Tools, Tools, And More Tools

As I begin the task of trying to decide which tools to explore for possible inclusion into our Emerging Technologies course (to debut Spring term 2009), I am feeling simultaneously excited and overwhelmed. There is so much out there! (Check out our blog's sidebar for some of them.)

So, I'm thinking I will need to decide what media types/communication channels I want our students to experience (and I'm sure they'll have some I've not yet discovered), to try to narrow down the list to put together a cohesive syllabus.

In the mean time, I'm having fun playing with GoogleMaps, Twitter, ClustrMaps, Zamzar, and literally scores of other tools, looking for information on what appears to be moving to the mainstream (read: being offered on iGoogle or Facebook, for instance) and which are less well known. Although some of the less well known tools are innovative, I am reluctant to have a class of students add content on which they are dependent for a grade, as these types of tools may well evaporate overnight. Sounds like a call for a "data retention policy" for anything stored on a web 2.0 app, doesn't it?

Professional Development

A group of Exeter instructional technofolk and I attended a professional development workshop yesterday at Nobles and Greenough School and it was a very exciting day. We caught up with IT friends from other schools, met some we only knew by screenname, and learned more (there's always more) about Web 2.0, useful tools, and teaching that had us all chatting in the car all the way home. Most thought-provoking for me, though, was Will Richardson's comment that we need to transform our own personal learning strategies before we can transform our teaching.

That comment had me thinking about all the time I spend researching on the web for my vocational and avocational activities. Yesterday we were treated to a great presentation on RSS. Although I understood before the talk the concept of Real Simple Syndication that uses a "reader" (such as GoogleReader, BlogLines, or others) to collect, or "aggregate" postings from the websites you frequent, I didn't understand the power of the reader to conduct searches for me, to organize my materials, to track what I'm reading and what others are reading.

I have spent a bit of time this afternoon setting up a reader and a few feeds to get my head around RSS. I have also explored a few of the new tools that we saw yesterday. More on that later...It's so nice to come away from a day of professional development energized and not exhausted. Thanks to Tom Daccord for organizing a great day!

How do I start?

David Warlick, an educator/author in North Carolina, has posted a concise and encouraging item on his blog that offers concrete advice and suggestions for sticking one's toe into the Web 2.0 water. Since I'm in the process of writing a new curriculum for an emerging technologies course I'll be offering next spring, I found this particularly interesting. He also offers excellent resources to learn more. (Thanks David!) Happy reading....

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/archives/1355

MindMapping

I just came across this cool freeware that might be a good tool for project management as well as the more traditional mapping tasks. I might try it out on my tablet when I get the chance.

http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page