An Interesting way to organize online resources

While link hopping the other day, I stumbled across this little Web tool - with some interesting potential for the classroom.



Basically, it allows you to create tabbed pages that resemble a standard accordion binder in the visual layout:

In each tab, you can upload or link to content that is thematically related to your binder's topic - up to a total of 100MB per account (this is the free version - it's still in Beta, and they will eventually have a pay version with more bells and whistles).

Once you register, you can start creating binders, which you store on your "shelves"  What is a shelf, you ask? A shelf is where you can save any binders you find interesting - whether created by you or others - making it easy to access the content that most interests you.You can then embed either binders or entire shelves into your webpage.

 Creating a binder is easy, using their fairly intuitive interface (the first item on your shelf when you register is a how-to manual that walks you through the process).  You can quickly embed webpages, images, videos, sound files, text documents... of course, with the 100 MB limit, you'll want to use more links than actual uploaded files - put the videos on YouTube and the docs / presentations on Google Docs and you'll save yourself a ton of space...



So, how is this different from just creating a regular webpage or blog, and why should you use it in your classroom?  At first, I wasn't sure I'd want to incorporate this - after all, there are always new things bubbling up, and many of them really don't add a whole lot to the table.  However, as I played around with the site and searched through the content, I found that it has some potential:

• Within a tab, you can embed a live webpage, with text next to or beneath it - this allows you to guide students to the facets of the webpage which you deem important, or to post questions for them to answer as they explore the page. 
• The format is more visually appealing than a standard page of links - with a caveat: I saw a number of binders where the author was a bit excessive in the use of sub-tabs - so, underneath the main tab, I'd find three lines of sub-page titles - visually confusing and entirely overwhelming.  SO, when used judiciously, it can be a nice way to draw students in.
• Looking through the binders created by others, I've found they cover a wide range of topics - with some careful searching, you can find some very good resource binders for your students or yourself. 
• By embedding a binder into your webpage, you can create handout or research collections that are well organized and easily accessible, without cluttering your main page with links.

Overall, I think this tool can have a place in classrooms - when used well.  As with any online content, a binder only as good as its author - so make sure to really cull through a binder before you decide to add it to your page or shelf and, when you create one, make sure to keep up with the content!

KWL for the New Literacies Era

One of the basics in the teacher toolbox is the old KWL chart - you know the one, where you introduce a new topic by having kids brainstorm what they Know and what they Want to know, and then revisit the chart at the end to document what they have Learned.  That's all well and good, but - by hopping from the intro to the conclusion, it misses the whole process.

Thanks to Langwitches, and the Curriculum Mapping Institute, we have a couple new takes on this old tool.
Here's the first:

One little letter can change anything:  the H is for "How will we find out" - looking ahead to the process of discovery - and can also be post-reflection: "How did we learn it?"  This is critical for the critical skills we're teaching our kids - they are immersed in sources of information and knowledge, and tracking this process - making them active participants in the discovery of information - livens the old KWL and focuses their efforts on the research itself.  

How to implement this?  One problem I've had with traditional KWL charts is the chart paper part - I'd fill one out, and forget about it... or lose it in some stack on top of a cabinet, where all old posters go to die... (yes, I know, I should leave it on the easel of chartpaper, and flip back to it, but I never keep that big easel kicking around, either...)  Why not create a digital, web-based chart that students can update throughout a unit, perhaps requiring posts at key points throughout?  This can be done on a blog, or on a Web 2.0 app like Wallwisher:

Here, I created four columns - one for each stage - and the nice thing with Wallwisher is students can embed links to whatever resources they discover during the process.  Anyone can add to the poster, and it is viewable at any time.

For those who really enjoy acronyms, the chart has also been expanded to this:

This format takes the KWL to another level, and is particularly good for action projects - where students are expected to take what they've learned and apply it to real-life problems and situations, to make change.  Within this, we add on two new phases to the process:

A is for "What ACTIONS will we take?"

Q is for "What QUESTIONS do we now have?"

The Q really anchors the entire thing into a constant process - a growth model that emphasizes learning as continuous, as new knowledge and action leads to further questions worth exploring.