VoiceThread & Community Walk Example Lessons

My final project in my 21st Century Skills class was to update the current way a lesson or topic is taught in the classroom to meet the guidelines set forth by the 21st Cent Skills Iniative. I decided to use two of my favorite new tools, VoiceThread and CommunityWalk, in conjunction with one of my favorite subjects, The Civil War in NC (Thank You Again Dr. Candy Beal for inspiring me about my local history).

I created a wikipage to act as a launch point and have included rubrics and storyboards. I'd love to get some feedback, please take a look!

http://bethanyvsmith.pbwiki.com/civilwar

NCETC Chat Follow-Up

One of the great things I have learned from David Warlick (and have only had a chance to use it once, but loved it) is to foster the "back-end chat." So many times I've heard - "Close your laptops now. OR Turn off your monitors." We are so afraid of what THEY will do if we can't have their undivided attention.

So how do we foster multi-tasking computer users WITHOUT losing the dreaded "time on task." You create a mechanism for your audience to discuss issues DURING the presentation. You foster the "back-end chat."

David has done this and then afterwards interjects his own comments and posts the chat. Today, I got around to actually reading the chat and clarifying some issues.
Check it Out

and happy Backchatting!

(Oh and I used a program called Pladeo to do this - instead of the Ajax chat client David used.

Edublog Awards

I am always impressed by the quality of winners from the Edublog Awards, and this year is no exception. Some of these I have heard of, others I have not. I look forward to exploring them all more!

Best educational use of a virtual world
Suffern middle school in Second Life (Second Life)

Best educational use of a social networking service
Classroom 2.0, Steve Hargadon (Ning)

Best educational wiki
Welker’s Wikinomics, Jason Welker (Wetpaint)

Best educational use of video / visual
RBG Street Scholars Think Tank Multi-Media E-Zine, Marc Imhotep Cray (Blogger)

Best educational use of audio
SMARTBoard Lessons Podcast (Wordpress)

Best elearning / corporate education blog
eLearning Technology, Tony Karrer (Blogger)

Best educational tech support blog
El tinglado, Josa Cuerva Moreno

Best librarian / library blog
A Library By Any Other Name, Vaughn Branom (Blogger)

Best teacher blog
The tempered radical, Bill Ferriter (Typepad)

Most influential blog post
Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher? - The Fischbowl, Karl Fisch (Blogger)

Best resource sharing blog
TipLine - Gates’ Computer Tips, Jim Gates (Blogger)

Best new blog
dy/dan, Dan Myer (Wordpress)

Best group blog
Techlearning blog

Best individual blog
ScienceRoll, Berci Meskó, Hungary (Wordpress)