Haugen’s Tech Tips Blog

• Kathy Cassidy — Blogmeister

  An excellent model of blogging with younger students. Notice how the kids type their own posts and the adult ‘editor’ adds a readable translation. She also comments on the children’s writing, encouraging more. The class posts photos, videos and more.

  (tags: ages06-09 examples trldsites blogging)

• Classroom Blogs and Wikis

  How can classroom communication and collaboration be enhanced with the usage of internet blogs? Created by Doug Caldwell

  (tags: blogging reference wikis)

• The Year of the Blog: Home

  Barclay Barrios, from the Writing Program at Rutgers University, shares ideas, tips and rationale for blogging in the classroom

  (tags: blogging reference tutorials examples)

• Steps toward a Successful Classroom Blog | Computer Writing and Research Lab

  “Tom Nelson and Mariela Hristova, discuss their own experiences with classroom blogs. Although they use blogs in different ways, Tom and Mariela suggest some basic strategies for productive classroom blogging.”
  From UTA’s Computer Writing & Research Lat

  (tags: blogging writing reference)

• Wiki | Free Wiki Websites for Online Collaboration | Wetpaint

  Wetpaint education wikis are now ad-free!

  (tags: free wikis forteachers)

• Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Ten habits of bloggers that win!

  Excellent article with really effective tips from a blogger who knows (and cares about) what they are doing.

  (tags: blogging web2.0 tips tutorials education checkit reference)

• Differentiated Instruction

  Comprehensive resource and reference on differentiated instruction, learning strategies, technology and more.

  (tags: forteachers universaldesign reference topsite differentiatedinstruction eductechnology)

This is big news. I’ve been dabbling in Nings* for a few months now and my interest is piqued. I’m a part of the Classroom 2.0 and Assistive Tech Nings, which connect me with hundreds or thousands of other educators interested in collaborating and exchanging questions and ideas. The new news is that Ning is now offering ad-free Nings for K-12 educators.

*Knowing what a Ning is might help…

Ning is a social networking web site – like FaceBook or MySpace – with a twist. According to Ning:

Ning is the only online service where you can create, customize, and share your own Social Network for free in seconds.

A Ning combines threaded discussions (or forums) with tagging, blogging, image sharing and more. It’s a bit like a list serve with a face and more organizing options. There are so many features, it’s a bit hard to describe – and to decide how, as a community, to use it well, but the potential is there to bring a dispersed community together for rich discussion and exchange.

Perhaps the best way to decide if a Ning is right for you is to plow in and join a Ning. Try Classroom 2.0 for learning the best way to integrate new internet technologies into the classroom or Assitive Tech for an open network of people interested in assistive technology use in pre-K to grade 12, or explore one of the many educational Nings at Ning.com…

SchoolNetAfrica is a pan-African education portal for practitioners, policymakers and school communities across the continent with resources in English, French, Kiswahili, Portuguese and Arabic.

SchoolNetAfrica is made up of the African Education Knowledge Warehouse:

• SchoolNet Centre, which has tools and resources to support national SchoolNets
• Policy Centre, which provides resources and studies to support policy development on ICT integration in education
• Learner Centre, which houses resources for learners and provides space for networking and collaboration among young people
• African Teachers Centre, the meeting place for the African Teachers Network
• Gender Watch, which houses gender and ICTs related resources and captures voices of women and girls using ICTs for their advancement
• Innovation Watch, which tracks innovations and innovators to inspire learners and educators in using ICTs for Education
• Campaigns, which include their One Million Computers for African Schools campaign.

Their campaigns include:

• One Million Computers for African Schools
• Global Teenager Project
• Researching ICTs for Education in Africa
• Building African SchoolNet Champions
• Supporting National SchoolNets
• African Teachers Network
• ThinkQuest Africa
• From Guns to Computers

On a personal note, I’m delighted to call as a friend Babacar Fall, from Senegal, one of the governing members of SchoolNetAfrica.

Chauncey Rucker’s ConnSense Bulletin has long been a favorite of mine for news, reviews and updates related to assistive technology. It’s quality stuff, and he taps into key issues. In addition to online articles and an e-mail bulletin, ConnSense also has begun providing podcasts. Maybe I’m a luddite, but I’ve never quite figured out how or when to listen to podcasts. Still, I began browsing the ConnSense podcasts on iTunes, and quickly decided I wanted to see what they were talking about. After a quick google, I had onscreen references to what the podcast was discussing, each informing the other. For some reason, this really worked for me, and takes me a step beyond listening to podcasts as I drive.

Two of my favorite sites for families struggling with learning disabilities are closing. On September 21, Charles and Helen Schwab announced they will no longer maintain operation of their web sites, SchwabLearning.org and Sparktop.org. Instead they will focus on selective grant-making to other organizations.
I am grateful for the wonderful work that the Schwabs have done and their contributions toward greater understanding of and success for students with learning disabilities. I trust their change in focus will continue to allow them to make significant contributions in this arena.
In the meantime, let’s hope that the Schwabs can make good on their efforts to make their significant resources available through other organizations.