Group items tagged

"Are you thinking about buying a 3D printer for your school or classroom?  Before you buy something that could turn into a very expensive paperweight, I recommend you consider these factors. How is a 3D printer going to enhance your curriculum?  Are you going to buy it first and explore the possibilities, or do you already have ideas for utilizing it with students to benefit their learning?  If you would give the second answer, keep reading.  If it's the first, you need to do more research.  If the sole purpose of the printer will be to perform as a 21st century copy machine operated only by the teacher, then you will be doing your students an injustice, as the cost would definitely outweigh the benefits.  The only reason to buy a 3d printer for your classroom is so that students can learn and create. Once you decide that this printer will benefit student learning and you have concrete ideas for curriculum integration, then you need to think about some down-to-earth questions like these"

"Below is a collection of some of the best iPad and Android apps to use with kids and young learners to enhance their creativity and boost their imaginative thinking. From doodling and sketching to drawing and digital storytelling, the apps below are particularly designed to unleash the creative gene from within. We invite you to check them out and share with your students. Enjoy"

"Since the late 1990s, the virtual yellow line has been quietly enhancing football broadcasts by giving viewers a live, intuitive guide to the state of play. The graphic is engineered to appear painted on the field, rather than simply plopped on top of the players, so it doesn't distract from the game at all. The line debuted during a September 27, 1998, game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals. It was developed by a company called Sportvision Inc. and operated by six people in a 48-foot semi-truck parked outside the stadium. ESPN was the only network that immediately agreed to pay the steep price of $25,000 per game. Before long, other companies began offering the yellow line to the other networks, and now you won't see a football game without it. "

"We absolutely love seeing the many exciting ways that teachers are using ChatterPix to help engage their students. Many educators have come up with some incredibly creative ways to make their lessons more exciting by incorporating tools like ChatterPix and WonderBox. Check out these 15 awesome ways teachers have recently used ChatterPix to enhance science lessons!"

"ViewPure is absolutely an excellent tool for teachers and students. It allows you to watch YouTube videos in a clean and distraction-free interface. All the distractive features such as ads, related videos, and comments are removed providing students with an ideal environment for watching educational videos. Inappropriate content accompanying YouTube videos lead many teachers to shun away from incorporating YouTube videos in their instruction but with ViewPure this is no longer a problem and teachers are able to provide students with an enhanced YouTube experience with the minimum distraction possible. We said minimum because some ads are integrated with YouTube videos and ViewPure can not remove them."

"It appears that confidence is still a major barrier that prevents some teachers from using EdTech to its full potential to really enhance both teaching and learning in their classrooms. I'm a fan of quotes and I feel this one is appropriate as it sums up the impact action can have on confidence: "Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy." Dale Carnegie It goes without saying that the he more often you do something, the quicker you will become more confident in doing it. Trialling something new can be daunting at first for many. However, the more often you do this, the less fearful you will be. In fact, you may even find trying new things more exciting, particularly when you see spectacular results! You may be able to place yourself in one of the following categories based on your confidence in using technology in the classroom:"

"Education technology devices have become symbolic of the efforts to transform US education through blended and personalized learning--and desktops, laptops, and tablets are quickly becoming ubiquitous in education. Devices are crucial as a conduit for content; however, they do not directly improve learning outcomes. These tangible examples are, with the exception of few dazzling products, nearly indistinguishable. When we are shown images of technology enhancing education, it is rarely a picture of particular software or data systems--it is a student with a device. Devices are crucial as a conduit for content; however, they do not directly improve learning outcomes."

"If there's one thing you should know about the Raspberry Pi, it's that the device is a flexible little computer that can be used as the hub for all manner of projects. So it should come as no surprise that a mini industry has sprung up around it, with companies offering accessories to enhance and extend the device to help you get the most out of the device. Here at MakeUseOf we've brought you some particularly useful Raspberry Pi projects over the years, but if you want to go really hardcore, you'll need some more in-depth reading. Here are ten Raspberry Pi books that are bursting with project ideas, ready for you to get started with straightaway."

"In the last few years, the "maker movement" has become a marvel in American schools through Maker Faires featuring homemade robots to after-school programs that teach kids to code - to entire schools geared around the art of tinkering. Maker-centered education, so the narrative often goes, could have profound benefits for students hoping to find work in a STEM-related job. Even President Obama has touted the economic benefits the maker movement could have on efforts to reinvigorate American manufacturing. But for teachers who use making in their classrooms, the movement is about something much bigger - something that enhances educational experiences for all kids. They argue this learning-by-doing approach is an effective way to teach students how to develop character and purpose."

