World History for Us All is a FREE, Web-based curriculum that has two major elements: a logical conceptual framework of guiding ideas, objectives, rationales, themes and historical periods; and a rich selection of units, lessons, activities, primary documents and other resources linked to the overarching conceptual structure. The curriculum proposes the idea that humankind as a whole has a history to be investigated and that a world history course may be more than a study of various “cultures,” each disconnected from the others. The framework’s unified chronology organizes the human past into nine Big Eras, each encompassing changes around the globe. The curriculum does not use civilizations as the main units of history, but developments within major societies are richly explored.
Wordia.com is a high-quality online dictionary: a professional authoritative textual dictionary but with one big difference… Like a traditional dictionary, Wordia allows users to search for the spelling, meaning and etymology of a word but what makes Wordia unique is the ability for users to explore the personal connotation of word through video.
Video brings words to life!
In professional, semantic terms, Wordia takes the denotation (the textual definition of a word) and encourages members of the public to explore the connotation (the personal meaning) through the familiar medium of video. We’ve found that video helps a user to learn or recollect the meaning of a word much more easily then just a textual definition. Video gives the dictionary a new dimension and new contextual richness.
Your words, your video!
Wordia is a collaborative resource: anyone can explore the meaning of a word and more than one person can explore the meaning of same word. Where we have more than one video definition for the same word, we rank them, so the community can vote on their relevance. You can bring words to life and explore the personal connotations of a word in anyway you chose. Filming styles such as rap or comedy, poetry or performance are a cool way to express yourself.
We love an expert!
The Wordia team also creates professional knowledge-based video with experts, authors, sports-stars etc. These ‘Orators’ (as we refer to them) bring a unique insight and expert authority to the words they explore on video.
We’ve recently launched Wordia Schools: a private learning resource that groups curriculum subject vocabulary – the subject key words that educators teach on a daily basis.
Darren Cannell (http://twitter.com/dcannell), an assistant principal in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in Canada. He and his family will be embarking on a worldwide trip, traveling to 35 countries starting in September, and that as part of his travels, his 2nd grade son will be blogging about it.
His son’s blog can be followed 
http://daxjournal.darrencannell.com/
His blog had a Google map showing all the places they will be visiting. What a trip, wish I was going, but I am looking forward to following his adventures on his blog. A 2nd grader blogging, wow and Kudos to Mom and Dad!!
Daxtin’s Travel Journal
Starting on September 2o, 2010 Daxtin and his family will be travelling around the world this journal will be about this eight month journey.
Last year one of the best ads released during the SuperBowl was this simple ad by Google. Shortly after the release of this video, Google asked you to make your own search stories. Simply go to http://www.youtube.com/searchstories and start creating your story. This could be a great way to teach students search skills. Give students a start and end point. For Example, Jeff Utecht, of The Thinking Stick blog has many great ideas. For example, rocks for the start and volcanoes for the end. Then the student does the research and brings the two together.
Rick Rees, and Apple Professional Development trainer recently conducted a workshop in Tupelo. The teachers that he worked with were introduced to iLife & iWork and would you believe they started school this week, first week of August. Braden Bishop, one of the workshop participants contacted Rick to share his iMovie that he made to introduce himself to his students.
This is the scenario:
Braden connected some big desktop speakers with a subwoofer to his computer and had everything set to go. After his new high school students came in to his Economics class on the first day of school, he shut the door, didn’t say a word, turned out the lights, and turned the video on. He said “they were kinda floored.” and that “three of my six periods stood up and clapped…and DIDN’T EVEN know me!”
Thanks Rick for sharing Braden’s project, it is simply amazing. What a creative way to use iMovie too! Check out Braden’s work. When you watch it you’ll know why his students were excited. What a great way to start the year. Although, starting school the first of August, oh my!!
This picture was made using green screen and PhotoBooth. Kevin Honeycutt, Mike Cook and others from ESSDACK built this VW Bus out of plywood. It was also used and the check-in desk and Podcasting studio during the conference!! In fact, this is what Kevin was working on when I interrupted and had him SKYPE into my class and talk to my summer tech class of pre-sercvice teachers.
Link to Photos from Kevin from the conference
I just returned from the Podstock 2010 conference in Old Town Wichita. It was AMAZING. I mean amazing. I presented two sessions, Celebrate Kansas Voices and the first session I did, Changing the Face of Teaching one Teacher at a Time was packed out the door. That is a bit unnerving for sure. But what a great group of teachers, it truly was the audience that made my session interesting, they had questions, and shared resources and had opinions. It was a rich discussion. Such fun!!
Actually, as I was walking from my hotel room in the very cool Hotel at Old Town that morning to the conference facility across the street, I was thinking to myself, “I sure hope nobody shows at my session, so I can to one of theother sessions. Man, there were so many good sessions. I am feeling very honored needless to say.
