We have all had moments in our teaching careers when something did not go according to plan and an immediate re-think is required. Last night, I logged in to an Elluminate session that promised to be interesting- Anne Mirtschin (@murcha) hosting Jess McCulloch (@jessmcculloch) sharing web tools she has discovered. Two names who are very well known to me through my online PLN. Anne went about getting us to introduce ourselves and we had representation from Victoria, US, China and I think someone in Africa. I am still impressed that educators from this far afield can come together to discuss these things from their lounge rooms.
Anne (as Moderator) had to do some very quick thinking, as it appeared that Jess was having problems and was not in the room. What ensued was a wonderful hour (well I could only stay for about 35 mins) where Anne orchestrated the participants to share their own ideas. This involved online coaching on the intricacies of screensharing in elluminate etc.
So in 35 minutes, I added 5 fantastic links to my Delicious account Because of this impromptu session I have been alerted to :
- Spezify – a really cool visual Search engine
- Search-Cube – another cool search engine which represents results graphically
- Lure of the labrynth – an amazing maths problem solving adventure
- Story Jumper – well I had seen this before but not used it – I might now that I have been re-inspired
- PLENK – Personal learning and Environment Networks and Knowledge 2010 – an online free PD course
- I missed the last few minutes so I am sure I missed more !
I consider that a pretty worthwhile 35 minutes spent ! Thanks to Anne, for keeping the ball rolling and all the participants for joining in – a true example of collaboration at work.