Eclectic Technology

Dr. Seuss, the writer and illustrator behind children’s classics The Cat in the Hat, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and The Lorax, would have turned 110 on ...

On Oct. 6th I posted the first of this two part series that looks at Professional Education Learning Communities. In this post Gorman moves us to take steps in developing our PLC (personal learning community). What do you do?

Begin with Step 1 (quoting below):

* Start gathering resources...explore communities...find out what is out there!

How do we begin this step? Gorman suggests Twitter, and then goes on to describe what Twitter is (or is not) as well as sharing the first steps for those new to Twitter as well as a wide variety of resources. Let's move on to Step 2 (also quoted below):

* Explore the educational blogosphere

In the past many teachers relied on written materials, such as newsletters, magazines, papers, etc. to provide them with updated information...but today we have the Internet....which gives us blogs. Available 24/7 you can find blogs geared to specific interests (and who knows...perhaps you will begin one). Gorman shares how to search for a blog, locations of lists of award winning blogs, links to blogs he follows and much more to start you on this step of your journey. Onto Step 3:

* Discover professional on-line learing communities

Looking for communities that discuss "strategies essential to the common core" take the time to read this step where he provides links to ten resources that explore the Common Core from a variety of positions.

Step 4 is to conect to students PLN's and Step 5 shares how to discover virtual learning opportunities. Take the time to click through and expand you PLC options!

The last thing young people want is another set of rules. But these days, social media comes with great responsibility.

The 12 items listed (with explanations) may provide students with an understanding that using social media irresponsibly may have a long term impact on their eduction and career. A few of the items discussed in the article include (and place do not in front of each):

* Post Illegal Activities

* Bully

* Post Confidential Information

* Lie/Cheat/Plagiarize

Check out the article for an additional eight items.

Have you wondered about relationships between various Internet entitities? The Internet Map is an amazing look at "350,000 websites based on their popularity and relativity." You can look at the mega-sites or the small ones that surround the large ones. The designer of this map, Rusian Enikeev said "The Internet map is a bi-dimensional presentation of links between websites on the Internet. Every site is a circle on the map, and its size is determined by website traffic, the larger the amount of traffic, the bigger the circle..."

To go directly to the map: http://internet-map.net/.

"Data never sleeps. Every minute massive amounts of it are being generated from every phone, website and application across the Internet. Just how much data is being created and where does it come from?"
Check out this infographic for more information.

"Twitter may have started off as a fun social media site for keeping up with friends and sharing updates about daily life, but it’s become much more than that for many users over the past few years as the site has evolved and grown...Whether you’re an academic or just interested in building your Twitter profile, keep reading to learn some tips and tricks that can help you take the first steps towards using Twitter for coursework, research, building a professional network, and beyond."

A while ago Edudemic published their 2012 A-Z Guide to Twitter Hashtags. This is a great resource, and now there is a new way to view it thanks to Online Courses. Check out this infographic that lets you know the most popular educational hashtags. They are categorized by color into: education, most popular according to Edudemic, technology, Higher Ed, subject specific, specific areas/roles and K-12.

Between the cat images and celebrity garbage the Internet actually manages to boast educational potential. Considerable educational potential, in fact.

A list of 28 ways to use Twitter in the classroom provides ideas that could be used in many grade levels although all ideas are not appropriate for all grade levels.

An infographic that looks at how technology is used from an early age through college. It begins with looking at how many children can "operate a computer mouse" between the ages of 2 - 5 and finishes with looking at students use of social media, with quite a few stops in between.

Tom Barrett has once again put together an "Interesting Ways" presentation. This one provides 36 ways (and tips) to use Twitter in your classroom. Quite a few folks have provided ways they use Twitter with their students, so if you are thinking of using Twitter this presentation is worth checking out.

Do you use Google+, Facebook or Twitter? If so, you may be interested in the 12 Cheat Sheets that cover many shortcuts. For Google you will find: Google+ Cheat Sheet,Photostream Cheat Sheet and Complete Google+ Cheat Sheet. For Facebook you will find: Facebook Size and Dimensions Cheat Sheet, Facebook for Newbies Cheat Sheet and Facebook Shortcuts Cheat Sheet. For Twitter you will find: Complete Twitter Cheat Sheet, Twitter Newbies' Cheat Sheet and Manners Cheat Sheet. There are 3 for General Social Media Cheat Sheets: Blocking Cheat Sheet, What's Not Allowed Where (Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Linkin, Quora and Reddit) and Social Media Keyboard Shortcuts (Twitter, Google+, Facebook).

"Sharing is the basis of social media, and it can be a beautiful thing. Keeping up with family and friends as kids grow, relationships become marriages and adventures are had — social media can be tons of fun and helps us feel connected to one another.

But when does all that sharing become too much? And when can what you share online actually become dangerous?" 
Check out this infographic to learn more about what people share online and how this may may cross "the line of good judgement."

"...the Twitter Spectrum offers 25 different ways teachers can incorporate Twitter into the classroom.

It is organized by the categories WATCH (easiest degree of difficulty, TALK (moderate), and PRODUCE (highest degree of difficulty). We did our best to put each box in the appropriate place. Therefore, some of them are in between different degrees of difficulty, etc."

"Is there any value in a Slacktivist? Can 500,000 people on twitter actually change something? Is hitting the streets and protesting the only real way to cause social change? Sortable takes a look at the rise of slacktivism, and the power this movement has."