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This series of tutorials is brought to you by Office of Library Information Services.   On the following pages, you will encounter the tools of the new Internet: Web 2.0 tools that are bringing our students in touch with the entire world through social networking, video, audio, and gaming sites. We encourage you to take time to explore and enjoy all the tools of this new Internet.  

 

There are nine tutorials which you may choose to complete at the rate of one per week, or you might decide to take a little longer.  Each tutorial focuses on two – three Web 2.0 applications so there are 23 Things for you to do.  There are many places for you to explore, experiment with, and think about creative ways to use this in your library or to collaborate with classroom teachers. 

 

Everyone who completes all items on this list by 3/31/2010 will receive special recognition and be eligible for other prizes. Otherwise, there is no deadline and this course will remain online through the 2009-2010 school year.

 

If you are new to pbWiki, we recommend that you take advantage of the recorded webinars at http://pbwiki.com/content/webinars or short training videos.  Get comfortable, relax, and learn about pbWiki by viewing tips and features.  Also, check out the pbWiki Daily Peanut blog that has a lot of great information and is yet another way to get online support from a community of pbWiki users.

 

Tutorial Format:  Each week begins with a brief explanation of a new Web 2.0 topic, followed by Discovery Exercises. These exercises give you the background you need to understand the tools you're learning about. Don't skip them! After the Discovery Exercises, you'll find a Thing -- activity -- to complete. Then, you will share your learning as well as document your growth by creating a wiki entry.   You will learn how to use a wiki in week two. This is a tool to communicate your feelings, new found skills, ideas, questions, and favorite websites. You'll receive feedback from us and from other participants.  An important resource for you to use is the Web 2.0 portal available on the onLINE at http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/web2.0/index.htmlThe Web 2.0 tools listed on this portal are NOT blocked by the WebSense filter in BCPS. 

 

The links below will take you to each week's specific lesson.

 

TIP:  When you register for specific free Web 2.0 tools, a good idea is to use the SAME login protocol for each tool, e.g., I use my bcps email ID (and in some cases you will need to use your email address) and different password other than the one I use for my BCPS email.  In addition, the Web 2.0 service will most often send you a confirmation email.  One way I organize these for future reference, is to create and name a folder in my BCPS email and move all of these confirmations to this folder.

 

Week 1: Becoming a Lifelong Learner

1. Please begin by reading about the program.

2. Discover a few pointers from lifelong learners and learn how to nurture your own learning process.

 

Week 2: Creating an Online Presence

3. Create an avatar at Yahoo! Avatars; download your avatar to your desktop or flash drive. 

4. Join pbwiki, add your first entry, upload your avatar, and begin your Learning 2.0 journey. Learn about wikis and discover innovative that libraries are using them.  Add an entry to your school’s library wiki.

 

Week 3: Fifty Ways to Tell the Same Story!  Which Are the Right Ones for My Purpose?

5.  See how the same story can be told using fifty different Web 2.0 tools.

6.  Think about which tools are the most effective for telling this story and explain why in a wiki entry. 

 

Week 4: Creating a VoiceThread

7. Explore VoiceThread and learn about this popular image hosting site.

8. Create a VoiceThread and discover some ways to use it to create book talks, help students make their thinking visible, and produce a slideshow from primary sources complete with animations and voice-over.  

9. Link your VoiceThread to our wiki and collaborate with other BCPS teachers about how to use VoiceThread with our students.

 

Week 5: Managing Information Overload with iGoogle

10. Set up your own iGoogle page; personalize it; and install the Google Reader Gadget.

11. Locate a few useful library and technology related blogs, nings, or wikis and subscribe through your Reader to the latest news from the education journals from our databases. 

 

Week 6: Developing a Sense of Play

12. Play around with any of the Creative Tools on our Web 2.0 portal.

13. Explore any site from the Web 2.0 awards list, play with it and share your findings in our wiki.

14. Roll your own search tool with Rollyo.

 

Week 7: Using Drawing, Mapping, and Charting Tools

15. Compare and contrast ToonDo and GoAnimate.  Think about how each could be used to improve student writing. Use MindMeister to collaboratively brainstorm ways to use both in the classroom and library.

16.  Preview Create a Graph, Wordle, Thinkature, or Gliffy; choose one to explore and share with your colleagues.

17. Read a few perspectives on Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the future of libraries; use Google Sketch-up to sketch your vision of the library or classroom of the future.

 

Week 8: Utilizing Online Applications & Presentation Tools

18. Take a look at some online productivity (word processing, spreadsheet) tools.

19. Take a look at Vuvox, Circavie, SlideRocket.

 

Week 9: Downloading Podcasts, Video & eBooks

20. Discover TeacherTube and a few sites that allow users to upload and share videos.

21. Podcasts (You don’t need an iPod!)

22. eBooks and Audio eBooks

23. Summarize your thoughts about this program.

Copyright, CreativeCommons, and CONGRATULATIONS!

  

 

HELP is but a click away at http://pbwikimanual.pbwiki.com/browse/#view=ViewFolder&param=Edu%207%20day%20series-learner/

 

23 Things is a discovery learning program created by Helene Blowers. Content and style for Baltimore County Public Schools' 23 Things have been borrowed and duplicated with permission, under a Creative Commons License.  While the content has been modified to reflect those Web 2.0 tools available to Baltimore County Public Schools' staff and students, the spirit of discovery and the format remain true to Blowers' vision.