I do think it speaks more to the conference organizers Kevin Honeycutt and ESSDACK, for having the right variety and number of sessions for the number of folks in attendance. Podstock is just a different kind of tech conference. There is tons & tons to learn from the sessions, but more from the people. The conversations are so very rich. It is not overwhelming or high pressure. I don’t know about you, and I do love to attend ISTE, but ISTE is somewhat overwhelming, just because of the size. Podstock is small by comparison. I think the intimacy is what makes it so darn powerful. There really is the opportunity to get to know and talk to everyone at the conference. I met so many teachers that I now feel connect to. My PLN just grew, which means I grew and have more people to call on for help when I need to.
Everyone was sharing resources and things from sessions via Plurk. So even if you weren’t in the session, you could get the resources. My Plurk handle is (cyndidannerkuhn). I have been a Plurk user for some time, but, I always considered myself more into Twitter (cyndidannerkuhn). BUT, this experience really showed me the power of the conversations that can take place in Plurk. I think tomorrow in my summer class of Pre-service teachers, I will show Plurk in-depth, usually I do Twitter in-depth and just mention Plurk.
So, please be watching for the shout-out on both about 2:00 Monday and help my very apprehensive pre-service teachers learn about Plurk and Twitter and the power of a PLN.
I brought a friend with me to Podstock, Cathie Klein, teacher, Seaman High School, 9th grade center. Cathines teachs a career life skills type class. She had never been to a tech conference before and during our 2+ hour drive home we talked about the conference non-stop and how she could convince her administration that more teachers from her school needed to attend Podstock next summer. She told me about all the ideas she learned to integrate into her classroom this fall. We were going a hundred miles a minute (talking, not driving). Anyway, it is so exciting the impact this had on us both.
I wish more tech coordinators and administrators would attend Podstock next July 15-16. It would be an eye-opener for them for sure. I am sure it would hlep them move forward with technology in their schools. At the very least, it might give them a new perspective and get the conversation started.
My wheels are turning! I am trying to think of a way I could make PODSTOCK2011 a required part of my summer technology class. It would be such a rich experience for my pre-service teachers to come learn and become a part of the conversations with these amazing teachers. Not sure how to make it happen, but clearly, I am going to be doing some serious researching, thinking and likely arm twisting. If you have ideas or suggestions, please post them in comments.
So, I guess, what I am really trying to say is, mark your calendars for July 15 & 16 next year and plan to attend Podstock 2011. Join the Ning at http://podstock.ning.com/ so you can keep up on developments. You will be glad you did!! I PROMISE.
Links and Resources for Podstock2010 (I will keep adding more as I find them)
Podstock, or What’s a New Yorker doing at a Kansas regional ed tech conference?
Wallwisher site with tons of resource
Voicethread, the Power of Plurk
Digital Revolution on Wallwisher
Plurker with Podstock resources
Kimberly Wrights Website (Mayor of Podstock or was it Podsock?)
Diigo Bookmarks from Karin Bell
http://www.muzzylane.com/ad/index.html
An irreverent, surprising, and fresh approach to teaching social history to secondary schoolers, American Dynasties is an immersive digital video game where players live the lives of Americans from eras past.
Imagine a learning experience where students are thrust into the everyday hustle and bustle of a century or to ago. Where they find themselves enslaved in an antebellum town, or caught up in a strike in a Massachusetts textile mill, or riding the rails in the Depression. Where they’ll need to have all their wits about them to survive in these unfamiliar environments.
Check this site out, it is pretty darn cool. CLICK HERE
I love photography. It wasn’t until I started doing Project 365 as a new year’s resolution that I really started to be so intrigued with it. Often times, I find myself pretending I’m some professional placing things or people, looking for lighting, finding unique angles, etc… but it is most definitely fun. Last night when I was uploading my photo for the day to my Flickr account I started to think about how Flickr could be used in the classroom.
To read the full story, CLICK HERE
P.S. I started the Project 365 too, was trying to shoot a photo everyday with my iPhone, I lasted about a month!! I applaud Elizabeth!!!
The last couple of days Wesley Fryer, Moving at the Speed of Creativity has been doing reviews of online video editing software. The first two compared were Jaycut and YouTube. And today Stroome and Kaltura.
I knew about and had experimented just a bit with Jaycut and YouTube, but Stroome and Kaltura are new to me. From what I can read so far, Stroome looks like it might have some possibilities. I still love iMovie, but for online, in a pinch, or for Windows users, these FREE online services might just do the the trick.
Stroome: http://www.stroome.com/
Kaltura: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaltura
YouTube: http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2010/06/edit-video-in-cloud-with-youtube-video.html
Jaycut: http://jaycut.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsOEfMiPndA&feature=player_embedded
K-2: Your Buzz & Woody: What toy is your absolute favorite? Write down 3 words (or sentences) that describe why you like it.
