Group items tagged

"After Microsoft developed Excel to the 2010 version, it offered more surprises than ever. In order to deal with tons of big data, you can't ignore the important role Excel plays in daily work. However, both for beginners and advanced users, there are still many useful tips and tricks that are inevitably overlooked. Here are 20 useful Excel spreadsheet secrets you may not know. Please note that all these functions are based on Microsoft Excel 2010"

"Flipped learning or flipped classroom is a learning concept that has been making some huge uproar within educational circles for the last couple of years. Flipped classroom is not a new concept as some would argue but only the advance of technology particularly the mobile and handheld gadgetry brought it to the surface and gave it more prominence . I have written profusely about this teaching/learning strategy and Flipped Learning Resources section here in Educational Technology and Mobile Learning features some of these materials."

"Aurasma is one of those special tools that just blows students, teachers and parents away. Taking advantage of one of the most magical advances in mobile technology, Augmented Reality, Aurasma allows you to link video, audio and amazingly realistic 3D imagery to everyday objects in your classroom. This app is one you just have to try to see its enormous potential for learning!"

"One of the best perks of supporting the Los Angeles Central Library is advanced notice of the readings and talks coming through town as part of their ALOUD program. A few months ago, when I noticed that danah boyd was going to be talking about her recent book, "It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens," with USC Professor and Connected Learning pioneer, Henry Jenkins, I snapped up a ticket. The talk took place at the end of July, and the ideas that these two scholars expressed about how young people are interacting with digital tools are still rattling around in my mind, inviting further exploration. "

"English grammar is a topic that actually frustrates a number of people. Irrespective of learning level or nationality, spelling and grammar error seems to confuse a lot of individuals. And in case anyone has a learning debility such as dyslexia, using accurate grammar looks like a terrible task. Using grammar correctly could be challenging may be not for those who are English native speaker, but surely for those who learn English from scratch. English language and its difficulties can be very much puzzling. Although, a dictionary or software can assist learners but it cannot give accurate answer. In fact, word processing programs are not very much effective in correcting grammar errors completely. Now, the question is how one can improve or nourish their English grammar skill? With the advancement in the technology, there are a number of tools that might help those struggling to improve their grammar. Web technology has actually contributed a lot in this through the ease of access. Today, you can find a number of tools, apps and websites available over the web that helps in learning and improving grammar from scratch. Here is a list of top ten websites for teaching or learning grammar lessons."

"As a result of the advances in technology and an increase in Wi-Fi access, schools have slowly begun to respond to this trend. The realization now is that many students possess devices and it only makes sense to harness and leverage their immense power. For many, even the most stubborn school districts that have fought this trend for years have begun to change course. All one has to do is look to the largest school district in the United States, the New York City public school system, to see that they have just lifted a ten year ban on students bringing their cell phones to school. The potential is there for schools and educators to empower students to take more ownership of their learning. This has resulted in a growing trend of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiatives being adopted. This has been the preferred option as opposed to 1:1 initiatives due to overall cost. However, many schools and districts that have adopted BYOD have done so without proper planning and support."

"As tomorrow's global citizens enter higher education with words like "make," "hack," and "prototype" embedded in their vocabulary, they are fueling a powerful movement toward "learning by creating." Faced with the shifting ambitions of students and changes in institutional funding streams, colleges and universities are embracing "learning by creating," allowing them to leverage the traditional spirit of an educational community with students' growing entrepreneurial focus. In response, these institutions are adopting powerful new models to erode the boundaries of historically siloed disciplinary thinking and empower new levels of discovery. A number of colleges and universities around the world are leading the way as they introduce learning facilities billed as "innovation + incubator + maker centers." These centers focus on multi-disciplinary inquiry that can foster partnerships with industry and fully leverage available grants and funding for research. Advancing these new models can help universities recruit fresh talent, establish new partnerships for success and promote an environment where emerging leaders can explore the complex social challenges of our time."

"The Manitoba government says it will review the application process and funding formula for students with special needs, following concerns raised by parents and the province's largest school division that funding was being cut this year. In a statement issued late Tuesday, Education and Advanced Learning Minister Peter Bjornson said there will be a review of the special needs application funding process."

"The Americas Society and Council of the Americas invited me to discuss the role of social media in education with experts and leaders dedicated to advancing and shaping the political, economic, social and cultural agendas of the Western Hemisphere. The purpose was to take what works in New York City and bring it to other education systems. To follow are some ideas I shared that global leaders can bring back to their countries. "

"Emerging technologies is, can be, should be a driving force of this evolution towards Education 3.0. Information access, communication methods, the ability for creative express is qualitatively different than any other time in history due to technological advances."

