A rubric for Assessing Blog Entries

This is an example of a rubric that can be used to assess blog entries. It was created using the rubric generator from rubistar. Blog Rubric Final ALopez

Creating a Blog for Educational Purposes

This weekend I am working with a group of elementary teachers offering professional development in the use of technology for educational purposes. One of the goals is to help them in the creation of a blog that they will use for education purposes. It will also be used as a way of establishing and maintaining both a learning community and a space for dialogue to be use with students and parents. Today we worked on creating electronic instructional modules with MS Power Point. Tomorrow we will be working with blogs and next Saturday we will be working with the creation of an online course using Edu 2.0. I will keep you posted on how it goes.

Wordle

I am currently a participant at the NYU Faculty Resource Network Seminar, New Technologies for Teaching and Learning. We started on Monday, June 13 and will end Friday, June 17. We have covered many topics and today we are playing with Wordle, an online application that will enable you to create word clouds. This is an open source program and the product is really cool. I will include an example of the Wordle that resulted from my seminar notes up to now. It helps us see the themes that were covered in my notes. Students can similarly use this tool to take a close look at their writing and see the themes they have covered in their writing.

Reconnecting to my blog on Web 2.0

I have been very busy and away from my blog. I am back now and hope to be able to continue adding some new and useful online tools for you to use.

Animoto as an Introduction to Digital Storytelling

Animoto is another Web 2.0 tool available online that will allow you to create mutlimedia clips integrating pictures, text, music and sound. It is very easy and fun. I invite you to try it. :)

Ning is awesome!

Social networking is not new. Many persons are participating of popular social networking sites such as My Space and FaceBook. So what is the big deal about Ning? It allows you to create your own personal social network site where you decide who is allowed to join thus creating a safe environment for collaboration. This will be of special interest to educators since Ning allows for students to be able to virtually network with their peers in a hazard free site. I found that creating my page was very easy and fun. Students will enjoy having this private space on-line to interact with their teachers and classmates. I invite you to check out Ning and create your own network. Then come back and leave me a comment about your experience. http://www.ning.com

This is the new me!