:)

The aim of Education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think - rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, that to load the memory with thoughts of other men~Bill Beattie

Friday, October 7, 2011

A. Higher Order Thinking Skills



HOTs moves away from general knowledge type skills to thinking skills like: synthesizing, analyzing, reasoning, comprehending, application, evaluation. Rather than emphasize the drill and repetition activities, the focus is on problem solving and higher level/order thinking skills. Although many learning disabled children are taught more drill and repetition, there is research that is not in favor of the drill/repetition approach and is in favor of using HOTs. LD children are often weak in memory and will therefore benefit from learning HOTs and developing the higher level thinking skills that teaches them how to be problem solvers. HOTs are designed to develop and increase cognitive development.

Higher Order Thinking is thinking on a higher level than memorizing facts or telling something back to someone exactly the way the it was told to you. When a person memorizes and gives back the information without having to think about it, we call it rote memory. That's because it's much like a robot; it does what it's programmed to do, but it doesn't think for itself. Higher Order Thinking, or HOT for short, takes thinking to higher levels than just restating the facts. HOT requires that we do something with the facts. We must understand them, connect them to each other, categorize them, manipulate them, put them together in new or novel ways, and apply them as we seek new solutions to new problems.

To understand a group of facts, we must understand the conceptual "family" to which this group of facts belongs. A concept is an idea around which a group of ideas may revolve. A concept is something that helps us organize our thinking. It's a mental representation of a group of facts or ideas that somehow belong together. For example, football, basketball, tennis, swimming, boxing, soccer, or archery all fit our concept of sports. In addition, we might also group these sports to create two other concepts: team sports, such as football, basketball, and soccer; and individual sports, such as tennis, swimming, boxing, and archery.

Concepts can represent objects, activities, or living things. They may also represent properties such as color, texture, and size (for example, blue, smooth, and tiny), things that are abstract (for example, faith, hope, and charity), and relations (for example, brighter than and faster than). Concepts come in a variety of forms, including concrete, abstract, verbal, nonverbal, and process.

A. Concrete or abstract. Concrete concepts are those that we can see, touch, hear, taste, or smell. Dogs, chairs, telephones and hamburgers are examples of concrete concepts. Abstract concepts can be used and thought about, but we cannot use our senses to recognize them as we can with concrete concepts. In order to understand abstract concepts, we either have to experience them or compare them to something else we already know. Imagination, friendship, freedom, and jealousy are examples of abstract concepts. As you can imagine, concrete concepts are easier to understand than abstract ones because we can actually see or touch concrete concepts. However, as students move up in school, they need to be able to deal with more and more abstract concepts. Not only are abstract concepts harder for students to learn, but they are also harder for teachers to teach!

B. Verbal or Non-verbal. Verbal concepts are those that use language to explain them. Verbal concepts are described by using words. Examples are concepts of love, democracy, or politeness. A concept may be both abstract and verbal (for example, democracy). Non-verbal concepts are those that lend themselves to be best understood by being pictured or visualized. Examples are concepts of a circle, proportions, or evaporation.

Many times both verbal and non-verbal concepts can be used to explain something. Sometimes a person may prefer one over the other. It is a good idea to try to think about a concept both by picturing it and by putting it into words. This will give you a more thorough understanding of the concept.

C. Process. Process concepts are those that explain how things happen or work. They often include a number of steps that a person must understand in order to master the concept as a whole. Photosynthesis is an example of a process concept in science. The photosynthesis process has certain steps that must take place in a certain order. Math and science courses use process concepts a lot.


When a student is exposed to a new concept, it is important to connect the new concept to concepts he already knows. He can do this by classifying, categorizing, recognizing patterns, and chaining. It's like finding all the "relatives" of that concept and making a family tree for the concept. For example, if a second grader is studying Thanksgiving, a larger concept Thanksgiving belongs to could be Holidays, and a larger concept Holidays could belong to is Celebrations. Other Holidays include Christmas, Hanukkah, and the Fourth of July. These are all celebrations of some kind. It is good to also think about what is not a Holiday, so students will know where to "draw the line" in the larger concept of Celebrations. For example, weddings and birthdays are generally considered celebrations, but for most of us, they do not become national holidays!

