|
Resources for Developing 21st Century Skills |
|
|
Visit the Edublog
Awards site
and browse the Eddies for 2008. Get great
ideas for using blogs in the classroom from the winners of
the fifth annual
Edublog Awards. Check back on the Web site for 2009
nominations.
Web: http://edublogawards.com/ |
Explore Resources for Web 2.0 is
a component of Your
Learning Journey
from the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).
Teachers
can easily find relevant Web 2.0 resources from the
categorized collection of
reviewed links. The resources help to define Web 2.0, access
tools for Web
2.0 and find examples of Web 2.0 implementation in
education.
Web: http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/
EducatorResources/YourLearningJourney/Web20/
Web_2_0_Resource_Links.htm |
|
Access 21st century skills with MILE (Milestones
for Improving
Learning in Education)
available on the Partnership
for 21st Century Skills
Web site. Users can access MILE by clicking on Resources,
then Online
Tools, then MILE Guide. Download the PDF file of the guide
or use the
online assessment in a school or district to determine
progress in defining,
teaching and assessing 21st century skills. Don’t miss the MILE
Guide
Workshop kit and
the online
MILE Guide Assessment.
Web: http://www.21stcenturyskills.org |
Route21 is
a repository of nearly 600 resources set up to showcase
resources, community tools and assessment tools for 21st
century skills as
they are developed. The definitions for the 21st century
skills are also
available.
Web: http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/route21/ |
|
|
|
|
Communication &
Collaboration |
Back
to the Top |
|
Collection communities are based on a user profile, but the
focus is on
people who want to share a personal collection. For example, AllRecipes
members can create a free private
recipe box to store their recipes, share
any recipes with others and post recipes, ratings and
reviews for any of the
public recipes in the community collection. Search for new
recipes to add
to your recipe box, categorize and even create an automatic
shopping list
for ingredients. Have students look up nutritional facts for
favorite recipes.
Need a fundraiser? Just click on Create-a-Cookbook in the
menu bar and
build a class or school recipe book. Then personalize with
any uploaded
images (hardcover, $34.99; soft cover, $24.99).
Web: http://allrecipes.com/
Plus: The DinnerSpinner is
a free teacher
time-saver after a faculty meeting
or afterschool professional development session. Just
download the free
application to your iPhone or iPod
Touch and
spin the menu options for a
meal based on your selection of main ingredients, type of
dish and desired
preparation time. The search results from the AllRecipes
database put
detailed ingredients, cooking directions and nutritional
information in the
palm of your hand.
Web: http://allrecipes.com/Features/More/iPhone.aspx |
The free GNU
Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)
can be used for
photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.
This free
graphics editing tool is easy to use and portable. An
example of the tasks
performed by GIMP photo enhancements is a mode to correct
distortions
created by a lens tilt of the camera. What a great way to
correct digital
snapshots of class activities for the yearbook.
Web: http://www.gimp.org/ |
|
imbee was
created to provide free social
networking for
young people.
Students can connect with friends, share audio and video
with real-world
friends and link to fun things to do on the Web. Parents and
teachers can
view students’ activities from the imbee site. Students can
use Spotbuilder to
create their own Web page, blog, personalized trading cards
and avatar or
to join an imbee group. Teachers can use imbee to set up a
teacher account
and access free lesson
plans for using imbee social networking in the
classroom.
Web: http://www.imbee.com/
Web: http://www.imbee.com/teacher/ |
In2Books is
a free curriculum-based eMentoring
program for
grades
3–5 from ePals.
Adult pen pals are matched with students who are reading
the same curriculum-based books, and students and mentor
exchange
online letters about relevant issues from the books read.
The six curriculum
units support understanding pen pals, letter writing and
sharing in an
online community. Versions of In2Books are also available
for after-school
programs and home use.
Web: http://in2books.epals.com/ |
Create an online collaborative timeline using the free OurStory Web
service. Users can easily make personalized timelines using
the selection of
Question sets (My Story, Family Story, Life Story and more).
Collaborate
with other colleagues or students, family or friends to add
to your
timeline. Once created, an OurStory timeline can be embedded
into
MySpace, or any other Web site, using a new timeline widget
from
OurStory.com to share with anyone you want. Just click
Export and copy
the code provided into your personal Web page.
Web: http://www.ourstory.com/ |
|
Harness the technology power of existing computers with nComputing
solutions, which uses small access terminals combined with nComputing
software to allow users to share a PC. Users need their own
monitor,
keyboard and mouse, and their own applications, but the PC
power of
one computer is then shared by up to 30 users. The X300
access terminal
will share one PC with up to seven students. Visit the Web
site for a free
30-day trial, valid for the U.S. educational market.
Web: http://www.ncomputing.com |
Create surveys and polls for your elearning modules, add a
student poll
to your class Web page, ask parents their opinion on a new
school
policy—all for free with
the PollDaddy Web
2.0 service. Survey features
include unlimited free polls
as well as more than a dozen PollDaddy skins
to customize the interface; add text, pictures and video to
polls; block
repeat voters by IP address or cookies; close polls after a
certain date;
randomize answers; show or hide results; and export data as
XML, CSV
and subscribe to them via RSS. Surveys can be posted to a
Web site, blog or
social network profile.
Web: http://www.polldaddy.com/ |
|
HP and Microsoft are
teaming up to offer a free online
community for
teachers. Called TEE for
short, the Teacher
Experience Exchange project
is a repository of content for teachers built by teachers.
TEE content
includes free software,
lessons, discussions, contests and training
materials. Courses, interactive how-to’s and online
resources and tools
are available 24/7. Register to become a teacher member
eligible to sign
up for online courses, interact with others on the campus
forums, rate
and review content, tag other users’ reviews and forum.
