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Here’s what’s going on at the NASA Earth Observatory, brought to you by Fred Beyer at EarthSciTeach.

Heavy Snow on the Korean Peninsula

Winter Cloud Streets, North Atlantic

Emi Koussi Volcano, Chad

Activity at Shiveluch Volcano

Porto Praia, Santiago, Cape Verde

Snow in Southern U.S.

Winter in Alaska

CALIPSO Spies Polar Stratospheric Clouds

Here’s a look back at some of the best articles from February 2010:

Actors read books to kids at Storyline Online

Have students use The Big6 to solve problems

Savevid downloads online videos

Argue landmark Supreme Court cases in Argument Wars

Use Team Maker for your next group assignment

Build your own educational games at ProProfs BrainGames

PBS Teachers is a smorgasbord of teacher resources

Find STEM resources at BioED Online

Inquiry in Action has loads of inquiry-based science resources

Get real-time global statistics Worldometers

Take a look at the most popular articles of January 2011:

Filter Google results by reading level

Learn web design for free online at Mozilla’s School of Webcraft

Build your own planet at Extreme Planet Makeover

Turn an explanatory writing assignment into a podcast

History for Music Lovers teaches historical events in song

Instructifeature: Building and maintaining an online professional community

GoAnimate goes to school

Create a cloze reading activity with the Cloze Test Generator

Google Science Fair launches January 11

Write plays and screenplays with Raw Scripts

BY KEVIN HODGSON

For years now, the talk in many technology circles has been the coming of the so-called semantic web, where information and data from many sources would be gathered and collated and, hopefully, interpreted across a wide range of topics. We may not be there yet but there are signs that more and more data is being transformed into useful information for learning. Gapminder World has the potential to be a very valuable research site for students learning about global trends through data visualization. The software that runs the site is a variation of Trendalyzer (developed by the Gapminder folks and sold to Google).

The aim of Trendalyzer and Gapminder World “….is to unveil the beauty of statistical time series by converting boring numbers into enjoyable, animated and interactive graphics.”

It succeeds, I think.

For example, given the focus on CO2 emissions and Global Warming, I checked out the data map on that topic at Gapminder World. Using information from as far back as 1820, I clicked the “play” button for the data grid, and watched as the world’s CO2 emissions began to unfold, region by region. I could then isolate the United States and China, or any other country, and do some direct comparisons. While that particular data set only goes back to the year 2000, a project that comes to mind is for students to gather data and continue the graph into 2010. Other topics include child mortality rates, impacts of earthquakes and volcanoes, and the age that people get married.

Gapminder also has a special section for teachers, where a long list of downloadable resources are available (including a beta version of a desktop Gapminder platform). The data, the graphs, and all of its resources can be used freely under a Creative Commons licence, so students can incorporate information into reports and projects.

Gapminder World

Related stuff

Our Changing World expresses economic, social data through maps

Get real-time global statistics Worldometers

Here’s a look back at some of the best articles from January 2010:

Make better animated movies with Xtranormal State

This periodic table includes elements and their real-world applications

Online Stopwatch keeps your running class on time

Map word relationships at Lexipedia

FreePoverty donates drinking water based on your geography knowledge

Explaining new technologies, 7 Things at a time

NASA eClips shows videos of science in action

Free lesson planning from the Red Cross for disaster preparation

Educational videos, organized, at WatchKnow

The Centsables fight against financial irresponsibility

BY BILL FERRIS

Happy holidays from Instructify. And by happy holidays, I mean, we’ll see you in 2011.

Whether your holiday of choice is Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Festivus, and whether your nog of choice is egg, or…well, I don’t know what other types of nog are available…anyway, please take this time to relax and reconnect with the people most important to you.

We’ll be back on January 3.

Take a look at the most popular articles of December 2010:

Mission US: Finally, a full-length video game designed for schools

Foursquare’s possibilities for learning

Visual economics lessons at Reffonomics

Teachers, librarians can get free copy of Cory Doctorow’s With a Little Help

Is Del.icio.us going away?

Set up a safe, sane social media policy for your school

Learn how the web works: 20 Things about Browsers and the Web

Tell stories visually with comic strip creators

Collaborate with distant classrooms with Skype in the Classroom

MapCrunch gives you a tour of the world

BY BILL FERRIS

What would a year be without a year-end top-10 list? A big, fat failure, that’s what. Take a few minutes and look back at the most popular posts of 2010.

1. Make better animated movies with Xtranormal State
2. Instructifeature — Digital posters: Composing with an online canvas
3. A smorgasbord of graphic organizers at Eduplace
4. Actors read books to kids at Storyline Online
5. Weebly: Cool name, cool website maker
6. Have students use The Big6 to solve problems
7. Skype adds 10-way video calling
8. Instructifeature: Reviving dead school computers, one operating system at a time
9. Instructifeature: Keep parents in the loop with a class website
10. Instructifeature: Showcase your skills with an electronic teaching portfolio

Here’s a look back at some of the best post from December 2009:

Build an online portfolio with Carbonmade

Teach history with these comic collections

See the history of aviation at NASA’s Lessons of a Widowmaker (and Other Aircraft)

YouAreHere teaches kids to be smart consumers

Get these extensions for your Google Chrome browser

Try yWriter for long writing projects

NORAD lets kids track Santa in Google Earth

Take your class to the Lincoln Memorial Interactive

Update, monitor Facebook and Twitter accounts with Brizzly

Learn about penguins and the environment at Penguinscience

BY BILL FERRIS

Does your school have a social media policy? In an age where teachers can lose their jobs based on a blog post, creating a policy governing online expression is a good idea. Being proactive in setting a social media policy sets clear expectations, making it less likely that you or someone you work with will write something embarrassing or inflammatory online. More to the point, if you wait until after someone does something stupid, you probably won’t like the reactionary, heavily lawyered policy you end up with.