Chaining is connecting concepts together that have some common thread. Dr. Mel Levine calls this horizontal threading. A student needs to do a lot of horizontal threading so his concepts will be connected to similar concepts. In order to do this, he needs to look through his memory for things that seem related to the new information. An example of chaining or threading is finding common concepts or themes in history. If a student is discussing what is going on in Kosovo, for example, he might ask himself what the Civil War, the Holocaust, and Bosnia have in common with the current events in Kosovo.

Schema is a pattern or arrangement of knowledge that a person already has stored in his brain that helps him understand new information. For example, a student may have a definite image in his mind of what a reptile looks like by the information that he has been told about reptiles, by pictures that he has been shown, and by what he has read. When he encounters a new creature that he has never seen before, but it has all of the qualities that he has stored in his brain about reptiles, then he can infer or draw the conclusion that it probably is a reptile.

Some schema is also linked to rules and predictable patterns that we have learned. For example, students can develop schemata for the tests a certain teacher gives, because she always gives the same type of test. This helps a student to know how to study for the test because he knows the kinds of questions the teacher is going to ask. Schema does not always follow a pattern or a rule, however, due to exceptions or irregularities. For example, sometimes students have just mastered a spelling rule or a rule in grammar when the teacher throws an exception at them! In any case, using schema or patterns is a good way to make helpful predictions.

Not all of the thinking that goes on in our brains is done in words. Sometimes we can form visual images or pictures in our minds that are just as meaningful to us as words. Have you ever tried to give directions to someone about how to get from one place to another? When many of us do this, we are able to see a map or visual in our minds that helps us give these directions. When you are reading a really good book, are you visualizing in your mind what the setting and the characters look like? Are you running your own movie camera? When you are asked the difference between a square and a trapezoid, do you see in your mind what each one looks like? If you can do these things, then you have the ability to use good visual imagery or cognitive maps. Both are useful in higher order thinking and are especially helpful to students in subjects like literature, geography, biology, and math.

Not a day goes by that we don't have to solve problems. From the moment a person gets up in the morning and decides what to eat for breakfast, what to wear to work or to school, or how to explain to the teacher why he didn't get his homework done or to his boss why his monthly report isn't finished, he is solving problems. Problems can affect many aspects of our life, including social, personal, health, and, of course, school.

Being able to problem solve in school is extremely important. What to write for an essay, how to solve a problem in math, choosing the correct materials for a science experiment, or even deciding who to sit next to at lunch can all be significant problems that a student must solve.
           
How a student goes about solving his problems is important in terms of how successful the results will be. Problems need to be worked through systematically and logically in order to come to a satisfactory conclusion. Being the first one to finish is not always the way to win in the game of problem solving.

When problem solving, it is important to remember the steps we need to take. First, define the problem and give it definite edges by drawing a mental box around it. Be creative and think up lots of alternative strategies or solutions. Try out solutions without worrying about making mistakes. Mistakes are learning opportunities - we learn what doesn't work!

Thomas Edison was asked once how he kept from getting discouraged when he had made so many mistakes before he perfected his idea of the light bulb. He had tried over 2,000 ways before one worked. Edison responded that he had not made 2,000 mistakes. He had had over 2,000 learning experiences that moved him closer to the answer!

