Group items tagged

"One of the things that I always do in my Google Apps workshops and webinars is teach people how to create self-grading quizzes through Google Forms and Spreadsheets. Depending upon the pace of the group we'll often look at creating image-based and multiple page quizzes too. I've recently put all of the screenshots of those processes into one PDF. You can view the PDF below. (If you are viewing this on an iPad, you might not be able to see the guide)."

"As technology transforms the classroom, teaching is changing as well. When students head back to school this year, they may discover that monotonous lectures and mundane activities are a thing of the past when their teachers decide to flip the classroom. Educators across the globe will take a pledge to flip one lesson on Friday, Sept. 6, the first "Flipped Day". Hundreds of educators from 10 countries have already taken the pledge to use this innovative model of instruction on that day."

"With the rise of new trends such as a flipped classroom and whole brain teaching, there is an emphasis on getting students more actively involved in learning in the classroom. And whether or not you choose to fully embrace either of these methods, we can all agree that we want students participating as much as possible. When students are actively participating, they are learning. In math classes we typically involve students in the problem-solving side, but we don't often expect them to provide explanations."

"Educators are increasingly turning to technology to improve their teaching, communication and organization skills. Having a web page to use to deliver and organize content and make it easy for students to work, communicate, and stay connected outside of class hours is essential in this modern age. One free application for creating web sites for courses that is hugely popular with teachers is Weebly.com."

"The possibilities for the use of timeline tools in the class are endless. Whether you want to teach salient historical incidents, chronological order of events, or explain a developmental process in biology or simply outline the major learning curves for the year, timeline creation tools are the ideal platforms to implement."

"Creatures of Light is a beautiful free iPad app from the American Museum of Natural History. The app contains five chapter about bioluminescent animals like jellyfish, fireflies, and glow worms. In each chapter students learn about what causes bioluminescence and how it helps animals survive in their environments. Each chapter includes an interactive map of the world that students on which students can tap to learn about the bioluminescent animals of a particular region."

"For subjects like math and foreign language, which are traditionally taught in a linear and highly structured context, using more open-ended inquiry-based models can be challenging. Teachers of these subjects may find it hard to break out of linear teaching style because the assumption is that students can't move to more complicated skills before mastering basic ones. But inquiry learning is based on the premise that, with a little bit of structure and guidance, teachers can support students to ask questions that lead them to learn those same important skills - in ways that are meaningful to them."

"The following is an excerpt from the book The App Generation: How Today's Youth Navigate Identity, Intimacy, and Imagination in a Digital World by Howard Gardner and Katie Davis. Let's dive directly into the world of educational apps. Our survey suggests that the majority - one might even say, the vast majority - of educational apps encourage pursuit of the goals and means of traditional education by digital means. They constitute convenient, neat, sometimes even seductive pathways to accomplish what were already goals in an earlier era: mastering concepts, learning arithmetical operations, identifying geographical locations or historical figures or key biological or chemical or physical processes. We could dub them "digital textbooks" or "lectures" or "pre-programmed educational conversations." Decades ago, major behaviorist B. F. Skinner called for teaching machines that would automate the traditional classroom, allow students to proceed at their own rate, provide positive feedback on correct answers, and either repeat a missed item or present that item via another pathway. Those sympathetic to Skinner's brand of psychology and to its associated educational regimen would easily recognize many apps today and would likely nod in approval at their slick, seductive interfaces."

"What is "authentic assessment"? Almost 25 years ago, I wrote a widely-read and discussed paper that was entitled: "A True Test: Toward More Authentic and Equitable Assessment" that was published in the Phi Delta Kappan. I believe the phrase was my coining, made when I worked with Ted Sizer at the Coalition of Essential Schools, as a way of describing "true" tests as opposed to merely academic and unrealistic school tests. I first used the phrase in print in an article for Educational Leadership entitled "Teaching to the (Authentic) Test" in the April 1989 issue."

"This school year I joined the staff of a 1:1 high school here in Philadelphia. Students at the school have access to their own devices, which they take home with them. Although I've taught for many years in classrooms where each student had a school-issued device, the experience of my new students taking their devices home has forced me to reflect on the issue of distraction. How do we teach students to integrate technology into their schoolwork and their learning while also making sure that they're staying focused on the task at hand? "

"- Management of iPads. - Maximising the iPad's camera. - Teaching with the iPad. - iPad Workflows and Pupil Examples. - Film-making, screen-casting and eBook creation. - Early Years and more. The book also includes over 40 minutes of video tutorials and many classroom based ideas for all year groups"

"Interactive visuals are great learning and teaching materials to use with your students in the classroom. From explaining difficult processes to visual brainstorming, interactive graphics are a good way to consolidate students learning and promote their comprehension. Below are three of the web tools I would recommend for creating interactive visuals, I know there are several other titles to add to this list but the ones below are, in my view, more student-friendly and simpler to use."

"This evening I taught the sixth of seven classes for K-12 teachers in Montana on "Mapping Media to the Common Core: Part 1." I love teaching this class over H.323 videoconferencing from my house! Tonight we focused primarily on creating narrated slideshows and screencasts. Following class, I used the iPad apps Haiku Deck, Mail, Explain Everything, PhotoSync, and YouTube Capture to create and publish a seven minute narrated slideshow I titled, "MinecraftEDU Tips (Jan 2014.)" I provided some additional background about how I made this in my post tonight on our class blog."

"Today while I was going through my Twitter feeds I came across this wonderful infographic created by exit ticket. The visual features six of the most celebrated pedagogues who have left some remarkable imprints on the literature and science of education and pedagogy. Each one of theses thinkers contributed with a theory that transformed the way teaching has been done over decad"

"Pinterest is a visual bookmarking platform that has gained so much in popularity within the educational circles.Tons of teachers are now using it to organize, curate, and share teaching and learning materials. Pinterest has also made it easy for users to interact with the content they read via adding comments, liking , and joining others Pinboards ."

"Below is one such collection. It is curated by Mrs. J. Porritt from W.S. Hawrylak School. Generously included are notes for each of the tools she uses in her classroom. If you are looking for a new tool, or want to know more about an existing tool, check out her useful collection of teaching tools."