Wondering about WebQuests

We are "Wondering about WebQuests" at the MAEA Conference at Sunday River today.

Blog Action Day 2008

by Joe Makley

Today, October 15, 2008, is a day that bloggers around the world have been asked to speak on poverty, (to "shake the web," actually.) In this forum, we often hear reference to the flattening and equalizing effects of technology access in education, and I can say I have seen it first hand, in Maine, where more than one low income MLTI student has blossomed after receiving his/her 1-1 device. The OLPC program, even in its reduced form, is making great headway, especially in parts of South America. Sites like Kiva really show the muscle of the read-write web for social change. Is anyone currently operating a classroom project using Kiva?

Understanding Sarcasm

Answers: Definition of Sarcasm

BBC: The Rules of Sarcasm

Is Sarcasm the Lowest Form of Wit?

APA - The Neuroanatomical Basis of Understanding Sarcasm and Its Relationship to Social Cognition

Sarcasm Society

Encyclopedia Dramatica: Sarcasm

BBC How To: Being Sarcastic

How Stuff Works: "How Sarcasm Works" "Understanding and Learning Sarcasm" "Sarcasm in Literature"

Personal Perspective: The Security of Being Sarcastic

Getting Sarcastic with Kids



Essential Question: How do you feel about the use of sarcasm in our culture and classrooms? Is it harmless humor or a means for some people to put down others?

Handy Free Word Processors for OS X

1. OpenOffice 3 for Mac (just off the presses . . . word processing and much, much more)



2. AbiWord
3. Bean
4. Google Docs (online)
5. ZOHO Writer (online)

Any others to suggest?

6. Buzzword (online) I've added this neat online word processor at the suggestion of Richard Byrne. See Richard's review at Free Technology for Teachers.

Angus King Talk in Alaska

Vygotsky Revisited

Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development
Wikipedia: Vygotsky

Wicked Decent Learning Episode 40

Jeff & Dan discuss the upcoming ACTEM MaineEducation 2008 Conference . . . Direct Link.


WDL Podcast
WDL Blog
ACTEM
Augusta Civic Center

Does Choice Improve Life?

JibJab: "What We Call the News!"

















Barry Schwartz: The Paradox of Choice
>

Neil Postman: "Informing Ourselves to Death"

Jason Ohler: "Twenty-five Questions to Ask about Technology"

Pleasantville

Have options created from technology enriched our culture?

Which is more serious, more balanced, more reliable, more authoritative - Wikipedia or TV news?

Do we control our technology or does it control us?

Western Maine MLTI Leadership Workshop

Using TPCK and SAMR as frameworks to look at learning.

Western Maine Learning Mentor Contact Information




Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)

View from the Corner Room

WikiProject

NetLogo

Sage: Open Source Mathematics Software

Horizon Project

"Disagreeing Without Being Disagreeable"

ad hominem: Latin for "to the man." An arguer who uses ad hominems attacks the person instead of the argument. Whenever an arguer cannot defend his position with evidence, facts or reason, he or she may resort to attacking an opponent either through: labeling, straw man arguments, name calling, offensive remarks and anger.

Name-calling
Guilt by Association
Character Assassination

Logical Fallacies at LIM Resources

Discuss.

Wicked Wednesdays

Telstar High School is doing a series of "Wicked Wednesdays" when professional development takes place after regular school hours. Today the topic is "Finding, Using and Organizing Internet Resources.' Alternative Location


View Larger Map

ACTEM OnTIME Podcast - Episode 7

Direct Link

MAINEducation 2008 Technology Conference

ACTEM

Image Credit

"When in the course of human events "

U.S. History: Declaration of Independence
Wikipedia: The U.S. Declaration of Independence

Ben's Guide to the Declaration of Independence 6 - 8
Ben's Guide to the Declaration of Independence 3 - 5

EdSiteMent: Lesson Plan on Declaration of Independence
Project History Links: D of I


Graphic created on Wordle

Bloom's Digital Taxonomy

Bloom's Revised Taxonomy



Educational Origami: Bloom's Digital Taxonomy

PDF: Bloom's Digital Taxonomy
~ Andrew Churches





Bloom's Taxonomy at LIM Resources

Telstar Art and Music Teachers on the Web

Still on the cutting edge at Telstar High School and Middle School:


Melissa Prescott's TMS Art

Tom Coolidge's TMS Music

Jennifer Bennett: Mrs. Bennett's Web Page



Photo Credit

Telstar School District MSAD #44

Using Web 2.0 Tools

Today's Session at MSAD#44

Earl Hornswaggle - The Oldest Man in Bangor

Earl Hornswaggle
Moose Mountain

American Folklore - Maine
Google Book: Tall Tales of the Maine Coast

American Tall Tales
ARTSEDGE: Exploring American Tall Tales
Wikipedia: Tall Tale
42explore: Tall Tales
ReadWriteThink: Tall Tales

eMINTS eTHEMES Tall Tales

MLR Guiding Principles Cloud

Click on image above to make larger.
Created with Wordle

One-Room Schoolhouses

I dropped into the one-room schoolhouse at the Fryeburg Fair this morning. This got me to wondering about the advantages of a small community of learners. We've all heard about how inefficient they are, about how larger schools provide more opportunities . . . but might there possibly be more ways of looking at a situation than through mere efficiency? Is efficiency the only measure of progress?



Wikipedia: One-Room School

The One-Room Schoolhouse Resource Center



Maine Memory Network: Otisfield Schoolhouses.

One Room Schoolhouses of Minot, Maine

History of Maine Education

Are there any one-room schools still in operation in Maine? If there are, I'll bet they have superb per student bandwidth for the Internet "Global Village."

PDF Readers - Undiscovered Classroom Tools

It is easy enough to turn just about any proprietary file into a pdf that can be universally used. It is built into OS X, but there are many online sites which will do the job as well for any computer that doesn't have that local capability.

To read a pdf, one needs a program called a reader. Apple provides Preview with its products, but one can easily download Adobe Reader as well. There is also a neat freeware application called Skim. Each one of these does its primary task of opening up PDF documents, which is enough all in itself, and that is the only thing that most people need done.

But . . . . the simple powers within these readers are usually overlooked. While you can't alter the text in the original document, you can mark it up to your heart's delight. That means highlighting, using arrows, stickies, and even more. After the document has been annotated, it can be saved with those updates and sent to someone else, who can, in turn, add thoughts, suggestions, etc. Simple, but powerful.