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip7vbsKoRLnRYDjg9-NEf4LL1sYjJLxRtaYm0zOxL-y21q9AOS16qkrvVmYYEIYrNxSvrEutrNC15f0jhl5xJKcpYHVYxvxLmO0jbykFEEcScSpgQNsYHlGMLOkeHPxywvclBmtlMgwRs/s1600/blooms_taxonomy.jpg

Lower Order Thinking Skills (LOTS)
            ·         Remembering - Recognising, listing, describing, identifying, retrieving, naming, locating, finding
            ·         Understanding - Interpreting, Summarising, inferring, paraphrasing, classifying, comparing, explaining, exemplifying
            ·         Applying - Implementing, carrying out, using, executing
            ·         Analysing - Comparing, organising, deconstructing, Attributing, outlining, finding,    structuring, integrating
            ·         Evaluating - Checking, hypothesising, critiquing, Experimenting, judging, testing, Detecting, Monitoring
            ·         Creating - designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing, devising, making
             
       
  Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS)
          
The elements cover many classroom activities and objectives but they do not address the new objectives presented by the emergence and integration of Information and Communication Technologies in to the classroom and the lives of our students.
This revision is fundamentally based on the revised taxonomy proposed by Anderson et al, but is more inclusive of digital technologies and digital cognitive objectives.

Sources:

1. Flickr

Flickr - almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world - has two main goals:
1. We want to help people make their photos available to the people who matter to them.
Maybe they want to keep a blog of moments captured on their cameraphone, or maybe they want to show off their best pictures or video to the whole world in a bid for web celebrity. Or maybe they want to securely and privately share photos of their kids with their family across the country. Flickr makes all these things possible and more!
To do this, we want to get photos and video into and out of the system in as many ways as we can: from the web, from mobile devices, from the users' home computers and from whatever software they are using to manage their content. And we want to be able to push them out in as many ways as possible: on the Flickr website, in RSS feeds, by email, by posting to outside blogs or ways we haven't thought of yet. What else are we going to use those smart refrigerators for?
Flickr is the WD-40 that makes it easy to get photos or video from one person to another in whatever way they want.
2. We want to enable new ways of organizing photos and video.
Once you make the switch to digital, it is all too easy to get overwhelmed with the sheer number of photos you take or videos you shoot with that itchy trigger finger. Albums, the principal way people go about organizing things today, are great -- until you get to 20 or 30 or 50 of them. They worked in the days of getting rolls of film developed, but the "album" metaphor is in desperate need of a Florida condo and full retirement.
Part of the solution is to make the process of organizing photos or videos collaborative. In Flickr, you can give your friends, family, and other contacts permission to organize your stuff - not just to add comments, but also notes and tags. People like to ooh and ahh, laugh and cry, make wisecracks when sharing photos and videos. Why not give them the ability to do this when they look at them over the internet? And as all this info accretes as metadata, you can find things so much easier later on, since all this info is also searchable.

2. Classblogmeister

Perhaps one of the most fascinating tools that has emerged from the Internet cloud in recent years is the Blog. A shortening of the term Web log, the Blog is an online publishing tool that enables people to easily publish their loves, passions, dislikes, peeves, discoveries, and insights.
Thousands of teachers have discovered the value of classroom blogging, both as an avenue for their communications, but also as a tool for giving voice to what their students are learning and how they are learning.
Class Blogmeister is one of several blogging engines that have been developed specifically for classroom use. You are welcome to explore the writings of teachers and students alike.

