Group items tagged

What is Spotlight? Spotlight is a daily 15 minute radio program. It uses a special English method of broadcasting. This makes Spotlight easier for many people to understand, no matter where in the world they live. We use: * fewer words (a vocabulary of 1500 words) * slower speed (about 90 words per minute, or half the normal speaking speed) * shorter sentences * read more People use Spotlight to help with English. But Spotlight is a real radio program, not just a lesson.

"Want to quickly search the web or Wikipedia from the Home Screen of iOS? Just turn to Spotlight, the built-in search engine. Sure, Spotlight is often used as an application launcher or a way to quickly find old emails, notes, and contacts, but you can also type more generic queries into it the search box to immediately search either the web or Wikipedia. It's super easy to use and very fast:"

"Accessibility Spotlight: One Switch. One Head. The World."

"On tap this week: A-E-I-O-U, a visual literacy strategy that focuses on teaching student how to interpret information related to classroom content as well as how to express their learning in multiple ways."

Earlier this year a group of teachers I work with explored the 'Eight Cultural Forces' identified by Ron Ritchhart of Harvard's Project Zero. In doing so we decided to focus on our use of the term learning instead of the word work. Our goal was to bring our language choices into the spotlight and explore how a more deliberate focus on learning might alter the culture of our classrooms. Two terms later this focus persists and it is worth reflecting on the effect that this has had.

"Looking for direction in the ever-expanding world of education technology? You don't have to look hard to find education bloggers. But who are the true trend setters? EdTech is proud to spotlight some of the education industry's most influential thought-leaders in our latest crop of the top K-12 IT bloggers. These 50 blogs include veterans from years past, fresh picks from our editorial staff and nominations from our readers. This year, we've tried something new - dividing each blog into one of four categories to focus on where the bloggers' expertise lies."

"ake a look at some of the exciting projects students and teachers are doing. Find some resources to help you and your students do them better."

""We Came to Play": Lessons on Connected Learning and Creativity from Caine's Arcade"

a Quad four schools/classes including your own. Each Quad has a co-ordinator who is responsible for making sure each of the quad members know what is going on and when. Each week one blog is the focus blog with the other three blogs visiting and commenting during that week. In week two, another school/class blog is the focus with the other three visiting and commenting. This is repeated until each of the classes/schools has had their week in the spotlight. The cycle is then repeated. However, this time, your pupils know what is coming - They will work harder than you have seen them work in order to get content on their blog!

Join MSLA & ManACE on October 19th, 2012 for 'Embracing the Edge'. This one day conference features David Warlick, several spotlight speakers, a number of hands-on sessions/workshops & 500 of North America's leading thought provokers.

"Often when speaking to groups about technology and "Bring Your Own Device" initiatives, I will have someone challenge the thinking and say, "Well…what about inequity?" To break down this question, what is often meant is that you will really shine a negative spotlight on the kids who do not have devices and they will feel worse about their situations. Sometimes I feel that this argument is a reason to not even try by some that are making it. But for some, it is a legitimate concern. Here are my thoughts…"

"Contraption Maker provides a set of puzzles that are reminiscent of Rube Goldberg cartoons. Children use hundreds of parts like hamster motors, balls, and conveyor belts to fix broken contraptions. Moving down our knowledge funnel, kids can create their own contraptions and share them with the world. It's a digital sandbox that promotes creativity by experimenting with logical cause and effect consequences. A key component of excelling in a STEM career is learning via experimentation, which often means testing an idea, failing, reviewing the idea, and trying a new idea. Traditional teaching methods don't often have the latitude to encourage failure. However, experimentation and failure are key components in Contraption Maker. You learn by "failing" and testing new theories, and it is meant to be fun, not discouraging."

use of Twitter enhanced student engagement