities to see some of the great artworks of the world without the expense of travelling there.

• Facts and Opinions Explained by Common Craft (VIDEO) Useful presentation.”Understanding the difference between a fact and an opinion isn’t difficult. What matters is being able to apply that knowledge responsibly. When someone presents information in the form of a fact, like “the blue whale is the largest animal on earth.” They are stating something that can be proven with evidence. That’s different from an opinion, like “blue whales are the most beautiful whales.” Here, they are sharing a personal belief that can’t be proven”

• Pedagogy: why child-led learning ‘does not work’ “Once you get to real academic learning, the child discovery approach is just not going to work,” explains David C Geary, Curators’ Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri, keeping alight the eternal flame of debate about the best way to teach”

• Responding to Absenteeism During the Coronavirus Pandemic & Beyond – Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo – Education Week Teacher “The new question of the week is:
  What are effective strategies—both school-wide and individually—to handle student absenteeism?
  It’s a little bit ironic to publish a series on absenteeism at the same time that most schools are closed because of the coronavirus. But students not being “present” when teaching takes places was a problem before the pandemic, is an issue now when many of us are doing remote learning, and will be one after this crisis has passed.
  Though the original responses to this question were written prior to school closures, most contributors have made significant modifications to their answers over the past month.”

• Free Technology for Teachers: ytCropper – Share a Section of a YouTube Video “ytCropper lets you share just a portion of a YouTube video by specifying the start time and end time of the video that you want others to see. To do this simply go to the ytCropper site then paste in the URL of the YouTube video that you want to share. Once you have done that you can specify the start and end time of the portion of the video that you want people to watch. ytCropper will generate a link to the cropped version of the video. Share that link to have people watch your specified portion of the video.”

• SafeShare.TV – The safest way to share YouTube and Vimeo videos A tool that allows you to take parts of videos and leave out inappropriate or off-topic (and ads) sections.

• Nik’s Learning Technology Blog: Cropping YouTube Videos to Create Activities Nik Peachey explains how to use SafeShare.TV. It is a tool that allows you to take parts of videos and leave out inappropriate or off-topic sections.

• Start Mixing “Drag On Tape” lets you splice portions of different YouTube videos with an online editor. It allows you to cut portions of one video and then let you put them all together.” It has quite a slick interface that isn’t as simple as some others are, so it might a little tricky for some non-tech savvy people like myself, but many should be able to figure it out.

Useful Links (weekly)

• #howitworks Interesting web 2 application. Online presentation creation and sharing tool. Add video and audio to your uploaded presentation, share your PowerPoint (PPT), OpenOffice (ODP), and Keynote presentations!

• Essay Map This site provides information for students to write essays. There are templates that will help students outline essays and walk them through the important pieces in an essay. It is structured as an interactive graphic organizer that includes introductions, supporting paragraphs and conclusion

• Kerpoof Studio Creative activity studio that allows you to make cards, stories, movies, doodles, pictures etc. Looks easy and fun and similar to Scratch.

• Book Parodies: See The Funniest And Send In Your Own 

• Math Games Games for all levels of mathematics.

• NZ Interface Magazine | If you can’t use technology get out of teaching! Article by David Warlick 

• Special Reports – eSN Special Report: 21st-Century Teacher Education Responding to a key need, schools of education are ramping up efforts to prepare future teachers to integrate technology into their instruction

• Special Reports – Learning without limits How the rise of online instruction is changing the nature of schooling; from eSchool News April 3, 2009

• Balzac’s Paris – A Guided Tour Wander through the heart of Paris in the time of Balzac, as described through some of his works, and as documented in maps and engravings ofThe Vernon Duke Collection Special Collections Department, University of California Library 

• Educypedia, The educational encyclopedia is the most complete Encyclopedia in the world with access to the very best Web Resources for Education. The best free resources on the web!!! The aim of this site is to provide a resource of technical and scientific information. There is a huge amount of links for math, science and even history, etc. Includes interactives & animations. , It was designed to help educators search for internet material appropriate for their classrooms, autocad, educypedia, computer hardware, datacommunication, microprocessors, motherboards, audio, electricity, biology, botany, chemistry, climate, geographic, geology, mechanics, mathematics, space, worldwars.

