Give a Lesson a Makeover -- Web 2.0 style

ADDED WED. ~~~ I HEAR THAT FOR SOME SESSIONS YOU HAVE TO RESERVE A SPOT. PLEASE JUST COME. I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO HAVING A CHANCE TO TALK TO SOME PEOPLE AND COMPARE EXPERIENCES HERE AND IN CANADA AFTER 2 "STAND & DELIVER" SESSIONS.

~~~This session would be a great way to follow up either of my other 2 sessions: Small Changes; BIG RETURNS Wednesday at 11:10 - 11:50 [http://acec2010.info/proposal/788/small-changes-big-returns/] & Distance Between Us Is Not Very Far on Wednesday at 11:50 - 12:30 [http://acec2010.info/proposal/798/distance-between-us-not-very-far]. I will stop the show-and-tell and you can try out the tools! ~~~

You’re feeling overwhelmed. You’re feeling pressured. There are so many online tools and so many suggestions as to how to get started. You just want something easy to use and easy to manage and enough time to figure out how to make it work! This is the workshop for you. The idea here is for you to have the opportunity to think how you’d either restructure and present a lesson using one or more of these tools or change an assignment for your students, and then to try the software out for yourself.

Making time to experiment with and learn online tools on your own can be a real problem for most teachers. Participants will be asked bring a lesson or a unit with them so they can rework it using one or more of these tools. By the end you should have something to take back and use in class. You'll be invited to go on safari through my tools wiki and start working on an idea of how you can give a lesson a makeover. Past favourite include

Among others you may want to try:
• Bubbl.us -- mind mapping and essay outlining
• ToonDoo -- summarize a story or event in three cartoon frames
• Powerpoint Jeopardy -- a popular game show
• Quizlet (flashcards) -- make a glossary and review
• Glogster or Discovery Box -- multimedia presentations
• Vuvox -- slide show maker
• Picnik -- online image editor
• Easybib -- take all the pain out of making bibliographies
• Squidoo -- drag and drop website maker

I have already created accounts where you can do this without having to register or sign up and all work you do will be available on my accounts for a full month. By the end of the session you should feel confident enough to try using your new skills in class. I’d also like to invite participants to bring 1 or 2 students along to try the software with you so they can act as helpers when you do. If we have time in an hour, we'll go around the room and share your ideas with everyone. Alternatively we'll post them in a collaborative Google Doc slide show which everyone can access after the conference.

This is how you cite this paper:

All delegates attending this session must bring and ensure:

I have created 2 Voicethreads to introduce myself:
~ one which tells you a little about who I am [http://voicethread.com/share/787247/]
~ and the other that will give you the flavour of the workshop [http://voicethread.com/share/892804/].

You are also welcome to peruse the tools collection in my wiki [http://small-changes-big-returns.wikispaces.com/] and come with ideas and questions.