In the past few weeks, there have been some excellent blog posts for educators interested in better integrating technology in the classroom.  We’re pleased to bring you this round-up of blog posts pertaining to technology and education.  We  hope you’ll find these posts as interesting as we did.

The Dynamite Lesson Plans blog has some terrific advice for teachers on how to spice up online classrooms in his post, “Creating a Virtual Classroom: Teaching K-12 Online“.

We’ve all been there. We know we have to log into our online classes, but instead of enthusiasm, there is a sense of dread. We’re using a course shell, and although our program allows customization, it seems easy to just go with the pre-loaded content. But there is a price to pay for not putting one’s heart, soul, and identity into the course design. The special spark and intimacy that comes from personal contact and the feeling of being in a vibrant, living learning community are just not present when unless you put forth the effort to make a personal connection.

How can you motivate yourself? How can you excite and inspire your students, and make them excited about being a part of a vibrant, effective learning community even without the classroom? Here are a few tried and true ways to create an interactive virtual classroom:

Steve Hargadon discusses the importance of social networks and Web 2.0 in eduction in his white paper, Educational Networking: The important role web 2.0 will play in education.

Intuitively, though, we have felt that the computer world would bring real change, and the fact that it hasn’t has puzzled many of us.  The advent of the Internet, however, and in particular what we are calling “Web 2.0,” has so significantly changed our relationship to information and our own personal learning opportunities outside of formal education, that we are beginning to see a set of software tools emerge that are profoundly altering both learning processes and outcomes.  These tools allow us to see the start of a radical evolution in education that will bring such dramatic changes that we’ll soon be at the point where we won’t be able to imagine education without them.

Jane’s E-Learning Pick of the Day shares a few of her favorite iPhone Apps for Education in a short series on her blog, including a fantastic Scribd list, with 50 pages of iPhone Apps reviewed for education!

Over the last year or so I’ve been building a list of list of apps (including optimized sites and web apps) for the iPod Touch and the iPhone that are useful for learning, performance support or productivity purposes.

The Langwitches blog shares slides visually depicting the changes in learning in the post Learning: Then and Now.

Not too long ago, I stumbled across the presentation Learning 2.0 from Mike Lambert on Slideshare. It inspired me to build upon his version and create the following photo slides showing my vision of how learning has changed. I discovered over the last few years, that by creating visuals, I support my own learning and understanding.

The Edublogger offers excellent advice on Protecting Your Email on Blogs.

I’ve seen numerous people not protecting their email while reviewing blogs recently!

Definitely not a good idea!

Writing your email as margone@gmail.com in a blog post or on a page means it can be picked up by search bots and then spammers may use it to send you unwanted emails.

I’ll share some ways of protecting your email below — but first let’s talk about student emails.

Tom Barrett of the Edte.ch blog offers wonderful insight on integrating technology into the classroom in his post Giving Children the Tools is Not Enough.

Planning for technology integration in classrooms needs to be done with a big pair of binoculars, ones that preferably can see into the future. I can remember when I planned my first suite of computers in a school all I talked about was “future proofing” everything. It was like some rubber stamp I had marked everything with. But planning for the lifespan of the hardware is one thing, where it fits in with your school’s vision is another.

Sometimes schools can get a bit fixated with provision. We like to reel off a list of the various and wondrous hardware that adorns every nook and cranny of the school building. But it is not simply about provision. I have often heard that “an interactive whiteboard does not make a poor teacher any better”. well in the same vein, “technology provision alone does not make independent, confident learners.”