Group items tagged

"If you frequently purchase apps and games on your iPhone or iPad, you may find yourself running out of space or cluttering up your Home screen with icons you barely launch anymore. Most people say they don't delete apps and games in fear of not being able to get them back. Luckily, thanks to iTunes in the Cloud, part of iCloud, you can easily re-download any apps or games you previously purchased whenever you'd like at no additional cost to you."

"Pre-assessment is a powerful instructional tool. Conducted prior to new learning experiences, the process empowers students as much as it empowers teachers. I became acquainted with pre-assessment during the early years as a classroom teacher. This was when differentiated instruction felt new to everyone. In those days, we used pre-tests, anticipation guides, and student work samples from previously taught units to identify what kids knew, what they were already able to do, and where we should invest our greatest energies. Our pre-assessment practices have evolved quite a bit since then. Many teachers have come to understand that assessment in any context rarely requires testing, and data isn't just a simple set of numbers, and defining strengths and needs serves learners in more ways than we previously understood. Sure, we still pre-assess to compact the lessons we teach, but engaging learners in this sort of reflective work helps them carve productive pathways through student-directed learning experiences as well. Consider some of these approaches as you design learning experiences for your students or prepare to engage them in self-directed projects:"

"Due to Khan Academy's popularity, the idea of the flipped classroom has gained press and credibility within education circles. Briefly, the Flipped Classroom as described by Jonathan Martin is: Flip your instruction so that students watch and listen to your lectures… for homework, and then use your precious class-time for what previously, often, was done in homework: tackling difficult problems, working in groups, researching, collaborating, crafting and creating. Classrooms become laboratories or studios, and yet content delivery is preserved. Flip your instruction so that students watch and listen to your lectures… for homework, and then use your precious class-time for what previously, often, was done in homework: tackling difficult problems, working in groups, researching, collaborating, crafting and creating. Classrooms become laboratories or studios, and yet content delivery is preserved (http://www.connectedprincipals.com/archives/3367)."

Mixbook.com is web-based but sets itself apart from the previously mentioned tools. It allows us to use storytelling in a way that we all are already comfortable and familiar with. The process does not create a new media, such as a podcast, a video clip uploaded to YouTube or a VoiceThread embedded in a blog or wiki, that most people are still getting comfortable in handling. Mixbook is a tool that allows anyone to tell a story by creating and publish it as a book!

"We started our math station activities today. How these look will vary throughout the year; today they were able to 'move' from activity to activity while staying at their own table. The first two stations provided students with directions on how to finish two different projects that we had started previously."

"The apps we selected were either released or significantly updated between January 1 and December 21 of this year. Titles that debuted on iOS or Android in 2012 that were previously available on another platform are eligible for inclusion. All of our selections were sourced, ranked and finalized by Appolicious advisors and members of our community. In all, about a dozen members of the Appolicious editorial team offered their favorites. We also surveyed the most active and influential users of Appolicious sites and applications. We did not account for the number of app downloads or overall popularity. Our qualitative assessment is based primarily on the production value, utility and creativity baked into each cited application. Here goes."

"After posting about iPad apps that teachers can use to create diagrams and charts, we went back into our archive and browsed through the posts we have previously published before looking for apps to use to create mind maps and to brainstorm ideas. We found some but were too old to feature now so we tried to look for new ones and we were surprised to find some really interesting ones. We have compiled a list below that contains some of the best mindmapping and brainstorming apps you could ever find online. We based our selection on the evaluation criteria we shared with you before. The best educational mindmapping tools can help you do a wide range of activities in your class. You can ask students to use them to brainstorm a topic with each one contributing an idea, they keep building up on them till they finally get a finished map of the main ideas about that topic.These tools can help your students develop creative ways of learning and enhance their critical thinking skills. Have a look at the list below and if you have suggestions, share them with us in the comment form below."

"For the past few days, I've been playing with a Chromebook. Though I have been an advocate of Google's myriad web products since the beta-test Gmail account that I was invited to open over 10 years ago, I had not previously put my hands on one of these devices. I may be in love. This may come as a shock since I have spent the past two years completely immersed in iPads. I love my iPad too, and my iPhone, and my mostly retired iPod Touch. However, as mobile devices go, I don't see the need for a monogamous relationship."

"At an event in New York City today, Microsoft unveiled a radically updated version of its ubiquitous Paint app for Windows 10, one that lets users build three-dimensional creations. And it turns out that the new tool will be especially useful for Minecraft players. According to Microsoft, players will not only be able to export their in-game creations to the new Paint 3D tool, but then 3D print them from the app, so you can have a real live version of your previously digital creation. There are already a few third-party options that offer similar services, of course, but given the tight integration between Minecraft and Paint 3D, this should be the most streamlined way yet."