3-5: If You Were a Toy: Pretend that you get to be the voice for a Toy Story 3 toy. What toy would you be? Why would that toy be the perfect fit for your voice?
6-8: Toys Trashed?: When you outgrow your toys, what do you do with them? Do you think its best to keep them, give them to a younger family member or to charity, or to throw them away? Why?
9-12: The Gender of Play: Ken gets teased for being a girls’ toy. Do you think that children gravitating toward traditional toys for their gender is a natural tendency of children or a result of how little boys and girls are treated differently?
YouTube Block? Try this site
Thanks to TeacherHUb for this resource.
Stories and Books
Every week Storynory publishes a new audio story read by Natasha whose lovely voice will charm and beguile you. You can read her tips here.
We draw on fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Anderson.
We seek out unusual stories from around the world.
We have the entire audio book of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
And Storynory brings you original children’s stories including Prince Bertie the Frog, The Ordinary Witch, and Theo the Monkey
Stories in Flight
Just copy and paste or type a little text and it will search for the pictures that go with the work or text in Flickr and turn the text into images. Wham, an instant digital story.
Warning: be careful using this software though. Michael Zimmer of the blog Pursuit of Technology Integration Happiness said that he put in the title of a blog, and happiness showed a picture of Guinness Beer. I tried my tag line from my website “Technology is Opening Minds with a New Set of Keys,” and keys, got strange stuff, I had to keep clicking Show Story!! I think Michael is correct in assuming that images are chosen based on the tags that people give them. So, it might take a little digging to get just the right set of images.
Click the “show story” button till you find pictures that you like.
It is kinda like Spell with Flickr , type a word then tell it to SPELL and it finds pictures of letters and spells your word. Again you click on the letter to you find one you like and there are literally thousands of possibilities.
This could be used for short poems, sections of a speech or historical document. Would be a great way to turn famous quotes into pictures as well. There is a big kick in vocabulary, this would be a great way to create images to correlate to vocabulary that students are using in the classroom, especially for a certain unit of study. I really like this tool for turning words into pictures.
Your pencil can reach the world.. from Kevin Honeycutt’s blog Triadigital Learning
This morning I had a fun conversation with Kevin Honeycutt via Skype, I was home in my comfy chair, looking a mess because I had just returned from exercising. I mean a mess!! So, if you watch the podcast, be prepared!.
Kevin was stranded in the airport in Minneapolis waiting for a flight. We had our normal catching up conversation about what we are doing and then we always share resources. Needless to say, that is always the rich part for me.
First we did a little podcast promoting the Celebrate Kansas Voices workshop in August. I am sure he will get it uploaded to his Driving Questions Podcast when he gets home, or maybe to his YouTube site.
What is CKV?
Celebrate Kansas Voices presented by Story Chasers, Inc. (a nonprofit) and other partner organizations. CKV is a statewide digital storytelling project empowering learners to become digital witnesses, archiving local oral history and sharing that history safely on the global stage of the Internet. Our project is starting in 2010, based on the successful Celebrate Oklahoma Voices project which started in 2006. They have trained over 500 teacher in Oklahoma and have 16+ workshops this summer. Out goal is the same, train all the teachers in Kansas.
Join our Ning site and keep updated on developments or register to attend the firs of many workshop in August. Apply online to participate in the August 4-6, 2010 “Celebrate Kansas Voices” workshop at Kansas State University in Manhattan! More info is available.
By the way, if you are from another state and what to attend, please come!! We would love to have you.
After our CKV conversation for his podcast, he stopped recording and he told me about his Art Snacks YouTube phone call. Actually, it was more about his amazement that YouTube called him about his Shark Drawing video. ArtSnacks Great White Shark: This an many other lessons on ArtSnacks.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uToNXv0Gik0
I receive the print version of Wired Magazine each month in my mailbox at home and just discover they have an app for the iPad now. My first reaction was Yippee, but either I am confused or it cost $5 an issue. That is pretty pricey considering the print version prices averages out to only about a $1 an issue. If you have a better understand, let me know.
I do checkout their website most of the time, basically following links in the print version. Always interesting stuff.
My little grandsons are so excited about Toy Story 3 and I have the Read Along iPad app, which is simply amazing, and I only have the FREE version. The paid version must be beyond amazing. I suspect it will be on my iPad before today has ended since I get to see them today!!
Anyway, Wired Magazine has a great article that is available to everyone on the web about How Pixar Built Toy Story. Very interesting.
