Google launches Google Connected Classrooms with Virtual Field Trips

Google just announced Google Connected Classrooms, which allows classes to take virtual field trips using Google+ Hangouts. 

Field Trip locations include the Seattle Aquarium, Minnesota Zoo, American Museum of Natural History, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and more. More trips are coming also. 

The field trips are live hosted events, but past events are archived and can be viewed later. Teachers can also work together on plans and activities. 

This is a great resource for teachers and students to be able to learn and explore without ever leaving the classroom. 

Read More

Google Maps goes Underwater! Explore the Great Barrier Reef

Google Maps is a great resource for more than just finding your way around. It includes street view, inside building views and panoramic views, along with other resources that make it great for education. Take virtual field trips around the world and take virtual trips to museums.

Google has just announced a new set of panoramas in Google Maps - The Great Barrier Reef. I'm a SCUBA diver and the Great Barrier Reef is a place I'd love to dive. But, I have a back injury and can't dive for a while, so this is very exciting for me.

You can now explore coral reefs in Australia, the Philippines and Hawaii. You can find fish, sea turtles, manta rays, and much more. There is also more information about the reef at the World Wonders Project. Teachers and students can explore this awesome underwater world and learn more about the habitat and species living there.

Google also has a complete underwater collection, featuring a Google+ underwater Hangout from the Great Barrier Reef.

Check out the interactive map and video below.

Related:

More great resources and information about Google Maps in Education. 
(indoor maps, wonders of the world, virtual field trips, and much more.)

Google for Education Resources
(all kinds of great resources, tips, and ideas for using a variety of Google apps and resources in education)

Source: The Official Google Blog

Read More

DEN Virtual Conference Live is Oct 20th - free!

Discovery Education is once again hosting a fall, online, free virtual conference for educators. These are great events and a great way to get some free PD and resources.

 

October 20th, 2012.  9am-4pm ET

Register now!

I’m sure at this point you’re wondering what the BIG changes are.  Let me break it down for you.

• More LIVE: Every session will be live-streamed.  This means that you’ll see full video feeds of every presenter throughout the day!
• More keynotes: We’ve added one more keynote to the agenda.  Keynotes will be at 9am, 12pm and 3pm ET.
• More sessions: Each concurrent slot (10am, 11am, 1pm, 2pm ET) will have up to 5 sessions being broadcast for you to pick and choose between.
• More Face 2 Face events: As of today, we already have 14 F2F events to choose from, with more coming!  Even better, we’ve made it easier than ever for ANYBODY to host their own F2F event.  You put it together, large or small, and DiscoveryEd will provide lunch for your attendees!
• More presenters: We want YOU to present at the Fall VirtCon LIVE!  The Call for Proposals is open now,visit the conference page to learn how to submit.
• More ways to get involved: Attend online, attend F2F, present a session, host an event, share the event with colleagues…  Whatever your comfort level, there are a slew of ways for you to join in the fun!

Fourteen Face 2 Face events already, up to 23 sessions to attend, and every single session LIVE streamed out…  This is looking to be the best Virtual Conference yet!!

And what’s the cost for this incredible day??  FREE.  And as I mentioned, if you choose to host a F2F event, we’ll even spring for lunch!

As always, while costumes aren’t required, they are certainly encouraged.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we even had some giveaways in the ol’ prize closet for the best costumes of the day!  Bonus points for incorporating a Discovery theme 

So what are you waiting for?  Visit http://lanyrd.com/2012/denvirtcon/ to register! 

 And while you’re there, check out where the F2F events will be, considering hosting your own or submitting a presentation proposal, and SHARE it out with your colleagues!

Read More

Virtual Summer Camp for Teachers - on demand learning for educators

The 4th Annual Virtual Summer Camp for Teachers is now available. It is being hosted through Learni.st.

The Virtual Summer Camp for Teachers provides on-demand, anytime learning for educators. The summer camp is organized by topic areas, which include: Common Core Resources, Essential Apps for Educators, Webinar and Online PD opportunities, Virtual Crafts, and even a mess hall with food and recipe ideas.

On July 24th there will be a live component ASCD Webinar. You can register for this free webinar here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/873801905

Materials from the previous three Virtual Summer Camps are available also:

Virtual Summer Camp Year 1
Virtual Summer Camp Year 2
Virtual Summer Camp Year 3

So, go camping this summer and learn some new things for next year: http://learni.st/users/MikeFisher/boards/1950-virtual-summer-camp-for-teachers-2012


Source: http://digigogy.com

Related:

EdCamp CT is Aug 10th. I'm going. Are you? You should be! (and if you can't be there in person, follow along on Twitter)

Read More

Conceptboard - visual collaboration on ideas and documents

I just found out about Conceptboard, a cool visual collaboration tool, from the company itself. Conceptboard is a cloud-based service that works on PCs, laptops, tablets, and more. It is basically on online whiteboard that allows you to create, review and discuss ideas and concepts and you can even upload a document (PDF, PPT, Doc, images) and share, comment, and work on also. You can also just draw and write on it.

It features real-time, and asynchronous collaboration. You can work with other people in real-time, or people can access the work space at different times and comment and work on the project. There is a moderation mode that allows you to use it as a screen cast and presentation tool and there is also a video conferencing tool.

Here is an example of one with a screen shot of my blog with annotations and highlights on it.

