Pageflakes

I just created my page on Pageflakes which is another tool with a WOW factor. It is so easy to use and personalize. You can find mine at: http://www.pageflakes.com/mlower/11671841

Mindy

Using RSS Feeds

After learning about RSS feeds and trying some out this past week, it looks like it is the easy way to have information that you are interested in come to you rather than you having to spend time every day searching for anything new. The internet is so massive that it can become overwhelming. RSS feeds help tame it down. It will definitely be a time saver and will help me stay up with the latest information and news about topics that are relevant to me. No one usually has enough time to spend surfing the internet each day trying to keep up with the latest. RSS will allow me to skim through much more material in a lot less time.

RSS feeds will also save me time with classroom management. If my students are blogging for a project, the feed will let me know when to go out and check their blog rather than have to look at everyone’s blogs every day. This also works in the opposite direction if I have a blog as a teacher which they as students need to be checking. RSS feeds can also be used by the students in research projects or as a supplement to a unit of study or a novel. As teachers, we need to learn how to collect those RSS feeds which will help us stay informed and improve our teaching along with teaching our students how to do the same.

Mindy

Student Blog Project

A good example of a student blog that was part of a classroom project is found on the Excellence and Imagination blog site. Students were assigned a colonization project and given different countries to represent. To see some of the students’ examples check out The Colonization of Africa or the Colonization of the 13 Colonies. Blogging provided a creative way for the students to share their research, images, and emotions of what it would feel like to be early settlers of different areas of the world. Not only were they writing for their teacher but they were able to share their knowledge and creation with other peers, parents, and the world. In my high school resource room my students with learning difficulties could use this same type of activity with various topics from their history class throughout the year. This past year they kept a portfolio of important people that they studied using Inspiration software. With a blog they could research, post pictures, and write as if they were that famous person. They then could make comments and add additional insights to each other’s work.

Mindy

Uses of Web 2.0

Several articles in educational technology magazines have been discussing the uses of podcasts and newer technologies in the classroom in their recent issues. New uses of technology in the classroom have always intrigued me and I am always looking for fresh ways to motivate my students along with exposing them to new uses of technology which they might need to use either in college or the workplace. The new Web 2.0 tools appear to offer many new learning and teaching opportunities.

One of the skills that my students with learning difficulties usually struggle with is communicating their ideas either verbally or through written text. Based on what I have read and studied so far, I can envision using blogs in the classroom to encourage students to write about their thoughts and reactions along with sharing their reactions to others’ thoughts. Students with disabilities could also discover blogs and resources that discuss their own disability and help them find answers to questions that they have. It would provide an outlet for them to discuss their frustrations along with providing inspiration to meet their challenges.

As a teacher, I see technologies such as social bookmarking and RSS feeds that could help me organize websites and links so that I can access needed information easily. Web 2.0 technologies will also provide effective ways for me to share information and ideas with other professionals. Blogs would provide an easy way for area special education teachers to share ideas and strategies for the challenges that we all face in our rural area. A teacher created blog would be an efficient way to communicate with parents about what is going on in the classroom and to provide helpful articles on how to help their student with learning difficulties. If I take the time to learn how to use these new tools, I will have many new ways to motivate my students and provide real life experiences for improving their written expression along with added bonuses for myself as a learner. Web 2.0 tools can help us become life-long learners.

Mindy