Group items tagged

"Social media offers some great opportunities for learning in the classroom, bringing together the ability to collaborate, access worldwide resources, and find new and interesting ways to communicate in one easily accessible place. Teachers and educators around the world have found innovative ways to use Twitter as a teaching tool, and we've shared many of these great ideas here with you. Read on, and we'll explore 60 inspiring ways that teachers and students can put Twitter to work in the classroom."

"In the middle of October, we invited educators to tell us about the "apps, games, and websites that are helping to tranform their classrooms this year." We asked that you submit your responses in the form of Field Notes and we received more than 700 submissions! 43 products emerged with several votes and strong, detailed Field Notes to explain just how they are being used effectively at school. So here is our (albeit unscientific) list of apps, games, and websites transforming classrooms this Fall. "

"Not long ago, a teacher had nothing more to rely on than knowledge, textbooks and a few markers. Technology has slowly changed that in the past few years, with the Internet, multimedia programs and computers increasing their presence in the classroom. But with the rise of tablet tech, the student-teacher experience is facing a subtle revolution: joining the trend makes students feel as if they're part of an environment that's desirable because people speak their native languages. As the iPad becomes a teaching tool, classrooms are transformed into contemporary settings."

"Gaming is an amazing strategy to use in the classroom, yet few teachers use it to increase their students' learning. Generally it is used a 'reward' or dismissed as purely fun, with no learning purpose. Gaming, however, is a wonderful way to re-engage students with learning and make learning relevant to their lives. This is not to say that it should be the only teaching strategy that you should use, or that all topics would be best taught through gaming. Many learning situations, however, can be dramatically improved through introducing gaming to your classroom."

"Educators, researchers, and students are discovering the benefits and advantages of cooperative, active, and engaged learning. Classroom spaces that support such a shift in teaching and learning have lagged behind. A significant opportunity exists for maximizing learning opportunities and creating meaningful experiences by rethinking the classroom experience."

"The recent 3D printing explosion on the educational market has left many educators wondering how they can afford to integrate this technology into the classroom. Most schools do not have the luxury of purchasing a 3D printer but still want to provide the experience for their students. 3D pens made their debut on Kickstarter this year as an affordable 3D printing option. After the initial investment of the pens, they are an incredibly affordable tool for classrooms. The pens allow students to illustrate - in 3D - concepts in math, history, art, design, and chemistry, giving them a tangible means to explore complex ideas. The pens work as a manual operating 3D printer. Heated filament is extruded through the pen's tip, which quickly cools down to form a stable 3D structure. It actually adopts the same FDM technology which powers mainstream desktop 3D printers. The human ergonomic design allows students to draw an infinite variety of shapes and items, on both the 2D plane and within 3D free space."

"To say I'm pretty jazzed about the possibilities of my classroom learning by connecting with other classrooms and people would be a bit of an understatement. My class regularly learns from and with students and others from across North America and in fact from around the world using social media tools such as Skype, Twitter and blogging."

"This past week, I introduced 3D printing into my classroom. Next week, we will receive 3D pens from Dim3printing, an Austin-based 3D printing distributor. This technology has brought about an excitement for learning I have never experienced in my classroom before."

"All of us have had major classroom disruptions that try our patience and push our limits. These incidents can threaten our sense of control and generate fear of looking weak to other students. We fear that other students might do the same thing if we don't take a strong stance. Couple these feelings with the possibility of taking the disruption personally, and we have a recipe for disaster. It's important that we divide our response into two parts: Immediate stabilization Intervention to resolve these issues"

"Teachers have found many different ways of using digital games in the classroom. But what kind of games are these students playing? And how are teachers incorporating them in the classroom? Last year's report from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, "Games For A Digital Age," made the distinction between "short-form" and "long-form" learning games. Short-form games are designed to be played during a single class period. "They focus on a particular concept of skill refinement, skills practice, memorization, or performing specific drills." Long-form games "extend beyond a single class period" and sometimes gameplay can "spread over multiple sessions or even several weeks." Often long-form games are comprehensively tied to a full curriculum. They can replace textbooks by offering an interactive experience that seamlessly blends content, practice, and assessment into a contextualized learning experience. While some programs like this already exist, it's difficult to implement well. For teachers who want to get started, short-term games can supplement their already established curricula with fresh and engaging activities. Learning Games"

"When I speak about using iPads in a primary school classroom, I am often asked about how it would work if I only had one iPad as is the case in many classrooms. This post is the first of what I hope will be several with suggestions as to how to make that work effectively."

