Thursday, March 3, 2011

Internet Users According to the World Bank

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Key Note Speaker- "Hole in the Wall" at #IEF_2010

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

IMAGES from Berlin IEF_2010, day 3

MacNed Read Write Think and Link, Presenting IEF_2010

Monday, March 22, 2010

Internet Users: Macedonia, Netherlands and the World

Interactive charts using statistics information from world bank.
 Interactive charts, mostly used by students, teachers, journalists for research

Saturday, March 20, 2010

MacNed VCT Presentation on Slide Share, for IEF_2010

IEF_2010 WallWisher

http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/IEF2010


Now you can also read my blog posts, that I publish in Macedonian.

Friday, March 19, 2010

MacNed Read Write Think and Link Poster, for IEF_2010

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Insert Action Settings for Objects in PPP


Tuesday, March 9, 2010

MacNed WIKI Reflections

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Understand Other Cultures to Address Global Issues

Sunday, March 29, 2009

The Machine is US/ing us

Monday, February 9, 2009

Creative Writing

PicLits.com is a creative writing site that matches beautiful images with carefully selected keywords in order to inspire you. The object is to put the right words in the right place and the right order to capture the essence, story, and meaning of the picture.

Images

Choose any image to create your PicLit—a photo plus words—by clicking on it from the carousel at the top of the home page or using the image featured on the home page. You can speed up the carousel by holding your mouse over the arrows at either end. If you would like to see all the carousel images at once, you can click on the "SEE MORE" link on the right side of the carousel.

Drag-n-Drop

If you need some extra inspiration for creating your PicLit, you can use the Drag-n-Drop customized keywords underneath the photo, kind of like refrigerator magnets.

  • To create your PicLit, hold your cursor over any keyword or universal word.
  • Click and hold to select the word.
  • Drag the word to where you want it to be on the photo.
  • Unclick to place the word.
  • Once a word is placed on the photo, you may select capitalization and conjugation options from the drop-down arrow.
  • If you change your mind about a word, you can just drag-n-drop it back into the keyword list.
  • A keyword may only be used once in a PicLit. Universal words and punctuation may be used multiple times.
  • If you want to erase all the words and start over, simply click on “New PicLit” on the right-hand side.
  • When you are satisfied with your PicLit, click on the “Save” icon to save it to your account and have it appear in the Gallery. You can also email your PicLit to a friend or post it to your Facebook profile. In order to save or post a PicLit, it must have words on it.

Freestyle

If you would like more freedom with the creation of your PicLit, you can click on the Freestyle button to access the same picture with a text box where you can type anything you choose.

  • Use your space bar and Enter key to position the words in the text box where you want them to appear on the photo.
  • If you want to erase all the words and start over, click on “New PicLit” on the right-hand side.
  • When you are satisfied with your PicLit, click on the “Save” icon to save it to your account and have it appear in the Gallery. You can also email your PicLit to a friend or post it to your Facebook profile. In order to save or post a PicLit, it must have words on it.

Making Banners



Search Internet for flash modules, copy the source code to embedd it on your web site.

Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

MacNed 2008 Wordle Gallery

Wordle: macned2008 wiki
This  gallery of images was created from the students written assignments at the MacNed wiki,
I used it to compare and assess the Macedonian and the Dutch student  draft pages. Informative indeed. 

To pre-teach new vocabulary on a certain topic  just throw out a reading text, and wordle creates a fine- looking image with the key concepts of the theme. I did a lesson on " Is honesty always the best policy?" Wordle works in any language. 

Teachers need such tools, though I feel my students would have benefited more  if Internet had worked at my school and they could do this themselves. 

Hoping for faster bandwidth, which I doubt will happen soon.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Social Media in Plain English

21st Century Learning Skills

Start Your Own Broadcast


  1. Create an account
  2. Plug in your cam
  3. Log in, then select "My shows"
  4. Type in the name of your show, and click "Broadcast Now"
  5. When asked, "allow" the broadcast widget to show your camera/ webcam.
  6. Click start "Broadcast" in the console.
  7. That' it.
  8. Sign up now. http://www.ustream.tv
  9. More: http://www.ustream.tv/get-started

Monday, February 2, 2009

LOGO MAKER

MaRA
Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator - Create Your Own

Google Docs in Classroom

http://docs.google.com/Present?docid=dhn2vcv5_8323t58h3ft
Power Point Presentation

Friday, January 23, 2009

YouTube Video in SlideShare Presentation

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Include a Reference or Footnote (Wikispaces)


1. Type in your text as per normal
2. Type this tag after the text at the place where you want to reference or footnote number to appear  

3. Type in the text that will be in the reference or footnote.
4. Type this code at the end of the reference or footnote.

