Welcome!

Welcome to the Kent Intermediate School District Educator's Exploring the Read/Write Web! We are very happy that you have chosen to join us for an exciting technology enabled journey.

On the following pages, you will learn about Web 2.0 tools that are bringing our kids in touch with the entire world through social networking and bookmarking, video, audio, and collaboration sites.

23 Things
This learning adventure has 23 Things for you to do. Each Thing will show you one more web tool. There are many places for you to explore, experiment with, and think about creative ways to use these tools in your own life, with colleagues, and with your students.

Learning Format
Each week begins with a brief explanation of a new web 2.0 topic, followed by a discovery activity. These activities give you the background you need to understand the tools you're learning about. Don't skip them!

After the discovery activity, you'll find a task to complete. You will then comment or "post" to your online web log (Blog.) You will learn how to set up a blog in week two. This is a tool to communicate your thoughts, new found skills, ideas, questions, and favorite websites. You'll receive feedback from the KISD PD Team and from other participants. It's your space!

When you are ready to get going, click on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), which should help answer your many questions.


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The 23 Things

Here you go! You list of 23 Things to accomplish is listed below. You can click on each of the hyperlinks to proceed to the detail page for each Thing. You can complete each thing at your own pace, but we would suggest you try to do 2 to 3 Things a week. Have a great time!

If you would like to view the video overview of 23 Things - click here.

What is Web 2.0
Thing 0 - Create your online identity
Thing 1 - Learn about Web 2.0 and why you need to know about it

Blogging and Lifelong Learning
Thing 2 - Create a blog to use during the project
Thing 3 - Explore what it means to be a Lifelong Learner

Visual Thinking with Online Images
Thing 4 - Explore and Learn about Photo Sharing
Thing 5 - Photo Mashup Fun
Thing 6 - Copyright in the Digital Age

Really Simple Syndication Stuff...
Thing 7 - Learn About RSS and Set Up a Feed Reader
Thing 8 - Locate Feeds That Interest You

Wikis
Thing 9 - Wiki Wiki Wiki
Thing 10 - Create Your Own Wiki

Personal and Professional Productivity
Thing 11 - Online Productivity Applications
Thing 12 - Productivity Anywhere You Have a Browser
Thing 13 - Sharing Your Vision

Podcasting
Thing 14 - Learn About Podcasting
Thing 15 - How to Use Podcasts in Schools

Teach Digital
Thing 16 - Teach Digital
Thing 17 - More Web 2.0 Winners

Personal and Professional Learning Networks
Thing 18 - Building Your Personal Learning Network
Thing 19 - Introduction to Social Bookmarking
Thing 20 - Bookmarking with del.icio.us

Current Communication
Thing 21 - Your Heart Will Be All A Twitter
Thing 22 - Online Video

Celebrate!
Thing 23 - You Made It!

Thing 23 - You Made It!

Congratulations, you've made it to Thing 23! We hope, as you complete this program, you are enthusiastic and prepared to continue your journey of exploring and using Web 2.0 technologies to transform how you teach and learn.

Because we want the focus of this Thing to be your final blog post, all you need to do is watch this video.




Alternative Link for those of you that find YouTube blocked

Take a few moments to reflect on your journey. You've covered a lot of material over the past ten weeks. What does it all mean? How has your thinking changed between Thing 1 and Thing 23? Has this program changed how you view the Internet or how view teaching in the digital world? What plans have you made for using these tools in and out of the classroom? How will you continue to learn about Web 2.0 tools? What are your big "take aways" from this experience?

To receive your SB-CEU's for the project - we need you to do a couple of things. First, email the facilitator at the 23things@kentisd.org e-mail. In the title - put something fun like "ALL DONE!" and in the body of your message, indicate your blog name, and how the name on certificate should be spelled.

Also - one VERY LAST THING... I would love to have you help me out in evaluating the 23 Things project. Please take about 5 minutes to complete a short survey located at Surveymethods. This survey will help us deliver more projects that will help you in your personal and profession life. Click here for the survey.

Thing 22 - Online Video

In the past if you wanted to create some video content, you had to have some pretty expensive equipment, find an expert to help you edit it and broadcast - or should we say 'narrowcast' it.

Everything has changed. Today, digital video equipment is cheap and ubiquitous – we can capture video on cell phones, digital cameras, and our favorite - the Flip Video Camera – allowing just about anyone to produce digital video, anytime, anywhere, about anything.

