In Their Own Words: Calling All Middle Schools
Our little school is “walking” I-80 from DuBois, Pennsylvania all the way to San Francisco, California and we’d love to visit with you along the way.
To make this wellness project more than just laps in gym, we are asking you to introduce your middle school and tell us something about your area. You can see (and hear) the VoiceThread proposal by Mrs. Sperling by clicking here.
The proposal is just that. If we get some interest we’ll have our students make a voice thread that will act as the network for the meet and greet.
If you’re interested, or know another middle school that may be, just drop us an email. dsperling@dasd.k12.pa.us or me, at kpruitt@dasd.k12.pa.us.
Good VoiceThreads make good neighbors I always say!
Ken Pruitt
Tech Integrator, DuBois, PA
Note: If you’d like to share your project with other educators, or know a teacher we should showcase on the Yahoo! For Teachers blog, just send an email to yteachersblog (at) yahoo (dot) com and let us know. We’re looking forward to hearing and sharing your projects with educators around the world.
WIRED Science Student Video Contest
WIRED Science and PBS are sponsoring a “WIRED Science Student Video Contest” that is open to all students in grades 9-12 (contest is also open to home school students).
This is an opportunity for students to work with their peers to create a video explaining a science concept, ideas on the future of science, or–well, anything else you think will help you snag the prize. Yes, there are prizes.
You can learn more about the contest, find the application form, along with all the details over on the WIRED Science Education page.
Don’t forget that Jumpcut has free, easy-to-use video editing tools. And if you need a refresher on copyright, be sure to check out CreativeCommons.
But hurry. Application and videos are due by April 1st, 2008. So hurry–grab that camera and get those creative juices flowing!
Derek
Yahoo! For Teachers Team
Related Resources
In Their Words: Earth Day…A 24 Hour Webcastathon
Educators and students from across the globe are planning a 24 hour long “Webcastathon” on Earth Day 2008 (Tuesday, April 22nd). Thanks to our good friends over at World Bridges, the audio from the conversations will be broadcast live at Edtechtalk.com/live.
The goal of the day is to share stories across the globe about what we’re doing to help better the health of our planet.
Our conversation will follow the 24 hour day in GMT time, which basically means we’ll be observing the day as it passes through Greenwich, England.
There are many ways that you and your students can participate right now. You may start contributing content by visiting the Earth Day Webcastathon planning page at: enviroscims.wikispaces.com/Earth+Day and leaving an audio comment on the two VoiceThread projects.
Or if you and your students publish any videos, pictures, podcasts or any other digital media online in the days and weeks leading up to Earth Day, be sure to tag them as, earthcast08, so we can aggregate the material in one central location.
Also, if you and your students would like to moderate an hour long block live (or even 30 minutes), there is still an opportunity to do so. You may fill up your time slot in any manner that you wish (interview scientists, local leaders, folks doing positive things in your community, etc)
Contact Matt Montagne at mjmontagne at gmail dot com if you’d like to moderate a portion of the day. Finally, if you’d simply like to listen in during the day, you can do so by visiting the Webcastathon planning page throughout Earth Day.
We’ll have a live, moderated chat room that we’ll be using to allow for greater participation.
We hope you and your students are able to join us is some capacity for the 24 Hour Earth Day Webcastathon!
Thanks!
The Earth Day 2008 24 Hour Webcastathon Planning Team
Note: If you’d like to share your project with other educators, or know a teacher we should showcase on the Yahoo! For Teachers blog, just send an email to yteachersblog (at) yahoo (dot) com and let us know. We’re looking forward to hearing and sharing your projects with educators around the world.
Totally Wired: Get the Conversation Going
Anastasia Goodstein is an award-winning blogger and expert on how American tweens and use technology. She is also the creative genius behind the Ypulse blog and Ypulse Mashup conferences. In July 2007, Yahoo! For Teachers was honored to be invited to the first ever YPulse Mashup conference where we also co-presented the Totally Wired Teacher Award.
In her book, Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens are Really Doing Online, Anastasia explores and demystifies what Gen Y is doing on the web with social media and mobile technology. She also delves into the issues around cyberbullying, MySpace (and other social networks), as well as how all this technology is impacting schools and educators.
In addition to being incredibly knowledgeable in how teens are using technology, she is also keenly aware of how technology is being (or not) integrated in the classroom to support these burgeoning digital learning styles.
In Fall 2007, Anastasia embarked on a national Totally Wired Book Tour where she had the opportunity to educate both parents and teachers about the online lives of Gen Y. When Anastasia returned home from her book tour, she decided to write a discussion guide so that parents, teachers and students would have a starting point for their own conversations.
Anastasia has graciously agreed to allow us to post a copy of her Totally Wired Discussion Guide over in our Yahoo! For Teachers Group (look in the Files section). If you haven’t already, grab a copy of Totally Wired, download the discussion guide and get the conversation going with your peers, students or own kids.
Instead of fearing MySpace and other online communities, learn why they are important to teens and the steps you can take to keep kids safe in these virtual worlds.
Thanks again to Anastasia for sharing her Totally Wired Discussion Guide with the Yahoo! For Teachers community.
Derek
Yahoo! For Teachers Team
Related Resources
Growing Up Digital
Raised in the world of digital media, Gen Y have irrevocably blurred the lines between their online and offline lives. In the upcoming documentary Growing Up Online, Frontline will investigate “the realities and misconceptions of teen life on the internet.”
But parents aren’t alone in trying to navigate their children through the maze of online identities, social networks, blogs, cyberbullying and digital literacy. Educators too are trying to figure out how to keep 21st century kids engaged in 19th century school system.
Where do textbooks and lectures fit in with a net-centric generation that values their ability to use the web to create a self-paced, customized, on-demand learning path that includes multiple forms of interactive, social and self-publishing media tools?
Most importantly, this episode of Frontline promises to provide parents, teachers, and society at large with a better understanding and insight of what it means to have a “totally wired” childhood.
FRONTLINE presents
GROWING UP ONLINE
Tuesday, January 22, 2008, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS
www.pbs.org/frontline/kidsonline
Related Links
Derek
Yahoo! For Teachers Team
Are You a Totally Wired Teacher?
This July at the 2007 Y Pulse Mash-up in San Francisco, Yahoo! Teachers and the George Lucas Educational Foundation / Edutopia will honor a teacher who has successfully used social media (blogs, wikis, social networking, photo/video sharing or audio groups) in the classroom.
The winner of the Totally Wired Teacher Award will have successfully navigated their school ecosystem and overcome challenges from parents and/or administrators in order to use technology in the classroom.
The Totally Wired Teacher also understands how Gen Y students use social media outside of school, and have worked collaboratively with students, sharing their insight and knowledge with their colleagues.
If you, or a teacher you know is Totally Wired, you can nominate them by sending and email along with why you feel they are deserving to : jdaly@edutopia.org.
Yahoo! Teachers will be at YPulse Mash-Up, so be sure to come by and say hello!
Related Resources
Think Before You Post
Related Resources
- Media Awareness Network (MNet)
- Be Web Aware (en)(fr)
- eSchool News: “Programs Aim to Stop “cyberbullying”
- New York Times: Cyberbullies
- GetNetWise.org
