Quest Atlantis

This quote from the Quest Atlantis site sums it up for me: 'Quest Atlantis (QA) is an international learning and teaching project that uses a 3D multi-user environment to immerse children, ages 9-15, in educational tasks. QA combines strategies used in the commercial gaming environment with lessons from educational research on learning and motivation.'

This project is run by the Indiana School of Education at Indiana University and is funded by the National Science Foundation and others.

What's a Ning?

A Ning is a type of social networking site. There are many social networking sites that students use like Facebook or MySpace.

I've created a Ning for the coop. If you'd like to participate as an early adopter, let me know! It's a great chance to play with technology you could use in a classroom.

Shift Happens

This is a really great video that puts some perspective on what our students lives will be like and how much/fast things are changing in our world. The video, named Did You Know 2.0, is on YouTube and is a must see for all educators!

Naughty Auties?!

CNN has been running a series this week on Autism. If you haven't been following it, go to their website and give it a look.

They have a good piece on an Autism group, Naughty Auties, in Second Life. Second Life is an interesting piece of free software. Users create an avatar to represent themselves online. Then they can travel thru Second Life and shop, chat with others, fly around, or even go into orbit. What I find interesting is that when you're on Second Life, there are no 'handicaps'. If you are in a wheelchair in real life, you can fly, just like everyone else, in Second Life. It's another good example of 'bridge tech'.

Do you Facebook?

This is the first in a series of posts about technologies that your students are probably familiar with, but you might not be. My intent is to give you a 'heads up' so you can go explore the technology yourself. The label for these posts will be 'Bridge Tech'.
Facebook is a social networking site like MySpace. It allows people to communicate and stay connected. It has tools similar to email, but also allows you to say what you're doing today, who your 'friends' are, post pictures, say what events you have in your calendar and what groups you belong to. Your friends can post on your wall, poke you, and even send you presents! This site is very popular with students through college level and beyond.
I have a Facebook account so look me up! I'll be your friend!