Group items tagged

"Social studies supervisors and teachers across the country are revising their unit plans to meet their state's content standards, as well as, the Common Core State Standards for Literacy in History and Social Studies. Simultaneously, many states are implementing new evaluation and observation frameworks. The performance ratings employed by the most popular evaluation models encourage a shift away from teacher-led direct instruction to more student-centered activities incorporating inquiry and synthesis. In social studies, primary source document analysis goes hand in hand with the 9-12 Common Core reading and writing standards. Here are five top resources to align your curricula to the Common Core with student driven lessons. "

"Back in 2012, we shared how to cite a tweet. We followed that up with how to cite an app. So when we saw the very useful teachbytes graphic above making some noise on pinterest on several different popular #edtech websites, it reminded us of the constant demands changing technologies place on existing ways we do business. When and in what contexts it makes sense to cite social media content is probably a more relevant post than sharing a graphic that simply shows the format, but they're both nice to have, yes? Citation Style Of course, citation style matters, and the two most popular are the APA and MLA. The APA (American Psychological Association) has their rules for citing social media in academic writing. They even have a thorough ($12) guide to clarify the process, while the MLA (Modern Language Association), as far as we can tell, has yet to expressly address apps and social media as anything other than "software." And to an extent, this makes sense. As media becomes more nuanced, new modalities emerge, authors use new channels to distribute their thinking-and even as the "crowd" becomes a legitimate source of information (see wikipedia, twitter, erc.), new rules for governing that reality will continue to emerge. The more general those rules are, the less reactive governing bodies will have to be moment by moment."

"Are you having trouble listening with understanding and empathy (one of the Habits of Mind) when you are not face to face with the other person-on facebook, Google+, twitter, or other social networks? As an educator, staying in touch with your professional learning network digitally is a boon to the quantity of communication, but without the proper habits, you may not be reaping the quality you might."

"A free new social networking platform aims to encourage elementary school children to read more books. BiblioNasium is a pilot virtual reading village for children aged 6-12 and their friends, parents, and teachers. The site enables young readers to catalogue, share, and exchange their book recommendations. It also offers reading-level-appropriate book recommendations using the Lexile Framework for Reading."

"Online social networking includes much more than Facebook and Twitter. It is any online use of technology to connect people, enable them to collaborate with each other, and form virtual communities."

Blended learning perspectives...

"In its Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, Facebook lists a minimum age requirement of 13, which means that more and more students in high school and college are signing up for the social network. As a teacher, what should you do if a student sends you a friend request? Does age play a factor? Should you be careful about what you post, even if it's from your private account? "

"Podcast hosting, Social subscribing"

Safe and Secure Social Learning Network for Teachers and Students

"XW1W uses today's instant technologies to share answers to the same question across the world once a week. XW1W is a simple, social way for students to learn about real life in other cultures from real kids all across the world. By simply "hashtagging" Twitter or blog responses to a weekly question about daily life, students can share and learn about other cultures from their international peers."

"Dear school leader, Really tired of ho-hum, sit-n-get professional development? You've been there, done that. Why not take control of your own learning? You are the lead learner in your classroom, aren't you? Do you model for your staff and students that you are a learner first and foremost? Embark on a user-generated learning experience, and you won't regret it. But where to begin? Dr. Kristen Swanson is an accomplished educator who truly understands the power of learning communities and networks. She has served as a classroom teacher, educational technology director, and college instructor. She's an active blogger and tweeter and a founding member of the Edcamp Foundation. Her book, Professional Learning in the Digital Age: The Educator's Guide to User-Generated Learning, is a must-read for educators today and belongs on a small shelf with other valuable connected learning resources like The Connected Educator and What School Leaders Need to Know about Digital Technologies and Social Media."

"Public schools are keenly aware of the power of the mainstream media; a critical television segment or a laudatory newspaper article will be talked about in the hallways for days. But the landscape has shifted, and school leaders must embrace a new, growing reality: social media has become the source for breaking news. "

"Sunnyside Unified School District, a self-proclaimed "tech-savvy school district" in Tucson, AZ, has completed the introduction of a 1-to-1 program for the 2012-2013 school year for students in grades 4 through 9. As part of that initiative, the district, with about 18,000 students, implemented a new learning environment with digital curriculum aligning with the Common Core State Standards for core subject areas, encompassing math, language arts, social studies, and science."

"How will we remember 2011? On a broad level, many would agree the past year has been a difficult one with the economic recession, social upheavals and political differences weighing on the minds of many. And at times, the discourse on the state of education in 2011 seemed to reflect this same uncertainty found elsewhere in society, as debates raged on topics such as firing teachers, NCLB reauthorization and fair teacher evaluations."

"The Common Core Learning Standards describe the importance of teaching students how to comprehend informational text. They are asked to read closely, make inferences, cite evidence, analyze arguments and interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text. Primary source documents are artifacts created by individuals during a particular period in history. This could be a letter, speech, photograph or journal entry. If you're looking to integrate social studies into your literacy block, try out one of these resources for primary source documents. "

"Not all that long ago, the term "mobile learning" implied laptop computers and mobile carts that were wheeled from classroom to classroom. Now, as a growing number of students carry smart phones, tablets, and other mobile devices that can connect to the internet wirelessly through a cellular as well as a Wi-Fi connection, the definition of "mobile learning" is expanding-and with it, the possibilities inherent in the term."

"3.Feelings of belonging help retention: Most students perform better and are more satisfied in their online learning experience if the institution cultivates positive working and social relations among learners, says the report. To build a stronger sense of belonging or relatedness to students part of online learning, the researchers recommend Thornberg's four metaphors enabling engagement in online spaces: 1) Caves, where distance learners can find time to reflect and come in to contact with themselves; 2) Campfires, or formal environments where students have the opportunity to listen to stories from which they construct knowledge from those with expertise and wisdom; 3) Watering Holes, or informal environments where students gather at a central source to discuss information and create meaning with their peers; and 4) Mountain Tops, where students celebrate their findings and present their ideas to an audience.

"If you share those same goals, then you need to be using social media, particularly Twitter, probably more than you are now. I've got some advice - based on my own recent efforts to use Twitter to broaden my audience - for those who are either new to Twitter or who have only dipped a toe into that particular pool. But before I proceed, a few disclaimers are in order."

"3.Feelings of belonging help retention: Most students perform better and are more satisfied in their online learning experience if the institution cultivates positive working and social relations among learners, says the report. To build a stronger sense of belonging or relatedness to students part of online learning, the researchers recommend Thornberg's four metaphors enabling engagement in online spaces: 1) Caves, where distance learners can find time to reflect and come in to contact with themselves; 2) Campfires, or formal environments where students have the opportunity to listen to stories from which they construct knowledge from those with expertise and wisdom; 3) Watering Holes, or informal environments where students gather at a central source to discuss information and create meaning with their peers; and 4) Mountain Tops,"

"So I make the following argument with a great deal of trepidation: What if watching videos is good for kids? What if it is so good that it should be part of the regular school day? I'm not talking about the latest Pixar movie (although Inside Out certainly could be a great resource for social and emotional learning). I'm talking about explicitly educational videos that teach content to kids in an engaging and memorable way."