Don't Miss Connected Educator Month

Connected Educator Month is a U.S. Department of Education’s Connected Educators initiative, coming out of Director of the Office of Educational Technology. The emphasis is on the role of online communities and social learning networks--networks like Classroom 2.0 and Library 2.0 that are "helping hundreds of thousands of educators learn, reducing isolation and providing 'just in time' access to knowledge and opportunities for collaboration." The goal throughout this August is to expose the broader audience of educators and administrators to the benefits of peer professional development.

Learning events will take place all month. Visit Connected Educators for a complete schedule of sessions throughout the month of August.

In addition, a fabulous free Learning 2.0 online conference full of discussions, interaction, new ideas and much more will be held on August 20-24.  Gurus in the field of K-12 educational technology will present, participate on panels and help novices learn and those using technology in their classrooms to connect. 

Join the activities!

Simple K12 Webinars

I've been attending some interesting webinars lately provided by SimpleK12.  This organization has both free and paid membership.  Today, for example, a series of four 30-minute sessions discussed the Core Standards and technology in math and language arts.  The one on the Flipped Classroom was very educational with many examples from different subject areas--a lot of information in only 30 minutes.  Excellent presenters provide webinars every week such as "Get Out of the Classroom with Virtual Field Trips" or  "Teaching Reading in the Digital Age."  Not only do they have live webinars, but also many other resources for teachers.  Take a look, sign up, and register--all in a couple of minutes!

You can get an amazing amount of information with their Basic free membership.

Great Free Tutorials

Richard Byrne, who write the blog "Free Technology for Teachers" has created a number of books to make your life using technology easier. 

Want to create a free website? Use Google Sites and review Richard's book online, titled Google Sites for Teachers. It will definitely help you get started and then use it in your classroom.

Other books by Richard that might interest you are Google Earth Across the Curriculum and Google Docs for Teachers 2012.  And, if you are bored or want something educational to do this summer, try Byrne's 77 Things for Teachers to Try This Summer. You won't be bored for long and can get a headstart into the school year. 

Free Technology for Teachers website is chock full of guides, ideas and more.

New Source for Information on Cyberbullying

Did you know that ebrary.com has a free collection of open sources on cyberbullying?  This site offers ebooks you can peruse on types of bullying, statistics, what you should do when bullying starts, and much more.  Just go to the ebrary site at http://site.ebrary.com/lib/cyberbullying/search.action?p00=cyberbullying&fromSearch=fromSearch&search=Search and put in a search term at the top of the page.  Titles such as Stop Cyberbullying Before it Starts, Data Memo: Cyberbullying and Online Teens, Serial No. 111-76: Cyberbullying and Other Online Safety Issues for Children and more are available. 
So, next time you want to discuss the topic of bullying or cyberbullying, create a lesson plan on it or have your students conduct research on the topic, ebrary is a safe site to access, read a Table of Contents and click to exactly the aspect of the subject you want.  Try it out! 

These resources also complement the unit plan on bullying that appears in Chapter 3 of my book Using Web 2.0 and Social Networking Tools in the K-12 Classroom.

Google Drive--Storage in the Cloud

Google Drive allows you to store any kind of file including documents, images, archives, and video files. Moreover, you can share your files in Google Drive with other individuals, teams of users (such as Google Groups), your entire organization, or even make them public!

Google Drive is a cloud-based storage-based service provided in conjunction with a Google Apps account. Google Drive provides:
--interfaces through your computer, mobile device or the Web
--file sharing functionality
--safe. secure, and redundant file storage
--capacity to meet your storage needs as they grow
For information on how to use Google Drive, download Richard Byrne's free e-book showing how to use Google Drive.

A Cyberbullying Lesson

In my new book Using Web 2.0 and Social Networking Tools in the K-12 Classroom, there is a lesson on bullying, a topic of concern to educators and parents today. Check this YouTube video for a lesson on cyberbullying and how to explain it to your students. This interactive lesson provides questions to answer after each part to reinforce the concepts presented. It also contains additional links to other videos on bullying.

Review this 9-minute video, and read Chapter 3 on Wikis in my book and try out the unit plan related to bullying, designed to be used in a multidisciplinary unit for English and social studies using wikis.

Upcoming free Social Learning Summit

Put April 21 on your calendar to attend the Social Learning Summit, a virtual, free, worldwide conference being sponsored by the Discovery Educator Network on the use of social media and Web 20 in teaching and learning. Presentation proposals are still being accept through Saturday, April 7. View the list of proposals already accepted HERE. Session blocks are 30 minutes in length, and more information on how to submit can be found HERE.

This one-day session will be an exciting and informative, offering practical ideas on how to use Web 2.0 and social media with your students. Don't miss this wonderful opportunity.