Quote of the Month: "Be in charge of your own destiny, or some one else will." - Jack Welch
Looking forward to coming new year, the TI team of discussion leaders and helpdesk volunteers wants to thank each of you for being part of the Tapped In community. During this difficult economic time, each member of Tapped In is more important than ever in helping our community to not only survive, but to thrive. By logging in for one or more calendar events each month, joining and participating in one of the 760+ special interest groups, or just receiving and reading this Tapis newsletter, every member in Tapped In brings something of value to our community -- a new perspective, knowledge to share, a question, or enthusiasm for teaching and learning. As a community, we see how much each of you cares and wants to help others reach their full potential as an educator. This caring is one of the things that sets Tapped In apart from other places. We hope that you find value in being able to share and learn with other educators online in the community.
In the short time that Tapped In has been a presence on Twitter, the microblogging site for short attention spans ;-), we have attracted 1400+ followers. TI Twitter posts include daily calendar event reminders and re-tweets (forwarding) of information deemed relevant to the education community, posts made by others in our Twitter/Tapped In Personal Learning Community (PLN), or just fun and cool stuff that may inspire users to look at teaching and learning in a new way. You can read the Tapped In tweets and follow from http://twitter.com/tappedinorg.
Something else that is happening because of the Tapped In tweets is that members of the TI PLN will re-tweet posts from Tapped In. A lovely example is Adrienne Michetti's post: RT @amichetti: an amazing amount of literature on the strength of online teacher communities on the @tappedinorg website. http://tappedin.org/tappedin/web/papers/
The Learning Hub is an ongoing effort by the TI community to support new members and provide resources for a variety of topics and online tools. Frequently the TI re-tweets are applicable to specific special interest groups. When that is the case, that tweet is posted to the appropriate group discussion board with the following addition, "For TI to become a true Learning Hub please let this group know if you found this post (and any other posts to the group discussion board) useful. If you plan to use this information in your classroom, how?" The feedback has been more than gratifying! Visit some of your special interest group rooms, read the discussion boards, and see if there are resources available that meet your teaching and education needs. If not, think about how you can help YOUR group by posting resources relevant to your group PLN.
The following are brief examples of community responses:
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A response to a post in the Global Project Based Learning Group room. [RT @tomwhitby: RT @n8ngrimm: Getting started with project based learning? Hot off the presses: http://j.mp/bJSMKb]
Subject: Re: The Complete Guide to Project-Based Learning
This significantly added to the body of research I had already compiled over the past few years. Active Learning and Projects is one of seven courses in my PRIME Teacher Training Program. The resource book can be found with other course reference texts I have written, compiled, edited in support of the Program at www.slideshare.net and PRIME can be examined in my developing website at www.prime-learning.weebly.com.
Thank you!
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Response to a tweet in the K-12 Language arts room about the GUYKU Poet Club: I think that the Fablevision software looks interesting and I would like to try some of the activities in my classroom. I have not tried the Poet Club yet, but it might be appropriate for my third graders. I found this discussion board useful.
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A new folder has been added to the Learning Hub group room. Because the newsletter is being sent less frequently, this folder will give members a place to request calendar events, offer to lead calendar events, schedule tours, office hours and open house opportunities, etc. To post to this folder log in and go to the TI: Learning Hub group room. Look under Featured Items/Discussion for the "Wish List" folder.
Member feedback is the lifeblood of Tapped In and without it the Helpdesk Volunteers would not be aware of what works and what doesn't work. Because your feedback is so important, a folder for posting comments is provided in Tapped In Reception. Here are some of the comments that members have made:
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I came to Tapped In for the first time as part of an assignment for an online class. JeffC helped me with my assignment and invited me to start a classroom. I came back while taking the class and once again, JeffC provided guidance and support. I must have entered and left the reception room ten times Today, I came back after completing my class and was able to create a classroom. JeffC took the time to teach me how to create and edit my class. I can't wait to have my students log in to Tapped In this coming school year. I couldn't wait to return to Tapped In, because I received such a warm welcome the first time I visited. JeffC made me want to return. It is evident that he is very knowledgeable and enjoys what he does here.
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After being a member of TI for only 2 months I have to thank BJB & Jeff for their constant support and patience. I was able to set my K-12 class & showcased it to some colleagues, participate in a couple of events, smoothly move through the interface, read TONS of interesting things, get in contact with other classes and people alike. THX for your patience, your shared expertise and constant help. GUYS U ROCK!!! ;)
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Today, David helped me create a classroom. Although, I was very interested in creating and using a classroom in order to collaborate with other 8th grade math classes, I was also a little intimidated by the thought of learning how to do it. However, I have a classroom now! I can't wait to come back and add to my class. I know that I will be successful, because of the support and encouragement I received from David today. Thanks DavidW.
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If you would like to post your comments to the Helpdesk Folder, log in and visit Tapped In Reception. The folder is located on the welcome screen under Featured Items/Discussions. And, if you would like to become a Helpdesk Volunteer, just ask one of the volunteers who is logged in.
Tapped In member Susan Roseman has created a LiveBinder on Tapped In. That site has been added to the After School Online room folder on Using Tapped In. If you have created a site that demonstrates how you use the TI features, please send the information to bjb@tappedin.org
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Tapped In member Kihong Bae announced that a completely new Musicshake website was launched on December 6. This new site will include Musicshake for Education and provide a custom page for each school. Purchase of a school membership will give every student unlimited music making/mp3 download privileges. Learn more about this great music across the curriculum tool at the Musicshake Tapped In discussion in February.
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Do you have a News Nugget about yourself or another member of the Tapped In Community? Send your News Nugget to BJ Berquist at bjb@tappedin.org
Past issues of ...On the Tapis newsletters are available online.
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