Padlet
I love using Padlet as a collaboration tool and it has become more reliable and functional since the early days when it was known as Wallwisher. You can embed pictures and videos in the postings to your wall, plus Padlet gives you a URL link to your wall, embed code and a QR code, which makes it very easy to share your wall with the community. I recently used it with 5th graders who have been studying the Universal Declaration of Human Rights together with the novel, Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. I created a Padlet wall where the students posted their thoughts about the literary elements in Esperanza Rising that related to individual Articles in the UDHR. The students loved posting their "sticky notes" on the wall! I learned a lot from this activity. First, I needed to adjust the settings for the wall to make sure that I could edit and "approve" the sticky notes before they appeared on the wall for everyone to see. Second, the students had to finish their sticky notes in one lesson because the wall doesn't save their notes. Third, I played around with the layout. You can choose either a scattered sticky note layout or a linear layout. I started out with the scattered layout, which looked more interesting and authentic. However, this got too messy and it was difficult to read the notes when many of them appeared one on top of the other. So I switched the layout to the more formal layout.
When I explored the gallery of Padlet walls on the website I discovered lots of new ways to use this fun tool.
1. Time lines for historical events or literature study.
2. Vocabulary instruction where each student writes a sentence using a vocabulary word and posts it to the wall.
3. Discussions with colleagues about a topic, technology tool, book, etc.
4. Invite interpretations of a picture or short video clip.
5. Resources on a topic, which could include videos and links to documents.
1. Time lines for historical events or literature study.
2. Vocabulary instruction where each student writes a sentence using a vocabulary word and posts it to the wall.
3. Discussions with colleagues about a topic, technology tool, book, etc.
4. Invite interpretations of a picture or short video clip.
5. Resources on a topic, which could include videos and links to documents.
Google+, Google Sites and Google Docs
I am still learning all the functions of the Google apps and have been doing some experimenting. I am using Google docs/spreadsheets in several ways: to collaborate with colleagues to support students with their research projects and to collaborate on a shared K-5 technology skills document with colleagues from other school districts that is part of a regional working group on technology education. I set up two circles in Google+ to share the latest news and useful resources in the library with my school. I have found that these tools are potential very useful but their effectiveness depends on the participation of each member of the group! Everyone has to be onboard with using them otherwise it falls flat. So, I plan on providing a workshop to demonstrate the advantages and usefulness of using these tools.