Group items tagged

"A new educational app from global education leader Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), HMH Fuse™: Algebra 1, was studied by research firm Empirical Education Inc. and found to be a platform that successfully "encourages the use of personalized lesson plans by combining direct instruction, ongoing support, assessment and intervention in one easy-to-use suite of tools.""

"Loopy! is an exploration tool that facilitates an introduction to basic math concepts. Children are asked to solve three levels of age-appropriate numerical, addition and subtraction problems using pebbles and loops. Before going on to the next challenge, children are provided with positive and encouraging feedback on their answers to help them improve."

"Using personal iPhones and iPads in the office leads many people to work from them while on vacation. Our iPhones and iPads, which enable us to work and be on call virtually anywhere at any time, will lead to more than half of us working while on vacation. That's the result of a new study that looked at how technology impacts the work/life balance. iOS devices are common players in the bring your own device (BYOD) era. As BYOD programs lead many of us to use our personal iOS devices and other mobile technology for work-related tasks, they also encourage an "always on" attitude from employers and employees alike."

"In lieu of being incredible pieces of hardware with significant learning potential, iPad adoption has produced uneven learning results thus far. In some cases, they enchant learners and encourage practice, creativity, and collaboration, while in other settings they offer up a drudgery and mediocrity of their own to deepen existing excesses of each. The question is, why?"

"As technology transforms the classroom, teaching is changing as well. When students head back to school this year, they may discover that monotonous lectures and mundane activities are a thing of the past when their teachers decide to flip the classroom. Educators across the globe will take a pledge to flip one lesson on Friday, Sept. 6, the first "Flipped Day". Hundreds of educators from 10 countries have already taken the pledge to use this innovative model of instruction on that day."

"The following is an excerpt from the book The App Generation: How Today's Youth Navigate Identity, Intimacy, and Imagination in a Digital World by Howard Gardner and Katie Davis. Let's dive directly into the world of educational apps. Our survey suggests that the majority - one might even say, the vast majority - of educational apps encourage pursuit of the goals and means of traditional education by digital means. They constitute convenient, neat, sometimes even seductive pathways to accomplish what were already goals in an earlier era: mastering concepts, learning arithmetical operations, identifying geographical locations or historical figures or key biological or chemical or physical processes. We could dub them "digital textbooks" or "lectures" or "pre-programmed educational conversations." Decades ago, major behaviorist B. F. Skinner called for teaching machines that would automate the traditional classroom, allow students to proceed at their own rate, provide positive feedback on correct answers, and either repeat a missed item or present that item via another pathway. Those sympathetic to Skinner's brand of psychology and to its associated educational regimen would easily recognize many apps today and would likely nod in approval at their slick, seductive interfaces."

"From Jackie Gernstein's resource-rich site comes this sweet infographic depicting the skills we'd like to instill in our students. The post also includes a long, helpful list of resources for everything from how to help students develop hope, to encouraging empathy and social and emotional skills, to how to foster grit, tenacity and perseverance: an educator's guide."

"Bookworms everywhere mourned the state of our country when Pew released a poll that found 23 percent of Americans didn't read a single book in the previous year. Things aren't looking particularly encouraging for future generations, either. Experts estimate that only 1/3 of parents regularly read to their children, even though reading plays an immense role in cognitive development. Despite these depressing statistics, there is reason to take heart. With a greater emphasis on literacy research and advocacy, teachers have more information than ever about how to best cultivate a love for literacy in the classroom. There are numerous methods, but most fall under "the three E's of literacy." "

"Collaborative learning is one of the important aspects of the 21st education. The read/write web ( As the author Will Richardson names it ) is all about tapping into the collective wisdom of the mob. Students create and join cliques online and they get to share and learn from each other. The collaborative culture that the web fosters should definitely be mirrored within the four walls of our classrooms. We need to provide students with the right environment where they can work in teams and peer help each other. Mia from anethicalisland has this wonderful visual featuring 27 tips for teachers to boost team work in class. Have a look and share with your colleagues."

"Gamification is simply the application of "game" mechanics to non-game entities. The big idea here is to encourage a desired behavior. In this way, "gamification" amounts to installing mechanics or systems that recognize and reward behavior. Through increased visibility of nuance, documentation of progress, and rewarding of seemingly minor (but critical) behaviors, a specific outcome can be achieved."

Includes ten tips to help encourage children's imaginations

"One of my favorite activities with my students was having them keep daily journals. Each day, they knew the routine. Grab their journals, grab a pillow, sit where they want and spend 5 minutes responding to the prompt on the board. Nowadays, technology provides us more engaging ways to encourage writing. Students can journal online with blogs or use mobile technologies to capture images, record videos, and post podcasts. They can make their voices more engaging, spread their ideas, and receive comments from around the world. Below are a few ideas and resou"

"There are holidays like Mother's Day, Earth Day, Thanksgiving Day. Even a Talk-Like-Shakespeare Day. But Friday is Pi Day. Really! It's official. The date March 14 (that is, 3/14) was designated Pi Day by House Resolution 224 of the first session of the 111th Congress of the United States. It begins "Whereas the Greek letter (Pi) is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter," and is followed by 11 more whereases before it resolves to support the designation of "Pi Day" to encourage "schools and educators to observe the day with appropriate activities that teach students about Pi and engage them about the study of mathematics.""

"three-tier message to encourage good online experiences - to "engage positively", "know your online world" and "choose consciously"."