School 2.0 in South Africa

• Learning with ‘e’s: A convenient untruth

• Introducing iLearn4Free: educational apps for little learners

  English is a foreign language for 95% of the world’s children. Yet almost all digital literacy tools for young children are written in English. Mobile learning is therefore out of reach for all but those very few children prepared to start learning a foreign language before they have mastered their own. Isabelle Duston, a self-professed “serial entrepreneur” decided to tackle the problem by creating educational applications that will bridge the digital language divide without losing cultural diversity in the learning process. Her iLearn4Free venture is developing apps in several languages for teaching little ones how to read in their native language.

• Pen.io create gr8 text based web pages 2 share in an instant

  No registration, no email required. Just put in what you want the link to be and a password of your choice. It takes you over to a page where you can enter in a title and your text. Click save.

• 10 things I’ve learned in a year of blogging

  Very useful post, which succinctly suggests 10 things to consider when blogging.

• 90 tools in 90 minutes – revamped, revised and relevant-90 tools in 90 minutes – revamped, revised and relevant

  Really interesting collection of Web 2.0 tools

• Thoughts on writing a social media policy « simfin

  Comprehensive and thought-provoking post from Simon Finch on ideal beahvior online — including by teachers and parents.

• The Social Media Guide: A Guide to Facebook Security

  Looks pretty good, accessible.

• Curated witter Resources and articles (Scoop.it)

  “Resources on how to use Twitter effectively and strategically – curated by Dr. Sarah Eaton

• Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies | Mendeley

  “A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified more than a thousand empirical studies of online learning. Analysts screened these studies to find those that (a) contrasted an online to a face-to-face condition, (b) measured student learning outcomes, (c) used a rigorous research design, and (d) provided adequate information to calculate an effect size. As a result of this screening, 51 independent effects were identified that could be subjected to meta-analysis. The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. The difference between student outcomes for online and face-to-face classesmeasured as the difference between treatment and control means, divided by the pooled standard deviationwas larger in those studies contrasting conditions that blended elements of online and face-to-face instruction with conditions taught entirely face-to-face. Analysts noted that these blended conditions often included additional learning time and instructional elements not received by students in control conditions. This finding suggests that the positive effects associated with blended learning should not be attributed to the media, per se. An unexpected finding was the small number of rigorous published studies contrasting online and face-to-face learning conditions for K12 students. In light of this small corpus, caution is required in generalizing to the K12 population because the results are derived for the most part from studies in other settings (e.g., medical training, higher education).”

• Using Google Docs in the Classroom

  Lots of really nice links and resources and ideas.

• Google Search Strategies

  Most people use Google for searching for information. This session will teach you all of the tools for finding information quickly and more efficiently. Unlock the secrets of Google Search.

• Horizon Report Wiki – home

• Introduction to Moodle 2 for teachers. How to set up a course.

  Free ICT technology help videos for using Twitter (MOODLE2- Step by step help screencasts go through all basics

• EdTechTalk’s live webinar streams

  Edtechtalk is a community of educators interested in discussing and learning about the uses of educational technology. Part of the Worldbridges network of homegrown webcasting, several live shows are webcast each week

• Discovering free online resources for learning and teaching- free webinar

  Another in the free RSC Wales Lunchtime Bytes webinar series. Topic: Discovering free online resources for learning and teaching. The session will be of interest to teaching staff in all sectors, especially to those involved in the adult learning and skills sectors.Information: We are all aware of the vast resources ‘out there’ on the web, but it is not always easy to find what you are looking for. In this workshop, Paul Richardson and Sharon Crossan look at some handy ways of finding ‘stuff’, and share some of the best learning resources they have found. Feel free to bring some of your favourites too. The session will be of interest to teaching staff in all sectors, especially to those involved in the adult learning and skills sectors.

• Department of Basic Education 2nd Quarter 2011 Performance report

  The Department of Basic Education briefed Members on its Second Quarterly Performance Report from 1 July 2011 to 30 September 2011; on the progress on delivery of infrastructure development for technical schools; and on the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign.

• Technology is More than a Tool

  Great read!!

• 8 recommendations 2 spur African research on ICT in education (PDF)

  A resource uploaded via filegooi by @segomelo

• Are You Addicted To Your Mobile Phone? (Infographic)

• Twitter self assessment rubric for students

  You can use this as an assessment tool for your students to see how they are using twitter in the classroom.

