What Washed up on the Beach Today

Back in the swing of things today and lots of interesting things came my way:

• DocsPal a free online converter. I'll be testing this out against Zamzar. With many kids switching to Office 7 at home the need for conversion is paramount. I have a section in their agenda books explaining how to save as doc instead of docx but they forget. I've also posted instructions on the school library wiki. This works for Excel and Powerpoint as well.
• Leanne Windsor @librareanne has put together a set of Netvibe pages to help parents learn about the importance of reading to children. Reading Matters.
• Learning Continuity with iPod Touches - a searchable database of iTunes apps that are useful for learning.
• Jen Wagner has put together a great wiki of Wordle resources, ideas and alternatives. More Than Wordles.
• Richard Byrne shares his collaborative ideas around using a flip camera. Many Ways to use Flip Video Cameras in the Classroom.
• Terry Freedman's The Amazing Web2.0 Projects Book free for download.
• How to Teach Commenting Skills from the Educational Blogging Wiki. If you or a staff member are just getting in to blogging with students I have another resource with tips, tricks and suggestions: Mrs. Edwards' Sandbox.

I can't even imagine how I got along before the days of RSS feeds and Twitter. The gleanings from just one day are priceless.