3. Twitter



Twitter came onto the internet marketing scene in 2007 primarily. With its never before seen unique spin on advertising and keeping in touch with friends, it has become a popular tool to use. Most people who use twitter are using it daily, several times a day in fact. The basic structure of Twitter is in the term, micro-blogging. Micro-blogging is a form of multimedia blogging that allows users to send brief text updates or micro-media such as photos or audio clips and videos. Twitter is a site with one specific question, "What are you doing?", users tend to answer this question in hundreds of thousands of ways and send a 140 character long message out to all the people who follow their tweets. Its that simple, you just share messages, read others, and send yours.
Twitter was founded in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, and Biz Stone. The real history surrounding the way Twitter was developed is more so due to Jack Dorsey and his career path through the years. Jack worked as a software developer, developing software for courier services and took notice to how, as the different businesses used the software and the main office could keep track of their various delivery or service vehicles, essentially, the employees were just reporting back what they were doing at that time. Nevertheless, it kept the dispatch office in constant contact with the drivers, which is a big deal as far as efficiency is concerned. Basically, what Twitter has become is a mixture of 3 different things.
· Jack's Dispatch Software
· Instant Messaging
· Text messaging
With the coupling of these three elements of real time messages being sent, many things are possible. News tends to spread like wildfire on Twitter, friends are able to spawn a get-together in seconds, and marketers are able to instantly share their new ideas or ventures with every single one of their potential or current customers. To many this does not show value and at times Twitter comes under a bit of criticism. Truthfully, Twitter is a very useful tool, provided that you have contacts which either care what you have to say or can benefit from receiving information from you. For marketers, the service is generally used to broadcast URL's to their various pages, products, and services which can be a tedious task.
Many people have since developed different applications meant to manage the features of Twitter and automate the process which aids in managing one's time spent tweeting. These applications can be used for many different tasks on Twitter usually called "grunt work" if you are a marketer. Some features you will need are, unlimited account creation, management of all your accounts with the click of a button, auto-follow by targeted keywords/username/own followers, auto-unfollow of those who do not choose to follow you, auto-tweets through multiple accounts, direct messages to all followers, automatic reporting of Twitter trends to you per category, and some can even let you operate your Twitter accounts anonymously through a proxy IP address. Sadly though, most Twitter applications and management tools cannot do all of the above and very few can deliver an all in one solution to all your Twitter needs.
If your aim is set on driving traffic to your website using Twitter, the only program capable of all the above tasks, that I know of, is Smash Tweet. Try it out today! Julie Kerr can help you make $500 to $5000 per month from home. Twitter is a great opportunity for anybody who wants that sorely needed second income. Julie Kerr's Twitter Marketing Software can help you bring enough traffic to your website and generate laser targeted leads. Check out Smash Tweet - Ultimate Twitter Marketing Software.

4. Classtools.net

Classtools.net is where you could create free educational games, quizzes, activities and diagrams in seconds! Host them on your own blog, website or intranet! No signup, no passwords, no charge!

Q. Who are you anyway?

A. Classtools.net is the work of Russel Tarr, Head of History at the International School of Toulouse, France and author of the established website www.activehistory.co.uk.

Q. Are these resources free of charge?

A. Yes. There is no charge for creating resources with any of these templates.

Q. Can I use these resources on my own website, blog or wiki?

A. Yes. Each template can be saved as a stand-alone HTML file or as a Widget that can be embedded into a blog or wiki - as long as it is non-commercial. Please note, however, that downloaded HTML files still need to communicate with the ClassTools server and therefore require a computer to have an internet connection.

Q. Can I rely on this website to stay online if I create resources using it?

A. Yes! The site is used heavily by myself, my students and many colleagues and associates around the world, and so there is no way this site is going to disappear! As author of the websitewww.activehistory.co.uk (now approaching its tenth birthday!) I understand the importance of a website being reliable, durable and stable.

Q. If I save a template, how long does it stay on your server for?

A. Permanently. The only exception is for files which are not accessed even once during a 12-month period. At this point they are considered to be dormant and may be removed from the server to clear space.

Q. Will my resources be available for anyone to see?

Generally speaking, only if you create a link to the resource from your own website / wiki / blog etc. There is no area on the website where all of the files saved by users are made publicly accessible. However, on occasions I will surf through the server trying to spot some examples of good practice and create links to such files from the help pages for each template.

Q. Can I use these resources on my commercial website?

A. If you want to use ClassTools.net templates within a commercial website, please contact me in order to discuss a suitable arrangement.

Q. Can I download these templates for offline viewing?

A. The templates need to run "live" from the server, so an internet connection is therefore needed.

 

Sources:

5. Wikis

What is Wiki?

