Resources for the Online Teacher Community
Online communities are all the rage these days, but the ones
specifically for educators have been around for sometime. Perhaps it’s
because teachers have the natural instinct to learn and share ideas. Or
perhaps the World Wide Web provides an avenue for growth and
camaraderie.
Whatever the case, here are some websites that cater to the online educators community:
PBS Teachers Connect
- This online community supports the advancement of digital media
content and the use of technology in education. It provides educators
with opportunities to share ideas, collaborate and support the
effective use of instructional technology so students can learn better.
The site builds around the original site PBS Teachers
which gives a wide range of multimedia instructional resources for
free. Educators can search more than 3,000 classroom activities and
interactive resources, and bookmark, share and manage the content they
think they can use. They also have a PBS Teacher Leader Program to
recognize educators’ innovative use of media and technology in
education.
Smart Schools - A
community service initiative of Smart Communications Inc., in
partnership with the Philippine Business for Social Progress, with
support of the Department of Education and Microsoft's Partners in
Learning Program, it promotes Information and Communications
Technology, especially in public schools, by giving teachers access to
relevant online content and opportunities for professional development.
Smart Communications, Inc. also provides one year unlimited Internet
access and connectivity for free to the schools, as well as online
information like curricula resources, learning portals, and e-learning
multimedia materials, among others.
TeachAde - The first
interactive website for educators, TeachAde allows users to create,
search and share resources to enhance their teaching and professional
development, and network with other teachers as well. This is a true
example of Internet technology and online collaboration.
All the resources here are available for free, with just a simple
online sign-up process. Information as diverse as budgeting, 21st
century skills, national board certification, and online groups is
available with just the click of a mouse.
TeacherNet - There are
five main components of this website (teaching and learning,
management, professional development, research and education overview).
Aside from that, there are also current news stories, an archive of
TeacherNet articles, a 'Pinboard' for bookmarked links, downloadable files and interactive Community area.
Discovery Educator Network
- Voted the best professional development website in 2007 by the
Association of Educational Publishers, DEN has over 250,000 members
worldwide. The website is definitely a great networking tool, what with
its avenues for blogs and discussion boards.
Star Discovery Educators (most active members) also gain access to
in-person professional development, exclusive online activities,
promotions and contests, exclusive Discovery Events and professional
development support.
Blue Web'n - This website is part of AT&T's Knowledge Network Explorer,
and is an excellent beginning place for thinking about the different
educational uses of the Internet. It is based on a useful
typology of web-based tutorials, activities, projects, lesson plans,
hotlists, resources, and references and tools.
MERLOT (Multimedia Educational
Resource for Learning and Online Teaching) - Hosted by the California
State University Center for Distributed Learning, this online website
has a growing collection of online teaching resources from around the
world. Membership is free, and allows the user rights post new
resources and comment on existing posts.
EdHelper.com - This has a
large number of links to online lesson plans, all organized by subject.
There are also links on recent articles on education-related subjects.
180 Technology Tips for Educators - The website gives useful five-minute tutorials on how to do all sorts of useful things with computers and the Internet.
New York Times Learning Network
- This website utilizes its newspaper connections to offer lesson plans
related to a current or archived news stories. There are also news
quizzes, teaching resources, and an orientation on how to navigate the web.
Sources:
“About the Discovery Educator Network.” Retrieved May 18, 2009 from
http://community.discoveryeducation.com/about/about_den
“Educational Websites for Teachers.” Retrieved May 18, 2009 from
http://www.camden.rutgers.edu/~wood/edwebsites.htm
PBS launches online education community where pre-K12 educators can connect, contribute and grow.” Retrieved May 18, 2009 from http://www.pbs.org/aboutpbs/news/20080701_prek-12.html
“Smart Schools.” Retrieved May 18, 2009 from
http://smart.com.ph/SmartSchools/About/
“TeachAde.” Retrieved May 18, 2009 from
http://www.teachade.com/viewHome.do
“TeacherNet.” Retrieved May 18, 2009 from
http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/usingthesite/
(Published 01 June 2009, Smart Communications, Inc.)