• Moving Your Kindergarten into Web 2.0 with 5 Different Tools (by Özge Karaoğlu) – Teaching Village

  Kindergarten has always been the place to make friends, paint pictures, tell stories, play games and have fun while learning. Wooden blocks and legos have always been favorites in kindergarten classes. Today, the world is undergoing a digital change, changing our children digitally as well.

• SoundCloud – Share Your Sounds

  “Capture a voice, moment or music in seconds or upload audio you’ve already created.”

• SoapBox – Transform your lecture in real-time

  “Teach more effectively. SoapBox is a controlled digital space, designed to improve student engagement by breaking down the barriers students face when deciding whether or not to participate in class, and gives teachers a concrete assessment of student comprehension, in real time.”

• Present.ly – The Constant Awareness Communication Tool – Private Microblogging for your Business

• Chatzy – Free Private Chat Rooms

  “Chatzy is a good alternative to Facebook, Skype, Windows Live, and other messengers because:
  Chatzy has no registration steps – your friends can join instantly
  Chatzy is free and has no popup ads
  Chatzy does not require Flash or any installation on your computer (= no spyware)
  Chatzy works on all major browsers, with any language and through corporate firewalls
  Chatzy is simple and easy to use”

• Twitter for Professional Development: Ultra Beginner Edition

• Free Stuff for Teachers, Free Teacher Resources, Free Materials for Teachers

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• You Can’t Just Google It!

• Connected Principals – Guiding Principles

• One Tweet, Two Tweet, Three Tweet Fun!

  One teacher using twitter a a backchannel in his classroom

• Free Technology for Teachers: Literature Map – Find Authors You Might Like

  Finding books that kids will like can be a difficult task. Literature Map is a tool that might make that process easier. Literature Map provides a web of authors you might like based on authors that you already enjoy reading. To use Literature Map just type an author’s name into the search box and webbed list of authors will be displayed. The authors’ names closest to the author whose name you entered are the authors whose work you’re most likely to enjoy.

• Free Summarizer, an online automatic tool to summarize any text or article

• The Super Book of Web Tools for Educators

  A comprehensive introduction to using technology in all K12 classrooms

• Great resources

  November Learning has a vast array of resources to help you better educate the young minds of tomorrow. Here you will find links to a variety of valuable resources.

• The A-Z Dictionary of Educational Twitter Hashtags

• 70 Super Useful Twitter Hashtags for Homeschoolers (and everyone really)

• The “official” hashtag sitehashtags.org

  Hashtags.org is the defacto standard for hashtag information. The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keyword or topic in a Tweet. Any Twitter user can categorize or follow topics with hashtags.

• Live Simply: Organize, Plan, Have Fun and manage the whole family at Cozi.com

  Wish you had some help organizing your busy family life? Cozi is a FREE online organizer and mobile app that helps you manage the family schedule, organize shopping lists and to do lists, and capture favorite memories—all in one place. Especially designed for busy families, Cozi is accessible from any computer, mobile phone or tablet. All you need to get started is a FREE account and because Cozi is shared, you only need one account for the whole family. Voted #1 Productivity App for Moms by Babble and named #1 iPhone App for Moms by Circle of Moms editors!

• Collaborize Classroom: Online Education Technology for Teachers and Students

  Get 100% student participation. Save on monthly printing costs. Reduce grading time by up to 2 hours a week. Receive detailed participation reports. Access the best curriculum online. Create and share topics, lessons & assignments. Download peer-reviewed topic-based lessons.

• Animoto – Video Slideshow Maker with Music

• Eyejot – the easiest way to send video

  “Sending video messages with Eyejot is as easy as sending email. There is no software to download or install. Just login to your account, record or upload your video, and send! The recipient gets a friendly email message telling them they have a new video message, and they can watch it with a single click. No registration required. “

• Write In Private: Free Online Diary And Personal Journal | Penzu

  “Your own personal journal and online diary. “

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• Do Now is a weekly activity for middle and high school students to engage and respond to current issues using social media tools like Twitter.

  Do Now is a new series of activities for middle and high school teachers designed to engage students to respond to current issues through the use KQED’s award-winning online media resources and social media tools like Twitter.

