NASA’s Image of the Day site has been in my bookmark lists for as long as I remember. There are incredible shots that are available for use in the classroom and I make a point to share this resource when I teach “Using Digital Images”.

Last week when I was teaching a group of teachers about social bookmarking and shared my delicious account with them, one of them found the NASA link. The image of the day was this amazing shot taken from above Washington DC on Inauguration Day.

Most of us saw the sea of people on TV – or in person if you were lucky enough to be there – but few of us probably had the opportunity to truly understand the magnitude that this photo offers.

I had to downsize it considerably to fit into this post. Find this image and more at the NASA site.

 Muskegon ISD has subscribed to the year-long tech webinar series offered by ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). All webinars are at 4:00 p.m. at Muskegon ISD and are free to all educators. You must register however on the ISD web site. Go to http://www.muskegonisd.org/development.

The two offerings for January are:

Google Lit Trips – January 14

           with Jerome Burg

How can teachers of literature bring the wisdom of the literature of the ages to the students of the 21^st Century? One way is to bring it to the world they live in and care about! The GoogleLitTrips.com project brings the greatest journey literature of all time to the world that today’s 21^st century students live in by tracking the journeys on the surface of Google Earth.

Google Earth allows the addition of place markers to indicate locations along the route and to include such enhancements as appropriate images, relevant website links, and thought provoking discussion starters.

Imagine putting your students right in the middle of the story, traveling right along with the Joads, from The Grapes of Wrath, Amir from The Kite Runner, or even Mr. and Mrs. Mallard from Make Way for Ducklings!

Jerome Burg, the developer of the GoogleLitTrip.com project will share tips, tricks, integration strategies and pedagogical considerations for ensuring that this technology implementation directly addresses good learning theory.

Differentiated Instruction + Tech = Powerful Learning – January 28

Stephanie Throne and Grace Smith

Harness the “power of two”: differentiating instruction plus technology equals a better learning environment for our very diverse students.  Join authors, educators, and tech enthusiasts Grace Smith, Ph.D. and Stephanie Throne, Ph.D. for a thought-provoking discussion about how you can use technology as a tool to differentiate instruction. They will offer a variety of practical strategies and user-friendly resources to accommodate a broad range of learning styles, abilities, and curriculum content to help kick-start your use of technology in differentiating instruction. This session is designed for K-8 teachers, district level technology coordinators, curriculum specialists and pre-service teachers.

For those at the secondary level teaching world languages and cultures, the REALIA (Rich Electronic Archive for Language Instruction Anywhere) Project offers resources to add to your toolbox. The focus of this project is realia: Materials which convey the everyday life of different cultures. Their mission includes this goal:

The goal of the REALIA Project is to develop and implement a searchable digitized media database which will provide instructors of modern languages with teaching resources accessible via the Web. REALIA will publish royalty-free, faculty-reviewed media for scholars and students, and be open to all disciplines that wish to contribute or use cultural materials appropriate for instruction at the college and secondary level.

Images are available for education use, copies may be saved on local computers for educational and research use provided due recognition is given to the REALIA Project.