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| from http://edudemic.com/2010/07/the-35-best-web-2-0-classroom-tools-chosen-by-you/ |
Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies. Its 2011 Top 100 Tools for Learning gives top billing to Twitter, third year in a row. YouTube comes in second followed by Google docs and Skype. Skim the list. Which tools are your favorites? Which have you been meaning to try? Which are ones you have not considered, but pique your interest?
has been a student at Saint Joseph College. Please take some time to explore Mercier's Magic. There's plenty to explore here. When you first open the site (be sure to have sound on), you will find her current school year site, but under the Home tab, you will see accessible sites from prior years.
throughout the site links to wonderful websites for instructional purposes. She uses Weebly to maintain her site. Feel free to explore Weebly as a mean to create your own student-centered website.
Webbly, Mrs. Scelia is a site designed by another Weebly-user teacher. Ms. Scelia started this site August 2010 to provide resources to her young students.
Need some time to relax and play like a kid. Try out the MakeBeliefs Comix.com site. Create your own comic strips easily. Then imagine young children using the site to create comics, practicing their literacy and imaginative skills. In addition to writing in English, students can write in Spanish, Italian, and other languages. There's a Teacher Resource section. Check out "About the Author" to learn about the site's writer and illustrator. 
Try creating a few panes in a comic strip with the options available: characters, text boxes, think bubbles, objects, sizing, moving, and backgrounds. Remember to give your strip a title and to list yourself as its author. Use the Next feature when you are ready to print, or email your creation to a reader. It takes a little trial and error to get going, but it should not take you long to create your first comic. Have some fun and a few laugh! Let us know what you think.
The Ning in Education site provides a good overview of using Nings in the educational setting. Browse around, and let us know what you find of value, and what your initial impressions are of using Nings for professional development purposes. Remember our Class Ning at Computers in the Classroom has a Forum devoted to discipline-specific Nings. I also suggest browsing around the Classroom 2.0 ning. Yes, at times, the array of resources online can make you dizzy, but they can also put at your fingertips valuable resources 
for teaching and contribute to your development as a self-reflective practitioner. Of course, you need not agree, but what are your impressions for now of Nings for professional development? If you find Nings you want to share with others, visit Class Ning at Computers in the Classroom and add a Forum or Blog about the Ning. 
The upcoming Olympics presents an opportunity for engaging science lessons. Check out this page on Science NetLinks: The Science Behind the Olympics. While at the Science NetLinks, all check its Lesson Plan Ideas Matrix for plans arranged by grade level and subject area. There is also a Resource Index, which includes links related to the teaching of both math and science. If you explore the site, ScienceNetLinks, let us know what you think and what helpful information you find there for your teaching or general interest. Image from: http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/about.php
A work in progress, I have started to categorize and annotate useful sites for education, K-12, as well as some other sites at delicious.com. The site is easy to use and provides a convenient way to categorize favorite sites for specific audiences. As of now, I have categorized sites with tags (labels), but 
have not limited access to defined audiences. I have the bookmarks alphabetized, but the list will grow, and I will continue to edit the annotations to make them more useful. Please let me know of sites worth adding, and keep in mind this is an ongoing project that will require continued maintenance to keep it current. Here is the link to the site to access my bookmarks. Please let me know how I can make the site more user friendly. Suggestions are always welcomed. http://delicious.com/JudyArzt. I see the annotations as way to end clutter! What about you? Maybe you want to start using delicious.com if you have not already started an account.
Just launched in October 2009, Watchknow.org provides educational videos for students, ages 3 to 18. The videos are intended for use in the classroom or for viewing at home as an extension activity.
Museum of Humor, which offers teachers a host of lesson plans. The left sidebar on Free Technology for Teachers offers a list of links for resources in teaching social studies, English/language arts, math, science, and foreign language, while the right sidebar has links to a variety of resources. The site's designer boasts: "In 2008 Free Technology for Teachers was awarded the Edublogger Award for 'Best Resource Sharing Blog.' Free Technology for Teachers is read by an audience of more than 8000
subscribers." I know this is one blog that I have bookmarked and follow weekly. Hope you do too, and share with us helpful resources you find through the blog. Yesterday, October 29, the blog's main post was on the Crash of 1929, with the 80th anniversary of the Black Market marked on that date. A link to CNN Student News to a short segment and a PBS series American 
Experience with an hour long video about the stock market crash of 1929 were provided as well as this offering for watching an American Experience: The Crash of 1929 by clicking here. I also learned about the
Science Netlinks - Dozens of Science Lessons, including ones for integrating science into the elementary school classroom.
American Association of Libraries posts the Top 25 Websites for Teaching and Learning. Check out the list, and let us know if you use any of the sites professionally. Which sites pique your interest? Which would you explore using for your teaching? Another recommended site for teachers is PBS Teachers for featured teacher resources by grade level and subject area. Let us know what you find there that's of value to you. What are your favorite sites for teaching and learning? What would make your Top Ten list?
If you have not used the Free Rice site lately, or never checked it, now is the time. Free Rice, which started as a vocabulary site, now offers math, foreign language, geography, and other subject areas. It is an easy site to use, one students will enjoy using in their free time. Best of all, for every correct answer, 10 grains of rice are donated through a United Nations relief agency in an effort to end world hunger. Spend less than 5 minutes checking the site and trying the questions. Although the questions follow a simple multiple-choice format, the intention is to attract users, and with that goal in mind, the format works fine. After all, the more questions answered correctly, the more rice, donated. This site is both educational and philanthropic. Over 62 billion grains have been donated to date. Spread the word, and please comment. Here is a direct link to the page that lists the subject areas. 
Lookong for some websites to use for the evaluation project. Check to see if any of these work for you. Whether they do or don't, post your response to any of the sites you explored. Also, check the links listed on the blog under "Resources for Teachers."
Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, stymied by young people’s lack of knowledge about basic civic lessons, is the brainchild behind a new Web site aimed at the 7th through 9th grade population. The site will pose dilemmas based on constitutional rights, such as the First Amendment. For instance, should schools censor school publications and dictate the kinds of clothing students wear to school?
The Education Podcast Network
Network is a portal for podcasts created by students K-12. It is worth exploring to see what students in all grades and across the content areas are doing with podcasts in their schools. The National Public Radio site enables you to access quality podcasts to integrate into your teaching. As for Grammar Girl, it is the latest rage and a sure 
catalyst for boosting grammar and word usage skills, in an entertaining, engaging way. This site is a favorite among teachers, as well as students. Can't remember when to use "affect" versus "effect," what a "comma splice" is, or just want to brush up on skills, Grammar Girl offers "quick and dirty" tips for remembering usage rules. Explore! Explore! Explore! All three sites are top-rated, visited by millions. Add the URLs to your Favorites/Bookmarks, and tell your colleagues to visit, too. After trying any one of the sites, consider how you might use podcasts in your teaching: How can you tape into their power, how can students use them to broaden their learning? Take a few moments to navigate one of the site, and share your responses. 
