Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

"iPad can immensely enhance the learning of science through the use of a wide range of educational apps designed specifically for this purpose. Over the past few years, we have reviewed a number of these apps each of which is related to a given scientific topic from human anatomy and periodic tables to  apps to help you explore the body in 3D. You can access all of these resources from this page.  Today, we are adding two more interesting apps for science teachers and students. The apps provide you access to a huge library of instructional science videos to use in class with your students."

"Being able to create your own robot gives students and kids a great sense of achievement, with the added bonus of allowing children to develop patience, imagination and problems solving skills. There are a number of impressive kids robotics kits on the market that even parents will enjoy playing with. Plus, these types of projects provide valuable bonding time for kids and parents as it's a toy that both can really relish. In classrooms, robotics are perfect for teaching coding to kids, there are many programmable robot kits that use a simple drag and drop programing language based on Scratch. Making your own robot is also a creative a process, where kids and students utilize their design skills to come up with interesting robot designs. The 10 best make your own robot kits for kids on the market are listed below."

"It's always a treat when a student can express themselves creatively in a way they're never tried before. With a tool they may not have used before, you can add discovery learning into the mix. The online creativity tools you've got here are great little resources that will develop creativity in all sorts of ways. Using these online creativity tools, students can add artistic personal touches to their work in many ways. They can: build fonts make themselves into a robot or a Picasso painting paint graffiti (without damaging public property) draw with fire (again, without damaging public property) turn pictures into words and textures These are fun online creativity tools to explore and engage your students with. Everyone can have fun with these. They're perfect for adding creative touches to projects of all sorts."

"In creative jobs, design in particular, inspiration is one of the keys to productivity. Perhaps, one of the most productive kinds of inspiration is the one taken from experts, successful people who have experienced what they share. Today we're going to recommend you a set of interesting and informative TED-talks that we think could be interesting, useful and helpful for designers as well as other creative people! Should be said, TED is a great resource of wise and informative things to learn in diverse directions and spheres, so we never miss the chance to share our findings there.   Here we offer you 20 TED-talks all with the descriptions given on the TED website. Most of them are already classic, sometimes even could be called legendary, and that makes them even more precious as they have been successfully checked with the time and practice. The ability to analyze take the best from the past usually broadens the creative horizons and becomes a solid foundation from innovative thinking. We also added some prominent thoughts full of wisdom and practical experience. So, let's move on!"

"When you can get students talking and teaching each other, adding movement or gestures into the process, the students learn and retain more. Whether you call this process "Brain-Based Learning" or "Whole-Brain Learning," the concept is the same. The goal of brain-based learning is to "engage your learners and do it with strategies that are based on real science" (Jensen). Their learning increases because they are engaging more parts of their brain during the teaching process."

"These days, very little comes out of Hollywood without special effects added in post-production. Our favorite superhero movies, science fiction thrillers and fast-paced action movies just wouldn't be the same without them. However, these video effects are no longer the preserve of video professionals. Technology has advanced quickly, and you can now use green screen effects on your iPad. Here's how."

"Preteens and teens may appear dazzlingly fluent, flitting among social-media sites, uploading selfies and texting friends. But they're often clueless about evaluating the accuracy and trustworthiness of what they find. Some 82% of middle-schoolers couldn't distinguish between an ad labeled "sponsored content" and a real news story on a website, according to a Stanford University study of 7,804 students from middle school through college. The study, set for release Tuesday, is the biggest so far on how teens evaluate information they find online. Many students judged the credibility of newsy tweets based on how much detail they contained or whether a large photo was attached, rather than on the source."

