Add this to your Google Reader or Bloglines list

TipLine - Gates' Computer Tips - Another blog to watch for new technology and how-tos

From Jim Gates: "Each day during the school year I try to send out a computer tip or two. It's usually a website, but sometimes it's a news item or an Excel tip, etc. You can also find the archive of my tips going back to May of 2005. Please leave a comment to let me know you were here and what you thought of the tip."

Winner of a 2007 Edublog Award

Hands On Science in Nevada Schools

From Edutopia - Las Vegas: Environments
Thanks to imaginative teachers and active community support, science learning in Clark County, Nevada, has been enlivened with the establishment of two on-site learning environments -- a rain forest dome and a replica of a silver mine. Watch this short video about these innovative environments. http://www.edutopia.org/las-vegas-environments

Blogging from my phone

I got so excited this morning. I was reading an article (Moblogging in Schools) and a blog from an elementary teacher in England who is doing "moblogging" with his students and I wanted to try it for myself. Here on Blogspot, when you are on the Dashboard, you can follow the directions for mobile blogging. You can take a picture with your camera and/or text and send it to your blog. What a concept. I tried it and the post showed up blank, with only the date showing. More to learn here! I'll let you know when it works.

To Second Life and Beyond!

If you have never read Edutopia, here is a great article to start with. It particularly focuses on "Whyville, a web-based virtual world that provides inquiry-based education for middle school students." You can read it here: Get a Life: Students Collaborate in Simulated Rolls. You will probably even be able to open it at school! What a concept! Here's to more access.

Here's another article with a video about the further use of virtual reality at all levels of education and training. No Gamer Left Behind: Virtual Learning Goes to the Next Level. The video is fascinating.

Picture credit: Revolutionary Technology:
Students at Suffern Middle School, in Suffern, New York, created these avatars to represent characters from novels they read about the American Revolution. Credit: Courtesy of Suffern Middle School http://www.edutopia.org/second-life-virtual-reality-collaboration

Why Let Our Students Blog?

Several days ago Randy de Jong (fellow SLL2.0 team member) posted a question on the High School group on TeacherLibrarian Ning about getting permission to open blogs and wikis for use by students and teachers at his school. In one of the replies, there was a link to a wiki that included this video created by Rachael Boyd, a teacher in New Zealand. This is a great tool to use at any level of school.