Encouraging Good Questions

I wanted to add this blog entry that I found posted on Digygogy. It served as a reminder for me that formulating good questions applies in my own use of technology in the classroom. We need to invest time to ensure that we formulate learning tasks, challenges and questions that ignite curiosity and promote student engagement. Furthermore, we need to provide students with tools, skills and prior knowledge that allow them to attempt and answer the question presented.

http://whatedsaid.wordpress.com/2010/10/10/10-ways-to-encourage-good-questions/


Visit the Learning Classroom Webpage
http://www.tvdsb.ca/programs.cfm?subpage=82973

Join Me - A quick and simple way to share your desktop with others

I was skeptical of this web app, but Join.Me really works.  Having said that, Join.Me is created by the folks at LogMeIn which is a fairly well known application that provides remote access to your computer - so perhaps it is not surprising that have developed this application.

The process is fairly simple... go to https://join.me/ and select SHARE.  It will provide you with a 9 digit number.  Other users then open their browsers and navigate to https://join.me/ and select JOIN.  After entering the same 9 digit number they will be able to view your screen.  I have only played with the free version which allows users to send messages, share files and remote control - that is pretty impressive.

Join.Me

Gapminder - Looking and Playing with Data

I found Gapminder through Edutecher.net.  This is simply a great way to look at and play with data dealing with global trends and topics.  Health, education, climate and poverty are but some of the few areas of research that have been collected and compiled into these interactive graphs.  When you launch Gapminder World, you will be able to select values and indicators charted on the graph axes as well as identify and track specific countries.

Basically - it is just too hard to describe the power of this online tool.  Any teacher that deals or refers to current and historical events and trends will definitely find Gapminder to be compelling tool!

Gapminder.org