Google Wave

Google has recently added Google Wave to the Educational Domain Apps...take a look at the possibilities.

To get started Waving in our Domain go to https://wave.google.com/a/student.u32.org/

Like email on steroids, here are some links to how this tools is used in schools:

Ten Tips for using Google Wave from Learning Today:

Educator's Ning 

U-32 Google Domain

This past year was a pilot of sorts in deploying our U-32 Google Domain, starting with a few classes primarily in the middle school we began introducing teachers and students to the many apps available. What I found was that it's a slow process introducing it one teacher/class at a time and that there are so many tools within the Google Domain that it can be overwhelming. Finding a piece that will fill an immediate need is essential and "Documents" seems to be a good way to begin. Having students create or upload word documents to their "Documents" is relatively easy and begins the process of understanding the Google sharing and management tools. One step at a time...we can move to sites, mail, calendar, groups, and how they interrelate. I'm excited to hear that next year Google will be adding new apps, including Picasa (photo manager/editor) and Blogger. As we deploy this tool district wide, I think it's important to provide various venues for professional development and training.

Tips for using Google Docs

Two tips for using Google Docs:

1. A new Google Document Editor was launched which offers many improvements over the older editor. For example, you can now simply select the line space button on the top menu and change from single spacing to double spacing, drag the margin guidelines to move your right or left margins,  or drag and drop an image, etc... To enable your new settings you must go to "Document Settings" in the upper right corner of your Docs and select "Editing" and check off "Create new text document using the latest version of document editor". The following is a video that illustrates these changes.
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_hJ3R8jEZM
2. Using Google Docs for Science and Math...a recent posting in David Wetzel's Blog Teach Science and Math

2010 Horizon Report

This is one report that I look forward to each year, great research and a vision of where schools are (should be) going. 2010 Horizon Report
key words...empowering, play, learn, socialize, and collaborate...value of innovation and creativity 

We have begun using some of the innovations from the "short list"  Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less

Cloud ComputingElectronic BooksSocial ComputingSocial Media

Technology in the Classroom Workshop

I'm offering a hands-on workshop to all Washington Central SU educators on June 23rd and 24th with follow-up in the fall. Technology in the Classroom.

PhotoPeach

I've used several photo slideshow tools but today I am enamored with PhotoPeach. It's easy to use, creating engaging slideshows in minutes fully integrated with both Flickr or Picasa Photo Albums and offers several options for audio. I was able to create a simple slideshow in 30 seconds.
DNA on PhotoPeach Spiral Version

DNA on PhotoPeach Story Version