Wiki is in Ward's original description:
The simplest online database that could possibly work.
Wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser. Wiki supports hyperlinks and has a simple text syntax for creating new pages and crosslinks between internal pages on the fly.
Wiki is unusual among group communication mechanisms in that it allows the organization of contributions to be edited in addition to the content itself.
Like many simple concepts, "open editing" has some profound and subtle effects on Wiki usage. Allowing everyday users to create and edit any page in a Web site is exciting in that it encourages democratic use of the Web and promotes content composition by nontechnical users.

Souce:

6. Lecturefox

It’s all about the joy of learning.
Lecturefox is a free service. You can find high-quality classes from universities all over the world. We collect without exception lectures from official universities, and we have a special interest in lectures from the faculties physics, chemistry, computer science and mathematics. In the category “faculty mix” you can find miscellaneous lectures from other departments like electrical engineering, biology, psychology, economics, history and philosophy.

B. Multiple Intelligence



When you hear the word intelligence, the concept of IQ testing may immediately come to mind. Intelligence is often defined as our intellectual potential; something we are born with, something that can be measured and a capacity that is difficult to change. In recent years, however, other views of intelligence have emerged. One such conception is the theory of multiple intelligences proposed by Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner.
This theory suggests that traditional psychometric views of intelligence are too limited. Gardner first outlined his theory in his 1983 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, where he suggested that all people have different kinds of "intelligences."1Gardner proposed that there are eight intelligences, and has suggested the possible addition of a ninth known as "existentialist intelligence"2.
In order to capture the full range of abilities and talents that people possess, Gardner suggests that people do not have just a intellectual capacity, but have many different intelligences including musical, interpersonal, spatial-visual and linguistic intelligences3
While a person might be particularly strong in a specific area, such as musical intelligence, they most likely possess a range of abilities. For example, an individual might be strong in verbal, musical and naturalistic intelligence.
Gardner’s theory has come under criticism from both psychologists and educators. These critics argue that Gardner’s definition of intelligence is too broad, and that his eight different "intelligences" simply represent talents, personality traits and abilities. Gardner’s theory also suffers from a lack of supporting empirical research4.
Despite this, the theory of multiple intelligences enjoys considerable popularity with educators. Many teachers utilize multiple intelligences in their teaching philosophy and work to integrate Gardner’s theory into the classroom.
Learn more about the multiple intelligences can help you better understand your own strengths. Continue reading to learn more about the major characteristics of each type of intelligence. You can also take the multiple intelligences quiz to discover the area in which you are strongest.

The theory of multiple intelligences was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University. It suggests that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on I.Q. testing, is far too limited. Instead, the theory proposes eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults. These intelligences are:
·                     Linguistic intelligence ("word smart")
·                     Logical-mathematical intelligence ("number/reasoning smart")
·                     Spatial intelligence ("picture smart")
·                     Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence ("body smart")
·                     Musical intelligence ("music smart")
·                     Interpersonal intelligence ("people smart")
·                     Intrapersonal intelligence ("self smart")
·                     Naturalist intelligence ("nature smart")
 Our schools and culture focus most of their attention on linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence. We esteem the highly articulate or logical people of our culture. However, that we should also place equal attention on individuals who show gifts in the other intelligences: the artists, architects, musicians, naturalists, designers, dancers, therapists, entrepreneurs, and others who enrich the world in which we live. Unfortunately, many children who have these gifts don’t receive much reinforcement for them in school. Many of these kids, in fact, end up being labeled "learning disabled," "ADD (attention deficit disorder," or simply underachievers, when their unique ways of thinking and learning aren’t addressed by a heavily linguistic or logical-mathematical classroom. The theory of multiple intelligences proposes a major transformation in the way our schools are run. It suggests that teachers be trained to present their lessons in a wide variety of ways using music, cooperative learning, art activities, role play, multimedia, field trips, inner reflection, and much more. The good news is that the theory of multiple intelligences has grabbed the attention of many educators around the country, and hundreds of schools are currently using its philosophy to redesign the way it educates children. The bad news is that there are thousands of schools still out there that teach in the same old dull way, through dry lectures, and boring worksheets and textbooks. The challenge is to get this information out to many more teachers, school administrators, and others who work with children, so that each child has the opportunity to learn in ways harmonious with their unique minds.