And when you save you have your references or footnotes appearing at the bottom of the page.
They work like anchors, so that when you click on the number it takes you to the footnote, and when you click on the footnote arrow, you are returned to the text.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Make Screen-Cast Videos

http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cii3lYtk
No downloading, no software to install. Make videos from what you have on your screen.

Thursday, December 25, 2008


How to Embed YouTube Flash Videos in Your PowerPoint Presentations


from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

YouTube is considered to be one of the world's most popular online community. YouTube is known for its fast video download rate, making it the number one choice for presenters when it comes to the video aspect of their presentations.

Steps



Play YouTube Flash Video Online in PowerPoint with Internet Access
  1. In PowerPoint 2003 and earlier versions, go to View -> Toolbars -> select "Control Toolbox". In PowerPoint 2007, go to PowerPoint Options -> Popular -> tick "Show Developer tab in the Ribbon".
  2. In the Control Toolbox, click the last icon "More Controls" which is displayed as hammer plus wrench. In the set of controls available on your computer, select "Shockwave Flash Object". Then use your mouse to draw and resize an area in the slide as you like to place your YouTube video.
  3. Go to the YouTube video page you'd like to add, and check the URL in the address bar of your Web browser. You'll get an address like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hChq5drjQl4 Change the phrase watch?v= to v/, and now the address become http://www.youtube.com/v/hChq5drjQl4
  4. Right click the area you drew which is displayed as a big cross, select Properties and go to Properties tab. Copy and paste the YouTube video address in the field as value of attribute Movie; set the value of attribute Playing and Loop to False. Close the Properties tab when everything is done.

Get YouTube Flash Video Offline and Add To Presentations
When you don't like the live YouTube video way, which requires live and reliable Internet connection, you may download YouTube video to your hard drive, and insert the video into presentation offline. It's also very easy to make in a few minutes.
  1. Go to the YouTube video page you'd like to add, and check the URL in the address bar of your Web browser. You'll get an address like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hChq5drjQl4. Then try some online services like KeepVid or other offline tools to retrieve and download the original Flash video file from the address. Rename the downloaded YouTube Flash video file from "get_video" to "xxx.flv" as you like in FLV format.
  2. Now you need to decide in which format of YouTube Flash video you'd like to add in PowerPoint presentation. If directly inserting the Flash video in FLV format, you have to ensure the FLV file could be properly played back at first. It's recommended to install VideoLAN VLC media player to play YouTube Flash video files in FLV format.

  1. Find the hidden Control Toolbox out in PowerPoint and go to "More Controls" as the way in the first steps of online YouTube section above. Select "VideoLAN VLC ActiveX Plugin v1/v2" in the set of controls available, then draw and resize the displayed area with mouse in the slide as you like. Right click the area you drew and go to Properties tab, and complete the value of attribute "MRL" with the path of the YouTube Flash video file, like D:\Temp\2008\temp.flv, then close the tab. Now the YouTube Flash video in your hard drive is ready to play in the presentation.


--- Insert YouTube Video As Common Video


Besides, you may also try to convert your YouTube Flash video in FLV format to other common video format like AVI, MOV, etc with some online services such as vixy.net or other offline video conversion tools. Then you can directly insert these converted video in your hard drive via "Insert Movie from File" in PowerPoint.

--- Insert YouTube Video As SWF Flash Movie


Generally speaking, to avoid video codec problem with different computers, and ensure the properly video playback in PowerPoint, Flash video in FLV format and other video formats is not recommended to be inserted in PowerPoint. Based on the popularity of Adobe Flash player, which is widely installed on most computers in the world, Flash movie in SWF is highly compatible cross-platform and properly played back. You may try some video to Flash conversion tools, such as WebVideo Author, to convert FLV or other video formats to SWF format.
The Flash movie file in SWF format could be inserted into PowerPoint presentation as "Shockwave Flash Object" in Contorl Toolbox like the way in the first steps of online YouTube section above. And you can embed the SWF Flash file in your presentation through setting the attribute "EmbedMovie" to True in Properties tab.
By the way, some presentation authoring tools, such as PPT2Flash Professional (http://www.sameshow.com/powerpoint-to-flash-pro.html), Articulate Presenter, offer the shortcut to insert SWF Flash files quickly, and finally output the PowerPoint presentation with YouTube Flash video as Flash movie in SWF format. Flash-based presentation is kind of great solution to avoid compatibility issues from video codec, PowerPoint versions and operating systems, and easy to make Web compliance.
Maybe the total guide for YouTube video in PowerPoint is a little of complicated for everyone. Google's PowerPoint killer in Google Docs is highly expected to add the feature to add YouTube video in online presentation instantly, if Google really wants to be the killer. After all, YouTube is a great video treasure for everyone, we can make better use of it with our works and life.

