I evaluated my second "school" blog site today over my lunch break. It took me longer to choose the site than I thought. There are SO MANY educational blogs out there. Is anyone else feeling overwhelmed by the size and scope of the blogging community?
The site I chose was Beth's Thoughts on Technology in the Classroom http://www.bethknittle.net/WP_Blog/
It looks really good and I feel like I can relate to "Beth." She has a nice writing style and some really good ideas (see her list of "Best Thoughts" in the archives.) She seems to know what she is talking about - she was a classroom teacher for 19 years before moving to the K-12 Technology Integration Specialist for the past 4 years.) I googled her - and found out several interesting facts. One fascinating piece of information is her participation in a Second Life program for educators. She definitely uses the technology she is integrating. She is one twitter, Flickr, Skype, iChat, GMail, Technorati, and something I've never heard of called Plunk? Most of the post in her blog deal with education, technology, and learning.
Her blog started up in December of 2005 - so she has some history in her archives too. Another great thing about her site are the links. She has many. I visited a few and really thought her wiki was good -http://www.bethknittle.net/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.HomePage it is full of Web 2.0 tools and information on 21st Century skills. I could have used this information last term.... darn!
If I were to rate this blog - I would give it an 8 out of 10. It is good, homey, and not too overwhelming. She has some great pictures scrolling - lives on the east coast - Cape Cod. I am jealous now!
Wow! Just taking a look at Beth's blog is overwhelming. There is just so much to read. When you think you are done, you can click on something else and read again for hours. How are we able to find the time for all this reading of new information? This is a great activity to learn about some of the other blogs we didn't have time to explore on our own in class.
ReplyDeleteHow are we going to be able to find time for all of this new reading? Good question and you both raise it. We're going to have to choose. Our Personal Learning Networks are really important now, maybe even more so because we know there is so much out there.
ReplyDeleteI wonder - better to give us a huge list to wander through, or should we select just a few to view?
It was truly a debate...
What if folks had to select someone and defend to the group? Would that work for kids, too?
And thank you for introducing me to Beth Knittle!
Hey Micki--I agree--there is just so much out there. One thing that I'm finding I need to get used to are all the different tools being used at once--twitter, flikr, skype, technorati, etc. I'm glad that we have this class, because these are all things I have wanted to look into--but I've never made it a priority. After seeing how useful and engaging some of them can be, i feel like it's time I made it more of a priority.
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