School+2.0

(Original post from Norton) toc

**eSchoolNews Article**
The March 2008 edition of [|eSchoolNews] has an article looking at appropriate Web 2.0 technologies for schools. [|SchoolTube] is as an alternative to YouTube. [|VoiceThread], is a tool which allows users to post files and make verbal or text comments about each posted file.

**Jing**
I've recommended to my computer resource teachers [|Jing] that allows for screen capturing. Jing lets you build still or video tutorials.

**CommonCraft**
There is a series of videos that highlight the appropriate use of Web 2.0 technologies, [|CommonCraft]. The web site uses the metaphor, "Plain English." The site has a variety of resources that speak to teachers and non-techies about emerging technology.

**Penncrest School District**
One of the districts mentioned in the e-SchoolNews article is [|Penncrest] in Saegertown, Pennsylvania. Connie Sitterly is the Director of Instructional Technology. The district has a vision for collaboration. They are using [|Google Apps] for Education. In 2008-2009 North Hills, Wilkinsburg, and the Fox Chapel Area School Districts have signed agreements with Google to have local control over Google Apps for students and teachers.

Eduwiki.us Project
//Disclosure from Mike Baker: I started this project in July with 19 honored educators.// //We presented the concept at PETE&C this year.// A group of almost 400 educators from around the world have begun assembling ideas similar to what Norton has shared. The [|Eduwiki.us] project is a strategy based on Collective Intelligence. Since James Surowiecki, the author of The Wisdom of Crowds, will be doing the opening keynote at NECC this year, we may be able to connect the theme of group wisdom. [|Click here] to explore the site.

School 2.0 Wiki
Steve Hargadon has created a wiki devoted to this concept. Steve is in charge of the Emerging Technologies sub-group for CoSN.

[|eToolkit]
At the CoSN conference in Washington, D.C. Tim Magner, the director of the Office of Educational Technololgy at the Department of Education shared a new toolkit devoted to School 2.0. The toolkit includes:
 * A Learning Ecosystem tool that can be used with administrators, teachers or board members to discuss the options for technology
 * Learning Resources that have been selected based on the quality of the resources
 * A Reflection Tool to allow for a meta-level of understanding and sharing
 * A Bandwidth Planner that graphically represents the demands on a network
 * A Transformation Toolkit that can be used as part of strategic planning

[|Social Networking]
The Internet2 project has developed Muse, a social networking site, to take advantage of the opportunities for collaborative student projects with an educational boundary. According to the site, "//Muse is a social utility that connects you with Internet2-enabled technologies and educators in your region and around the globe//." The regional group, [|MAGPI], also sponsors a variety of collaborative projects for schools who have Internet2 access in the mid-Atlantic region.