Web 2.0 Smackdown in Faculty Development Session

As I wrote previously, this summer I attended my first edcamp. While there, I attended the closing session, entitled the Web 2.0 Smackdown! It was an incredibly useful fast-paced session in which any willing participant went to the front of the room and had 1 minute to show a resource on the screen. There were so many Web sites and apps shown that I have fully integrated into my own practice now. I thought it could be a good activity for my own Back to School Faculty Development days. We had an incredible amount of new technology to introduce to faculty and staff, between Brightlink hardware and a new home-school portal. I wanted to make sure to keep it light and fun, because it could have easily been overwhelming and frustrating. I knew I wanted to package it for them in some fun way, and considered a game-board like approach (Candyland? Clue?). Thanks to a suggestion from a friend, I settled on the Olympics...the Tech Olympics. My presentation introduced each task they had to master as "events" like Brighlink Basketball and every faculty member was given a country name, like Valbania and Steven Nam. Sure, it's cutesy, but it worked!

There were so many positive comments sent my way and every single faculty member--even the self-proclaimed technophobes--presented a web site or tool that they use in their teaching practice. Here is the resulting list. I am in a post-training afterglow. Thank you, St. John's faculty for "playing" with me.

Teachers Pay Teachers (www.teacherspayteachers.com)
Class Dojo (www.classdojo.com)
Jam Studio (www.jamstudio.com)
Study Jams (www.studyjams.com)
ToonDoo (www.toondoo.com)
Eduplace (www.eduplace.com)
Abcmouse (http://www.abcmouse.com/)
SciLinks (http://www.scilinks.org/)
Quia (http://www.quia.com/web)
Wisc Online (http://www.wisc-online.com/)
MrRoughton (www.mrroughton.com)
Youtube.com (www.youtube.com)
Geosense (www.geosense.net)
EdHelper Puzzles (http://edhelper.com/crossword_free.htm)
BMA Matisse Interactive (http://www.artbma.org/flash/f_conekids.swf)
Xtranormal (www.Xtranormal.com)
JW Pepper (for music) www.jwpepper.com
PE Central (www.pecentral.org)
Brainpop (www.brainpop.com)
St. John’s Library Online (http://library.stjes.com/)
Pinterest (www.pinterest.org)
Study Spanish Cultural Notes, History (http://www.studyspanish.com/comps/)
Google Earth Gallery (http://www.google.com/gadgets/directory?synd=earth&cat=featured&preview=on)

Tech Olympics 2012 on Prezi