Weekly Tech Tip - Distributed Research with Google Forms

Now that school has started, we are over the beginning of the year hurdles, and homecoming is out of the way the time is right to resume our weekly technology tips. Each week I will create a video with an education technology tip and post links (listed under "Link Stew") of interesting and useful websites, literature, videos, or other online content I come across. I am adding a new category this year called the blog carnival where from time to time I will post a series links to interesting and thought provoking education blog posts.

Weekly Tech Tip:

Related links:

• Michael Wesch -How to get students to find and read 94 articles before the next class
• Google Docs

Links Stew:

This week's link stew is really a highlights list of sites I found over the summer.

• World Texting - Send free text messages to cell phones from your computer (I have used this with students in the past to curb problems with cell phone use in the classroom. Text questions to students, send private messages such as "Pay attention!," or give quizzes.
• Poll Everywhere - Create online polls and allow your audience (or students) to submit answers via SMS text messaging, Twitter, or on an online website.
• ZuiTube - Kind of like YouTube for younger kids.
• Lectr - YouTube for school lectures.
• Storybird - Storybird is a site perfect for creative writing assignments. Students are given a bunch of photos that they are prompted to create a story around. The site allows you to arrange the photos and your text however you like in as many pages as you like. When you are done you get an ebook of your story. On the site it says that soon they will be adding the ability to order print copies of the books you create.
• twittearth - This is sort of a mix between Twitter and Google Earth. It displays a globe and shows where people are Tweeting from.
• Librivox - From this site you can dowload free audio books of books in the public domain. You can also volunteer to contribute by sending them recordings of book chapters you read. Could be a service learning project for any class.

Blog Carnival:

• How Teenagers Consume Media: the report that shook the City | Business | guardian.co.uk
• Correlation or causation? Teacher resistance to state technology initiatives
• Shush and Sit Down
• Reaching those that don't care about grades
• Social Reproduction
• "Evaluate that!" - Schools for Children
• Corporations, Democracy, & Schooling