"One of the great things (among many) about 3D printing is that not only is it an important skill in itself, it's also a valuable tool for learning about other things. Just look at 3D printed organ models, for example - they're becoming increasingly common in hospitals and clinics as a way for surgeons to plan operations before operating, but they also allow medical students and professionals alike to study the human body - and all of its quirks and malfunctions - more closely and thoroughly than ever before. 3D printing, and its ability to create perfect replicas of microscopic particles and blow them up to thousands of times their original size, has also enabled researchers and students to study things like pollen, for example, in a tactile way that wasn't previously possible. At the other end of the spectrum, 3D printing can scale the universe down to a cube that can be held in the palm of a hand. There's virtually no limit to the concepts that can be elucidated with a 3D printer, and a group of scientists at the Institute of Materials Science in Barcelona (ICMAB) have designed a course that uses the technology to teach high school students about the growing field of materials science."

"Ever want your students to slow down and notice details when they read - whether they're perusing a book, a poem, a map or a political cartoon? Young people often want to hurry up and make meaning via a quick skim or a cursory glance when a text can demand patience and focus. Closely reading any text, whether written or visual, requires that students proceed more slowly and methodically, noticing details, making connections and asking questions. This takes practice. But it certainly helps when students want to read the text. We've selected 10 photos from The Times that we've used previously in our weekly "What's Going On in This Picture?" and that have already successfully caught students' and teachers' attention. These are some of our most popular images - ones that may make viewers say "huh?" on first glance, but that spark enough curiosity to make them want to dig deeper. (Please Note: You can quickly learn the backstory about any of these photos by clicking the link in each caption that takes you to the original post, then scrolling down to find the "reveal.") Below, we offer ideas from students and teachers who have engaged with these images for ways to use them, or images like them, to teach close reading and visual thinking skills."

"In this post, I'm sharing 10 free and low-cost apps that may be especially helpful for individuals who find reading and/or writing challenging. I've written previously about some of these resources, but I thought it might be useful to put them together in one place, with information about the apps in point form."

"You can redownload and reinstall any previously purchased apps that have since been deleted from an iOS device, even if you deleted them a long time ago or never even installed them in the first place. Here is how:"

"If you perform a basic Google search using terms such as 'iPad' and 'education' you will find that most of the results come from blogs and news sites. The success of iPads in schools is still highly anecdotal and often unconfirmed, but that is changing as more researchers and educators publish their findings in scholarly journals, which undergo peer review and a raised level of scrutiny. I spent the last few days tracking articles published through Elsevier's various journals as listed on ScienceDirect.com, and it is clear that the iPad is on track to be the focus of more articles in 2014 than any year previously."

"Piano Mania is a new iPad app from Joy Tunes. Joy Tunes previously offered practice games to help students learn to play the piano. The new Piano Mania app offers lessons on playing the piano. Students place their iPads on their pianos or electronic keyboards to view the lesson as they play along. The app offers challenges of varying difficulty from simple one-hand lessons to complex lessons requiring the use of both hands. The video below offers a brief look at the app."

"iPads are becoming an important part of education resources, whether as a learning tool for pupils or a teaching aid. The devices are being used in many subjects, often creating opportunities that were previously not possible. Both Primary and Secondary schools have embraced the technology but the road to iPad success is not always smooth and deploying the devices (on whatever scale) can be a challenge for all. "

"Private Browsing is an optional Safari browsing mode that causes no data from the browsing session to be saved, this means no cache files, cookies, or browsing history will be stored or collected in iOS, making for a fairly anonymous session on the client side. It's a popular browsing choice for a wide variety of reasons, and it's now easier to use on every iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, because you can now toggle the setting on directly in Safari, and without losing all existing Safari browser pages. This offers considerable improvements over what existed previously, but like much of iOS post the major 7.0 overhaul, it can be confusing to find until it has been pointed out to you. "

"It is that time of year again, when teacher's are desperately trying to prepare for SATs tests and looking for ways in which to get those all important results. The Year 6 teachers asked are there any really good apps to help with revising different topics. I have previously blogged about ways in which I use the iPads to make the SPAG more bearable - read here. I have recently discovered two new apps from Andrew Brodie, focusing on Mental Maths and they both are BRILLIANT!"

"One of the most amazing transformations that has taken place at NMHS is the creation of the Makerspace in what was our traditional library. A space that was once a barren wasteland is now a thriving learning metropolis where students flock to tinker, invent, create, collaborate, work, and most importantly, learn. When I hired Laura, I basically told her the budget, and she had complete control of how she wanted to use the money. I could never have imagined how quickly she could radically transform this outdated space, using money that previously had always been spent on books, magazines, and electronic databases. Some quick highlights include the following:"

"Although I have already written about most of these apps before, I thought I would summarize and show you some of the ways I use my iPad as a traveling language teacher. I teach in several different classrooms throughout the day, so having an iPad is extremely important and almost necessary. As I previously mentioned, I almost never have to bring any binders of any sort with me to the classrooms. I see it as an integral part of my teaching."