Google+ has captured the attention and curiosity of many people around the world. This is Google’s latest attempt at creating a social network to compete with both Facebook and Twitter. Google+ is currently in a beta test right now and it is a real beta test because invitations are needed to create Google+ accounts at this time (we all know Google never releases a product out of beta). I was fortunate enough to receive an invite from an EdTech friend who likes to use me as her personal guinea pig which I usually don’t mind. The concept is basically like both Facebook and Twitter, just enter whatever you want to share with your network. This can be links to articles to ever popular what you had for lunch on a given day. Right away the big difference is you can direct your message whatever group or circle you wish to see it. Circles are groups of friends, followers, or whatever you call the people you share your life with online. I like the circle concept Google uses because circles can be created for whatever purpose you need. For example, everyone has a everyone and public circle. Along with those circles…

So much for global warming, especially in “Sunny” South Carolina. Some parts of the Palmetto State had the first White Christmas in most people’s recollection. A winter storm blanketed most of the state with snow and ice and created the world’s largest bumper car ride. Most schools in the state were forced to close for the better part of a week. Here in the southern part of the state we had to start school two hours later for a couple of days.  Some people still cannot get out of their driveway.

With the schools closed for a few days, some teacher friends in the affected areas express growing concern about what will happen to their students. Guess they think the kids can only have so much snow fun such sledding, building snowmen, and having snowball fights before getting bored. Actually, it is about keeping pace with lesson plans to prepare for the state mandated tests lurking over the horizon. On Facebook there was even discussion about using Moodle and other such methods so classes can keep going.

I have a simpler solution: try a learning social network such as Schoology.

This is an easy to…

Whenever I am writing or researching presentation content or blog posts I’m usually at my local library or coffee shop. Home does not offer me the privacy I want and district policies discourage me from using school resources. In the old days I would pack my laptop, charger, and a mouse then unpack everything to set up. When I was finished I would reverse the process. Sometimes, forgetting something would result in a wasted trip. Lugging around a laptop, no matter the size, at conferences became tiresome. All that changed when I got my first smartphone, a BlackBerry Curve. It opened up a new world of mobility for me. Now I rarely carry my laptop around as I mostly work on a variety of smaller, connected gadgets that make my life simpler.

Today, I mostly use an iPhone 3GS to write drafts of most blog posts I write including this one. Now that I am used to the smaller keyboard I can type on it almost as fast as a regular sized keyboard. To make things easier, Apple now has word completion and spell checking capabilities. I currently use two apps for the word processing: Office2 and My…

September flew by as the first full month of school kept me very busy. Lots of blog posts to grade, students setting up their digital portfolio websites, and learning the trials and tribulations of teaching an all digital class. Imagine having to grade assignments for over 200 students at the rate of one or two assignments per week! The free time shrinks very quickly. I also took a day off to attend a TED event in Charlotte, NC which was good until you come back to a ton of work waiting for you at home. The one thing that saved my sanity was my learning social network.

My learning social network gives my students the ability to upload assignments. It’s great! Plus, I’ve discovered that grading assignments online is even better. In the past I would carry around heavy briefcases weighed down with tests, essays, worksheets, research papers, and other assessments to be graded. Now students upload documents or links to blogs to the learning social network site. Then I just log into the site and read what was turned-in, give a grade, and give any comments needed. This can be done at school, home, coffee shop, or any…

School started for me last week and one of the first tasks for the students was to register for the class social network. It did not take me long to be convinced that teachers need to engage with students online. However, teachers need to use a social network designed for education such as edmodo or Schoology. Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are too open and students are logging into them with no clue about what to share or how to act. Like it or not it may be up to teachers to show their students how to interact online in a safe and secure environment.

Once all of my students logged on to our network, I allowed the students a few minutes to send out notes so they can understand how the network worked and see what is appropriate to post. Students learned quickly the only person they can send direct messages to is me. This means everything else they post can be seen by the rest of the class. This did not deter some students as they kept thinking they were in a chat room. Another student thought anything went after school, thinking…

Dr. Dereck Rhoads, principal of the new Bluffton Middle School in Bluffton, South Carolina, explained his goal for a Technology class that would be required for all students to take.

Dr. Rhoads’ goal “is that students understand and be able to demonstrate the safe, ethical, and effective use of technology“. Another objective he would like to see is “ensure that students have a chance to become efficient in tech literacy such as web 2.0 applications and be able to produce (not only critically consume) information”.

No other school in the Beaufort County School District and maybe the state of South Carolina is attempting such an ambitious project.

What does this have to do with me? I have been chosen to make Dr. Rhoads’ dream into a reality. There will actually be two technology courses: one for sixth grade and one for the seventh grade. Technology will be a course for sixth and seventh graders that will meet every other day in an A-B schedule for a semester. To bring relevance to this course, myself and another Technology teacher will meet with academic teachers often so we may plan activities involving students’ Math, Science, English, or Social Studies courses.…

I have 18 years of experience in education, 14 as a high school social studies teacher and 4 as an Instructional Technology Coach. Starting in the 2010-2011 school year I will return to the classroom to develop and teach a Technology course for 6th and 7th Graders at Bluffton Middle School. During all my years in education I have integrated technology into my teaching whenever I could. I was one of the first teachers in the Beaufort County School District to create a hybrid traditional/online course with a Criminal Justice course at Hilton Head Island High School and Bluffton High School. When Bluffton High School opened in 2004-2005, a textbook shortage allowed me to use web-based applications and information to teach United States History.

My awards include the Technology Innovative Program Award from the South Carolina Association for Education Technology in 2008 for incorporating Web 2.0 application uses into core curriculum courses. In 2009, I was part of the coaching team whose students took first place in Research Presentation at the South Carolina FIRST Lego League Robotics Competition.

I have given presentations and instruction on Internet Safety, Cyberbullying, and a variety of Web 2.0 applications to the…