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Trash Transformation Challenge from Tech Directions

The deadline is January 31, 2013

Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Launches 2013 Program Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision, the world’s largest K-12 science and technology competition is now accepting entries for 2013. Students research scientific principles and current technologies as the basis for designing inventions that could exist in 20 years.

Be part of the blogging community: To put it simply, you can’t expect people to comment on your blog if you don’t ever comment on theirs.

Finish your post with questions: Take some of the guesswork out of commenting and give readers some suggestions on what they could comment on

Make sure you include open-ended questions that appeal to a wide audience.

This is absolutely awesome for managing student work in Google Apps. Doctopus allows you to share a document with your entire class without having to share individually and without having to place it in the Template Gallery. Plus, it collects all of the data in one spreadsheet! You can share the document for the whole class to work on it, for group work, or for individual work.

Introduction to copyright, fair use and using images in blog posts You can’t just use any image you like in a blog post. Why?  Because unless stated otherwise, the law automatically grants full “copyright” over any creative work a person makes.

I’m sure you’re probably thinking it is okay because as educators, we have a few more flexible rules, called “Fair Use”, to play by.  Fair use, in some cases, if an image, text, video, etc. is being used for educational purposes, means you may have more flexible copyright rules. The trouble is, most of the laws and rules that cover fair use and education were written well before the invention of the web.  They don’t apply to use of copyright material on the Internet.  Using copyright material leaves you open to copyright infringement. So what does this mean? You need to: Learn what images you are and aren’t allowed to use, and why. Learn how to attribute images you are allowed to use. Educate your students that you can’t just use any images off the Internet in their blog posts, show them how to source and attribute images they are allowed to use. Understanding digital copyright is an essential skill we need to understand and teach our students.  This post focuses on use of images.

I discovered and tried WeVideo as an alternative to JayCut which was bought out and subsequently closed by RIM. At that time WeVideo was in a beta phase. Last week they opened to the world. Now anyone can create and edit videos online using WeVideo. WeVideo is a collaborative online video creation tool. In the video editor you can upload your own media clips or use stock media clips to produce your video. The video editor provides tools for trimming the length of display and or sound of each element you add to your video project. What makes WeVideo collaborative is that you can invite other people to create and edit with you. WeVideo offers four different user plans. The free plan allows you to upload your videos to YouTube and Vimeo but does not allow local downloads.

Lay the groundwork. Inform community members about the benefits of PBL. Use your district website or Facebook page to explain how projects prepare students for college and careers. Look for opportunities to have students talk about their projects with the media.

Recruit content-area experts. Inquiry is at the heart of PBL, and that means students are constantly asking questions. They often need to consult with content-area experts as part of their investigations. Recruit community members to share their expertise, and think broadly about the different experts you may want to enlist.

Recruit community clients. Give community members a close-up look at PBL by recruiting them as project clients.