The Power of Skype

Today's class was very interesting.  I really thought it was beneficial to talk with Kate about her experiences and tips she had for us.  I thought it was interesting when she was talking about her District's Director of Technology Instruction and how he has made it his number one priority to prepare the teachers for this innovation.  I think it's wonderful that her school can have this rewarding Professional Development.  Another great thing her school has implemented is that every student has a school gmail account.  The teacher has access to every student's password--this is a great way to manage and monitor  the students use.

We used TodaysMeet.com to experiment with back-channeling.  I think this is a great idea to use when you need to communicate with other people while you have a speaker.  I think a good way to use this in the Elementary classroom is to incorporate back-channeling within literature circles.  I'm not sure if I would personally use this in my classroom, but I think some teachers could do a great job when working with this.

One of the 2.0 Web Tools that we learned about today was Symbaloo. I am definitely going to set up an account and use next year!! That way, I have a place to keep all of my favorite websites and can access access them at any time! :)