Second Life is a virtual world that can be used for many different educational purposes. This video is a brief tour of one location in Second Life. This area is constructed by the Library Association. Second Life can also provide a interesting platform for meeting in Distance Learning.

This is a imovie podcast that I created with some of my middle school students. I love iMovie because it is super easy for kids to use. There are times when I find it limited. It often does not have the precision that I am looking for when editing. Special effects are also limited, even when using the advanced tools. But when podcasting it is my go-to!

Collaborative Brainstorming

http://www.gliffy.com/publish/3004725/

I have used tools for collaborative brainstorming before. Webspiration has always been my favorite. C-Maps is another neat tool that NASA uses! These tools all started out free to educators. Now this is a small fee for some of them. I just recently was introduced to Gliffy another visual organizer site. I LOVE GLIFFY! It is the most visually interesting of the sites I have used. I am creating a reading comprehension map with my sixth graders and it is wonderful!

Web 2.0 Tools for Presenting

I love Glogster, Voki and Prezi. All of these tools are a great way to change up your presentation! I use Glogster and Voki with my students. They both embed nicely in wikis or blogs. My students get so excited when I say we will be working with either. I personally use Prezi but have not used it with students. I am not sure how to get around the fact that the user has to be 13 years or older! I spend quite a bit of time stressing user agreements (especially facebook!) with my students that I don't want to send the wrong message!

Here is a presentation that I have given using Prezi.

http://prezi.com/y0hjb7vzeeu0/15-in-30/

Social Bookmarking

I am a huge fan of social bookmarking. I have used several different sites. I started with Deli.cio.us, then Diigo and finally Google bookmarks. Diigo is such a great interface. I like the way it looks the way it merges with my browser. It is a tool that is easy to use with students. You can easily comment on students’ references and they can comment on each others findings. I have to note another evolution of my use of this type of tool. I use Evernote now for …well, everything! I love this tool and how it gathers and organizes my ideas and findings. I have yet to use it with students. However, I see the “share” aspect of it as a valuable application, that could replace bookmarking sites for me.

Blogging...what is it good for?

I'm a talker.

Blogging is a way to "talk" to a wider audience, a way to make my opinions known. Also, it is a way to hear how others feel about a variety of subjects.  I view Facebook as a form of blogging. Isn’t it? I just didn’t create the format, but I post regularly. Each time I use a blog I feel that I learn more about the potential of the interface. 

In school my blog is on a wiki. I post weekly and ask my students to do the same we all write about our reading. It is one of my favorite ways to get to know my students. They are willing to spill a little more of themselves through the technology. I do feel that appropriate blogging is a learned behavior. Teachers most model what they hope to see. Only through modeling can students reach their full potential as a member of a digital community.

  

I think blogs can be a great tool for teachers and students. If used on just a basic level it provides a localized, easily accessed location to shared information. Students working on a research project can create an informative blog about the topic, they do not have to share the information outside of the group. However, the most powerful aspect of a blog would be the collaborative feature, creating something as a group that can be viewed by many, for example the “Secret Life of Bees” blog that Richardson mentioned on page 24. In this case students are creating for a larger audience. I particularly like the reflective nature of blogging. The style of writing and thinking that is required is not one most students are comfortable with using.  Using a blog as a tool to look at this form of writing would also be a way to use a blog in an educational setting.