Enter YouTube -- the premier video sharing site which made posting video to the Internet as simple as possible. Users create free accounts and, with a few mouse clicks, are able to share their videos with a worldwide audience.

In the spirit of Web 2.0, YouTube is about more than just posting video. It’s also a community. Users provide feedback by adding ratings, typed comments, or “response videos” to the videos they watch. The result is a worldwide community that is connecting, collaborating, and communicating through video. And this community is having influence beyond the Internet as YouTube videos are often featured on news and entertainment television shows.

Searching YouTube, you’ll find videos on just about anything, from old movie clips to teenage video journals. Be aware: although there are rules against inappropriate content, there are still plenty of videos which are unsuitable for the school environment. That, along with the fact that watching online videos uses a lot of bandwidth, means that YouTube is banned in most districts. You may want (need) to complete this Thing at home.

Beyond You Tube
You might have a pretty hard time convincing your colleagues to use YouTube in the classroom or work, so let's take a look at some alternatives that have content that you might actually learn from, instead of watching funny cat videos.

Task:
Take your browser on a Internet trip through TeacherTube and SchoolTube, both of which feature school-friendly user-created video for teachers and students. Also check out TED, and see if you can find something you think could be used in a classroom.

Create a blog post with your feelings your likes or dislikes about YouTube? Did you find videos that would be useful for teaching and learning? Is YouTube banned in your building?

Thing 21 - Your Heart Will Be All A Twitter

A new Web 2.0 technology has become very popular lately. Called 'microblogging', sites like Twitter have arrived on the scene in grand fashion. Instead of you reading about it, let's go to the video:



Thanks again to The Commoncraft Show!

These microblogging service are similar to instant messaging, but in a more public way. People can follow each others posts. Another interesting use of the Twitter's of the world are their use in back-channel conversations.

An example of this could be seen at the recent National Educational Computing Conference in Washington, D.C.. As presenters were speaking, you could watch real-time conversations about the presentation and even get links to who might be streaming the video to the Internet.

Another set of microblogging tools have appeared as well. Twitter Search captures all of 'Tweets' (that's was Twitter messages are called), and creates a keyword searchable index of messages containing the word or phrase.

Try doing a quick search on Twitter Search for your city, school, current event, or your personal interest and see what kind of message traffic you see.  Also be sure to look at the Trending Topics and click a few to see what is going on right now in the 'Twittersphere'

In addition to the search at Twitter itself, Bing from Microsoft has an integrated Twitter search you may try as well.

If you would like to see another, more in-depth, presentation about Twitter, click here.

Task:

Respond with a blog post reflecting on this question -- After exploring these services, how do you think you might use them in your life at school, work, home, or out from your mobile phone?

How do you think you might use Twitter to connect with your Personal Learning Network?

Thing 20 - Bookmarking with del.icio.us

In Thing 19 you were introduced to the idea of social bookmarking and tagging. One of the greatest advantages of social bookmarking is that you can access and add to your collection of bookmarks from any computer.

Here are a few ideas for using del.icio.us in your teaching:- Build a shared reading list- Conduct research and share with peers- Share student bookmarks for a classroom project- Use a group tag to share resources with a working group- Share links to current news items related to classroom discussions

Explore del.icio.us
Many users find that the real power of del.icio.us is in the social networking aspect, which allows you to see how other users have tagged similar links and also discover other websites that may be of interest to you. You can think of it as peering into another user's filing cabinet, but with this powerful bookmarking tool, each user's filing cabinet helps to build an expansive knowledge network. Watch this video and then spend some time exploring del.icio.us on your own.

Carol Mayer and Jacki Campbell, our friends over at the Wayne RESA created the next few videos on Del.icio.us. Our thanks go out to them for creating and sharing them with the community of learners.




Next, create your del.icio.us account:




Now you can begin saving bookmarks. Watch the following video to learn how, and then save at least 10 bookmarks to your account.




For you extreme power users and newly excited del.icio.us devotees, here are some optional resources:

Click here for instructions on how to import your existing bookmarks into del.icio.us.

And here for additional del.icio.us video tutorials.

Task:

Include your del.icio.us username in this blog post so that others can view the bookmarks that you have chosen to share. Then reflect on how you think social bookmarking can be used in your teaching or professional practice. Does del.icio.us seem to be a tool that can enhance your productivity?

