UEA weekend: Imagine camping off the beaten path at the rustic (no showers) and very beautiful Rio Mesa Center created by the University of Utah - near Moab, Utah.  Rio Mesa is dedicated to enhancing the teaching experience of K-12 educators. (The new center facilities - with showers - should be open next year.) The weather was clear and cold and warm. It was 30 degrees at night and 85 in the day! Educators from across the state met here to study ants! We learned how to integrate GPS devices, data collection in Excel spreadsheets, pictures in drop box and bring it all together on one map in ArcGIS online. Sweet! The project was lead by Pat Lambrose and more information can be found online at the Cmapk12.wikispace.  Check out our finished product! Click on the interactive map below to see the detailed data and even find pictures of individual ant colonies.

So this brings me to the second part of what I learned. I took my iPad and gave a quick explanation using Explain Everything. This app is an easy-to-use design tool that lets you annotate, animate, and narrate explanations. What I love about it is this: you could hand your iPad to a student and ask them to explain a math problem, a language arts concept, a science theory or experiment. You name it, kids can demonstrate their mastery beautifully and creatively.  You can share it in so many ways.  Project it to the class on your Apple TV or share it on YouTube, in an e-mail, in dropbox, or Evernote. Is there a better way to demonstrate mastery than teaching someone else all about it? Try it with your students!  Colleen Bliss

I have recently been asked by teachers how to integrate Reading Street into their iPads.  I have explored all sorts of tools that allow flash content, but have selected the Photon app for most of them.  It seems to work well with the Reading Street videos.  Photon is a browser app, much like safari.  It streams flash content, and so far, I've been pleased with the speed at which it downloads to the iPad.  The teachers have expressed many positive comments about it, too.  That's the real test, isn't it?
To get the photon app, go to https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/photon-flash-video-player/id430200224?mt=8. 
Post published by Sallie Warnecke

My teammate Camille and I were recently invited to present to a group of American History teachers in the Alpine School District. We were asked to share with them ways in which social media can enhance their history curriculum. We were excited for the opportunity to share some social media tools with them, and I am excited to now be able to share our ideas with you!
Social media includes web- and mobile-based technologies to support interactive dialogue and communication between organizations, communities, and individuals. (Wikipedia) The ways in which students communicate and learn are changing because of social media tools. The classroom is no longer limited by four walls. Social media expands possibilities for teaching and learning.

What is social media?
This movie by Common Craft gives a great analogy that explains social media and its benefits:

• Social Media in Plain English by Common Craft

Following are some ideas for using social media tools like Twitter, Facebook, Weebly, and Blogs to bring your Social Studies classroom to life!

Poll Everywhere
Poll everywhere is a website that allows teachers to create instant polls that their students may respond to via text or via the web. This is a great way for teachers to check for understanding. Polls on Poll Everywhere also make great exit tickets. My favorite part of the site is that the results are shown in a live feed that you can display for your class to see.

• Poll Everywhere - Social Media Poll
  

Facebook
What is Facebook? Watch the follow Common Craft videos to find out:

• Social Networking (Facebook) by Common Craft on YouTube
  
• Social Networking (Facebook) by Common Craft on commoncraft.com

There are many ways to use Facebook or other sites like it to communicate with and engage students.

• Facebook - Facebook can be used to communicate with students and parents about what is happening in your class. Homework assignments, discussion questions, and upcoming events are easily posted, and students can easily respond. The main benefit of using Facebook, in my opinion, is that most students are already using this social network. This means they do not have to create another account, and they are more likely to see your posts. Be cautious, however. "Friending" students is usually not a good idea. Try creating a class fan page instead so that students and parents can follow your page posts without you having to "friend" them or allow them to access your personal information.
  
• For more information about using Facebook in the classroom, check out this article from The Innovative Educator: 8 Real Ways Facebook Enriched Ms. Schoening's First Grade Class -- The Innovative Edcuator
• Edmodo - This is an education-friendly, Facebook-like option for managing your class on a social network site. The benefit of using Edmodo is that you have a Facebook-looking interface, but with much more teacher control over content and posts. The drawback is that students typically do not already use Edmodo, making it one more account and one more network they have to access.
  
• Fakebook - Fakebook is not a complete social network, like Facebook. Instead, it is an site where students can create fake profiles for historical figures in a Facebook-like interface that they are familiar with. Watch the video on the Fakebook webpage to see how it works!

