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Teaching with Technology TechTECH ToolsTOOLS FORfor LEARNINGLearning :: :: Innovative, interactive technologies provide new potential for learning—in and out of classrooms.

by Will Richardson ver the last few years, our relationship with the Web has been changing dramatically. Simple new technologies like weblogs and podcasts are allowing us to not only create content like Otext, audio, and video more easily, they are also allowing us to publish and share that content on the Web with very little effort. Instead of a “read only” Web, we’re entering the age of the Read/Write Web, where contributing knowledge is as easy as consuming it. Being able to publish worldwide this easily does raise legal and ethical issues for educators to be aware of, but it also facilitates a whole range of new learning potentials for students and teachers in the classroom. Here is a quick look at some of the technologies that are changing the way educators think about and deliver instruction. Note: All content should be previewed before classroom use.

WEBLOGS and lifelong-learning spaces. WHAT THEY ARE/HOW THEY’RE USED Teachers and learners of every discipline are Weblogs (blogs) are the most popular tool of the using blogs—to deliver their curricula, interact new Internet. Simply put, a weblog makes shar- with experts and peers, and much more. There ing ideas online as easy as sending an e-mail, are history teachers whose students have hooked and that’s why today there is a new blog created up with students half a world away to share every second. Bloggers don’t need to know HTML ideas about the Holocaust; literature students or how to get their files online; they only need who, with the author’s participation, have cre- an Internet connection and something to say. ated online reader’s guides for the books they are reading; and math teachers who use blogs TIPS FOR CLASSROOM USE to post pictures of geometric shapes so students Blogs are blooming in classrooms all over the can identify and discuss their structures. In ad- world as more and more teachers discover their dition, some schools are building their websites potential as learning tools with students of every on blogs, encouraging communication and col- age. While many refer to weblogs as simple on- laboration among teachers, students, parents, and JUPITERIMAGES line journals, in practice they are much more. They community. To get started, try Blogger, a free serv- can be tools for peer collaboration, public or pri- ice that will have you up and blogging in a mat- vate conversation, reflective online portfolios, ter of minutes.

Blog Resources Blogger unitedstreaming and other digital media in focused on MSNBC and NBC news, www.blogger.com the classroom. Newsweek, and on-air programming. Learn what a blog is and how to create your own in three easy steps. Kathy Schrock’s Kaffeeklatsch Project Greenlight: The Backstory: Blogs kathyschrock.blogspot.com from the Inside C-SPAN: Blogs Page Discovery’s educator expert, Kathy Schrock, www.bravotv.com/Project_Greenlight/Blogs www.c-span.org/resources/blogs.asp shares her thoughts and tips about educa- Blogs by the show’s creators for episodes of Extensive listing of links to political, tional technology and invites teachers to this series about the filmmaking process. public-affairs, news, and court blogs, do the same. Site also offers information including several video blogs. about podcasts and RSS. The Weather Channel Blog www.weather.com/blog/weather Discovery Educator Network: MSNBC: Blogs Etc. Experts and meteorologists report the latest The DEN Blog msnbc.msn.com/id/3032105 U.S. weather news from the studio and the discoveryeducation.typepad.com Roundup of general-interest news blogs field. (Also available in RSS.) Learn and share how educators are using

