Recently I was fortunate enough to participate in a Mystery Location Call with Diana Potts' 4th Grade class in Lambertville, NJ. For me it was bittersweet due to the fact that I attended Lambertville Public School back in the 1980s. Anytime that you get a chance to help out your alma mater is simply tremendous in my eyes. What is a Mystery Location Call you might ask? Basically it is when a class connects with another class and/or person by way of Google Hangout, Skype, or Facetime. Once a connection is established virtually and students can actually see each other on the computer screen they begin to ask probing questions related to where they are located. Once their locations are determined the students have authentic conversations about their community and way of life. This could also be done on an individual basis where students use a program such as iChat to speak with another student in another part of the country or world. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience and saw first hand how students came to the determination of where I was located. Questions like "Are you east or west of Arkansas?" and "Do you live on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean?" were asked by students and provided the class with important information. As students asked me questions, they would refer to their iPads that contained the Google Maps application. Diana did a great job of keeping the students on task and reminding them of key vocabulary words such as cardinal directions. Ultimately, after about 15 questions, students were able to determine my location in Chester, NJ. We then had a nice discussion and I was able to tell them about a few experiences from my time as a student @LPSLeopards.

So what were my takeaways from the experience? First and foremost I was able to take advantage of being a connected educator. I knew Diana from Twitter and attending various EdCamps. She remembered that I grew up in Lambertville and contacted me to see if I would be interested in participating in a Mystery Location Call. Secondly, we were able to problem solve a few technical issues we were having with our internet connection. We finally decided to conduct the session using our iPhones and the Facetime application. Lastly, I was able to experience the true power of an authentic learning experience that incorporated technology in a fun and innovative way. All in all it was a win-win for everyone and provided an experience that will never be forgotten. So much so that I actually included a few paragraphs about this particular experience in my upcoming book for Corwin Press. For years I have been intrigued by the power of Mystery Location Calls by my good friend Billy Krakower who has been doing it for quite sometime now. Now I know why educators from around the world do this on a daily basis. Simply put, it's amazing!

Over the past few years podcasting has changed the way educators share and learn from one another. With a few clicks of the mouse pad or taps on the screen people can create content and share with great ease. I love driving to work and listening to my fellow educators from around the world share their insight on best practices. It keeps me motivated and inspired to try new things. Here are some tips, tools, and resources on how to make listening and learning apart of your routine.....

Apple Podcast App:Download this app onto your iPhone and listening to your favorite educational voices as you work out or drive into work.

BamRadio Network: Access tremendous Twitter chat recap shows such as #Satchat,#Edchat, BrandEd, and #EdtechChat to name a few.

TeacherCast Podcast:Stay current with educational technology trends and thought leaders from around the world.

SoundCloud: An audio platform that enables sound creators to upload, record, promote and share their originally-created sounds. Great way to create a school or classroom based podcast channel.

Audacity: Free audio editor and recorder.

Audioboo: Give students a voice and a world audience. Use this tool for assessment purposes so that students can show what they know.

Useful tip: Sometimes while driving in my car or working in my office I will play a You Tube video or Ted Talk that is education related. I don't actually watch it while driving, just listen. The point here is that you can use a wire to connect your device to the car's sound system. Another option is to connect your device to your car's sound system via Bluetooth.

As you can see there are many great ways to stay current or at least begin to start thinking about how you can improve your craft through listening to podcasts.

This past week myself and other staff members met with our wonderful Education Foundation group for planning of the annual Spring Stampede 5k Fun Run. I always enjoy working with parent and community groups that help raise monies for the many educational programs we offer to students. During our meeting we were trying to brainstorm ways to communicate information, streamline the registration process, and leverage the power of social media for promotional purposes. I shared with the group a number of resources that have been successfully used by various education event organizers. Here is the list......

1. Website: Major events need a website to serve as their virtual hub for important information. Weebly is a great service that allows users to easily create a website. 

2. Facebook: Create an event page that serves as a way for participants to post and receive timely information. 

3. Twitter: The cool thing to do now at live and virtual events is for participants to tweet out messages, photos, and information. Event organizers are more and more beginning to understand the importance that social media and hashtags to engage participants virtually and in person.

4. Blog: Generating excitement for an upcoming event is very easy when utilizing a blogging service such as Wordpress. Guest blog posts by keynote speakers, presenters, and participants provides everyone with insight on the theme and topic.

5. Smore: Tremendous web tool that enables users to create an interactive digital flyer that can be disseminated over the World Wide Web.

6. Remind 101: A great way to text message large amounts of people at one time. Registration and directions are very easy.

7. Ticket Leap:A free and efficient way to sell tickets for your event online.

8. Google Drive: Collaborate and create in real time on documents, presentations, and spreadsheets for your event. 

9. Zello: Turn your Smartphone into a push to talk walkie talkie for free with this terrific app. Great way to communicate with others seamlessly during a big event.

10. Hashtag: Very important to have a simple yet catchy hashtag for your event so that participants can stay on top of what is happening in an organized fashion through social media. A very useful tool to follow a particular hashtag across multiple social media platforms is Tagboard.

11. Animoto: Utilize this free multimedia site to display a group of pictures from an event through variety of templates and background music.

12. Flickr allows users to archive large amounts of pictures from an event for free.

13. Instagram gives your visual event participants a chance to share the experiences through an app on their Smartphone.

14. Google Hangout provides event planners a free way to connect and see each other virtually from all parts if the world. Looking for another service that can handle larger groups of people to plan virtually? Check out BigMarker.

15. Guidebook: Provide event participants with a mobile app experience that they will never forget. Guidebook is not free but well worth the cost.

As you can see there are so many ways for event planners and participants to leverage the power of available web tools to ensure a positive experience that will last a lifetime.