End of the School Year musings and Social Bookmarking

So the end of this school year is fast approaching. I always feel like I have more to say than I have time to say it in. There have been some frustrating moments in the year but also many exciting happenings. I was evaluating how our technology has improved at my school. I recently sent a survey out to the teachers inquiring what form of technology did they integrate in their lessons. It was a commendable list of things ranging from Edmodo (a very popular choice) to presentation tools like Prezi and Glogster. This list was quite encouraging especially remembering how little teachers would use in the past. So this is a step in the right direction.

One of the questions I asked was what technology infused projects or assignments were given to students. Here is where we lack. Outside of Microsoft Word (which technically is using technology), the list was quite short. This area is where we need to focus in the year ahead. I love walking down our school halls and seeing all the wonderful posters, book reports and models but I often wonder how teachers can branch out and encourage their students to do the same assignments but in another way other than using a poster board. A challenge indeed.

Perhaps in getting teachers to use some simple tools, they can see how these tools can also help their students. One such tool would be to create and organize internet bookmarks. Very simple yet very productive. My personal favorite is Delicious. I would have to say that 99% of my bookmarks are here. I have begun using the stacks feature to create groupings of links. This has been especially helpful when teachers ask me to find links for their students. A science teacher at my school has asked me many times for links to topics that her students are studying. I find and create stacks, send her the link, which she shares with her students. I am told the students try to finish their work so they can go explore the links. Lifelong learners in the making. My stacks are not particularly large and sometimes it is tricky finding interactive features. Nonetheless, it adds to their learning experience. Here is a link to a stack I put together for her class when they were studying geology.

Some thoughts about Delicious that you should consider: First of all Delicious is a "social bookmarking site" and could likely be blocked at your school because of the "social" nature. In the site you are able to search the community's links so doing a search might turn up some links that you don't want your students to be exploring. Secondly, in the terms of use, Delicious does state that their site in not intended for those under the age of 13. If your student population is mostly under this age you might consider some alternative bookmarking sites.

This list contains some great for teachers and adults but some not so great for the under 13 crowd:
Live Binders- Terms of use state that you must be 13 to register for an account and there are public binders that are easily accessible. So- good for teachers- not so good for under 13
Diigo- now this is a social bookmarking site that initially I did not like. It just did not seem user friendly. Too many options? However, looking back at it I see they now offer an education account. So Diigo now looks very promising for classroom use. I'll have to play more with this education account and post about it later.

Smart Notebook 11

I attended a Smart Board User group meeting yesterday at Bishop Dunne Catholic High School. (Kudos to them for hosting) The group was organized by the private schools in the area as a means to offer teachers a place to share ideas, lessons and information about Smart products. It was a great meeting and I disappointed that I had to cut out early. But...before I left the big talk was the roll out of Smart Notebook 11. Supposedly it will be available for download sometime next week. There was a "tweet" that it could be on April 23rd. After seeing all the new things that come with it, I am very excited. If you use a Smart Board or want one, check out their site and watch the video. It will give you a quick overview of what's new. A couple things that caught my eye were #1 the Embedded Web Browser and #2 the Audio recorder. The audio recorder is so neat. It lets you record audio right in the notebook page and attach it to an item. There is no need to go out, record something in Audacity, save the file, find it and then attach it. Nice and simple.

Another nice resource to read about SN11 is at the WhiteBoard Blog. A website out of the UK and they definitely announce the download date as the 23rd. Yippee! I can't wait!

One other thing to note about sharing and Smart. Heather Lamb, a Smart Board guru, hosts a virtual Smart Board User group in Texas. Besides going to her site to find out more about the virtual group, she has hints, tips, tricks and lesson ideas using Smart products. Be sure to check it out.