Group items tagged

"Despite the fact that I know many teachers who would rank Twitter as the most valuable and powerful networking tool they have access to, there are still many more who simply don't "get" the value of Twitter. I've been to lots of conferences over the last few years where the enormous value of belonging to a Personal Learning Network was being touted, and Twitter is nearly always being suggested as the ideal tool for building that network. At one recent conference I asked for a show of hands for who was not yet on Twitter, and many hands went up... my response was "Why not? What are you waiting for? How many times do you need to hear people say that Twitter is the most valuable tool they have, before you actually try it for yourself?""

Standards and Policies for educators to use Open Educational Resources. Implications for DLE and access issues

"Welcome to Know IT All, Childnet's multi award-winning suite of education resources designed to help educate parents, teachers and young people about safe and positive use of the internet. Currently there are 4 KIA resources for Parents and Carers, Secondary Schools, Primary Schools and Trainee Teachers and all four resources include content for young people. You can access all these here online for free, or order on CD-ROM. "

"Information and communications technologies (ICT) policies in schools have two dimensions. One is to ensure that students are protected from pernicious materials on the Internet. The other is to enable student access to the extensive resources on the Internet for learning and teaching. While these two dimensions are not intrinsically in conflict, in actuality, such can become the case."

""Digital citizenship" is an umbrella term that covers a whole host of important issues. Broadly, it's the guidelines for responsible, appropriate behavior when one is using technology. But specifically, it can cover anything from "netiquette" to cyberbullying; technology access and the digital divide; online safety and privacy; copyright, plagiarism, and digital law, and more. In fact, some programs that teach digital citizenship have outlined no less than nine elements that intersect to inform a well-equipped digital citizen. It's an overwhelming array of skills to be taught and topics to explore."

VideoAmy explores the topic of digital citizenship with this playlist of videos on the importance of online safety, manners, privacy, and responsibility.

"In today's world of near-ubiquitous connectivity, in which ordinary people have almost instantaneous access to unlimited stores of information and the ability to interact with anyone, anywhere, anytime, what does it mean to be an effective citizen? What skills and knowledge do our students need to participate fully in a world transformed by technology? What role should our schools play in developing effective digital citizens? "

Turn students into question marks!

This is an interesting and challenging examination of learning in the three ages of information by Bill Rankin. It looks at the role of information in learning and in shaping culture through Western history and the effect that access to information has had on education. I don't agree with everything that Bill says but he is affirming of the continuing role of teachers and librarians in this third information age.

"Internet filters in schools often compromise a teacher's ability to teach, yet at the same time are easy for tech-savvy students to get around, a parliamentary committee on cyberbullying has heard. The Federal Parliament undertook a cyber-safety committee late last week to investigate community concerns about protecting children from bullying online and the measures that could be used to prevent it, such as Internet filtering."

"The aim of the digital citizenship program is to teach members of the school community the responsible use of technology. With iPods, laptops and smart phones becoming an everyday reality for students, the board has decided to embrace technology rather than fight against it."

This study of policies for information and communication technologies (ICT) in education and training in Australian education systems and agencies is the initial component in a project undertaken for the Australian Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST). The project comprises three components: the development of a searchable online data base where policies, both Australian and international, are summarised, and which can be accessed through edna (http://www.edna.edu.au); this report on Australian developments; an international report covering ten countries in Europe, North America and Asia, as well as Australian systems. The Australian report provides the platform for the comparative analysis of the international report.

"Our students need adults to stop being afraid, and stop hiding, so education can get out of the shadows and into the light of the world in which our children live."

This is a blog entry report of a webinar in which the presenters discussed using technology to transform learning. "It empowers students to use the tool to access information and engage in the creation of a new product. Fisher emphasized the need to shift to student-centered work; the student is the producer rather than consumer. To make this happen learners need ample opportunities with authentic tasks in alternative instructional contexts." There are lots of suggestions for hardware and apps, with links to the ideas and resources discussed.

Another post about letting the students access their tools of communication. The website this is attached to is well worth a look as it links to the Australian Curriculum.

A recent article by Lauren Davis in the Schoology (LMS) website that unpacks a survey of 16000+, mostly USA teachers, about the impact of digital learning. It includes some interesting insights into enablers and barriers for DLE. A good starting point for the 523 Assessment 3 environmental scan.

This site, designed by Fuel Industries, includes three main components that are meant to be explored together. Videos: Each location -- Home, School, Mall -- includes several video shorts about a modern family's experience online. You determine which path the family members take at the critical decision point. Do you text that to your boyfriend? Do you purchase that ukulele? These shorts are just snapshots of more complicated issues. But, they all attempt to address a fundamental message of taking a moment to think before acting. Interactive Objects: As you view each video, you can collect interactive objects! An object opens up a quick game about the subject of the video. Once you collect the object, you can access it at anytime during your session. Messages: When you scroll down the site, you will find complementary messages targeted for each audience -- Students, Parents, Educators. These messages intend to strike a quick educational point. If you want to find out more about the subject, just click the link below the message. This will open up a pop-up with tips, advice, and links to partner resources. Make sure to check out the resources as linked in the educators' and parents' sections of the site! These resources point to curriculum and advice provided by Common Sense Media, ConnectSafely, and National Consumers League.

ThinkB4U is a "choose your own adventure" style interactive learning site designed to get everyone -- from parents to students to teachers -- thinking about how to use the Internet safely and responsibly.