Tapped In Newsletter: October 2008
...On the Tapis
October 2008
Issue 131
In This Issue
[1] Wish you were here!
[2] Tips and Comments from the Experts
[3] News Nuggets
[4] Tapped In Technology Tip
[5] About ...On the Tapis
Quote of the Month - "A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read." - Mark Twain
[1] Wish you were here!
This is an open letter to all those Tapped In members who are lurking, who logged in for a class requirement and never returned after the class was over, or who feel that Tapped In has no value to you once you've earned your teaching credential. Please read the Tips and Comments from the experts in article [2] below and think about the purpose and the intended audience for the Tapped In community. Helpdesk volunteers, discussion leaders, and participating members who make the community the warm and welcoming place that it is are there to help you SUSTAIN professional development throughout your teaching career. Members who actively participate in the community are lifelong learners who seek to collaborate with colleagues, contribute to the discussions, and learn about best practices in education. The Tapped In team sends a "c'mon back" note to the entire community and looks forward to seeing you take an hour a week from your busy schedules to stop in, visit a calendar event, and say howdy!
[2] Tips and Comments from the Experts
A special tribute to Jeff Cooper, Tapped In Helpdesk Volunteer, who lead a tour for Marie White's Childhood Education class from Nyack School of Education:
As a professor I have found Tapped In to be a wonderful resource. We could not be using it as an extremely valuable tool without the help of Jeff Cooper. He has been available to my classes to assist, teach, and guide through the tremendous resources offered by Tapped In. Students who wandered into the ed lab last evening were so impressed that we were communicating and gaining such valuable information. It has taken us beyond Facebook and Myspace to a desire to become a part of a professional community of learners and helpers. Marie C. White, Assistant Professor, Department Chair, Childhood Education Manhattan Campus, Nyack School of Education
(Marie's response when asked for permission to quote: Of course, we have grown in so many ways as a department because of him [bjb])
Comments from Marie White's students who participated in Jeff's tour:
I have to agree with Professor White and her comments. This tool is certainly a gateway into the future of technological communication. It is necessary as future educators to become familiar and active in these cyber communities. Thank you Jeff so much for your help and for being a guide. I hope that others take this tool seriously and acknowledge its full potential. Eric Diaz
I have also found Tapped In to be very useful. Thank you Jeff Cooper for all your help last Thursday. It has been amazing for me to learn about this website and all the wonderful resources it has to offer us as professionals and future teachers. Erika Rios
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TI member Roger Goodson commented during an Online Learning and Teaching discussion, "I enjoy TI because it seems 'friendly' to me. Reception is very helpful, tutorials are useful and practical ...and there is humor here :-)
Jeff was very helpful, he was able to lead our class of 24 through the website with ease. It's good to have a website that has so many valuable resources but it's even better to have someone who knows exactly where to find them. Wandalee Arnau
The tour of Tapped In was very helpful. It was a great learning experience. I was so impressed by how much we learned as a class and how many different people we can help and also talk to through this cyber community of educators. Thank you Jeff for the wonderful help. Ariadne Ferreira
I am a new member of the Tapped In family. And as prospective teacher I really appreciated Jeff Cooper's willingness and helpfulness in teaching the class how to utilize the extensive amount of resources available to educators. Tapped In is truly a remarkable place where you can communicate and generate information all across the world. Thus I strongly support Tapped In and encourage more users. Shannon Darby
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TI member Marlene Konduc, at the end of Lynne Wolters' Web 2.0 Tools for Schools discussion, "Thank you Lynne, I always walk away from with a wealth of info... but what makes this group even more special is all the brainstorming and great ideas for uses of these tools by such a diverse group of teachers."
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If you have a comment or experience to share with the Tapped In community, please submit the information to BJ Berquist at bjb@tappedin.org or post how you use TI here.
[3] News Nuggets
Bowyee Gong, from SRI International sent this alert to the TI community that the Raising Readers project is looking to hire 25 Early Childhood Literacy Coaches and Assessors. For more information log in to TI, click on the Tapped In tab and then select Jobs in the blue menu bar.
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Rushton Hurley, leader of Next Vista for Learning, announced that for the first time since he started Next Vista, on Tuesday, September 30, we passed the 100,000 hits mark in a single month!
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David Gibson invites you to look at The Global Challenge for Science and Technology and invite a high school student that you know to take part in the project. The Global Challenge seeks to engage high school-aged students around the world in self-directed online science and technology challenges that involve real world issues. The program gives international teams the opportunity to experience the excitement of scientific understanding and engineering design while working on significant human and societal issues - bringing science to life in innovative new applications. An overarching model and source of inspiration for the learning experiences we want for all students comes from The George Lucas Foundation's Big ideas For Better Schools. The Global Challenge is funded, in part, by a National Science Foundation (NSF) award from the Information Technology Experiences for Students (ITEST) program, validating the project's design as one of the top proposals for engaging youth in science, technology, engineering and mathematics learning. For more information about how you can participate in The Global Challenge and learn more about this project contact David Gibson at david.gibson@globalchallengeaward.org
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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.
[4] Tapped In Technology Tip
The People Page
The next time you log in to TI, take a moment and go to the Tapped In tab at the top of your screen. Then select the People tab in the blue menu bar. The People page is full of goodies ;-) You can read the TI demographics (did you know that as of September 13, there were 15,194 Tapped In members?!). A new Helpdesk Volunteer is featured each time you open the People page. You can also see who the newest members are, who has recently updated their profile, and who the most frequent posters are to the discussion boards.
[5] About ...On the Tapis
Past issues of ...On the Tapis newsletters are available online.
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