Blogs,+Wikis+&+Other+Social+Media

Blogs, Wikis and Other Social Media 2011 toc

Blogs

 * Five Steps to Starting A Class Blog**

Blogging is becoming more and more popular in the classroom. Teachers can blog to stay in touch with parents and students or they can incorporate blogs from all of the students as a learning tool. The beauty of the student blog is that children from Kindergarten to high school can blog. No matter how you use blogs in your classroom, [|these tools will help you get started, enhance your experience, or bring the students into the fun.]
 * 50 Useful Blogging Tools for Teachers**

The "Winnie the Pooh Guide to Blogging"

Wikis
"One of the most common questions we get is also one of the hardest to answer: [|How do I make my wiki look good?"] Just because you build a wiki, doesn’t mean they will come. This has been my and other faculty members’ experiences in using wikis in the classroom. We all know the feeling. . . the excitement of seeing and then using a type of software that should be just perfect to engage students and to enable community-building. How can you increase your chances of improving student acceptance of and contribution to a class/group/project wiki? Here are 10 suggestions: Tips and Tricks: A wiki is an organic creation: it grows and changes over time as you and your community work on it. But, like with any organic process, you’ll get the best results in the long run if you start out with a solid foundation.
 * Wikispaces Tips and Tricks**
 * ‪10 Wiki Strategies for Educators‬**
 * Starting a new Wikispaces wiki**

Projects: A better way to work in classroom groups. We’re calling this new feature Projects. Whenever you have a particular assignment or activity, you can create a project for it, then define teams of members, each with its own unique pages, files, and permissions. Team content (that is, pages and files) are grouped together, separate from the main area of the wiki. That way, students in teams can do their group work completely independently from other teams. Information here.
 * WikiSpaces: Projects**

Twitter
These resources actually provide over 110 ideas for, and examples of, [|using Twitter in the classroom.] From "Free Technology for Teachers blog: "As I've mentioned numerous times in the past, not a day goes by that I don't learn something from my network of Twitter contacts. My network now includes 3000+ followers and I'm also following 2900+ Twitter users. As the size of my network increases so to do my learning opportunities increase. Having a Twitter network is a great way to learn about new resources for teaching. A Twitter network is also a great place to exchange ideas about teaching. If you're not familiar with how Twitter works, this short video from Common Craft offers a great explanation. If you're a Twitter user looking to expand your network the following are[| seven ways to find other teachers on Twitter]." [|4 Ways Twitter Has Changed the Way I Do My Job as an Educator] [|From "Learning with E's" (Steve Wheeler.)] "I've been discussing the merits of Twitter as a professional social network recently in conversation with colleagues. One of the regular objections to using Twitter professionally is that there is too great a noise-to-signal ratio. In other words, people are reluctant to get too deeply involved with Twitter because they think they will be swamped with people talking about what they had for breakfast, how their cat was sick on their auntie Bessie, or other niff naff and trivia. Professionals don't have a lot of spare time, and want to maximise the time they do have. I don't blame them. But they should also realise that Twitter can actually save them time if used in an appropriate manner."
 * 100 Ways to Teach with Twitter**
 * Seven Ways to Find Teachers on Twitter**
 * Using Twitter for Professional Development and Communication**

Skype
Skype in the classroom is a free directory for teachers who want to use Skype to bring education to life in their classrooms. [|Join today to share resources, chat with teachers and even pair classes]. Start by creating a profile, then explore the directory to find teachers and resources that match your interests. You can then share inspiring links, videos and tips with other teacher From Mark Herring [] "On Wednesday I worked with some classrooms who wanted to develop their use of Skype. I arranged for two classrooms to skype with us (thanks to connections with my twitter friends, @Marama and @mrkempnz), one in Dunedin at Grant Braes School and the other at Pukeokahu School near Taihape." "Increasingly, educators globally are transforming their classroom using Skype to create powerful, authentic, motivating learning experiences for their students. From connecting with classrooms in other locations to learning about each others’ culture to connecting with content experts – educators are extending learning beyond classroom walls. So how do you use Skype effectively with your class?" [|Hopefully this will help!]
 * Introducing Skype in the classroom**
 * Skype in the Classroom**
 * The Complete Educator’s Guide to Using Skype effectively in the classroom**

Social Networks
[|YapTime - A Place to Share, Collaborate, and Organize] Reviewed by[| Free Technology for Teachers] "YapTime offers a free service for creating and hosting your own private network. The network you create on YapTime is private by default and only those people that you invite can join it. In YapTime you can exchange messages, share files, and host a group event calendar. Within your YapTime network you can create multiple rooms for conversations. Each member of your network can create a profile by which other members identify them.YapTime could be a good place to create a network for your classes. You can share updates about class, post files that students might need, and answer questions from students. If you teach multiple sections of the same course you can create a different room for each class within your network." [|Edmodo] Reviewed by[| Free Technology for Teachers] "In a digital world where we can easily "find an app for that" to help solve many problems, rarely do teachers have a one stop shopping place for all their classroom digital needs. There are many individual tools that can aid a teacher in retrieving student's digital work, polling/quizzing students or assigning work, but each of these tools usually requires a separate account. However, there is one, free, Web 2.0 app that brings everything together that you need for your classroom, including a social learning environment. The app that does all of this is called Edmodo. " Note - some similarities to Facebook.