Edublog award winners for 2011

Congratulations to those who won Edublog awards for 2011. I was happy to see so many who have offered suggestions and ideas for my new book among the winners. All candidates are great models for those who are interested in starting their own blog, a class blog or whose students want to begin blogging.

Thanks to all educators who provide incentive to others. That's what education is all about.

Global Education Conference Reflections

A week full of speakers, videos, keynote presentations and so much more took place from Nov. 14-18 at the Global Education Conference. Topics from Virtual Field Trips to Digiteen, Bloggers Collaboration to Lit Trips with Google Earth illustrate the versatility of the conference. Extremely well-organized, sessions included content and examples for all grade levels and subjects and a wide range of countries. Three or four presentations each hour let educators find out about new technologies, special sites to review, and each session was recorded so you could review the sessions you missed.

Congratulations to the co-chairs who did a fantastic job! As follow-up a downloadable spreadsheet of all conference sessions is available at http://globaleducation.ning.com/page/2011-conference-quick-links?xg_source=msg_mes_network. And, you can connect to a list of recordings at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_US&hl=en_US&key=0AhKqffzq3AqvdFhhT3VOOGVwQ3NxakdZUVpFZmZqUHc&single=true&gid=1&output=html.

Global Education Conference

Take some time to attend the Second Annual Global Education Conference this week Nov. 14-18. Register for free and take advantage of a week of sessions, keynotes and more. The session descriptions, forum discussions, and session calendars (one for each of the world's 36 time zones!) are available at http://www.globaleducationconference.com/?elq=a2e11da8020b4d169d8e31d8278eabbe&elqCampaignId=781. Look at last year's reviews, check out this year's awesome sessions and keynotes.

Brought to educators by Blackboard, learn what others are doing to promote collaboration, use Web 2.0 and social networking tools. Each session is about an hour and there are numerous ones at each hour to choose from--something for everyone.

Don't miss this exciting event!

New Book -- New Look for the Blog

My new book Using Web 2.0 and Social Networking Tools in the K-12 Classroom is in production so...it's time to have a new look to the accompanying blog. The website at https://sites.google.com/site/bevseducationalwebsite/home is also being updated and when you see the "new look" you know it's ready for YOU.

Keep your eye on the blog for updating at least once a week. All the URLs located in my new book will continue to be added to the website as a first priority, as well as new What's New, suggestions for lessons incorporating Web 2.0 and social networking, and new tools that will enhance your lessons.

Stay tuned...

New Book for the New Year

You probably are wondering why you are seeing limited posting from my blog--well, that's because I am writing a new book: Using Web 2.0 Tools and Social Networking in the K-12 Classroom.

Completely new with additional tools for the curriculum, a Teachers' chapter illustrating how to set up your own Personal Learning Network (PLN) and much more. This new book will kick off 2012 just right by giving you new ways to use Web 2.0 and social networking tools in your classroom.

In the meantime you can still check out Using Web 2.0 Tools in the K-12 Classroom and Internet Workshops--10 Ready-to-Go Workshops for K-12 Educators, both available from Neal-Schuman Publishers at the American Library Association (ALA) at a discount and also online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and the Neal-Schuman sites. Check the Neal-Schuman site for more information.

Learning with Skype

Teachers all over the world are using Skype to make learning more exciting and memorable. Students find videoconferencing motivating when they talk to an author about a book they are reading or ask questions of another class halfway around the world. Check out some of their projects and get started yourselves.

Some articles from educators using Skype may give you some ideas about projects, how to make connections with classes and experts or with those who want to practice their language skills:
http://record-eagle.com/sunday/x998539803/Teachers-find-learning-tool-in-Skype
https://sites.google.com/site/chattingacrosstheusa/
http://skypeanauthor.wetpaint.com

Try social networking

My New Year's resolution is to be more faithful to posting on my blog.

For your New Year's resolution you might consider signing up for some teacher blogs or Twitter posts. They are very informational from new sites you don't have time to find but might find handy to ideas on how to use different technologies. I watched a one-hour Skype demonstration last week that I found quite useful. Try these to start: http://www.teachhub.com/, http://ilearntechnology.com/

You'll see Skype in a chapter of the new book I'm working on now.