Related wikiHows





Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Embed YouTube Flash Videos in Your PowerPoint Presentations. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Voice your text

Go to my Odiogo Page and click Subscribe so you can listen to content on the go on your iPod or MP3 player. You will probably love this!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Christmas Around the World

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Karaoke Tracks by Removing the Vocals in Audacity

Good for language exercises.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

ESSAY SCHOLARSHIP CONTEST

The European Literacy Associations may be interested to organize a similar event

http://www.crosslites.com/scholarship.aspx

........Any student that currently attends high school may apply. For a list of complete rules and to apply, click here.
The Judges will give each essay a basic score and then post the essays with their scores. This score will be based on several factors (for more information, see Rules and Regulations). However, this score is only worth 10% of the applicant’s final total. The applicants with the highest three scores will win.
How is the other 90% of the applicant’s score determined? The answer is simply: BY YOU! Applicants have the opportunity to invite others to view their essay and vote for them. The number of votes makes up the other 90% of the applicant’s total score. When the voting period has ended, the winner will be chosen.
Who Can Vote? Anyone with an email address can vote here once a day.
How do you Vote? Click here for rules and regulations.
What are you waiting for?? Enter here.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

How do you feel about school uniforms?



Friday, December 5, 2008

The Networked Student

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Google Translate Text


Sunday, November 16, 2008

MacNed Wiki, Tags Cloud Maker

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Cite Your Sources



EasyBib: the bibliography maker.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Wikispaces Education Webinar 2008-10-16

Wikispaces Education Webinar held on 16 Oct 2008 featuring Clay Burell and the 1001 Flat World Tales Project.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Sunday, September 28, 2008

101 Learning Tools

101 Free Learning Tools
View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: thinking tools)

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

TEENAGERS' very useful links

Please send other useful teenage links!!!!


Famous people http://www.world-of-celebrities.com
Starting a band http://www.createbands.com/
Harry Potter http://www.harrypotter.warnerbros.com/
A trip to London http://www.visitlondon.com/
Pets in the UK http://www.petplanet.co.uk/
Television http://www.entertainment.msn.co.uk.tv/
San Francisco http://www.sfvisitor.org/
Sport news. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport
Festivals and carnivals http://www.2camels.com/
The Beatles http://www.aboutthebeatles.com/
Lady Diana Spencer http://www.royal.gov.uk/
Mysteries http://www.mysterymag.com/
Holiday camps http://www.butlinsmemories.com/
Hobbies http://www.about.com/hobbies
School http://www.deni.gov.uk/
Belize http://www.belize.gov.bz/
Fitness http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/
Environment http://www.unep.org/
Olympics http://www.olympic.org/
1900 house http://www.pbs.org/wnet/19000house
Inventions / discoveries http://www.nationalgeographic.com/
Languages http://www.wordorigins.org/
Ireland http://www.irlgov.ie/
Space travel http://www.space-travel.com/
The weather http://www.weather.com/
New Year http://www.new-year.co.uk/
Personality http://www.spsp.org/
Gorillas http://www.koko.org/
Strange pets http://www.animal.discovery.com/
Oregon Trail http://www.oregontrailcenter.org/
Denim http://www.levistrauss.com/
Free diving http://www.divingfree.com/
Global warming http://www.worldwildlife.org/
Whales http://www.whales-online.org/
Bungee jumping http://www.bungeezone.com/
Laughter http://www.worldlaughtertour.com/
Clowns / films http://www.clowns-international.co.uk/
Natural disasters http://www.natural-disasters.com/
Borneo http://www.visitborneo.com/
The mind
Music http://www.billboard.com/
Dreams / ancient medicine http://www.asdreams.org/
Computers http://www.computerhistory.org/
Machu Pichu http://www.sacredsites.com/
British culture http://www.ukstudentlife.com/Britain.htm
Ways of talking: sign language http://www.british-sign.co.uk/
Another true friend http://www.greyfriarsbobby.co.uk/
Future jobs http://www.careerexplorer.net/
Ellen MacArthur http://www.teamellen.com/
Chat to a robot http://www.alicebot.org/
Tribes in danger http://www.survival-international.org/
More reality http://www.tvdigitalspy.co.uk/realitytv
Graffiti http://www.graffiti.org/
Crime and punishment http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/candp
Conspiracy theories http://www.theinsider.org/
Mysterious Places http://www.mysteriousplaces.com/
Wedding customs http://www.worldweddingtraditions.com/

