Another cool tool - Voki

Here's another cool tool that I learned about at the summit... http://www.voki.com/
It is a service that allows you to make an animated version of yourself, with your own voice recorded. You can be realistic looking, a cartoon, an animal, whatever you want.

Here is a sample one I just made...



Get a Voki now!


I made 2 of them for my websites this morning. Check them out on ...

Madame Krause Wiki: http://madamespace.wikispaces.com/
Soleil's Smile Blog: http://soleilsmile.blogspot.com/

I'm thinking about having my French 5 students each create one for an introduction to their French epal. It may be the very first project I do with them.

Does anyone else have any ideas how this modern tool could be used in our language classes?

The Macbooks are here!

I just got an email from Debbie Cline-Eck that the Mac laptops have arrived! Check out this video she made...

Make a Web Page!

At the summit I learned about Google's web page creation tool. It is very cool and it is very easy to use. Just follow the steps, add your content, and voila! You have a web page. Check out the one I just made really quickly:

http://diannekrause.googlepages.com/home

Give it a try if you have an hour to spare.. it could be a great tool for you and your students. You could change it anytime you want and add pretty much anything. Wouldn't it be great if we all had web pages for our students next year?

Contact me if you want any help on organization and/or ideas.

Happy Summer

I hope everyone is enjoying your summer and your trips near and far. I've just spent some time at a conference learning all about technology and education and would love to share what I've learned with all of you. Here are a few links that you should check out to start embracing the use of technology and the need to change the way we teach...

http://theconnectedclassroom.wikispace.com - tools needed to help connect your classroom

http://classroom20.ning.com/ - a social network for educators interested in web 2.0 and the future of education.

http://diannekrause.wikispace.com - my wikispace that I am creating to share the things I learned with all of you... including information for our new macs and smartboards! Please let me know what else I can add!

http://kti.wikispace.com - the wikispace created for the summit I attended.. chocked full of useful info!

Also, please be in touch with me so we can continue this conversation of the classrooms of the 21st century.

Welcome to the Wissahickon World Language Blog!

This blog has been created to generate a conversation about the Wissahickon World Language Department. We can discuss anything at all here, from curriculum to everyday activities that have been a success.

Technology

The reason for the creation of this blog was to first discuss Technology and its role in our language classrooms. Please read the questions that follow and respond thoughfully and honestly.

Try not to be too skeptical because we have been promised progress in the area of technology and this time, it's for real! I'm very confident that our new Technology Director, Debbie Cline-Eck, will help to turn Wissahickon School District into a district that uses technology effectively to the benefit of all of its stakeholders.

How to use this site:

• The quick and easy way to respond is to simply add a comment to the posts.
• Feel free to create an account of your own, or publish anonymously. Please sign your comments so we know who's writing!
• If you already have an account on Google, you can use that account here too.
• If/when you create an account I can add you as an author and you can then start original posts.
• Contact me via email for help if needed.

Curriculum

How can technology enhance our curriculum so that our students have access to appropriate technology tools and resources?

Instruction

How can technology enhance instruction so that our teachers have access to technology-rich classrooms that meet the needs of today’s learners?

Assessment

How can technology enhance our assessment practices so that educators can easily collect and analyze student performance data?

Organizational Effectiveness

How can technology enhance our current organizational processes in order to increase productivity?