• Stephen Michael King Australian Illustrator’s website

• YouCube by Aaron Meyers This tools allows you to map six YouTube videos to an interactive 3D cube. Once you make your own YouCube, you can save it to the database and share it.

• toptentools – home Top Ten Free Technology Tools For Young Learners from Kathy Cassidy

• data.australia.gov.au – beta data.australia.gov.au is the home of Australian government public information datasets.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Useful Links (weekly)

• Top News – Six technologies soon to affect education From E-School News. Collaborative environments, cloud computing, and "smart" objects are among the technologies that a group of experts believes will have a profound impact on K-12 education within the next five years or sooner. 

• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teachers A post, by Milton Ramirez, paraphrasing the popular The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, a business self-help book. Secrets effective teachers put into practice: 1. They build confidence 2. They’re not afraid to make difficult decisions 3. They develop others 4. They’re good communicators 5. They’re non-conformists 6. They thrive in the company of others 7. They see the bigger picture But what makes teachers highly effective? We should start with two basic premises: Teachers are facilitators and not entertainers even though occasionally have to play that role. The second point to have in mind is that learners are not anymore the passive subject who only listens, new technologies put students in charge of the information they access, they are able to save, reformat and share it. 

• Talk to Me: 5 Great Translation Tools 5 translation tools to aid you in your quest to translate and communicate

• Create text-to-speech (TTS) podcast from RSS feed for iPod, iPhone, MP3 player and mobile phone Odiogo’s media-shifting technology expands the reach of your content: It transforms news sites and blog posts into high fidelity, near human quality audio files ready to download and play anywhere, anytime, on any device. It reads your text into a "listen now" button that can create an MP3 download 

• State Library of Victoria SLV Research Guides – Bushfires in Victoria – 2009 Fires (Black Saturday) A great collection from the SLV on information about Victorian bushfires

• YouTube – Copyright for Educators – Overview Episode 2 part 1 "Hall Davidson’s Updated version of Copyright for Fair Use, which is aligned with the teachings from the Code of Fair Use for Media Literacy Education (Temple University). There were a six videos on copyright law produced with Hall Davidson for KOCE Public Television" (abubnic)

• 2. User Rights, Section 107 Music Video | Media Education Lab A good video for introducing students and teachers to the basics of copyright and fair use. The Temple Media Lab provides an excellent collection of case studies, FAQs, and lesson plans for teaching about fair use of copyrighted materials in education. 

• Tech Savvy Teacher: SUP228 –Best Practices in Fair Use for 21st-Century Educators Review of: SUP228 Best Practices in Fair Use for 21st-Century Educators\nRenee Hobbs, Temple University, Media Education Lab with Katie Donnelly, Kristin Hokanson, Michael RobbGrieco and Joyce Valenza (abubnic)

• New Book for Tweens and Teens Explains How to Tell Real Friends from the Other Kind New book for teens and tweens. Part graphic novel, part practical life skills, REAL FRIENDS VS. THE OTHER KIND by Annie Fox is here to help. The second book in the Middle School Confidential™ series, it follows a tight-knit group of fictional seventh graders–Jen, Jack, Michelle, Chris, Mateo, and Abby–as they work to strengthen friendships while navigating tough social situations. New book for teens and tweens. Part graphic novel, part practical life skills, REAL FRIENDS VS. THE OTHER KIND by Annie Fox is here to help. The second book in the Middle School Confidential™ series, it follows a tight-knit group of fictional seventh graders–Jen, Jack, Michelle, Chris, Mateo, and Abby–as they work to strengthen friendships while navigating tough social situations. New book for teens and tweens. Part graphic novel, part practical life skills, REAL FRIENDS VS. THE OTHER KIND by Annie Fox is here to help. The second book in the Middle School Confidential™ series, it follows a tight-knit group of fictional seventh graders–Jen, Jack, Michelle, Chris, Mateo, and Abby–as they work to strengthen friendships while navigating tough social situations. (abubnic)

• http://edtechavenue.com/2009/06/29/cyberbullying-using-virtual-scenarios-to-educate-and-raise-awarenessli "Cyberbullying: Using Virtual Scenarios to Educate and Raise Awarenessli June 29th, 2009 by Jill Research Study We need to have a better awareness on how to educate on cyberbullying. Graduate students in counseling and education came together in this project. Cyberbullying “refers to bullying via electronic communications tools.”