"Michelle Joyce doesn't shy away from politicized science topics such as climate change. In fact, she works to equip seniors at Palmetto Ridge High School in Naples, Florida with the skills to accurately evaluate those topics on their own. Along with teaching chemistry and physics, she offers a class called "thinking skills" where students solve logic and math puzzles while also enhancing their media literacy. Students go beyond just learning about legitimate sources of information on the internet and delve into just how the information is put together in the first place. But teaching students those critical thinking skills only as they're about to depart for college can be too little too late. "It's a really hard thing to teach within the space of everything else that you need to teach in a classroom," Joyce said. "It's crucial that we teach it as early as we can." The internet has no shortage of dubious information; and the ability to evaluate health and science claims is a subset of media literacy. With the abundance of health/science content students may only see via social media, kids are ill-equipped to discern hype from real science."

"We do not learn from experience... we learn from reflecting on experience." ― John Dewey These words by John Dewey point to a truth about learning that is often forgotten. Experience alone is not sufficient for true learning to occur; reflection is an essential part of the process and our failure to include time for this is why our learning often does not stick.

"This ASCD Study Guide is meant to enhance your understanding of the concepts and practical ideas presented in Learning Transformed: 8 Keys for Designing Tomorrow's Schools, Today, an ASCD book written by Eric C. Sheninger and Thomas C. Murray. You can use this study guide either with teachers if you are a professor, teacher leader, or coach, or with younger students if you are a classroom teacher. You may already have posed to yourself or a colleague many of the questions included here, and others will become evident as you read through the book. You may choose to answer the questions before tackling each chapter of the book or answer them as you finish the chapter. Each chapter is rich in information-content, pedagogy, and research-so take the time to digest one at a time. The study questions provided address some of the most salient ideas in the book. They do not address all of the notions covered in the book."

"A few days ago we shared with you a new Google feature that allows you to easily fact check online content. Today, we are sharing with you 10 good tips that will enable you to critically assess the veracity and credibility of online content (e.g. news stories).  These are guidelines Facebook Help Centre provided for it users to help them spot fake news. However, these tips can also apply to any other type of content. Students can use them to evaluate digital content and enhance their critical reading comprehension.  We have embedded these tips into the visual below so you can print and share with your students in class. You can also download a PDF copy from this page. Enjoy."

"To help educators enhance their knowledge and "in-demand" skills so they can integrate their learning into classrooms, ICTC would like to introduce a new initiative called CyberEd, a National Cyber Security Awareness & Training Initiative. This initiative has been made possible in part by a grant from the Cisco Networking Academy, an advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation. A part of this initiative, 130 educators in middle and secondary schools will have the opportunity to receive training in Cisco's Introduction to Cyber Security and/or Cyber Security Essentials courses at no cost, with resources included to help them integrate cyber security into student learning. Additionally, 8-10 educators will have the opportunity to receive training in CCNA 1 & 2 at no cost who are interested in deepening their studies. These professional development opportunities will take place virtually. The courses will be facilitated/led by an instructor, while some elements of the course material will also be self-directed. All courses will be delivered in English at this time."

Despite this being a 'thinking' conference, despite us all being advocates for structured and scaffolded models of thinking, not one group had applied any thinking routines, utilised a collaborative planning protocol or talked about applying an inquiry model or design thinking cycle. It wasn't that we didn't know about them. It wasn't that we don't know how to use them. It wasn't that we don't value them. We had all the knowledge we could desire on the how to and the why of a broad set of thinking tools and anyone of these would have enhanced the process, but we did not use any of them. Why was this the case and what does this reveal about our teaching of these methods to our students?

Mere substitution is not going to help our learners maximise the affordances of technology. The challenge is to find ways by which technology can enhance learning. We can be certain that technology is not going to go away and that those who maximise the affordances that it brings are likely to gain the most from it. 

"Given the burgeoning importance of iPad in education, we deemed it important to share with our readers some interesting resources to help them tap into the full educational potential of this versatile device. In this regard, we have compiled the list below featuring some important iPad tips for teachers. These are some basic functionalities to enhance your overall productivity and take your iPad usage to the next le"

"Wakelet is constantly coming up with new features that enhance the user experience. While I could easily share 15 or 20 Wakelet features that I love, for this blog, I was asked to share five features that you might not already know about (don't say anything, but I did manage to sneak in a 6th - shh!)"

"As a school librarian, I always thought of the notion of collection as expansive. Collections might include any of the experiences we discover, as well as any of the people we meet who might enhance learning for our communities. Among those experiences are virtual field trips. Opportunities now abound for connections to curriculum and student interests. And easier strategies for video conferencing, combined with new types of interactions, make virtual field trips even more affordable and engaging. You don't risk weather conditions or losing any wandering kiddos who can't find their way back to the bus. You can ignore issues of distance relating to both space and time. And these escapes from daily classroom routine can result in very sticky learning."

"On Saturday, AASL committee members announced the 2017 Best Websites and 2017 Best Apps for Teaching & Learning at ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. In case you missed those big reveals, no worries!  Actually, worry-big time. You are in for a serious summer rabbit hole adventure. Now in its ninth year, The 2017 Best Websites for Teaching and Learning list presents 25 websites that provide enhanced learning and curriculum development for school librarians and their teacher partners."