Imagine that you could have 1,000 survivors in your classroom . . .
The University of Southern California Shoah Foundation recently launched the BETA version of a truly important gift–a searchable, interactive archive of more than 1000 video testimonies of Holocaust survivors and other witnesses. 
The New York Public Library has released a new website called The Stereogranimator, which allows patrons to create their own animated files or 3-D images from the Library's collection of stereographs, a popular 19th Century photo format. 
I first learned about Pinterest in May or June of last year when a colleague of mine showed me the photography she was bookmarking on Pinterest. I didn't think much of it at the time because what I saw didn't interest me. Fast forward six months and Pinterest is a very rapidly-growing social bookmarking service. 
Ensuring students know academic content is great, but teaching them to do something with it is essential. 
The Internet is fascinated by teenagers. People are in awe of the things that teenagers do and say, online and offline. Dr. danah boyd, a senior researcher at Microsoft, assistant professor at NYU and fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, thinks that perhaps adults are worrying too much about what teenagers are doing and saying online. |
When given a research assignment, the first place students turn to is Google or another public search engine. For better or worse, it’s a fact of life in the modern classroom. I’m not saying we should sideline those valuable database sources; in fact, I think we should invest the necessary time in teaching students how to use them. But we know that in most cases, students are going to default to Google. So, let’s make sure they have the tools to search the open Web effectively. 
We all want our students and colleagues (and ourselves!) to be more efficient and targeted in our open Web searching. This infographic might be just what your faculty has been looking for. Pair this with a discussion of Google’s new user policy! 
Digital storytelling comes in many forms. Digital storytelling could refer to creating podcasts, creating videos, or creating multimedia ebooks to name of few of its forms. If you're considering developing your first digital storytelling project for your class, here some resources that can help you get started. 
Google has revamped its site for educators, creating a redesigned repository for all its educational tools and resources for teachers, schools, and students. 
What makes technology SO great is the way that it can make life (and teaching) more productive and fun. Over the years, I have found so many ways that technology can make reading more rewarding for both kids who love to read, and kids who dread reading. Today, I created an “Extreme Speed Booking” website ... The idea behind the site is to introduce students to a variety of books and form classroom book groups. How does Extreme Speed Booking work? A whole lot like speed dating. Students spend a little time with each book and then rate them accordingly with “I want to read more,” “Interesting,” “Not for me,” or “I’ve already read.” Students can also make a note of how interested they are in reading the book (maybe a 1-10 scale)? This process introduces students to a variety of books, genres and authors. Students may come across titles and authors they wouldn’t otherwise find. It also helps teachers form classroom book groups that are of high-interest and investment to students because they had input. 
The new digital archive becomes available tomorrow (Thursday, Jan. 19, 2011). |
