Technology+Blogs

=**Beth's Thoughts on Technology in the Classroom**= This blog is written by Beth Knittle, a former middle school teacher who left the classroom to become a K-12 Technology Integration Specialist for a large district in Massachusetts. The main focus of her blog is to share the information that the she learns in attending conferences and her thoughts on new technology. This blog does not focus on actually integrating technology in the classroom, but is more so a place to voice thoughts and concerns about technology. There are many people that follow the blog and it seems to be a supportive community to voice concerns and new ideas. Overall, the site itself is hard to navigate because there is a lot of information and links on the homepage. If you can get past the overwhelming first page, then there is some good information to be found. Submitted and Rated by J. Lukey
 * []**
 * //Overall rating: [[image:Star.gif width="35" height="37"]][[image:Star.gif width="35" height="37"]]//**

=**Classroom 2.0**= []

This site is an award winning social network for eduators interested in Web 2.0 and Social Media in education. The site offers special-interest groups that you can join to share ideas that you may have in common with other educators. This site not only offers ideas for social networking and Web 2.0 in the classroom, it also offers videos and podcasting from members on how to best use these technologies into the classroom.

I give this site a rating of. Navigation is easy, site is user friendly with tutorials and members willing to help. Content is relevant and specific to education.

Cool Cat Teacher
A classroom teacher, Vicki Davis, created this blog. She is a strong advocate for technology use in schools and uses her blog as a place for other educators to share their uses for technology in the classroom. She also shares interesting topics for discussion such as �cell phone use in schools.� This post was followed with several comments from her followers. Davis shares links to online projects for teachers to use with their students. However, the projects seem to be more targeted for middle school/ high school students. Her blog also contains suggested literature for educators interested in additional resources. This site is clearly organized and very user-friendly. It serves as a great resource for teachers wanting to explore technology use in schools. Submitted and rated by M. Kipila
 * http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/ **
 * Overall Rating** [[image:Star.gif width="35" height="37"]][[image:Star.gif width="35" height="37"]][[image:Star.gif width="35" height="37"]][[image:Star.gif width="35" height="37"]]

Experience Math and Science with gizmos
[] This site offers interactive simulation that makes key concepts easier to understand and fun to learn. It targets higher-order thinking skills and promotes conceptual learning. It is user friendly, easy to use and covers most of the topics. After each topic covered students have [|assessment] with [|real-time reporting]. This is a software for purchase but offers a short time free trial online. I have gotten positive reviews on its usage and effectiveness from colleagues who has used it.

Overall Rating: Submitted and rated by k-yian.kong

**Free Technology for Teachers**
[] __**Rating 1:**__ This site is intended more for the educator who is beginning to use technology. It offers tutorials on how to create blogs, websites, and creating videos for classroom use. The site also offers many free technology resources for educators.

I give this site a rating of. The content is easy to understand. Navigation is easy, site is user friendly. Great site for beinners in education.

__**Rating 2:**__ This blog is written by Richard Byrne who is a full time Social Studies teacher who also works on helping fellow peers incorporate technology in their classrooms. This blog does offer some ideas for lessons (mostly Social Studies related), but the main focus of the blog is giving readers access to videos or tutorials on how to use or implement new technology. The author does the leg work for the reader; he finds the resources needed for a novice to learn how to handle new technology. All of the resources posted are free and easily navigated. Submitted and Rated by J.Lukey
 * //Overall Rating: [[image:Star.gif width="35" height="37"]][[image:Star.gif width="35" height="37"]][[image:Star.gif width="35" height="37"]]//**

Indiana Ave. School
[] This site was created by the Principal of my school. He created the site as a way for teahers and faculty to communicate and post ideas, strategies, suggestions, comments, obstacles, achievements, interests, etc. Not only is this blog for school employees but for parents and other district employes as well. Our Principal gives us professional development hours for contributing to the blog. The particular blog that I posted on was regarding GoogleDocs. I found this interesting because it is a great way to incorporate technology into the classroom. The presentation on GoogleDocs have some great ideas on how to incorporate them into the classroom.

I give this site a rating of

 ﻿ Submitted and rated by Jessica Korsu

Langwitches
This blog is created by, Silvia Rosenthal, a former teacher. She currently travels to different schools to give presentations on global learning and technology integration. She has several content areas posted that include lesson ideas. Under her portfolio tab, she has shared slide shows of her presentations. While watching one, I found another link to another blog entitled, �Teddy Bears Around the World.� (If you teach culture/map skills and you�re a primary school teacher, check it out!) I found this recommendation extremely appropriate for my students. Overall, this site is use-friendly and offers helpful resources to a range of grade levels. Unfortunately, it looks like this site has not been updated in a very long time. Overall Rating: Submitted and rated by M. Kipila
 * http://langwitches.org/blog/about/ **

MpReflection
[] This blog is written by Michelle, a community college teacher. She is currently the Coordinator of the [|@One Online Teaching Certification] program, teaching Building Online Community with Social Media and Introduction to Online Teaching and Learning for [|@One], guest blogging for Cisco's [|GETideas.org], and other presentations. This blog hosts current issues in the field of teaching, discussion topics and teaching resources. It loads rather fast and the information is current. Overall Rating: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Submitted and rated by k-yian.kong

**Tech & Learning**
[] This site contains everything an educator needs to help their students become a better 21st Century Learner. The blogs offer information on all the different types of technology available for the classroom. It also includes great ideas for how to effectively implement the technology in the classroom. This site is not bias, it offers both the pros and cons for different types of technology. This site is not just a blog. It provides such links as best practices, webinars, along with videos. I give this site a rating of. The content is excellent. Navigation is not the easiest.There is too much advertisement throughout the site that distracts from the content.