From Vision to Action > Module 1 > A Quick Guide to 21st Century Tools Communication Tools________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A Quick Guide to 21st Century Tools Communication Tools

Online CollaborationWhy Collaborate Online?Collaboration of any kind has been identified as an essential 21st century skill, and online collaboration is how work is already being done in many schools and workplaces. The 21st century workforce is increasingly nonlocal, with people telecommuting or working on projects with teammates in other cities or countries.

Introduction to Online Collaboration

http://wac.colostate.edu/books/writingspaces1/atkins--collaborating-online.pdf

This essay from an open-source textbook provides a thorough introduction to online collaboration. It focuses on the use of wikis and Google Docs to prepare and share presentations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwM4ieFOotA A clearly presented and entertaining video on “the networked student,” showing how today’s learners can use 21st century tools to collaboratively research, create, publish, and share.

Free Tools http://sixrevisions.com/tools/15-free-tools-for-web-based-collaboration/

A listing of free tools available for real-time, online collaboration.

From Vision to Action > Module 1 > A Quick Guide to 21st Century Tools Communication Tools________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Blogs and WikisWhy Blog?The weblog, or blog, began as an Internet-housed diary or journal, and is still used as such by millions of people. However, many people have found ways to make blogging an interactive, community-building exercise. There are political blogs that allow guests to post “editorials” and invite readers to comment at will (and often at great length); there are craft- or hobby-based blogs that allow like-minded people to share project ideas and tips; and teachers often use blogs to create an online “bulletin board” for their classrooms. A blog can be a great way for a district leadership team to communicate its vision and its action plan for 21st century teaching and learning.

How to Blog http://www.wikihow.com/Start-a-Blog Provides simple, step-by-step instructions for how to set up a public or private blog. As a wiki, it also provides a nice example of 21st century collaboration: visitors can easily see how people can not only read and comment on the content, but also participate in editing and expanding that content.

Blogger www.google.com/blogger An easy way for Gmail users to start blogging

Wikis http://webtrends.about.com/od/wiki/a/what_is_a_wiki.htm

This article explains what a wiki is and how it can be used to foster remote collaboration. See the useful links at the bottom of the article for more “how to” information.

Creating a Wiki http://www.wikispaces.com/content/for/teachers Wikispaces makes it easy to create and host wikis, and has a number of different plans available, including free plans for K–12 organizations.

From Vision to Action > Module 1 > A Quick Guide to 21st Century Tools Communication Tools________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PodcastsWhy Podcast?A podcast is a bit like an amateur radio show. In fact, many professional radio programs are now offered as podcasts. People create podcasts as adjuncts to their blogs, to initiate conversations, or to teach topics of interest to their community. Teachers often use podcasts to provide mini-lectures or detailed project instructions to students, who can download them on an as-needed basis rather than having to sit in class and listen with everyone else.

How to Podcast

http://www.how-to-podcast-tutorial.com/00-podcast-tutorial-four-ps.htm

Good step-by-step tutorial to help people plan, produce, publish, and promote a podcast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hrBbczS9I0 YouTube video tutorial on podcasting. Good visuals, showing exactly what to do at each stage, including audio editing.

TwitterWhy Tweet?Just as a bird sings from the branch of a tree to say “here I am,” the “tweet” is a short message posted online, using the free service Twitter, which announces your presence and your thoughts to the world. You select certain people of interest to “follow,” allowing you to see their posts. Others, in turn, follow you and are able to see what you say. It’s a great way for teachers or district leaders to create a sense of presence and keep in touch with members of their community.

How to Tweet http://www.ehow.com/how_4670029_tweet-twitter.html

Good step-by-step introduction to the potentially overwhelming world of Twitter, including instructions, basic Twitter etiquette, how to follow other users or topics, and how to share tweets that you find interesting.

From Vision to Action > Module 1 > A Quick Guide to 21st Century Tools Communication Tools________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Twitter http://twitter.com/ The Twitter home page

From Vision to Action > Module 1 > A Quick Guide to 21st Century Tools Communication Tools________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Online SurveysWhy Survey Online?All educators know the value of formative assessment and feedback, and online surveys are a great and simple way to find out what people know, think, and feel. Creating and sending out a survey is easy, and responding can be equally simple. Consider using surveys to “take the temperature” of your stakeholders at different points during an improvement process.

Survey Monkey http://www.surveymonkey.com/TakeATour.aspx This page on the Survey Monkey site shows all of the survey-building, hosting, and data-analyzing features that the service offers, many for free.

Zoomerang http://www.zoomerang.com/Basic/ This page on the Zoomerang site shows the free survey-building, hosting, and data-analyzing features that the service offers. The page has links to let you see what other services you can get, for a price.

Constant Contact

http://www.constantcontact.com/online-surveys/demo/index.jsp

This page, from Constant Contact, gives you a link to a free weekly demo of their survey services

OtherPrezi http://prezi.com In Module 3, you will see a “prezi,” a new kind of

presentation technology that breaks the linearity of PowerPoint and allows you to display information in a much more dynamic and fluid fashion. The web-based application is free to use and easy to learn.

Livescribe http://www.livescribe.com/en-us/index.html In Module 4, you will see a “pencast,” created using the smart pen from Livescribe. This is a technology

From Vision to Action > Module 1 > A Quick Guide to 21st Century Tools Communication Tools________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

that could radically transform how student take notes. When you write on special paper provided by Livescribe, the pen not only records the audio in the room at the moment of your writing, but also links that audio with the writing. This creates a digital audio file that you can access nonlinearly, tapping any point on the page and hearing exactly what was being said at the moment when that word was being written.