K12Online Today's Events - Oct. 21, 2008

Check out today's sessions @ K12Online 2008
http://k12onlineconference.org/

Presentation Title: “The Google Gamut: Everything you need to get started,” Kern Kelley
Description: The number of technology resources available to us can be overwhelming and whenever I’m asked “Where to begin?” I usually suggest setting up a Google Account. With a single login and password, users have access to dozens of free services. This presentation walks through the process of setting up an account and then using a handful of the more popular applications that Google offers. The progression runs from email to a personalized homepage, blog reader and writer, online word processor, spreadsheet and presentation suite, calendar, photo storage, and finally a web page creator to pull it all together. Also, because Google is constantly adding and improving features, users who already have accounts might just pick up on some new tips they hadn’t known about.
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Presentation Title: “I Like Delicious Things: An Introduction to Tagging and Folksonomies,” Chris Betcher
Description: Using simple examples from a number of tag-driven websites, this presentation looks at how tagging and the subsequent creation of folksonomies are changing the way we think about information. Starting with obvious tagging systems used on sites like Flickr and Delicious, it examines how tagging enables information to be classified, sorted and managed in ways that make it more accessible, easier to manage and more self-aware. It also explores how tags can be aggregated across large collections of information to provide a snapshot into the overall zeitgeist of collective thinking.
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Presentation Title: Student Creation of Digital Documentaries in History Classrooms: Research Findings, Glen Bull, Thomas Hammond, Curby Alexander
Description: PrimaryAccess is a free online digital documentary maker designed for social studies instruction. This presentation will provide a quick introduction to PrimaryAccess and then describe some of the research on its use in classrooms, focusing on students’ learning outcomes. The presentation concludes with recommendations for teaching with PrimaryAccess.
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Presentation Title: Facilitating Technology Integration: A Synthesis of the Research, Jon Becker
Description: There is a very small but growing body of empirical research on facilitating technology integration in schools. This presentation brings together that research in the form of a critical synthesis. Dr. Jonathan D. Becker, a professor of educational leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), will discuss the major themes that have emerged from the research and place them within the context of his own research with technology integration specialists in the state of West Virginia. The major goals for this presentation are to make the research accessible and to provide educational technology practitioners relevant research-based data to inform their practice.
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