To parent, educator, and graduate student Seann Dikkers, videogaming is a great parenting, teaching, and learning tool. A teacher for 10 years and school administrator for four, Dikkers is now working on his PhD in education, and he says in his site, GamingMatter.com, that the PhD part is his students' fault because they "were the first to ‘get it’ and point him toward games as a means to … [Read more...] about A parent & educator on what gaming can teach
education technology
Second Life 101 for teachers, parents
What a service University of Westminster in London provides! Even watching a little bit of this video tutorial can answer a lot of questions about what virtual worlds are like – whether you're curious about what (non-cartoony) avatars look like, want to set up an account and get started with professional development, or want to learn how to build a virtual chair or house. It's narrated in a lovely … [Read more...] about Second Life 101 for teachers, parents
Snapshot of how mobile the social Web is
Clearly, mobile phones are a growing sector of the social Web. More and more people are accessing social sites with their phones. Here – from social-media research firm Flowtown – are graphical, at-a-glance views of the growth of phone-based access; what portion of Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter users use the sites with their phones; and what activities engage them while in the sites on their … [Read more...] about Snapshot of how mobile the social Web is
Social media in school more – yes!
"Just a few years ago, social networking meant little more to educators than the headache of determining whether to penalize students for inappropriate activities captured on Facebook or MySpace. Now," Education Week reports, "teachers and students have a vast array of social-networking sites and tools – from Ning to VoiceThread and Second Life – to draw on for such serious uses as professional … [Read more...] about Social media in school more – yes!
What social media in school looks like
If any parents think social media in the classroom sounds absolutely crazy, watch this video. In a little over 3 minutes, a student explains how her "paperless" 7th grade science class uses blogging, online games, Google docs, videoconferencing with scientists in the "real world," social notetaking, and a digital poster tool for posting text, photos, and video in a Web page (the digital poster's … [Read more...] about What social media in school looks like