Just returned from the WEMTA conference in Milwaukee. WOW. I actually had the awesome opportunity to actually meet two people who I have been following in Twitter. I felt like I was renewing a friendship with high school friends. But yet I had never met these fine folks in person prior to this event. I hope someone is doing some research on the effects of micro social networking. I keep on telling folks it has changed my life and they look at me a bit strangely - but it has. I have found myself crying over the death on a Twitter colleague who was killed in the war - but yet I had never met him face to face. I have also celebrated (silently) with my Twitter friends over a successful workshop or lesson completed with students.
Web 2.o and Moodle were definitely HOT topics at the conference. I cannot believe how many new followers in Twitter I have accumulated since the conference. It was also a really interesting to have individuals Twittering from live sectionals. This provided us with the ability to stay somewhat in touch with what was happening in other sectionals. Interesting experience.
Keynotes were interesting - one challenged us to get out of our comfort zone and attend a sectional we never would have considered attending. I think that we all could benefit from this concept.
New tool for this blog - Doodle
Doodle is a Web-based service for finding suitable dates for group events (e.g., an appointment, a conference call, a family reunion, IEP meeting, child study.). Doodle is particularly useful to people who do not use a common calendar or groupware system.
In addition to scheduling events, Doodle also supports polls in general. That is, groups can also conveniently decide on options other than dates: the movie for the next movie night, the logo of the new Web site, the restaurant for the Christmas dinner, etc.
No registration is required.
Go ahead and give it a try!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Stephen Heppell’s opening keynote address tonight at the 105th OLA Super Conference as live blogged by David Warlick (1/30/2008). Wonder if AT Across the Lifespan can reach 105th? Heppell asked a group of students what a literate teacher should be able to do, and they agreed that teacher should be able to:
- upload to YouTube
- edit a Wikipedia article
- choose a safe online payment site
- subscribe/unsubscribe from a podcast
- turn off predictive text
- manage a group of Flickr ( and spell Flickr)
- look after a community in Facebook
You can read the entire post at http://tinyurl.com/ys6fdc
I would also like to share 2 science resources that I learned about this week.
1. http://www.gillesvidal.com/blogpano/cockpit1.htm This site takes into the cockpit of an Airbus A380. Incredible virtual experience for everyone!
2. http://azuregrackle.com/periodictable/table/ Ninety-six printmakers (8 countries - Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Italy, Japan, Scotland, United States and 29 states & Puerto Rico from the US are represented - Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin) of all experience levels, have joined together to produce 118 prints in any medium; woodcut, linocut, monotype, etching, lithograph, silkscreen, or any combination. The end result is a periodic table of elements intended to promote both science and the arts. Awesome tool to present a visual periodic table of elements.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
How to find the time!
So many of you have asked me how I find the time to get involved in the Web 2.0 stuff so I decided to share a history of how I got hooked.
Last Spring I attended a workshop in Madison where I was taught about iGoogle. I started using iGoogle and appreciated the tools it brought to my desktop. Mainly the to do list, mapquest, calendar and calculator. Then late this summer I was attending another workshop in Madison that was very slow and boring. I happened to be sitting by John Pederson from Cesa 3 and he showed me Twitter. I did not "get it" but played along and created an account and began following John on Twitter. WOW - This is weird but it has changed my professional life.
About this same time Kirk Benke from Region 4 in Houston called and asked me to deliver a series of workshops using a web based tool. So instead of going to Houston for a couple of days like I had been doing each year, this time I could stay at home and teach the workshops. This was awesome and worked really well until the server crashed in Houston. Kirk and I had both been using Skype so we just switched mid presentation to a Skype call and saved the workshop.
In SeptemberI became involved in a writing project with friends from the east coast. I am hoping to share this product with you soon - waiting now for publisher. We used the web based writing tools to collaborate and write shared documents - thus my introduction to http://www.writeboard.com/ .