"In his popular TED talk, Ken Robinson made the powerful point that most of the students doing work in your classrooms today will be entering a job force that none of you can visualize. That talk is from almost ten years ago, so we already know he was right and can only assume he'll continue to be so in the years to come. Learning a specific skill set doesn't have the value in today's world that it once did. Learning how to be more creative (and thus adaptable) - now that's what prepares students for life beyond the classroom."

"The myth about social media in the classroom is that if you use it, kids will be Tweeting, Facebooking and Snapchatting while you're trying to teach. We still have to focus on the task at hand. Don't mistake social media for socializing. They're different -- just as kids talking as they work in groups or talking while hanging out are different. You don't even have to bring the most popular social media sites into your classroom. You can use Fakebook or FakeTweet as students work on this form of conversation. Edublogs, Kidblog, Edmodo, and more will let you use social media competencies and writing techniques. Some teachers are even doing "tweets" on post-it notes as exit tickets. You can use mainstream social media, too."

"If you have been allocated just one iPad for your classroom then you have very different issues to 1-to-1 classrooms as the iPad is not designed as a shared device. But don't despair! There are apps for that!"

"The flipped classroom model is here to stay. This model, although not a golden bullet, puts the student firmly into the educational process. Think back over the last few years that you have been teaching or learning about teaching. What did you do when you came across a new idea? Did you investigate on your own? Did you seek others who had experiences they could share? This is what the flipped classroom is all about: Putting students in charge of their learning process and allowing them to wrestle with ideas and topics before coming back to class with their own specific questions and seek guidance from the teacher. Often (but not always) there is some sort of online activity outside of the school day that students are responsible for. This could be a video lesson, a video about a lab set up, a discussion board inside of a learning management system (LMS), or any other vehicle that communicates the topic of the lesson outside of the normal class time instruction. "

"Adding game mechanics to your classroom doesn't have to be complicated. Digital badges are a great way to get started with gamification. Recognize learning achievements in your classroom with badges to motivate and challenge students to reach the next level. (Tip: Badges are also very motivating for teachers!) There are several different approached to using badges in the classroom. Some websites and apps are strictly for creating and awarding badges, and some, more robust systems offer badges within their system. The following resources are just a start for those that are new to gamification, and all are iPad-friendly. I've included links and related resources as well."

"When the school year begins, teachers spend a lot of time getting the classroom ready, planning lessons, and getting to know his/her students. The following list includes 20 ideas that you may not have thought of that can help produce a successful classroom. Each item takes no longer than an hour and can make a big difference throughout the year."

"Over the past decade, maker-centered classrooms and making-centered learning have become increasingly popular - young people (and teachers and parents alike) have greater opportunities to build, hack, redesign, and tinker with a variety of materials, in school- or community-based spaces, design thinking and engineering programs, and Maker Faires. Maker-centered learning not only offers opportunities to learn about new tools and technologies, it requires certain thinking skills - such as navigating uncertainty, adaptability, collaborative thinking, risk-taking, and multiple-perspective taking - that are critical to engaging and thriving in a complex world. Drawing on research from Project Zero's Agency by Design project, this course offers classroom teachers, maker educators, administrators, and parents an opportunity to explore firsthand maker-centered learning practices and the opportunities they afford. Discover what kinds of tools might best support this kind of teaching and learning, and examine the benefits (to both young people and facilitators) of engaging in this work. Through hands-on, collaborative activities, consider how maker-centered experiences might fit into your own contexts."

"It's that time again! We're heading back into our classrooms to start another year of learning and growth. I don't know about you, but I love the freedom that summer gives me. I know our students do too. So as we head back into schedules, and structure, here are 5 ways you can boost thinking and productivity with a little movement in your classroom. Movement allows our brains a break from the intense thinking and focus required in schools. It's a chance to reboot, and even burn off a little of that extra fidgety energy. It can be a real struggle for many students to sit and focus. Give them a chance to be successful by adding some purposeful movement to the day."

"At the NACTE 2011 conference, I was selected to present on using the iPad and Google Apps in the classroom. The presentation can be viewed here. Since the presentation is mostly graphics and minimal text, I thought that I would use this space to explain my presentation. I use Google Apps and the iPad to solve/improve three issues that I see frequently in classrooms. These three are communication, feedback, and excessive paperwork."