• Teaching and Learning Resources < -Really comprehensive

  This wiki is designed to be a “toolkit” of online information and resources for educators. It is also an ongoing development project for the FTCC EDU271 Educational Technology courses.

• JiT2U: Web 2.0: This mobile module is meant to gently introduce the concepts and potentials of Web 2.0 tools for educators and learners.

  Welcome to Just in Time Training To You (JiT2U) : Web 2.0 Tools. This mobile module is meant to gently introduce the concepts and potentials of Web 2.0 tools for educators and learners.

• Infographics Archive

   An infographic is a visual representation of information

• Quizmax: a local cellphone based curriculum tool (maths Science, Life sciences)

  Maths, Physical Science and Life Sciences revision quizzes directly on your cell phone or PC. Preparation tool for all your tests and exams. Immediate feedback: answers plus reasons for the correct answers. Wide range of exam-level questions. Developed by experienced Maths, Physical Science and Life Sciences educators
  Complies with National Curriculum Statement. Compliant with current Examination Guidelines

• QR Code Treasure Hunt Generator from classtools.net

  Input a series of questions and answers into a easy-to-use form. It will generate a QR code for each question. Put the QR codes around your school. Students find and answer the questions. The team with the most correct answers in the time available wins.

• Photosynth – Capture your world in 3D.

  Shoot wraparound panoramas or full “synths”, share them with friends, and publish them to Bing

• PiL School Research- site 2 develop and measure 21st century teaching and learning in your school

  “Using these surveys and discussing the report in our school helped us get a much clearer picture of how to teach 21st Century Skills.”

• Purple Mash: Projects math games software

• The MAPA Project -conservation and mapping

  “The MAPA Project is an initiative that strives to make African conservation more accessible and visible, because, to quote Jane Goodall: “only when people know will they care. Only when they care will they act. Only when they act can the world change”.

  The MAPA Project started to do this by physically mapping protected areas in Africa displaying these on a map. By doing this we could show the world which ones have access roads, tourist facilities, management and biodiversity, and which ones don’t.”

  tags: gavinflemming geography school2.0

• Open Source Geospatial Solutions by AfriSpatial

  Interest in QGIS is growing among high school Geography teachers in southern Africa. Teachers are looking for GIS software that is affordable, easy to use and understand and easy to teach with. They say it’s important to be flexible and creative in the classroom and not be stuck with fixed lesson plans. Hands-on work such as on-screen digitising and map composition is important. Quantum GIS satisfies all these requirements.

• Going Beyond the Classroom | Scoop.it

• More time for MXit than homework: Unicef

• The Innovative Educator: Discover what your digital footprint says about you

  Does your digital footprint convey the message you want? If you don’t know you should spend time figuring this out. In the 21st century our digital footprint conveys an important image and people should know what that is.  Below are ideas that will enable you to explore and consider if your digital footprint conveys the message you want to share with the world.  It will also give you ideas for activities you can do with your students so they can do the same.

• Tools for Learners and teachers (great scoop)

• Twitter guides, tutorials and presentations

  A whole list of presentations, guides and tutorials to oriuentate you into the magical world of twitter

• TeachMeet-SouthAfrica

  Teachmeets are a cool way to be introduced to new tools and how they can be used in the classroom

• 10 Steps To Create An Awesome Google+ Profile

• Angry Birds in the classroom?

  Should South African schools be introducing videogames into the curriculum? Giving children experience points instead of traditional marks for projects? Intel’s marketing manager, Ntombezinhle Modiselle, certainly thinks so – and she’s got a growing body of research to back her up.

• Cellphone payments breakthrough

  Making and receiving payments has never been simpler. SWAP Mobile, a South African company, has developed a world-class payment system that compares well with similar systems used abroad and is as useful as having PayPal on your cellphone.

• Most Common Places to Lose a Cell Phone

  Your mobile phone is an important part of your life and losing it even for a minute can be both frustrating and very alarming.

• Creative Writing Lesson Plan Using Twitter and Cooperative Groups

• EWriter – an online writing and reading tool for mobile phones: Create an mbook

• SmartLearner is a mobi site across all the SA subject areas.

• Mathematics Dump: 11 ideas for what and how to share for mathematics teachers

  tags: mathematics sateachers sharing school2.0 Maggie

  • 

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• Parents Corner | Approaching mobile technologies with an open mind and demystifying the use of cellphones by teenagers.

