OACHE PLN Webinar Series
In this series of FREE webinars sponsored by OACHE, you will learn to set up your own PLN (Personal Learning Network). In the K-12 classroom, it's all too easy to become isolated and lose touch with your peers and other professionals. We'll show you how to get (and stay) connected with a very dynamic personal learning network.
This series of webinars was recorded and can now be found at Ohio on iTunes U. You will need to have iTunes installed for the the link to work.
Microblogging with Twitter 4/21/09
Twitter is a free social messaging utility for staying connected in real-time. It allows you to build a quick and easy network for staying connected to other teachers and professionals in your field. You can spend as little or as much time as you like, and you'll be amazed at what you will learn from your Twitter community!
Twitter Resources
- Twitter Home - Sign up for an account
- The Ultimate Guide to Everything Twitter
- Twitter Handbook for Teachers
- K-3 Teacher's Guide to Twitter
- Peggy's Twitter Home
- Wesley Fryer's Twitter Home
- Will Richardson's Twitter Home
- David Warlick's Twitter Home
- David Pogue's Twitter Home
- WeFollow - find people to follow
- TwitterFox
Photo Sharing with Flickr 4/28/09
Flickr is an online photo management and sharing application. You can organize, share with family and friends, add notes and comments and much more. Flickr is a great way to share classroom activities with parents and community and an invaluable way to connect your visual learners to an authentic audience.
Flickr Resources
- Flickr - Sign up for an account
- Flickr Help / FAQ
- Motivating Language Learners with Flickr
- Project Based Learning Group on Flickr
- Photo-A-Day Group for Schools
- Tracking Down Educators Who Use Flickr
- Curricular Applications: Flickr
Some more cool stuff:
- Cool Iris - plugin for Firefox
- Multicolr Search Lab - find Flickr images by color
- FlickrStorm - find and download Creative Commons licensed photos on Flickr
- Appalachian Counties in Ohio - Flickr Group
Flickr: The Commons 5/5/09
Even if you don't have a Flickr account yourself, you will find a wealth of images that you can use in your classroom on The Commons. From the Library of Congress to the Smithsonian, see what's out there!
Resources for "The Commons"
- The Commons on Flickr
- Then and Now Pool on Flickr
- New York Then and Now - Google Maps Street View Mashup with The Commons
- The Flickr Commons group
- Indicommons
- The Commons Institution List
Creative Commons Licensing 5/12/09
Find pictures to use in your classroom that are licensed with a Creative Commons license. It's a fabulous resource (more than 100 million photos) that will take the worry out of copyright issues and it will allow you to teach your students about copyright.
Resources for "Creative Commons"
- Alvin Trusty's eTech Presentation
- Creative Commons Web Site
- Creative Commons Wiki
- Creative Commons in K-12 Education: Using and Sharing Students' Work Safely
- Creative Commons for Teachers
- CCLearn
- About the Licenses
- FlickrStorm
RSS: Choose Your News 5/19/09
In this session, we'll explore using Bloglines to aggregate current web content into one central location so that you can quickly scan headlines from sites and information sources of your own choosing. Stay up-to-date with a quick glance with the option to explore the details.
Resources for "RSS: Choose Your News"
- What is RSS
- RSS: The Next Killer App For Education
- Introduction to RSS
- Bloglines
- Google Reader
- Other RSS Aggregators
- The Education Podcast Network
- Scientific American Podcasts
- Educational Blogs You Should Be Investigating
- 20 Blogs I Wish Were Around When I Started Teaching
- 100 Most Inspiring and Innovative Blogs for Educators
- DailyLit
- Peggy's Subsriptions
Social Bookmarking 5/26/09
Diigo is the one tool that you won't be able to live without! Now you can have all your bookmarks in one place so that you can access them from home or school. And that's just the beginning - we'll look at groups, highlighting, annotation and more.
Resources for Social Bookmarking
- Social Bookmarking Tools
- Social Bookmarking in Education from Education World
- SiteJot
- Delicious
- Diigo
Podcasts - Learn Anything 6/2/09
You don't need to have an iPod to benefit from audio and video podcasts. In fact, some podcasts are better viewed on a computer screen or projected on a whiteboard or screen. We'll show here where to find great content for your own use or use in your classroom.
Resources for Podcasts: Learn Anything
- Download iTunes
- Engaged Learning Podcasting Workshop (links to examples)
- YouTube EDU
- Khan Academy
- TeacherTube
Classroom Blogs 6/9/09
A classroom blog can be a great way to share resources with your students, parents or the community. We'll look at some excellent examples and help you set up your own - you'll be blogging in no time.
Resources for Classroom Blogs
Example Blogs
- Dangerously Irrelevant (Dr. Scott McLeod, Iowa State University, one of the nation's leading academic experts on K-12 school technology leadership issues)
- Ewan McIntosh (advice on how social media can be harnessed for public service and education management and used to improve learning)
- Free Technology for Teachers (a personal project of Richard Byrne)
- Taste of Tech (John Schinker, Tech Coordinator for Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District, near Cleveland)
- Alvin Trusty's Blog (University of Findlay)
- Your Smarticles (Mrs. Howard, 6th grade teacher's blog)
- NCS-Tech (A mix of K-8 educational technology resources, commentary, lesson ideas from Kevin Jarrett, Technology Facilitator, K-4, Northfield Community School)
- Moving at the Speed of Creativity (Wesley Fryer's Blog)
- 2 Cents Worth (David Warlick's Blog)
- Weblogg-ed (Will Richardson's Blog)
- Mrs. Smith's 4th Grade Bloggers (example of a teacher and students blogging collaboartively)
- Frau Whyte's German Blog
- Mrs. Cassidy's 1st Grade Blog
Blogging Services and Help Files
- Blogger (from Google)
- Blogger Help Files
- EduBlogs
Widgets, Gadgets and Mashups
- Twitter Updates Badge (must log in to Twitter)
- Diigo Tag Roll (must log in to Diigo)
- Flickr Badge (must log in to Flickr)
- RSS Feed Widget
- FeedMingle
- Embed a Google Map
Wikis for Education 6/16/09
A wiki is an easy to use collaborative web site that you can set up in minutes. You can use it to publish supplemental materials and resources, showcase student work, or allow students to create content for class projects. A wiki can be public or private and may have comments from your viewers. We'll help you set up your own wiki!
Resources for Wikis for Education
Example Wikis
- Sue Waters' "PLN Yourself!"
- Biology 101 (Middle School students build their own online textbook)
- Bergmann Science (Mr. Bergmann teaches 8th grade science)
- Terry the Tennis Ball (Collaborative Story Wiki by 3rd and 4th graders)
- CSS 8th Grade English (Ms. Gutierrez encourages "public writing")
- Bullitt Central High School in KY - Social Studies Teacher's wiki
- Unsolved Mysteries Wiki (students create wiki about their research)
- Web 2.0: Cool Tools for Schools
- CASTLE Links to Example Wikis
Places to get your own Wiki

