Are the students of today different than the students of 30 years ago? How about 10? Or even just 3? It is hard to keep up with the pace of change in technology and communication, but as teachers we NEED to be reaching our students on THEIR turf, in the way that THEY learn and understand - and that is probably a little different than how you or I learn.

Here’s a little taste of how your Digital learners view the world - they are curious and they WANT to learn, but they expect to do it a little differently. Meet Joe & his Non-Notebook:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkhpmEZWuRQ

Students today expect to be able to interact with media & information, not just sit back and try to absorb it. Information is always at your students fingertips - is it at yours?

In our presentation today, we’ll look at some 21st Century tools to enable you to walk the walk and talk the talk of your Digital Learners today. Here’s the resources and tools that we’ll look at, and I’ll explain each below.
Posterous - http://www.posterous.com
Poll Everywhere - http://www.polleverywhere.com/
Facebook Fan Pages - http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php
TextMarks - http://www.textmarks.com/
Gabcast - http://www.gabcast.com/
ChaCha - http://www.chacha.com/
Google SMS - http://www.google.ca/mobile/sms/index.html
Bonus! Goog411 - (800) GOOG-411 or http://www.google.com/goog411/

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Link: http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/article.php/3831751

This is a great article that includes links and descriptions of, well, 55 great services, tools, and applications that are free for educators. The array of offerings is vast, and includes one or more option in the following categories:

• Administration
• Astronomy
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Classroom Management
• Digital Content Management
• Earth Science
• Elementary Education
• Foreign Language
• Flashcards
• Geography
• Language Arts
• Library
• Logic/Debate
• Math
• Music
• Online education/eLearning
• OpenCourseWare
• Physics
• Report Authoring
• Robotics
• Testing
• Typing
• Open Source Education Apps by KDE

I know that just the list of categories is long, but there are some great resources here that are free to use. Some may not work for the computer platform of your school (some are Windows or Mac or Linux only), but chances are that there is SOMETHING here for you to use.

Link: http://www.polleverywhere.com/twitter-powerpoint-slides?utm_source=Poll+Everywhere+New+Feature+Newsletter&utm_campaign=38bde20362-July_2009_Update&utm_medium=email

I love the idea and promise of Poll Everywhere: American Idol like text polling and surveys that can do the job of expensive SRS’s (Student Response Systems that you can purchase to go with SMART or Promethean white boards) for no cost to teachers or their school. Students purchase the “polling devices” for you and are DYING to use them in class (their phones, you know…).

Poll Everywhere has now added a new way to let your voice be heard by integrating Twitter into the mix. On the Twitter Web site or from any of the numerous Twitter applications like TweetDeck or Tweetie, students can send a direct message to your poll by simply starting their tweet with “@Poll KEYWORD” and then saying whatever is on their minds. You set up the KEYWORD when you set up the poll. Results & messages can be viewed live on a web page, or integrated into a PowerPoint or Keynote slide in a presentation. Great for review or any time you need to probe for some deeper understanding or misconceptions.

The posts do not include the students names or phone numbers, so there’s no worry about “looking stupid” in front of their classmates, which is why many times students do not raise their hand when they have a legitimate question. Students could potentially post inappropriate comments, but with proper guidelines set forth and good classroom management, I think that the students would not jeopardize loosing this type of feedback and interaction in class.

Seriously consider giving Poll Everywhere a try - especially if you or your school does not have the SRS clickers available. Even if you don’t use the Twitter integration abilities, this type of feedback has shown through research to be invaluable to both students and teachers alike.

Link: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech146.shtml

Here are 20 ways (including 50 Web sites) to EASILY make Tech a part of your classroom. Many simple strategies are included that will enhance or perhaps take the place of things many of you may already be doing, such as:

• Math Problem of the Week
• Word or Quote of the Day
• Science Experiment of the Week

Enjoy!

Here’s the links and resources you’ll need during our 3 days together of getting to know how to use a GPS to find locations, mark locations of your own, and integrating this technology to collect relevant data & create custom maps with your classes.

Here’s a link to my GPS Blog for Education hosted at SEDC, and here is the class agenda. Another useful resource could be the Groundspeak Forum for GPS in Education.

Links and relevant resources, Day 1:

• Link to How Does The GPS System Work presentation and video that you can use with your students
• 5 Geocaching FAQ’s
• Geocaching.com - Set up your account
• Finding your first Geocache
• GeoLex - Lexicon of Geocaching
• Geocaches That Teach
• Waypoint Management: GSAK

Links and relevant resources, Day 2:

• Kanab Movie Walk Participant Handout & Document Original
• Google Earth
• What If….
• Nine Eight Planets.org
• Garmin Web Updater: Use this software to update the software on your GPS unit to increase accuracy
• CMAP - Community Mapping Workshop
• Utah GIS Portal - Here’s where you can download Vector & Raster data for building maps in ArcView
• Earthcaching

Links & Resources, Day 3:

• Tree Coordinates & Data Spreadsheet
• Here’s the form version of the spreadsheet to add your tree data
• Instructions to add the Utah GIS Image Server to ArcView
• Utah GIS Portal to download data & images for ArcView
• Please take a moment to complete the Wrap-Up Survey.

Here’s the list of Geocaches in Kanab:

• Kanab History Cache #1: http://coord.info/GC46A3
• The “Bishop” Southern Utah Pioneers: http://coord.info/GC4EAE
• I Spy A Levi: http://coord.info/GC1NCY8
• Brennan’s Greatest Earth on Show: http://coord.info/GCWQ2X