  “Nowadays everyone knows what you’re up to and where you are – depending of course on whether or not you have checked in (or out) of a certain location, or if you have your ‘Location Services’ turned on or not.

  Geotagging might seem like a foreign concept to most of us, but it has in actual fact been around for quite some time. It was only at the beginning of this year, that I noticed that you can “check in” on Facebook and let your friends know exactly where you are. “

• Getting started with twitter (edtechconf

• Online Safety: Understanding Hackers, Phishers, and Cybercriminals

• Social Media in the classroom?

• TeachMeet-SouthAfrica – home

• WebTools4u2use – Finding the Right Tool to use in context!!

• A double-ended candle

  Another great South African teacher blog (Fiona’s blog)

• IT Rocks – Teaching IT in SA

• Texting in the Classroom: Not Just a Distraction

  “With the ubiquity of cellphones, many schools are facing questions about what to do when students bring cellphones to school. Ban them outright? Require they be kept in a locker or backpack? Require they be turned off? Allow them to be used, at teachers’ discretion, in class?”

• Parents back phone apps to educate children

• A teachers reflection of her trail with cellphones in her classroom.

  “I’ve found that having the phones in lesson has changed how I teach to some extent. Firstly, I’ve had to be much more on the ball. Using their phones, the kids can access the content much faster than I can teach it, and they have access to all sorts of other resources – experts, videos, etc.”

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• Generation Y in South Africa – A Short Study

• The End Of Books: Ikea Is Changing Shelves To Reflect Changing Demand | TechCrunch

• Exam advice: Relax, and go with the flow

• Web 2.0 / Mobile AUP Guide

  Information and communications technologies (ICT) policies in schools have two dimensions. One is to ensure that students are protected from pernicious materials on the Internet. The other is to enable student access to the extensive resources on the Internet for learning and teaching. While these two dimensions are not intrinsically in conflict, in actuality, such can become the case.”

• Are We Wired for Mobile Learning? Great infographic!

• Litfy – All the free e-books you can muster

  Read all the novels you want, anywhere, anytime, on any device, for free. It has thousands of free e-books and we are growing every day! The site Bookmarks lets you mark any page in any book and return to the exact same spot later!

• 30+ Cool Content Curation Tools for Personal & Professional Use

  As the web becomes more and more inundated with blogs, videos, tweets, status updates, news, articles, and countless other forms of content, “information overload” is something we all seem to suffer. It is becoming more difficult to weed through all the “stuff” out there and pluck out the best, most share-worthy tidbits of information, especially if your topic is niche.  Let’s face it, Google definitely has its shortcomings when it comes to content curation and the more it tries to cater to all audiences, the less useful it becomes.

• Web 2.0/Mobile AUP Guide

• Update Your Acceptable Use Policy This School Year with Guidelines from Consortium of School Networking (CoSN)

• Technology in Schools Faces Questions on Value

  Great article with quite a few interesting pointers

• Leadership for Mobile Learning resources

  ““Resources for exploring the hottest topic in educational technology via CoSN’s Leadership for Mobile Learning Initiative””

• How are Educators Using Google Plus Hangouts?

  “As more people join Google’s new social network, Google+, they’re figuring out how to take advantage of some of the innovative uses for the site.”

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• Blogs Wikis Docs Chart

• Blog, Wiki, or Doc? Which Is Right for You?

• A really great set of tools for learners

• Improving Education in the Country – Projects That Start Small, Scale Quickly And Drive Systemic Change

• 10 Ways to Use Google Forms in the Classroom

• Extra maths lessons on MXit -extended by Nokia

• MathX is a mxit maths game to hone those basic skills

  “MathX is a mathematical game where the player is given 4 single digit numbers (0-9). The player must apply the basic operators (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) to each of these numbers, using all the numbers once only, to get to the answer 24.”

• Sum up today’s lesson in a tweet

  How a maths teacher is using twitter in his classroom.

• The digital natives are restless

• 2011-Horizon-Report-K12. [pdf]

  The NMC Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition examines emerging technologies for their potential impact on and use in teaching, learning, and creative expression within the environment of
  pre-college education.

• 81 EdTech Resources You May Have Missed–Treasure Chest

  Jeff’s treasure chest are published every Sunday

• How would I prepare to teach a Bring Your Own Device class?

