Getting in the G.A.M.E.

As I continue the hunt for those precious gems of technology and groups who are using them the progress is slower than I thought.  The main reason is not that I cannot find anything, but that I am finding too much.  My searches bring back memories of the Bing commercials from a few years back related to search overload.  For fun (and practice) you can watch a few in the following YouTube video Bing: Cure for the Search Overload (Teccom747, 2009):

In looking for the right programs, blogs, and communities I have been sorting through suggestions from classmates, colleagues, and stuff I have found through search engines.  Now, I am working more about narrowing down the searches and finding the best, most useful stuff.  The following is a synopsis of my findings thus far.

Standard 1c) “Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes” (ISTE, 2008).

Last week I discussed collecting all of my findings in a document on Google Drive.  The goal of this is to allow a place where I can store my findings and research in a way that I can easily share it with others and allow other to add to it as well.  I have set up the basics and thrown a few resources on a document, but am not quite prepared to open it up to the public.  More to come here.

Speaking of Google Drive, last week Hansen (2012a) directed me towards the specific use of Google Groups.  My research into it is limited, but essentially, groups can be set up based on invitation or interest and members correspond using threaded discussion.  As the discussions can be public or private, it is another interesting piece of software to add to our collaborative arsenal.  Check out Hansen’s blog for more updates at They Just Call Me “Hansen” (Hansen, 2012b)

Another classmate, Brunswick (2012) also directed me to a great blog that often has information about collaborative tools.  The blog is called Blogging about the Web 2.0 Connected Classroom (Anderson, 2012).  I actually like enough of the content in this blog that I linked it on my own blogs home page (over on the left under My Blog List).  There are many useful tips on how to use technology for all sorts of things, including collaboration.  This is the type of resource I am looking for to enhance my own knowledge of the tools available.

While clicking through several other educational technology sites and blogs I came across another gold nugget that I will share.  In a blog post titled 50 Free Collaboration Tools That Are Awesome for Education (Accredited Online Colleges, 2010), you find a list of exactly what the title says.  It is broken down into five groups of ten sources each by category of what you would like to accomplish.  Examples are completing Group Projects, Social Networking, and Note taking.  Many of the programs are ones you have heard of before, like Wikispaces and Twitter. However, there is a large list of software I have not heard of that seem very useful too.  Though geared for college-aged students, almost all of these look feasible in high school classrooms.

Although I am finding good resources, they are more in the form of databases.  The piece I am still missing is finding a community to belong to and communicate with.  I understand that blogs are a form of community and that by subscribing and commenting you are becoming part of that.  However, not being in a classroom right now I crave a little more communication than that.  Any suggestions on where to look?  Or even what media format would be good to search through?

Standard 2b) “Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress” (ISTE, 2008).

Educational technology is often multifaceted.  The same goes for resources associated with educational technology.  Many of the resources I have mentioned in relation to the last standard are also useful here.  One distinction I mentioned in last week’s post is that this standard seems to tie in very well with the Universal Design for Learning (UDL). (see Sticking with my G.A.M.E. Plan for more details)  Therefore, I wanted to specifically seek out resources and communities that link UDL and educational technologies.

One great source I found is a blog called Universally Designed: AT, IT and UDL Tips and Tricks (Universally Designed, 2012).  It would have been nice to find this last week when we were studying UDL, but it is still superb.  It gives you excellent walk-throughs of technologies and techniques.  Some posts even have step-by-step photo tutorials with screenshots.  Another feature that is not as common as it should be in blogs, is the ability to search posts by category.  For example, you can look for Apps, Instructional Strategies, UDL, and more.  Well worth your time to check out.

Again here, I would like to find a more interactive community.  I also need to look through and pick out some specific tools and strategies to try when I get back into a classroom again.  I am creating a database on Google Drive with this category as well, though I have both of my resources in the same document as of now due to their relatedness.   Any more resources or advice would be greatly appreciated.  

Resources:

Accredited Online Colleges (2010, April 7). 50 Free collaboration tools that are awesome for education (Web log post). Retrieved September 25, 2012 from http://www.accreditedonlinecolleges.com/blog/2010/50-free-collaboration-tools/

Anderson, S. (2012). Blogging about the web 2.0 connected classroom (Web log). Retrieved from http://blog.web20classroom.org/

Brunswick, S. (2012, September 23). Sticking with my G.A.M.E. plan (Web log reply). Retrieved from http://hiscitech.blogspot.com/2012/09/sticking-with-my-game-plan.html

Hansen, R. (2012a, September 23). Sticking with my G.A.M.E. plan (Web log reply). Retrieved from http://hiscitech.blogspot.com/2012/09/sticking-with-my-game-plan.html

Hansen, R. (2012b). They just call me “Hansen” (Web log).  Retrieved from http://justhansen.blogspot.com/

ISTE (2008). NETS-T. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers

Teccom747 (2009, June 8). Bing: Cure for the search overload. Retrieved September 25, 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAwUUgnBhCU&feature=related

Universally Designed (2012). Universally Designed: AT, IT and UDL Tips and Tricks (Web log). Retrieved from http://www.systemsofsupport.org/udlblog/