20 Online Tools to Make Learning Fun

by Karen Schweitzer
Looking for a great way to engage and stimulate students in even the most tedious subjects? There are many online tools, games, activities, learning aids, and even web apps designed to make learning fun. Here is a list of 20 sites to try when the new school year begins:
Games and Activities
History Detective Kids [...]

21st Century Students need 21st Century Teachers

I’m recycling a couple of videos that I have posted in the past, mostly because I believe that they’re worth watching again.  These videos – the original higher ed version of “A Vision of Students Today” by Mike Wesch, the spin-off , called “A Vision of K-12 Students Today”, and “The Networked Student”, created by [...]

A Teacher’s Guide to Twitter

Twitter is apart of my life almost every day because:
-    It’s a great source of news.
-    There are rich conversations among educators and edtech people.
-    People post entertaining, interesting, and very useful links.
-    I enjoy the easy interaction with others from around the world.
Most people start off in a rocky relationship with Twitter.  It doesn’t [...]

Using Weebly to build your Classroom Website

Here’s a follow-up to an earlier Weebly post:
There have been increasing numbers of educators who find that a classroom website is a good way to stay organized.  Here are some basic, very useful functions:

Announcements
Class Calendar
Homework Assignments
Supply Lists
Pictures
Post Student Work
Parent Involvement/Volunteer Opportunities
Classroom Rules and Policies
Links
Your Bio and Contact Info

A website is more informative, while a blog, [...]

Bloom’s Taxonomy 2.0

Over the few months that I’ve been blogging, my post on Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy has been the biggest hit.  And, what interests my readers interests me.  Here’s more on the subject:
Probably every classroom teacher in this country has at least come across Bloom’s Taxonomy at some point.  Most of us can recite the ‘level’s by [...]

Daily Toolbox – for Educators or anyone

I read a recent post by Claire Thompson called “Tools and Sites I Use – One Year Later“.  I really like what she did – last January, she blogged about the tools that she used regularly, and now she’s gone back and reviewed and updated that list.  Sounds like a fun way to reflect.
Here’s my [...]

Edublogosphere – commenting, sponsored by Backtype.

I’m not going to turn this into a cheesy ‘new year’s resolution’ post, but here are two easy things that I plan to do in 2009 to be productive and helpful.  Being a teacher, you learn the importance of setting goals, but they’re pretty worthless unless they’re  measurable.  Thank goodness both of these have easy [...]

The Beauty of Personal Learning Networks

If you’re reading this, chances are that you’ve already begun building your personal learning network.
Here is a clever video called The Networked Student about how students are doing it these days, and how this new approach to learning will enhance their 21st century skills.  Highlights include using iPods to listen to college lectures posted on [...]

Bloom’s Taxonomy for the Digital Age – Integrating Technology

Integrating technology into curriculum has been a popular topic in the blogosphere for some time now.  I’m starting to find more and more concrete, applicable ideas that have the potential to be easily integrated – thank goodness for collaboration.  I feel like we’re getting somewhere.
Check this out -    Andrew Churches’  “Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy v.2.12“.

Web 2.0 and Education 3.0 links

I’ve gotten to that point where my list of “interesting links” is so huge, I’d better start picking out my favorites to focus on. Here are some of them:
A Directory of Learning Professionals on Twitter – Jane Hart first put out a list of 101people to follow if you’re interested in education and web [...]