"The oft-shared John Dewey quote "Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself." is one that resonates with progressive educators around the world. Our education system however, seems to have missed all of those tweets and Pinterest pins. In a recent podcast (listen below) with Getting Smart's Emily Liebtag, I mentioned moving students from consumers to creators to contributors. Justin Tarte had said this in my TeachThought Podcast with him earlier this year and I appreciated that language. It certainly is a great step to shift our teaching and learning from having students just consuming information to the top of Bloom's taxonomy where they are creating. That next step, however, where their creations are at least potentially adding value to their community and perhaps the world at large is powerful. While it's true that our students are indeed the future, there are real reasons why we need to remember that they are also a big part of our today and our teaching and learning should reflect that."

"While project-based learning has existed for decades, design thinking has recently entered the education lexicon, even though its history can be traced back to Herbert A. Simon's 1969 book The Sciences of the Artificial. So why the resurgence of these ideas? Lately, I have heard teachers and school leaders express a common frustration: "We are _______ years into a _______ initiative, and nothing seems to have changed." Despite redesigning learning spaces, adding technology, or even flipping instruction, they still struggle to innovate or positively change the classroom experience. Imagine innovation as a three-legged stool. Many schools have changed the environment leg, but not the other two legs: the behaviors and beliefs of the teachers, administrators, and students. Consider this conundrum: much of what we know about teaching comes from 16+ years of observation as students. In no other profession do you spend that much time watching the previous generation before being told to change everything once you take control. Without the framework or scaffolding for that change, it's truly unreasonable to tell educators, "OK, start innovating.""

"This past fall (2015), I was lucky enough to be a part of the K-8 Computer Science Standards Committee for the state of Arkansas. Arkansas is the first state in the US to require all students in K-8 learn computer science standards. These standards will be embedded in other curriculum areas, CS will not be a stand alone subject. All of Arkansas's high school's must have CS courses available for interested students as well. The Computer Science Standards (Linked HERE from the ADE Website) begin with a set of Computer Science Practices. These practices exhibit the "habits of mind" that it takes to succeed in the area of Computer Science. Many teachers will agree that these are also great habits to succeed in every subject."

"Among the many ways to actively engage children in the learning process, educational games are one of the most fun. With so many award winning and cleverly designed games on the market, young children to teens (and even adults!) can develop new skills and reinforce other skills, without even realizing they are learning. Board, card, cooperative, puzzle games, and more encourage interactive hands-on learning in a humorous, light hearted environment. In a addition to math, reading, vocabulary, logic, problem-solving, and spelling skills regularly introduced by educational games, turn based and cooperative games foster with social interaction, communication skills, and self confidence. Consider adding one of these excellent educational games to your home or classroom collection."

"Here is a new infographic from Zapier featuring a number of practical tips and tricks to help you conduct effective Google searches. We are adding it to the resources we have compiled in our Google Search Tips' section here in EdTech and mLearning. Some of the things you and your students will get to learn from this visual include: how to get instant answers, drag and drop to search, how to use Google's search tabs and tools, how to search specific sites, how to search internationally, how to use search operators, how to use Google's advanced search pages, and how to tweak Google Search settings."

"Students in Cathy Hunt's art classes are constantly blurring the lines between physically created art and digital creations. In one project, students created fish out of clay using old pinch-potting techniques. But the project didn't stop there. They then took photos of their creations and used digital tools to paint on the photos, adding color and design without fear that an unknown glaze would ruin their vision. Once they designed their fish, they developed a storyline featuring their creations for a stop motion animation created by the whole group. When the project was completed students had artfully blended the physical world with the digital one, using the best of both, and creating a finished product that can be put online and shared with the world. The impact of that project goes far beyond a shelf full of clay fish."

""How was skiing?" I asked my 14-year old daughter as she hauled her boot bag into the car. "Well, the ratio of snow to ground was definitely low," she replied, adding that she had tried to figure the ratio of snow-to-ground during practice but had received only mystified looks. "Stop the math!" demanded a coach. "You are confusing us!" Why do smart people enjoy saying that they are bad at math? Few people would consider proudly announcing that they are bad at writing or reading. Our country's communal math hatred may seem rather innocuous, but a more critical factor is at stake: we are passing on from generation to generation the phobia for mathematics and with that are priming our children for mathematical anxiety. As a result, too many of us have lost the ability to examine a real-world problem, translate it into numbers, solve the problem and interpret the solution."

