Group items tagged

"A group of children on a playground, each kid clutching a slip of paper with a number on it, moves along a line drawn in chalk, comparing numbers as they go and sorting themselves into ascending order from one to ten. Another group of children, sitting in a circle, passes pieces of fruit - an apple, an orange - from hand to hand until the color of the fruit they're holding matches the color of the T-shirt they're wearing. It may not look like it, but the children engaged in these exercises are learning computer science. In the first activity, they've turned themselves into a sorting network: a strategy computers use to sort random numbers into order. And in the second activity, they're acting out the process by which computer networks route information to its intended destination. Both are from a project called Computer Science Unplugged, which endeavors to teach students computer science without using computers."

"If I had a dollar for each and every time someone has asked me to suggest a great PDF to Word converter, I'd probably be able to shop at Whole Foods every day for a month. It's one of the conversion types topping the formatting pile. My love of organic fruit and veg aside, here are some of the best free PDF to Word converters around."

"Higher education issues have been one of the hot topics of the current presidential race, with candidates touching on reducing student loan debt and improving college access. However, what has rarely come up is whether or not college is even the best option for each and every student. The general message in popular culture and political debates is that attending and graduating from a traditional four-year college is the only way to find a fruitful job after high school. However, there are a number of alternatives for students who don't necessarily want to take out loans or the academic focus of a traditional university experience, and these alternatives can still lead to fulfilling careers. Called career technical, professional, and trade or vocational training, these programs are typically offered at high schools, two-year colleges, and through other outlets."

"Exploratorium's Color Uncovered iPad app is essentially a seventeen part ebook with some nice interactive activities and videos built into it to support the articles. In Color Uncovered students will why we sometimes see colors that aren't really there, how light influences the colors we see, and why dogs would have trouble with traffic lights if they drove. One of the interactive features on Color Uncovered that I particularly like is the "Colors Add Up" activity. In "Colors Add Up" students use a clear CD case (I'm sure any other clear piece of plastic will work too) to mix colors projected from their iPads. The app also gives students a couple of short lessons on how and why artificial colors are added to foods like salmon, candy, cheese, and fruit. "

"How many schools and how many classrooms allow student choice? And, in adult-centered spaces, how often do young people have the opportunity to make important decisions? Our mainstream educational machine is fueled by the idea that adults know best-that adults must impart their knowledge to prepare students for a demanding world. Our responsibility as teachers is to teach students for their own good…a "good" that more and more of us are having difficulty understanding. We teach students addition and multiplication facts because some day they will need to calculate very quickly…a tip at a restaurant or a bill at the grocery store in case their smartphone runs out of batteries. We teach them to write a five paragraph essay on the theme of a book because they will need those writing skills when…writing an argument to dispute a lawsuit. We teach them how to conjugate "to be" in Spanish because it might save their life…at a fruit stand in South America. While we are preparing them for possible situations, should these situations define the entirety of the direction of their education? I propose that we introduce some choice and some unknown into the situation of school. What if we allow students to make choices about what they learn, how they learn, and when they learn? In a way, 1:1 iPad programs are sparking choice whether we're OK with it or not."

"Providing an opportunity for students to connect with portraiture through the work of Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1526-1593) is engaging stuff. This Italian painter is most famous for his imaginative faces made up entirely of fruit, vegetables, meat and other objects of significance, and they continue to be a source of wonder for children of all ages. Students can use the Pictoboldo app to create their own digital collages."

"Creative Commons has recently rolled out its new 4.0 licenses and made it available for adoption worldwide. This is a fruit of two years of hard work to overcome some of the weaknesses that marked the 2011 version CC licenses .Some of the features and improvements included in 4.0 licences which make them easily shared and re-used include : improved readability and organization and common-sense attribution."

"From the smartphone Annie Leibovitzes to the Instagram Ansel Adams, it seems that everybody is a photographer these days. This is a fact teachers can and should take advantage of in the classroom - and for many reasons more than to expand the student photo repertoire beyond the selfie (though that is certainly an admirable goal). While a good lesson in photography itself is a fruitful place to start, digital photography can be a launching point for lessons in writing creatively, thinking critically, expanding the student worldview and building empathy that extends far outside the classroom. Let's take a look at a few of the best photo sites out there today and discuss a number of ways you can make the most of them in your classroom."

"Art History Basics is an excellent resource for Art teachers and students. It provides a collection of educational videos, articles, and several other materials to chronicle the development of art and help students learn major artistic movements and works that spanned human history. Art History Basics is a fruit of a partnership between Khan Academy, Smarthistory, and some leading art historians and museums. Content in art History Basics is arranged into five main sections:"

"My favorite unit to teach the last two years to my middle school students has been on "Fruit Loop Conspiracy Theories." Rather than study and discuss controversial political topics, we focus on the Apollo Moon landings and the skeptics (who are sometimes also "flat-earthers" on YouTube) who believe NASA never landed on the Moon, and the entire historical episode was faked thanks to Stanley Kubrick's moviemaking special effects. This lesson was the result of summer work I did with my Chicago colleague Brian Turnbaugh (@wegotwits) in 2020, which I archived on the website, "Fact or Fiction? Apollo Moon Landings." Brian and I met through the Summer Institute in Digital Literacy in Rhode Island. I've served as faculty for the Institute the past two summers, in 2020 and 2021."