Saturday, June 14, 2008

AdWords Learning Center

http://www.google.com/adwords/learningcenter/

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Google Analytics

http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/?hl=en_US

Select View Source from your browser's menu and look for the tracking code. It should be immediately before the tag of your page, and should look exactly as it was provided to you:


You should see your own account number in place of the xxxx-x in the example above. If you need a fresh copy of your code, click the Edit link next to the appropriate profile on the Analytics Settings page, then select Check Status at the top-right of the table.
If your tracking code has been installed correctly, and you're still not seeing any data after 24 hours, read I'm not seeing any data in my reports

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Wikispaces and/ or Wetpaint, Del.icio.us

1. Create an interactive wetpaint site in seconds. Ad-free for education.

GROUP PROJECTS Structure:
assignment, goals, deadlines, brainstorming, draft, research, team members, contributors, compliment

2. Compare http://www.wikispaces.com/ and http://www.wetpaint.com/ site with wikimatrix

3. http://www.macnedstudents.wikispaces.com/ and http://www.efl.wetpaint.com/

4. Sharing bookmarks at: http://del.icio.us/anicap

5. Thoughts:
How are bloglines, google reader, delicious, google notebooks, RSS, chicklets...different?

Friday, May 23, 2008

Music Playlists

Music playlists



Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Shift Happens

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Student Project Assessment

Student Project Assessment

1. What did you learn about communicating across the borders?
2. What was your most frustrating experience? (Most difficult thing to do)
3. What was your most satisfying experience? (Best thing you have done)
4. Could you follow the weekly assignments? If not, why not?
5. What changes would you recommend for a future project?
6. What other kind of support did you need from the facilitators?
7. Other comments and impressions
8. On a scale from 1 to 10, assess your own work on wikispaces:
English
Media
International communication
Final presentation

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Newspapers in Britain Video

How well do we know our world?

1. Choose a topic you are interested about.

2. Search and download information. Include references.

3. Send attached articles to yourclass@gmail.com: the original article with added footnotes (at least 15)
a) Footnotes in Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word: Insert> references>footnotes
http://www.switchpod.com/users/mblow/footnotes.wmv

4. Send attached Power Point Presentation to yourclass@gmail.com with at least nine slides.

5. Prepare a speech (4-6 minutes long)

Sunday, April 20, 2008

QUESTIONS TO ASK A JOURNALIST

What is the importance of a free press?
-Do you believe that journalists are responsible chiefly to the public, the government or their own personal interests when investigating and writing? Why?
-What do you think is the most important job of journalists and the press in general?
-Do you think that there is any information that is “too dangerous” to print? Why or why not?
-What risks do the journalists take in revealing a story? Are those risks worth it? Why or why not?
-Today the news media is undergoing drastic change because of the opportunities for independent journalism on blogs, because of the ability to constantly update stories online, and because many people prefer to read news online rather than in traditional newspaper format. What do you think about these phenomena? Will they change journalism for the better or the worse? Why?

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Podcasts


Click here to get your own player.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Friday, February 29, 2008

GOOGLE READER, RSS

COMMON SENSE ADVISORY

OER
Common Sense Advisory helps Global 2000 companies operationalize, benchmark, optimize, and innovate industry best practices in translation, localization, internationalization, and globalization.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

STUDENT VIDEO REPORTS







I realize students have difficulties writing their reflections. I posted additional questions to the reflections’ page, hoping these would help the improvement of their writing skills. However, as a teacher I am also looking forward to see how these reports will be understood and commented by the international peer students. Will there be more collaboration and discussions?
After they do an assignment in a written form they may want to make a video report, too.
On the other side, this evidence could be used for authorities when there are similar initiatives at schools.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT MATH

This is just a way to present some of students ideas on subjects they learn at school with web 2.0 tools. Worth trying!

A Vision of Students Today

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Research Project Overview MEDIA

Project Overview

MacNed Project participants work in teams of four.

Before the research, groups identify at least 4 creative ideas and questions to follow when doing the research. They locate at least two interesting and reliable information sources for each of their ideas or questions. They plan the research project; develop a timeline when planning, research, first draft and final draft will be made. Each of the participants has her/his own responsibility for their own question. They reflect on successful practices and lessons learned for each of the activities.

