Group items tagged

"Storybird is a free online service for families, friends, teachers, and students to collaborate in creating short, visual stories together that can easily be shared, embedded or printed. The website provides fun and simple tools to make short, visual stories in a user-friendly and kid-friendly environment. You can search by artwork or theme to begin. Stories can be written by one person or two or more people in a round robin fashion and can be shared privately or publicly. Publishing with Storybird is "global, viral, and instantaneous" which provides extra motivation for young authors and artists."

"In the original 2004 article I stated: "The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe. Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today. A real challenge for any learning theory is to actuate known knowledge at the point of application" (Conclusion section, � 1). I find Verhagen�s (2006) critique falls at precisely this point. The core of what I wrote in the initial article is still valid: that learning is a network phenomenon, influenced (aided) by socialization and technology. Two years is a lifetime in the educational technology space. Two years ago, web 2.0 was just at the beginning of the hype cycle. Blogs, wikis, and RSS�now prominent terms at most educational conferences�were still the sandbox of learning technology geeks. Podcasting was not yet prominent. YouTube didn't exist. Google had not released its suite of web-based tools. Google Earth was not yet on the desktops of children and executives alike�each thrilled to view their house, school, or business in satellite images. Learning Management Systems still held the starting point of most elearning initiatives. Moodle was not yet prominent, and the term PLEs (personal learning environments) did not exist. In two years, our small space of educational technology evolved�perhaps exploded is a more accurate term."

A fabulous tool for socio-cultural studies of any country. Click on a country to look at a wide variety of factors: population, social indicators, economy, technical networks, environment, and millenium goals. Fascinating place for students to do comparisons and get info for reports. Or for teachers to learn more about their country of residence. Thanks to Peggy Fisher and Webheads.

"I have taken all the conventional desks out and replaced them with mostly tables and a number of different kinds of chairs; I've used garage sales and the generosity of friends to furnish my room this way. My classroom looks like a college apartment. But I also build in transitions every 15 minutes or so that require movement (to get into groups, turn something in, write on a paper-covered wall, etc). I have little to no fidgeting problems or issues with attention loss."" This is a whole section of a teacher blog devoted to pictures and descriptions of flexible seating environments.

"Part of the strength of the TELL Project is its built-in ability for teachers to self-determine how well they currently meet the criteria defined in the Teacher Effectiveness for Language Learning Framework, relative to the growth they would like to make. To assist teachers in this aspect of reflective practice, TELL makes available self-assessment documents that allows an educator to pause and consider their current practice to identify possible areas of professional growth." The subtitle of this article is that "People don't learn from experiences, they learn from reflecting on their experiences." Has downloadable worksheet to help you find out if you have a safe and supportive learning environment.

A nice review of the free online and DVD-based game to learn English. Trace Effects takes the student through adventures all around the U.S. using vocabulary to learn things about his new friends and achieve certain tasks that are typically American -- women's roles in society, saving the environment, community work, science and innovation, etc. The toolkit includes a massive number of teaching suggestions, teacher resources, games, a graphic novel, etc.

Each of these is explained in detail: "#1 How to manage money #2 How to manage emotions (especially worrying) #3: The importance of a healthy lifestyle #4 To question everything #5: To respect other peoples' rights to an opinion #6 To value creative arts #7 To respect the natural environment #8 Public speaking #9 Manners and etiquette #10: How to teach themselves"

" CodeMonkey is a fun and educational game environment where students learn to code in a real programming language, no previous experience needed. " Students start with a game that helps teach them CoffeeScript, an HTML5 variant. The teacher's kit helps with basic computer science concepts. Students should be able to build their own games after mastering the code.

Remarkable pictures and descriptions by teachers of K-6 classrooms. Really gives a good visual picture of the ways a traditional space can be re-invented for a more creative learning environment, on a tiny budget. Lots of DIY ideas, and some concepts for student self-management.

This looks like a great invention. As you are watching a video, take notes and the timeline codes will automatically link your notes to the portion of the video you were watching. The note tool will embed your video from YouTube, Khan Academy, or any of a number of sites, with the note-taking apparatus beside the video. Students might take notes of you or another lecturer in a flipped environment, and then compare each other's notes for review. Appears to be free so far.

"Bitmoji Classrooms are really catching on as teachers try to have fun and increase engagement by designing their virtual environments. In the simplest form, a Bitmoji classroom is just a Google Slide with hyperlinked images and objects that link out to class information and resources. Check out the Pinterest collection at the bottom of this page to see some of the creative ways teachers are using their Bitmoji Classrooms." Based on Google Slides. This site has a link to slide you can start using immediately. T/h N. LaFave.

"As part of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), students need to "ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century." Many teachers have little to no formal training on how to teach about climate change. Along with the ever-changing research and the controversy that comes with it, some teachers inevitably shy away or even prevent students from digging deep into the content. Some suggest that teachers might be getting climate change all wrong. Since teachers can't rely on books to stay current with all the new research, digital resources are the only effective way to stay on top of such a dynamic field. Consider these practices when using technology to teach about climate change:" Sites include NASA Global Climate Change, Climate Kids for younger learners, Global Oneness Project, and Earth-Now to analyze realtime data.

A nice set of short instructional videos by R. Stannard on how to set up a Moodle course, add materials, and manage the learning environment for your students. Looks carefully at some of the problematic areas of Moodle.

Good articles on video conferencing and pedagogy of online teaching.

Each site mentioned includes a brief description. Lots of math, science, and reading sites. A mix of grade levels/student ages.

While Cuisenaire rods are used often for maths, they are also used by teachers of the Silent Way (Gategno). Vance Stevens mentioned on the Webheads list that the rods go for around $70 US, but are available in virtual format at this site. Earl Stevick wrote a classic article on using the rods for the Silent Way, describing how his students created a city of "Islamabad," talking all the while about the city and the things in it. (In Silent Way, students are silent until they are ready to speak, thus replicating some of the natural processes of language acquisition. Enjoy!

The OpenLearn website gives free access to Open University course materials. This is the LearningSpace, where you'll find hundreds of free study units, each with a discussion forum. Study independently at your own pace or join a group and use the free learning tools to work with others. Links to tools and discussion forums in many content areas.