Thing 19 - Introduction to Social Bookmarking

You are going to love this one! Social bookmarking is a system for saving a website so you can return to it later. Instead of saving “bookmarks” or “favorites” on a single computer, you save them to a web site accessible from any computer.

And instead of organizing bookmarks into a subject folder, you can assign them multiple labels (tags) so they can be associated with a number of topics. Your bookmarks can be shared publicly or you can save them as private - viewable by only you. Social bookmarking is also powerful in that you can search what others have found useful. There are a number of social bookmarking sites. We'll be using one called del.icio.us.

First - Watch another video from Commoncraft (We love these people!) on social bookmarking:

Use this link to watch the video

Then read this article to learn more about social bookmarking.

Let Tag! (No spraypaint allowed here folks...)

In some of our previous Things we've already mentioned tags – when searching for blogs using Technorati and when searching for and labeling photos in Flickr. Tagging is the process of assigning keywords or “tags” to online content. In the same way you stick labels on physical objects, you use tags to label digital elements such as web links, blog posts, photos, or other user-generated content.

Once you assign a tag to an object, you can easily find that object later by searching the tag. You can assign multiple tags to a single object, and different people can assign different tags to the same object.

Tagging is very “Web 2.0” because it supports social networking, sharing, and empowering users as well as producers of information. Tagging represents a significant shift in the way digital data is sorted, saved, searched, and shared in the 21st century.Other terms related to tagging are folksonomy and tag cloud. Folksonomy is derived from "folk" + "taxonomy" and is very different from traditional subject indexing. Perhaps the most important strength of a folksonomy is that it directly reflects the vocabulary of the users.

A tag cloud is simply a visual representation of a collection of tags with font size representing frequency of use.Before you start saving and tagging your own bookmarks, read this and explore the links on the page.

No need to create your own account yet - we'll do that in Thing 20. Also read Thirteen Tips for Effective Tagging.

Task:

Reflect - Share your thoughts about tagging. Is tagging a useful way to organize your digital resources and why? What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages? What is important to think about before assigning tags to bookmarks or other Internet content?

Thing 18 - Building Your Personal Learning Network

We are in a time of hyperbolic change in teaching fueled by technological change, and for the first time in history, we are having a pretty difficult time describing the future for which we are preparing our students. This is one reason why learning has become a critical part of what it is to teach.

Through experiencing the 23 things, you have taken the first steps to try and get your brain around what it means to be an effective educator in the 21st Century. The next step in your journey will be to explore some of the emerging technologies that are increasingly being used by educators to form and cultivate their Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) — connecting themselves to people and resources that help them do their jobs.

To be effective in the knowledge-based economies that we are preparing our students for, we as educators MUST also engage in continuous learning.  Are great way to locate opportunities for learning, is through  joining and participating with professional organizations.

Belonging to a professional organization means participating in global learning communities, exhibiting leadership and technology skills to others, evaluating and reflecting on current research, and contributing to the effectiveness and vitality of the teaching profession, school and community

In this thing, you will take a look at the social networking site called Ning. With Ning, you can set up your own social network such as a Professional Learning Network or book club. To learn more about Ning, check out one of the education related groups such as: MACUL, or Ning in Education, or so a search for 'school' or 'education' in the search box at the top right of the page.


Take a look at the below lisnk to educational organizations in the area of instructional technology and media.

TECHNOLOGY

International Society for Technology in Education
http://www.iste.org

Michigan Association for Computer Users and Learners (MACUL)
http://www.macul.org

Two Way Interactive Connections in Education (TWICE)
http://www.twice.cc

REMC Mi Streamnet
http://www.mistreamnet.org

LIBRARY & MEDIA SERVICES

American Library Association (ALA)
http://www.ala.org

American Association of School Librarians (AASL)
http://www.ala.org/aasl

MeL: The Michigan eLibrary
http://www.mel.org

Michigan Association for Media in Education (MAME)
http://www.mimame.org

Michigan Online Resources for Educators
http://more.mel.org

Michigan Virtual High School
http://www.mivhs.org

REMC Organization and Bid list
Don't buy a thing until you check the bid list! Cooperative purchasing to Save $!
http://www.remc.org

Task:

As you look through Ning, the MACUL Space Ning, MACUL, and ISTE -  reflect in a blog post about the potential uses of a PLN within your organization. What opportunities do you see? What problems do you think about with joining a professiona learnin network?

