Teaching students "how to search" :google

More on the issue raised at our conference that children in our schools do not know the ins and outs of how to search on the net efficiently. I came across this great resource for teaching Google. Complete with lesson plans! Just click the image to go to the site.

Are your teachers utilising web 2 tools?

Some yes some no ... we could all use a little help. Here is a resources to pass on to them. It's not posted here as being a "best of", just one of many places, but a start ...

• Web 2.0 for the Classroom Teacher An Internet Hotlist on Web 2.0created by Sue Summerford

An online class ...

I'm toying with the idea of creating an online class. I could possibly use some of the social networking tools to create this. Twitter, Wiki, Facebook, perhaps there are others. This might be a cross level class from say year 4-6. As a first experiment I'm thinking that rather than an instructional online class, this might be a discussion type class, but I'm not sure, as this posting contains my first thoughts on the matter. I'm interested in getting the thoughts of our massive reader base. All nine people :).
Perhaps this class might travel across some our schools and include the senior body of more than one school. We could incorporate skype in this as well. Is anyone interested in partnering or joining this venture? Post your comments below or shoot me off an email or twitter.

• email: mday@skormond.catholic.edu.au
• twitter: @mavenshare 

Wikis in the classroom ...

From the blog of: Free Technology for Teachers

5 Ways You Can Use Wikis

Today I had the privilege to participate in Discovery's Beyond the Textbook forum. One of my take-aways from the day's conversation is that most of the technologies that we want to use to make textbooks interactive and meaningful for students already exist, we just need to organize and utilize them in a way that makes sense for teachers and students. I've combined that take-away with a recent request from a reader to delineate some ways that teachers can use Wikispaces to create this list of ideas for using wikis in classrooms. Please feel free to add your suggestions, with links if possible, in the comments below (please note, I'll be on planes for the next 18 hours so there will be a delay between your comment submission and its appearance on the blog).

Changing Education ...

Students as Teachers

While on conference in Sydney last week I came across a new tool which can be used by students and teachers as well as the leadership of the school. In any learning community there is a constant flow of new and interesting tools to use on the net and on our devices that enhance our learning and help increase engagement. Staying up to date is often the hardest thing. One of my useful strategies is to use Youtube to teach me about new products and programs. There are always plenty of how to's and tutorials to view. This is because there are so many mavens out there that are happy to share their learnings. But wouldn't it be better if we could easily make our own how to's and videos? Easily and for FREE. Then perhaps you need Jing.

How many Twitter Accounts do you need

I was asked today, how many Twitter accounts are needed. Do we use one for personal and one for school, or do we have one account and use it for both?
Unfortunately, this isn't a simple one to answer. There are a few impacting issues and one needs to be clear on the goal and purpose of the account before this can be answered.

Adding contact details

Hi folks, Christine has pointed out to me that my video on adding contact details does not work because when users (authors) log in they don't see all the options I see as the blog creator. Not something I had realised as I'm new to this blog. Sorry about that. Here is the explanation and solution.

How to add your Contact details to the Contact page

Below is a video I made using CamStudio. Don't laugh as it's the first time I've ever used this program. It allows the user to record what's happening on the computer and will also record voice overs. So here is my first go ... how to add your details to the Contacts page.

By the way CamStudio is FREE.

How Twitter is changing education

Phil sent this out on the the email stream. A good read:
Link: How Twitter is changing Professional Development and also Why Educators should join Twitter

Professional Readings ...

I was wondering if the Principals in the zone would mind sharing some of the professional readings that they subscribe to. Perhaps by responding to this post with the titles and what they get from them.

Why educators need to read blogs ...

I came across this excellent piece that explores some of the benefits of teachers/principals reading online blogs:

• http://justintarte.blogspot.com.au/2011/01/10-reasons-to-get-educators-blogging.html

Who can post on this site?

All principals in the south east zone have been invited to be authors on this blog. There are lots of different blogs we could use, I have chosen Blogger because of its simplicity. So have a go at posting. Why not start with your thoughts on the conference.

Diig ...

Alan November introduced us to quite a few excellent web resources that we should all be utilising in our schools. One that he suggested all children from year 3 onwards should be familiar with and using is Diigo.

2012 Conference Award

And the winner was ...

Lucky Phil

There were plenty of handy jokes that could be added here, but I'm sure they're not funny in the cold light of day!

How to set up a Twitter account

South Eastern Annual Conference 2012

Just back from this year's conference ... wow, what a great event we had this year. My mind is spinning with the range and depth of what is possible with setting up and growing effective learning environments and enhancing our school communities through the adoption and use of online social media.