Free Resources from the Net for (Special) Education

Welcome to this Treasure Chest of Free Stuff.

FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners and their teachers.

The Read/Write Web offers educators powerful tools that I believe should not be just optional extras in our schools. Too many of our students simply do not have adequate aptitude for traditional academic skills, and there are other learners who will never be engaged if we just keep doing what we’ve always done. I don’t think I’m overstating the case when I say that Web 2.0 tools provide practical keys to success for some of our learners. So, here’s a free opportunity to learn how we as educators can expand our boundaries so that we better meet the needs of all our students.

K12 Online Conference–Again (online resource) I believe this conference is such a terrific opportunity that I decided to do a reminder post about it. The pre-conference Keynote Address by David Warlick is scheduled for 5:00 am (on the Pacific Coast) tomorrow (Monday). That means it will be available to us any time after that. It’s entitled “Inventing New Boundaries”, and it’s bound to whet our appetites for the 40 sessions which are scheduled between Oct. 15th and 26th.

I’ve just gone back and sat through the keynote David delivered for the inaugural K12 Online Conference in 2006. That’s what has left me feeling inspired about this year’s conference.

I doubt if I could describe it any better than Will Richardson did in a post this morning, so I’ll just quote him here. (If you don’t already read Will’s blog on “learning with the read/write web”, it is definitely worth checking out.)

“Breaking free of traditional conferences, the upcoming K-12 Online Conference: Playing with Boundaries (October 15-19th & October 22-26th) provides educators with an engaging, ongoing learning experience without time constraints. The K12 Online Conference is a unique professional development opportunity for teachers to engage with ideas and technologies that are having a real impact on 21st century classrooms.

The entire conference will be delivered as downloadable digital media via the Internet with over 40 sessions presented in four strands: Classroom 2.0, New Tools, Professional Learning Networks, and Obstacles to Opportunities. The conference launches with a keynote address on October 8th from respected blogger and author David Warlick and concludes with a global 24 hour live event, As Night Falls.

For more information, please visit http://www.k12onlineconference.org.”