Thing 17 - More Web 2.0 Winners

Throughout the course of this learning experience we’ve explored just a small sampling of the new Internet technologies and websites that are empowering users with the ability to create and share content. But given time there are so many more we could explore!

A recent estimate placed the number of Web 2.0 tools at somewhere between 1000 and 2000 with only a handful emerging as market dominators.

And although time will only tell which of these new collaborative, social networking and information tools will remain on top, one thing is for sure, they're not going to go away (at least anytime soon).

For this discovery exercise, participants are asked to select any site from this list of Web 2.0 Award Winners and explore it.

With so many to choose from, it might be handy to first select a category that interests you (like Books or Personal Organization) and then select a tool/site to explore. Be careful to select a tool that is Free and that doesn't require a plug-in or download. The majority of these are free, so this shouldn’t be a problem.

Task:
Select any site/tool from the list of Web 2.0 Awards winners (If you prefer to select from just the winners, here’s a link to the short list.)

Explore the site you selected.

Create a post about your discovery. What did you like or dislike about the tool? What were the site’s useful features? Could you see any applications for its use in your school?

Play -- check your Travel IQ.

There are so many directions you can go with Web 2.0… so take it easy.

We hope you're having fun with the exercises.

Last Thing - Connect with your Personal Learning Community (PLC) -- Go forth and comment on another participants blog. Make their day!

[Note: Please remember to include THING# in your heading posts.]

Thing 16 - Teach Digital

For the 16th Thing, you will use your brain. We would like you to watch three videos about the kids and teachers in this knowledge and attention based economy we are in.

When you have watched all three - create a post on your blog reflecting on the messages you heard. What is your biggest learning takeaway from all three?

First, watch this video created by Marco Torres called Digital Students at Analog Schools:




Next, watch Sir Ken Robinson speaking at TED. His talk is called, "Do Schools Kill Creativity"





No Future Left Behind

Thing 15 - How to Use Podcasts in Schools

By now you've had a chance to explore a variety of educational podcasts, you may be thinking about how to incorporate them into your classroom. Watch this 11 minute long video for some ideas:


Here is another group of podcasts to wander through at the Education Podcast Network administrated by David Warlick and the Landmark Project.  

Task: Now that you have found a few podcasts that are valuable, create a blog post about your thoughts on using podcasts in the classroom.  

Guiding questions: Have you thought about using them, but didn't know where to find valuable resources? Do you think you might get pushback from administrators in your building if you used them in class? Why?

Thing 14 - Learn About Podcasting

Podcasting is one of the most exciting new technologies in education today. Whether you're a consumer of podcasts (you listen to them) or a producer (you make your own), podcasting provides a unique and growing way to share professional development, class content, and student projects. Podcasts are accessible, portable, easy to create, and best of all - FREE!

Learn What Podcasting Is
Podcasting is the ability to create or listen to audio or video content either live or downloaded for later use. A podcast is similar to a radio show in that each show consists of a series of individual episodes you can listen to on your computer or on a digital audio player like an iPod.

What distinguishes a podcast from a traditional radio show is that you can listen to a podcast whenever and wherever you want to, and you can subscribe to a podcast series so when a new episode is available, it automatically downloads to your computer.

The word podcast comes from a combination of the words iPod and broadcast, but you don’t need an iPod to listen to podcasts.Besides audio only podcasts, there are also enhanced podcasts which include visuals along with the audio – something like a slide show. And there are video podcasts – sometimes called vodcasts or v-casts. As popular as podcasting has become, you may be surprised that the first podcast was produced just a few years ago – in 2004. In 2005, “podcast” was the New Oxford American Dictionary’s word of the year (incidentally, beating out sudoku, bird flu, and trans fat).

Today millions of people subscribe to podcasts and more than 100,000 people are now creating podcasts. Interested in a particular topic? You'll probably be able to find a related podcast.

From Blogger Pictures

Listen to a Variety of Podcasts

The best way to learn about podcasts is to listen to a sampling of those available. You'll find professional development podcasts for educators, podcasts created by teachers to support classroom instruction, and podcasts created by students.

The Wayne County RESA's and MISTREAMNET have a awesome video overview of podcasts here:

Great Educational Podcasts - Part 1

Great Eduational Podcasts - Part 2

After watching the video, you can then to listen to podcasts directly, go here and start exploring.