Then at CTG - I met many new friends who were also very involved in Web 2.0 tools for special education. By the way - I Twitter with them daily. We also meet in Second Life which is a virtual world and another blog post. There I learned about the Tuesday night webcast called WOW 2.0. This is Woman of the Web 2.0 (WOW). It is broadcast every Tuesday night at 8:00 or you can listen to the archive at any time. WOW also has a chat room that you can participate in as your are listening to the webcast. Now I am addicted and you will find me every Tuesday night in WOW 2.0.
Then I also was asked to develop a class based on Web 2.0 tools for educators in a Masters of Technology Program. This prompted me to begin collecting and using these awesome and FREE tools.
So if you would like to get involved with Web 2.0 - start gradually. iGoogle is a great place to begin. See if it makes your life easier. If so use it and get comfortable. Then add another tool to your repetoire. I only use the tools that make my life easier.
Last Spring I attended a workshop in Madison where I was taught about iGoogle. I started using iGoogle and appreciated the tools it brought to my desktop. Mainly the to do list, mapquest, calendar and calculator. Then late this summer I was attending another workshop in Madison that was very slow and boring. I happened to be sitting by John Pederson from Cesa 3 and he showed me Twitter. I did not "get it" but played along and created an account and began following John on Twitter. WOW - This is weird but it has changed my professional life.
About this same time Kirk Benke from Region 4 in Houston called and asked me to deliver a series of workshops using a web based tool. So instead of going to Houston for a couple of days like I had been doing each year, this time I could stay at home and teach the workshops. This was awesome and worked really well until the server crashed in Houston. Kirk and I had both been using Skype so we just switched mid presentation to a Skype call and saved the workshop.
In SeptemberI became involved in a writing project with friends from the east coast. I am hoping to share this product with you soon - waiting now for publisher. We used the web based writing tools to collaborate and write shared documents - thus my introduction to http://www.writeboard.com/ .
Then at CTG - I met many new friends who were also very involved in Web 2.0 tools for special education. By the way - I Twitter with them daily. We also meet in Second Life which is a virtual world and another blog post. There I learned about the Tuesday night webcast called WOW 2.0. This is Woman of the Web 2.0 (WOW). It is broadcast every Tuesday night at 8:00 or you can listen to the archive at any time. WOW also has a chat room that you can participate in as your are listening to the webcast. Now I am addicted and you will find me every Tuesday night in WOW 2.0.
Then I also was asked to develop a class based on Web 2.0 tools for educators in a Masters of Technology Program. This prompted me to begin collecting and using these awesome and FREE tools.
So if you would like to get involved with Web 2.0 - start gradually. iGoogle is a great place to begin. See if it makes your life easier. If so use it and get comfortable. Then add another tool to your repetoire. I only use the tools that make my life easier.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
bubbl.us
My tool for this post is another very user friendly free web based tool. It is called Bubbl.us. You can find it at http://www.bubbl.us/ . Bubbl.us is a simple and free web application designed to allow you to create colorful mind maps /concept maps online. The maps can be embedded into your blog or website or can be emailed to your friends/coworkers or students. The maps can also be printed from the site.
For classroom application - you can give read only access so the maps can be viewed but not edited or Full Edit access which allows users to make changes and rename sheets.
For classroom application - you can give read only access so the maps can be viewed but not edited or Full Edit access which allows users to make changes and rename sheets.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Twitter - www.twitter.com
OK - if someone asks you if you Twitter - do not be wary - they are asking if you participate in a popular social network. I almost did not choose Twitter for this post because I find it very difficult to describe. But Twitter is a favorite Web 2.0 tool for my own professional development. I have been Twittering for about 3 months and have learned so much from my friends and followers. So what is Twitter? According to Wikipedia: Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send "updates" (text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) to the Twitter website, via short message service, instant messaging, email, or an application such as Twitterrific or Snitter .