So how do you set up a social media policy that sets out clear guidelines and consequences, but at the same time doesn’t stifle teachers from blogging or Tweeting? A little digging online can turn up some useful sample policies for you to start with. Corey Creed at Social Fresh has drafted a social media policy template you should look at when crafting your policy. While it’s geared more toward businesses than schools, most of their guidelines will work for just about any organization. Best of all, it’s rooted in common sense (“Be aware that your actions captured via images, videos, posts, or comments can reflect that of the company,” for example), rather than Draconian, CYA legalese designed to discourage teachers from using social media.

Creed advises, however, that his sample guide is only a template, and you’ll want to tailor it for your school (and possibly involve your school’s lawyers) to make sure it works for your situation. Once you have a workable social media policy in place, you can blog a little easier without worrying whether a seemingly innocuous post will get you in trouble.

A Template To Help Start Your Social Media Policy

Related stuff

Three guidelines for safe social networking

Instructifeature: Social Networking in Schools

Instructifeature: An Educator’s Field Guide for Facebook

Photo credit: escapedtowisconsin on Flickr.

Here’s a look back at the most popular posts from November.

CanTeach writing prompts generate writing ideas for students

These animated maps make geography jump off the page

Follow Civil War “news” on the Disunion blog

Mathematics visualized at Khan Academy

Take Harry Wong’s Teacher Effectiveness Quiz to gauge your classroom management skills

Make digital sand sculptures with This is Sand

Create crosswords easily with Instant Online Crossword Puzzle Maker

Find lots of technology integration ideas from Tom Barrett’s Interesting Ways series

Instructifeature: International classroom collaboration on the worldwide web

Create and share primary-source activities at DocsTeach

Here’s a look back at some of the best post from November 2009:

Map out your classroom with Classroom Architect

60 Second Recap summarizes classic literature

Video DownloadHelper helpfully helps you download helpful videos. Helpfully.

Create and share rubrics online with iRubric

Find kid-friendly videos at ZuiTube

Build your own typefaces with FontStruct

Learn to type at TypingWeb

Get Library of Congress videos on iTunesU

Stop by Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood on the web

apostrophe.me takes the confusion out of using apostrophes

BY REBECCAH HAINES

Using X-Stream Science, you can integrate STEM concepts into your lessons with these short videos and lesson plans.

X-Stream Science is an educational alliance between the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation’s Flight Adventure Deck Program and WUWF Public Media. They have created eight short videos illustrating STEM concepts such as the relationship between altitude and air pressure, and aerostatics vs aerodynamics. Each video is five to seven minutes long, and comes with a lesson plan. Both the videos and the lesson plans are downloadable, or you can stream the videos online.

Obviously, these videos can be used as a quick introduction to or review of the various concepts they explain. Students almost always like watching a video, even if it is short, and these have quality information in addition to being entertaining. The “lesson plans” are really no more than video guides, primarily designed to make sure students pay attention to the videos, but they can definitely be used as discussion starters for each of the topics presented. According to the website, the videos are targeted towards middle school students, but I think teachers of upper-elementary and high school students would also find them useful for quick introductions or reviews of concepts.

As for me, I am always looking for quality videos to share with my class. I am glad to now have X-Stream Science in my video-finding arsenal.

X-Stream Science

Related stuff

VideoScience: Another aptly named website

Design science and math games to win prizes in the STEM Video Game Challenge

Inspire the engineers of tomorrow with Teachengineering.org

BY KEVIN HODGSON

Tom Barrett has turned collaboration and sharing among teachers into an art form, and the results of these collaborations is a series of Google Presentations that can provide valuable insight into a wealth of possible technology tools for the classroom.

Tom (whose blog at EDTE.CH is worth a visit or two) has been exploring the possibility of iPods, Wallwisher, pocket video cameras, Twitter, Google Earth, Prezi and more as potential learning opportunities for students.

The real power comes when he asks teachers with ideas and experience to add to his presentations through the collaborative nature of Google Presentations. The result is a list of ever-growing resources that tap into a wide range of topics and levels of entry with a wide array of teaching voices.

Tom Barrett’s Interesting Ways to…

• Get to Know Your New Class
• Ideas for Class Blog Posts
• Use a Learning Platform in the Classroom
• Support Spelling in the Classroom
• Teach Reading Comprehension in the Classroom
• Use Web Conferencing in the Classroom
• Make Your Classroom a Sparkly Place to Learn
• Use Audio in Your Classroom
• Use Wallwisher in the Classroom
• Support Writing in the Classroom
• Use an iPod Touch in the Classroom
• Nintendo Wii in the Classroom
• Use a Wiki in the Classroom
• Use a Visualizer in the Classroom
• Use Twitter in the Classroom
• Use Wordle in the Classroom
• Use Your Pocket Video Camera in the Classroom
• Use Google Docs in the Classroom
• Use Google Earth in the Classroom
• Use a Nintendo DS in the Classroom
• Use Search Engines in the Classroom
• Use Your Interactive Whiteboard in the Classroom
• Prezi in the Classroom
• Use Voicethread in the Classroom
• Use the iPad in the Classroom
• Use Google Search in the Classroom
• Use Google Maps in the Classroom

Here’s a look back at the most popular posts from October.

• Learn world geography with Enigeo
• Cut it up for Halloween with a virtual pumpkin carver
• Making math tangible with the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
• How well can you focus? Two activities measure ability to focus, switch tasks
• Take a trip to SpellingCity
• Teach science and critical thinking skills with Public Library of Science (PLoS) Blogs
• Celebrate the National Day on Writing October 20
• The grammar of comics revealed
• History, civics, and art combine at Today’s Document
• Four Firefox add-ons to maximize the web in class