Task

Read - a very recent article about how podcasts increase student achievement.

Create - a blogpost describing which podcasts you found interesting? Identify one or two podcasts and describe how you would use them in your teaching. (Be sure to include links in your blog entry to the podcasts mentioned.)

Post a comment on one of the other participants blogs. You can comment on anything your wish, or just encourage them!

Thing 13 - Sharing Your Vision

A hallmark of Web 2.0 is sharing--your thoughts, ideas, plans, photos, videos, and more. Many Web 2.0 tools we have or will look at are sharing tools—Flickr, YouTube, TeacherTube, wikis, blogs, and more all let you share images, videos, and/or information.

The tools in this Thing let you share your slides. Here's an idea for you... say you are going to give a presentation somewhere, and don't want to lug around your laptop. With these services, there is no need for the computer to have the right software installed to open a presentation, no attachments to open, no remembering your flash drive--you just need an account (usually) and a computer with Internet access.

Handy as a backup for your presentations at conferences, staff meetings or your vacation photos.

Task:

1: For this Thing, explore each of the tools listed and then:

Choose one of the slideshow tools and create a slideshow. Add photos or information and then embed it into your blog. You can use a service like these as the primary delivery method for a presentation or you can use it to share your presentation after you have delivered it. You can share a slide deck on your school Web site to highlight a program, book displays, or anything else you can think to do.

Each service offers different features. Explore these tools:

Zoho Show
Slideshare
Empressr
Slide

2: Write a short reflection about the value these tools may have in your personal or professional life.

PS: Here's one of my favorite video's - and an example of how to embed external content into your blog:

Thing 12 - Productivity Anywhere You Have a Browser

How can we learn how to use all the Web 2.0 tools out there? It seems a new tool pops up every day. Who can ever keep up? Using Web 2.0 tools means having a spirit of adventure and a willingness to do some exploration, often with little or no instruction.

There are so many Web 2.0 tools that are designed to help us get organized, create things easily, and share with others. Some work well, some not so much. Each of us must play around with the tools and make decisions about which ones we will incorporate into our work.

This Thing is designed to give you some choices and a chance to try out some productivity tools on your own.

Discovery Excercise:

Select one of the following tools to explore. Set-up your account (if necessary) and play around with the tool. Be prepared to offer a review on your blog.

bubbl.us brainstorm online with this free, concept mapping tool

Zoho Show create, edit and share your presentations online

Slide create, edit and share your presentations anywhere

Remember the Milk create task list, share it, get reminders

30 Boxes online calendar

LibraryThing personal online bookshelf

Diigo create a "trail"of annotated web pages on any subject, and share them with others.

Knowtes create a deck of virtual flashcards for study

Task:

Create a post in your blog reviewing one of the tools you explored - what worked, what didn't work, how might it be used either in or out of the classroom or in your daily professional practice?

Remember to title your blog post, "Thing 12 - Productivity Anywhere"

Thing 11 - Online Productivity Applications

The availability and use of online productivity web-based applications (think word processing and spreadsheets) has exploded over the past two years and for good reasons!

These powerful applications provide users with the ability to create and share documents over the internet without the need of installed desktop applications. Some experts speculate that this emerging trend may mean the death to Microsoft Office and other software-based productivity tools, while others think web-based applications have their place, but not in the office. But no matter which side of the office suite platform you side with, on this both sides seem to agree; web-based apps have their place.

One large benefit to web-based applications it that they eliminate the need to worry about different software versions or file types as you email documents or move from PC to PC. Another bonus is that they easy accommodate collaboration by allowing multiple users to edit the same file (with versioning) and provide users the ability to easily save and convert documents as multiple file types (including HTML and pdf). And, you can even use many of these tools, such as Zoho Writer and Google Docs to author and publish posts to your blog. It’s this type of integration with other web 2.0 tools that also makes web-based apps so appealing.

With Google Docs, you can create, store and share in a secure, real-time environment. That means you and your friend in, say, Australia, can be editing the very same spreadsheet online - at the exact same time.

Guess what!? When you created your Gmail account or Blogger account, you simultaneously created your Google Docs account - so you'll use the same email address and password that you use to access your blog.

Watch and learn more about this collaborative tool.

Task:
Create a blog post about what you found when using Google Docs.

