There are lots of great tools for online collaboration but some are much quicker than others. One of those is Today’s Meet. Today’s Meet allows you to quickly create a room where you can have others contribute to a conversation. This works as a back channel or chat while you can be discussing something else. It can also work very well to take questions from a large class.
One feature which can be very helpful is the expiration date. Today’s Meet expires after a set time period making it great for use during an activity that you don’t need to archive. Finally, it works really well from portable devices like iPods, Android devices and other tablets.
There are lots of tools out there that allow you to do more with your TV. As the prices for large LED/LCD Televisions keeps coming down they are becoming a potential option for the classroom. they require less complex installations than projectors and also generally have a longer life. For those who don’t have a projector a large TV might work.
One of the things that you can do with these devices is stream media. There are several different devices out there including
Apple TV
Roku 2 (XS or HD)
A variety of Blu-Ray Players
Gaming Devices like: Xbox 360, Sony Playstation, Nintendo Wii
These devices allow you to connect to a Wi-Fi network and stream a variety of services: The most common are Hulu, Netflix and Pandora. The first two are video resources and the third is Audio. These devices can also sometimes be configured to play media from your computer. These types of devices then can be used to stream media you use in the classroom.
Web Address: http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/Home.aspx
Sometimes you learn about something, here about it a few times and then it falls out of your line of vision and your forget about it, at least that happens to me. The WorldWide Telescopes is just such a project. This tool allows users to experience everything from the very simplest and most basic interaction with the night sky to rich immersive planetarium events. There is a Windows Desktop Client and a rich Web client that allow you to experience and author tours of objects in space.
Through an Ambassadors program the WWT can become even more rich and useful in the classroom. You can find tours, find out how to get started and get Classroom Resources.
So take a peek at the night sky right from your computer!
Looking for a really good source of information about Ice Age fossils and creatures. The Page Museum is the official Museum associated with the Rancho La Brea Tarpits and you can find all kinds of useful and amazing things. One of the really great features is the Timeline.
There are lots of Apps out there that allow you to control your computer with your iPod, but one of my favorites comes from one of the best builders of mice on the planet. Logitech has long been a premier manufacturer of all kinds of computer pointing devices. The Touch Mouse App allows you to control your nearby computer through WiFi as long as you also install a small application on the computer.
If you haven’t seen it or heard about it. There has been some work going on behind the scenes. Recently the Utah Effective Teaching Standards. This list encompasses what is defined as effective teaching for teachers in Utah. The standards include three major aspects: The Learner and Learning, Instructional Practice, and Professional Responsibility.
Take a look at this list and see if there are some ideas for you for this year.
A while back I ran across a post about 20 Technology Skills that Every Teacher should Have It got me thinking? What are the top skills Utah teachers need and is it different. I think it is. Here’s my list
For the start of this year I thought I would kick things off with a great tool I have been using now for a few months. Google Tasks. It originally appeared in GoogleLabs as an add on to Gmail and then was added to Google
calendar and now it’s a full fledged feature. it is still attached to Gmail and Calendar, but you can also access it on Android phones, easily as a Web App on the Chrome store and in the Android Market place. If you are signed in to your Google account you can find your tasks in Gmail by clicking on the Mail Button in the upper left corner and then choosing Task.
It is also available as a calendar and when you turn it on in calendars it opens a pane on the right handside of your calendar and lets you schedule tasks to take place at a certain time. It has become my
replacement
for sticky notes and since it works on my Android phone it is literally everywhere with me.
Additionally you can access Tasks in any Browser including Safari on iOS devices by going to http://mail.google.com/tasks/ig
So plan your day, your week, your year. What’s your tech or educational New Year’s Resolution. Let us know in the comments.
Which were your favorites? what site do you find yourself going back to again and again? What kinds of sites would you like to learn about and know about. Leave your comments and let us know.
February 1, 2012 
Posted in Mitchell, Wednesday Web of the Week 
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