Skype with an Author

To save money and explore technology uses with kids, teachers and librarians should start setting up Skyping visits with authors.

This site has great info about this idea:
http://www.onlineauthorvisits.com/

Edmodo

The Evergreen school district has placed Edmodo on its district websites and is encouraging teachers, students, and parents to use it.  It's a social network that has been described as a more safe, educational version of Facebook, to be used for communicating about assignments.

To learn about Edmodo, click this link:
About EDMODO

For a video intro to Edmodo, click this link:
Youtube Video about EDMODO

For a detailed multi-part instructional video, click here:
Instructional Video

For a Slideshare presentation on 20 ways to use Edmodo for education, click here:
20 ways to use EDMODO


This could be a very cool educational tool to use.  However, there are some Questions that need to be discussed and answered:
1) Does this replace Schoolwires for the district, or will both still be used?
2) Will educators choose to use either Schoolwires or Edmodo? Which is mandatory?
3) If it is totally voluntary, will anyone utilize it or will it be too much trouble to do so and just disappear after non-use?
4) How much training and support will be provided?  How much time will be made available for Edmodo use?
5) What rules/discipline will be in place if students abuse their use of Edmodo?