During the research process they read and analyze information, ask and answer questions, participate in discussions, take notes, take pictures, make video clips, conduct interviews, make video- talk shows, create timelines, diagrams, surveys (36 students+ 36 adults one elder generation). They monitor the achievements, reflect and self assess themselves on the challenges and the ways of overcoming unpredicted obstacles.

After the research they make a research report using internet resources. The information relates to the main topic and includes several supporting details and/or examples. Diagrams and illustrations add to the reader’s understanding of the topic. Graphic organizer or outline shows logical relationship between all topics and subtopics.

Here is a more detailed instructions on team members, group planning, research project, video talk show, interview, reading and analyzing information, and 6+1 trait writing model.



Team Member
Provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in classroom discussion. A leader who contributes a lot of effort.
Provides work of high quality.
Uses time well to make sure things get done on time. Group does not have to change deadlines or work responsibilities because of this person's being late.
Actively looks for and suggests solutions to problems.
Never is publicly critical of the project or the work of others. Always has a positive attitude about the task(s).
Stays focused on the task and what needs to be done. Self-directed.
Work reflects this student's best efforts.
Monitors the effectiveness of the group, and makes suggestions to make it more effective.
Almost always listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others. Tries to keep people working well together.

Group Planning -- Research Project
Group identifies at least 4 reasonable, insightful, creative ideas/questions to follow when doing the research
Group locates at least 2 reliable, interesting information sources for EACH of their ideas or questions.
Group develops a timeline describing when planning, research, first draft, and final draft will be done.
Each student in the group is responsible for locating information, and when the information is needed.
Students have developed a clear plan for organizing the information as it is gathered and in the final research product.
All students can independently explain the planned organization of the research findings.


Timeline
Spelling and capitalization were checked by another student and are correct throughout.
Facts were accurate for all events reported on the timeline.
The use of font styles and colors is consistent and shows a logical pattern. It helps organize the material.
All graphics are effective and balanced with text use.
The overall appearance of the timeline is pleasing and easy to read.
The timeline has a creative title that accurately describes the material and is easy to locate.
An accurate, complete date has been included for each event.
The student can accurately describe 75% (or more) of the events on the timeline without referring to it and can quickly determine which of two events occurred first.
The student had notes about all the events and dates s/he wished to include on the timeline before beginning to design the timeline.
Classroom time was used to work on the project. Conversations were not disruptive and focused on the work
The timeline contained at least 8-10 events related to the topic being studied.
The student knows how to use the software and can accurately and clearly answer almost any question related to how to perform certain functions.

Video-Talk Show

All students showed excellent knowledge of content, needing no cues and showing no hesitation in talking or answering questions.
Excellent, in-depth questions were asked by host and excellent answers supported by facts were provided by all talk show members.
All students wore costumes and the group used some props.
Video did not rock/shake and the focus was excellent throughout.
Many different "takes", camera angles, sound effects, and/or careful of use of zoom provided variety in the video.
Video was 12-15 minutes long.
All titles and credits are accurate, legible and draw the viewer's attention.
Video has a clear and interesting purpose.

Interview

The student put the date of the interview, place of the interview, full name of the person being interviewed, and the full name of the person being interviewed on the videotape, audiotape, or report.
Video does not rock/shake and the focus is excellent throughout.
Both the interviewer and the person being interviewed can be heard/understood very clearly on the tape with no wind or background noise.
Student can accurately answer several questions about the person who was interviewed and can tell how this interview relates to the material being studied in class.
The student introduced himself, explained why he wanted to interview the person, and asked permission to set up a time for an interview.
Student never interrupted or hurried the person being interviewed and thanked them for being willing to be interviewed.
Before the interview, the student prepared several in-depth AND factual questions to ask.
The student edited and organized the transcript in a way that made the information clear and interesting.
The interviewer took occasional notes during the interview, but usually maintained focus on the person rather than the notes. Notes were added to immediately after the interview so facts were not lost.
The student listened carefully to the person being interviewed and asked several relevant follow-up questions based on what the person said.
The report is well organized and contains accurate quotations and facts taken from the interview.

Reading - Analyzing Information

Student lists main points of the article without having the article in front of him/her.
Student recalls details for each main point without referring to the article.
Student locates facts in the article and gives an explanation of why these are facts, rather than opinions.
Student locates opinions in the article and gives an explanation of why these are opinions, rather than facts.
Student explains how each graphic/diagram is related to the text, and determines whether each graphic/diagram agrees with the information in the text.
Student uses 1-3 sentences to describe clearly what the article is about.

