Making Implementation Fun!!!

I am actually not kidding about doing this; I think (most) people would enjoy the humor and it might make this seem like a friendlier undertaking. In our "9 Tech Tools You Should Try in 08-09" (or whatever we are going to call it), we should include some kind of incentives, like merit badges (which could be like the badges people put on their social networking pages or blogs...maybe Carolyn's class could design some for us?!) which they could earn if they completed certain tasks at any point in the year. An example of a task: "Set up a blog on Blogger and invite Samira, Elliot and Carolyn to join." Once we get the invitation, we email the badge or send a password to a page where they can get the badge, etc. I am willing to put some time into this if you think it's worth it!

For Implementation

For each of the "tech essentials" we are planning to encourage folks to try at least once during the 08-09 year, we should make a quick list of what it's good for. This would then be followed with more detailed information about the tool, specific links, tutorials, examples, and so on. Example:

PBWiki is good for

• collaborative projects and discussions
• posting photos, videos, links, and other items for students to access
• posting files

Ning is good for

• allowing each student to have his/her own blog and photo album accessible by everyone in the class

etc.

(There are better things to include for PBWiki and Ning, I'm just typing off the top of my head.)

Online Survey/Quiz Software WITH IMAGES?

I want to find a quiz maker like Survey Monkey only one where I can put in photos or screenshots for kids to use when answering questions. Does Moodle do something like that? On my list of things to look for if nobody else has ideas...

Implementation/Training Note

We should put together a listing of favorite little tech tools, like Slideshare or Survey Monkey with notes about how they could be used.

UPDATE: We should also make a list of things everyone should try at least once; it would be optional, but we should make it clear that we think these things are so great that you wouldn't want to miss out! Examples: SurveyMonkey, using an RSS feed reader, listening to a podcast, etc. Provide tutorials on our wiki and hold monthly gatherings to show people how to do this.