• k12cellphoneprojects – home K-12 projects that have integrated student cell phones

• Digi Teen – Digital Citizenship for Teenagers Global project (Ning) for high school students to explore what it means to be a responsible digital citizen. 

• Digi Parent – Digital Citizenship for Understanding Ning network for parents around the world to learn about digital citizenship. Learn about today’s social landscape, discover the pressing need for digital citizenship, and act to become better digital citizens.

• http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/LeaderTalk/upload/2009/06/focus.gif Leadership, Collaboration, Data & Engagement

• The Art Institute of Chicago: Education: Storytime, Match Up, Play with Art. Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.

• History Channel Classroom: Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked 

• Cartoon Analysis Worksheet The National Archives Digital Classroom: Primary Sources, Activities and Training for Educators and Students. 

• ReadWriteThink: Lesson Plan: Comic Makeovers: Examining Race, Class, Ethnicity, and Gender in the Media In this lesson, students explore representations of race, class, ethnicity, and gender by analyzing comics over a two-week period and then re-envisioning them with a "comic character makeover." (CMIS eval) Takes 2 weeks, 10 50 minutes lessons

• ReadWriteThink: Lesson Plan: The Comic Book Show and Tell comic book scripting requires the writer to give the artist detailed, descriptive instructions while also crafting exciting dialogue and otherwise rich language. In this lesson, students encounter an authentic writing experience designed to get them thinking about their choices as writers and how they can best get their mental images out of their head and on the page.

• art junction: a collaborative art space for teachers and students This site provides many different resources for both teachers and students. Some of the resources for teachers are very basic and specific, eg. advice on teaching students to draw or information on the stages of art development. Other resources are very broad (but extremely useful) like a collection of reviews of art based books and links to other arts website. The most ineresting and individual resource the site provides in "Art Education 2.0" a social network for teachers of art. 

• Lovely Charts | Free online diagramming software Free online diagramming software. Flowcharts, Sitemaps, Organisation charts, Wireframes, Family trees, Network diagrams.

• Online image markup tool – Aviary.com’s Falcon "Use Falcon and Talon to quickly capture images and web pages from your browser and crop, resize or mark them up. " 

• Video Tutorials for Camtasia Studio 5 Video tutorials by category for Camtasia Studio 5 screen capture software. Learn how to use Camtasia Studio to record anything on your screen visually.

• xkcd – A Webcomic – Snopes This comic references Snopes.com and urban legends.

• Ideas to Inspire ‘Ideas to Inspire’ is a collection of collaborative presentations, which offer a large number of ideas for engaging lesson activities. They are the result of the collaboration of teachers from all around the world.

• Facebook’s Own Estimates Show Declining Student Numbers; Now More Grandparents Than High School Users Facebook users aged 55 and over have skyrocketed from under 1 million to nearly six million in the same time period. College and high school users have declined in absolute number by 20% and 15% respectively in a mere six months, according to estimates Facebook provides to advertisers that were archived for tracking by an outside firm. 