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g RSS Resources RSS Bloglines by topic, columnist, or magazine section. WHAT THEY ARE/HOW THEY’RE USED bloglines.com Also available: MSNBC headlines by topic. Without getting too technical, RSS (Real Simple Publish your own blog; subscribe to blogs, Syndication) feeds allow authors of any age or e-mail groups, and websites; and more. VH1RSS ability to syndicate their content by making it www.vh1.com/rss easy for readers to subscribe to receive it, instead CNN RSS Gather the latest music, movie, and pop- www.cnn.com/services/rss of having to actively search for it. So, for instance, culture news, as well as the Best Week Ever Download stories on any topic, from world Blog and Today in Music updates. if you find 10 (or in my case 110) bloggers that news to education. (CNN podcasting feed is you like to read on a regular basis, you can use also available.) weblogg-ed: RSS Quick Start Guide RSS to collect all of that content in one space for Educators rather than having to visit each of those sites Discovery News: Really Simple Syndication www.weblogg-ed.com/rss_for_ed one by one. And the best part is that it’s not just dsc.discovery.com/utilities/rss/rss.html Find and add RSS feeds, see how to use blogs; RSS feeds deliver newspapers, magazines, Automatically receive news content from them in the classroom, and more. and even searches. Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Travel Channel, and TLC. Yahoo! News news.yahoo.com TIPS FOR CLASSROOM USE MSNBC: Newsweek RSS Feeds Receive U.S., world, entertainment, politics, One of the easiest ways to get started with RSS www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6283724/site/newsweek business, science, technology, health, and is to start a teacher blog and have students sub- Gather the latest Newsweek content, sorted sports news via RSS. scribe to the daily updates using Bloglines, a web- based aggregator that collects and displays all of the feeds you’re subscribed to in one place. PODCASTS From there, they can add feeds of current-events WHAT THEY ARE/HOW THEY’RE USED Podcasting Resources searches at Yahoo! News or some of the standard Just over a year old, podcasting offers the abil- C-SPAN: Podcasts feeds offered at sites like MSNBC or CNN. Simi- ity to not only create audio content easily, but www.c-span.org/podcast larly, parents are beginning to access homework distribute it to wide Internet audiences just as Subscriptions available for some of assignments and class updates via RSS feeds. easily. So, if you have interesting things to say, C-SPAN’s most popular programs. For more information, try the RSS Quick Start you now have the chance of reaching the masses Guide for Educators on my weblogg-ed website. with your voice, not just your written words. CNN: Podcasting www.cnn.com/services/podcasting Basically, the power of podcasting comes from the ability of listeners to subscribe to receive the In-depth coverage on a variety of current- events topics, the latest news, and special shows via RSS. The most popular way to do this programs for your MP3 player. is to use iTunes, which, once configured, goes out and checks to see if any new shows have been Discovery Channel Radio: Podcasts published and automatically downloads them to www.discovery.com/radio/podcasts.html your MP3 player. It’s time-shifted amateur radio Weekly podcasts from Discovery’s family at its best. of networks. EPN: The Education Podcast Network TIPS FOR CLASSROOM USE epnweb.org Podcasting works great with students who are nar- Access student and class podcasts, subject- rating field trips, doing interviews with experts, specific podcasts, and education podcasts. and writing and reading audio editorials during iTunes their regular shows, which are then posted to the www.apple.com/itunes school website and delivered via RSS. Other Share and stream downloaded podcasts on schools have used podcasting to create and dis- this digital player. tribute regular news shows, museum tours, and student-written and -read audio books. Teachers Podcasts on MSNBC.com can use the technology to record lessons and then www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8132577 make them available to absent or visually impaired Download news headlines, Meet the Press, Hardball highlights, Nightly News with Brian MEDIA BAKERY students. See the Education Podcast Network for Williams, and more. more ideas on using podcasting in education.

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Teaching with Technology

Webcam Resources Animal Planet: Panda Video Cam Discovery Channel Cams: Volcano Cam animal.discovery.com/cams/pandavidr.html dsc.discovery.com/cams/pvolcano.html Watch giant panda Mei Xiang and her cub Live images of Popocatepetl, one of the at the Smithsonian National Zoo in world’s most active volcanoes. Washington, D.C. National Geographic: WildCam Africa Cable in the Classroom: Project Cam www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/ www.ciconline.com/projectcam wildcamafrica/wildcam.html Site offers tips for getting started and an An up-close look at wildlife gathering at Pete’s Pond in Botswana.

MEDIA BAKERY online environment to connect students, educators, and experts via webcams. OnlineCamera.com: The Ultimate Discovery Channel Cams: Sun Cam Webcam Directory WEBCAMS dsc.discovery.com/cams/sun.html www.onlinecamera.com View the sun at any time. Image refreshes Directory of a wide range of webcams by WHAT THEY ARE/HOW THEY’RE USED every 6 to 12 minutes. category or location. Webcams allow teachers and students to get an up-to-the-minute look at various places and events around the world. Basically, they are tiny cameras that people have installed to give live shots of whatever they are pointed at. There are shark cams from aquariums, reef cams from the Caribbean, even a number of African Wildcams The World via that have been set up by National Geographic. Webcam As more and more of these sites come online, teachers are finding it easier and easier to find ew and exciting opportunities to learn relevant links to what they are teaching. In ad- with technology can motivate students dition, some teachers are using webcams in their Nto explore foreign countries and cul- own classrooms to connect visually with class- tures, challenge their personal educational rooms in other parts of the world (see sidebar). goals, and push the boundaries of their own creativity. Case in point: While a seventh- TIPS FOR CLASSROOM USE grade class in Columbus, Ohio, studies Asian I’m able to share information, materials, ex- In many cases, collaborations have been created versions of the Cinderella story, another class periences,” she explains. through the use of webcams. Students have fo- in Weifang City, China, is studying western ver- The success of this collaboration is the re- cused their lenses on science experiments, nat- sions of the same tale. They will meet—and sult of dedication, planning, and high-tech ural disasters, and special events, all as a way of discuss their findings—via webcam and video- overseas coordination. Time Warner Cable sharing experiences and learning. Using a web- conferencing technologies. also set up RoadRunner high-speed Internet cam in your classroom can require only an old “The students are starting to become mo- access at Columbus Public Schools, donated video camera or inexpensive eyeball camera and tivated because they know they’re going to see a webcam and speakers, and agreed to spon- webcam software. Start by exploring the Cable in these people,” says Nancy Clendenen, middle- sor a Chinese banquet for students and par- the Classroom: Project Cam website, where you’ll school coordinator with the Columbus Public ents on the night of the videoconference. In find tips and basic information about starting your Schools Gifted and Talented Program. Clen- addition, Clendenen and Arthur hope this own webcam project. denen uses Project Cam—Cable in the Class- project will push other schools in the district Finding interesting webcams to view with stu- room’s online environment with video, chat, to try more of the same. “People at Colum- dents is as easy as doing an online search, or you and file-sharing capabilities, introduced to bus Public Schools said, ‘You mean, we can can start at OnlineCamera.com, a webcam direc- her by Jean Arthur, manager of community re- duplicate this at other schools?’” Arthur says. tory. (Be sure to always preview what you share lations at Time Warner Cable Mid-Ohio Divi- “And we said, ‘Yes!’” with students, as some webcams are less than ed- sion—to coordinate with Chinese teachers —Nicole Flynn ucational.) To view these webcams, all you need overseas in preparation for a video conference is a current browser, free viewing software such between the two classes. “With Project Cam, as Windows Media, and a broadband connection.

