Tools For Collaboration

I was just introduced to three new collaborative tools that I feel make are very good for teachers to be aware of. We all know that teachers provide guidance and ideas for their students, but how often do they guide their peers? How often do teachers get together and collaborate on ideas? Hopefully frequently. These three new internet websites are easy to use and are good tools for teachers to use when collaborating with each other. The beauty of the internet is that teachers do not have to be in the same school to collaborate with one another. Who knows, they may not even be in the same country!

The websites that I explored are: Integrating-Technology.com, supercoolschool.com, and Google For Educators.

Integrating Technology: Before logging in, this website offers a video about synchronous (all people participate in discussion together) and asynchronous (people complete tasks individually, then come together to discuss what they learned) forms of communication. This website allows you to join and to take part in synchronous discussions with educators throughout the country. I think that this is a great way for educators to bounce ideas off of one another and to see different points of view on the same topic.

SuperCoolSchool: I am amazed at the idea of this website. It seems as though the traditional classroom is disappearing and the virtual classroom is becoming more of a reality. I like the ideas presented on this website, although I think that it is a little bit ahead of it's time because right now we are in- between traditional and virtual classrooms. With this website, teachers can set up their own virtual classrooms where they invite people to listen to their presentations and participate in group activities and discussions. Personally, I think that this website should be tried with teachers only first, then once teachers master it, branch out and invite our students to participate. I see this website as our future in education.

Google For Educators: This website is a good tool for integrating ideas into our curriculum. For example, there is a post for using Google Earth in Science lessons. The website allows you to join and search for groups, as well as post questions on the discussion board. This is a resource that I will reference in the future.

It's amazing to think how far technology has come when it comes to education and even more crazy to sit back and realize how fast all of the new technology is changing. I think that websites like these are a comfort zone for teachers because they allow us to come together and explore all of these new tools together; as well as discuss any changes that would need to be made when using these with our students.