Twitter
What is Twitter? Watch the following Common Craft movie to find out:

• Twitter in Plain English by Common Craft

There are a lot of ways Twitter can be used in the Classroom:

• Visible Tweets - Create a Twitter hashtag for your class, and have students post questions, thoughts, comments, and feedback using the hashtag. Enter the hashtag into Visible Tweets, and project the feed to create your own classroom backchannel.
  
• Twijector - Use this just like you would Visible Tweets, except get a more artistic display of the feed.
  
• For more ideas for using Twitter in the classroom, check out this article: 50 Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom.
  

Twhistory
Twhistory is a site that helps teachers create a Twitter feed recreation of an historical event. Students can research events using primary sources, then Tweet about the event as if they were a person experiencing the event first-hand. Click on the links below for more information and to see examples of Twhistory recreations:

• Retweeting History Brings Those Stories to Life

• Tweeting from the Titanic: All Hands on Deck
• The Titanic
• Titanic Questions
• The Bombing of Pearl Harbor
  • Students worked in groups of 2-3
  • Each group was assigned a Pearl Harbor character
  • Each group:
    • read the eyewitness account of their assigned character
    • composed tweets as if they were that person experiencing the bombing of Pearl Harbor
    • recorded their tweets on the google spreadsheet
    • recorded the date, time, and the tweet with the hashtag #csdendorse
• Tweets were scheduled using SocialOomph

Blogs
What are blogs? Watch the following Common Craft movie to find out:

• Blogs in Plain English by Common Craft

Using blogs in the classroom can engage students in writing, analysis, and discussion in any subject area. Some blogging sites teachers can use with their students include:

• Blogger - Google's blog site - Students must be 13 or older to have their own account.
  
• KidBlogs - Teachers manage student accounts and have admin rights to all student-created blogs.
  
• Edublogs
• Edublogs Curriculum Corner is a great place to find blogs other teachers and students are creating in specific content areas. - History and Social Studies
• Edublogs Directory is a great place to find blogs other teachers and students are creating. - History and Social Studies

Weebly
What is Weebly? Weebly is an online WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) website creation site. Visit the following links to learn more:

• Weebly for Education Demo
  
• education.weebly.com
  

Weebly is a great way for teachers and students to build educational websites.

• Student Website Portfolios - Students can create their own website to house all of the great school work they do over the years. So often students lose track of projects, essays, and technology creations. Weebly is a great way to organize them into online portfolios to show colleges, employers, family, and friends.
• Click the following links to view examples of student sites:

           Weebly Websites Created by Students Grades 6-8 and 9-12
           Revolutionizing Industry: Henry Ford's Moving Assembly Line
           Marching for Civil Rights
           Weebly Country Reports - Spain

• Professional Development - Our very own Education Technology Department uses Weebly to create this site as a place to gather professional learning materials and resources:
  Prolearning.canyonsdistrict.org

YouTube
What is YouTube? "YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos." (Wikipedia)
YouTube is another great classroom resource. Teachers can find video clips that fit their curriculum on YouTube or any number of other video-sharing sites, like YouTube for Schools or Teacher Tube.
Some school districts block YouTube, making it difficult for teachers to share content they find. Dowload Helper is a Firefox browser add-on that can help teachers download copies of movies at home to later be played in class. Be careful to follow all copyright laws when using Download Helper.
Many YouTube channels have been created specifically for use in the Social Studies classroom. Some of my favorites are re-mixed music videos in which popular songs have been spoofed to include history-themed lyrics. For example:

• The History Teachers
  
• Renaissance 
  
• Bad Romance: Women’s Suffrage
• The Ad Council - PSAs

Students can also use YouTube to share movies they create themselves. For example:

• Falcon Facts on YouTube or Falcon Facts on iTunesU

Film creation is a great way to help students master planning, writing, and revision skills as well as content in any subject area. Film-creation is even more authentic when students can share their work with a real audience. YouTube allows them to do just that. For example:

• Ancient Civilizations

There are countless social media tools available to help students create their own music videos, movies, and presentations. For example:

• Blabberize
• Voki
  
• Vocaroo
  
• Storybird
  
• Comic Creator
  
• Animoto

I have listed just a handful of social media tools that can be used in the Social Studies classroom. For an even larger list of online tools and articles about using social media in the classroom, visit our "Bringing Social Studies to Life with Social Media" website.
I would love to hear ways you are using social media in your classroom, so be sure to comment on this post and share the great things you are doing!

Posted by Katie Blunt