6+1 Trait Writing Model

The introduction is inviting, states the main topic and previews the structure of the paper.
Details are placed in a logical order and the way they are presented effectively keeps the interest of the reader.
A variety of thoughtful transitions are used. They clearly show how ideas are connected.
There is one clear, well-focused topic. Main idea stands out and is supported by detailed information.
Relevant, telling, quality details give the reader important information that goes beyond the obvious or predictable.
The writer successfully uses several reasons/appeals to try to show why the reader should care or want to know more about the topic.
The reader's questions are anticipated and answered thoroughly and completely.

Research Report

Successfully uses suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.
Information clearly relates to the main topic. It includes several supporting details and/or examples.
Diagrams and illustrations are neat, accurate and add to the reader's understanding of the topic.
Graphic organizer or outline has been completed and shows clear, logical relationships between all topics and subtopics.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

SUBMIT! You Choose '08 Super Tuesday Video

Video sample

MACNED project ideas sparkled from the beyond the school blog

This is certainly my top starred blog. http://beyond-school.org/2007/01/01/beyond-textbooks-writing-your-own-with-a-class-wiki/ I am glad there are other educators with similar ideas for using wikis and blogs to develop students reading and writing skills. I still wonder whether to use only reflective journals, or reflective journals + rubrics.

Wikispaces Assessment

1. http://flatclassroomproject.wikispaces.com/Rubrics Rubrics for Assessing the students achievements while learning and collaborating on wikispaces

2. http://www.ericdigests.org/2005-2/engagement.html This website provides some evidence and research done so far on how to assess students achievements, while w0rking on the macned
Good to read before making further decisions.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Authentic Assessment and Feedback

Educators know that authentic tasks such as essays, reports, discussion posts, portfolios and team projects are the best measures of student learning. The research shows that the prompt, detailed feedback on these kinds of tasks is vital if students are to learn and grow.
http://docs.subjectivemetrics.com/home/outcomes/Waypoint_Outcomes_Brochure_2007.pdf

Here are some of the http://www.rubistar4teachers.org rubrics created for the www.macnedstudents.wikispaces.com project:

Assessment and evaluation
Collaborative Work Skills
Group Planning - Research Project, Project Report
Reading - Analyzing Information: Media ; Timeline
Video - Talk Show
Interview: Media now and five years ago
Reflections
6 1 Trait Writing Model


I am afraid that all of these are a "bit too much" for our students for 7 weeks time, however we may still keep them here for giving feedback.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

CREATING A PODCAST

1.Write your script.
2.Practice.
3.Record your audio file. (Audacity)
4.Edit your audio. (Effect> Normalize)
5.Add and credit legally usable music (optional).
6.File> Save project
7.File>Export as MP3> Edit ID3 tags
8.Upload the MP3 file to a web server. (GCast)

Podcasts for K-12 teachers
http://reading.org/resources/podcasts/index.html

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Wikispaces Distributing Content

I did it, I can do it now!

I was trying to figure out how to contribute to the content of our wikispace, from this blog or other URLs I have subscribed to in http://www.igoogle.com/> google reader and http://www.bloglines.com/ yesterday.

However, I also wanted to find out how to contribute content on the wikispaces from a blog on which several people collaborated. So far only 2 of us collaborate on this blog. In order to attract more collaborators I will send invitations to friends from my contact list in gmail/ google talk. Here is how I did it:

  • On the right side of this post there is RSS (orange little square)
  • Click on that
  • A new page opens
  • Copy the URL address from the browser window
  • Go to the http://www.macned.wikispaces.com/, http://macnedstudents.wikispaces.com http://www.ide(a)cleadership.wikispaces.com/, ... or your own blog, wikispace, web site...
  • Sign in to the space
  • Click the edit this page button (right upper part of the window)
  • Open the widget menu
  • Select the RSS (orange little square)
  • Paste the address previously copied inside the URL text box
  • Save on the widgets window
  • Save on the space page
  • OUR CLASS (this blog's name) together with links to the previous post titles appears.

And that's all. This works with every other website/ blog that has the RSS support enabled. Check your google toolbar. I have created RSS from this blog on the Generation 3.0 http://www.macned.wikispace.com/.

Could you add to this please?


