A Sure-Fire Way to Improve Reading Fluency

Using Audacity ( downloading is free ) and a microphone can really bring to life the reality of reading, pacing, intonation and self-discipline.
Check out this web site for more information and detail...

http://techhappy.wordpress.com/2010/02/01/a-sure-fire-way-to-improve-reading-fluency/

Child-Driven Education

TED talks are full of great ideas and studies that open our eyes and minds to new ideas and concepts. Sugata Mitra conducted a study on Child-Driven Education. He investigated the impact the Internet has in education by taking a closer look at how and what happens when school-aged children are exposed to information.

How Google Apps Saved a School

I stumbled on this video in my exploration of the PBS Frontline Digital Nation site. Our school is currently in the process of rolling out a Google App standard for our students so I was interested in what this school accomplished with it! What I thought was particularly relevant to our discussions so far in this course was the acknowledgment of multitasking when working online. I also enjoyed seeing the way the teacher incorporated technology into the class reading of To Kill a Mockingbird. As a bonus, there is a moment in the middle (when the AP is talking) that is good for a laugh! Enjoy!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/learning/schools/how-google-saved-a-school.html?play

Which Web 2.0 option is best?

If you are considering using a blog, wiki or Google Doc for your interactive reading / writing activity, take a look at this chart that conveniently breaks down the advantages and disadvantages and makes your decision easier.

Copy this link to your browser or click on it.

https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=ddnzwcn8_15g3jrbpdf

More students in more and more schools are reading on tablets

Winnie Hu in the NY Times writes about the growing number of schools that are adopting the Apple iPad:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/education/05tablets.html?ref=winniehu

Welcome to our CEP 891 Class Bulletin Board!

This bulletin board is a space for us to share links to news items, pics, videos, websites, etc. that we think may be of interest to our colleagues in 891. No need to write a long comment if you don't have time. A link with a short title or explanation is fine.

I'll go first. Here's a link to a recent piece in the NY Times that puts side by side five popular tablets (such as the Apple iPad and the HP Slate) and compares them. If you don't know much about tablets, or if you're thinking about buying one, you may want to take a quick look.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/technology/personaltech/2010-tablet-computer-comparison.html?ref=technology

Also: Nick Bilton in a December post on the NY Times "Bits" blog wrote this:

Reports released throughout the year by Forrester Research and IDC, market research firms that track electronics usage and sales, say that the tablet market is going to explode in the coming years. IDC predicts that 42 million tablets will be sold in the United States in 2011 alone.