June 27

Mind mapping Tools online

Mind-mapping allows students (and teachers!) to accomplish higher order thinking skills as they collect, organize, and  represent ideas, tasks, words, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea into a mind map diagram. This blog post explains three Ways Mind Mapping Can Be Used to Enhance Learning http://ow.ly/1kH6RI

The blog EducatorsTechnology also compiled some advantages of using mind mapping tools in education :

  • Mind mapping enables teachers to manipulate ideas and concepts with great ease and flexibility
  • It helps present information in a visually attracting and comprehensive way
  • Its organizational structure helps students understand and communicate their knowledge effectively
  • Teachers can use it to manage their classes and activities
  • It helps teachers summarize, organize, and present lecture information
  • It can be used by both teachers and students to create tutorials and explain difficult concepts
  • Visual maps gets students attention and focus
  • It promotes active note taking, thinking, and learning skills
  • It fosters inquiry and problem solving

This article also lists some truly awesome and free mind mapping tools for teachers–click over and spend some time…you just may have some new resources for the upcoming school year!

 

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June 20

Twenty Social Networks for Life-Long Learning

The top three social networks are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Adding participants at lightening speed is Pinterest, now the third largest social network . Consider also, specialized educational social networks which allow life-long learners to add to their knowledge at home while still in pj’s or sweats.

Through discussion, file sharing, and collaboration, targeted social networks address specialized interets such as GoodReads for reading enthusiasts. Just a note: the link for the WriterFace social networking portal re-routes to Schiel & Denver Book Publishers

Some of the fastest growing networks are designed specifically for education.  This blog post has 20 social learning networks to visit and perhaps join, during these lazy days of summer.

Twenty Social Networks for Life-Long Learning

 

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June 14

Storybird: Digital storytelling and digital story creating

storybird

Years ago, my daughter had the time of her life at Mary White’s Storytelling computer camp. For one week she created digital stories culminating in a gloriously bound book that we still display today, fifteen years’ later. I think this became a pivotal moment for her and one of the reasons she had a YA blog today.

Fast forward to today: Storybird offers the sameWeb 2.0 magic as that glorious computer camp experience. Storybirds are “short, art-inspired stories you make to share, read, and print. Read them like books, play them like games, and send them like greeting cards.” I absolutely love the backstory behind Storybirds.

Sign up for a free storyboard account as a teacher, student, or “Regular”. (I love being “regular” don’t you?). Being a “Regular” makes it simple for families and friends to create short, visual stories together that they can share and print.

Creators can choose from tagged sets of beautiful artwork, add text by typing or copy and pasting.

Publishing options are either “Private” or “Public”. Both options allow email announcements.

Take a fun summer moment and create a Storybird.
Here is the Storybird I created about Reading

http://tinyurl.com/4oopsread

storybirdsample

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