Group items tagged

" I've spent a lot of time lately reflecting on the way I teach literacy in my classroom and about the ways that the digital text I often use to teach now is inherently different from the text I used to teach reading ten years ago. In an earlier post, I talked about some of the ways that I think using digital text in shared reading, such as when reading projected blog comments or tweets, is actually superior to the traditional text we have long used. Even if you are not convinced that digital text can work better than traditional text, it is difficult to argue that digital text is not here to stay or that it is not becoming increasingly important. It is and will be a significant part of our students' lives both now and in the future. If this will be true, it only makes sense to begin to teach children strategies for reading this new form of text."

"Reading Rainbow has inspired young readers long before an iPad entered any classroom.  This powerful iPad app gives students access to hundreds books in a variety of genres.  Within the app are over 100 educational video field trips hosted by Reading Rainbow favorite LeVar Burton.  Students can listen to books read aloud to them or read independently as they turn the page.  Each book has animations that are sure to grab your students' attentions."

"If we are to be completely honest with ourselves, the concept or theory behind computer science in the curriculum is not new, well not within Early Years Education. If we stop and think for a minute, what is happening when we code? We end up with - Problem Solving. Plain and simple……Computer programmers, computer scientists……solve problem! Our young learners spend every day solving and overcoming problems and obstacles. As educators, we set up scenarios, we pose problems and we guide the children towards finding strategies. These challenges are often in Maths and Science lessons but we sometimes see them in Physical Education and language classes too. We always strive to relate these problem solving skills to contexts, it makes sense if children can relate to real life scenarios. And this is where coding fits in."

"Importantly, our early indications suggest that the least effective method of reading may be the one society has been clinging to for centuries: reading on paper."

From the site: "I am hoping to connect our school with some other schools in a project where early elementary students share about their family and/or cultural traditions during the December holidays. This project is designed so that it does not require a lot of classroom time to complete and does not involve very complicated technology skills. It also will introduce teachers to Smilebox - which is a neat free tool for sharing images on the web and easily allows students and parents to leave comments."

So with the caveat that I am only halfway through Mark Bauerline's book The Dumbest Generation, I have some early impressions to throw out there. While I think there is some merit to this side of the debate (much like Keen's Cult of the Amateur) what really bothers me about this book so far is, as the title suggests, this sense that our kids are at fault. Let me put it plainly: our kids are not "dumb" nor is this generation "dumb" simply because they spend a lot of time in front of television screens and computers or because they haven't worked out for themselves how to get smarter using the Read/Write Web.

Early years games in French and English

Collection of recorded online Elluminate professional learning sessions from the Victoria, Australia Dept. of Education and Early Childhood Dev

Manitoba - collection of pdf files for early Years activities

"Could a recent study by neuroscientist Simone Kühn reveal new ways of stimulating early brain development as well as a cure for the aging brain in later life? A study conducted at Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Charité University Medicine in Berlin unveils the latest findings for video gaming."

"I'm often approached by educators looking for the best iPad app.  While my students have their favourite go to apps, what works for my students may not work for theirs.  In fact even my own students can't decide which app is best because each has their own preference depending on what they are trying to do. It's far less about the specific app, then what that app can do to show learning. For me, the beauty of the iPad and more specifically the apps available for it, is that it allows my students to create, and show their learning in ways that work best for them.  For this reason I have created an iTunes U course titled Show What You Know with iPad: Using an iPad to Create and Self Assess in the Early Years.  This is a free course but does require an iOS device to access it through iTunes U . It can be downloaded onto  an iPod, iPhone, or iPad."

"How to better integrate the connected benefits of computer science in elementary STEM education."

"Last year I volunteered in my child's Kindergarten class daily for an hour with our family's three iPads. I learned a lot about selecting educational content (primarily early math & literacy apps) and how to set up an environment most conducive for learning. I was most impressed by the potential for mobile devices to improve the experience in class for both teachers and students. So this year I volunteered to bring our iPads into my child's First grade class once a week for 'buddy reading'. As I do more outreach and training for local teachers in my community, I am surprised at the large number of classrooms getting devices without any guidelines about how to integrate them into their existing institutional structures or curriculum. From these experiences, I have come up with the following five tips for starting a new program in any classroom …"

"oday's "Best Educational Apps for Kids" list is Science apps for kindergarden and early elementary kids. I did not include those animal related apps, as there will be a separate list of "Best Educational Apps for Kids" on "Nature and Animals". If you know any good science apps for kids age 6 to 10, please leave the app name in a comment. I will update the list periodically."