There is a free personal account available, as well as educational accounts for schools. Here are some more examples:




 





This is a great tool for collaborative work groups, projects, and more. http://www.conceptboard.com/



Related:

Dabbleboard - virtual whiteboard for online collaboration

Cosketch - online virtual white board you can share with others

Scribblar - online whiteboard

Twiddla - free online team whiteboarding and collaborating

Board800 - web based Interactive Whiteboard
Great Web 2.0 Resources for Students

Read More

EdmodoCon 2012 - free online educational conference Aug 8th

EdumodoCon is a free, online professional development conference being held on Wednesday, August 8th, 2012. Throughout the day, teachers will share ways they are using Edmodo and other digital tools in the classroom. It is scheduled for 10:00am - 9:00pm ET (GMT -5).

If you are interested in presenting, go to the Call for Presenters site.

You can register for the conference, for free, here.

Edmodo is a great resource for teachers and students, providing a secure social learning network for classes. Teachers can host online discussions, share resources, and assign work to students.



Related:

22 Great Tips on using Edmodo in the classroom

5 Great course management resources for educators

Which Social Network should you use? Infographic on which to use when.

Some more great Android Apps for Education (including Edmodo app)

Read More

Tours from Above - free, virtual aerial tours of the world

Tours from Above is a very cool site that has free, virtual aerial tours of different locations around the world. Tours include Central London, Central Park in NYC, and locations in Spain, Australia, Rio, England and the US. You can search the tours, or browse through them.

You drag your mouse to move around and scroll to zoom in and out.

They are high quality images and are a fun way to explore the world.

It is a great resource for education, allowing students and teachers to virtually visit and explore new places.

Read More

Tech Forum Live Online is tomorrow - free streaming of Tech Forum Chicago

Tech Forum is Doing It Live! (free online) Again!




Join us tomorrow, Friday, May 4 to Tech Forum Live Online, Tech & Learning's live broadcast stream direct from Tech Forum Chicago. Join this preeminent group of education leaders as they tackle some of the most pressing, and promising, issues for today's schools. Watch both sessions as they happen and even participate with a live chat session.

The schedule includes:


• The Flipped Classroom in Action: What is it, How do you Manage it, and Should you Support it? - 9:45-11:00 am
Presenters: Jon Bergmann with Justyna Kalinowska, Allison Drew, Elisabeth Lebris and Robert Bialk
The Flipped Classroom has become a buzzword in recent education news. Is it a viable and effective option for delivering instruction? Is it too burdensome for school technology staff? Join the staff of the Joseph Sears School as they provide a background on the flipped class; then hear from teachers and technology staff who have been involved in implementing this new model of teaching and learning.

• Understanding the Challenges and Opportunities of Emerging Learning Environments - 2:15-3:30 pm
Presenters: David Jakes (moderator), Jon Bergmann, Dean Shareski and Jennie Magiera
Join us for a lively discussion on topics ranging from the pros and cons of digital textbooks to the disruptive impact of mobile computing, online learning, social networking, and the flipped classroom. David Jakes will challenge panelists to share their thoughts about the issues and opportunities that arise as we evolve from the traditional classroom to anytime, anyplace, any path learning spaces. Then it's your turn -- to weigh in, ask questions, and engage with virtual audience members who'll be tapping into this session.

Simply visit this link during those times, tune in and participate. You can submit questions to the presenters using the Livestream chat feature or by tweeting:#TLTF12. It's the next best thing to being there!



Tech and Learning Magazine is an excellent, free resource, for educators.

Read More

Free Online Education Conference April 25 - 26 2012 - great opportunity for PD

SimpleK12, a great resource for educators, is sponsoring a great free online Education Conference Wednesday, April 25th - Thursday, April 26th, 2012. Topics include Google Earth and Maps, Free Web Tools, Google Plus, Social Networking, Blogging, Student Projects, iPads in Education, Digital Writing, Curation, and much more. The conference runs for 24 hours so you can attend at anytime, from anywhere.

Learn something new without the need for travel or money.


(And don't forget that the Social Learning Summit - free virtual conference is April 21, 2012 )


View a full list of topics and register here: http://simplek12.com/tlc/webinars/#OEC


Conference Flyer:

Related:

Social Learning Summit - free virtual conference April 21, 2012

Read More

Google Art Project Expanded to over 30,000 images and 46 museums

The Google Art Project is a great resource for students and educators that I reviewed last year. It was originally a small collection of artwork from museums set up as a virtual art museum, where you could take virtual tours and even create your own "collections of art." It has now been expanded to include paintings, sculpture, street art and photographs from 151 museums in 40 countries.

The original Art Project was 17 museums, in 9 countries, with 1,000 images, mainly paintings. The new expansion brings the Art Project up to over 30,000 hi-res images and even Street View images for 46 museums from around the world.

Here are some of the new features:

• Using completely new tools, called Explore and Discover, you can find artworks by period, artist or type of artwork, displaying works from different museums around the world.
• Google+ and Hangouts are integrated on the site, enabling you to create even more engaging personal galleries.
• Street View images are now displayed in finer quality. A specially designed Street View “trolley” took 360-degree images of the interior of selected galleries which were then stitched together, enabling smooth navigation of more than 385 rooms within the museums. You can also explore the gallery interiors directly from withinStreet View in Google Maps.
• We now have 46 artworks available with our “gigapixel” photo capturing technology, photographed in extraordinary detail using super high resolution so you can study details of the brushwork and patina that would be impossible to see with the naked eye.
• An enhanced My Gallery feature lets you select any of the 30,000 artworks—along with your favorite details—to build your own personalized gallery. You can add comments to each painting and share the whole collection with friends and family. (It’s an ideal tool for students.) 

Here is a video on how to use the Art Project site:

For more information and future developments, follow the Art Project on Google+

This is a great resource for students and educators. Image being able to view such incredible works of arts and museums right from your classroom without the hassle and cost of airfare, TSA security, buses, cabbies, and the like! There is even an Education section on the site.

Read More