Kevin Blissett: Out of the Cave » strategies http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog Curriculum, Classroom Technology, Social Media, Leadership, China Wed, 16 Mar 2011 14:06:23 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Top eLearning Tools http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/04/21/top-elearning-tools/ http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/04/21/top-elearning-tools/#comments Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:12:33 +0000 Kevin Blissett http://kevinblissett.wordpress.com/?p=206 Jane Hart at Jane’s E-Learning Tip of the Day lists her compilation below of the top 10 e-tools for learners and top 10 e-tools for professionals (hat tip: David Hopkins at eLearning Blog//Don’t Waste Your Time).

Top 10 Tools for Learners

The current Top 10 list of tools for learners, based on contribution of 47 Learners AS AT 4 APRIL is:

  1. Google Search
  2. YouTube
  3. Firefox
  4. Twitter
    Wikipedia
  5. Delicious
  6. Facebook
    Gmail
    Google Reader
    Skype

Top 10 Tools for Learning Professionals

The current top 10 tools for learning professionals to use in their own professional practice for creating learning “solutions” for others and their own productivity is AS AT 4 APRIL as follows, based on the contributions of 21 learning professionals

  1. Delicious
  2. Twitter
  3. Skype
  4. Slideshare
  5. Google Reader
  6. Google Docs
  7. Audacity
    Google Search
    Moodle
    Ning
    PowerPoint
    SnagIt

I’m currently using almost all of these tools, and I’m slowly introducing more of them to my students. Many of the tools have had a profound impact on the way I teach and keep up to date in education, and on the way my students learn and produce.

I might also add Digg to the list as I use it often to find top articles on topics of interest.

Share

]]> http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/04/21/top-elearning-tools/feed/ 0 Oh, no! My Internet’s Down! http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/04/15/oh-no-my-internets-down/ http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/04/15/oh-no-my-internets-down/#comments Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:41:41 +0000 Kevin Blissett http://kevinblissett.wordpress.com/?p=155 Kevin Purdy at Lifehacker gives some sage advice on what to do when–insert prayer of your choice here–the internet is down. Among his suggestions are:

  1. Take a look at your lengthy to-do list.
  2. Organize pc files and folders.
  3. Do some old-fashioned work.
  4. Use your mobile unit.
  5. Clean out your workspace.

As resourceful educators, it’s not hard to find things to do offline:

  • Talk with a colleague.
  • Work on lesson plans/units of inquiry.
  • Mark assignments/assessments.
  • Call some parents.
  • Read one of those things used at one time in the classroom–a book.
  • Teach!

Share

]]> http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/04/15/oh-no-my-internets-down/feed/ 0 Classroom Use of GoogleApps http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/04/13/classroom-use-of-googleapps/ http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/04/13/classroom-use-of-googleapps/#comments Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:14:23 +0000 Kevin Blissett http://kevinblissett.wordpress.com/?p=146 Helen Barrett explains how GoogleApps can be a one-stop shop for creating centralized, dynamic, and effective e-portfolios. I’ve been using Blogger for my students’ blogs and had considered using other applications alongside, but Helen does a great job here showing how it can all work together. I’ll definitely plan on working more applications into my curriculum map. She has also created a group site where educators can share ideas about how one fully can use GoogleApps in the classroom.

Share

]]> http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/04/13/classroom-use-of-googleapps/feed/ 0 Another Look at Laptops in Class http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/04/03/another-look-at-laptops-in-class/ http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/04/03/another-look-at-laptops-in-class/#comments Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:34:04 +0000 Kevin Blissett http://kevinblissett.wordpress.com/?p=102 Should we or shouldn’t we? We should! The ongoing debate about the wisdom of using laptops in class gets a fresh look in this article by John Timmer.

Many schools are now adopting a 1:1 laptop to student ratio but not without hiccups. The benefits are numerous, and the flaws tend to center around the machines causing distractions, be it from aimless surfing, chatting, game-playing, etc. In my view, it’s nothing that a vigilant teacher cannot solve for the m0st part. And just when you get the laptops under control, another distraction will be lurking right around the corner.

In any case, whatever solutions are found now are likely to be a temporary fix, and the shrinking of laptops and rise of smartphones are going to provide the next generation of students with a wealth of new, and harder to manage, distractions.

(Come on, haven’t these distractions existed since the dawn of man? When I was young, the distractions were throwing paper airplanes, passing notes–love or otherwise–and drawing caricatures of the teacher. Isn’t this just a hi-tech version of that?)

Share

]]> http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/04/03/another-look-at-laptops-in-class/feed/ 0 Keeping Up with Technology http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/03/23/keeping-up-with-technology/ http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/03/23/keeping-up-with-technology/#comments Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:59:00 +0000 Kevin Blissett http://kevinblissett.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/keeping-up-with-technology/ This is an excellent video highlighting the incredible need to adjust our teaching approach to the evolving needs of our students.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnh9q_cQcUE&hl=en&fs=1]

This video was created by Tom Woodward of Henrico County schools in Virginia. Tom used the work of Karl Fisch from Colorado who created a PPT using various quotes and statistics from “flat world” thinking.

Share

]]> http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/03/23/keeping-up-with-technology/feed/ 0 Electronic Manipulatives in the Classroom http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/03/22/electronic-manipulatives-in-the-classroom/ http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/03/22/electronic-manipulatives-in-the-classroom/#comments Sun, 22 Mar 2009 15:04:00 +0000 Kevin Blissett http://kevinblissett.wordpress.com/2009/03/22/electronic-manipulatives-in-the-classroom/ Amazing video highlighting new manipulative classroom technology. Thanks to Jo McLeay at The Open Classroom.

Share

]]> http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/03/22/electronic-manipulatives-in-the-classroom/feed/ 0 Blogging in Class http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/03/21/blogging-in-class/ http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/03/21/blogging-in-class/#comments Sat, 21 Mar 2009 15:29:00 +0000 Kevin Blissett http://kevinblissett.wordpress.com/2009/03/21/blogging-in-class/ I’ve been using classroom blogs for some time now and have found it very effective, both in terms of student interest and academic value. I was inspired to employ this strategy after reading this post by Darren Kuropatwa in his blog A Difference. I have found great success with the process, and I highly recommend it to educators.

Share

]]> http://www.kevinblissett.com/blog/2009/03/21/blogging-in-class/feed/ 0