Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

"When I was a kid, I dreamt about our school desks as computer screens. How cool would it have been to be able to draw, write, and learn directly onto my own computer? As the years went on, people theorized that laptops would take over the classroom, but the price of these devices was too high for a 1 to 1 ratio. It never quite caught on in lower grade schools. Now, it is the age of the tablet. We have affordable high-powered computers that can provide all sorts of enrichment through an intuitive touch screen interface and the education world is taking notice. More and more classrooms are imagining the curriculum in the context of each child having his or her own tablet. Yet, some educators are still skeptical. How can a piece of technology truly enhance the learning process, without causing distraction?"

"This presentation will look at how easy it is for a district or school to enhance communication with their community through the development of a mobile app, without having to hire a mobile device programmer or a company to develop an app. Participants with their own device will spend part of the session starting to build their own app and should leave the session feeling comfortable in their ability to finish their app after ISTE."

"One of the conversations was going back to the idea of Twitter and does it actually promote literacy.  Thinking about, jumping onto Twitter years ago has led to many amazing opportunities for me, but I also think that it has led to tremendous growth in my own learning over time.  Since I first started connecting with others through the medium, I have written over 88,000 tweets, written over 1,100 blog posts, and one book.  I am a firm believer that if you want to become better at writing, the best way to do it is to write more. Without connecting on Twitter, I truly believe that I would not have written in the other mediums.  I have started blogs before, but never made it past a few posts.  As for a book?  I doubt that was something I would have ever done without Twitter.  I am not the only one; so many educators that have connected through the medium have written and published their own books.  I have seen people criticize that so many educators are writing books now, and I think, "Wow! So many educators are writing books now!"  Educators sharing their wisdom with different audiences all over the world is a pretty powerful thing."

"I'm not sure of the way most people learn the complicated process of programming Arduino projects because I only know my own convoluted journey. I started the hard way following projects from the Arduino Starter Kit by building photo sensor theremins and electronic magic 8 balls. Here is one of my first Arduino projects I created at a class at the Denton Public Library. (The tweet below is a flashback to the Coding Bonanza I led at Lamar Library in 2014.) I quickly found that I wanted to do things OTHER than what the projects outlined, but I just didn't have the code knowledge to hack projects and make them my own. I continued following projects and attempting to tinker with code. For someone with absolutely no background in coding, it was quite an arduous journey. Imagine my surprise when I found out about the ScratchX extension from Kreg Hanning at SXSWedu in 2015!"

"It's a golden age of education podcasts. Teachers, professors, education innovators, and tech skeptics have switched on their microphones to share their insights and analysis-and you'll find plenty of lively characters and fresh voices via your earbuds. After all, let's face it, teachers can be great talkers (we mean that in a good way), and they're also seasoned storytellers. Check out the latest reboot of the EdSurge On Air podcast! Take Michael Wesch, for instance. Inspired by the long-running radio show This American Life, he tags along with his students to better understand their lives and struggles on his Life101 podcast. (That includes crashing a frat party-you'll want to check out that episode). Other education podcasts take a more Socratic approach, drawing out their guests through dialogue. When asking around, several folks we talked to praised Teaching in Higher Ed as a podcast with particularly engaging discussions. Below are our favorites (including our own podcast, which relaunched this week), organized by topic. Please share your own picks in the comments section below."

"Poster maker helps you to create the poster online using the ready made layout and design already created by  experience creative designer with lots of efforts. We can use the poster maker online tool to create easily our own poster by handy use of the many graphics, images, fonts and text shapes. With all these combination any one can make the awesome poster using the poster maker online tool."

"Summer's the perfect time for a new creative outlet, but it's far too easy to slip into "consumer" mode, passively watching TV or playing video games. Coding is a great way to break the cycle and flex your creative and logical muscles. Anyone can learn to code! We've chosen six fun starter activities that help kids see that making their own games is much more fun than playing a game made by someone else. They can just fire up their web browser (or the Tynker app for tablets) and choose whichever activity most strikes their interest! Kids follow easy step-by-step instructions to make their own games and stories while creatively customizing the project as they go. They can access hundreds more free activities by going to tynker.com or downloading the Tynker app for iPads or Android tablets."

