Messenger Kids is a video calling and messaging app from Facebook. It’s recently become available in many countries worldwide, but is it right for your child or students? Let’s weigh up the pros and cons.
connections
Teaming Up For International Dot Day
International Dot Day is coming up around September 15. Find out how you can get involved with your students and learn what I’m doing to connect and celebrate the day. I also share 5 steps to starting your own team blogging project.
How To Connect with Other Classes Around the World Through Blogging
Global competency is a must for our students! This post outlines dos and don’ts for teachers looking to connect their students with other classes around the world through blogging.
Fun and Games
So many rewards can come out of connections made through blogging and global collaboration. I love watching my students learn about literacy, maths, geography, technology, history and all sorts of things about life around the world with their blogging buddies. It is such an authentic and memorable way to learn. Last November when we were […]
Our World, Our Stories
Next week, my class will be joining in with many of their “blogging buddies” from around the world in a new global project. This project is called Our World, Our Stories and the blog http://ourworldourstories.edublogs.org/ will be our central meeting place. After months of planning, we look forward to launching this seven week project on […]
Skype in the Classroom
As I have blogged about many times in the past I love to flatten my classroom walls and collaborate globally with my students. I have found Skype to be a wonderful tool for collaboration. It is easy, free and has countless uses. Skyping can bring learning to life! In my grade two class we have […]
QuadBlogging
Update: David Mitchell launched the official QuadBlogging site in June 2011. Click here to find it. This is the place to go to sign up for quad blogging and find out all about it. **** If you’re on Twitter you may have heard the term QuadBlogging being thrown around lately. I first heard about it […]
Ugandan Global Project Update
As I have previously blogged about here and here, my grade two class has been working with five other classes around the world on a Ugandan Global Project. We worked on a blog together to learn about Uganda and the nationalities involved, and completed a run/walk fundraiser to raise money for the ABC Divine Foundation […]
Ugandan Global Project: Part Two
Last week, I blogged about the Ugandan Global Project which we launched today. Read the Part One post here. Mrs Yollis and her students made this fantastic video to launch the project. Mission To raise the social conscience and global awareness of our students through fundraising for The ABC Divine Foundation Primary School in Mutundwe, […]
Ugandan Global Project: Part One
The school holidays are almost over here in Victoria and on Monday I’m launching an exciting new global project. As I have previously blogged about, I have found global projects to be one of the richest ways to use technology in the classroom. My class has collaborated globally with others both informally and in a […]
Why Schools are Spooked by Social Media
I was pleased I was listening to ABC Radio Melbourne this morning when I heard the next segment was going to be about social media in schools. While I braced myself for a flood of ill informed callers harping on the negatives of Facebook and the like I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. Denis […]
Global Collaborative Projects
One of the richest ways you can use technology in the classroom is to collaborate globally. I am becoming a big fan of global collaborations and the projects my Grade Two students work on are proving to be powerful learning experiences. Global collaboration provides authentic learning opportunities that help students learn about another culture while […]
Bringing Learning to Life with Technology
This term my Grade Two class is learning about Aboriginal Australia. In the past, I have taught this topic in a fairly standard way – books and worksheets combined with a few online resources. While the students were interested in the topic, I believe the whole concept of Aboriginal culture remained a fairly abstract topic […]
Global Connections
My class blog has been a central part of our classroom this year for reflecting on and publishing student work while celebrating the students’ achievements in their Grade Two year. Making global connections has been one of the most rewarding parts of the blogging experience for me and my class. Two particularly worthwhile connections we […]