Editor's Note: John Larmer is the Director of Product Development at the Buck Institute for Education. Many teachers and administrators -- not to mention the general public -- might have the wrong impression of PBL. Maybe they have stereotypical views of what a "project" is, or they've seen poor examples of it in the past.
a very popular web-based game design environment. Global Kids http://olpglobalkids.org/ is using it to run social benefits game design contests and badging programs. They are getting 100+ new game design entries per week. From the parents' guide: Gamestar Mechanic is currently supported by a partnership between the Institute of Play and E-Line Media. The game was originally developed by Gamelab in partnership with the Institute of Play and the Academic Advanced Distributed Learning Co-Lab (AADLC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Initial funding for the game and companion learning guides came from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
The design of the game is based on research by some of the leading academics in the field including Katie Salen (Executive Director of the Institute of Play and curriculum author for the New York City Public School Quest To Learn) and James Paul Gee (author of What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy).
This site has students creating games from scratch and putting them out into the world for feedback within the Gamestar Mechanic community. Students use math, problem solving, writing skills and more to make their games interesting. I think this could be used in the classroom as a theme-based project or just to get students interested in coding.
Just because students are not at school doesn't mean the learning stops. What instead of mandating kids have internet access at home, there are pre-made activities that don't foresee the dependency on the Internet and instead, can be approved by a parent/guardian signature that such learning activities took place during the day off school for whatever reason.
Online learning also helps teachers reduce their stress load. It provides a predictable avenue for educators to budget their curriculum goals with available teaching days. Finally, e-learning days provide students with academic consistency and predictability, eliminating any snow day confusion.
1 Creativity Takes More Than Originality
2 There Are Different Levels of Creativity
3 Context Matters
4 Creativity Comes at a Cost. Creativity requires work, effort, and risk
5 There's a Time and a Place for Creativity
Use dropbox to keep track of files you need at home, work, and anywhere else you might be. It provides you the ability to access your files from any location, allow others to "drop" files into your dropbox, and to share any files you have placed in there. You can use it for student work or just as a personal productivity tool.
Dropbox synchs with your smart phone like an iphone, and it also synchs with tablets like the ipad. This way I can carry my files no matter where I am.
This is an amazing solution for storing, sharing, and back up your data. The ability to access files from any computer & mobile devices makes this a great solution. Up to 2GB storage free! Learn more about the public folder to share files with others, while keeping your other files private. I have it on both my Apple computers and on two PCs. This rocks!
One of the leading and best online file storage option. It works across many different devices and is great for teachers who like to travel light. Download required. Basic package is free with 'paid for' option with more storage. Easily share files with others.
http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+&+Web+Tools
"Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is known for being one of the greatest orators of the twentieth century, and perhaps in all of American history. In the 1950s and 1960s, his words led the Civil Rights Movement and helped change society. He is best known for helping achieve civil equality for African Americans, but these speeches--selected because they were each presented at a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement--show that his true goal was much larger than that: He hoped to achieve acceptance for all people, regardless of race or nationality.
This companion volume to A Knock at Midnight features the landmark speeches of his career, including: "I Have a Dream"; his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize; his eulogy for the young victims of the Birmingham church bombing; and "I've Been to the Mountaintop," the last speech he gave before his death."