I follow 36 different individuals from around the world and have 20 individuals who follow me. However, some of the people I follow are the guru's of educational technology (Tony Vincent, Bernie Dodge, David Jakes, David Warlick, John Peterson - to name a few). Since CTG, I have also been fortunate to add a new group of Twitter friends that have an interest in assistive technology (Paul Hamilton from SETT BC, Brian Wojcik AT consultant from IL, Karen Janowski OT /AT from Boston, Maddie Pugliese from STAGES fame to name a few).
Think of Twitter as a really small blog (140 characters or less). How does it provide Prof Dev? Twitter asks you to answer a question - What are you doing? I might post - working on a presentation on Internet Accessibility. Within seconds I will receive suggestions from my followers who are online. Or I will read others posts - like David Warlick posting that a URL of a keynote he will be giving in Chine in a few hours. I get to see his keynotes before the folks who will see him in person. Here is a video describing it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkd-Kft1xy8 . Someone else might post a great resource that they just found on the web.
Here is a post that was just sent: ok time to get professional :) Looking for samples of STUDENT created enhanced math podcasts...anyone? Friday Paul Hamilton from SETT BC was posting about his success with a particular piece of assistive technology. I know a few folks at the other CESA's who are also Twittering - so if you are interested - go to Twitter and create an account. I will watch for you
My Twitter name is : Pswalser Feel free to follow me!
OK - if someone asks you if you Twitter - do not be wary - they are asking if you participate in a popular social network. I almost did not choose Twitter for this post because I find it very difficult to describe. But Twitter is a favorite Web 2.0 tool for my own professional development. I have been Twittering for about 3 months and have learned so much from my friends and followers. So what is Twitter? According to Wikipedia: Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send "updates" (text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) to the Twitter website, via short message service, instant messaging, email, or an application such as Twitterrific or Snitter .
I follow 36 different individuals from around the world and have 20 individuals who follow me. However, some of the people I follow are the guru's of educational technology (Tony Vincent, Bernie Dodge, David Jakes, David Warlick, John Peterson - to name a few). Since CTG, I have also been fortunate to add a new group of Twitter friends that have an interest in assistive technology (Paul Hamilton from SETT BC, Brian Wojcik AT consultant from IL, Karen Janowski OT /AT from Boston, Maddie Pugliese from STAGES fame to name a few).
Think of Twitter as a really small blog (140 characters or less). How does it provide Prof Dev? Twitter asks you to answer a question - What are you doing? I might post - working on a presentation on Internet Accessibility. Within seconds I will receive suggestions from my followers who are online. Or I will read others posts - like David Warlick posting that a URL of a keynote he will be giving in Chine in a few hours. I get to see his keynotes before the folks who will see him in person. Here is a video describing it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkd-Kft1xy8 . Someone else might post a great resource that they just found on the web.
Here is a post that was just sent: ok time to get professional :) Looking for samples of STUDENT created enhanced math podcasts...anyone? Friday Paul Hamilton from SETT BC was posting about his success with a particular piece of assistive technology. I know a few folks at the other CESA's who are also Twittering - so if you are interested - go to Twitter and create an account. I will watch for you
My Twitter name is : Pswalser Feel free to follow me!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Resources
While recently presenting a breakout session at the Closing the Gap conference I was asked why I did not have a blog or wiki to share the Internet resources that I have been collecting. So here we go....
My primary focus of this blog will be to discuss free web based resources for all. While focusing on special education students for the past 20 some years I have come to realize that the tools that work for our students with special needs are some of the same tools that work for all learners. Go figure - why did it take me 20 years?
The first web tool I will share is http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ . This site includes over 142 interactive educational resources for elementary grades. Activities are sorted by Key stages
Early Years/Foundation Stage for 4 to 5 year olds.
Key Stage 1 for 6 to 7 year olds.
Key Stage 2 for 8 to 11 year olds. v
17600 visitors to crickweb in one day!
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