Day Sixteen: Diigo

Diigo is a social bookmarking site that enables users to bookmark and tag web pages, organize pictures, documents, audio and screenshots, and it can be accessed via PC, Mac, Android, iPhone and iPad.

If you upload Diigolet, you are able to highlight text, and add sticky notes with comments on each bookmarked web page. You can then share the sites with others by creating a group or you may keep your bookmarks private. This is particularly helpful when working on a research project because all sources can be saved in one location and shared with classmates. 

How to install Diigolet

You can annotate text, ask students questions, have students leave comments, etc.

Source: www.diigo.com/tools

Diigo now has an app for iPad that serves as an all-access digital library. The app is free, but it is new, so they are still adding features (group bookmarking isn't available yet). 

Educator Accounts:If you sign up for an educator account, it’s free and it allows you to set up class groups where students can share sites with classmates. Student email addresses are not required and privacy settings are pre-set so only the teacher and classmates can communicate with them.  It may take a few days to be approved for the teacher console, but it is well worth it.

By setting up a class group, you can provide students with websites that you have already approved, eliminating issues with students using unreliable sources. 

Diigo is also great for storing assignments. If you want students to read an article in the New York Times, for example, you can bookmark it on Diigo and mark areas where you would like them to focus/respond/analyze, etc. Students can share and interact via group sticky notes, highlights and bookmarks. You can also publish a bookmark directly to your class blog.

Once you have an educator account, the Diigo in Education group will send you a daily email of several different bookmarks made by other educators. I have found many interesting articles and resources via these emails.

Articles worth reading:

10 Reasons to use Diigo: The Educational Technology Site

Classroom Collaboration Using Social Bookmarking Service Diigo

How to create your own textbooks-with or without-Apple

Diigo Sign up Tutorial*Note that this tutorial was designed for a district in which Diigo is blocked; this is NOT the case in Middletown.

Diigo educator account:
Sign up now!

Day One: Blogger

Our first Web 2.0 Tool is Blogger.  This blog was created on blogger so it is only appropriate that we explain how it was created.  Let's watch a video that explains what a blog is before we get into creating one:

How to Start a Blog
Starting a blog is actually surprisingly simple.  If you can type a document, you can blog.  Start by going to www.blogger.com and signing in.  Now, since Blogger is a Google program, your Middletownk12.org account will give you access.  But, if you prefer, you can always register for a personal Gmail account first.  Once you login, it is simply a matter of picking the right title, web address and layout for your blog.  Now let's talk about why and how this can help you in your teaching.

Why Should You Blog?
Reflection--One of the most important reasons to start blogging is for reflection. There are so many things happening in your life that sometimes you need to stop for a second and reflect on what just happened to you.  It may be something a student said in your classroom, it may be a significant interaction with a colleague or it may just be an odd bumper sticker you saw on your drive into work.  Whatever it is, stop and write down your thoughts on it.  Plus you will have it forever, stored in a convenient location to look back on at a later date.
To Connect with People Like You--Blogs are a great way to find people who have similar interests and view points as yourself.  Science teachers can find other science blogs, nature lovers can find nature blogs and foodies can find food blogs.  Websites are the way to find general information on a topic, but blogs allow you to become involved in the experiences of others.
To Have Fun and Be Creative--One of the most important keys to successful blogging is having a passion about your blog's topic, so you can write prolifically about it. Some of the best and most interesting blogs started out as blogs that were written just for fun and to give the blogger a creative outlet.  One of the best parts of blogging is taking an idea and letting it get silly.