"According to Wikipedia, a QR code is " a specific matrix bar code ( or two-dimensional code ), readable by dedicated QR bar code readers and camera phones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be text, URL, or other data." Teachers can use this technology for a wide variety of educational purposes. In this excellent video tutorial, Red Squirrel demonstrates 11 ways you can use QR codes in your class (e.g: create handouts with links to online content; enrich your content by adding links to online videos, documents and PDFs where students can access more information about topics taught; create QR codes that can show answers to a specific exercise or instructions on how to carry out a certain activity …etc, make books interactive and many more)."

" The Fabulous Field Trip Guide: Mobile Learning and QR Codes 7/6/2016 12:10:00 AM By Shelly Terrell "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose."- Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go! In 2012, I visited the British Library with Terry Freedman. I was astounded by how much interaction I was able to have with the exhibits. I got to experience the exhibits with 3D glasses, touch tabletop screens, and scan QR codes. As I venture to more museums, landmarks and national parks, I have noticed how these sites are making their exhibits more engaging by adding a mobile component. Before planning your next field trip, discover ways the site is integrating QR codes, mobile apps, and . Check out my recommended apps and tips below along with a slide presentation (free to download) and bookmarks. Check out the rest of The Fabulous Field Trip Guide with suggested activities, virtual field trips, and virtual reality and augmented reality apps and web tools."

"Many teachers have added 'digital literacy' as number four on the list of literacies their students should have (or be working towards, in most cases). Reading, writing, and math are now followed by digital literacy. Obviously, depending on the grade level you teach, your students will have different abilities in each of the four areas, so your expectations and your teaching approach may differ quite noticeably from your colleagues. But the nagging question still remains for many teachers - what exactly is digital literacy?"

"You've read about the maker movement. You've seen the posts with 3D printers, laser cutters, and three-axis mills in shiny new labs. And you want your students to start making, too. But you've got one big problem: you don't have a full lab -- or even a 3D printer -- because, like many educators, you don't have the biggest budget. Maybe you have no budget at all. But what if you could get started making tomorrow and didn't need all the fancy tools to join this movement? Making starts with a mindset, and simple materials are all that you need to get started. There are resources all around you, materials hidden in plain sight, tools just waiting to be used for a creative purpose. And with a little dose of ingenuity, you'll have your students making in no time. One perfect way start making on the cheap is through upcycling, the intentional transformation of hard-to-recycle materials into new products, thus saving them from the landfill. This type of real-world project not only teaches making skills but also helps you integrate making into your subject area. Study material science, explore industrial design, or dig into environmental education. As an added bonus, a project like this ignites your students' entrepreneurial spirit. Here's the five-step strategy that I've used to get my students making products out of hard-to-recycle materials. These steps could be done in one class period each, but if you want more time for ideas and iteration, feel free to expand the timeline as you go. Expect a beautiful mess, a bit of chaos, and a lot of fun as your students start to save the landfills -- by design."

" lot of words have been added to the dictionary over the past few decades thanks to social media, but few have become so widely used and accepted as "hashtag." For a long time, the hashtag symbol (#) was known simply as the "pound" symbol. Now, I could swear that the only time I hear it referred to as a pound symbol is when I enter my PIN number to pay my cell phone bill. Manage and plan your social media content with the help of this free calendar template. While hashtags were originally made famous by Twitter, they're now used on many major social networks, including Facebook and Instagram. Let's explore what a hashtag is, why they're so great, and how they work on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram."

"The folks at TED talks recently launched TED-Ed to serve the mission "of capturing and amplifying the voice of the world's greatest teachers." more In addition to developing a library of instructional videos, they've just added a free set of tools that allow teachers to create customized lessons from existing videos on TED, YouTube or YouTube for Schools. "