21st Century Learning & Teaching

"Thank you to Larry Ferlazzo for sharing the following Infographic on his blog."

"At the end of a project-based learning (PBL) experience, students typically share what they have learned or discovered with an audience. Depending on the project, students might publish their work online, make presentations at a public event, or pitch their ideas to a panel of judges. For veteran PBL teacher Don Wettrick, "nothing is better than a project that gets community buy-in." Connecting students with an authentic audience is key, he says, to driving engagement and helping students relate what they are learning to the real world. "My top two goals are to help students find great opportunities [for real-world problem solving], and then cheerlead them to a great audience." "

"The one guaranteed constant in educational technology is change, and the pace of that change is definitely accelerating. So as we approach the new year, T.H.E. Journal pauses to survey the ed tech trends on the horizon. As in previous years, we have assembled a distinguished panel of five experts, including several from our advisory board. We asked them to consider 10 topics related to instructional technology and predict whether each topic will be HOT ⇧, LUKEWARM ⇔, or LOSING STEAM ⇓ in 2014. We compiled their responses to come up with an overall trend line. There was unanimous agreement on some topics and less consensus on others, but taken together, their responses paint a compelling picture of what to expect from ed tech in 2014."

"Culture Teaching Strategies: Science, Math, and Fan Fiction: What's Worth Learning? What happens when you allow kids to figure out their own path to learning by giving them access to the online community? That's one of the thoughtful questions Richard Halverson, co-author of Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology, brings up in this interview at the CYTSE conference."

"Take a moment to think about how you learned to write. What steps did you go through? What was your process?"

"At Harriet Tubman Elementary in Newark, New Jersey, 5th grade teacher Yvonne Copprue-McLeod teaches a lesson about reading comprehension and answering open-ended questions using textual evidence. Ms. Copprue-McLeod's strategy for her lesson is to have students work in groups, using specific details from the text to draw inferences and answer questions about the main character in the text. This lesson is aligned with multiple 5th grade Common Core ELA standards (RL.5.1, RF.5.4, SL.5.1, SL.5.4)."

"I'm currently teaching a STEM/STEAM online course for Powerful Learning Practice with my arts expert buddy of 20 years - Nancy Flanagan. Our task, among other things, is to show how to put the "A" in STEM. We both have points of agreement, points of divergence, and plenty of questions."

"We've introduced you to a variety of quality image sites where you can find Creative Commons images, but the Creative Commons license goes far beyond just images. Different types of content are licensed online using Creative Commons - videos, music, and even blog content. You'll find plenty of it online to share, remix and use commercially. When it comes to Creative Commons music - there are certainly no shortage of websites with audio you can use for any occasion."

"I absolutely love it when teachers and students create, remix, and mash up media; it's a fantastic way to encourage deeper learning and media literacy. But one issue that complicates digital freedom of expression is copyright law. While many would argue that copyright law is outdated and badly in need of an overhaul, it's still critical that adults and kids alike have a basic understanding of what's legal and ethical while playing with other people's intellectual property. Here's a list of videos I collected to help you navigate the murky waters of copyright law in educational settings."

"Alan November elevated the "Official Scribe" as one of the roles that empower student learners.I see the role of the scribe as follows: The official scribe plays an important role in the classroom community. Their work is essential for students who were absent from class or need a review on a specific topic previously discussed. The official scribe also takes pressure off other students from having to take notes, but invites them in to contribute with corrections, additional information or resources."

"Even the smallest things, like the living cell, become big enough to grasp in Rob Olazagasti's middle school science class, where he enables students to learn by creating, remember by experiencing, and show what they know by teaching."

"Everyone thinks that Project-Based Learning has something to do with "authentic" learning. But not everyone agrees what this means. Take this quick quiz. "

"In the past, I've had the very good fortune to work with both Destination Imagination and Odyssey of the Mind in my classroom. Both of these programs allow kids to explore creativity to the nth degree and offer engaging and learning-filled explorations beyond what is typically offered in school. The guiding philosophies of both programs are: In what ways can we be creative? How creative can we be? We often ask our students to be creative, but how often do we ask them to extend that creativity into previously unexplored territory? How often do we invite them to up the WOW Factor? I often muse about that when I think about Web 2.0 tools that I share in workshops. I'm always trying to brainstorm divergent ways to use these versatile tools at multiple cognitive levels as well as creative extensions beyond what the tool was designed for."

"Important research compiled on the effects of students multitasking while learning shows that they are losing depth of learning, getting mentally fatigued, and are weakening their ability to transfer what they have learned to other subjects and situations."

"A new museum devoted to math (CBS News) Take an unpopular academic subject, a dedicated visionary, and $23 three million, and what have you got? Why, it all adds up to the museum our Mo Rocca's about to guide us through: Math. The very word conjures painful memories: long division . . . Square roots . . . The quadratic equation. Not only do most of us not like it; we're also not very good at it. In an international test of 15-year-olds, the U.S. placed 24th out of 64 countries. "We don't currently, in this country, have a cultural expectation that yeah, you're going to learn math just like you're going to learn reading," said Glen Whitney. "It's okay to not be good at math." Glen Whitney is good at math."

"With the rise of MOOCs, Edupunks, and other radically transformative notations of school, I hear a lot of talk about building capacities for independent learning in our students. Where will this come from, I ask, if we do not re-awaken the desire and capacity for learning on our own within all of our teachers?"

"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."

"Using Google to look for text is simple enough, but not until recently did I realize you could use it to search by reading level. And it typical Google fashion, it's slightly more convoluted a process than it needs to be, but is otherwise dead simple."

"One of the perplexing things that teachers and educators encounter when trying to understand educational technology and leverage into their classrooms is the abundance of those baffling techie terms. Blended Learning is different from Differentiated Learning, Educational Technology might not be necessarily Instructional Technology, a Virtual Classroom is different from an Electronic Classroom or Flipped Classroom; there is also asynchronous, synchronous, and personalized learning, these and many more are but some examples of the growing terminology in this field. This infographic is dubbed Ed Tech Cheat Sheet is a fabulous guide to help you learn about the important trends in educational technology."

"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."