Dr. Gardner defined intelligence as consisting of three components:
- Ability to create an effective product or service that is valuable to one's culture
- Set of skills that enables an individual to solve problems encountered in life
- Potential for finding or creating solutions for problems, which enables a person to acquire new knowledge
Dr. Gardner, who has become a world-renowned authority on the topic of MI, derived this theory based on extensive brain research, as well as interviews, tests, and research on hundreds of individuals. He studied the cognitive abilities of people afflicted with strokes and accident victims, as well as child prodigies, autistic children and those with learning disabilities.
His conclusions became the foundation for his MI theory in that intelligence is not one inborn fixed trait that dominates all a student's skills or problem-solving abilities, but rather each person has different parts of their brains that may be more highly developed than other parts.
While these different parts of the brain are interconnected, they may work independent or in concert to help a student learn depending on the educational environment and the child's preferred intelligences.
With this in mind, Dr. Gardner identified eight different Intelligences that every person would have, to varying degrees. These intelligences are verbal/linguistic, math/logical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist.

The Eight Intelligences Explained

1) Verbal-Linguistic
- The Writer/Speaker Children with strong Verbal-Linguistic intelligence will have a propensity to produce language and sensitivity to the nuances, order and rhythm of words. These students love to read, write and tell stories. They have good memories for names, places, dates and trivia. Professionals with strong VL intelligence will be writers, public speakers, teachers, and actors. Some historical examples include Abraham Lincoln, T.S. Elliot and Charlton Heston.
2) Math-Logical - The Scientist
Children with strong Math-Logical intelligence have the ability to reason deductively and can recognize and manipulate abstract patterns or relationships. Students who have strong problem-solving and reasoning skills will excel in this intelligence. Adults with this intelligence will work as scientists, mathematicians, computer programmers, lawyers or accountants. Some historical examples include Albert Einstein, Nicolae Tesla, Alexander Graham Bell.
3) Spatial - The Builder
Children with Spatial intelligence have the ability to create visual-spatial representations and can transfer them mentally or concretely. Students who exhibit this intelligence need a mental or physical "picture" to understand the information being presented. Professionals in this intelligence are typically graphic artists, architects, cartographers and sculptors. Some historical examples include Frank Lloyd Wright, Pablo Picasso, and Bobby Fischer.
4) Musical - The Composer
Children with strong Musical intelligence have great sensitivity to the rhythm of sounds (e.g. pitch, timbre, composition). Students strong in this intelligence will enjoy listening to music and may ultimately work as singers, songwriters, composers, or even music teachers. Some historical examples include Ludwig van Beethoven, J.S. Bach, and Mozart.
5) Bodily-Kinesthetic - The Athlete
Children with strong Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence gravitate towards athletics; however, they also may use their bodies to solve problems, or convey ideas and emotions. Students with BK intelligence will be good at physical activities, have good hand-eye coordination and may have a tendency to move around a lot while expressing themselves. Professionals using BK intelligence will include athletes, surgeons, dancers and even inventors. Some historical examples include Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Andre Agassi.
6) Interpersonal - The Peacemaker
Children with strong Interpersonal intelligence work effectively in a group and understand and recognize the goals, motivations and intentions of others. Students with this intelligence thrive in cooperative, group work situations and are skilled at communicating, mediating and negotiating. Professionals in this intelligence may be teachers, therapists, and salespeople. Some historical examples include Mohandas Gandhi, Mother Theresa and Ronald Reagan.
7) Intrapersonal - The Philosopher
Children who are strong in the Intrapersonal intelligence have the ability to understand one's own emotions, goals and motivations. These students have good instincts about their strengths and abilities. This intelligence will be highly developed in professionals who work as philosophers, psychiatrists or religious leaders. Some historical examples include Eleanor Roosevelt and Sigmund Freud.
8) Naturalist - The Earth Lover
Children with strong focus in this intelligence will exhibit an affinity for all things nature. These students will enjoy and thrive when learning about nature topics, such as flora and fauna. Some professions with focus on this intelligence will include forest rangers, botanists, farmers and biologists. Some historical examples include Charles Darwin, John Muir.
Please remember, while we have outlined some of the specific traits, professions and historical examples associated with each intelligence type, everyone has some level of proficiency in each and every intelligence, and it behooves us, as parents, to learn how to cultivate each of these intelligences in our children.

