Here is the link for our presentation:

http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dd8w4b8f_17ffqt68gx

Great meeting you all!

http://bit.ly/ZNjwj

I had a few work / grad school friends sitting in “follower limbo” because I used my main twitter account for strictly personal communication.

I’m happy to say that I now have a “professional” (whatever that means) twitter account at http://www.twitter.com/lukeforshaw .

I’ll try my best to track down people who might be interested in following one another, as I look forward to using this space to share random ideas and learn from everyone else “out there”

See:

District Blogs / Websites

Project Wikis

Student work hubs

Creation of teacher “scaffolded” research hubs for a given subject / discipline

Professional Development search engine

Qualitative data search engine (Hrmm.. is it possible to upload data from the pens to a shared location in order to search student data?)

You might notice that this video looks a bit different than others I have shot in the past. That is because I am using this free website (http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/ ) to model how easy it is to get a screen cast up and running! I know I’ve commented on screen casting as a powerful tool for a number of educational goals before, but with a free tool like this, screencasting has never been easier.

You will need to have Java installed (which most browsers do) in order to watch the film, but you can also leave notes and comments (be kind!) directly on the video as well

If you click on this link, you can watch the presentation as we present! Also, if you have a google account (gmail, google docs etc.) You can sign in and chat live as we present! We’ll be taking some time out to respond to your questions / thoughts as you post them.

Click on the link to check me gabbing away about this new site and wonder aloud with me about it’s potential in education!

I have yet to play the game (although I’ll probably pick it up in a bargin bin soon) but the reviews I’ve read seem quite interesting.

Essentially, it seems that the art of teaching has been reduced to a multitude of “mini-games” that some what correlate to the subject area being taught.

What is fascinating to me about this title is how the genre of simulation game (potentially hitting some what of an apogee this week with the release of Spore) continues to interpret “real life” things through game play mechanics. In this instance, the “game play” of teaching seems remarkably flat and punishing. It appears (again.. I probably should not judge too hard given my lack of actual play) that the “teacher”‘s job is to award points to those who complete tasks, and to punish those who fail to complete.

Why is the profession of teaching so easily recognizable in this format? What is it about the coercive nature in our practice that buoys this simplification of our lives in ways that seem palpable to those not in our world?

Hrmm.. I’d love to play this game with a group of kids to ask them these types of questions. Are these depictions of “teaching” and “teacher” reflective of their realities? Do these particular interpretations help to construct the still forming understanding of “teacher”?

Here is a short list of some of the links and resources I talked about on Friday..

Feel free to email me any time if you’d like to get together to plan, teach or simply talk about technology and learning in your practice.

Also, if there is a link that I am missing, leave me a comment and I’ll add on.

Video subscriptions:

http://www.brainpop.com

http://www.brainpopjr.com

http://www.unitedstreaming.com

Darien Delicious Links

http://www.delicious.com/darienps

Smart Notebook / Manuals

http://www.smarttech.com