Betty’s Instructional Technology Blog

On Friday, Feb 15th, I will be presenting a workshop that will introduce  teachers in my district to some Web 2.0 tools. I wanted to start out with some links to existing software that would be easy to integrate into our existing curriculum. I will review Podcasting using Audacity & Photostory hosted on an Edublogs blog, Voicethread, and Google Earth. I also provided links to some image and audio sites as well as some Internet safety and copyright resources.  

The link to my presentation is: http://www.gtps.k12.nj.us/technology/web2.0/Web2.0_files/frame.htm

I will continue to refine it over the next few days.

This is my first post. I recently attended a phenomenal workshop at Kean University that introduced me to the concept of the Read/Write web. I came home so excited and ready to introduce my K-8 district to this wonderful new world.

When I returned to work, I was inundated with school life – answering emails, working with teachers and students, and solving various technology problems. So, Web 2.0 was put on the “back burner.”

Over the holiday break, I had the opportunity to take some time to watch a great introductory workshop offered by Atomic Learning on Web 2.0. Again, my Interest was piqued. I also had the opportunity to read Will Richardson’s book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and other Web Tools for Classrooms. (my favorite Christmas present next to my ipod touch) I was hooked.

My New Year’s Resolution is to begin entering this new world. The biggest challenge I see at the moment is where to begin. I have read so much. (although I know I have barely scratched the surface) I now have a netvibes account and have checked it each day to continue to learn more. I am hoping to use this blog to share ideas for using these tools with students in my district. I will begin with 5th and 6th graders. I am looking for ideas.

I plan to offer workshops to 5th and 6th grade teachers at the end of this month helping them to integrate technology into the curriculum and implement our NJ Technology Standards. I hope to use this blog as a tool to share ideas, successes, and frustrations.