It’s Elementary

As part of Ed Tech Talk’s Autumnal Equinox Webcast-a-thon, we will be doing a special It’s Elementary. It’ll be a cozy round table with the show’s “stars” talking about what we’ve been doing in our classrooms.

Our next show, on Monday September 24th at 23:00 GMT, will be about using online social networks for professional development. The show will stream  on Ed Tech Talk Channel A. New teachers to Webcasting can get help here, help for newbies.

Diigo links (includes all these links, plus more resources)

Please join us then!

It was another great show with James Gates of Tipline - Gatesʼ Computer Tips taking us through Moodle, and it’s features. Jim was excited and passionate about this subject as you’ll be able to tell from the show audio.

Jim started with a slideshare on Moodle in the classroom:
[slideshare id=104451&doc=moodle-for-elementary-grades765&w=425]

1. He then talked us through the slides which highlighted the features in a moodle.
2. It’s a great walled garden system that has a number of modules that you can pick and choose from.
3. There is even a great basic wiki, and word list/glossary builder feature.
4. There is a free moodle services available at http://globalclassroom.us/

Our Diigo links for this show include some school sites using moodle. Many have guest sign-in that will let you look at pages without editing privileges.

Please join us in Monday September 24th, 2007 at 4:00pm Pacific, 7:00pm Eastern for a discussion of social networks in Education with John Pederson.

Download Podcast and view Text Chat log at Edtechtalk

Join us Monday September 10th, 2007 at 4PM Pacific/7PM Eastern 23:00 GMT as we discuss the use of Moodle in the Elementary classroom. Our guest James Gates of Tipline - Gates’ Computer Tips talks about;

• obviously extends the classroom, but it also…
• provides a space where the KIDS can contribute
• will discuss my favorite features like:
  • the glossary and random glossary entry block and various examples of its use
  • the wikis and various uses
  • the automatic linking of glossary and wiki words throughout the class and what that does to motivate kids
  • the various assignment types (online text assignment has lots of potential for writing prompts, etc)
  • discussion forums
  • FAR more than the old frontpage-made teacher pages
  • podcasting module
  • ability to embed objects from various web 2.0 sites like slideshare and splashcast, etc
  • ability to include rss feeds in a block
  • a blog (still not very good for real blogging but good for note-taking, etc) has variety of visibility levels
  • Not keen on gradebook or quizzes
    • they promote true/false and m/c questions, for one
    • not a very friendly gradebook, for two
  • kids WANT to have something to do!!
  • Moodle is a playground for YOUR content!
  • Some teachers give kids fake names in moodle so they feel freer to contribute
  • traditional features such as ability to post links, give assignments where students must submit a file, etc
  • VERY easy to use!

To Particpate live:  To listen, go to http://worldbridges.net/listen and choose the player next to the session that  is currently streaming. To join in on the chat end of things so that you may ask questions, etc., go to http://edtechtalk.com/chat and you’ll know what to do from there. 

This was our Back to School Special. We discussed the following;

1. We explored the differences between a traditional classroom and a Web 2.0 Classroom.
2. We discussed the new NETS standards for technology. We looked at student profiles and what students are expected to do in the different grade levels.
3. We talked about how we use Web 2.0 tools in our classrooms.
4. We then opened up a round table discussion.

Other resources from the show:

• Our show outline can be viewed here

Listen or Download at edtechtalk.com

Our next show will be on Monday September 10 at 4 p.m. PDT/6 p.m. CDT/8 p.m. EDT, on the subject of the use of Moodle in the elementary classroom with our guest, James Gates. Join us then, at http://edtechtalk.com/chat!

The show will stream live on Monday, August 27th at 23:00 GMT on Ed Tech Talk Channel A. New teachers to Webcasting can get help here, help for newbies.

This week’s topic will be Essentials in the Web 2.0 Classroom, will feature Christopher Shively, and the It’s Elementary team.

Here are some links and slideshows we will refer to during the show:

Diigo links (includes all these links, plus more resources)

Download Podcast from Ms. Mercer’s class

[slideshare id=94859&doc=education-and-web-201202&w=425]
Why use Web 2.0 tools in your classroom?

[slideshare id=95560&doc=pp-for-staff-development4563&w=425]
This slideshow was used by team member Alice Mercer in a recent staff meeting to talk about using these tools in classroom.

We had a very information packed discussion full of insights and suggestions with our guest, Wes Fryer. Our show included discussion of the following:

1. We discussed what podcasting is and why you would want to podcast.
2. Examples from each of our classrooms (Kinder on up) of podcasting and our insights from that experience.
3. Wesley then shared resources on podcasting.
4. We then opened up a round table discussion.

Wes made his own podcast of the show, and has show notes on his blog, Moving at the Speed of Creativity.

Other resources from the show:

• Our show outline can be viewed here
• Our Diigo links which include more podcasting resources than we could cover in a 30 minute show. Check them out if you’d like more information.

Show 3 Chat Log

Listen or Download at edtechtalk.com

Our next show will be on Monday August 27 at 4 p.m. PDT/6 p.m. CDT/8 p.m. EDT, on the subject of essentials for Web 2.0 in the elementary classroom with our guest, Christopher Shively, from On the Trails to Teaching and Learning. Join us then, at http://edtechtalk.com/chat!

Join us on Monday August 13th at 23:00 GMT for show #3 on the edtechtalk channel of the Worldbridges network. We will be discussing the use of podcasts in Elementary School with Wes Fryer, (Moving at the Speed of Creativity), a well known edublogger and podcaster. Making audio shows with your students can be a powerful way to help them connect with what they are learning. If you are an elementary school teacher interested in using podcasting with your students, this is the show for you. New teachers to webcasting can get help here, help for newbies.

Our Diigo links are here.  For teachers new to Diigo, there will be a follow-up with actual hands-on work on Making Connections, the next night at 23:00 GMT.

We had a great show discussing Webquests in the elementary classroom.

First, we shared the wiki that we used to plan this show. Then we defined what a Webquest is and talked about Bernie Dodge, who is the “father” of Webquests.

Lisa shared a Webquest template and Jose Rodriguez, shared the Webquest he is using with his summer school class. We then went through some resources, which can be found on our Diigo list.

Here is a great slideshow on Webquests:
[slideshare id=73726&doc=webquest-template4036&w=425]

We were then joined by Lisa Parisi who discussed work she had done with her students using the internet for inquiry based research.

Download podcast It’s Elementary #2.mp3

Here is the text chat from our show.

Join us on Monday July 23rd at 23:00 GMT for show #2 on the edtechtalk channel of the Worldbridges network. We will be discussing the use of webquests in Elementary School. You maybe familiar with the work of Bernie Dodge the creator of webquests. On this show we will; provide and overview of webquests and reasons to use them in your classroom, give examples of webquests, talk about resources to get you started, and open up the lines for a rountable discussion. If you are an elementary school teacher interested in using technology with your students, this is the show for you. New teachers to webcasting can get help here, help for newbies.

Our Diigo links are here.