How You Can Use Blogging in Your Classroom
Student Blogs--First, every English teacher will tell you that the more you write, the better your writing will become.  The simple act of having students put their thoughts "on paper" will help them when they sit to write that big essay later.  Second, teenagers these days realize their impact goes far beyond their small circle of friends and family as they are developing relationships that stretch worldwide through all types of social media. What better way to get a global perspective on your ideas than to put them in a place where people from all walks of life can view them and respond?  Finally, there is a strong movement to reduce the amount of paper being used in schools, both to help the environment and to reduce school budgets.  When a student completes his/her assignment online, no paper is being copied and no stacks of grading are being carted home by the teacher.  Blogs also give students the opportunity to make their assignments more dynamic.  In science class, when asked to document their observations for a chemical experiment, they can both write down what they see and insert pictures of the reaction right into the data table.

Classroom Blogs--classroom blogs can function just like a normal class website (post handouts, create assignments, update a homework calendar) except they also allow for students to participate in an online discussion.  The teacher can post an article/current event/video for the class to view and rather than using class time to discuss, the teacher can have an ongoing discussion through the comments section of the post.  Here are a pair of Middletown teachers using blogs with their math classes:
Mrs. Ivers' Classroom
Mr. Kerrigan's Classroom

Blogs That Make You Go Hmmmm
Below are links to blogs from educators who are leading the digital reform in schools and represent an unbiased, student-centered approach to education.
Connected Principals--blog for leadership ideas and views on administration
A Principal's Reflection--comments about education from a principal in Northern NJ, coordinator of Edscape2012
Stump the Teacher--middle school language arts/social studies teacher & 2012 IL Teacher of the Year
The Nerdy Teacher--MI based English teacher and educational technology coordinator
The Principal of Change--general comments about education and leadership from administrator in Canada
Blogging About the Web 2.0 Connected Classroom--edtech leader with great links for additional Web Tools
Lyn Hilt: The Principal's Posts--elementary school principal with great views on education
Practical Theory--HS principal, educational speaker, coordinator of EduConPhilly
Cybraryman's blog list--an amazing list of blogs which can sorted by subject area

So, how will you use blogs as learning tools both for yourself and your students?

An Introduction

Welcome to the Middletown Web Challenge!

Have you ever looked at a project/a lesson/any assignment you used in class and thought "I wonder if there is a better way to do this?" or "If I look at another PowerPoint, I am going to scream."  You may have gone to Google, done a search to see if you could find another teacher's website to get ideas from and have been so overwhelmed by the 1.3 million hits that you just gave up and went back to the way you did it before.  Well, this blog is here to help you.

We have compiled 20 different learning resources for you to try out in your classroom ranging from animation software to podcasting to online whiteboards to Google Apps.  Each tool was chosen for three reasons: ease of use, their extremely low price (aka free) and the fact that they can be used to have an immediate positive impact on your class. Each post will contain a description of what that particular tool does, how you can use it with your classes and examples of how others are using it.

Each time you use a tool, we would like you to make a comment at the bottom of the page for that tool describing how you used it and what your overall impression was about how effective it was in improving learning and teaching in your classroom.  By leaving a comment, you will help everyone who views this blog have a better understanding of how each tool can be used in schools.  Sometimes by seeing the' responses of others, it will spark in you an idea for a project you might never have considered.  Additionally, (and this is the best part) every time you leave a comment, your name will be entered into a raffle to win...

Are you ready for this??

Ok, it's actually a surprise right now.  The Superintendent is in the process of obtaining a very nice item for each school to be raffled off at the Middletown Web Challenge Reception to be held on Friday, 3/2, in the Commons at Middletown South.  Once it is official and the devices have been purchased, we will send out the specifics.  Sorry, but only district employees are eligible to win.

The first post of this challenge will be displayed on Wednesday, February 1st.  Before you can begin, however, you need to setup your Google profile.  Here is a video walking you through the setup:

You need to have your profile set up so that your information will appear with your comments.  Otherwise, how will we know who is using the blog and who to enter into the contest?  Thank you so much for participating and we look forward to collaborating with you all throughout the month!

Sincerely,

Your Technology Integration Team

PS:  On a related note, if you find value from reading blogs you are going to want to start using Google Reader to track your blogs as they are updated.  Here is a video explaining Google Reader.