Group items tagged

"Right now I'm lucky enough to be collaborating with the amazing educators, Michelle Hiebert and Jason Graham. They've invited my class to work on creating a collaborative book. The idea is for one class to write a bit and then pass it on to the next class who in turn adds a bit and then passes it on etc. We've decided to use the Book Creator app on the iPad to create our book. My kinder students have had success in creating books with this simple to use app. We have decided to use DropBox as a way to share the book back and forth with each other. (I recently learned this process from @KLirenman, another awesome educator.) What I thought I'd do is provide a simple how-to on this process. "

"The consistent and effective use of Descriptive feedback in classrooms has become a popular strategy due to its positive influence on student learning. Based on the research of John Hattie, my colleague, Jason Lynn has given me an in-depth look at Hattie's work and how we can use it in the classroom. Although the research suggests that providing students with descriptive feedback has the largest influence on student learning, it can be difficult for teachers to find more time to provide this meaningful assessment as learning and assessment for learning tool with regularity."

"What ignites your spark for teaching and learning inside and outside the classroom? What sustains your spark for creativity and innovation? What can be a spark of innovation to encourage teachers who are not early adapter / innovators in our schools? These questions and more are addressed by Wesley Fryer, Rachel Fryer, Brad Wilson, Autumn Laidler, Jess McCulloch, Cheryl Oakes, Amy Burvall, Richard Byrne, Kevin Hodgson, Brian Crosby, Jennie Magiera, Jason Neiffer, Diane Woodard, and Michelle Roundy in this opening keynote presentation for the 2014 K-12 Online Conference. Come travel with us from Oklahoma City to Michigan, Chicago, Australia, Maine, Nevada, Montana, California, New York and Wyoming as we explore the theme of "Igniting Innovation" for this year's conference. Please take the challenge posed by Wesley in this video: Record and share a short (60 second) video answering one of these questions about "igniting innovation!" Share your video on YouTube with the hashtag #k12onlineIgnite under a Creative Commons license. By sharing with a CC license you will permit and empower others to engage in "combinatorial creativity" and make combined remix videos including your ideas!"

"Word Clouds.  We've seen them, we've done them, many of us wear the t-shirt.   It's a quick and easy way to create a graphic based upon text.  Essentially, the size of the word is based upon the frequency of the text.  Many teachers use word clouds to  have students analyse their writing or to create a poster/graphic based upon key words. But, suppose you worked a little mathematics into it! Jason Davies has actually worked a lot of mathematics into his Word Cloud Generator.  Just start with this little protractor at the bottom of the screen."

Film shot entirely on a cellphone - Tropfest NY 2008 winner, "Mankind Is No Island" by Jason van Genderen

Listened to an ISTE webinar by Jason this afternoon. Excellent session. He is in the process of updating his site. Look forward to changes in the digital citizenship area soon.

" "Even young kids have gotten very adept at Minecraft, so it can be quite intimidating for teachers," said Jason Schmidt, an instructional technologist for Bennington Public Schools who will teach the four-week MinecraftEdu MOOC, in a prepared statement. "If I can help get teachers over that hump, imagine how delighted students will be to have a learning environment tailored to their interests for a change." The other, Minecraft for Educators, "is a course for teachers who are wishing to gamify their learning experiences and deliver a unique pedagogy that will engage, enthuse and keep learners coming back for more," according to information released by the company. Both MOOCs are available through the Canvas Network. Minecraft for Educators will start January 26, 2015 and run through March 9. The company has also released a Minecraft app to allow students to submit assignments to the Canvas learning management system from within the game. Using the app, students can tag what they've made in the game for their teachers to visit, upload books they've written in game directly to the speed grader or use the game's circuitry tool to complete assignments that will be automatically graded. A video demonstration of the app is available at YouTube. Other MOOCs for teachers in the suite include: Digital Literacies 1; Digital Literacies 2; Five Habits of Highly Effective Teachers; Teachers without Borders: Educating Girls; and Tinker, Make and Learn. Among the other MOOC offerings in the new suite is a course designed specifically for parents, Parenting in the Digital Age, which aims to help them address issues such as cyberbullying, digital citizenship, exposure to inappropriate content, media literacy and screentime. Taught by Andrew Swickheimer, director of technology at Noblesville Schools, the self-paced course opens September 22. "Parental involvement in K-12 education has one of the biggest impacts on a child's commitment to learning," said Jared Stein, vice pres

"The digital revolution, globalisation and demographic changes are transforming labour markets at a time when policy makers are also struggling with persistently slow productivity and wage growth and high levels of income inequality. The new OECD Jobs Strategy provides a comprehensive framework and detailed policy analysis and recommendations to help countries promote not only strong job creation but also foster job quality and inclusiveness as central policy priorities, while emphasising the importance of resilience and adaptability for good economic and labour market performance in a rapidly changing world of work. The key message is that flexibility-enhancing policies in product and labour markets are necessary but not sufficient. Policies and institutions that protect workers, foster inclusiveness and allow workers and firms to make the most of ongoing changes are also needed to promote good and sustainable outcomes. "The OECD's latest Jobs Strategy is a smart and sensible updating and rethinking of how countries should advance the goal of shared prosperity. I hope policymakers around the world not only read it but take its important advice." Jason Furman, Professor Harvard Kennedy School and former Chairman of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers   "Inequality, economic insecurity, economic exclusion, are making the headlines.  Anger is high, populist rhetoric is on the rise.   What can be done?  What strategies to adopt?  These are the challenging questions taken up by the new OECD Jobs Strategy report.  I hope the report triggers the very serious discussions these issues deserve."    Olivier Blanchard, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute, Emeritus Professor at MIT and former Chief Economist of the IMF "

"Before we dig in, let's start with a quick multiple-choice quiz: Font : Text :: A. Hat : Head B. Coffee : Tea C. Voice : Speech The answer is C. The font you choose to display text is every bit as important as the voice you use to speak if you want a reader to not only understand what they are reading, but also remember it as well. The primary purpose of type is not really to be readable, but to convey information that is to be remembered. Surprisingly, readability might not always lead to the best information retention. "

"The Los Angeles Unified School District's recent decision to provide each of its 600,000 plus students with an iPad makes sense. The technology drumbeat is growing louder and louder. Training children to use the tools of their future is a must, and the LAUSD is smart to take a proactive approach. But as the technology revolution proceeds in the classroom, a critical piece of the equation must not be overlooked: the effect on the home. The iPads that L.A. school kids will receive are not going to sleep in a school locker at the end of each day. The iPad is coming home. "

"I recently discovered a new app: Periscope that has been drawing a lot of attention lately.  I have been exploring the app both on a personal level and trying to find uses in my classroom.  Thanks to my #peel21st pln, I'm finally getting these thoughts down.  So I thought I'd begin with a quick overview of what Periscope is all about, explain how I have used it so far, move into future uses, and then some concerns and questions I am still working through."

Resources - Handouts, presentations, how-to's. Most handouts are in pdf format.