Misunderstood Historical Figures
This last section is meant to shine a little glimmer of hope on all of us who may have not measured up to every task presented in our lives. We hope it helps bring into focus how despite the influence of some naysayers early in their lives, some of the most influential and historic people in the world also suffered from their own misalignment with the "status quo" of their times.

- Albert Einstein was four years old before he could speak and seven before he could read.
- Beethoven's music teacher once said of him, "As a composer, he is hopeless".
- A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney because he had "no good ideas".
- Abraham Lincoln entered the Black Hawk War as a captain and came out as a private.
- Thomas Edison's teachers told him he was too stupid to learn anything.
- And last, but not least, Louisa May Alcott was told by an editor that she would never write anything that had popular appeal.

                 http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm

1. DG Communities

Dumfries and Galloway Community is a portal website for everyone who lives in, works in, visits or may just be interested in Dumfries and Galloway. It contains information from a wide range of organisations providing public and voluntary services in Dumfries and Galloway. Dumfries and Galloway Council manages the site on behalf of the partners that contribute to the site.
The site is designed to give you up-to-date information about the services provided by all of the contributing partners. At all times, the site will make it clear which of these partners is responsible for the specific piece of information you are reading. If you have any comments or queries on a specific piece of information please contact the partner concerned.
If you have any general comments about the site and what else you'd like to see please use the feedback form, which will go to the Website Co-ordinator at Dumfries and Galloway Council.

Contact

Corporate Website Coordinator
Dumfries & Galloway Council
Council Offices
English Street
Dumfries
DG1 2DD

Tel: 01387 260000
Fax: 01387 260334

Email: webmaster2@dumgal.gov.uk

2. Widget Finding

Widget Guide - Web Widgets

A web widget is a small piece of code that can be placed on a website or blog, such as embedding a video from YouTube.
The four most common places to use web widgets are:
·         Websites. Whether it is a personal website or a business website, widgets can enhance productivity or just add a little fun to your site. A common example of a widget on a website are ad blocks such as Google Ads.
·         Blogs. Widgets can give your blog a personalized feel, or provide advanced utility for your readers. A common example of a widget on a blog are those "Digg this" icons that will automatically submit blog posts to Digg.
·         Personalized Start Pages. Widgets can also add productivity and/or fun to your start page. A common example of a widget on a start page are RSS readers used to deliver the headlines from your favorite blog or news source such as Yahoo! News or CNN.
·         Social Networking Profiles. You can use widgets on a Social Network to tell more about yourself, such as listing out your favorite books, or have compile your favorite songs into a play list to play for visitors to your profile.
To use a web widget, you must copy the widget code to your website, blog, start page or social networking profile. Some widget galleries help out by automating this process for you.



3. Etudes

Etudes is a non-profit 501(c)(3), organization that offers centralized hosting, support, site and account management, training and professional development opportunities to institutions and organizations that need a turn-key, fully-managed course management solution. As an Application Services Provider, Etudes supports over 270,000 student enrollments annually across 25 client institutions with its platform. 

Since 2002, Etudes has been leading the development of open source (OS) tools for Etudes. Etudes is focused on developing tools that respond to the unique needs of our partners, with an emphasis on supporting teaching, learning and collaboration. Further, Etudes provides centralized hosting services, support, site and account management, and training and professional development opportunities to its members. Etudes-NG (Next Generation) is based on the Sakai Collaboration and Learning Environment.