These two videos are more great intros into two Web 2.0 tools: RSS feeds and Wikis. They are engaging and informative and, well, fun to watch (who can ask for more). They are done by Commoncraft. This post has been sitting in my blog files for months and kept getting bumped for other things so I decided it was time to get it off the floor.

Check the videos out:

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Peace (from my feeds),
Kevin

I was reminded of how fast the Classroom 2.0 social networking site has grown since I climbed aboard the Ning train a few months ago (there were just a few hundred folks then in the network created by Steve H.) when the site was featured on the main Ning Blog Page as an example of an active community.

It said that the Classroom 2.0 site now has more than 2,500 members! Wow! That’s is a lot of exploration and discussion and sharing of resources going on among educators, and there is a wealth of knowledge and experience there. So go ahead, check it out and join the network (if nothing else, you can see what social networking is all about)

Gina Bianchini (one of the Ning developers) had this to say:

I’ve got to believe the classroom is a more fun and productive place when you have teachers who are creatively and passionately bringing social software into the mix. The teachers in Classroom 2.0 are leading by example.

Peace (in networks),
Kevin

The folks over at CommonCraft have done it again — a great little video on the power of social bookmarking (such as delicious) and how the collective force of information gathering can be used to widen the web of resources at your fingertips (on the keyboard):

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Peace (with links),
Kevin

Look at this graph:

I love that the highest category is related to writing, although I wish it were even larger. But this chart — from a report entitled Creating and Connecting, etc and shared by my friend, Gail, and generated by the National School Board — shows the growing impact of social networking on young people.

Gail cites the report with this quote:

In light of the study findings, school districts may want to consider reexamining their policies and practices and explore ways in which they could use social networking for educational purposes.

Peace (with connections),
Kevin

This is another interesting site that gives you some ideas when your brain is fried and dried and it sure comes up some strange ones. It’s called the Director’s Bureau Special Projects Idea Generator (like a spy movie or something). Just click and spin the wheel.

In three turns of the wheel, I got:

• Do-it-yourself levitating animal
• Exclusive foam garden
• Nutritious holograph club
• Comedic Inflatable Event

There’s got to be something I can do with these.

Peace (in abundance),
Kevin

PS — I was taking my cat for a virtual walk when the strangest thing happened. She doesn’t like to stroll too far in the holographic room but every once in a while, a robotic mouse jumps out of the low corner of the walls and she is off like a shot. The mouse always gets away by scaling the walls and disappearing into the upper corner of the holographic room. On this day, my thoughts were clouded by the upcoming meeting of the Inflatable Foam Garden club and our concern that every time it rains, our gardens wash away. I had suggested tying bowling balls to the flowers but the others just pooh-poohed that idea. Still, no one had come up with a better suggestion and I could just see our gardens graced by colorful balls, anchored nicely during storms. It was while I was in these deep pockets of thoughts that my cat brought back some kind of paper bag, and it in were wires and nodes and other items. I was curious — as my cat was — and so I followed the set of instructions and began connecting the pieces together. When it was done, it resembled something like closed box, with a large wire coming out of the top and big blue button on the side. I clicked the button and something jumped from the box to my cat. My cat looked at me, and I just shrugged. This kind of thing happens all the time to us. Then, to my surprise, my cat started to lift up off the ground. She was flying! No, not quite flying. More like levitating. I grabbed the paper bag and tried to find some kind of label. On the bottom, worn out, were the words: Do-it-yourself Animal Levitation Kit. I waved to my cat and she kind of waved back. Waving isn’t easy for cats. Suddenly, a robotic mouse scurried out of the wall and my cat was zooming after it. No more escape through the top of the room for this prey but when my cat swiped at the mouse, there was a loud “pop” and the mouse disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and the room was gone. We were standing — well, I was standing and my cat was floating — back in our house and my cat had the funniest expression on its face. Like something had gotten her tongue this time. I reached down to see what happened and found a rip in our Comedic Inflatable Event. I folded it up, put it back in the bag and silently told myself that I needed to bring the room back for repairs before the next meeting of the Nutritious Holographic Club. The room would not be too tasty as it was.