Web: http://h30411.www3.hp.com/ |
Yugma is
a free online screen-sharing
tool that
lets users conference with
up to 20 participants. (A paid-for version for larger
conferencing is
available for as little as $14.95/month and is free of
sponsored ads.) The
live collaboration tools include desktop sharing, robust
annotation tools
and whiteboard options to capture audio/video files that are
hosted by
Yugma. The Yugma service then provides a URL to make sharing
a
presentation on the Web easier. Participants can share mouse
and keyboard
controls, conduct public and private chats, share file
space, change
presenters, share desktops and record Web sessions.
Web: https://www.yugma.com/
Plus: The Yugma
Education Program allows
accredited education institutions
to register for 100 free Yugma
Professional-10 accounts for one year.
With access to all the premium features of Yugma, faculty
and student
leaders can be assigned accounts to facilitate collegial
collaboration among
faculty and between schools.
Web: http://www.yugma.com/share/education/share_education.php |
|
|
|
|
Information, Media & Technology Skills |
Back
to the Top |
|
The Cybercitizen
Partnership is
an awareness program to educate
children and young adults about cybercrime. The collection
of Web
resources on cyberethics and cybercrime support teachers and
parents in
encouraging ethical online behavior by students. The Just
for Kids link
provides numerous interactive resources for students. Cyberethics
for Kids
is a simulation in which players make decisions based on
cybercitizen rules.
Web: http://www.cybercitizenship.org/ |
DIGG is
a sharing community that collects and shares resources from
the Internet. The Web site allows people to collect and
share resources they
find, and the best resources eventually come to the homepage
as people use
the resources. When users “dig” through the content, the
resources that are
popular come to the top, the user can “bury” resources that
are unreliable
or dead links. Explore the related free DIGG
tools and try out the DIGG
Mobile tool available for a cell phone.
Web: http://www.digg.com |
|
Explore curriculum content using 42eXplore,
a combined search of
relevant K–12 topics. The “four to explore” sections on each
page consist
of definitions, activities, four good starting points and
many more Web
links and resources for the selected thematic topic.
Web: http://www.42explore.com |
The Digital
Citizenship and Creative Content curriculum
is a free
turnkey instructional
program available
through Microsoft sponsorship.
Because students interact daily with music, movies, software
and other
digital content, they need to understand the appropriate use
of digital
properties to be better stewards of creative materials and
responsible digital
citizens of 21st century learning. The curriculum content is
divided into
four thematic units, each consisting of 4 to 6 stand-alone,
yet
complementary, lesson plans that promote awareness and
understanding
of intellectual property rights and respect for creative
rights for digitally
delivered content. Lessons which align with AASL
standards for the 21st
Century Learner, include Civics, Computer
Science, Debate, Economics,
Fine Arts, Government, Journalism, Language Arts, Drama and
Video
Production. Initially designed for grades 8–10, the
curriculum can easily be
adapted for grades 6–12. Register to download the free curriculum
materials. Be sure to check out MyBytes,
the student activity Web site.
Web: http://digitalcitizenshiped.com/ |
|
Middle and high school students will learn more about global
awareness
with Real
Lives from Educational
Simulations. This unique, interactive life
simulation lets students become a character from one of
billions of lives in
more than 190 countries. Students learn about different
cultures, political
systems, economic opportunities, religions and geography as
they make
decisions and experience the consequences of their choices.
Web: http://www.educationalsimulations.com/ |
The next piece of the puzzle fell into place with the
release in January
of the draft NETS
for Administrators 2009. The final standards will
be
published in June 2009. Participate in the online NETS
Survey to voice
your opinion of the NETS Refresh project for administrators
as the draft is
revised. Or check the Web site for a NETS Refresh Forum near
you.
Web: http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/
NETSRefreshProject/NETS_Refresh.htm
Plus: ISTE
has created a collaborative wiki where educators can share
their
ideas, lesson plans and other tools they are using to
implement the NETS
for Students in
the classroom. The From
Paper to Practice video series
simulates what NETS for Students looks like in the
classroom.
Web: http://nets-implementation.iste.wikispaces.net/ |
|
Skitch is
a free beta
program for the Mac that allows users to easily
share screenshots, photos or drawings. Select your image,
edit or crop if
necessary, add captions and save the file anywhere on your
desktop. A
Webpost in the program uploads the image automatically to
.Mac, FTP,
Flickr and more. You can copy the URL for sharing; the
Skitch history
keeps every image you share so the image is readily
available to use again.
Web: http://skitch.com/ |
The TechYES
Starter Kit for
grades 6–9 from Generation
YES is a
complete technology education and certification program that
meets NCLB
requirements for national technology literacy certification.
The three-step
certification process includes mastery of Internet safety
and ethics as well
as the completion of two technology projects in which
students must show
proficiency in a variety of technologies. A teacher-implementation
guide and
resource CD provides blackline masters, lessons and video to
support the
student technology literacy certification. Don’t miss the
extensive database
of tutorials and
the TechYes
Science projects.
Web: http://www.techyes.net/ |
|
Vector Magic allows
you to change a bitmap into a vector image that
you can then download as an EPS, SVG, PDF or PNG file. To
convert an
image, just upload it to the Vector Magic Web page, answer
questions in
the vectorization wizard and vectorize the image. The video
tutorials make
it easy for teachers and students to complete a change from
bitmap to
vector. Try Vector Magic free with
two images or buy the unlimited online
service for $7.95/month.
Web: http://vectormagic.com/ |
|
|