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For more on digital tools for learning, www.ciconline.org/accesslearning see Threshold (Fall 2005) at www.ciconline.org/AboutCIC/ Publications/Archives/threshold_fall05.htm

STREAMING VIDEO offer much of their daily coverage via streaming These teacher- or student-produced movies can video on their sites, and it’s now becoming eas- then be hosted for free and streamed from sites WHAT IT IS/HOW IT’S USED ier to search for such content on sites such as like Ourmedia.org, allowing the final products to As bandwidth increases, more and more educa- CNN, C-SPAN, and others. reach audiences far beyond the classroom. :: tors are starting to look at streaming video as a resource in the classroom. While the most preva- TIPS FOR CLASSROOM USE lent sources of this type of content are subscrip- Teachers are beginning to use streaming video tion services, such as unitedstreaming, there are to supplement the curriculum in various ways, de- Related Resources more and more free video resources coming on- pending on their Internet connection. Usually, line as well, especially in the area of current streamed videos are five to 10 minutes long and An Educator's Guide to Blogs, Wikis, events. For example, many news organizations serve to add context to a particular lesson or re- Podcasts and Other Dynamic Web Tools inforce what has already been discussed. In most That Are Transforming Classrooms. instances, educators are downloading video to Will Richardson (Corwin Press, 2006) Will Richardson is the supervisor of instructional their computers and then playing it locally or em- technology and communications at Hunterdon weblogg-ed: the read/write web in Central Regional High School in Flemington, N.J. bedding clips in PowerPoint presentations. the classroom A classroom teacher for more than 20 years, Many teachers are also creating their own www.weblogg-ed.com Richardson is also an author and a speaker. videos using tools such as iMovie or Movie Maker.

Streaming Media Resources Apple Learning Interchange Discovery.com Michigan Teacher Network ali.apple.com www.discovery.com mtn.merit.edu/vtf Videography for educators, a Student Gallery, Link to Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Free lesson plans to help teachers utilize and more features showcasing the use of Planet, Discovery Health, Travel, Discovery streaming video in the classroom. iMovie and other Apple tools for learning. Kids, and the Science Channel networks. Click on Watch Video to view clips from selected MSNBC: News Video www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8004316 C-SPAN Classroom shows, or link to Discovery Broadband for www.c-spanclassroom.org more video features. Webcasts of this week’s top stories, MSNBC Video clips covering social-studies topics, programming, and more. including the principles of government, the Discovery School: Video Clip branches of government, the U.S. Screening Room MTV.com: Onair www.mtv.com/onair Constitution, and political participation. school.discovery.com/ontv/videoclips.html Brief video clips listed by subject area, Video segments of MTV programs include C-SPAN Live including ancient history, health, forensics, Trippin, an environmental-education show. www.c-span.org/watch literature, and many more. Streaming video and audio of C-SPAN’s live Ourmedia: The Global Home for public-affairs programming. ESPN SportsFigures: Film Room Grassroots Media sportsfigures.espn.com/sportsfigures/filmroom.htm www.ourmedia.org CNN.com: Education with Student News Video clips of sports stars demonstrating and Storage and bandwidth for videos, audio www.cnn.com/education discussing math and physics concepts. files, photos, text, and software. Today’s 10-minute, student-geared newscast and this week’s Newsquiz. HBO Family: Watch Videos unitedstreaming www.hbofamily.com/watch_videos unitedstreaming.com CNN.com: Video Streaming video from series such as A Little Discovery Education’s video on-demand www.cnn.com/video Curious and Crashbox. subscription service. Video on a wide range of news topics, including education. iMovie The Weather Channel: Multimedia www.apple.com/imovie www.weather.com/multimedia Court TV’s Choices and Consequences: Video-creating tool. Streaming video forecasts and other videos Video and Curriculum Supplements by region or topic. www.courttv.com/choices/teachers/videos Inside the Actors Studio: Videos Clips from shows such as the Al Roker www.bravotv.com/Inside_the_Actors_Studio/Videos Windows Movie Maker www.microsoft.com/moviemaker Investigates series, Chasing Freedom, and Streaming video of interviews with perform- Activate Your Mind: Protect Your Ideas. ing artists of stage and screen. Video-creating tool.

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