Sites of Interest (AKA, I read & blog too much)

Like every other edublogger in the world, I read many (okay, perhaps a number beyond my own comprehension ;-) more sites, stories, news, items, and issues than the ones on which I have time to comment in this space. However, as I encounter those other items, I do often tag the ones I find particularly interesting and believe may be of interest to others. The webpages and RSS feeds created from that activity may be useful. Thus, if you ever notice a lull on this blog, these other feeds are likely active and perhaps useful.

Sites of Interest. This is a del.icio.us link roll of sites I’ve tagged specifically to appear on this site. The 7 or so most recent sites tagged appear in the sidebar.

Tech Tools. These items focus on tools I find useful or interesting; they aren’t all necessarily educationally related, but the tools can enhance and make more efficient the user experience. For example, I’m a avid Firefox user, so you’ll probably find quite a few Firefox extensions in this feed. All of the items in this feed are ones I’ve encountered from other feeds: a best of type feed for the things I read.

EdTech News & Items. These items focus more on news stories and issues related to the intersection of education and technology that do not fall into one of the other categories, and you’ll occassionally notice some crossposting from the other feeds mentioned here. All of the items in this feed are ones I’ve encountered from other feeds.

Learning Media. To use a technical term, this is stuff that can be used in a classroom. These are often references to educationally related videos or sites that teach particular content from a good cross-section of disciplines. Essentially, if I think, “Oh, I need to share that with a chemistry teacher” – I mark the article in this group. These aren’t necessarily the sites or media proper; these are items I’ve encountered from other feeds. If you’re interested in actual learning content . . .

Learning Xchange. This is the same as Learning Media except items in this feed will be actual sites or content rather than an article referencing the site. This is a del.icio.us link roll.

For a few other miscellaneous items less related to this site, I’m only going to provide the link . . .

Second Life Education News. News, events, tools, items, content etc related to educational uses of the multi-user virtual environment of Second Life. If you ‘re not familiar with it, I also blog on this topic specifically at MUVE Forward: Real Education in Second Life by Topher Zwiers.

Second Life General News. General news and issues related to Second Life; it provides the larger context in which real education occurs in SL.

Online Learning. News, issues, tools, events, items and content related to distance learning. I’ve spent 5+ years supporting faculty use of distance learning technologies in a College environment; while my role at work has changed slightly, my interest in distance learning has not, so I continue to read and tag relevant items.

Learning Research. I’m also a graduate student, still (as my wife would say), and reading research is a much different experience and has a much different purpose than reading blogs and news sites. This is the container for learning research I encounter.

General Technology. The big picture for everything we do in educational technology. These are general news, issues, tools, events, items and content related to the technology industry. I read more gadgety type news in this space, but I also catch a lot of trend type articles in this space.

And now… I *think* I read and blog WAY more than I perhaps should. No wonder I’m *still* a graduate student. LOL.