" have been looking at the future of play for about 5 years and have spoken about the topic at MIT and written about it in Fast Co. Design, Parents Magazine and The Atlantic. Recently, I summed up the research into a poster for parents and teachers to help them frame the value of play in education (see below attachment). I think this excerpt from my Atlantic article said it best, "Someday, rather than measuring memorization as an indicator of progress, we will measure our children's ability to manipulate (deconstruct and hack), morph (think flexibly and be tolerant of change), and move (think "with their hands" and play productively). Standardized aptitude tests will be replaced by our abilities to see (observe and imagine), sense (have empathy and intrinsic motivation), and stretch (think abstractly and systemically). We will advance our abilities to collaborate and create." The future favors the flexible. And that's another reason this poster has + signs at the top of each category - because the superpowers of play we will need for a constantly evolving world is always changing and it encourages everyone to add their own powers of play. "

"Currently, there seems to be a gap between what our schools and universities teach and the lifelong learning skills students must learn to master on their own. And yet, the need for students to master lifelong skills has never been greater. Corporate leaders confirm their importance for promotion and advancement, while economists contend these skills hold the key to countering projected job losses due to automation. With all the buzz around the Common Core, MOOCs, and blended learning, it's time to prioritize skills that prepare students to learn for life. With schools like Summit Public Schools and Lindsay Unified making efforts to experiment with new approaches to learning, there's an opportunity to focus on a new set of skills. I believe these skills can be broken into three categories: Reflection, Research, and Resolving. Grounded in educator Malcolm Knowles' definition of learning, these 3Rs take students beyond the centuries-old, subject-specific 3Rs of reading, (w)riting, and (a)rithmetic. Armed with them, learners can thrive in a world where learning never ends."

"What does 'the internet of things' mean, anyway? It is a term that I've heard periodically over the past few years but explored little and never wrote about here, as it doesn't specifically refer to education and there are so many other (specifically) relevant things to share and talk about. The short explanation is that the Internet of Things refers to the interconnectedness of devices of all types - especially 'smart' devices that can react, anticipate, and adapt as necessary. In short, this interconnectedness and advancing technology is expected to simplify automation in so many areas of our lives."

"I spent sometime this weekend curating and working on the list of iPad apps below. These are apps that students can use to create beautiful cartoons to use in their multimedia projects or in activities that involve comic strips, digital storytelling, presentations and many more. All of these apps are easy to use and do not require any advanced technical skill. Some of the things students can do with these apps include: take pictures and turn them into cartoons, capture cartoon videos, draw cartoon sketches, customize and add different effects to pictures, convert photos into cartoon avatars, and many more."

"While NASA is well known for its cutting edge space exploration and technology, the organization actually does an amazing job sharing their inspiring advances with educators and students through a huge number of STEM focused mobile apps and websites. Their flagship app, the 'NASA App' continues to be one of the most popular government apps and while it has been around for a few years now, it continues to grow in popularity with an ever expanding media catalogue and regular feature updates."

In a bid to make e-ticket booking easier, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has decided to launch a scheme allowing passengers to reserve seats against advance money kept with the corporation. Currently there are about 4.5 lakh train tickets booked daily through IRCTC website. Under the Rolling Deposit Scheme, a user can deposit money in advance with IRCTC and use it as a payment option amongst the other payment options available on IRCTC website for paying money at the time of booking tickets.

The eGov magazine enjoys the distinction of being Asia's first magazine on e-Governance. Founded in 2005, the monthly magazine is published in both print and online formats, and is focussed exclusively on the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for bringing efficiency, accountability and transparency to various citizen and business related initiatives of the government. No other magazine in Asia offers readers such in-depth coverage of new e-Governance models. We cover all aspects of e-Governance - from new technological advances in ICT to the ways in which common citizens benefit when their interactions with government departments are through digital interfaces and the myriad issues involved in implementation of e-Governance initiatives.

The eGov magazine enjoys the distinction of being Asia's first magazine on e-Governance. Founded in 2005, the monthly magazine is published in both print and online formats, and is focussed exclusively on the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for bringing efficiency, accountability and transparency to various citizen and business related initiatives of the government. No other magazine in Asia offers readers such in-depth coverage of new e-Governance models. We cover all aspects of e-Governance - from new technological advances in ICT to the ways in which common citizens benefit when their interactions with government departments are through digital interfaces and the myriad issues involved in implementation of e-Governance initiatives. The eGov magazine's biggest advantage is its ability to carry the views of all the stakeholders in e-Governance domain - policy makers, experts, industry leaders, administrators and the academia. Our experienced team of editors, researchers, and marketers take a 360-degree approach for creating content - breaking news, feature articles and interviews - that can keep our steadily growing global audience well informed on issues of e-Governance. The who's who in the industry disseminate their ideas and innovations through the pages of our magazine.

Much has been made about technology's ability to better facilitate a wide range of educational opportunities. With the advent of tablet computers in classrooms, ever-growing internet resources, and cloud computing platforms that help school administrators go wireless, there are boundless instruction possibilities when it comes to making use of new technological advances.

What if every student (and educator) was a good online researcher?  I know, you don't have the time to teach information fluency skills.  What if you could get a significant advance is skills with just a 2 -3  hour time commitment?  Here's a great Prezi 'fly by" of the new Information Investigator 3.1 online self paced class.  Watch the presentation carefully to find the link to a free code to take the class for evaluation purposes.