Do you think it could replace your copy of MS Office someday? Do you think Microsoft should be a bit nervous? Do you think that student's without access to a home computer could use Docs to do some of their work at the library, and then do more in another location with an Internet connection?

Thing 10 - Create Your Own Wiki

Just so you get the hang of it and get a bit of practice, head on over to one of these following sites, and create your own wiki:

Wikispaces for Teachers - http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers100K
Make sure to select the "Private: Free for Educators" option.

PBWorks for Educators - https://plans.pbworks.com/signup/edubasic20
Make sure you select the "For Education" option when you create yours.

Task:

1: Create a wiki using any of the sites listed above.

2: Post something creative... like your grocery list, a todo list, your favorite quote.

3: Create a blog post describing how easy or hard it was to create and edit a wiki. Also, reflect on how you might use this in your professional life.

4: Comment on another one of the participant's blogs about anything you think is interesting about their learning and how it relates to yours.

Thing 9 - Wiki Wiki Wiki

A wiki is a great tool for delivering instructional content on the web. I can edit the pages from anywhere, right in my web browser, without a lot of technical knowledge. It's free, and offers me online storage space to upload pictures and files. I don't need help or permission from the information technology folks to get started. I can easily re-organize the content and add new pages with a few clicks. I can attach files, add pictures and embed video, audio, slide shows and other media. I can invite others to help me develop the content. If need be, we can all work on the wiki in our pajamas.

What is a Wiki?

Simply, a wiki is a website that anyone can edit easily using a regular web browser. The first wiki was developed in 1995 by Ward Cunningham, who named his project after the Hawaiian word "wiki-wiki," meaning "quick."

If you can use a word processor, copy and paste, and send an email attachment, you can create a wiki. A wiki site may be as basic as a single page containing information and links by one author, or as complex as Wikipedia, the collaborative web-based encyclopedia, containing over 9 million articles in 250 languages, written, edited and constantly updated by thousands of users. (We won't debate the merits of Wikipedia at this particular moment, but most educators will concede that it has some value as a ready reference tool, and also that it can be used as a means for teaching students to critically evaluate online information sources).

Discovery Resources - Use these resources to learn more about wikis:
Wiki, wiki, wiki - from the Core Competency blog of the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County.·

Wikis: A Beginner’s Look – an excellent short slide presentation that offers a short introduction and examples.·

What is a Wiki? – Library Success wiki presentation.·

Using Wikis to Create Online Communities – a good overview of what a wiki is and how it can be used in various ways.

Read Vicki Davis' blog post Wiki Wiki Teaching about her first experience using wikis in the classroom. Do you think there may be a wiki in your future?

Task:

Write a blog post sharing your thoughts and observations about the educational wiki projects you have explored. Provide details/examples from at least three wikis that you actually investigated

E.g.: What did you notice about their organization, content, tools used, learning outcomes? What was missing? What could you do differently or better? In your post, please also share initial ideas you have for wiki use in classroom, professional or personal learning.

Be sure to include "Thing 9" in the title of your post.

---

Curriculum Connections:
Wikis can be made for any classroom!

Idea #1: Collaborative note-taking. Everyone pitches in and adds a fact or two about a topic. Teachers can encourage students to include opinions, challenges, and appropriate criticism. Students would then write essays using only these notes. Make sure that each addition includes a citation to website, book, or database, including page numbers so that it can be checked.

Idea #2: History. Students can compile a wiki of famous artists, architects, writers, and other key historical figures from a city, state, or country.

Idea #3: Create a "top 10" lists and supporting material. This could include scientists and their discoveries, top writers and their books, ... you get the idea.

A Few Further Resources (provided for your reference)
TeachersFirst Wiki Walkthrough - Useful overview of basic wiki features and concepts, plus lots of ideas for classroom wiki projects in many subject areas, including a specific section for younger grades.

EDUCAUSE: 7 Things You Should Know About Wikis (PDF) - Don't let the techno-speak in #3 scare you.

Wiki While You Work - Mark Wagner's introduction to wikis presentation from the 2006 K12 Online Conference. It's long (1 hour) but really good.

Wiki Wisdom: Lessons for Educators (PDF) - Article from Digital Directions

[Note: Please remember to include THING# in your heading posts.]

