An Article To Read

A colleague at work sent this NYTimes article out. It doesn't connect to technology, but it certainly related to our broad discussion. Check it out...

Website Number Three

Julia's reference to the BBC in class reminded me of a site we used school-wide last year. During the weeks leading up to the 10th grade MCA-II Reading Test, we needed to help students review. The block schedule means that some students take English in the fall & winter terms, so by April they can be a bit rusty. Our Reading Specialist found the BBC Skillswise site, which has "factsheets, worksheets, quizzes and games to help improve your [English and maths] skills." 

• It is simply, yet interactive. 
• It can be used by the whole class via an LCD projector, or students can spend time working on their own. 

As I haven't used the popular Study Island software, I don't know if this site would be "up to snuff" in comparison, but I like it. Besides, it exposes kids to the fact that education standards are global, not local. It also, at least for English, shows students that vocabulary (math vs. maths) and spelling vary from region to region. They need to use context clues to understand language in all settings, not just in the classroom.

A Related Book

Do a quick Google search for Clay Shirky's book Here Comes Everybody. I read a short review of it in this month's edition of Wired today, and it sounded right up our alley. Check it out!

Website Number Two

As I researched my project topic, I came upon tinyurl.com, which appears potentially useful. If you're teaching a lesson in a lab and want students to go to a specific site, you could create a shorter address for them to type. Granted, I tend to send my kids to my (teacher) homepage and then click on the link I previously added. This site is very limited in its information, which makes it seem less credible. All of the links on the side of the page are for the single page that you could scroll through. Other than the contact button, none link to a new page. Furthermore, as more people use it, the "short" URLs will become longer and more random. This presents clarity issues: my new address contained a z, k, e and s--all hard sounds to clearly communicate aloud to a group. I'm not sure that I'll find a direct use for this in the classroom, but it does bring up some ideas. We'll see....

UPDATE 7 April: I received a Tiny URL link from my tech. staff at work today! People are using this handy, if random, site!