More about Twitter

Today whilst reading the following blog entry http://www.c4lpt.net/pg/pages/view/305/ on twitter I saw this great presentation on twitter. I didn't explain twitter too well in my last post but I think nearly everyone has heard of it by now. It has been receiving a lot of press here in Australia lately.

Twitter for beginners

View more presentations from Paul Bradshaw. (tags: journalism bcumedia)

Our filters at work have been playing havoc lately and slideshare wasn't available at all (which was kinda frustrating because I wanted to show some teachers how to use it). ...I haven't checked this week. Slideboom was OK though but I haven't used it for my own stuff yet. This week Ning is back in it's proper form :-)

Lately I have been using Quizlet to make flashcard for year 8 mathematical terms related to linear algebra. I think it is one of the best programs I have found for ease of use and a quick way to add some literacy tasks to a topic.

Next week I get to see how my vodcasts work for transferring knowledge.
http://year8mathematics.wikispaces.com

Twitter

Twitter asks one question, "What are you doing?" Answers must be under 140 characters in length and can be sent via mobile texting, instant message, or the web.

Scriblink

This week I explored some of the different online whiteboards that are available.
I looked at Scribblar and Dabbleboard; Which both have some great features. In the time I had I found Dabbleboard I little hard to get going so Scribblar seemed easier and friendly for a teacher to get use to the interface and do a quick tutorial for some chemistry students.



The session was successful but at the end of it the teacher found the deliema of having no way of blocking the room or access after she left the class. For teachers of students under 18 this is an issue and has some ramifications if students abuse these spaces.

Scribblar is bringing a feature of being able to lock the rooms which should make this a little safer and I am looking forward to that change. Scribblar is a really friendly design and has great features. The pro version gives you much more freedom but working in a public school it is not an option for us.

Today I found Scriblink - I had to reread the about page a couple of times because I couldn't quite believe that you are given a room that is private straight away. You then can share the room with others via email or the given url.

It also gives a range of symbols and mathematical operators which is what we were looking for - to be able to write chemical equations. Some of the functions aren't as great as what you can do in scribblar, such as I adding the images and adjusting them.

There is still the issue of not being able to block the room after you are finished the lesson and therefore students still could abuse this space........I also noticed there is no way of clearing the text chat so that could work in positive way by knowing if anyone came to the space.

From the Scriblink about page:
Scriblink is a free digital whiteboard that users can share online in real-time. Sorta like pen and paper, minus the dead trees, plastic, and the inconvenience of being at the same place at the same time.

Whether you're here for fun or more practical things like layout planning, concept diagramming, or tutoring a friend in math, Scriblink brings you the power of free hand expression with anyone, at anytime, anywhere in the world.

They have mentioned new features but haven't placed anything on their blog since July.

I think online whiteboards are great places to hold classes and it is really up to the teacher to work out which one of Dabbleboard, Scrbblar or Scriblink is right for them and what they want to do.

Victorian Bushfires

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cskk/3262278986/

I live in Melbourne, Victoria. I have family and friends effected by the recent fires that raged across our countryside last week and thankfully for me they are safe. So many others have lost so much more and their lives have been devastated and it will take a long time to rebuild some of these beautiful communities. If you are interest in donating to the bushfire cause please visit the Red Cross and make a donation.

Throughout this coverage there has been some amazing use of the internet. The ABC - our government national radio and TV service have been sensational covering the story and providing constant updates for the effected communities. Through their website www.abc.net.au they have interactive maps, photo and video streams, blogs and messageboards for people donating all sorts of things. They are also on twitter and are showing they are embracing new technology to deliver great indepth information.

360 degree video use

The following is a link to a rather errie video of Strathewen; it is filmed after the bushfire and is a 360 degree view of a burnt out forest and makes you feel as though you are standing there. If you are interested check it out here.

It is hard to believe it was only a week ago that this area was green and full of life.

Celebrating Charles Darwin - Routes: Exploring your genes

Routes - Discover the secrets in your genes.

Routes is an eight week game from Channel 4 Education in association with the Wellcome Trust. Routes is live from January 26th through to March 26th, and during that time players will be invited into a world of genetics, evolution and the human genome.

Embedded in the game, Katherine Ryan, award-winning comedian, explores her own genetic make-up, and tests her DNA to find out whether it is her genes or her environment that define who she is. Can genes make you fat? Or gay? Do they hide critical information about disease? Can Katherine blame her genetic make-up for the fact that she gets drunk on two beers?

By exploring these questions, solving puzzles, playing mini games, trading tips and collaborating on challenges, players will uncover a compelling mystery that lies at the heart of Routes itself. Click on Week 1 to start, then follow the links on the page. If you dig deep enough, who knows what you'll find?

Putting the social media pieces together

Check out this SlideShare Presentation: It shows how social media can be used professionally. The Graphic organiser use makes it clear and also shows how much can now be done online.

Putting the social media pieces together

View more presentations from Jane Hart. (tags: learning media)

Maths Resources - Graphs

In my travels to create materials for year 8 mathematics I have found a couple of great resources on the web on graphs.

Create a Graph
is created by the people at the NCES Kids' Zone; which provides information to help you learn about schools; decide on a college; find a public library; engage in several games, quizzes and skill building about math, probability, graphing, and mathematicians; and to learn many interesting facts about education.

The Create a Graph resource is really friendly and can be saved or emailed when finished. you can also recreate an existing graph!

Another little resource is on the parts of a graph and it is a nice quick reference to remember the information needed when creating a graph.