• To Ban or Not to Ban: Schools Weigh Cell Phone Policies | MindShift

• College Students Are Bad at Google [STUDY]

  Students in a two-year ethnographic study referred to Google more than any database when discussing their research habits. But ironically, say the study’s authors, they weren’t very good at using it.

• Ict in education in south africa (Shafika Isaacs) – Academia.edu

• GroupMe – chat messenger for groups and individuals on most mobile devices

  Start a group, add your friends, and we’ll give you a free phone number for it.

  GroupMe is the easiest way to start conversations and keep in touch with your real life network.

  It’s totally free, and it works on every phone. With apps for Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone 7, as well as full support via SMS*, you can connect with anyone you know at any time.

• Selecting Appropriate Technology for Online Learning

• 13-Year-Old Designs Efficient Solar Array Inspired By Oak Trees

  This is the kind of thinking we should stimulate in our students

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• COL Guidelines for OER in Higher Education- call 4 comments

• Top 100 Tools for the Twittering Teacher

• High-Tech Teaching in a Low-Tech Classroom

  As 21st-century teachers, we are expected to help students master the technological tools they will use in college and the workplace. But in many districts, the one-computer classroom is not extinct. So how can we do a lot with a little? How can we best use limited resources to support learning and familiarize students with technology?

• Google Plus vs. Facebook InfoGraphic

  Some of the features form this infographic has changed slightly- e.g. games have been launched in Google+

• How Student Technology Profiles Effect Open and Distance Learning in South Africa « Educational Technology Debate

  In education, it should not be about technology, but rather about how we can expand access to study and how we can improve support to our students in a way that will at least give them a fair opportunity at success.

• The hype and myths of Informal Learning

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• How-To Geek » What You Said: What’s Your Favorite Brainstorming Tool?

• Podcasting 101 introduction

• I Flunked My Social Media Background Check. Will You?

  We need to guard our digital footprints and identities with care and we need to teach our learners to do so as well.

• (25) Interesting Ways* to use Google+ to Support learning

• The Cinemath Project: Teaching math through video

• 30 Web Sites to Teach You About Technology Integration

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• Mobile opportunity for learning in Africa

• The Mobile Media Toolkit helps you make sense of the growing role of mobile tech in media.

  The Mobile Media Toolkit helps you make sense of the growing role of mobile tech in media. It is currently available in English, Spanish, and Arabic. The Mobile Media Toolkit provides how-to guides, mobile tools, and case studies on how mobile phones can (and are) being used for reporting, news broadcasting, and in citizen media. We cover it all, from basic feature phones to the latest smartphone applications.

  The Mobile Media Toolkit is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The ‘Mobile Media Toolkit’ shows you how to record audio, from finding a good recording environment to recording phone calls, editing audio, and listening to and sharing reports with others.

  How to create, edit and share quality audio and video reports from a mobile phone? This detailed how-to guide is a great resource for journalists and citizen reporters (tip: use your car as a recording studio).

• The future of education . . . 100 years ago

• The 7 Golden Rules of Using Technology in Schools

• Rethinking COPPA in the Age of Social Media

  What COPPA does require is stricter privacy measures from those websites that are aimed directly at users under 13 as well as at those sites that know they are collecting and disclosing personal information from those under 13.

• State Of The Internet 2011

• Why the Blackberry is the safest phone

• Cellphone Safety – Keep your kids safe

• The Complete Google+ Cheatsheet [Infographic]

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• Eight Tech Trends for Librarians (and Teachers too!)

  The school library—and the job of the librarian—have both morphed into something that most adults these days would hardly recognize. Helping kids find books to read is only part of the job, say those on the profession’s leading edge. Today, a major mission of the librarian, aka media specialist, is to teach students digital literacy by showing them how to use the Internet to efficiently find, organize, and share information with peers. Here are some of the tools librarians are using to make their jobs easier and more relevant to students as they address this expansion of their role.

• Diigo Educator Accounts – Student Learning with Diigo

  Using diigo with your students.

• New Study Says Freedom & Autonomy More Important Than Money (& Classroom Incentives?) | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

• Exploring the Impact of Web-Based Learning Tools in Middle School Mathematics and Science Classrooms

• 10 Video Websites That Are Like YouTube for Kids

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.