If you are interested to contribute content, comments, reflect, share experiences ask questions to this blog and the wikispaces, http://macned.wikispaces.com/ (for educators only) http://macnedstudents.wikispaces.com (for students)
  • Send a request (on a wikispace window);
  • Wait for your request to be approved by the organizers;
  • Type content to add in the space provided for you
  • If you have technical problems click on the help button (right upper corner)

Optional: Experiment how to add a link to an external link, add a new page, add an anchor (link on the same page), insert images, tables, videos, voice threads, podcasts, slide shows and distribute content from your blogs discussions with RSS feeds.

  • Remember, you contribute to the growth of the wiki by posting a question for discussion (right upper corner), participate in a discussion by replying to a question, or sharing your reactions to the previous discussion posts there.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Feed Burner Google Help

Distributing Content with RSS

..."Really Simple Syndication feeds have been growing in popularity with Web sites that produce written, audio and video content. Even if your Web site isn't in the business of publishing, RSS feeds offer a convenient way for readers to subscribe to corporate blogs, press releases, forum posts or newsletters, delivering any updates you publish almost immediately and maintaining traffic and stickiness to your site...

An RSS feed's function can be compared to a newspaper or magazine subscription, in the regularity of its delivery. But virtual subscribers don't need to fill out subscription forms with personal information, and content is often free. Once you have the RSS infrastructure set up on your end, a reader has to put forth very little effort to subscribe. Usually, it's a matter of clicking a button in their feed reader"....

Research Report: Media

If you are interested to design rubrics, this is the best place. It's free and user friendly.
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

Bellow is the rubrics I created with this tool:
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=1523247&

Monday, January 7, 2008

Easier Search on Internet

http://www.searchmash.com/

This is a Google experimental site for searching Internet. Try it out. Seems great. Type your name and see what this tool will find for you.

I tried it with my name and found things I published online a long time ago, however it doesn't show the posts without labels (right corner bellow).

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Collaborating with Google Docs Presentations

Monday, December 31, 2007

TEACHERS REFLECTIONS ON SOCIAL NETWORKING

If you haven’t read Ryan Bretag’s and Steve Hargadon’s posts on TechLearning about Students 2.0, they’re worth a read. And Steve’s podcast interview with Kevin, Sean, and Lindsey shows them at their wonderful best, in terms of both intelligence and personality.

http://beyond-school.org/2007/12/29/a-belated-reflection-on-the-students-20-experience/

Embeding Voicethreads on Wikispaces

This is what I wanted to find out for some time. As it explains it's a tool which has all the media at one place.

If it's a video, you can record your voice there. The only thing you need is a mike.
http://voicethread.com/about/featuring/

You can start from a scratch: power point presentations, images, videos...................

I will post a link to the voice thread on www.macned.wikispaces.com and www.idecideadc.wikispaces.com after I make it.

How to embed a widget on wikispaces?
widgets/html/copy/paste/preview/save

Easy!

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

5 PRINCIPLES FOR A GOOD SURVEY

1. FOCUS
The first principle for creating a good survey is FOCUS. Only by having specific objectives ahead of time, can you expect to obtain usable information from a survey. Those objectives drive the questions. In fact, every question should tie back to a specific objective.

2. CONNECTION
The second principle for creating a good survey is CONNECTION. The quality of the information you get from your survey depends how well you connect with your respondents. You can connect with your respondent by learning about those who will be taking your survey, by viewing each question from their perspective and even by talking to some potential respondents ahead of time!

3. RESPECT
The third principle for creating a good survey is RESPECT. Your survey should show respect for your respondent’s time. If you are trying to do too much, it shows and it will turn off your respondent. Make sure that you ask only relevant questions (the powerful features SurveyGizmo has for hiding and skipping questions are great!) and never ask for information you already know.

4. ACTION
The fourth principle for creating a good survey is ACTION. The only reason to do a survey is because you want to take some kind of action. That action usually means making a decision. It may be a decision to change the services you offer, build a park, not build a park or even start a company, but if you can’t touch on some action you don’t need to do a survey.

5. ENGAGEMENT
The fifth principle for creating a good survey is ENGAGEMENT. This principle sums up the other four. If you follow the first four principles the result will be an engaged respondent and that will mean better response rates and better information. You can further engage your respondents by offering to share a summary of your results with them and let them know what was done with the information they provided. That will keep them engaged and ready for your next survey!

