Using Technology for 21st-Century Writing

In conjunction with my workshop at NWRESA next week on Using Technology for 21^st Century Writing, I put together a handout for the teachers listing helpful websites. There is a serious push throughout the country for schools to incorporate technology into classrooms. As Karl Fisch commented on his poplar website for teachers, The Fischbowl, "If a teacher today is not technologically literate - and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more - it's equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn't know how to read and write."

To help those of you who daily strive to educate and inspire your students and meet state and national standards, I hope you will find this listing to be helpful.

GENERAL SUPPORT:

http://ebistro.org/index.html - Lesson plans, information & great NC resource!

http://www.unc.edu/~zuiker/blog-primer/ Good definition of blogs, wikis, and podcasts.

BLOG HOSTS:

https://www.blogger.com/start

http://mashable.com/2007/08/06/free-blog-hosts/

http://edublogs.org/ for teachers and students. Looks like a wiki. Can insert audio (wav) & video files. DO THE TUTORIALS!!

BLOG EXAMPLES:

http://carolbaldwinblog.blogspot.com – Mine. Focus on literacy.

http://www.thefischbowl.blogspot.com/ - Commentary on tech in education

http://ccms5.edublogs.org/- A simple 5^th grade blog.

WIKI HOSTS:

http://pbwiki.com (check out their support video http://pbwiki.com/content/supportcenter )

http://wikispaces.com

WIKI EXAMPLES:

http://redfontandrevision.pbwiki.com/ - Mine. Focuses on revision.

http://colearning.wikispaces.com/Administrators - Good example of a wiki use among teachers.

http://greenscribes8.pbwiki.com/ - 8^th graders studying the Holocaust

MOODLE:

www.moodle.org – like a wiki, but you can post more. Con: Lengthy download to your computer. I didn't find it as user friendly as pb.wiki

NING:

www.ning.com – must be over 13. Think: Facebook + wiki

http://ncte2008.ning.com/ - NCTE's ning

http://www.classroom20.com/ - Technology in the classroom

PODCASTS:

http://www.nch.com.au/acm/formats.html definition of audio files

http://www.podcasting-tools.com/blog.htm

http://www.podbean.com/ Supports: 3g2, .3gp, .mp3, .m4a, .ogg, .m4v, mp4, .flv, .mov, .avi, .mpg, .pdf, .doc, .ppt, .xls files

http://media-convert.com/ MY FAVORITE! (Being that it is the simplest).

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ This allows you to edit your podcast. Audacity can also be used for voice recordings at your computer. 

http://www.goldwave.com/ Same as audacity.

PODCASTS PLUS BLOGS AND WIKIS:

http://opensourcemarketer.com/blog/blogging/how-to-add-podcasts-to-blog-posts/ - Specific details about adding podcasts to blogs that have used Wordpress.

Important note: Free WordPress.com blogs come with 3000 megabytes (3GB) of space for storing uploaded files and images.

The Space Upgrade gives you an additional 5, 15, or 25 Gigabytes of storage space, and allows you to upload music and video files in addition to images. You cannot upload music and video files without the space upgrade.

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NWRESA, Karl Fisch, The Fischbowl, blogging, wiki, podcast, ning, moodle
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