"While school is out for the summer, part of Lincoln Elementary's campus, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will be transformed into an outdoor makerspace. When students return in the fall, they will get to see how their own design concepts have turned into an engaging environment for learning by making. Lincoln Elementary is just one of seven schools across the Pittsburgh region where new makerspaces are emerging through a collaboration with the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, Kickstarter, and a host of community partners. Their approach offers a sustainable model for funding and professional development that other schools and communities might want to borrow to kick start their own maker efforts. "

"I've been traveling the country speaking on the power of a student's voice in his or her own educational experience along with the need for transforming learning spaces in today's schools. Both topics are very important to me not only for my own passion as an educator, but as a parent of two children. I've personally seen the impact a learning space can have on a child's experience within the classroom. Additionally, I've been fortunate to have my children surrounded by caring educators who value the importance listening to students. This week I have the pleasure of speaking at Blackboard World in D.C. When I arrived at Blackboard World, I knew the first stop I had to make, the student maker space. Blackboard invited students from all ages to participate in a day of creating their ideal learning environments. The company partnered with the Smithsonian to provide resources and guides to help facilitate the activities. Children would rotate between 5 stations throughout the day - each station lasting roughly thirty minutes."

"Designing your own 3D printed parts is a skill that every person who owns a printer should have or be actively acquiring. The power to design exactly what you want feels incredible when you actually have it, and the lack of those skills is incredibly frustrating when they present themselves. More from Weekend Watch Weekend Watch: This Hydraulic Press Channel Is Crushing It Weekend Watch: "Ron's Stuff" Is a Collection of Kinetic Wooden Sculptures Weekend Watch: "Geek Builders" Blends Geeky and Practical in Videos Noe Ruiz over at Adafruit has an ongoing educational series called "Layer by Layer". If you skim back through the playlist, there are over 40 videos about designing for 3D printing."

"What Kids Should Know About Their Own Brains"

"Glenda Watson Hyatt shares her experiences living with cerebral palsy to motivate and inspire others to think about how they perceive their own situation and their own world around them. She does all this by typing with only her left thumb!"

"It's still no easy task to develop your own apps. Yes, some talented teachers have programmed their own. I know many adults and youth are interested in developing apps. I was pleased to see Schools.com produce this infographic about how to become a mobile app developer."

"BYOD: A workplace phenomenon that makes processes easier, streamlines communication, and helps to connect employees around the globe. Short for Bring Your Own Device, the movement means employees can use their own digital tools, like laptops and smartphones, instead of the ones that are provided (or not provided) for them by an employer"

"Students feedback can sometimes host a treasure trove of new insights not only about their own comprehension but also about our teaching. Giving students the opportunity to share their own response on the learning taking place in the classroom is highly beneficial to them particularly in the way they position themselves vis a vis the content being taught. They also feel empowered because they know their voice does matter and therefore become more engaged and involved in the learning/teaching process."

"Infographics are everywhere. Some love them. Some hate them. But however you feel, it's fun to learn a little bit in a short period of time. Most are made so you can quickly grasp the key concepts behind them. That's a key thing to keep in mind if you want to make your own infographics. Lucky for you, there are a pantload of free and freemium tools out there to help you out. Some are more robust than others but many are easy enough to try out. That's what Edudemic is all about after all - sharing useful resources that you try out and use to enhance your life."

"A goal of the BYOT classroom is to develop resilient students who own the learning process, just as they own their personal technology tools. Resiliency is the ability to overcome challenges and bounce back, and it is essential to a person's long term success and happiness. One way to develop resiliency is to cultivate a learning community or a community of practice that includes the teacher as well as the students."

"Making inquiry meaningful can accomplish many important things within our teaching practice. As educators, I believe that the minute we sit down to plan and map out the learning experiences of our students, we are engaging in our own journey of inquiry as our minds are deeply engrossed in opening the doors of learning. Our own journey of inquiry can have such a profound impact on the learning journeys that we help promote within our students. "

"If you don't have a YouTube channel as an education provider, there's a good chance you're behind the times. Nearly every major educational institution in the world now hosts its own collection of videos featuring news, lectures, tutorials, and open courseware. Just as many individuals have their own channel, curating their expertise in a series of broadcasted lessons."

"Professional Learning Board just released a Self-study iPads in the Classroom course I wrote. It is a self-directed course to take in your own time and at your own speed."