TUTORIAL
http://www.surveygizmo.com/tutorials/?title=Creating_a_New_Survey

RECORD YOUR OWN PODCASTS

You’ve heard about podcasting—professional or homemade audio broadcasts available on the Internet—and you want to make your own. Before you start recording, you may want to check out the style and format of some popular podcasts.
iTunes 4.9 (or later) lets you find, subscribe, manage and listen to podcasts right in iTunes. With thousands of free podcasts—from favorites such as ABC News, Adam Curry, ESPN, KCRW and more—all organized by category, the new Podcast Directory puts on-demand radio at your fingertips.
Now it’s your turn to produce your own podcasts that share your witty and insightful thoughts (not to mention your born-for-radio voice) with the world. And you can record your own audio podcast with QuickTime 7 Pro, a microphone and your Windows PC.

Step 1
Open QuickTime 7 Pro on Windows. If you don’t have it, get QuickTime 7 Pro today.

Step 2
Check your recording preferences. Open the “QuickTime Player Preferences” from the Edit menu and select the recording tab. First, click the “Choose…” button next to Microphone to select the device you will use to record your podcast. Next, verify that the format is set to “AAC Audio (.m4a)” as this is required for compatibility with iPod. Last, choose the location where you would like your podcast to be saved. Click “Apply.”

Step 3
Choose “New Audio Recording” from the file menu. (Be sure your audio input device is connected.)

Step 4
Click the red Capture button and begin recording with your audio input device. Click the black Stop button when you’re done recording.

Step 5
Rename your file. The default name for your podcast will be “Audio.” If you would like to change the name simply select the file, click the right mouse button and choose “Rename” and name the file accordingly. Congratulations — you now have a file that is ready for publishing.

You can publish the exported file to the Internet as an enclosure on a blogging service, such as Blogger, and wrapped in a podcast-friendly RSS feed. (Please note: the audio file must be hosted on a web server such as .Mac.) RSS feed providers, such as FeedBurner, make it easy to create an RSS file from your blog.
Want to reach a potential audience of millions? Publish your podcast to iTunes Podcast Directory (subject to it being free of copyrighted or overtly explicit material). For inclusion in the iTunes Music Store, you’ll need to provide the link to the podcast RSS feed and all episodes within a podcast must be available as either AAC (.m4a) or MP3* audio enclosures.
Happy podcasting.

“Energy is our Future” School Competitions

All schools and organisations in charge of extra-curricular school activities can encourage students to submit entries to the “Energy is our Future” school competitions. The competitions are open to schools based in the European Union Member States, Candidate and EFTA Countries. We encourage teachers of sciences, languages, social sciences, art, and computer science to integrate the competition into their teaching plans.
Eligibility
Only the entries supported by a school or an organisation in charge of extra-curricular school activities will be taken into account, meaning that the entries must result from a classroom activity which is supervised and assisted by a teacher or by a group of teachers.
There is no limit to the number of entries that may be sent by a school.
Competition deadline
The deadline for submissions is 27 April 2008.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Let others help you correct your EFL essay

http://www.englishforums.com/English/EslEssayWritingWorld/Forum9.htm


...113 schools in 33 states and four countries reference ProCon.org content and concepts in their educational materials (that we know of, as of Dec. 7, 2007).

http://www.procon.org/intheclassroom.htm

http://anicap.slide.com



Friday, November 30, 2007

WIKISPACES



The -SHIFT is already happening.
The explosion started in 2005.



What are WIKISPACES?
They are

  • interactive, dynamic and do it yourself media.
  • new delivery methods of information and web content on Internet: very popular on Internet.
What are they for?-Social networking. The end user is a participant.

What's so good about them?
  • Freedom to collaborate and share content.
  • The businesses advertise services and products
  • life long learning
  • nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something
  • The space provided is free.
  • Business partners collaborate


Have a look at this Introduction to wikispaces

We sometimes feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.






Edublogging in Science Classes- Voicethreads

If you want to reply in a public way where others might also have an opportunity to share their views, there is this voicethread for you.

Please add your own as well directly on the voicethread or in the comments to this post.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

WIKI TOOLS

Hey check this site http://wiki.ittoolbox.com/index.php/Web2-wiki-project.

Video

How can I set up my YouTube account to post videos to my blog?

Using the "Share" button. You'll enter your Blogger information once, and from then on it's one-click sharing from any YouTube video page!


Presentations

Collaborate on Google Docs and http://www.igoogle.com, to produce presentations and spreadsheet.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Friday, November 23, 2007

News

We'll be looking forward to collaborating with you.

Thanks

Thursday, November 22, 2007

New project

Anica
We want to start a project on the topic, the influence of new technology on young peoples lifes. ( we can discuss the datails later). We want to use new technologies to collaborate ( weblog, skype, video, wiki, ..)
Two colleguas want to work with us: History and ..
Students form 2 classes : around 16 years of age.
Shall we start?
Jeroen C