Thing 8 - Locate Feeds That Interest You

Now that you have an RSS Reader, and a couple of feeds, you can continue adding other feeds that interest you. There are several ways you can locate RSS feeds:

When visiting your favorite websites -- look for RSS feed icons that indicate the website provides it. Often a feed icon will be displayed somewhere in the navigation of the site.

Read a bit from the Official Google Reader Blog and discover what Google engineers are reading about.

Check out the top "Edublog" award-winning blogs.

Other Search tools that can help you find feeds:

Technorati - Technorati is a popular blog finding tool that lets you search for blogs. Since RSS feeds are inherent to all blogging tools, Technorati Blog Search can help you find RSS feeds for topic specific blogs you may be interested in.

Google Blog Search - See what appears when you search "Educational Technology"

Blog Pulse - Tracks conversations (try putting "Grand Rapids" in the search to see who mentioning us), or put your school district name in the search box - you may find something interesting.

Task:
1: Explore some of the search tools noted above that can help you locate some news feeds. Add a few new feeds to your Google Reader.

2: Create a blog post about your experience and your biggest learning that has occurred with regard to RSS feeds.

Don't know what to blog about?
Here some questions to think about ...Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use? Which Search tool was the easiest for you? Which was more confusing? What kind of non-useful feeds did you find in your travels? Or what kind of unusual ones did you find? What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?

[Note: Please remember to include THING# in your heading posts.]

Thing 7 - Learn About RSS and Set Up a Feed Reader

This thing will focus on making life “really simple” with RSS & a news reader.
You’ve heard of RSS? You’ve seen those small funny tags on websites?

You’ve heard co-workers and acquaintances swear by it, but still have no idea what RSS is? Well don’t worry, according to this survey you’re still in the majority, but this is changing rapidly.

In the information world, RSS is not only revolutionizing the way news, media and content creators share information, but it also is swiftly changing the way everyday users are consuming information.

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and is a file format for delivering regularly updated information over the web. Just think about the websites and news information sources you visit everyday.

It takes time to visit those sites and scour the ad-filled and image-heavy pages for just the text you want to read, doesn’t it?

Now imagine if you could visit all those information sources and web pages in just one place and all at the same time … without being bombarded with advertising… without having to search for new information on the page you’d already seen or read before… and without having to consume a lot of time visiting each site individually. Would that be valuable to you?

Well, it’s available now through a newsreader and RSS. This week’s discovery exercises focus on learning about RSS news feeds and what free tools you can use to do this.

Task:

1. Watch RSS in Plain English at http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english

2. Read a bit more about Google Reader at the Google Reader Tour.  If you would like a bit more info on how to set up Google Reader, you can watch this:

Google Reader Tutorial from Robert Rozema on Vimeo.
A short tutorial on using Google Reader, an excellent web-based feed reader (RSS aggregator), particularly when used in conjunction with Google News.

Using your Google account you have already created, visit Google Reader and subscribe to at least 5 newsfeeds to your reader. Heck, you can even subscribe to another of the 23 Things participants blogs in your reader.

3. Create a post in your blog about this exercise.

Don’t know what to blog about? Think about these questions:

• What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?
• How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your school or personal life?
• How can educators use RSS or take advantage of this technology with their students?

Here are some newsfeeds you might want to add to your reader:

Mlive.com Newsfeeds of your local newspaper, and breaking news http://www.mlive.com/rss/
US Dept of Education - http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml
NPR Education
Teacher Leaders Network

Thing 6 - Blog About Technology Literacy

For this week, please read this award winning post by Karl Fisch, entitled: Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

Your task: On your blog, please reflect on Karl's posting.

Just so we have an operational definition of 'Technology Literate" - we're not talking about using PowerPoint or a web browser in a classroom. We are talking about learning about the tools, understanding their pedagogical uses, and allowing them to be used in your classroom.

PS: Also be sure to add at least one comment to another participant's blog. That's what online professional learning communities are all about - connecting, communication, and conversation. CHEER and otherwise encourage your colleagues.

Also - if you wish to post comments here in addition to your own blog, please feel free.

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Curriculum Connections:
Idea #1: Never miss an opportunity to share and discuss issues related to technology such as Internet safety & ethics, censorship, plagiarism, copyright, and library collection development.

Idea#2: Use your digital camera for classroom day one activities. Take pictures of features of your classroom, where things your kids will visit (office, drinking fountain, etc) and make a PowerPoint of them to show in class.