• Global Education Teacher resources supporting the integration of a global perspective across the curriculum: Country profiles, international issues, development and poverty. Initiated and funded by AusAID (Australian Agency for International Development) which manages the Australian Government’s official overseas aid program 

• 100 Best Blogs for School Librarians | Online College Tips – Online Colleges With a US bias these 100 bloggers serve as good reference resource for learning about everything from library technology to young adult fiction

• Task Force Recommendations for Best Practices for Child Online Safety Ι Point Smart. Click Safe. "The most important and timely recommendation from the report (which previous online safety task forces all agree upon) is the need for digital media literacy and safety education that empowers kids, parents, and educators. It’s important that kids of all ages learn what it mean to be a digital citizen and how to navigate the online world safely, and it’s equally important that parents and educators have the resources and online tools to help kids make the right choices online." [quote from: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2009/07/best-practices-for-online-child-safety.html%5D 

• Related Top News – Task force tells how to keep kids safe online 

• Effects – PhotoFunia The website offers some fun image effects enables users to create and save some pretty nifty images to print out and use at school (or home.) Images can be saved to your computer, saved as an avatar or published on the web by embedding into blogs, etc.

• Digiteen – Group | Diigo Digiteen Diigo group that we use with our students on the digital citizenship project. The 9 aspects of digital citizenship correspond with the 9 aspects from Mike Ribble and Gerald Bailey’s Digital Citizenship in schools.

• dragonsinger » Blog Archive » Why we have changed our classroom – the students reflect.

• Wisdomap | Welcome Wisdomap is mind mapping that allows you to attach notes, videos, pictures, links and files. The colourful, bright maps engage the right side of the brain, while keeping notes and media outside the mind map ensures clarity.

• Sage: Open Source Mathematics Software Sage can be used to study general and advanced, pure and applied mathematics, including algebra, calculus, number theory, cryptography, numerical computation, commutative algebra, group theory, combinatorics, graph theory, exact linear algebra and more.

• twtpoll :: a simple survey twitter app. Twtpoll is a free feedback tool that helps you to create and distribute polls on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites.

• 50 Awesome Ways to Use Skype in the Classroom | Teaching Degree.org Promoting Education; Promoting Community; Skype Ideas for Teachers and Parents; Resources for Getting Started and Using Skype; Finding Others Using Skype

• Vision Mapper by Futurelab Vision Mapper is a free web resource to support long-term planning and decision making in education. With its wide range of group activities and inspirational materials designed to inspire broader thinking, challenge your views and create realistic, achievable action plans, Vision Mapper can help you create a long-term vision and strategy for your organisation

• Create-A-Scape – Home Create-A-Scape is a website that provides resources for creating digitally-enhanced learning experiences, using mobile technology to experience location-sensitive sounds and images that have been ‘attached to’ the local landscape. Can be used right across the curriculum with all age groups. 

• Enquiring Minds Enquiring Minds is an approach to teaching and learning that takes students’ ideas, interests and experiences as its starting point, and provides them with more responsibility for the direction and content of their learning. Free guide and supporting resources available online. 

• Exploratree – Exploratree by FutureLab A free web resource which can be used for downloading, using and making interactive thinking guides. Thinking guides can be useful for supporting independent and group research projects with frameworks for thinking, planning and enquiry.

• Million Futures Million Futures aims to identify what people think are the biggest challenges facing education in the future. The site invites visitors to launch their thoughts about future life and learning via virtual paper planes, and explore what others have written. A lesson plan is available.

• Power League | Home Power League is a free web resource for exploring any topic, through sampling group opinions and provoking group discussions. Create your own online leagues or use our existing ones. Can be used right across the curriculum with all age groups; includes lesson plans

• NECC 2009 – List | Diigo 

• Best Audiobooks for Kids: Travel Savvy Mom 

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Web2.0 tools to inspire (slideshare)

I found this SlideShare presentation thanks to the post by Sue Tapp on her blog And another thing. It contains a lot of suggestions which are/could be very useful for classroom practices as well as interesting enough to encourage student use beyond the classroom. They include tools that cover areas such as:

• Brainstorming, mind mapping, creativity triggers, etc.
• Word processing, document and multimedia tools for sharing ideas and storytelling
• Social Networking (Facebook, Linkedin, Seesmic, Twitter)
• Other interesting things (Neat stuff)

Rather than me list them all, have a look at the slides.

Web 2.0 Tools to Inspire

View more documents from tippydawn.