Gone Hunting… for WP Plugins

Every once in a while, I go hunting…

Gone hunting...

… hunting for plugins for my blog which is using WordPress as its platform.

Plugins are defined according to Wikipedia as:

a computer program that interacts with a host application to provide a certain, usually very specific, function “on demand”

Sometimes, I find a “cool” feature on someone else’s blog and I want to add the same functionality to Langwitches. I then search WordPress’ plugin directory or directly google for “WordPress or WP plugin and what I want the plugin to do”.

Here is the list of plugins I have currently installed AND activated in my WordPress blog. Check them out and see if you might find them useful for your blog.

Akismet

Akismet checks your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not.

Akismet

Audio player

Audio Player is a highly configurable but simple mp3 player for all your audio needs. You can customise the player’s colour scheme to match your blog theme, have it automatically show track information from the encoded ID3 tags and more.

Once the pluginn is activate, you only have to upload your MP3 file and add this code to your post:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Audio Player

cforms

cformsII offers unparalleled flexibility in deploying contact forms across your blog. Features include: comprehensive SPAM protection, Ajax support, Backup & Restore, Multi-Recipients, Role Manager support, Database tracking and many more.

cForm

CommentLuv

Plugin to show a link to the last post from the commenters blog by parsing the feed at their given URL when they leave a comment. Rewards your readers and encourage more comments.

CommentLuv

LinkWithin

Displays recommended stories and associated thumbnails from your blog

LinkWithin

Most Popular Posts

Display a link to the most popular posts on your blog according to the number of comments.

Page Links To

Allows you to point WordPress pages or posts to a URL of your choosing. Good for setting up navigational links to non-WP sections of your site or to off-site resources.

PollDaddy Polls

Create and manage PollDaddy polls in WordPress

Polls

PostRank

Showcase your Top Posts with the PostRank widget, track social media analytics, and engage with your readers from the WP dashboard.

PostRank

Stray Random Quotes

Display and rotate random quotes and words everywhere on your blog. Easy to custom and manage. Ajax enabled.

Collect significant posts to you directly in your Dashboard. Widget will randomly display your quotes in a sidebar for you.

Subscribe2

Notifies an email list when new entries are posted.

Subscribe to blog updates via e-mail

Subscribe To Comments

Allows readers to receive notifications of new comments that are posted to an entry.

Subscribe to updates of comments on individual posts via e-mail

TweetMeme Retweet Button

Adds a button which easily lets you retweet your blog posts.

Allow readers to retweet easily from within you blog

Wickett Twitter Widget

Display Tweets in the sidebar of your blog

Display your own tweets on your blog

WordPress.com Stats

Tracks views, post/page views, referrers, and clicks.

Statistics

WordPress Database Backup

On-demand backup of your WordPress database.

WP-EMail

Allows people to recommand/send your WordPress blog’s post/page to a friend.

E-mail the posts

WP-Print

Displays a printable version of your WordPress blog’s post/page.

Print version of blog post

WP tags to Technorati

Simple plugin to convert WordPress 2.3′s tags to Technorati (‘http://technorati.com’) links.

WPtouch iPhone Theme

A plugin which formats your site with a mobile theme for the Apple iPhone / iPod touch, Google Android and other touch-based smartphones.

What are your favorite WordPress plugins? Which ones help you and your blog readers get the most out of? Which plugins are activated? Take the poll in the right sidebar or share in the comment section.

Personal Learning Network Thoughts…

Just a few days ago, Andrea Hernandez (edtechworkshop) and I had a  conversation about our Personal Learning Network.

A “working definition” by David Warlick says that a Personal or Professional Learning Network:

involves an individual’s topic oriented goal, a set of practices or techniques aimed at attracting or organizing a variety of relevant content sources, selected for their value, to help the owner accomplish a professional goal or personal interest.

As I am working on various projects at school (A Worldwide Audience for Six Year Olds? and Jewish History Fair), where the presence of my PLN played a mayor role, I can’t help but wonder, if using and “showing off” these connections to students and other teachers, does not shed a “false” light on “reality”.

In order to disseminate student work, like

• the 1st grade podcast or
• the 8th grade Current Events Google Map

and get them an audience for

• global awareness
• increased motivation
• and the value a network can have as a source of information & resources

you have to have an active PLN to work for and with you.