NBC Learn has launched Finishing the Dream, a free video series chronicling 60 years of the Civil Rights movement, including the Montgomery bus boycott, the integration of Central High School in Little Rock and the Freedom Riders. See reports as they happened (from the NBC News archives) as well as retrospectives. The clips are grouped into 10 thematic collections, such as political, legal, sociological and personal. An embedded video widget is available and will be updated monthly with new video content.
To access the FREE resources, CLICK HERE
Last week Wesley Fryer and his team from StoryChasers conducted a Celebrate Oklahoma Voices workshop in Midwest City, OK. This morning, Wesley has a wonderful post on his blog and since Wesley and his team at StoryChasers are helping us start up a Celebrate Kansas Voices project (see details about the workshop), this was just perfect to share. If you are trying to decide about attending the Celebrate Kansas Voices, watch this video and visit the Celebrate Oklahoma site and view more.
Celebrate Oklahoma Voices Wiki: http://wiki.celebrateoklahoma.us/
Celebrate Oklahoma Voices Projects: http://celebrateoklahoma.us/
I am quite sure you will be very impressed. Although, I would not delay in registering for the CKV workshop in August, We are limited to 25 participants, so reserve your spot now.
Original post at Moving at the Speed of Creativity by Wesley Fryer
http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2010/05/29/4372/
The Importance of Telling the Stories of Your Photos
How many shoeboxes or albums of photographs have you seen which contain stories no one documented? In her five minute video, “What’s Your Story? The Importance of Telling the Stories of Your Photos,” MidDel Public Schools, Oklahoma educator Margaret Nan Harkey makes a compelling case for why we ALL need to help document the stories of our photos.
Find more videos like this on Celebrate Oklahoma Voices!
This video would be an excellent curricular resource for anyone engaging in a digital storytelling project. The digital tools now at our fingertips which can enable us to archive the events, stories, and people of our lives have phenomenal power. Margaret did a great job in this video making the case for WHY we need to take our responsibilities seriously as documentarians for our families and communities.
This video and others from our Celebrate Oklahoma Voices workshop in MidDel Public Schools last week are now featured in the COV Learning Community. Celebrate Oklahoma Voices is a statewide oral history project presented by the nonprofit Storychasers.
For more information about the
Celebrate Kansas Voices Digital Story Telling Project:
Celebrate Kansas Voices StoryChasers: http://storychasers.org/ckv/
Celebrate Kansas Voices Community: http://celebratekansas.ning.com/
Celebrate Kansas Voices Registration: http://spreadsheets3.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dGVpWkZCbkMxbXZEYmRPZTY4Wl9aaGc6MA
Project Organizers
Wesley Fryer: http://www.speedofcreativity.org/
Cyndi Danner-Kuhn: http://cyndidannerkuhn.info
Dean Mantz: http://dmantz7.edublogs.org/
by Wesley Fryer (http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2010/03/05/announcing-celebrate-kansas-voices-mace2010/)
On behalf of our non-profit Story Chasers Inc. I’m pleased to announce the start of the Celebrate Kansas Voices project. (CKV)
Celebrate Kansas Voices is a statewide digital storytelling project empowering learners to become digital witnesses, archiving local oral history and sharing that history safely on the global stage of the Internet. Our project is starting in 2010, based on the successful Celebrate Oklahoma Voices project which started in 2006.
Cyndi Danner-Kuhn (K-State College of Education) and Dean Mantz (director of technology, Sterling, Kansas) presented this week at the Mid-America Association for Computers in Education (MACE) conference in Manhattan, Kansas, with me about CKV. The start of this pilot project, following the model of our successful (and ongoing) Celebrate Oklahoma Voices project, is well timed. In 2011, Kansas will celebrate its Sesquicentennial for 150 years of statehood. At MACE this year we were able to connect with Mary Madden, Director of Education and Outreach for the Kansas Historical Society, along with other staff members. Yesterday I heard KSHS staff member Michael Church present on “Kansas Memory: Real Stories, Real People” about their phenomenal Kansas Memory website.
Dean also put together a great collection of digital storytelling links and resources using Livebinders, which is a free tool similar to ShareTabs.
We are tentatively (with 95% certainly) planning on conducting a 2.5 day Celebrate Kansas Voices workshop at the KSU College of Education in Manhattan this summer on August 4, 5 and 6, 2010. To stay updated about available workshops and the continuing development of this pilot initiative, please join our Celebrate Kansas Voices learning community.
Sharing the launch of this project at MACE has been wonderful not only to share this idea and opportunity with Kansas teachers, but also to learn about other oral history / community history champions in Kansas. Personal networking is SO important for facilitating projects like this. If you know of others interested in Kansas history, Kansas oral history, community history, etc. please share Celebrate Kansas Voices with them and encourage them to also join our learning community. This project is open to anyone, not just Kansas teachers.
It’s going to be exciting to share and extend the successful COV model we’ve developed in Oklahoma over the past three years here in Kansas!