As Steve Dembo (Teach42) points out in one of his recent posts If you tweet, will anybody hear?

In the effort of attempting to demonstrate how wonderful, simple, powerful and dynamic it is, we make it seem much more effortless than it really is.
[...]
the fact that it takes TIME and EFFORT to gain a few hundred followers. And without having a critical mass of people to message out to, your odds of getting a response from a general tweet are VERY small.

Steve is absolutely right. It takes time and effort to blog, tweet, share and disseminate. Are we making newbies or others who we want to introduce to the value of a PLN look through rose colored glasses?

Seeing the World through Rose Colored Glasses

Some of us are expanding and growing our PLN through blogging, twittering, skyping and speaking at local, state, national and international conferences. In consequence, we are able to create projects, collaborate with global participants solicited through PLN contacts and disseminate results to get feedback through our globally read blogs. I would not be able to do a lot of these above mentioned projects, at least not to the same extend nor with such a far reaching response/audience), without the always willing participant of my PLN.

Will Richardson even compares creating, maintaining, growing and working with and through Personal Learning Networks to a literacy.

… the literacy becomes how do you build these [Personal Learning] Networks?  How do you flourish within these networks? How do you find trusted sources within that context?

[...]

You have to be able to engage in those conversations. You have to be able to find those other people who are producing content or who are engaging in their own kind of conversations that you are interested in.

It takes time… it takes dedication to build a network… it takes perseverance to not give up when no one responds to your  first (second or third) shoutout.

Building and Maintaining a Personal Learning Network

The conversation, Andrea and I had started, about PLNs took a turn by asking, if we could expect every educator to dedicate that time and effort into building  AND maintaining such a PLN?

Is it realistic to expect every teacher to create, be part of AND nourish a PLN? A network that consists of contacts that would allow them to expose their students and their work to a global audience, experts and collaborators? A network that models for students the possibilities of connected and collaborative learning?

I wonder if every school should have a a position that is dedicated to search for, find, grow, nurture and provide a far reaching network of contacts to bridge that gap? The person in that position would be connecting teachers,   scout curriculum related projects from around the world to get involved in, find communication and collaboration partners  and put them in contact with their colleagues and students.

A Learning Network- A Give and Take

That person would be responsible for creating a SLN (School Learning Network). I don’t mean a Learning Network among people who work at the same school. I am thinking of someone in charge of nourishing a Learning Network  for all classes, teachers and students at a school, with their interests in mind.

Such a person could be in charge of sharing resources, growing potential collaboration partners, being available to help others via video conferencing, survey participation or collaborative assessment and in return be able to solicit expert advice, receive authentic feedback and harvest resources to distribute among colleagues and students.

A Learning Network is built on a give and take. You get out of it what you put in. What if that becomes the responsibility of one person or a small group of people at one school in order to benefit the learning experience of everyone?

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Edublog Awards 2009-Recognition of Helping & Supporting

The Edublog Awards is a wonderful way of getting an incredible list of educational blog list to explore, update your RSS feed with and learn from.

I was honored to be nominated in two categories and humbled to have been voted  Runner Up for “Best Educational Tech Support Blog. It is good to know that others are viewing my work as a support for their own work in teaching.

Congratulations to all winners, runner ups, AND nominees.

The Edublog Awards via kwout

Recognition such as the one from Scott Meech on this occasion REALLY meant a lot to me.

Langwitches blog is required reading for me as she is a major inspiration for my work. She has more “foundational” understanding of how to utilize technology with kids than almost anyone that I have followed.  While too many of us get caught up in the theoretical, she is in the trenches making things happen.  Regardless of your vote, if you work with kids on a daily basis, her entries should be on the “must read” list every day!

Vicki Davis’ recent tweet also expresses what I feel:

We are teachers after all and helping and supporting others in their learning is WHAT WE DO.

I don’t blog or share for recognition or awards. My blog is my outlet to:

• document my work
• see the progress of my own professional development and growth
• help me reflect
• get feedback and advice if I am on the right track or haven’t considered one perspective or another
• connect to my PLN
• disseminate my students’ work to reach a global audience
• share my own learning and teaching, so someone else can reach students, I will never see or meet.